The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-12-25
ARTILLERY ORGANIZATION.

The relation of the artillery Organization
to the work that the army was to perform
may be best understood by brief refer.
ence to it1 history. Our present system
oates back to 1921, when the first fou,
regiments were organized The Fifth regt.
men. was addsd in SCI and the Sixth and
seventh in 1898. Now, when first organ
ized-tha. is, Ia 1S2l---the quest on of coas,
defense was not nearly so important "a n
| 10 .oiaS ana CONSEQUENTLY the question al
o'Sahl1atloD was not so Important Mors-
over TINS relarve uttmportance OF DO h
luhollohs ana of Organization continued for
many yeara--in fact, down to 1861, On III a
othe' hand there were questions befor.
| tEa coutNhy that made the services of IN
Injury OF very great Importance and hen;.
we ma the artillery almost continuously
use u as infantry. Thus in the Mexican war
! thtee- tourihs Of the artillery was us.d :,
infantry. II was armed ard eo,r,prei' Nc M
Iahtry ana served as such, not ONLY in
MeAico, put also in Florida during the
Seuflhoie trouble. on the plains and alsa-
where, even in the forts.
When tho civil war broke ont in 1se,
an tho lort batteries heretofore armed IA
equipptd and serving as nfaatry were co ~
v~iea INTO Light batteries, only to resume
nft
Appomattox. suits "i1'r
IN tho bill under discussion. tho ,,,,,
Der OF artillery untts (batteries) WINS nh-
'iiheu IRON consideration of the nun,ha
W gun posltions to be manned. You mn,
nave NJ the limit as many batiarles nc
you nave gun Positions Further these ha,
.erles must be grouped in suffic!ent Nun
pels AZ each harbor TO man all the guns in
aiiat harDcT' Evidently the idea Of the
at, eiNens aoes not come forward here 3
al ana Tor good rea on; there il "a ra.
lalioo between the regiment as n uni, an,
ina work to be done by the artiIlery NV
other words, the essential of artsllery ~
eahzsticn Is the battery, these ba,.erIa.
be'hg grouped according to the neeossi,i ies
OF each case, necessities differing t,or'
harbor to harbor ''oni
me conditions are entirely different ,or
'niahry and cavalry. In thesa each Ill
vlduai carries weapon. whfb H. ''n,'
Ease win the artillery when used ne 80
me iSatlng strength OF infantry mr. CO.
any Is measured by the number OF wean
gus IL can bring into line, but M src1
measure can be uniformly appliel =, ~
arlNery. Experience has shown hat ,he
Iesihennl organlzation is suited 10 tse
,nldnlry ana 70 the cavalry, the uni. Co
ieeteu-hamely, the regiment-belng the
glesI,est number OF mussets and NJ 80 |
RESPECTIVELY that can be directly ro,t,,i,.s
by Ole man. and this unit IL na,asso 90 |
one iSut evidently NO such necessity ex.
lists in the artillery GA
why then, perpetuate a system TIM. =,
essentlallysa relic of the past and who,,.,
out OF harmony with present and u.I,i
future conditions? There is M sem. ~
conencted with the maintenance a, ,,i
reeimental organization. bc,susa "a
ready explained, the chances .ra az
an officer serving wholly In ore r.sn,
For the purely local feeling for M ~ ~
ment alone has been substituted 8. row,
reni.0'F OF pThe IN tAs arm rs Will
feeling born OF the desire to see IRIS ,,rn
neglecied arm at last riss 10 a fu,i 80,
cation OF rs opportunities and ,,s dn.,s
Let n be horne in mind how co-nn,s,aDa,;
is the artillery service: how r,,v a,r W
ent kinds OF riims 4 has to serva. ~. 4.
future II VIII he charged with tho ta, AZ
service end frat the nah,ra n, o.,t,,"
service IN general will 5anena a,.i..-,
npon local conitions. co,asions 49,. 81.
fer from harbor to harbor. and I, y. ~.
once evident that an arbitrary dlvrs,on ~ y,
the personnel into res'msnts Is i7h.ean,,,,
vicious The corns Svs'em. on no 10y
hand. gives the artillery ire a,s,nt,s ,,,...
ard flexihl'ty ihrt ora demandad H.. -.
ever varying conditions OF VS. service 'ae
In respect OF tina number M h,t,.
raised by this bill one arerrmsn. or,,.
be brought up II the necessary na,s. 49,
is not to be provided. why. are ,,,,,.i
appropriated every year for suns ana snr,',