The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-25
After QeX a. NE 1ELANAlRE@

"And an enemy could take New York
| Harbor in this way"
why not? We worked the thing out
once as a war-game problem at Fortress
Monroe. 1t is perfectly simple. Suppose
an enemy suddenly landed $1,000 troops
on the New Jersey coast a little south Of
Sandy Hook. What could we do? How
could We stop them from taking Fort
Hancock? And then from taking and
terrifying the Navesink Highlands? And
then from crossing over by night to Stat
en- Island and coming in behind Fort
Wadsworth and taking that? And then
from taking Fort Hamilton across the
Narrows with the guns OF Fort wads-
worth. which dominates its sister fort.
being on high ground. and Is tho moro
powerful of the two? There IL nothing
to prevent all this: We could not pre-
vent it."
But our fleet? What would ourSfises
be doing all this timer
The fleet cannot be everywhere at
once. On our immence coast-line We
have two or three dozen fortified hAr-
bors. and hundreds that are unfortinsd.
How Is our feet to know to what point
an enemy's feet would convoy trans
ports packed with troops for Q sudden
attack such as We are oonsidering-i
mean a land attack in force. that would
take one of our coast defenses from the
rear and find It helpless?"
IF such a thing happened to tas coast
defenses Of New York Harbor. then
what about New York City,"
1T would be a bad piece Of business
for New York City. With tho harbor
defenses captured. an enemy's fleet
could ented the upper bay. Or. even IL
our fleet engaged them outside, q single
one Of their battleships IN the upper bay
could paraIyze New York City. Even
an old type Of battleship like our Oregon
could force the city to pay a heavy ran
som. The Oregon has four twelve-inch
guns and heavy armor. All the field
guns in the United States could fire at
her. II New York City refused the de-
mands OF such a hostile battleship. she
would simply steam up the North River
and wreck the buildings on one side of
Manhattan. and then steam up the East
River and wreck the buildings on the
lars worth Of damage in half an hour.
A single one OF her half-ton projcctiles
would smash through half a dozen sky
scrapers as il they were paper boxes.
and then explode couple Of hundred
pounds Of lyddite or nitroglycerin or
gun-cotton in the heart Of the Pennsyl-
vania Railway station, for example. Tho
city gas mains would be torn apart. the
electric wires short-circuited. and within
an hour Manhattan Island would be blaz-
ing in a dozen places. That IL what an
Anticipated ship like the Oregon could
do to New York City"
And what is the answerr I inquired.
What must be done to prevent such Q
catastrophe?"
I'VE must have larger mobile army"
was the reply.
"How much largerT'
considering our vast dominion, We
should have at least 10000 men In our
regular army service. in addition to our
coast artillery. And We should have .
system Of first and second reserves, 90
that. in time of need. we could draw
upon large body Of previously well
trained soldiers
How about our militiar' asked.
At this. one Of the officers went to his
library. and. opening a book, read the
following passage from . letter written
by George Washington to Congress in
1TI6:
ITO place any dependence upon militia
Is assuredly resting upon . broken stan.
Men Just dragged from the tender scenes
of domestic life. unaccustomed to the
din of arms. totally unacquainted with
every kind of military skill (Which 10
followed by want Of confidence in them
selves when opposed by troops regularly
trained. disciplined. and appointed. su-
perior in knowledge and superior in
arms). are timid and ready to ny fron
THAR own shadoys"