The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-22
THE REGULAR IS THE MAN
GENERAL HAWKINS TALKS OF HIS
SUPERIOR QUALIFICATIONS
The Volunteer Is as Good a Soldier
When Trained-EIow to Command
and How to obey, the Art of War.
New York Commercial Advertiser.


and the regulars doesn't appear to be clear
ly understood, although it has been much
discussed said Brig. Gen. II. s. Hawkins
to-day. I'm ashamed Of that wound" he
added parenthetically, noticing the glance
directed at his foot, for he had on the same
shoe that he wore when he was shot. and
which showed two small holes where the
bullet had passed. Fellows who were bad
~ wounded down there some of whom were
reported mortally hurt, are alive and hearty
now, and they come around here twitting
me about my foot, which somehow is very
slow in getting well. The wound never
amounted to much. merely a clean bullet
hole through one of the bones of the instep.
while some of my comrades were shot right
through the body and are just as well as
ever to-day.
However. to get back to our subject
The distinction between volunteers and reg
uiars is inherent in the nature of things
After three or four years service there is
no difference, except in name, but our little
war was so brief that the volunteers did
not acquire the necessary experience and
to the last they remained volunteers. Sup
pose we had big street riot here in New
York. and for some reason it were neces-
sary to organize a posse of citizens to quell
it. Compare such a posse with your reg
ular police force and you have exactly the
difference between the volunteer and the
regular. The former, like the posse of cit
izens, is hastily summoned for a special
purpose, and all his interests, all his feel
ings and almost all his wishes. save for the
moment, are not IN the work at hand. He
cannot be expected to face death with the
same nonchalance as the policeman or the
regular, to whom facing death is only a
~f
days work. as it were. ] do not mean to
suggest that there is any difference in
courage; quite the contrary. What l want
TO bring out is that an action which to the
volunteer must be extraordinary and un-
usual to an uncommon degree is to the
regular but little more than routine.
The and substance of military
knowledge might be put into two simple
phrases How to command and How to
obey, and without experience one can no
more be acquired than the other. The only
trouble with the volunteers was that they
lacked experience. Obedience is the key
note of military service-implcit. unques-
tioning, immediate obedience TO the orders
OF superior-and that can be acquired
only through long training. While l hon
estly believe that troops are superior to
z those of any other nation in this world,
man for man or regiment for regiment, it
IS not by individuals that battles are won.
but by armies. The individual qualities of
the soldier in the aggregate form a mighty
force; singly they make for disruption no
matter how commendabe they may be in
themselves. 1t is the fine training they
have received which has made our troops
as believe them to be when properly off,
cered invincibIe. Our regulars have learned
TO obey and when say that / am paying
them the highest compliment which, as SOL
diers. they could receive.
FINE PHYSIQUES.
There is another element in the superior
sly of the regular as part Of a fighting ma
chine which has been brought out in strong
relief by this war. 1 refer to the high
physical standard in our army, a standard
far higher than that in any European army
Prior to the war each captain knew that he
had a BODY of exceptional men, better men,
in fact, than, as his own experience had
taught him. were commonly found in an
army What he did not know until we all
got together in Tampa. that every other
captain had company of equally good
men, But it did not take them long to
learn that lesson, and the thoroughness
with which they learned it was proved by
the spirit and dash of our men in Cuba
Livery captain in the army knew that he
would have to keep his company moving
lively If he did not wish to be run over by
those behind him.
For some years past physical examina-
tons in the army have been SO severe that
none but the best men could enlist. | think
every commanding officer who watches his
men closely echoed the opinion of General
Miles when he said that he never wished to
command a finer body of men than those in
our regular army. In the nature of things
the volunteer force, which was hurriediy
mustered in after a physical examination
which must in many cases have been per-
functory, could not be expected to reach
the same high standard, and even had they
possessed il, lacking the element of i'm
plicit and prompt obedience, they could not
have maintained their health to the same
degree as the regulars. The comparative
immunity of the regulars from sickness has
been pointed out but the real reason for II
lies, in my opinion, in the high physical
standard of the army 1t stands to reason
that men i'll the. finest physical condition,
Injured to hardship. drilled for years to act
in certain way, and accustomed TO act
on the instant, when ordered, without a
themselves, must in the nature of things.
form a more effective body of fighters than
any possible collection of men hastily gath
cred together for specific purpose. no mat
ter how brave and willing the latter may be.
MORE FIGHTING TO DO.
For real effectiveness. therefore. I am
strongly of the opinion that we must have
regulars. With such men as we had in
Cuba our officers need never hesitate to
face the troops of any other nation when
the conditions are anything like equal. OF
course. in Cuba our men did not have an
opportunity to demonstrate what they could
do. The Spanish operations were entirely
defensive. They allowed us to land through
the surf without molestation. and, what sur
prised us most. we conducted our march on
Santiago without resistance, over road
which offered u thousand opportunities for
opposition.
I'VE found the Spanish in the same pc
culiar attitude when we stormed San Juan
hill. CThe newspapers by the way, have
always confounded San Juan fort. which
was stormed by my brigade occupying the
extreme left. and San Juan house or ha-
cienda, about 400 yards to the northeast on
the same ridge, which was taken by the
cavalry) The enemy acted only on the
defensive We found the intrenchments of
the Spaniards to be real trenches, breast
high to a man, and with provision for
getting the men out rapidly. so that they
could neither advance when they had an
advantage nor retreat when resistance was
hopeless without actually scaling the
anything like it, Had they thrown up in
trenchments such as we use, just high
enough in front to protect the men while
prone upon the ground and open in the
rear, they could have retreated down the
slope to the southwest and, taking position
on a spur or cross hill which occurred
there they could have enfiladed our line
and effectively checked our advance But
their deep trenches were their undong.
added General Hawkins, that we are not
yet through with the fighting. | do not
agree with the statement credited to Gen.
Wheeler that we. shall have fighting in the
philippines: believe that the diplomats can
settle all the questions that arise there
But l do think that we shall have need
for good many troops in Cuba before very
long. From what ! know of the Cuban
insurgents look for trouble there"
KAN w METS CRIME.