The Washington times., 1901-07-23
ARTILLERY ON THE RANGE
Target Practice With Big Guns
and Shrapnel at 0rdway.
A EUsy Gay fer the Regulars at the
District Camp--.uardsmcn Engag-
ed i'm Extended Order Drills - 4
Testimonial to Colonel Mosher.

Testimonial to Colonel Mosher
CAMP ORpWAY. LEESBURG. Va.
July 22-The PATTON of regular artiller,
was at target practice near Fort Evan!
this morning, and the boom of the TIVE
field pieces was continued steadily fol
two hours. All along the fences border
ing the outskirts of Camp Ordway gath
cred Guardsnien who had been drilled
early that they might have an opportun
ity to watch the target practice.
The platoon has been garrisoned al
winter and spring with the Fourth Bat
terry of field artillery. of which it is {
part, at Washington Barracks, with prac
ticaly no opportunity for gun practice
For all of that, however. the showing
was first class. Good scores were made
When the last gun was fired the shell ex
ploded directly in front of and close tc
the target. demolishing it entirely. TIL,
platoon is commanded by Lieut.. Fox Con.
nor and Lieut.. c. c. Carter Target prac-
tice will be resumed in the morning and
the forenoon drill of the Guard will be-
gin at 7l5 o'clock in order that the men
may once more witness the gunnery, of
which they know practically nothing.
Extended order. and plenty of it, was
the order of things both this morning and
afternoon. Platoon and later company
formation prevailed. The Importance of
extended order drill is being particularly
emphasized in the present encampment.
Looking toward thorough instruction in
this branch of tactics at a time when the
principles eNpounded may be Immediately
placed in practice an officers school will
be established. The first lecture will be
delivered tomorrow by Lieutenant Over
ton, of the Artillery Corps. the tactical
instructor Lieutenant Overton has been
engaged in compiling reports made by
representatives of the United States
Army in South Africa, and will take for
his subject tomorrow Extended Order
Execution in the Boer War" The lectures
will be held in a large tent near head
quarters and will last an hour, beginning
each day at II o'clock In addition to
this there will be instruction for officers
in the manual of the sword. In previous
camps the officers have received sword
drill, but to a limited extent only
The Presentation of a testimonial to
Col. Theodore Mosher occurred at the con-
clusion of parade tonight. All the officers
of the brigade than shook hands with him
and bade him goodbye. Colonel Mosher
is regarded as the most efficient adjutant
general the District militia ever had and
was forced to seek relief from his duties
in that position on account of i'll health
He was met at the depot this morning by
the brigade staff and escorted to camp.
Later Colonel Mosher inspected the camp
and was highly pleased with the appear
ance of the Guardsmen. He messed with
the general staff and was serenaded by
the brigade band just before he returned
20 Leesburg. He was escorted by the
staff and just before he took the train for
Washington a picture of the party was
taken.
Major w. E. Davidge, of the general
staff went to Washington this morning
to arrange for the visit to Camp Ordway
of General Miles, Secretary Root, and AS
sistant Secretary Sanger.
General Miles will arrive Wednesday
morning and will review the brigade in
the afternoon The date of the visit of
the Secretary has not yet been fixed, but
1t is thought he will probably be here on
Friday to witness the field maneuvres.
Major L. H. Reichelderfer, of the Second
Battalion, was field officer of the day
today The Second might be termed the
dependable battalion" Composed largely
of old soldiers. there is always a good
Showing made by 1t in all departments of
the work of the Guard. About 80 per cent
of the members of the Second saw service
In the Spanish-American war. Major
Reichelderfer, the commanding officer, is
the junior major of the brigade. He -
ceived his commission last year and is
rated one of the best tacticians il the
Guard. Prior to his promotion he was in
spector of rife practice of the Second and
had been a member of the brigade and
regimental rife teams. When not men
toned in connection with the Guard
Major Reichelderfer is DR.. ,Reichelderfer,
Superintendent Of Garfield Hospital
Lieut.. Duncan l.. Richmond is the effi-
cient adjutant of the battalion. Another
newly commissioned stan officer is Lieut..
E. II. Nelmeyer jr.. quartermaster. Up
TO month or so ago Lieutenant Neu-
meyer was sergeant in the Washington
Light Infantry Corps. The battalion sur
geon. DIR. r. A. Foster. with the aid of
the delightful Virginia weather. has kept
the Second in the best of health.
The name Corcoran Cadets in National
Guard matters is symbolic of reliability
bears the name of the late w. w. Cor
coran. is. according to the figures OF the
last inspection. the most efficient company
in the brigade. Capt. E {. edwards;
First Lieut. c. A. Meyers, and Second
Lieut. Logan Prosise are the senior OIL
GERS of the respective ranks In the bri-
gade Captain Edwards has been the COM
mander of the Corcoran Cadets ever since
the companys organization in NS3. In
addition to being a splendid orga ganlZation
from a military point of view. the com
letic way. Captain Edwards is one of the
best company commanders in the militia
Extremely popular with his men he has
remained at their head, although four
times offered ma jor's commission. He
IS President Of the District of Columbia
National Guard Athletic Association. The
Corcorans support crack basketball and
baseball teams. and in The organization
are a number of crack athletes. Captain
Edwards is officer of the day and The
guard mount of the First Re gfment this
morning was the best OF the encampment
thus far.
But when it comes to question of COM
petitive drill history, the Morton Cadets,
so called in honor of ex-Vice Presid III
Levi p Morton carry off the palm Or
ganized in 1899. the Morton Cadets. or Com
pany h. for number of years were repre-
eented in competitive drills by one OF the
best teams in the United states Under
command of Captain Shilling the team
won a magnificent trophy at Memphis in
a big competitive event and carried OFF
second honors on similar occasions at Sa-
yannah and Galveston. In the Spanish
American war a large proportion of the
Morton Cadets formed Company G Of the
First District Volunteers, and were then
commanded by Capt; j. 5. Hodgson. At
present Capt. II. +. Patterson is the head
of the company. Together with his first
and second lieutenants, +. d. Yoder and
Charles Smell, Captain Patterson rose
from the ranks, having enlisted in the
company private.
Gallant Allyn Capron, who fell at the
battle of FL Caney. is the brave soldier
in whose honor Company d, THE Capron
Cadets" IS named. This company. com
rnanded by Capt. Joseph s Hodgson. is
comparatively new. having been organized
after the Spanish-American war Not
withstanding this fact, it ranks wei at
annual inspections and is on the high
road to Improvement. The organization
IS well represented in camp. First Lieut.
j. Harry Bean and Second Lieutenant
Ernest are the other officers.
The Filth Battalion is making q record
of which its officers are Justly proud.