Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-09-27
Eight thousand Troops in Sham
Hostilities in Fort Riley
Vicinity
-sLuEs' AND "sRowns' BATTLE
Engagement Lasted for Several Hours
and Quantities Of Powder Were
eurned-Four Thousand National
cuard.men Will Take Part in the
Maneuvers During Next Few Days.

is on In Kansas. On the 1S,VUV acres
Of the big government reservation at
Fort Riley 5000 soldiers are encamped
and two armies-the army of the blue
and the army OF '.brown'-are waiting
to do battle.
All day the bugles have been calling,
troops have marched and lodged their
way under the hot sun, oyer miles OF
wooded valleys and stubby hills. can
non have been booming their attack,
machine guns have shattered the air
with their monotonous rattle, and mus
kerry has kept up it's roar. The navy
has had it day and now the army is
burning UP the powder to advance
the cause Of military science.
For more than three miles lines of
tents stretch their way over the rolling
hills Of the reservation. There are
lines Of horses Juggling at the picket
ropes. Engineering corps are hustling
about with pontoon trains. and tonight
q portable search light, a modern pro-
duct of the science Of war, is flashing
ats rays over the hills where $4,000 men
will battle until Oct. s.
It Is the life of the field. and the
soldiers are camping with as much
enthusiasm as IL they were rushing
Spaniards at San Juan.
Z Militia officers are arriving from al
most half OF the states Of the union.
They are observing the marching col
he In hVp WI
the men are handled. and listening to
war stories which are told every night
in the big mess tent. which looks like
the home of a circus.
Fort Riley has taken on the appear
ance Of Chickamauga park during the
mobilization days Of the Spanish
American war. At the head Of a slop-
ing hill which overlooks the ends of
rolling acres that reach to the Kansas
river. IL q line OF tents which marks
the headquarters Of Maj. Dent Bates,
commander OF the maneuver camp.
Down the slopes OF the hills and as
far az one can see, extend the tents
OF cavalry. infantry. and artillery.
From early morning until evening it
ls hard work and little play for men in
the ranks. There are hours of march
ing and diminishing under the hot sun
or in the rain, and then the Kansas
winds sweep down with the setting of
the sun, and tonight the armies and
their commanders are slapping their
arms to keep warm or shivering under
heavy blankets. Directly below the tent
Of Brig. Gen. Bates. where a big head
quarters flag slaps in the wind, stretch
the canvased quarters of the contend-
Ing armies, all one force until the
marching and the fighting begins with
o'clock each morning, and then stub
bornly contesting for every advantage
over each other. Before the troops file
away to their various posts and the ma
tiOnal guardsmen are sent to their
homes every phase Of military skill and
strategy will have been put to actual
test.
Friday marked the actual opening Of
h0stilities, regiment serving as the
advance guard Of an imaginary division
seeking to make Its way to victory UNI
der the roaring protection of artillery.
Just what army, the 'a5lue" or the
"brown," scored the greatest number Of
points will not be known until the fiji
teen umpires have reached their decis-
ion. Even then it will be only a con
Sstructive" victory for one army or the
other. for here, as when the navy and
the Long Island forts bounded each
other, an intricate system of counting
points controls. which requires fifteen
umpires to spend hours figuring before
they determine winners Of the bloodless
battles.
The army Of the blue" gets its name
because OF the blue uniform its men
wear; the khaki clad regiments form
the army Of the brown"
It was shortly after 8 O'clock when a
sharp command sent three troops Of
khaki clad cavalry up the mud road
south of the hill from which General
Bates headquarters looked down. Be-
hind the squadron ratified light bat
terry, Its gun carriages rolling deep in
the ooze Of the roadway. Up the hill
they went, past the stone column which
before the era of expansion began held
claim to distinction as marking the
geographical center of the United
States. Then a regiment of infantry
made it's way up the road. the men all
Y IN heavy marching order, tin cups and
mess kits jangling at their sides. Three
separate columns Of blue" forces, cav
airy, infantry and artillery equally di-
yiied, passed up the road, and then two
more columns of the brown"
One command was seven miles from
the headquarters hill when the march
was halted and each division went into
action. The spectator saw hundreds of
eol6liers lodging here and there, using
every bit of cover that offered in the
aim to fight to victory at vantage
POINTS. Here and there near the vari-
Gus columns cantered officers who wore
bands of white about their arms; these
were the umpires.
The roar and rattle opened as the
scouts came together Then until mid
afternoon the battle ragged. At 5 o'clock
the regiments retreated down the. deep
ravines and slowly fell back into camp,
the men lhsrned under the heat of the
sun, tired and with uniforms matted
with burrs where they had fought their
way thru the reaches OF grass.
This, in brief, is the story which each
day is expected to bring, the maneuvers
to assume a larger and larger sale
until the final day.
While the smaneuvers last, Fort Riley
has taken on the name of Camp Root.
Brig Gen. Bates wears the title OF
commander of the maneuvers division.
Mai MacClearnard, who was with
shafter in the Cuban campaign, issues
the orders which determined each days
engagement, these instructions being
issued only few hours before the con-