The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-09-13
BRYAN AS A SOLDIER.

! tAioert watkins, Jr., in Chicago Record }
AS a colonel Mr.. Bryan was fiat
1aliure' and again a grand success. As
a commanding officer at drill or on
| dress parade, as a leader in the field
or at the head of his regiment durine. a
corps review, his awkward attempts
We're subjects of pity and ridicule to
an good soldiers. But az a father to
the men in his charge, as a thoughtful
: pfoVlder for their comfort and a dill
gent champion of their privileges. there
was no more efficient colonel in the
Seventh army corps. His own men
knew this, and were quick to make the
distinction, loving the colonel of the
camp and worrying but little concern
ing the 1ncapacity of the colonel in the
held- And Colonel Bryan himself
seemed Indifferent on this point he
eXhlolted no ambition to learn the diff
ference between preliminary COM
mand and one of execution. and during
the six months of his sOjOurn in the
south he advanced but little in an un-
Outstanding of the formal duties of his
position. His main care seemed to be
Tor the sanitary condition of his caunD
and for the welfare OF his men in the
hospitals, so to this responsibility he
Sacrlnced any desire he may have felt
10 become a sound tactician and a
commanding officer of standing.
Probably no colonel of a volunteer
IN his duties as officer in command as
was Colonel Bryan Most men in such
a position would have worked day and
night to master the etiquette involved
learning the manual by rOte is neces-
Sary; but II is a fact that Colonel Bryan
whenever he took charge of the ree.i-
ment during the long camp at Jackson
Vile, read his commands from a slip of
paper as he sat in his saddle before the
men, That the regiment received any
IN Ct ~ fs.r, u,
maneuVers is due to Lieutenant Colonel
Nifquain, afterward colonel, an old
civil war veteran, who was in charge
of the regiment at nearly all drills
Colonel Bryan never assumed command
save on occasions of formal Importance
such as review or parade, when his
presence was imperative
Colonel Bryan was in no particular
soldierly man, and would never have
become one. He possessed too great
an individuality to have made even a
good private, and he was not imbued
in the slightest degree with that mar
tial instinct for stern commands which
makes an officer. In appearance. as
we'll as in mental tendencies, he was
essentially unsOldieriy. Sloping shoul-
dered, of characteristic easy attitudes
and rather stumbling walk. it vas inn
possible to identify him with the stif1v
erect, prominent cheSted, Square-shouI-
dered soldier of fact and fancy. He
defied even the military tailor. No
amount of padding, stifTening or whale
boning could make a uniform look like
one on Colonel Bryan Mounted. as
well as on foot, he was the same. His
seat in the saddle was easy, but loose.
and his posture not erect This un-
military appearance was always height
ened by the presence near him. in con-
trast, of Colonel Nifquain, statue-like
on his great sorrel charger.
But once seated at his desk at reoi-
mental headquarters Mr.. Bryan was no
longer the hesitating, beWiIdered now
ice His natural executive ability ap-
piled itself easily and confidently to the
consideration and solution of the prac-
teal matters which there awaited him.
AS regards subsistence, location and
sanitation no regiment received better
treatment than the Third Nebraska
and it's colonel made a special study
of the latter subject The high rate of
mortality in the neighboring regiments
appalled, him, and he was constantly
adopting new measures looking toward
a more healthful condition in his own
camp. First board floors for ali tents
were furnished; then these floors were
raised nine inches from the ground as
q safeguard against malaria: next the