Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-08-25

the extent that we are without trained
soldiers for the time of war. In a peri
cd of passionate excitement and great
public confusion we have seen an army
of 1000, 900 men lay down its preroga-
two and throw its weight upon the side
of peace and domestic prosperity. Mill
tary knowledge and efficiency in the
possession Of and sole control of tho
people cannot be dangerous, since they
will use it solely for the public veal.
Thus far the war with Spain has
shown the value Of military training.
The navy has been getting ready for
actual service for ten years past. 1t has
more than justified expectations, and cv-
cry ship brought into action has been
ably handled. Tho officers are either
veterans or men taken in hand by tho
veterans when they were just out of the
smoke of battle. The same can be said
of the army on the whole, but the army
also shows the other side of the case.
The regulars entered the conflict in
Cuba thoroughly prepared by long serv-
ice in struggling warfare OH the plains
They were led by generals, colonies and
majors, even captains, in some in
stances, who served in the civil war.
Fighting side by side with them the
militia and volunteers showed the same
| physical courage and the same indomita-
BILE spirit, but they often lacked good
company and battalion leaders. Not that
the captains and lieutenants and majors
were wanting in bravery. They simply
| Il Il tA do 10.
cies. The more the zeal of volunteers
! the more serious their plumbers. There
! is time to rush ahead, a time to stand
and wait and time 70 retreat, and the
leader who does not know in nick o.
time the right thing to do is failure.
! Courage canpot do duty for knowledge
and presence of mind Old soldiers are
very tolerant about excusing the mis-
takes of novices, providing bravery is
shown, but these kindly afterthoughts
do not remedy the blunders.
One sees by reading between the lines
of the accounts from Santiago that the
volunteer officers, in spite of their high
motive and bursting energy, didn't
know what to do when they found their
lines in range of unseen foes on field
broken with gullies, ridges and thick
cts, which separated the commands
from one another and from the generals.
Those arc the emergencies that try the
| licuteDants, captains, majors and colo
nels. They should save their men from
useless slaughter and lead them to ef-
fective attack upon the enemy. For such
emergencies there is no man so capable
for a company, battalion and regimental
leader as one who has sprung from the
ranks. The veteran officers who gave
such good account of themselves at San
tiago entered the army originally as
private soldiers.
The army lost few years ago, in
the death of General A. V. Kautz, q
splendid type of soldier who had risen
from the lowest round of the ladder to
the highest. \ good soldier, a good Off
Ger i'll peace and in war. General Kautz
was also patriot and a student of mil
itary systems and of military progress.
Ten years ago no published a paper
which now reads like prophecy, advo-
eating the Improvement of the standing
thousands of trained soldiers capable of
leading raw levies in time of war
General Kautz was born i'll Germany
and entered the American army as q
private in the volunteers during the
war with Mexico After the war he
took the course at West Point and re-
manned in service until his death, pass
ing through many stirring Indian cam
paigns and the whole Of the civil war.
At the end of the war he held the rank
of major general of volunteers and of
lieutenant colonel in the regular army.
His 40 years of military experience in
Guided two years asa volunteer private,
four years at West Point, nine years as
company officer in the Indian CAM
paigns, four years as general OF a
brigade and division and 80 years in
fgarrison and active campaign duty in
command of regiment of regulars
Briefly General Kautz's plan for the
improvement of the military force of
the nation was the elevation of the
standard of the common soldiers to q
point which would qualify them as off,
GERS for volunteer forces. a soldier dis
charged after five years service was t.
be looked upon as an army graduate, u
and the training received in the army
would equal that given in high class
military school. Familiarity with the
military systems of Germany and other
European nations as we'll as with our
peculiar military needs, qualified him
TO be critic and an originator.
; General Kautz considered long term
of routine military service merely arbi'
trary, because in Germany the recruit
who has acquired certain standard Of
mental efficiency is compelled to serve
but one year with his regiment. Those
held longer are retained for the purpose
Of completing their education. The
German army, he said, was school fol-
, the spread of education among thu
masses. He declared that the United
States army should be a school for en-.
listed men who should not be re-enlist
ed, but returned to their homes to act
as Instructors for the militia.
The whole system of drill in vogue
in this country, the general said, wal
out of place, being borrowed from coun
tries which invented it for the purpose o.
keeping large standing armies employed
in time of peace. 1t has no value in thu
actual warfare in which we engage
The most valuable ssesvioe OF our reg
ular soldiers, In tthe main. Is 70 ssrv'
40 machines and hfford EmitAd elias