The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-09-05
Lessons Learned
in a Dear School
From the Philadelphia Press.

m EFORE the present agitation IS
lOD over and in particular when an
I'M adequate investigation is ordered
lO into the condition and conduct of
army, as one should be, this nom
military country is likely to learn how
complex a machine an army is and how
necessary are skill and training in all its
parts if its men are to be kept in health
and strength and saved from disease. The
vague idea and loose conception which
underlies the public indignation at The
condition of the army is that soldiers
take care of themselves and officers have
Eothing to do but teach them to drill, to
shoot and to lead their men with bralvry,
while the WAR Department" is respon-
sible for all the rest. But as a matter of
fact an army is vast complicated ma
chine, in which the skilled personal care
of men,, company by company regiment
by regiment and brigade by brigade, is
Indispensable. Unless this skilled care
exists trouble is sure to follow.
Camp Thomas, at Chickamauga, has an
evil reputation, justly earned The con-
dition of the men there and their illness
show most serious lacks in their care.
Among many other lacks for which 9TH
ers are responsible the Chattanooga
Times describes these in a recent edito-
rial letter: Riding through the camp,
but week ago, the writer saw bedding,
on the ground, under the dog tents, on
which bedding mold had grown. 1t must
have been there at least a week and men
We're sleeping on it. We saw kitchens and
sinks within 100 feet of each other. We
saw whole regiments, from the tents of
which not a rag of clothing or bedding
had been removed for an airing, at noon
of that day. In fact, we saw, in some of
the commands, every provision for MAX
ing the men sick, and we marveled that
the companies were able to turn out a
sergeants squad apiece. These are no
new facts. They have been stated a hun
dred times in our columns in many
forms. and the secretary of war admits
their truth"
Who is responsible for this particular
lack of care? The officers in immediate
command of the men. Neither the war
department, from Secretary Alger down,
nor the staff in all it's departments can
preserve the health of soldiers if their
regimental and company officers have not
been trained in the care or men in the
field and do not enforce compliance with
regulations on points like these. When
l2O0 men, fresh from comfortable homes
and in the habit of eating three good
meals a day, are camped for three months
on the same piece of ground. highly
trained skill is needed to prevent disease
or fever and the brief experience of a
weeks annual camp cannot give this
skill. Even when, as in the regiments of
this state, special effort had been made
for years to train officers, in more than
one instance the health of a carefully
watched Pennsylvania regiment has been
put in peril by regiments from other
states with careless officers.
o
Tents must be aired, bedding must be
summed, the camp must be kept strictly
poiced, latrnes must be looked after,
garbage must be disposed of, the con-
duct of individual soldiers must be
watched and guarded and the preparation
and cooking of food by the private SOL
der must be followed day by day with a
| vgilant eye. A good company command
er in a French or German army is eX-
pected to be able to know and teach all
these things. He knows in what condi-
tion the feet of his men are and his pro-
motion will be stopped by footsore and
| lmping men on the march. He can teach
the company cook how TO make the most
| out of meager ration, and day by day
in active service he watches the uni
| forms and has them kept in condition
| An i'll man In his company for any cause
| he could have prevented gets the officer
| into trouble, and the excessive brutality
| of the drill-grourd is matched by minute
| care of the physical well-being of each
| soldier. Unless this manifold care ex-
| lists camp fevers follow, typhoid runs riot
| and camp becc mes, as Camp Thomas
did, uninhabitablo, But the trade of TAX
| ing care of men in camp and under the
conditions of military service is a trade
that has to be learned as much as any
other. How many regimental officers in
| the volunteer regiments organized last
| spring could teach their men how TO
| COOK their rations? How many had
| learned from instruction and experience
the manifold precautions as to tents,
| bedding, blankets, shoes, clothing sinks,
| garbage and waste of all kinds indis-