Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1900-06-08
FEEDING AN ARMY.
FEW REALIZE WHAT A GREAT
TASK 1T is.
Enormous Quantities of Supplies Must
BE Constantly Hurled to the Men ana
an Immense Amount of Labor Is Nec-
essary.

It Is very probable that so people
out of every 100 think Of an army as
great aggregation Of fighting men,
armed to the teeth with rifles, swords
and what not. while they never once
give a thought to the met IN the
rear" Yet these men in the rear are
an important part of the fighting ma
chine.
When an army is encamped in
friendly country there Is not so great
difficulty in feeding 1t as when 1t Is
penetrating hostile territory and has
separated itself from its own country.
And yet in either case 1t is no light
task to furnish and distribute the food
that is to keep, say 10000 stomachs
satisfied and 80 900 hearts in the right
place. This is the work Of the COM
;nissary department
When an army division or an army
corps is encamped at home the prop
lem of getting supplies Is compare
lively simple. Sometimes they are fur
nished on contract, sometimes brought
in large quantities week or more IN
advance Of the time at which they
will be needed. The commissary gen.
eral is responsible for the procuring
of these supplies and having them de-
posted at a depot within easy reach
Of the troops.
Each company Of a regiment has It's
cooks; each regiment has its commits
sary depot, where supplies are kept
sufficient for, say, a week or 10 days
for all the men. Men are detailed from
each company to assist in the work of
getting the supplies from the regi-
mental depot to the company kitchens
every day. Others are detailed to help
transport the supplies to the regiment
al depots from the general headquart-
ers whenever the stores in the former
are getting low.
AS all supplies are issued from head
quarters only on orders and receipts
are given for everything secured, 1t
can be seen that there is an immense
amount of clerical work necessary to
the smooth and uninterrupted work of
the department.
Suppose an army to have landed on
a foreign coast. The first move after
the landing of the men and arms is
TO scc1.e convenient spot for depot
of supplies. These are landed and
piled high on the shore until there
seems to be a mountain Of boxes in
extricably mingled in the general
mass. Gradually these are separated
into different piles and order begins
to make it's appearance out of chaos,
until all the supplies are properly
housed.
For an army of 10000 men and
, 10000 horses for three months ii
is estimated that there are nee
essary 1000 totns of food and for
age. This food is made up OF
palatable and strengthening sup,
plies, with a proper proportion o.
meat, vegetables, coffee and flour fol
bread or biscuits. The meat is gen.
orally canned, although sides of ba'
:. con are abundant. and even herds Of
live cattle are taken along for fresf
meat.
Whenever any important move Is tt
be made by the army each soldier IL
generally supplied with rations for
day. which he carries in his haversack
These he is not to use unless ordered
to do so. There are, besides, two days
rations carried in transport for eacl
fraction of a command to tide thu
troops over the march. In the Eng
lish army there are even wagon ar
rangements for cooking meals on tn
march, great quantities of soup being
heated and meat and potatoes beinl
prepared while on the march. But
when the army moves away from 1t
base of supplies, then it is that tn
feeding problem becomes more com
plicated.
There are always number Of mel
detailed from each regiment to assis
in the work of bringing up supplies
The keeping open of line Of commu
nication with the base Of supplies |
the first thing that commander mus
see to, for it means the safety Of hi
army. If this line Of communicated
Is but days march, the work is sim
pie, and does not take many men de
tailed to wagon driving to replenls
the impoverished stock of the regl
mental or division larder. But whe
the distance is increased to 60 or 10
miles the trick is one Of great diff
Guilty.
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