Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-16

|
battery for the obvious purpose o
picking of gunners when the assault
should be made. We were lying. man,
| infantry regiments. in the rear of tn
battery, to he used or not. accordin:
10 the success or failure of the attack
While waiting for the movement.
sharpshooter ii our front amused him
self by shooting at conspicuous mount
| ed men. such as aides and orderlies
who came riding up the hill. He wa.
| 4 very uncommon markSman TIL.
distance seemed too great for effectiv.
| shooting. yet he had wounded two off
| GERS, shot the horse of an aide, and sen
his bullets Whistling so close to tn,
ears of two other officers that the,
dismounted in haste, though they
must have known they would be chafr
ed by the idle soldiers. as they We're.
An infantry officer who sat on
cracker box With his back against tn,
earthWorks, smoking his pipe. under
| took to warn mounted officers Wht
| came that way. Soon he called one o
| his men ana instructed him to go tC
| the next regiment. the SiXty-siXtl
| Illinois, | think, for a crack shot. TIL,
soldier returned with a man WHOSE
stopped shoulders made him appea,
anything but soldierly This sharp.
shooter carried his rifle. not muskat
in his hand like a careful hunter. IN
stead of on his shoulder AS n,
stopped to talk With the officer. whC
now stood and pointed with his pipt
toward a clump of distant trees, h,
took out a piece of chamois and SLOWLY
,>rrl ri,
to shoot for d prize.
while the officer and the sharp
| shooter We're talking an orderly. mount
| ed on a big horse, came tearing III
from the town. Obviously he had /;
| message, was in haste, and was un
certain where to SO. He had stopped
| below TO ask question, then dug
| snowy Mexican spur into his horse
which almost leaped up the slope Tn,
rider stopped him with jerk, to speal
to the officer with the pipe. but hi,
question was never asked He raised
his hand to Il salute, gave a gasp
clutched at lie air, and fell over, to be-
dra sSed'with one foot in the strrul
down the slope by the frightened
horse.
After single glance at the body .
the orderly bounding away over tn,
rough ground, the sharpshooter ad
justed his sights with deliberation
rested his gun on the earthworks ant
fired at a spot where a puff of smoke
indicated the marksman who had sho
the orderly. 1t was a long shot ant
| the chances seemed all against its be
| ing effective, at least at a first at
| tempt. After the shot a cheer went III
along the line back of him. the mel
| rising in disorder. Something ha(
| rolled out of a tree across the opel
space.
"A mounted officer in brilliant trap
pings came up and stopped. but no sho
| disturbed him. There was no doub
| that the something that had rolled gu
Of the tree was the Confederate sharp
| shooter.
without looking again in the direc
ton of his great shot and without pay
ing any attention to the cheers. the ole
| marksman took out his pipe with os
tentatious Indifference. lighted it ant
walked slowly back to his regiment.
such shooting is for the borl
marksman. 1t was discovered tina
most soldiers did not shoot Well The,
N.AANN''hH-
to fire too high. This was the cas-
with both Federals and Confederates
and it partly accounted for the com
paratively few men who Were hit IL
battle. 1t was only when there wa
work q close quarters that the DANCE
was really great. and even then tn
proportion of killed was surprisingl,
small. In recent years the regular
| l., I
positively unknown in the Voluntee
army. There were thousands upol
thousands of men who never fired
gun until they We're in battle. TIL
example of the regulars has been fol
lowed by the National Guard in man
States. The Continentals knew hoy
to shoot, but a majority of the volun
lteers in the civil war knew nothing
tabout the elevation of their pieces 70
Hong distance firing. Except in clos
quarters war between the armies of tn
sixties was not nearly az dangerous a
the roar Of the battlefield seemed t
lindicate. The loss Of life and limb. too
4 from shells was insignificant among
men in line of battle.
"The invasion of Cuba might max
the Roosevelt regiment useful blu
nearly half of the $4,000 Cubans /
arms are mixed cavalry and mounte
infantry, acclimated and familiar wit
the country. That remarkable tri
umphant march Of Gomez and Mace
in the autumn and winter of 1895 mad
} them acquainted with most Of the ter
ritory where there is likely to be an
inland fighting. Still, it is well tina
this arm of the service should b
, maintained Mounted men have re
ceived too little encouragement in tn
State military service. considering tn
proof they gave during the civil war c
. their usefulness. There are goo
, many rifle men in this country who's
, aim is true. In every town, nearly
there are rifle clubs with lOnSdls
tance range on which the record Woul
not disgrace the crack shots of Greed
moor. There are also many horSemel
although the English field sports haV
never been popular enough to max
rough riding an object of ambition.
modern army, with its bicycle corp
and balloon apparatus, is complet
without mounted rifemen armed wit
something heavier than the light cav
airy carbine and capable of hittin
things at which they shoot. In on
f,,.,,,a, x..ar was he r3 rest thing II