Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1900-10-03
HUMAN VOICE IN BATTLE.
OF Little Use Except to Give a Cheer
that Accompanies a Charge.

OF Little Use Except to Give Cheer
that Accompanies a Charge.
The human voice in battle has a pecu-
| liar, a precise value. That value does
not lie In the giving of orders. 1t re-
quires no great mental strain to under
stand that in the heat Of an engagement
the guns do all the talking that's audible.
The youthful author of "The Red Badge
of Courage" represented a corporal con-
versing freely with a comrade at least
thirty feet away in a line that was re-
polling a fierce Confederate onslaught.
Any one who has spent Fourth OF
July In an American city can appreciate
the absurdity OF that, and any one who
has ever stood in line of soldiers firing,
knows that after the first shock to the
tympanum he seems to hear nothing
whatever-the individual discharges are
wholly Neutrality-suspicious. to him, and his
| captain close behind him might screech
his throat out and yet make no impress
sion. Then, as the smoke settles back,
there Is an almost overpowering sense OF
| isolation. You don't realize your inabil-
ity to distinguish sounds; II you give 1t
thought you find simply vague idea that
the atmosphere Is most dense and OPP
pressive, that you are sort OF shut in by
some impenetrsble substance which you
| can neither see nor feel. National guards
men who have been in firing drills will
| remember that sensation.
With the modern rapid firing guns
| there's little firing by men In mass except
when the company "ralliese to repei an
attack. Then a circle or semi circle is
formed around the officers and the bullets
are sent in every direction as fast as they
can travel. In the "extended order''on the
skirmsh line 1t Is possible for a man to
shear himself think" but with line ex-
tending rods away to the right and left,
and with strong wind blowing, to say
nothing of the musketry, the officers
voice cannot be equal to the emergency.
So he resorts to signals-visusi, with his
sword, when smoke and landscape will
allow; otherwise with the bugle, or with
hoarse whistle in the hilt Of his sword.
Properly drilled soldiers readily interpret
the signals. Those with tho sword are
simple; those by bugie or whistle are
com binatio ions of long aud short blasts, as
for example: One long one, Haiti"
Two long ones, "Forward!" Two short
ones and one long one, ITO the rear!"
Two long ones and two short ones, "Com-
mence firing!" One long and two short
ones, "Cease tiringp' TIE non-com-
missioned officers along the line, hearing
these signals, repeat the commands to
| the men.
Abroad ship there also Is great economy
of vocal power. II the steel sides of the
vessels are not being pounded by shot
and shell, the officers can make them
selves heard between shots, but their
words are few. AS for the men, the ex-
perience OF an observer aboard one of the
American vessels at the destruction OF
Cervera's fleet is to the point. He said he
expected to hear the men rush to quarters
witt yell and then cheer as they saw
the enemy's discontinue. On the con-
trary, the only sound was the boom OF
the guns, the men going on with their
work like silent machines.
Yet the human voice has its value
Who shall say that 1t Ii any less than
those from metal throats? 1t comes when
there's iull in the firing, when bayonets
are fixed, when men nerve themselves
and start forward at run over the short
but shot-swept space between them and
the enemy. Then the voice will make
itself heard-no rules or regulations evel
could prevent it II they tried. Seem
ingly, 1t is the shout that carries the men
onward, upward over the breastworks.
We heard considera bic about the differ
entistion between the Southern cry and
the Northern cheer during the Civil war
The former was high-keyed, piercing
yell, the latter a deeper chested "Hurrah"
leaving out Of the word all but the vowe
sound. How do they sound now, blendedi
Americas foemen will never stop to tell