The Washington times., 1906-07-29
ARMY OFFICERS
NOT TO BLAME
Burial Of Brig. Gen. Edmund
Rice Without Military Hon :
OrS Was Unavoidable.

The burial OF the body Of Brig. Gen.
EDMUND Rice. retired. at Arlington.
Wednesday without military escort,
disclosed peculiar situation existing at
The Nations Capital, the headquarters
OF the army. on account Of the maneu-
vers that are TO be conducted at mum
Der OF points throughout the country
Owing 70 the present situation. any
officer of the army would meet with
the same fate If he were to be buried
at either Arlington or almost any other
military post in the country AT the pres
ent time. except Forts Oglethorpe. IN
Georgia, and Sam Houston. in Texas.
where maneuvers are being held
Situation Misunderstood.
II .s apparent that the situation Is
greatly misunderstood and as a result
there has been considerable criticism OF
the War Depa rtment officials for ALLOW
ing a general officer who had served
his country with distinction for forty
years. having fought calamity IN two
wars. 10 be buried without even such
an escort as is due private. by the
regulations Of the army
Several days ago the army post at
Fort Myer was practically entirely va
Gated by the Third and Fourth Batter
les Of Field Artillery and the Thir-
tcenth Cavalry stationed there. the
cavalry going 70 Mt Gretna, Pa. and
the artillery 10 Fort Oglethorpe Chick
amauga. As il was necessary for Col
onel Hatfield. commandment Of the nost
10 accompany his regiment OF cavalry.
ization, was left In command Scarcely
half a hundred men. including members
OF both organizations, were left with
him. as sort of clretakers.
This was the force AT the dIsposaI Of
the War Department for the burial Of
General Rice Wednesday. As il was
barely enough 10 make a squad for fir
Ing the salute and sounding taps al the
grave. there was no attempt 10 provIde
an escort for the body from the railway
station 70 the fort. Even as il was. the
War Department officials were not
guilty OF violating the regulations con
corning the provision Of military escort
and honOrs for off!ctri. After designat-
ing the maximum number OF troops and
the classes that shall be provided IN the
instance Of the death Of any one in the
army service. the regulations read as
follows:
The army 2 :gulation
The funeral escort Of a general Of
ficer. or Of any officer either on the ac-
tive or retired list, WHEN the funeral oc-
ours at any other place than a military
post or camp. viii be ordered by the
War Department. and will be composed
Of such bodies Of troops, not exceeding
as the interests Of the service viii per-
nit. But in all cases where the funeral
ceremonies take place at or in the inn
mediate vicinity of a military post. or
where the remains are conveyed through
a military post EN- route TO the place OF
burial. the above regulations relative 10
escort viii be complied with. so far as
the strength Of the garrison Will allow. A"
For Wednesdays burial the full
strength" OF the garrison was called
upon. but, Of course. 1t happened to be
notably weak at the time. II was con-
sidered highly essential by all the ofTi-
GERS Of the department and army. par
ucularly Secretary Taft and General
Bell. that~every man and officer that
could possibly be spared. be sent 10 par
ticipate In the maneuvers, as a matter
of drilling and general training, and
perfecting the organization generally
AS no important emergencies were an
ucipated. no force Of any consequence
has been left at any of the army posts
the country over
According TO the regulations. a brig
adler general Is entitled TO one regiment
or infantry, one troop of caValary and
one platoon of field artillery AS this is
the maximum which may be provided.
few officers are ever given this exact
amount, for the reason that sufficient
troops of the different branches are
never stationed at any given post An
attempt is always made, when desired
by the deceased efficer's friends or rela-
tives, however, 10 so manipulate the
forces as TO make the desired quota.
cavalrymen and engineers often march
ing as infantTym-n.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler's Funeral.
It is recalled by the department Of
ficials that last winter, for the funeral
of Mai. Gen. Joseph Wheeler. the entire
cavalry and artillery force at Fort
Myer was called upon, and, as there
was no infantry at the fort. the Engi-
neer Corps at Washington Barracks
was called out For the funeral OF Major
General Schofield. almost the entire
force of the Coast Artillery at Fort
Monroe was brought UP. in addition to
The Fort Myer and Washington Bar
racks forces. This was because the de-
ceased had been a Secretary of War,
and was entitled TO the largest funeral
escort, next 10 the President, the COM
mandeT-in-chie