Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-04-19
TEACHING CAVALRYMEN
PROPER USE OF SABER
Army Officers Paying More Attention
to S~ordsmnnship Than Ever

WASHINGTON. April 1s.-During the
last two or three years the War De-
partmcnt has been paying more at
tention to tho use of the saber by the
cavalry regiments than ever before
To that end, an officer of the Fifteenth
cavalry, Second Lieutenant George s
Patton, was sent abroad for n special
course of instruction in fencing, and
on his return was assigned to duty rs
instructor in swordsmanship at the
Mounted Service School. at Fort Riley.
. Ran. Last summer the War DEPART
mcnt detailed thirteen noncommis-
stoned officers from as many regiments
OF cavalry to report at Fort Riley for n
SIN months course OF instruction in
. craftsmanship, beginning October
The first thing the authorities found
was that IL was Impossible TO make
good horseback fenccrs unless the men
| riders also even though the soldiers
were experts with the foil. broad
sword and saber on foot
The first thing that the comnandant
or the Mounted Service School did was
TO inauSuratc Il complete course for
these student-soldiers in cQuitation and
10 make II entirely thorough. The
men wcrc started IT the beginning
with the training of green colts. and
each man during his six months course
was required TO break and train a re-
mount. which the government had pur-
chased from farmer in the fall Of
1914. In the meantime. the instruc-
ton in workmanship was not allowed
TO lag, and in the gymnasium, as we'll
as on the drill ground, these selected
| troopers were kept at it, dismounted
and mounted, until their sword arms
were as strong as steel wire and their
muscles like steel springs
AS the men progressed in the riding
game they were put on the schooIed
horses of tho school, and later on the
jumpers. and were required to make
tho animals do almost everything that
Il horse is able TO do. The TROOPERS
were made to jump tho horses over OBJ
stacles OF every observation-disclosures
walls. brush. hurdles. post-and-rail
fences embankmcnts. and the like. In
many cases The men had TO draw sabnr
and run an excelsior pa 1dcd manikin
through to the hilt while the horse
was actually in the air jumping the
obstacle.
The men worked hord for seven
hours day. and took keen interest
in 1t all. They were proud to have
been selected by their regimental com
manders for the course. and felt it an
Of It's kind to graduate from the
Mounted Service School. No attempt
was made to grade :he soldiers In tho
course. but Corporal Alvin III. Moore
Troop r. Twelfth Cavalry, stationed mt
Fort Robinson. Neb., was declared to
be the best horseman in the class. In
swordsmanship honors went to two
colored troopers. Sergeant Ernest G.
Washington, Troop Z, Tenth Cavalry.
stationed Mt Fort Huachuca, Ariz. and
CORPORAL Hezekiah K. Smith, Troop TO-
Ninth Cavalry, stationed, ut Douglass
Ariz.
The jumping by the troopers re-
Elected great credit on their Instructor.
First Lieutenant Berkeley T. Marchant,
Thirteenth Cavalry The noncommis-
stoned officers are now at their regular
stations I'm various parts OF the coun-
try. 1t is believed that in few years
tho special instruction OF these grad
uate serEeants and corporals will hnvo
a beneficial OBJECT on, tho United States
cavalry.