The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-03-30
RAW TROOPS IN WAR.


To those who think that the United
States does not need any considerable
body Of troops as a standing army, we
commend the following editorial from
the Portland Oregonian, which was
printed under the title "The Truth
About Volunteer Troops
Dependence upon volunteer forces in
sudden and desperate warfare is only
verified after u large percentage of the
citizen soldiers have been lost through
causes induced by the unaccustomcd
fatigue OF forced marches, by unaccus-
toned food. wretchcdly cooked and irrcgu-
larly served, and by enteric diseases due To
a combination OF these causes. The spec
taclc presented by the volunteer troops
that were modified i'll Southern camps
during the early weeks OF the Spanish
American war Will never be forgotten by
those who witnessed II Eager, earnest
brave, the volunteers who swarmed the
recruiting offices and were marched TO
rendezvous fell prey even 10 the files
that blackcncd the food, and which the
men ate only under the sharpcst stress
OF hunger. Typhoid found in these con-
ditions ready lodgment. The usual de-
lays In moving Il quickly mobilIzcd army
without an organized commissary depart
ment followed, and soft-muscled men,
fresh from the vocatlons of peace, went
down 10 death by scores while yet the
noise of battle was unheard. This is not
an Impeachment Of the patriotism OF the
volunteer troops, that had already been
proved in the eagerncss of their enlist
ment. II is not an Impeachment OF their
courage; that was put to n Severer test
by facing, in idleness. the manifold foes
OF fetid and foul camp than Ii would
have been by a clash OF arms. II Is not
an impeachment Of any soldierly quality
except physical endurance. ii is merely
TO say that raw, unseasoned men Will not,
because they cannot, bear she heavy
brunt OF war. even before the shock OF
battle with the immunity from Its in
separablc Ills that is possible TO we'll
disciplined troops, accustomed to the
army ration, and the fatigue OF the drill
and the march.
The story is simple. the moral is plain,
The nation that is prepared for war Is
| the nation that supports a wcll-disci-
plined army. large enough To meet sud-
| den emergency. The nation not thus
prepared should look well TO its diplomacy
that the quality thereof be not easily
| strained.
And that is not only the truth about
volunteer forces, but the truth is even
''more So This truth was most NOR
tally exemplifed in the war of the re-
bcllron. In that war we had III all
something like 100000 troops en-
rolled. But it was difficult at any time
to get in any one place rs much as
100000 troops together, for an effective
campaign Out Of the three quarters
| of a million troops in the west, Gen,
Rosecrans managed to get about 10000
for his campaign against Chattanooga,
while Grant had less than 100000 men
altogether in his Vicksburg campaign.
| Sherman had less than 100000 men
when he marched to the Sea. Grant
had but little more than 100000 in his
great battle in the Wilderness. In the
carly two years of the war, 1T was even
worse. Mcclellan had probably well
over 100000 men before he could get
the 100000, which he took in his ad.
vance upon Richmond. in his spectacu-
lar Peninsula campaign. Nothing more
wastcful of human life, more absolutely
destructive of "raw matcrial' con
sisting Of the lives and vigor of chosen
men, could possibly be conceived than
the putting of raw levies into the field
for military campaigns, The men do
not know how to take care of them
selves; they are under command Of their
volunteer officers who, as a rule, know
no more about the business of war
than the enlisted men do, both being
wholly unframed. as rule. Precau-
tions dictated by experience are neg
ected; there is nothing done even OF
the things that could be done by way
Of protecting the health and the lives
of the soldiers. The hospitals are filed
and in large degree by men who never
afterwards reIoin their commands
OF the immense paper army, which
J tho United States had in the war of the
!, rebellion, probably not one in FIVE evci
! saw the battle front or ever engaged
in any real perilous war enterprise.
, This is not because of any fault OF
) theirs, but simply because their encr,
gles were wasted their health de
stroyed, and their effectiveness par
: alyzed because neither they nor those
in immediate command over them un
5 derstood the business upon which they
had engaged,
And that war was no exception. The
war of 1912 was even worse in its