The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-06-04

90 * these days of
wealth, splen-
s------ dor and lei
sure it is easy to fill crack regiments
and fancy squadrons of amateur sol
diers with five feet and odd inches Of
well fed humanity, but military men
know, and they ceaselessly preach the
truth, that it requires time and disci-
pline and even hard lines to make fight
ing men for fighting emergencies.
Uncle Sam has learned lot about
troops and armies and all that within
the last 40 years. The experience is
now actively at work inspiring the
leaders and directors of the military es-
adjustment. But for the war with
Spain the nation might have drifted
along on the old lines, with its $4,000
men moving in rut and never improv-
ing beyond the personnel of its enlist
ed men. That one element is of the
highest Importance, and perhaps the
country would be better served in
crisis with that $4,000 well drilled and
disciplined army which had graduated
from the plains than by 10000 or even
100000 got together under popular
craze for military service which should
be simply another name for glory.
New blood is always good thing to
stir up an old body. The regular army
Of the United States had most need
ed infusion Of new blood in the way Of
officers at the close of the civil war.
The military ideas born and circulated
during that long contest spread from
the executive mansion at Washington
to the humblest barrack kitchen and
from the halls Of legislation to the COM
pany parade ground on the Arizona
sand hills. No nation ever had more
military spirit. well digested military.
knowledge and actual military potency
contained in an army of $4,000 men
than existed in the United States estab-
lishment of 1898. With that spirit and
knowledge diffused among 100000 jul
diciously selected recruits there would
have been an army without parallel I'M
der one banner in all the history of ma
tons
Some of the spirit and knowledge of
the regular army were diffused through
the volunteer and provisional regiments
called to the field in 1898 and 1899, but
not much more than enough to show
what it would mean to spread it over
an increased establishment so organ
lied as to retain the best things in its
predecessor from the lowest rank up
ward.
Numerous plans had been suggested
long before for the improvement Of the
service and the wider diffusion of mil
IoIr
Sherman advocated schools for officers.
General Kautz outlined scheme for
drawing into the ranks class of am
bilious young men of capacity putting
them through q course of manual and
scientific training and returning them
to the people to be the leaders of mill
tia organizations which should be more
extensive and more literally supported
than any ever known in the land. En-
listed men We're encouraged by new
laws to hope for and prepare for pro-
motion to commissioned rank in the
expectation that in that way the army
would be drawn nearer to the people
and the class of recruits improved.
But it was not easy to remold or re-
organize that army of $4,000 men. Rad
ical changes would have done injus-
tice to worthy officers of long service
and at the same time have destroyed
the personal influence which they eX-
erted in the spheres where they We're
fixed. 1t would have been easy to fall
into the common error of jumping out
of the frying pan into the fire, to de-
stroy magnificent army of $4,000 men
rat q cI1hSfitl1tn oil fn isfv
a craze for change. AS it is, events
have worked well for the army, for ev-
cry part of it. for every element in it.
Changes have been imperative, and
they have been made, so to speak, I'M
der fire. The best that can be done is
often the very best that might be done,
and at any rate the forced shuttle is
certain to bring all there is, in turn. to
the top. With a settling of the ele-
ments comes the proof that the shake
up was good thing.
For century the United States reg
ular army led precarious existence
Legislators were afraid of it; admins
trations dare not keep it up to even a
respectable standard. After the Revo
luton it was reduced to one man, and
that man George Washington. He was
4 general without troops, for the
founders of the government would moi
tolerate an institution so savoring OF
monarchy as standing army. Final
ly, in order to guard the few military
stores. the force was increased to 81
soldiers. In 1877, when the Indian
troubles on the frontier made troops
III q
organized and congress legislated fol
"the regiment Of infantry in the serv
ice Of the United States" During the
first ten years of the nineteenth cen
fury the army varied in size from
1000 to 5000. The war of 1912 in
creased it to $4,000. but as scor as the