New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1917-07-06

useu Tor Olsclpllnary gra0es. servlc'
schools, and record depot detachment
and for some other purposes.
How Il 10 Commanded.
An army IL a huge body Of men gath
cred together for fighting purposes II
different units Of organization. Al
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 It IL probable thai
within a few months congress will re
vive the rank and name some oflcer
who. taking the title Of general, shall
have supreme command Of all the nght'
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 a huge number OF troops in
the field n general is put In supreme
command while his forces are divided
into several armies. each one in CON-
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 a major general. 1t is composed
of several brigades, each one Of which
Is commanded by a brlgadler general.
II Is possible for a brigade to consist
Of a combination of cavalry, infantry
and artillery, but frequently each bril-
gade 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 a head
quarters and three regiments Of cav
airy.
Composition Of the Regiment.
Each regiment Is commanded by a
colonel, who has under him "A lleuten-
ant colonel, whose duties are rather
nondescript, although his chief duty 10
TO take the place Of the colonel In his
absence or In case he Is wounded or
killed in battle.
Each regiment is divided into bat
%tallOns, and each battalion Is COM
manded by a major. A battalion con-
sists Of two or more companies, troops
or batteries, and each company Is com-
manded by a captain. In each com-
nOnu thnro 10 n Arct 1tavtonont and n
second lieutenant, and complete com-
plement Of nOncommissiOned officers,
first sergeants, duty s%ergeants, and
corporals.
The company is divided into squads
for purposes Of instruction. discipline,
control and order, each squad consist
ing Of a corporal and even privates.
The corporal is the squad leader, and
when absent Is replaced by a desig-
mated private. It might be said that
from the squad, consisting as 1t does
only Of II corporal and seven privates,
the whole formation Of an army Is de-
veloped and In a sense regulated. The
squad Is n small base unit from which
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-
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 a lieutenant general of the United
States army who commanded all the
of Uncle Sam. He entered the
as an enlisted a Of regulars
going to n recruiting office just as any
boy Of today can go to a recruiting
office there to don the uniform Of a
private, later to enter the ranks, and
Il 1t Is In him to work his way up to
The top.
Private Goes to Top.
On July %, 1861. Lieut.. Gen. Adna
R. Chaffee applied for enlistment as a
In the army Of the United
States. There was nothing to differ
him from other young men who
daily at the recruiting office.
lie was assigned as a private to Troop
< Of the Sixth cavalry, m organization
which exists today and In which John
7. Pershing. now commanding our
orces in France, saw his first hard
duty. General Chaffee rose
rom private to sergeant, to first SER
,eant, to second lieutenant and
through the rest OF the ranks until
Ie was made lieutenant general Of the
States army, the ranking officer
( Uncle Sans forces.
Chaffee was O soldier Of the highest
rider. His career In the Spanish.
Imerican war was markedly efficient.
lie fought at San Juan and later went
D the Philippines. While there he was
rdered to take command of the Amer
AN forces which were to Join the al
ed forces in their march on Picking,
ne forbidden city. That was one of
ne most successful and Woodworking
ever dispatched by the
'nited States. Chaffee won fame for
Is service. Within the compass of
Is years in the army he had served In
very rank barring that Of corporal.
OF the three living lieutenant gen. .
-als Of the army, all Of whom are on
lie retired list, not one was a graduate
, West Point. They all came up, II Z
from the ranks, at least from the
west commissioned offices, working
leir way by merit, until they received
le highest military honor possible I'M /,
er her existing law, promotion to {
,mmand Of the army with the rank .
lieutenant general. .