Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-12-12
FACING CAVALRY CHARGE.
what 1t Is from the Infantry Point o
View.


"nat IT Is from the Infantry Point Of
View.
II is curious that, for all the
glamour which overhangs a soldiers
life, but little is known by the Civilian
OF what the life really is. Perhaps if
more were known the glamour would
De less. Life in barracks, for instance:
how differently from the civilian the
soldier orders his affairs-or, rather.
mas them ordered for him. Consider
briefly the daily round for the trooper
IN the ROOM"
But most remarkable of all aspects
OF military life is its effect on the
moral character. There is a popular
superstition that the army is the best
reformatory possible for a bad, or at
least Indifferent. character. The sup
position is not always justified. In
corrigi5les there are, of course, to be
met with, hut. as general rule, there
is no gainsaying the bracing moral ef-
feet of military discipline.
the army teaches a man self-respect
the iii st qualification of the straight
a.
""r' moreover. 1t makes him do it..
He kicks at first. but. being being COM
PEELED. learns in time the pleasures of
honest employment. and ends with a
pride in the performance of his duty.
Then the life in common teaches him
that the respect of his comrades is a
desirable thing; to attain that he must
first learn to respect himself. Gradu-
ally he works out his salvation, and
attains his moral manhood
Not always. it must be admitted, is
the influence for good. The case of
the gentleman-ranker. associated on
equal terms with those who should be
his social and intellectual interiors, is
a ticklish one. If he has the right
stuff in him, he may yet rise superior
to his environment, no matter how
grave his past indiscretions. If not
To turn, however. to the grim side
of soldering, and a picture of War,
red and terrible.
There is a muttered rumor in the
battery that the hills yonder are occu-
pied by the enemy. AS we halt for a
moment on the crest of the hill. sud-
denly the scattering sound of rifle fire
snaps the stiffness of the morning air.
The noise pulls me up with jerk.
My half-finished sentence ends alb
ruptly. and I feel a shock within me
as of a tug upon my heart-strings.
The talk has ceased on the instant. A
curious silence falls upon US. broken
only by hoarsely whispered, Were
in it," from a comrade.
M, o,,,otionc ho ri IN ano11,vo II
is not exactly fear feel, but rather a
kind of uncomfortable expectancy.
dare not look my fellows in the face.
To do so would seem. l feel. like i'm
pertinent curiosity. But furtive
glance shows me each man bolt upright
in his place. with features set and
hard.
The chatter Of a Maxim upon the left
swells into gathering chorus, the ir-
regular rattle of the rife fire. In the
cold gray of dawn it is chilling,
deadly sound. Then. with thunder
of thudding hoofs. staff officer gallops
up.
"Walk-march!" The sharp COM
mand acts like a spark that fires the
stiffened frame to life. "Trot!" and.
with a jingle. jingle of accoutrements.
the teams. their wicked looking guns
looping behind them. plunge down.
wards to the plain. The battery is it,
self again. Action quickens the slug
gish pulse, and in the excitement Of
the descent the ugly jabber Of the
Maxim falls on deaf ears.
At the bottom of the slope is an
awkward gully. through which the
teams scamper he;ter-skelter, and
come UP with a gallop OH the level I'M
der a heavy fire. Action 'front.'" In
a trice the guns are wheeled round
and unlirnbered.
Now for the first time I begin to be
conscious of the fire under which we
are acting. All round see little
spurts OF dust kicked up from the
ground by some invisible agency. like
gobbets of dry sand thrown up by the
impact of colossal rain-drops. Mon,en-
tarily I hear the mellow thing whing-
like the deep vibrant note Of a banjo's
tight strung bass-of an unseen bullet
flying past me. An uncomfortable
a kind Of sickness that IL
hard to describe in precise terms.
Quoth Henry at Agincourt:
'tAnd he that hath no stomach to this
fight.
Let him depart"
Gladly would depart. but that a
sense Of shame would keep me, even
were escape possible. at my post. It
needs greater courage to openly ny
than to stay.
Yet it is not physical fear that lays
hold Of me. To feel that, one must
needs confront an actual. tangible Toe.
II Il rather a mental terror with which
these Invisible missiles Of death iii me.
There is no combating them. They