Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-26
ON BULL RUN FIELD
Unusual Interest in the Com
ing Maneuvers.
ON PRACTICAL SOAL
OPERATIONS WILL BE SIMILAR
TO THOSE IN ACTUAL WAR;
Grounds Chosen Have Been Prepared
for Camp and Field Exercises
by the Engineers.
ON PRACTICAL SOAL

More than ordinary interest Is manifested
in military circles in the joint maneuvers
to be held on the historic battlefield OF
Manassas next September. This Is particu-
larry the case with the state militiamen
who are to take part in the operations FOR
the reason that they will receive great
practical benefits from their experiences
in the field with the regular troops.
Projected on a Broad Scale.
The maneuvers have been projected on
broad and practical scale. The arrange
ments for their execution. already COM
pleted or under way, are at once compre-
hensive, thorough and liberal. The plans.
which have been carefully worked out by
army officers of long experience with troops
in the field, provide for every, detail re-
quired for the comfort, convenience ana
successful handling OF the assembled FORCES:
The grounds chosen for camps and for Held
exercises are we'll adapted to such purposes.
and have been carefully marked out ana
provided with ample drainage, water supply
and other needful facilities by company OF
the Engineer Corps of the army, who have
been engaged in the work for fully q
month. In both the army and National
Guard the forthcoming maneuvers have
aroused the keenest interest, and there Is a
widespread belief that they will have an
important bearing upon the whole project
Of imparting military instruction to state
troops through the agency Of joint man
euvcrs with the army. The maneuvers at
Manassas will draw together from %. 600 to
80 coo members of the National Guard rep
resenting many widely separated states,
and all reports indicate that In the various
organizations both officers and men Will
enter upon the work intelligently. seriously
and with a genuine desire to profit by the
practical military training which the ex-
erciSe Will afford.
The Field Of Maneuvers
Colonel H. o. s. Heistand. A. A. c., and
Captain James A. Moss. oath Infantry.
stationed at Governors Island. New York,
have just completed an inspection of the
ground selected for the maneuvers and
located the camps.
The maneuver field includes fifty square
miles of territory in Prince William county,
Virginia, extending from the hamlet of
Thoroughfare east to Bull Run. Headquar
tiers will be established about quarter Of
a mile southwest of Gainesville. Va. The
forces participating will be divided into
two main camps, each to consist OF about
$4,000 troops, both regular army and militia
of all arms.
Maneuver camp No. 1 will be located
about two and one-half miles northwest Of
Manassas. Camp No. 2 will be about one
mile west of Thoroughfare. Brigadier Cen
eral Frederick D. Grant. U. S. A, will be
in command of No. 1 camp and Brigadier
General J. Franklin Bell U. 8. A. of No.
2 Other general officers participating In
the maneuvers will be Generals Barry.
Bliss and Whit. Colonel A. L. Wagner
will be chief umpire.
Exercises to Be Practical.
At Manassas, as at West Point and Fort
Riley. the greatest care will be taken not
to have the exercises degenerate into any
thing like a circus. They will be practical
with all the realism which modern strategy
in the form of problems can make it. The
troops will be required to live as they would
in time of war in the field, with the distlnc-
ton that they will not be required to surfer
Inconvenience and run the risk or SICK
ness, when certain preliminary precautions
may be taken in the way of an adequate
water supply and proper camp sanitation.
These measures for the preservation or In
dvidual health, however, Will not lessen
the practical side of the work.
The following roster of troops TO take
mart in the maneuvers is official up to date,
but it is subject to revision hereafter:
Corps Observation-Disclosures Gainesville,
Virginia.
1 Troop, 7th Cavalry-k Siege Battery
without guns.