Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-06-29
a LESSON FROM GETTYSBURG

A LESSON FROM GETTYSBURG
There is assembling on the old
battlefield of Gettysburg many thous.
auds OF veterans Of the Federal and
Confederate armies in the fiftieth an.
nlversary of that great battle, some
times called the high water mark Of
the Confederacy," more for the effect
the Union victory had upon European
opinion and the hopes and condolences
of loyal people everywhere, than from
its purely military aspect. The mill
tary features most prominent are the
fact that the battle was fought be.
tween two trained armies of veterans,
and that both armies after the three
days of fighting were able to keep
the field practically intact. and the
struggle between them continued for
nearly two years longer. Had either
OF these great armies been composed
Of new and unseas0ned troops, it
would practically have been annihilat-
ed and the end of the war would have
come much sooner If not almost i'm
mediately, in view of the concurrent
victory at %Vicksburg.
There we're some new troops in
both armies, but they were so mingled
with the veterans as to be Steadied
and held to their work by them. The
lesson of this great battle Is that only
unon trained troops can we rely for
protection If we have a trained foe to
meet. The idea that the people will
rise en- masse and o%verwhelm an in
vadcr is fallacious, not only in view
Of what occurred here, but by the rec
ord OF centuries. Small armies Of
trained troops have been able to keep
millions in subsection. When Lee
started his invasion OF the North an
appeal was made for just such a ris-
ing, but it did not come. The state
of Pennsylvania, which was the one
invaded, made an effort to organize
and mobilize state troops, but the best
it could do was to get about 10000
somewhere near the scene of battle,
which would have been practically use.
less il the actual conflict itself if they
had participated.
1t takes from six months to a year
to make a soldier under the best OF
conditions. Our little regular army is
highly trained and differed by men
of skill and ability u%nexcelled in the
world. So much can not be said of
the National Guard, its auxiliary
force, whose training is deficient and
whose personnel of officers is not of
SO high a standard of military eff
cheney. Yet the National Guard rep
ICSCulS Ill u tdiIihS az iCooC !
months of steady drill under strict
discipline for a newly raised force.
In other words, a new army after
three months of instruction would
reach about the proficiency of the av.
erage National Guard regiment, as yet
unprepared for battle with a trained
Zoe. The idea that numbers mean ar
mics is erroneous, and if we rely upon
it for our future defense we shall ex
pose ourselves to the possibility OF
serious disaster. History is full OF
the achievements of small bodies of
trained and disciplined soldiers against
masses of poorly trained and made.
quately disciplined men. We could,
of course, click all creation if we
went about it right, but a small part
of creation could lick us if they were
veteran soldiers like those who fought
at Gettysburg and we relied upon has
tily raised volunteers to meet them