The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-07-05
TIE DRUMS or THE
FORE AND AFT.
By RUDYARD KIPLING.
AM, ) ,;ttIe cbild shall lead them.

By RUDYARD KIPLING.
And q little child shall lead them.
In the army list they still stand as
ssThe Fore and Fit Princess Hohenzol-
lern-Sigmaringen-Auspach's Merther-
Yydflshire Own Royal Loyal Light In.
fansry. Regimental District S29A, "
hut the army through all its barracks
and canteens knows them now as the
ssFore and Aft. " They may in time do
something that shall make their new
sisle honorable. but at present they are
bitterly ashamed, and the man who
calls them Fore and Aft does SO at
xhe risk of the head which is on his
shoulders
Two words breathed into the stables
of certain cavalry regiment viii bring
the men ont into the streets with belts
and mops and bad language, but whis-
per Of Fore and Aft will bring out
this regiment with rifes.
Their one excuse is that they came
again and did their best to finish the
lob In style But for q time all their
world knows that they were openly
beaten, whipped, dumb cowed, shaking
and afraid. The men know 1t; their
officers know it; the Horse Guards know
iS, and when the next war comes the
enemy will know it also. There are two
or three regimentsof the line that have
black mark against their names which
they viii then wipe out, and it VIII be
excessively inconvenient for the troops
npon whom they do their wiping.
The courage Of the British soldier is
officially supposed to be above proof,
and, as a general yule, it is so. The
exceptions are decently shoveled out OF
sight, only to be referred to in the
freshet of unguarded talk that occa-
sionally swamps a mess table at mid
night. Then one hears strange and hor-
ribie stories of men not following their
officers, of orders being given by those
who had no right to give them, and of
disgrace that, but for the standing luck
of the British army. might have ended
in brilliant disaster. These are un-
pleasant stories to listen to, and the
messes tell them under their breath sit
ting by the big wood fires, and the young
officer bows his head and thinks to him
self, please God, his men shall never be-
have unhandily.
The British soldier is not altogether
TO be blamed for occasional lapses, but
this verdict he should not know. A
moderately intelligent general Will
waste six months in mastering the craft
Of the particular war that he may be
waging, colonel may utterly misun-
derstand the capacity of his regiment
for three months after it has taken the
field, and even q company commander
may err and be deceived as to the tenn
per and temperament of his own hand
-ful wherefore the soldier, and the sol
der of today more particularly, should
not be blamed for falling back. He
should be shot or hanged afterward-
pour encourager les autres-but he
should not be yilifed in newspapers, for
that is want Of tact and waste of space.
He has, let US say, been in the service
Of the empress for perhaps four years.
He will leave in another two years. He
has no inherited morals, and four years
are not sufficient to drive toughness in
TO his fiber, or to teach him how holy
thing is his regiment. He wants to
drink, he wants to enjoy himself-in
India he wants to save money-and he
does not in the least like getting hurt.
He has received just sufficient education
TO make rim understand half the pur-
port of the orders he receives and to
speculate on the nature Of clean, incised
and shattering wounds Thus, if he is
told to deploy under fire preparatory to
an attack, he knows that he runs a
very great risk of being killed while he
is deploying, and suspects that he is be-
ing thrown away to gain ten minutes
time. He may either deploy with des-
perate swiftness. or he may shuttle OK
bunch or break, according to the disci-
pine under which he has lain for four
years
Armed with imperfect knowledge,
cursed with the rudiments of an imagi-
nation, hampered by the intense selfish
ness of the lower classes and unsup-
ported by any regimental associations,
this young man is suddenly introduced
TO an enemy who in eastern lands is al
ways ugly, generally tall and hairy
and frequently noisy. If he looks to the
right and the left and sees old soldiers
men of 12 years service, who, he
knows. know what shey are about
taking charge, rush or demonstration
without embarrassment, he is consoled
and applies his shoulder to the butt of
his rife with a stout heart. His peace
is the greater if he hears a senior, who
has taught him his soldering and bro
ken his head on occasion, whispering:
They'll shout and carry on like this
for Eve minutes. Then they'll rush in,
and then we've got 'em by the short
tairsp'
But, on the other hand, if he sees
only men Of his own term Of service