The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-04-12
THE NEW ERA IN WAR.
Some Of the Lessons That the British
Have to Learn

Some Of the Lessons That the British
Have to Learn.
There can be no doubt that the essen
tial qualities of the soldiers courage,
discipline and endurance our British in
fantry has proved that it cannot be
surpassed, and, indeed it is not likely
that it can often be equalled, The ques-
ton is only how to employ it to the best
purpose.
1t would almost appear that one of
the most cherished principles that have
lately guided it must pass away or be
very greatly modified.
1t has hereto been accepted as an
axiom that, as the drill book says indie
pendent firing is only advisable at de-
cisive ranges" and that during an at
tack volley firing must be maintained
Firing discipline" or control of fire,
has been looked upon as all essential.
Well it has been fairly exclusively
proven that we must search for much
higher ideal of firing tactics than con-
trolled fire.
If an enemy is to be attacked in a
selected position his bullets will sweep
the terrain over which the attacks must
pass with such volume and accuracy
that no man can exercise the functions
of director and live. He will be, nee
essarily, much too conspicuous. 1t fol-
lows that the effective use OF his weap-
on must be left altogether to the indi-
vidual soldier, and that the profitable
expenditure of ammunition must de-
pend upon each others skill and intelli-
- firY1a hnC
devoted in the past to our musketry
training, but in the future 1T will take
a more important place than ever, and
it will have to carried out on much
more extended scale than heretofore.
An enormous amount of ammunition
must be allowed for practice, and the
practice must be restricted to firing at
fixed targets at known ranges, but
must comprise q familiarity with NOV
ing objects and targets that appear and
disappear after short exposure at un-
known distances.
The be all and end all of infantry
efficiency will be efficiency with the ri
file, and this should not in any way mil
itate against the English soldiers
steadiness, of which we are all so proud.
Ile kllDWlGQEe lItdL GoIllIdSlSS uie aiiOOt-
ing well ON the right and left In extend
ed order will become as valuable as the
touch of the elbow" was in old times.
A suggestion has been lately a good
deal aired that we need not go in for
numbers In our future fighting men, so
much as extreme efficiency as marks
men. From military point of view this
is all nonsense. How are we to find
out the men who will make the most
efficient soldiers? Not 5 per cent. of the
recruits who join the army have ever
held firearm of any kind in their
hands, and out of the whole, 1t Is often
the most unlikely looking men that
prove to be the best shots, and that, not
in their first, but in their second or
third, year of service. 1t may safely be
said that, with sufficient practice, every
man can be made to shoot well up to
500 yards; and, as for matter Of fact,
very few men can see clearly more than
that distance, except perhaps in the
atmosphere of South Africa.
Our next great campaign may be in an
enclosed Country like England, where
500 yards is an extended view, and
where there is constant haze.
1t would be much more to the purpose
if the old picked flank companies of
We're revived, to form which
the men should be selected from the