Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-29

national government will be supplemented
by others from the friends of rife practice.
MAI. Gen. Walter Kitchener, c. b, IS
renowned for his plain speaking. and he
gave a further instance of this striking
Characteristic when addressing British off,
GERS March after a big field day at La
more, representing the operations of actual
war" the United Service Magazine states.
In the course of his remarks Gen. Kitch-
ener said: You have had two days hard
maneuvering. You have been knocked
about. you have suffered hardship in the
field. and you have been compelled to
bivouac all night in the open on the cold,
dewy ground. Possibly some of you didn't
like II, and some OF you didn't like me for
ordering It, My critics, / know, say that
am a COMPOUNDED enthusiast. and I must
admit that am an enthusiast. / even hope
that L Shall be able TO infuse enthusiasm
into you. gentlemen.
" I am firmly of opinion that field day
is no goods a waste of time and waste
of energy-unless It lasts for more than
twenty-four hours. You cannot produce in
field day which lasts only couple OF
hours the severe conditions OF real warfare.
You cannot produce In a couple of hours
such conditions as hunger, thirst, fatigue.
encouragement, exhaustion: yet, unless
you can produce these and the other hard
conditions OF genuine field service you cam
not learn useful, practical lessons from
your maneuvers. field day fitted in con-
veniently between two square meals not
only teaches you nothing useful, but gives
you false Impressions and tends to make
you theoretical, rather than practical, tac-
ticians.
Look at Gatacre at Stormberg! From
brigade field day point of view Gatacre
on that occasion did spendidly. Yes, on
paper 1t was beautiful operation. If
Gatacre had started out on IT. after a good
square dinner and had finished It before
his men had time to tire. one would have
had to say. pass. that Gen. Gatacre took
the Boer position IN reverse, he surprised
the Beers absolutely. And yet 1t was a
disaster. Why? Because the whole of the
previous day Gatacre's army had been pre-
pairing for 1t and he had imposed heavy
fatigue duties on his men; because they
started out without breakfast; because for
twelve hours the men were starving and
were afterward called upon to do big
night march; because, when they reached
the Boer position, the men were done; be-
cause, in short, Gatacre finished this bril-
liant tactical movement with an exhausted
fighting line. And mind you his men were
not wanting in pluck. He had the Irish
among them. the bravest OF the brave.
They were not afraid to die. They were
quite ready to die. But they were not
ready to fight.
Another moral / want 20 bring home
to you is the importance of looking after
yourselves and not expecting other people
to look after you when you are in the
field. 1t is easy to complain that the staff
is inconsiderate or is not treating you well.
Gentlemen, IL is not for the staff to nurse
and tend you. 1t is for your own COM
manding officers to do that. Regiments
have no business to be looking helplessly
to the staff on all occasions, and to be
grumbiing because they think The staff neg
lects them. The staff has its own work to
do--a very important, difficult and anxious
work. too and regiments must learn to
depend on their commanding officers to
make things easy and comfortable, while
commanding officers must learn to depend
on themselves"