The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-03-15

siue or Jackson, Lincoln and Grant.
watch his course and await his mature
determinations and actions. N
Wheeler ON Our Army. gl
Congressman Joseph Wheeler of Ala
pama' graduate OF West Point Mill
tary academy, was a lieutenant gem
erai In the Confederate army, and is
regarded as high authority on mill
tary aHairs. In the house Of repre-
sentatives he recently made a speech
on the organization of our army, and
said:
On account OF the present faulty or
ganization the officers Of two companies
or infantry and four of cavalry are with
out DUTY with their regiments and
therefore are detailed and other useful
duty Is performed by them. 1t brings
up also the point OF the Importance of
| prompt action on the part Of congress
| to modernize the army.
Every member of this house is aware
| that in the present condition of supe-
rlor artillery arms that corps has be-
| come the scientific corps Of the army,
and the only officers of the army who
do really scientific military duty. That
corps has always, in full armies, been
| more scientific than any other branch.
More than hundred years ago, when
Napoleon Bonaparte was a major of
artillery, he declined the position OF
brigadier general of infantry because
he did not wish to leave an arm OF the
service which called for high scientific
| attachments.
The Artillery Ofcer.
I'm the early organization of our
army the proportion of our artillery far
exceeded the proportion today The
reason of that was, that all realized
that the militia of the country were
| ready to fill up what was necessary Of
the infantry arm; but they also realized
that it took many years to make an
artillery officer. What was true then
is doubly and trebly true now. In the
last twenty years the artillery arm of
the service in all countries has become
more and more scientific, until today
the qualifications necessary for non
commissioned officers is such that it
is very difficult to secure men who can
properly fill those positions. 1t needs
corps of men who are really expert
machinists. The first military text
book on artillery that l ever read was
by Tiroux, a French work in the French
language The first paragraph says:
1.-The science of artillery consists in
the construction, preservation and use
| of all machines used in war
81 quote this entirely from memory as
have not seen the book for forty
years. The purpose of organization is
to so arrange individuals as to make a
given number of men the most efficient
| possible in battle.
| What Armies Are For.
"Parades and matters of ceremony
| are all very we'll and are pleasing to
| spectators, but armies are raised for the
sole purpose Of engaging in actual bat
! tie, and il is a neglect which seems to
me almost criminal, for congress to
| hesitate in enacting laws which will
| have the effect to give the brave men
who are to fight our battles. the great
est possible efficiency and the certainty
| that their courage and sacrifice will be
| rewarded with the best possible re-
| suits.
THE present organization Of oul
| army is based upon experiences in bat
| ties under conditions very different
from what they are today.
I'm olden times the armies were
marched to battle in dense masses, the
Grecian phalanx generally having two
lines of ten ranks each and the Roman
legion having as many as sixteen ranks
"As implements Of war were i'm
proved the number of ranks was grad
| ually reduced. Two hundred years age
no armies went to battle with more
than three ranks Napoleons line!
never contained more than two ranks
| and the battles in the future will b'
fought with the one-rank system
These changes require radical mod
ification of the tactical system anC
army organization.
Far Superior Than in 1861.
six infantry soldiers, thorough,
drilled and skilled in the use Of thu
modern infantry weapon. are as eff
cient in actual battle as fifty men wer'
in 1861, with their inferior arms
meagre instruction and imperfect dis
cipline.
"A single one of the superior fell
guns which we now have. in the hand
of skillful men, will do more execution
than the best battery of six guns which
was accepted by the government II
1861.
scientific knowledge and mechanical
skill are the elements which must b.
| depended upon for success In iutur
| wars.
my view is that the proportion o
artillery in our army during time o
peace should far exceed the proper pro
norton in actual war. No one VII
question but that comparatively ell
cient infantry can always be obtained
from the numerous infantry organiza
tions which exist in the various states
| while to make skillful artillery Off
Ger or soldier is the work OF man.
wears. This was the controlling prin
ciple that prevailed in the early his
tory Of our country.
ION Oct. 8, 1857, the army was or
ganized and provided with 294 artillery
men and 500 infantrymen. the artiller'
being more than one-third Of the army
ON April 30, 1890, the law provided 10
so4 artillerymen and 9l2 infantrymer
Thus the artillery branch of the servic
was exactly one-third of the infantr
, | line.
To Defend Our Sracoasts.
.p,, +ba nets of 1900 and 1902 the in