Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1900-06-15
An Army on the March.
ILonaon Express.l

An Army on the March.
[London Express.l
A British column advancing in time
of war thru an enemy's country is at |
once magnificent and q remarkable |
spectacle; or rather, to be quite correct,
it would be provided the eye could take
in all the details at a single glance.
But that is just precisely what the
eye can not do. A column of even
moderate strength, when on the move,
lengthens itself out abnormally; so
much SO, indeed, that q body of troops |
which in review order could be packed
within a moderate-sized parade ground
will occupy ribbonwise eight, ten or
even more miles of country
We will. therefore, take up position
on an eminence-a kopje. if you like
and watch in Imagination column of
British regulars marching on, say Pre-
storia.
First there will come in sight, riding
at a walking pace athwart the bolder-.
strewn veldt, a solitary pair of horse
men,. These are the advance points, as
they are termed, and are thrown for
ward, perhaps mile ahead of the van
guard. They are on the lookout for the
enemy, and on the first hint of danger
lit is their duty to ride back TO left and
right and alarm the flankers.
These latter are thrown out fanwise
from the cavalry which screens the in
fantry vanguard, and they in turn pass
the word back along the trailing,
snake-like ribbon of armed men, till
within half an hour, say, OF the enc
mys being first sighted heentire com
mand knows of the threatened danger
and is prepared to deal with it.
The two advanced points have been
we'll lies1ed TO a couple of electric but
tons. which on being touched thrill the
alarm down both TANKS thruout the en-
tire length of the column with which
they are in communication. The smile
Is not quite perfect however. for the
alarm is sounded by these living cleo
trc buttons While yet the danger is re-
mote. Some hundreds of yards IN the
rear of the cavalry screen comes the
advanced guard, sub-divided into a
vanguard and a mainguard. This lat
| ter constitutes the first fighting unit OF
1.-the advancing column, and its strength
lis, of course, proportionate to the
strength of the force IL is covering.
With 1t are field and mac zine guns.
isappers. miners engineers. anbulances.
reserve ammunition wagons. and so
forth In fact, the advance guard of a
large column constitutes In itself a
.ifighting force--a miniature army. 50 to
speak. complete in practically all essen
tial details. After the advance guard
! has passed we shall probably see
lemerging from the clouds of dust which
always. except in wet weather. envelop
as with a mantle column on the
n
men. and then at intervals another and
ye. another. These are the connecting
links. A half troop. or perhaps, IL the
J force is a large one, a whole troop of
slcawalry will come next. then more cons
meeting links. and lastly the officer COM,
manding, surrounded and accompanied
by his stan. The initiated in matters
military will now probably expect to
4 see the main body of the army: but
q no. a single infantry battalion, or
Il maybe two, will perhaps pass. march
ling strictly ITO attention.. bayonets
q fixed, and officers swords carried naked
4 at the slope; after which there Will
heaye slowly into sight an apparently
dendless train of field artillery, machine
guns, ammunition wagons, ambulances,
. tool carts forage and store wagons, and
numbers OF led horses. 1t is only when
I this heterogeneous procession has come
to an end that the thickening OF the
dust cloud and the measured tramp
ltramp-tramp! herald the approach OF
the infantry brigades. On they come,
rifles at the slope or at the trail, talk
i, ling. laughing. Joking, singing, smoking.
4 as tho war and its attendant horrors
. We're q thousand miles away. On they
lcome-and still on! Battalion after bat
talon, brigade after brigade.
1t becomes almost monotonosu after
awhile for the mighty fighting ma
J | chimes. each composed of a thousand OF
more individual fighting units swings
!, l$past with the mechanical precision Of
gigantic automata. Everything moves
as if by gclockwork. Thirty PAGES inter.
val is the regulation distance between
battalions and brigades. and thirty
PAGES interval it is-no more. no less
THERE'S no slackening, no hesitancy
: for all the apparent free-and-easiness
= a company lags but a foot or two; 1t i.
spurred sharply forward by a bltin,
Y phrase-half expostulation, half com
/, mand--uttered by its captain. A bat
e TALON does likewise; and wave OF tn
y hand from It's ever watchful chief send
8 the adjutant galloping down the RICH
: flank, exploding as he goes. So is TIL
force kept strung up. And yer.
Q necessary process is this same stringin,
: up. The loss of a few yards at the hea,
!. means hundreds at the toll. Trivia
: check to the front OF q long column I
a serious delay to the men in the rea
y of It, and continual stepping out o
y rapid closing tends to exhaust troops.
With the passing with the rearmos
brigade the interest to the ayerag
spectator largely vanishes. True Their
h follow more machine guns. more toe
carts. ammunition wagons, lead horses
n etc, but all these we have seen before
h The bearer companies. with their trir
y stretchers and the red cross OF Genev
Ir showing cDnspicuously on their tuni
q sleeves. arouse a brief curiosity, bu
Is they are our OF sight. swallowed up
vi the dust cloud almost ere we realiz
Ii. their presence. II. however. we care
le occupy our kopje for another hour 3
81 SO we shall see yet another cloud {