Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-06
LESSONS LEARNED DEARLY
Recent Campaign Around Boston
Fills Hospital Cots.
RANK AND FILE SUFFER MOST
Militiamen Must Learn to Take Care
of Their Health-Officers Must
Train Their Men.

Joint maneuvers of the regular army
and the National Guard are a thing of
the past; at least. there will be no repeti-
tion of the recent Boston campaign ~
long as the present directing forces in the
War Department are In control. Some
valuable lessons were learned in that
period OF stress and privation. but the
cost In human suffering is held by War
Department officials to have been out OF
all proportion to the benefits derived.
And, besides they are now convinced thar
all OF real utility that was taught to the
m1litlamen could just as well have been
impaired through other means and with
out nliing the hospital cots during the
campaign and without causing the drearv
hsts or absentees on company roll call in
the National Guard armories since tben
attributable to pneumonia and dvsan,.r,,
eN'eholng over weeks after the return ne
'he miiitiamen from the field.
Sick and Discouraged
ihe general officers of the regular army
'he NATIONAL Guard. who Jointly
ea ana participated in the Boston
ihsist that 1t was great sue
MI SO the officials of the War De-
the results Will
Of condt, os true that the militiamen got a taste
W VI Soiiuitions as they NAV exjsf IN ac,',aI
idre, nut for the most nart ,ha"
luI ua heu TO their homes a disheartansj &c,
discouraged set of men, That sniri, i anu CIV.
arr. uia,ea ns 10 further the plans OF the
the nun,eris.,, VINO really desire to add to
@, eIlcal strength of the Nafio,oI
Guard and to bring il I'm Tn btnh aeionai
BILE efficiency up W hlghest possi-
.fta, w neTerore it has been decided that bar.-
encamrp par r'iclpation Of the militia ia an
every second year win limit - s0,u.ers
ihihging Of these forces -io 'n'of-
Privates Suffer the Mos+
.,.' n'eie disposition is manifested here to
s''irk responsibility for what actuaJIv a.
euiieo' out II is recalled that after al, the
pa,ucipation of the National Guard MN.
.oiuh'ary' and that while the project for
'oin. maheuvers may have found its IN.
ofticayn "A 'he minds Of the regular army
oHcers, no compulsion was attamn.s
Sas alns the militia into line; its officers o.o ~
.S lped as seizing with aytditv 49,
o opportunity to gain experienoo ~
fnnae9 , upon scale beyond thar Of
ments STATE encamp-
Nritlcs Of the maneuvers nou, a..,
th tLa' tne Drunt OF the suffering fell NO.,
the private, who 1t is claimed Ala po
CO. ntsoa 'hat sort OF instruction, while the
They contend that COMPANY o.ewise rea,n,
ana battalion drill in any or tba $50,
Searly encampments of the NatIonai
ruara t with the addition of little snsi
to time .,9Sns-country ,';Ss marching from time
" ume VIII sufficiently instruct the mi
sate' while larger and more comnIetedp -
ioi oinalon needed by the militia otS,ar.
caa oe impaired through officers scboo,s
mant totaahg TO the view of War Depart
vance nf ,h now fortnight in ad-
oe .t VI the annual joint encampmert
VI the regular army and militia sbn,,s
W ne spent by the National Guard oft,c 10
~ attendance upon a school copdI,ct.a
uy regular army officers with the rep-
uiar troops. SO that they might tba
reticaliy and by practical obseryotin,,
th ~ Tue regular work be prepared for
.ns hanollng of their own state troons
"heh they join the encampment
Complaints From Guardsmen.
complaints from the euardsman ar
gagged In the Boston maneuyers al1ee.
pad food, no food at all for twen.v
iour hours at a time lack of trans.
portation, ill-fitting shoes and clothing
unsulted to the weather. For these
Things the staff officers OF the puard 4.
is declared here, were largely to blame
and systematic instruction bv regular
officers and practical observation of tba
manner in which they handled heir
own men would have prevented manv
lamentable failures
One of the great mistakes alleged
against the regular officers who planned
the Boston campaign that resulted i'm
the infiction of much misery I,non tho
ATTACKING army was in carrying forward
the slmllltude of an army moving I'm a
hostile country to the point where it was
supposed TO rely almost entirely for its
transportation upon the inhabitants
To be sure. the horses and vehicles
were there In New England, some ON
every farm and every town, but. un-
fortunately, as 1t turned out these were
generally behind the lines of the defend
ing army. So the attacking force had TO
resolve the paradox of whipping the enc
my 10 get the means Of beating them
Some Lessons We're Taught.
Taken as a whole last summers cam
paign is held to have taught some les
sons almost worth the cost For in
stance. it was shown conclusively that
men of sedentary habits cannot safely be
called into open field service without be-
ing gradually Injured to its hardships, and
that week S encampment under wall
tents. in a carefully prepared camp, does
not sensibly fit the men for the hard
ships of real field campaign. Nor can
drill once a week in sheltered armory
place the guardsmen on a footing with
the regular soldier
The guardsman has still to learn how
to take care of his health: to pitch his
own tent and cook his own meals: to
find shelter In action. even at the ex.
pense of attitude in marching move
ments and finesse in the manual of arms.
These facts are realized by the regular
army officers in Washington and are
now being discussed in the light of the
campaign, but after all.
they ask. what can they do about IT?
Nothing, beyond reaching the decision
already announced to discontinue such
joint maneuvers
Remedy With Guard Officers.
One of the progressive officers of the
general staff puts 1t this way: THE real