The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1900-01-30
FIRING LINE ETIQUETTE
WHY so MANY BRITISH OFFICERS ARE
KILLED IN BATTLE.

KILLED IN BATTLE.
The Regulations and Traditions Demand
That merican and English Command
ers Shall Remain Erect aud Exposed
In Continental Armies Onicers Hide.
Continental army officers recently
have been busy criticising the British
battle system which ordains that on
the firing line when the men have
sought what little shelter the confor-
nation OF the ground affords the Off
GERS shall remain erect aud exposed.
The European military critics speak
Of this daring habit Of the queens
officers as though the custom were
confined wholly to the British army.
Many a hard-fought field on the
western frontier and the battles in
Cuba attest that the American officer
Is guided on the field by the same
feeling and the same rule of conduct
that prompts the Englishman to make
of himself n conspicuous target for
the Boer bullet To one unacquaint-
ed with the field tactics of European
armies the wonder is how an officer
lying prone behind rock on the
misslleswept firing line is able econ
stantly TO direct and encourage his
men, as reads the tactical iniunc-
ton" TO the officers Of armies of all
English-speaking people. The major
ity of the officers Of the United States
army OF middle age and younger.
West Pointers and civilian appointees
alike, received their carly soldierly
sustenance from Emory Upton's Blue
Book. There was no paragraph in
the whole volume, from ''the points
Of n soldier 10 the "evolutious OF
brigade that was so thoroughly
crammed into the brains of the cadets
In the section-rooms at West Point as
was that which in ter5e language said
that for the encouragement and heart
ening of his men it was the duty of
an officer to expose himself at all
times of danger. The same rule is
laid down in the United States army
drill regulations which have recently
succeeded the old tactics OF Upton.
The position of captain on the fir
ing line Is ten PAGES to the rear of the
! center OF his men, who seek what
shelter they can while the captain
! stands erect. An officer Of the United
| States Army was once court-mar-
| tailed for cowardice because it was said
| he sought the shelter of a tree while
| his command vas diminishing with
| the enemy. If the American captains
and lieutenants had sought shelter
| during the preliminary skirmishes be-
| fore Santiago the British military at
| tGche on the field never would have had
the chance to write so svmpathetically
| In his report Of the death OF the second
| lieutenant of dismounted cavalry who.
| while his little command was under
the shelter of the rocks, stood erect
| Watching the enemy through @ field
! glass. His men begged him to lie
down, but he stood there uttering
! words Of encouragement until Maui
ser bullet gave him his death wound.
Had continental iring-line methods
been followed at ElCaney the same Brit
ish officer attache never could have told
the story OF that hot corner of the
field where amid the flying bullets
| Colonel \. II. Chaffee, standing erect
and calmly smoking a cigar. suggested
| to the non-combatant Englishman that
he lie down. "a bit of advice I no.
ticed, " aSterward wrote the military
attache,s that, tho imperturbable col
onel did not deign to follow himself"
Down in the mountainous and desert
| Apache country in the year 1885 Pow
hatan II. Clarke, a Louisiana lad lust
out Of West Point, rode at the head of
twelve black troopers of the Tenth
| Cavalry into narrow, rocky defile
1here had been no sign OF an Indian.
When well into the gorge from the
rocks IN front, behind and above came
shower OF bullets The enemy was
invisible. With carbines uuslung.
the little band of troopers made its
/ way back to the open. The first ser
/ geaDt, shot through both thighs, drop
/ ping from his mount just as the en-
/ trance to the deGIe was reached
I Clarke led mis- men ct a dead run for a
/ distance OF $50 yards. Then they
/ were dlsmOunte5 and thrown into a
/ skirmIsh line. The trained horses Law
7 down upon the desert sand and the
men used them rs shelter, Clarke
. however, standing erect in the centre
+ OF the line. The instant that the
lieutenant had dismOunted and given
the order for ieploying the men, with
straining eyes, saw him on foot dart
forward along tho path over which
tuey mad Just come. He was running
D. like deer straight for the gateway of
/ the gorge. His troopers az one man
started to follow him, but he waved
them back to their shelter and kept
ON. Clarke g pathway toward the de-
file was marked out all the way with
spiteful little sand puts as the bullets
from the rides Of the hidden savages
battered about him. He reached the
objective point uuiniured. Once there
he lifted the wounded black sergeant
To- bis shoulder and staggered back
across the $50 yards OF open 10 his
command. The way back was made
throughap perfect f1sillade. The escape
from injury was q marvel. For this
deed Powhattau IT Clarke aftervard
worc the coveted medal Of honor. and
me wore j.. pinned ON his blouse when
sIZ years aiterwarl no met his death
ln the Northwest i'm the sight of the