The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-03-18

| Watch his course and await his mature
determinations and actions
Wheeler on Our Army.
Congressman Joseph Wheeler of Ala
bama, graduate of West Point Mill
tary academy, was a lieutenant gen.
eral In the Confederate army, and is
regarded as q high authority on mill
tary affairs. In the house of repre-
sentatives he recently made a speech
on the organization of our army, and
said:
ION account of the present faulty or
ganization the officers of two companies
of infantry and four of cavalry are with
out duty with their regiments and
therefore are detailed and other useful
duty is performed by them. 1t brings
up also the point Of the Importance Of
prompt action on the part of congress
to modernize the army.
every member of this house is aware
that in the present condition of supe-
rior artillery arms that corps has be-
come the scientific corps of the army,
and the only officers of the army who
do really scientific military duty. That
corps has always in full armies, been
more scientific than any other branch.
More than hundred years ago, when
Napoleon Bonaparte was a major of
artillery, he declined the position of
brigadier general of infantry because
he did not wish to leave an arm Of the
service which called for high scientific
attachments.
The Artillery Officer.
''In the early organization of our
army the proportion of our artillery far
ay0ae6ad tha roronortinn fodau Tba
reason of that was, that all realized
that the militia of the country were
ready to fill up what was necessary of
the infantry arm; but they also realized
that it took many years to make an
artillery officer. What was true. then
is doubly and trebly true now. In the
last twenty years the artillery arm of
the service in all countries has become
more and more scientific, until today
the qualifications necessary for non
commissioned officers is such that it
is very difficult to secure men who can
properly fill those positions. 1t needs
a corps of men who are really expert
machinists. The first military text
book on artillery that / ever read was
by TirouX, French work in the French
language. The first paragraph says:
the construction, preservation and use
of all machines used in war;.
81 quote this entirely from memory, as
I have not seen the book for forty
years. The purpose of organization is
to so arrange individuals as to make a
given number of men the most efficient
possible in battle.
What Armies Are For.
"Parades and matters Of ceremony
are all very we'll and are pleasing to
spectators, but armies are raised for the
sole purpose of engaging in actual bat
tie, and it is a neglect which seems to
me almost criminal, for congress to
hesitate in enacting laws which will
have the effect to give the brave men
who are to fight our battles, the great
est possible efficiency and the certainty
that their courage and sacrifice will be
rewarded with the best possible re-
suits.
1.-THE present organization of our
army is based upon experiences in bat
ties under conditions very different
from what they are today.
I'm olden times the armies were
marched to battle in dense masses, the
Grecian phalanx generally having two
lines Of ten ranks each and the Roman
legion having as many as sixteen ranks.
"As implements of war were i'm
proved the number of ranks was grad
ually reduced. Two hundred years ago
no armies went to battle with more
than three ranks. Napoleon's lines
never contained more than two ranks,
and the battles in the future will be
fought with the one-rank system.
These changes require a radical mod
of the tactical system and
army organization.
Far Superior Than in 1861.
six infantry soldiers, thoroughly
drilled and skilled in the use of the
modern infantry weapon, are as eff
cient in actual battle as fifty men were
in 1861, with their inferior arms,
meagre instruction and imperfect dis
cipline.
"A single one Of the superior field
guns which we now have. in the hands
of skillful men, will do more execution
than the best battery of six guns which
was accepted by the government in
1851
scientific knowledge and mechanical
skill are the elements which must be
depended upon for success in future
wars.
my view IL that the proportion Of
artillery in our army during time Of
peace should far exceed the proper pro-
portion in actual war. No one will
question but that comparatively eff
cient infantry can always be obtained
from the numerous infantry organiza-
tions which exist in the various states,
while to make a skillful artillery off,
Ger or soldier is the work Of many
years. This was the controlling prin-
ciple that prevailed in the early his
tory of our country.
ION Oct. 8, 1887, the army was or
ganized and provided with 294 artillery
men and 500 infantrymen, the artillery
being more than one-third of the army.
On April 30, 1890, the law provided for
3A artillerymen and 912 infantrymen.
Thus the artillery branch Of the service
was exactly one-third Of the infantry
line.
To Defend Our Seacoasts.
by the acts of 1900 and 1902 the in
fantry was so reduced that one-half
of the army was composed of artillery.