The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-04-20
GEN. BELLS REPORT.
Suggests That Leavenworth and Riley
Be Under One Head.

Fort I.eayenworth, Kan, April 90
/ The annual reports of Brigadier Gen
/ eraI J. Franklin Bell commandment,
and the other officers in charge OF IN
structiOn in the infantry and cavalry
school and staff college here are ready
for distribution The reports are deVo-
1 ted largely to the treatment Of subjects
on technical military education and
make up a pamphlet of 148 pages the
pamphlet contains several interesting
/ letters written more than a year ago
! by General Bell to the president of the
war college board in Washington stat
ing General Bells views and making
suggestions as to the organization OF
the college and the plan of military
education to be taught here.
General Bell recommended the estab-
lishment of a separate military depart
ment to embrace the posts OF Fort
Leavenworth and Fort Riley, to be
known as the department of Kansas.
He says:
The desirability of dignifying the
institution suggests the propriety OF
vision of at least a brigadier general
If Fort LeavenwOrth be continued as
a part of the department of the Mis-
souri,, exigencies of the service might
bring about a condition presenting
the anomaly of having a general in
command of the college and post who
ranks the general in command of the
department, and the dignity of the po-
{
should be, would be 7correspondingly
! lowered.
If. instead of limiting the depart,
ment to Fort Leavenworth alone it
should include Fort Riley also, the
two posts constituting the department
of Kansas. the officer charged with
the duty of commanding the depart
ment and of commandant OF this col
lege could be given general super
vision of the instruction at the cavalry
would facilitate the regulation of the
affairs of the two schools and the two
garrisons SO as to combine them very
happily in practical work The en-
tire subject of instruction, as well as
administration, pertaining to both
posts and schools, could then be su-
pervised by the same superior author
tiles, the war college board or the
general staff, as is best it should be.
A Course of Study.
General Bell is strongly in favor of
two years course for student Off
GERS He says among other things on
this subject:
The school course should cover two
years as heretofore, instead of one as
during the past year. Though last
years course was reduction of that
formerly followed in this institution,
/ it nevertheless remained more than
was ever crowded into the period of
one year before. OF course, some
/ thing had to suffer and results have
demonstrated that the most important
part of the nstructon-namely, the
PRACTICAL part-was that which suffer-
ed the most It was found necessary
to reduce the number of practical eX-
ercises it had always been customary
to have. In my opinion it has never
been practicable to have as many as
are desirable. but as the theoretical
part of the course was expressly spec
flied by orders in amount and kind,
and the practical part not so fully
specified, it naturally happened that
in attempting to follow the course as
prescribed the practical work not ex-
presslY specified was preferably left
out or curtailed. 1t was found i'm
which was expressly specified because
of lack of time.
The I4eavenWOrth Reservation.
Lieutenant Colonel w W. Wother-
spoon, chief instructor in the depart
ment of tactics. calls attention in his
report to the lack of area available for
field exercises in tactical opera lions with
troops. Colonel WotherspOon says that
the Fort Leavenworth military reserva-
ton consists of $3.50 acres of land, of
which 939 acres are in timber reserve,
on the east or Missouri side of the river
! 2, 635 acres assigned to the United States
penitentiaries, Is acres to the national
cemetery, Is acres to water in Merritt
lake, 329 acres to building area and pa
rade grounds, 81 acres to target ranges
and camp ia acres swamp land and
/ 1, 1897 acres to heavy timber and under
brush, leaving only 1920 acres of open
land, part of which Is in patches and
along a creek, and that there is only
| I, 040 acres available for tactical pur-
poses
- R aun.vr@A@