Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-15
OFFICERS AND THE FIRING LINE.
Instances of the Value of the Example
Which the Tactics Enjoin-
From the Chicago TIMES Herald.

"hfch the Tactics EnjOin-
From the Chicago TmeSITerald.
Continental army officers recently have
been busy criticising the British battle sys-
tenn which or,lains that on the firing line
when the men have sought what little shell
ter the conformation Of the ground affords.
the officers shall remain erect and exposed.
The European military critics speak of this
daring habit of the queens officers as
though the custom were confined wholly to
the British army. Many a fought field
on the western frontier and the battles in
Cuba attest that the American officer is
guided on the field by the same feeling ana
the same rule of conduct that prompt the
EpSlshman to make of himself d conspic-
uous target for the Boer bullet.
To one unacquainted with the field tactics
of European armies. the wonder is how
an officer lying prone behind rock on The
missile-swept firing line is able constantly
to direct and encourage his men, as reads
the tactical Injunction To the officers OF
armies Cf all English-speakinG people. The
majority of the officers of the United States
army of middle age and younger. West
Pointers and civilian appointeeS alike re-
cciFet their early sOldierly Sustenan from
Emory tptons Blue Book. There was no
paragraph IN the whole volume. from The
position Of a soldier to the evolution of "A
brigade" that was 50 thoroughly cram
med into the brains of the cadets in the
Stttipil F'rpUiS at west 1plnl as WAS tfai
which in terse language said that for the
announcement and heartemng of his men
ii was the duty of an officer 10 expose him
self at an times to danger. The same rule
is laid down in the United States army
drill regulations which have recently sue
ceeded the old tactics of Upton.
The position of captain on the firing line
Is ten PAGES to the rear of the center of
his men, who seek what shelter they can
while the captain stands erect. An officer
of the United States army was once court
martialed for cowardice because it was
said he sought the shelter of tree while
his command was skirmishirg with the
enemy. If the American captains and lieu
tenants had sought shelter during the pre-
liminary skirmishes before Santiago. the
British military attache on the field never
would have had the chance to write so
sympathetically in his report of the death
of the second lieutenant OF dismounted cav
airy. who while his little command was
under the shelter OF the rocks. stood erect
watching the enemy through a fieldgiaSs
His men begged him TO lie down, but he
stood there uttering worls Of encourage
ment until A MauSer bullet gave him his
death wound. Had continental firing-ine
methods been followed at FL Caney the
same British officer attache never could
have told the story of that hot corner of
the field where, amid the flying bullets, Col.
A. r. Chaffee, standing erect and calmly
smoking a cigar, suggested to the non~conl-
Blatant Englshman that he lie down. "A
bit of advice | noticed. afterward wrote
the military attache, that the imperturb-
able colonel did not deign to follow him
self
Down in the mountainous and desert
Apache country in the year 1885 Powhatan
H. Clarke, Louisiana lad just out of West
Point, rode at the head of twelve black
troopers of the 10th Cavalry into narrow.
rocky defile. There had been no sign of
an Indian. When well into the gorge, from
the rocks in front, behind and above came
a shower of bullets. The enemy was in
visible. With carbineS unSlung. the little
han of made its hack the
open. The first sergeant. shot through both
thighs. dropped from his mount just as the
entrance to the defile was reached. Clarke
led his men at Il dead run for distance of
$50 yards. Then they We're diSmounted and
thrown into skrmish line. The trained
horses lay down upon the desert sand and
the men used them as sherter. Clarke. how
ever. standing erect in the center of the
line. The instant that the lieutenant had
diSmounted and given the order for deploy-
ing, the men. with straining eyes. saw him
on foot dart forward along the path over
which they had just come. He was run
ming Ike deer straight for the gateway
of the gorge. His troopers as one man
started TO follow MIN, but he waved them
back to their shelter and swept on. Clarke :
pathway toward the guliey was marked
out all the way with Spiteful little sand
puffS as the bullets from the rifles Of the
hidden savages battered about him. He
reached the objective point uninjured-
Once there he lifted his wounded black
sergeant TO his shoulder and staggered back
across the 100 yards of open 30 his com
mand. The way back was made through n
perfect fusilade. The escape from injury
was Il marvel. For this deed Powhatan II.
Clarke afterWarl wore the coveted medal
of honor and he wore it pinned on his
blouse when six wears afterwaru he met
his death in The northwest in the sight
of The same troopers whom he had led in
Gen. Nelson y. Miles would not he wear
ing his medal of honor today il he had
followed out the plan which the officer
L. ~.