Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-09
FOUGHT TWO HOURS
OPPOSING FORCES IN THE CAMP
YOUNG 4EEUvERs
The Conflict Prge&very Satisfactory
to the Mihtar4sE1perts Who
Witnessed It.

| A dispatch frd&, Camp Young. West
Point. KY, last niSM says: More spectacu-
lar and hotly contsaa1, but lacking one or
two Of the finer points brought out in pre-
vious maneuvers, was the engagement par
| ticipated in today by practically the entire
| number of regular soldiers and national
guardsmen in camp. When recall was
| sounded after two hours of hot fighting the
| result was practically a dog tail, the blue
| army inficting the heavier loss as Tailed
! by the umpires. but the browns largely
making UP for this by greater readiness
to seize tactical advantages Of position.
| The firing was the heaviest yet witnessed
| by the observers here Carloads of blank
cartridges were expended by infantry, cav
airy and artillery and from the time the
opposing forces met until the game was
over the hills reyerberated to pounding
cannon and the Gathering roll of the krags
frequently rose to the crash OF heavy vol
| ley firing.
The problem for the day was laid down
by Colonel Wagner who gave the COM
manders of the blue and brown armies wide
latitude. There were no specifications as to
which should act on the defensive, as In
! the maneuvers hitherto planned and exc
cuted. A division Of blues and a division
Of browns were simply set in motion from
points ten miles apart. each acting or
ders to attack Immediately on contact with
the enemy
Each division contained about 4, 500 fight
ing men. The blue division, commanded by
Colonel Anderson of the Sth Cavalry, was
composed of the first brigade (seven bat
talions, representing the LIST, Sd and Doth
United States Infantry and the LIST Wiscon-
sin Regiment: second brigade, 1st I'd and
Sd Indiana Infantry; the 7th Cavalry 1.-TWO
squadrons), and the 14th Battery, Field Ar
tillery.
The brown division, commanded by Brig
adler General Bliss. U. s. A, was composed
Of the third brigade 1st, I'd and Sd Michi-
gam; fourth brigade cd and Sd Kentucky,
Sth Ohio and Kentucky light artillery bat
TALON, used infantry)i seven troops of
cavalry, the 21st Battery Field Artillery.
and LIST Battery, Indiana Field Artillery.
The battle was precipitated at the entrance
to long and tortuous defile in the hills,
two guns from the Dist Battery and two
troops Of cavalry being sent on the run to
take hold before the blues could come up.
The blues had, however, already gained
position from which they could turn the
defile, this brown force was compelled
to retire. This move the part of the
brown commander threw the original plans
of the blues into confusion and forced them
to strike at the brown left and left center.
Accordingly the Indiana brigade deliv-
cred hard blows for the blues, firing dur
ing their attack the brown left wing
being the hottest Of the day. The Indi-
ana guardsmen. who already gained an
enviable record, enfsHced it still further
ny capturing lnreet GQnpa01eS or the 9Th
Ohio and inflcting lO2ses on the Sd Ken
lucky and sth Ohio, estimated by the UNI
pires "120 killed
This, of course, caused the brown left
wing to fall back for some distance The
Indiana brigade, VS. however; unable sue
cessfully to turn the left flank of the
browns, and the r,reaspn for it was that
some of their If0esief brethren working
on the other side, got into the game The
Indiana field artillery. a part OF the brown
forces came to the rescue of thesleft, and
by smart work that won them praise from
the experts. prevented the blue artillery
and cavalry from following up the advan-
tage the infantry had gained, The Indiana
battery, although using horses which had
never seen a cannon until the maneuvers
began managed to take good position and
fire a dozen shots before the 14th Battery
(regulars), could Ia Re a good position for
| the blues The result was that the .blue
advance on the left was checked X
Meantime the 1st. brigade of blues had
begun hot action with the Michigan
brigade forming the brown center. Here
the artillery again saved the day for the
browns, the 21st Battery coming up at the
| nick of time to give their side the pre-
| ponderance. and cause the temporary re-
| tirement of the first line of 1st blue brigade
| composed largely Of regulars! nearly a
| whole company Of the latter being cap
| tured by a Michigan regiment.
This advantage at the center was partly