The Portland daily press., 1898-12-26
OUR REGULAR ARMY.
Chairman Hull Explains the Provis-
ions of HIS Bill.


Washington, December 24.-Represen-
tative Hull, chairman of the military
committee of the House, today filed
with the clerk his report on the bill for
the increase of the regular army. After
detailing the amendments adopted in the
all of which was sent out IN
the Associated Press dispatches, the re-
port says:
The bill fixes no maximum strength
for the entire army. Assuming that the
government will require about 100, 900
for the defence of the frontier, for coast
defence and to maintain our authority in
the islands for whose good order and
government this nation is now response
BILE, together with reasonable reserve
force, the bill provides for the regiments
of cavalry and infantry, to provide the
number required for each arm of the
service, and corps of artillery for our
sea coast batteries, with two regiments
of artillery for field batteries.
The committee believe the organiza-
ton as provided in this bill will make
the most efficient military organization
proposed by any bill before Congress.
The organization of the cavalry as
provided in the bill is substantially the
same organization now provided for by
law. The change IN the present organ
ization is making fifteen captains in
place of twelve and providing for COM
missary of the regiment
By this increase of rank the adjutant.
quartermaster and commissary are
given the rank of captain and commits
sary sergeant is also added. The fifteen
first lieutenants provided leave three
first lieutenants for each regiment to be
available as squadron adjutants.
The organization of artillery provided
for in the bill changes from the regimen
tai formation to that of corps of artil-
lery and as the artillery arm has SO
grown in Importance the committee feel
justified in submitting the full reasons
for the change.
The relation of artillery organization
to the work that the army was to per-
form may be best understood by brief
reference to it's history. Our present
system dates back to 1921, when the
first four regiments were organized. The
fifth regiment was added in 1861 and the
sixth and seventh in 1898.
Now, when first organized, that is in
1921, the question of coast defence was
not nearly SO important as it is today.
and consequently the question of organi-
cation was not so Important. Moreover,
this relative importance of both func-
lions and of organization continued for
many years-in fact, down to 1861.
On the other hand there were ques-
lions before the country that made the
services of infantry of very great i'm
portance, and, hence, we find the artil-
lery almost constantly used as infantry.
Thus in the Mexican war, three-fourths
OF the artillery was used as infantry.
When the Civil war broke out in 1861 all
the four batteries armed and equipped
and serving as infantry were converted
into light batteries. In the bill under
discussion the number of artillery units
(batteries) was obtained from a consid-
Grafton of the number of gun positions
to be manned. You must have, at the
limit, as many batteries as you have gun
positions.
Further, these batteries must be
grouped in sufficient numbers at each
harbor to man all the guns in that har-
Dor. Evidently the idea of the regiment
does not come forward here at all, and
for good reason: There is no relation
between the regiment as unit and the
work to be done by the artillery. In
other words the essential of artillery or
ganization is the battery.
These batteries are grouped accord
ing to the necessities of each case, nee
essarily differing from harbor to harbor.
The conditions are entirely different for
infantry and cavalry. In these each in
dividuaI carries weapon, which is not
the case with the artillery when used as
such.
The fighting strength of infantry or
cavalry is measured by the number OF
the weapons it can bring into line; but
no such measure can be uniformly APP
piled to the artillery.
Experience has shown that the regi-
mental organization is suited to the in
fantry and to the cavalry, the unit Sc
lected. namely, the regiment, being the
greatest number of muskets and Of
sabres respectively that can be directly