The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1917-07-13

nance department, a signal CORPS. Tho
officers Of the bureau of insular affairs.
military bureau. the regular army re-
serve, the corps of cadets at West
Point, and ether smaller organizations
used for disciplinary grades, service
schools, and record depot detachments
and for some other purposes.
How 1t Is Commanded.
An army is a huge body of men gath
cred together for fighting purposes in
different units of organization. An
army when it passes a certain strength
usually is commanded by a general.
Today there is no general in the Unit
ed States army, but 1t is probable that
within few months congress will re-
vive the rank and name some officer,
who, taking the title Of general, shall
have supreme command Of all the fight
ing forces in the field.
An army is composed of army corps.
There may be two or three or more
corps in an army. Sometimes when
there Is q huge number of troops In
the field one general is put in supreme
command while his forces are divided
into several armies, each one In COM
mand Of a lieutenant general. 1t is
likely that congress soon will make
Maj. Gen. John J. Pershing a lieuten-
ant general and put him In command
Of the First corps, consisting Of several
divisions Of troops, to see service in
France.
A division Of troops is commanded
by o. major general. 1t Is composed
Of several brigades, each one Of which
ls commanded by a br1gadier general.
1t is possible for a brigade to consist
Of combination of cavalry, infantry
and artillery, but frequently each bril-
Sade is composed of regiments all Of
the same branch Of the service. The
typical infantry brigade, for instance,
consists OF a headquarters and three
regiments Of infantry, while a typical
cavalry brigade consists OF q head
quarters and three regiments Of cav
airy.
Composition ef &h@ Regiment
Each regiment ie commanded by @
colonel, who has under him an lleutGn-
ant colonel, whose duties are rather
nOndescrtpt, although his chief duty ig
to take the place Of the colonel In his
absence or In case he IG wounded or
killed I'm battle.
Each regiment is divided into bat
tnlions. and each battalion ls com-
manded by q major. A battalion con-
GiSts Of two or more companies, troops
or batteries, and each company Is COM
manded by a captain. In each COM
pany there Ig "a 6rst lieutenant and "a
second lieutenant, and complete COM
plement of noncommiSsioned officers,
FIRST sergeants, duty sergeants, and
corporals.
The company Is divided into squads
for purposes Of instruction, discipline,
control and order, each squad consist
ing Of a corporal and seven pr1vates.
The corporal is the squad leader, and
when absent Is replaced by a desfg-
mated private. 1t might be said that
from the squad, consisting as 1t does
only of a corporal and seven privates,
the whole formation OF an army ls de-
veloped and in a sense regulated. The
squad is q small base unit from which
armies take their growth by a series Of
developing steps.
Men who enter the United States
army as recruits have the same chance
that men had years ago not only TO be-
come commissioned officers, but to
reach the high place OF command Of
all the armies Of their country.
Does this seem to be an exagger-
ated statement? Only recently there
died lieutenant general Of the United
States army who commanded all the
forces Of Uncle Sam. He entered the
service as an enlisted man Of regulars
going to a recruiting Office just az any
boy of today can 60 to recruiting
Office there to don the uniform Of a
private, later to enter the ranks, and
liz It Is in him to work his way up to
the top.
Private Goes TO Top.
On July %, 1851, Lieut.. Gen. Adna
R. Chaffee applied for enlistment as
regular in the army OF the United
States. There was nothing to differ
entiate him from other young men who
applied daily at the recruiting Office.
He was assigned as a private to Troop
X Of the Sixth cavalry, an organization
which exists today and In which John
J. Pershing, now commanding our
forces In France, saw his first hard
fighting duty. General Chaffee rose
from private to sergeant, to first SER
geant, TO second lieutenant and
through the rest of the ranks until
he was made lieutenant general Of the
United States army, the ranking officer
of Uncle Sans forces.
Chaffee was q soldier Of the highest
order. His career in the Spanish
American war was markedly efficient
He fought at San Juan and later went
to the Philippines. While there he was
ordered to take command of the Amer
lean forces which were to join the al
lied forces in their march on Picking,
the forbidden city. That was one of
the most successful and Woodworking
ever dispatched by the
United States. Chaffee won fame for
his service. Within the compass of
his years i'm the army he had served In
every rank barring that Of corporal.
OF the three living lieutenant gen.
erals of the army, all Of whom are on
the retired list not one was a graduate