Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-12
GUARDSMEN WILL
HAVE MIMIC WAR.
California, Arizona and New Mex
leo MiIitiamen to ManeuVer
with Regulars
MAY ATTACK LOS ANGELES
Camp AtaSCadero Again to Be
Scene of instruction in
Army Methods
Associate I Press1

ond big military maneuvers to be held
in California and jointly participated IN
by the United States troops and mil
itia in California, Arizona and New
Mexico, will begin at Camp Atascadero
next Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Tasker II. Bliss, who'
took charge Of the department of Cali
fornia only a few weeks ago, will be in
command of the maneuvers. ApproXl>
mately 5000 troops will be in camp
Two years ago the first joint maneu-
Vers between the regulars in the De
partment of California and the militia
of California and Arizona, were held
at Atascadero under the command or
Col Marion P. Maus, now brigadier-
general in command of the Department
of Washington. The results were so
gratifying to the war department that
the big Atascadero ranch, with its
miles of oak-studded hills and pretty
valleys, located about eight miles from
Paso Robles, and midway between san
| Francisco and Los Angeles. has been
made one of the ten regular biennial
camps of instruction for the joint field
training of the national guard with the
regular troops.
only the militia of California and
| Arizona participated in the maneuVers
of two years ago, but this year the New
Mexico national guard has beeen added
| to the encampment for their first HELD
| training with the regulars.
ENGINEERS TO TAKE PART
| A detachment of engineers from Fort
| LeaVenworth, Kan, under Capt. G. r.
Lukesh, also has been detailed to the
| camp this year. Capt. Lukesh will be
chief engineer. He will have charge
| of the engineering problem during the
| maneuvers and with his detachment
will give instructions in the laying out
! and construction of field works and
| entertainments.
Considerable disappointment is ex-
pressed in army circles over the fail
| ure of the war department to grant
| the request for detachment from the
! army aerial corps for experiments
| with an aeroplane and a balloon or air.
ship during the maneuvers to deter
| mine the utility and practicability of
aerial craft for military purposes on
the Pacific coast
The Atascadero maneuvers are desig-
mated as camp of instructions" and
in reality will be that far more than
spectacular exhibitions of mimic war
| fare and sham battles.
In fact there will be few spectacular
| features and but little powder burn
| ing" The war department has inaug-
| urated a policy of economy in field ma
| ion that the laundering roar of cannon,
| the sputtering of machine guns and
the rattle Of long lines of infantry is
a waste of blank ammunition and does
not add much to the real instructions
and lessons to be gained by the mil
itia from field training with the reg
ulars.
The object of the camp of instruc-
ton is to place the militia under the
command of the regular army OFF,
GERS, that the guardsmen may obtain
practical instruction in the field, drill
the officers both of The regulars and of
the guard in handling of larger bodies
of troops than is afforded at single
army post or in state encampments OF
the militia. and to accustom the state
troops and the regulars to work har-
moniously together
There will be a wide range of in
struction, from establishing field bak
cries, field hospital work, sanitation,
signaling and wireless telegraphy, pa
troll, outpost and reconnaissance duties,
company, battalion, regimental and
brigade evolutions to the more impor-
tant problems of war.
The maneuvers probably will culmi-
nate in d battle between the red
and blue armies, in which one will
represent an invading army landing at
San Luis Obispo or Monterey and
Los Angeles. This probably will be
the only event of the maneuvers in
which the hills and valleys will re-
sound with all the noise of real
"battle."
TROOPS ARRIVING
Company E, signal corps; batteries
A and Is, fifth field artillery, and bat
terry F, first field artillery, under Ma
ior Millar, are already in camp. The
eighth United States infantry arrived
near Paso Robes today, having
marched from Monterey, and will
reach camp Tuesday. Several com
panies of the thirtieth infantry from
| the Preside and Fort Mason, which
also hiked the POO miles, carrying the
regular war equipment, will reach the
camp Tuesday, possibly sooner By
Wednesday one regiment of guards,
battery of field artillery without guns,
and detachment of signal corps from
New Mexico and eight companies of
the Arizona militia are expected to ar
rive.
A detachment of the first United
States cavalry from San Francisco, un-
der Lieutenant Horace N. Munro will
arrive by train tomorrow morning.
REGULAR FORCES
OF the regulars there will be four
troops of cavalry, three batteries of
field artillery with twelve guns, tWen-
ty-two companies of infantry, one COM
pany OF signal corps and one company
of the hospital corps and a detachment
Of engineers.
Major w. NJ, Wright will be Gen
! eral Bliss chief of staff, and Major
S. W. Dunning of the twentieth in
fantry, adjutant general. Colonel f.
Won Schrader will be chief quarter
master; Lieutenant Colonel II. S. r.
! Harris chief surgeon, and Major
| George Bell inspector general. Cap
! tain w. II, Stanford will command the
! signal corps.
The entire national guard of Cali
| fornia, three infantry regiments, three
| cavalry troops, two companies signal
corps and one company field hospital
corps. will be in camp fifteen days and
| probably will be accompanied by Ad-
| iutant General J. B. Lauck and others
| of the governors staff. The Califor-
mia guard will 90 into camp October
/, when the militia of New Mexico
and Arizona depart.