Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-03

batallions into companies, half companies
N sections. Each unit has it's COM
mander and in battle it takes it's orders
only from him.
When this army moves out to give bat
tile 1T marches in parallel columns each
composed OF so many regiments of infan.
try supported by cavalry and guns. At
a given hour these columns arrive ait a
certain post ion, for care has been taken
to see that each column has timed i.sslf
to appear ait THE appointed place exactly
upon the minute. The guns immediately
take their places, ait points commanding
the enemy, and open fire, while the main
body of the cavalry push out to Tight and
left to cover the TANKS and prepare to
pursue the enemy in the event OF victory.
In this field work the artillery gener-
ally fire shrapnel, which is a shell clarg-
ed with bullets timed to explode at
a required distance. It is aimed about
ten feet over the enemy's head SO THAT
when 1t bursts a perfect shower of bull
let's fly in all directions. In addition to
the shrapnel There are the lyddite shells.
thrown by the Howitzers, and which do
frightful damage when they fall INTO the
midst of the enemy's emit renchments.
Under cover of Nthis hail Of bullet and
explosive the columns form for attack.
It is at this time that the infantry are
| divided. Halt the batallions are told
off for the firing line, while the other
half is held for the reserve. In THE case
OF the baltall.ons that are to go to the fir
ing Line the extended ORDER is mnme-
diately assumed.
In other words the men march out and
commence rapidly and SILENTLY to 'ex-
tend" to single rank. That is to say, the
half company. which is in two ranks. COM
mences to open out, the rear rank men
stepping up into the front rank, and this
open.ng-out process is continued until
each man is one, two or four PAGES from
mis- nearest nedghbOr, according to orders.
AT THE same moment each column has
been carrying out this extended ORDER
until the long, thin line of men reaches
out q couple of miles or more, overlapping
and covering THE whole front of the
army. This is the firing line'' in EXTEND
ca order and 1T does almost the Whole Of
the fighting.
When the line has been completed the
men break into a faster step and the bat
tie has commenced in earnest. There 10
no shouting of orders. The lieutenant 8
marching eh.nd ,thehalf companies make
their Signs by blowing whistles. The
sign Is repeated by the sergeants, and the
mo- nj. c " h lit acco, dinghy.
Such is the mode of attack that is fol-
lowed by the British army today and it Is
thoroughly up-to-date in every respect.
At Waterloo the men fought in solid COM
panies of double ranks. 1t didn't matter
then, because a musket was not much
good over a hundred yards. Now the
army opens out makes itse.f as tn n
a target as possible, because Of the rifle
fire that can play sad havoc with co..
umns at a distance of a mile and a half.
The rules THAT govern the British army
IN ntS marches from point to point are Just
as modern as its method of attack. The
most forward part of the marching col
m consists of cavalry thrown out by
means OF fiankers in the form OF a fan.
1t IS the duty Of the fiankers to prevent
surprise or unexpected attack, and the
army is supposed to be protected by these
wary feelers. They not only take a great
part of the danger, but they are the cleo
trio buttons which give the alarm to the
whole army.
something unexpected occurs a fla mixer
drops back and communicates the infor-
nation. The word is then carried along
the Line, so that within a few minutes the
main body has been warned and is prepar-
ing for battle.
While all this is very wei, however.
There are other rules of warfare as We
know ut that have never been observed
by the British forces. During the Trans
vaGal war the English have suffered from
many surprises, and all this might have
been avoided il they had taken adyan-
tage OF the lessons they are taught by the
American system. In this country we
have brought the ant of scouting down to
a science, and 1T lis these scouts who make
such surprises impossible.
The Importance of the scout in warfare
was one of the first lessons THAT we learn
cd from the Indians, and his KNOWLEDGE
mas been of inestimable value to us. Few
other nations, however, recognize the
necessity of perfecting this branch OF the
service although there is not a civilized
power that does MOI depend to a greater
or less extent upon the scout for it's pro-
lection. In the case of the English army
in Africa, however, it's great WI akness
has been in hts liability to surprise. In
this respect 1T has been helpless on more
than one occasion, and as the Boer troops
follow to a considerable extent tactics
thai are very similar to those of the
American indian it would nave bsen
better for the British forces if the war Of
flee had decided to recommend this one
more innovation.