The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-18
H.P.WassOn&


the old one, and both officers at the con-
clusion of the ceremony report to the COM
manning officer in his Office for. orders. The
guard IS divided into three reliefS-frst, Sec
ond and third. Each man has two hours on
post ana four hours off. For instance, sup
pose there are three posts to walk, just
as there are here No. is at the guard
house, No. at the commissary and quarter
master storehouseSs and No. at the hays
stacks The cavalry take care of their own
stock and guard their own stables The first
rellef consisting of as many sentinels as
there are posts to guard goes on duty at
o'clock and comes off at IL. Second relief Is
on post from II to 1, and the third relief
iron from ! to 3. BY this time the first relief
has had four hours rest, and begins sentry
duty again at o'clock D. M. being sue
ceeded at o'clock by the second relief who
his been taking il easy for the last four
equalized, giving each man of the guard
eight hours on post and sixteen hours rest.
me tour of guard duty here comes to each
enlisted man about once in every six days,
or from four to five times a month. So much
for the guard. Those not on guard duty have
other things to look after
Drill call is sounded at $3.50 o'clock prompt
ly and precisely, according to order, no mat
ter if it be raining pitchforks or blowing
time is kept up within doors, for sixty
minutes. OF course, no movements can be
performed in the limited space Of the squad
ROOM simply the manual of arms, bayonet
drill and the like, receive the strictest at
tention from all hands. A commissioned
officer is the instructor at drills. Retreat
call is at sunset, tattoo about $3.50 O'Clock.
and taps TO extinguish the lights about
fifteen minutes later.
FOR RECREATION.
For amusements the officers have a club
room, and so have the soldiers, too, for that
matter. The post trader supplies the lux
uries, and in return has the monopoly of
what trade there is in it. At the billiard or
pool tables of some of our frontier posts
may he seen men who are truly experts
forts is for the benefit Of officers and en-
listed men alike. Light wines, beer anu
cider are sold at almost cost prices, but
whisky is not allowed under any pretense
to be within the limits of the garrison.
After many years service in some particu-
lar regiment the soldier has the esprit de
corps, and he takes a certain pride in his
profession and what he is about The bands
of the military service, with hardly an ex-
cepton, fine bodies of musicians, and
capable of holding their own against ali
Corners in or out of the army. At an iso-
thoroughly appreciated. Hops, concerts,
dances, card parties, dinners, theatricais
and various other amusementS are the orr
der, when they are cut off from the outside
world and the rest of civilization by the
icy letters of winter A visitor at the post
is made much of. He or she is dined, feted
and danced. In summer the guest Is driven
or ridden across the country to the Indian
camp. over the bluffs or along the river
Oank, back ana 1OfIn, mere ana Inefe ana
everywhere, to his or her hearts content.
In winter, on bobs and behind a merry set
Of jingling sleigh-bells, away he goes spin
ming over the prairie in and out among the
sagebrush, getting as much enjoyment out
of the square inch as the air, country and
surroundings are capable of offering. This
is a pleasant picture to contemplate, but all
these little diversions are dearly bought by
isolation in a wild partly settled country.
without theaters, opera, shopping or any or
the ordinary enJoyments that people con-
slider part and parcel Of their existence.
In fair weather great attention is given
to target practice There was time when
the average soldier of The line could not
hit a flock of barns, although he might
have been armed with a double-barreled
repeating shotgun. 1t used to be said, too,
that during the civil war a man with a gun
would have to shoot away his own weight
in lead before he could hit anybody. All
that is changed now. 1t would surprise peo-
pie to know to what degree of fine marks
manShip the soldier has been brought by
the excellent system of rifle instruction now
in vogue At fixed distances, or rather with
single shots at an object, the soldiers or our
line can more than hold their own against
the line of any other army on earth to-day.
European armies neglect craftsmanship as
an important adjunct Of a soldiers life.
But the tendency Of modern warfare Is
to fight no longer in solid brigade. with
intervals of from one to five yards between
individuals, and backed up by artillery.
Were the civil war to be fought over, with
all the late improvements, there would be
no four or five years of long drawn out
conflict. The unpleasantness would be set-
tied in less than a twelvemonth. a slSlr-
mish line of any OF our regiments to-day
would do twenty times the execution OF a
similar line of twenty-five years ago. The
reason is that the soldier IS taught as his
first duty how to handle and get the most
out of his piece. A visit to any one of the
annual rifle competitions held at various
points throughout the United States would
convince the most skeptical, beyond all
question Of doubt, that Uncle Sans troops
are now an army of marksmen ana sharp
shooters instead of mob OF raw, undisci-
pIined Verdant recruits.