The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-16
THE OPINIONS OF EXPERTS
REG ULAR ARMY OFFICERS ON THE
 SHAM BATTLES AT CAMP.

They Said the Work Was Generally
 Good and Pointed Out Where the
 Officers Could rove-Commanding g
 ColoneIs Claim Victory-Fine Brigade
 Formation -Govcrnor's Day To-day.
 About the most important event at Camp Mclean yesterday was the meet ing of the line, staff and field officers of the different regiments with Captains Gatchelle and Hunter of tn regular artillery for the purpose of getting points on the recent sham battles, an opinion as to which side won, and ad- vice in general military matters. The meeting has been looked forward to with great interest by the Connecticut officers, and shortly after the noon mess the officers met in the spacious tent of Brigadier General Frost and had their lecture. The meeting was semi-pub- lie one, and a few newspaper men were allowed in the tent. The army officers had been chosen as referees in the two attacks on camp, and they had instruc- tions to tell just what they thought of the maneuvres of the regiments. Ac- cordingly there was a great deal of eX- pectancy as General Frost introduced Captain Hunter who said that he would deal more with the operations of. Tues day than with those of yesterday. On Tuesday the Second and First regi- ments attacked the camp and 1t was defended by the Third and Fourth. ..,+o at i1- ill regard to the leaving of the camp at Payne's farm by the attacking force and spoke well of the positions taken up. He found the provisional force composed of two lines of defense, which generally he would criticise as being too close. Colonel Schulze, however, had explained to him that he had taken ad- vantage of the country. His lines were thrown along the hill, the second line being far enough down so that shot and shell would go over it. Captain Hunter thought this was really so, but the disposition would have been very dangerous and untenable If on plane. Troop A, he learned, had been sent ahead of the right wing on feint to show itself to the enemy This they succeeded in doing as they were seen from Camp Mclean. This, so far as it went, was all right, but a mere troop of cavalry was notsufficientfor such a purpose intended, and infantry and guns should have accompanied the troop of cavalrymen, as an enemy would not have been drawn off by a mere cavalry troop. Regarding the op- erations of the defending force Captain
 %l1 slow in leaving camp and the guns were not brought up in good time This de- lay caused Colonel Hendrie to change his plans and take up new positions rather than the ones originally intend- ed These as a matter of fact were stronger than the ones at first picked out As to the disposition of the guns Captain Hunter stated that he and Captain Gatchelle had struck the only point on which they disagreed. Cap tain Hunter believed that all the guns should have been placed upon the Hanks and none held in reserve, while Captain Gatchelle was of the opinion that Col onel Hendrie did right in holding gun in reserve.
 Captain Gatchelle took up the work of yesterdays operations. After con- siderable explanation he came to the conclusion that Colonel Thayer com- mandlng the attacking force had placed himself in a good position on the right wing of the defending force to outfiank the latter. Colonel Thayer did this by finding a way through the woods with out being discovered. For this purpose he had secured several native guides. l,o ho tho atta plxi0U force had appeared upon his right Col onel Sucher sent one company of rein frocements, Captain Gatchelle believed a larger force and gun should have been sent The defense moved out two guns to one position of considerable strength, but the pieces were too close together and one being directly back of the other, the one in front would cer- tainly have been harshly treated if the rear one had been in real action Cap tain Gatchelle in conclusion made a statement that startled every officer present He said decidedly that the re- connaissance in force from Camp Me- Lean on each day of the field opera tions had not accomplished the object sought The commanders had admit ted that they had not succeeded in as- certaining the strength and position of the enemy, which Is the sole object of every reconnaissance and therefore the object sought had not been obtain ed Captain Gatchelle also took occa- sion to speak of the camp in general. He was favorably impressed with what he had seen and noticed a marked i'm proyement over camps he had visited elsewhere in previous years. He could not say whether this was due to the Spanish war or to greater experience. He knew the operations just closed were trying for both officers and men, but they had reason to be well satisfied with the work done and he was certain that all would be benefited by them.
 The talk of the regular army men was interesting and showed that they took great deal of interest in the work at Camp Mclean. It would ap- pear from the remarks of the men that the First and Second regiments were a little outmaneuVe by the Third and Fourth and that while their work was good they might have suffered more than the Third and Fourth if the bat ties had been for blood. After the talk of the sham battles the officers were asked many questions of interest to the soldiers, and the meeting was val uable one.