The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-08-21
VOICE IN BATTLE.
Its Chief Use Is I'm Cheers for a
Charge
(From the Hartford Courantl

tfrom the Hartford Courant.)
The human voice in battle has a pecu-
liar, a precise value. That value does not
lie in the giving of orders. 1t requires no
great mental strain 10 understand that
in the heat OF an engagement the guns
do all the talking that's audible The
youthful author of THE Red Badge of
Courage represented a corporal convers-
ing freely with a cemrade at least thirty
feet away in line that was repelling
fierce Confederate onslaught. Anyone
who has spent a Fourth of July in an
American city can appreciate the absurd
ity Of that, and anyone who has ever
stood in line OF soldiers firing knows
that after the first shock to the tympan-
UNI he seems TO hear nothing whatever
the individual discharges are wholly in
distinguishable to him. and his captain
close behind him might screech his throat
out and yet make no impression Then as
the smoke settles back there is an almost
overpowering sense of isolation. You
don't realize your inability to distinguish
sounds; If you give ii thought you find
simply a vague idea that the atmosphere
Is most dense and oppressive; that YOU
are sort of shut in by some impenetra BILE
substance which you can neither see nor
Ieel National Guardsmen who have been
III Hrlng drills will remember that sensa-
ton.
with the modern rapid fire guns there's
little firing by men in mass except when
the company rallies" to repel an attack
Then circle or sami-circle is formed
around the officers and the bullets are
sent IN every direction as fast as they
can travel. In the extended order on
the sSirmish line il is impossible for
man TO hear himself think but with
line extending rods away to the right
and left, and with a strong wind blowing.
to say nothing of the musketry, the off,
GERS voice cannot be equal TO the emer-
gency. So he resorts 10 signals visual
with his sword, when smoke and land
scape will allow otherwise with the bu-
gle, or with a hoarse whistle in the hilt
of his sword. Properly drilled soldiers
of 1898 readily interpret the signals
Those with the sword are simple; those
by bugle or whistle are combinations of
long and short blasts. as for example,
One long one. Halt Two long ones
Forward" Two short ones and one
long one, ITO the rearir Two long ones
and two short ones. Commence firingi'
One long one and two short ones, Cease
firingH The non-commiss;ored officers
along the line. hearing these signals. re-
peat the commands to the men.
Aboard ship there also is great econo-
my OI vocal power. III the Steel SlOSS OF
the vessel are not being pounded by shot
and shell. the officers can make them
selves heard between shots, but their
words are few. As for the men. the ex-
peMence of an observer aboard one of
our vessels at the destruction of Cerve-
ra's fleet Is to the point He said he ex-
pected to hear the men rush TO quarters
with yell and then sheer as they saw
the enemy's discontinue. On the contra
~, the only sound was the boom of the
guns, the men going on with their work
like silent machines
Yet the human voice has its value. Who
saH say that it is any less than those
from metal throats? II comes when
there's lull in the firing when bayo-
nets are fixed, when men nerve them
selves and start forward at a run over
the short but shot-swept space between
them and the enemy. Then the voice will
make itself heard-I1o rules or regulations
ever could prevent it If they tried. Seem
ingly, it is the shout that carries the men
forward. upward. over the breastworks.
We heard considerable about the differ
entiation between the Southern cry and
the Northern cheer during the Civil War.
The former was a high keyed, piercing
yell: the latter deep-chested "Hurrah.
leaving out of the word all but the vowel
sound. How do they sound now, blend
ed? Americas foemen will never stop 20
tell C