Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-11-02
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THE FIGHTING ARMS.

layouct. As we AN know an army Is /
much more complies. There are TWO /
other fighting arms" Of the service /
the cavalry and the artillery. These !
three branches II the army are some /
times called the "l.uC"--a term when /
comes down to US from the day when I
soldiers in battle were always drawn !
up in line. The other branches To be
described later are included under the
general term staff" However. the
engineer cotS and the signal corps
are III part troops of The line, though
they are herein described for convent
ence under the heading of "Staif
Branches of the Service"
The infantry is the backbone of the
army. at is the infantry soldier who
must bear the greatest stress of battle.
and war is more dependent for success
upon his individual action than upon
any other factor" BY far the largest
number Of men in the National army
will 20 into the infantry branch of the
service. In the present war the lmror-
lance of infantry is even greater than
In previous wars.
II is not enough for infantry to know
how to defend itself 1t must Know
also how To attack. It Is not enough
that it should be able to move forward
in masses. The infantry soldier must
nlsO have the intelligent SelG-reiance
that will enable him to act as IN indi-
vidual, always. of course. within the
limits cf military discipline.
The chances for initiative In present
day warfare can best be illustrated by
recOunting the story of Michael
OLeary, lance corporal of the Irish
Guards in the British army. On Feb
ruary |. 1915. the Guards were ordered
to retake a trench which had been
temporarily lost to the Germans.
O'Leary was off duty and need not
have joined In the attack at all. But
that did not stop him for Il moment
from using his courage and his brains
10 help his regiment win.
Jumping out of the trench he ran ut
full speed to railroad cut on the right
of the first German line where he was
partly under cover from the enemy'S
fire. With five shots in succession he
killed or disabled five men before his
comrades reached the trench. Not sat
iSfied with this achievement he ran
ahead until he came up from the rail
road cut beside the second German
line. Here was machine gun. The
officer in command had Just pointed the
gun at the Irish Guards in the first
trench and had his finger on the firing
button when he was dropped by we'll
aimed bullet from O'Leary's rifle. He
shot two other Germans who were at
tempting to fire the machine gun,
whereupon the remainder of the squad
threw up their hands and surrendered.
Thus 1t happened that when his com
pany of the Irish Guards reached the
second line without the loss Of a single
man they were amazed to find O'Leary
ahead of them in complete possession
He was made a sergeant on the field
and later given Victoria cross. After
other exhibitions of bravery and initia
tive. the twenty-ycar-old soldier be
came Lieutenant O'Leary.
There is always nm element of luct
in such unusual achievements. but al
the luck in the world is useless unlcS,
the soldier has developed his intciH
ccnce. spirit and >elf-reliance duriu.
his months Of training.
The cavalry is armed with sahcr ant
pistol. as well IS rifle. Since fine earl,
months OF the present war there ha
been little opportunity to use cavulr.
un the western front For the mos
part the cavalry forces Of European
armies have been fighting in tn
trenches rs infantry.
Under these conditions it has hepl
determined to reorGanize several of tn
cavalry regiments of our regular arm
rs field artillery. United States cav
airy. as such, is not to be used in Eu
rome nj present. Some good judges he
lieve that the cavalry will again com
into its own before the war is ended
but on this question no final Opinion
, can now be given.
The coast artillery, which handle
! the big-caliber guns guarding our chic
harbors against naval attacks, is
branch distinct from the field artiller!
: which handles the smaller guns draw
bv horses or motors and moved abou
with the rest of the army. The pres
ont field guns range in size from tire,
inch caliber to Al inches.
, The chief kinds of artillery ammun
: tIon are shrapnel and high explosive
{ The shrapnel is intended TO burst
r the face of the enemy and scatter
: large number of bullets. The high @,
= nlosives are used chiefly to blow Il
enemy trenches.
The importance of artillery has bee
very much increased during the pre-
ert war. Ii is the most effective of q
weapons in preparing the way for n
r tack In advance of an attack on
2 large scale there are often several da!
of continuous artillery duel. duriI
q which the big guns of both sides try
locate and put out of action the oppO
@ ing guns. In fact. on the western frOl
II the artillery duel never entirely cease
The chief qualities of good art
Iervman are intelligence and tenacit
% He must know his gun so well that
e con not only play his own part but.
D. necessary. can take the place of any
his comrades. He must have the ca
age that enables him to hold any po
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