Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-07
BUSY DAY FOR THE UMPIRES
Much Imaginary BlOsd Shed in Mss,uvsrs
at Fort Riley,
MAJOR LEACH CLEVER Az DEFENSE
Throws Up Entertainments of Decep-
tive Mature ans Twenty-secoHd In
fantrymen Are Into
Fierce Fire Unawarer.

FORT RILEY, Kan, Oct. e.-whiie fully
as practical ss any Of the preceding ma
neuvers, today's exercises contained a
larger element Of the spectacular than any
that have preceded them. and II is not
likely that any Of those still TO come will
equal the work OF today.
Major Leach Of the engineers. command
ing the Blues, defended a position with
what all the military critics concede was
very great skill. General Kobbe, leading
the Browns. made dispositions for attack
that were praised fully ss highly as Major
Leach's defensive disposition. Moreover,
General Kobbe pushed home his attack
with a ferceness and energy which. had
the combat occurred In actual warfare,
must have caused heavy losses to both
sides. At the close OF the fighting, Gen
ersl Kobbe had been badly crippled, but he
was coming on to make a final rush for
the trenches. His men were dashing down
q slope fully exposed to the rife ERE OF
an intrenched line, and after descending
this and passing through a ravine, his men
had still 300 yards Of open ground to cross
before reaching the entertainments. The
critics say that this was hardly possible.
Still, General Kobbe had two full imaginary
regiments in reserve, and even though re-
pulsed the first time, his game was far
from being played to the finish.
The plan Of the maHeuver was given In
the orders for the day as follows: A
western force Of the Blues is operating
against a Brown force in the east, located
northeast of st. Marys. Kan. The Blues
depend upon the Union Pacific railway for
supplies. The main force Of the Blues
beyond st. Marys has met with q serious
reverse, and has been temporarily thrust
of its line Of direct Communication with
Fort Riley. Owing to the reverse Of the
main army Of Blues the Blue force a,
Fort Riley cannot expect outside aid from
any direction. A strong force Of the Browns
is advancing to seize the important depot
Of supplies at Fort Riley, destroy the
stores and cripple the Union Pacific rail-
road for several days.
Makeup of the Forces.
The attacking force OF the Browns was
made up of the Eighteenth infantry,
Twenty-second infantry, Colorado battalion
eight troops Of the Fourth cavalry and
three troops of the Eighth cavalry. There
were also two imaginary. regiments. The
Seventh, Nineteenth and Twentieth batteries
made up the artillery.
The Blues under Major Leach consisted
Of the Sixth infantry. the First battalion
Of engineers acting as infantry, the Sixth
and Twenty eighth batteries, the latter
being another mountain battery of much
lighter weight and shorter range than the
other batteries in the field. and Troop A
If the Eighth cavalry under Captain non-
aldson.
The entertainments for the defense were
made under the direction Of Captain J. B
C~avanaugh of the Engineers, and we're mos
skilfully constructed. The loose earth
thrown up in creating the trench was GOV.
cred with grass, placed at a right angle
to the line of the trench. This gave &c
the eye at a distance of 100 yards very
little indication of the location of the
trenches. when the Brown army moved
out from camp TO TAX the position from
which it later advanced to the attack, il
passed greatly to the disgust of the UNI
pires, within $500 yards of the Blues. who
we're at the time throwing up dirt for dear
life. The location Of the amendments
was in plain view and the officers OF the
Browns could not avoid seeing the Blues
At work. Later in abe morning they were
unable to see these very same trenches
and their men suffered heavily in front Of
them. AS an object lesson OF weIl-con-
cealed defenses, the work Of Major Leach
and his men today would be dihicult tC
surpass.
when the Battle Opened.
Donaldson's cavalry, pushed out in from
OF the main line OF defense, was thrown ii
contact with the scouts Of the Browns ant
was forced backward to the line OF in,
fantry. When the battle opened a stronl
hill on the right OF the line was held b!
the command Of Major r. H. R. Lough
borough OF the Sixth infantry. 1t comprised
company D Of the Engineers commanded b!
Captain J, B. Cavanaugh, four companies o
the Sixth infantry under Captain B. W
Atkinson, two guns OF the Sixth field artil
lery and two Of Memoirs Howitzers. Tn
center was held by Major Morton Of tn
Sixth cavalry with one company OF en-
gineers, two companies Of the Sixth infan
try and four guns OF Memoirs battery. Tn
left was commanded by Captain G. A. Zinl
Of the Engineers and Contained one com
pany of Engineers and two companies o
the Sixth infantry. The reserve ~consiste,
OF four companies OF the Sixth infantry IN
der Captain J. H. Brown. Four guns Of tn
Sixth battery were behind a rise OF groun
in rear Of the center and had a clear swee
OF almost every part OF the field.
General Kobbe commenced his attack b
sending attachments around both tanks O
the Blue line to create apprehension for tn
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