Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-14
SPEED IN MARCHING.
Rapid Movement of Foot Soldiers 81
Great Importance.

Frcm the Contemporary Review.
Among the various qualities that go TO
make an army powerful and efficient. the
speed of the foot soldier must evidently be
one of the most important. II he be slow
OF movement he becomes but the target OF
n more active Zoe. even though armed with
more efficient weapons. The speed OF any
body of men must be the speed Of the slow
est Of their number. and the force that can
uniformly depend on travelling even little
faster than the enemy has a material adj
vantage. No English regiments have ever
been scientifically trained TO accomplish thu
feats of long and rapid marching, OF which
there are authentic records In two or three
European armies. There can be no doubt
that one OF the chief factors in the success
OF Sir Herbert kitchener's brilliant cam
paign has been the excellent marching Of
the troops. Any experiments. therefore
that are being made for a definite increase
IN the speed TO which the soldier can be
trained are worthy OF study.
The writer shows that by special training
men acquired speed in marching. and by
that means became more efficient as sol
diers. A body OF reserve artillerymen, VINO
were no longer young. after course OF
eighteen lessons, marched five miles IN Tor
ty-stx minutes. with their arms only. ana
two and one-haif miles in twenty-six min
utes with full equipment A number OF
cases are quoted where, after a rev lessons,
remarkably short time. and the value OF
this Improvement seems to be generally adj
mitted by all students of the subject.
Colonel w. II. Powell. who Is stationed et
governors Island. said that the value %
the quick march is recognized in this coun-
try, as well as 1t is abroad. and especially
by officers who have seen service on Tn"
western frontier.
.sytith nractice." he said, much time can
be saved IN marching. and ! have seen men
do in an hour what would ordinarily have
taken two hours But the speed depends SO
much on the climate and the oondiuon OF
the country that il is hard to lay down any
fixed schedule But this we know-that by
marching an hour and resting ten rinutes
a body Of men OF the ordinary KIND can
keep going at the rate OF three miles an
hour all day"
1t was explained that the length OF the
ordinary step in the United states army -
thirty inches. measured from heel 20 heel.
and the cadence Is at the rate or lb steps
a minute This was formerly ninety steps
of twenty-eight inches to the minute The
length Of the full step in double time Is
thirty-six inches, and the cadence Is at the
rate of iS0 steps a minute.
Rapid movement is spoken of by the Eng
lish writer as of prime Importance In held
maneuvers, and more so today than ever;
the time is gone by when heavy troops
composed the main body OF an army; the
lessons Of all recent campaigns Is that great
celerft, OF movement is Indispensable"
The English writer says, and many
American OTTlcefS agree WIN MIN. Inal
housekeeping soldier is as little suited for
long marches as the housekeeping horse
for a race. To march effectively is one
thing. to look pretty" another The
knees must always be bent" says the
writer, "the feet lifted no higher than nee
essary to clear the Inequalities of the
ground: the advancing foot must be placed
fat on the ground, the step being made
neither by the toe nor by the heel. The
football must be noiseless. and the steps at
first short and frequent The body must
lean well forward the back must be
straight and the mead erect the chest open
and shoulders low.
Men who served in the last war" said
member of the National Guard soon learn
ed that the armory steps were OF little use
in the field. The one was all right enough
in its place. and even in the streets Of New
York; but in the field, where men want 10
keep their strength much possible,
they soon learned that bent knee and toes
straight ahead were better than the stiff
leg and toes out. The get-there' step is
what we called it,.
In every country may be observed a
marked difference between the ordinary
gait of the rich and Of the poor; in London
may be seen the slouching Of the unem-
pioyed by the side of the erect carriage of
the prosperous merchant In African tribes
the humble bearing of the slave contrasts
with the naughty stride of the chief 1t is
this upright posture that Is admired and
taught to the soldier, but IT is the one that
demands the greatest expenditure Of physi-
cal energy. and Is the wost adapted for pro-
loEged effort.