The sun., 1898-06-12

n0n, Sucn as dluts anu oIucthS1, "Ao
anne riding up the hill. He was a very
niarksman. The distance
eemed too great for effective shooting,
,et he had wounded two officers shot
he horse OF an aid and sent his bullets
vhistling SO close to the ears OF two
,ther officers that they dismounted in
taste. though they must have known
hey would be chaffed by the idle
soldiers, as they we're.
An infantry officer who sat on q
cracker box with his back against the
;arth works, smoking his pipe, undertook
70 warn mounted officers who came that
way. Soon he called one OF his men and
him to 90 to the next regl-
ment, the Sixty-sixth Illinois, think,
for crack shot. The soldier returned
with man whose stopped shoulders
made him appear anything but soldierly.
This sharpshooter carried his rlfie, not a
in his hand like careful hunter,
instead Of on his shoulder. As he stopped
to talk with the officer, who now stood
and pointed with his pipe toward a
clump of distant trees, he took out q
piece of chamnois and slowly rubbed his
gun sights like q man about to shoot tor
a prize.
While the officer and the sharp.
shooter were talking, an orderly, mounted
on big horse, came tearing up from the
town. Obviously he had message, was
in haste and was uncertain where to CO.
He had stopped below to ask a question,
then dug snowy Mexican spur into his
horse, which almost leaped up the slope.
The rider stopped him with jerk to
speak to the officer with the pipe, but his
question was never asked. He raised his
hand 10 a salute, gave gasp, clutched at
the air and fell over, to be dragged with
one foot in the stirrup down the slope by
the frightened horse.
After single glance at the body OF
the orderly bounding away over the
rough ground, the sharpshooter adjusted
his sights with deliberation, rested his
gun on the earthworks and fired at a
spot where puff Of smoke indicated the
marksman who had shot the orderly. 1t
was long shot and the chances seemed
all against its being effective, at least at
a first attempt. After the shot cheer
went up along the line back OF him, the
men rising in disorder. Something had
rolled out OF tree across the open space.
A mounted officer in brilliant trap.
pings came up ard stopped, but no shot
disturbed him. There was no doubt that
the something that had rolled out of the
tree was the Confederate sharpshooter.
"Without looking again in the direc-
tion of his great shot and without pay.
ing any attention to the cheers, the old
marksman took out his pipe with osten-
tatious Indifference, lighted it and
walked slowly back 10 his regiment.
Such shooting is for the born marks
man. 1t was discovered that most sol.
diers did not shoot well. They were un.
able to resist the temptation to fire too
high. This was the case with both Fed
erals and Confederates, and it partly ac-
counted for the comparatively few men
who were hit in battle. 1t was only
when there was work at close quarters
that the danger was really great, and
even then the proportion of killed was
surprising ly small.
In recent years the regulars have had
to do target practice, a thing positively
unknown in the volunteer army. There
were thousands upon thousands of men
who never fired a gun until they were in
battle The example of the regulars has
been followed by the National Guard in
many States. The Continentals knew
how to shoot, but majority of the vol.
unteers in the civil war knew nothing
about the elevation of their pieces for
long distance firing. Except in close
quarters war between the armies of the
sixties was not nearly rs dangerous as
the roar Of the battlefield seemed to in
dicate. The loss OF life and limb. too
from shells was insignificant among men
in line of battle.
The invasion OF Cuba might make
the Roosevelt regiment useful, but nearly
half OF the $500 Cubans in arms are
mixed cavalry and mounted infantry
acclinated and familiar witt the
couhtry. That remarkable triumphant
march OF Gomez and Maceo in the
autum and winter Of 1895 made them ac
quainted with most of the territor,
where there is likely to be any inland
fighting. Still, it is well that this arm
of the service should be maintained
Mounted men have received too little
encouragement in the State military
service, considering the proof they gave
during the civil war of their usefulness
There are good many ri1emen in
this country whose aim is true In every
town, nearly, there are rifle clubs witt
a long-distance rarge on which the
record would not disgrace the crack
shots OF Creedmoor. There are also many
horsemen, although the English fielC
sports have never been popular enough
to make rough riding an object OF ambi
| ton.
A modern army, with its bicycle corps
and balloon apparatus is incomplete
without mounted ritlemen armed witt
something heavier than the light cavalr,
carbine and capable OF hitting things a
which they shoot. In our former war i
was the rarest thing for a man on th'
skirmish line to be hit, although th'
line was in advance of the line of battle
Only sharpshooter who could hit al
object no larger than single man was
menace to the skirmisher."
GUNNERS