The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-11-03
The FIGHTING ARMS.

bayonet. AS we all know an army i.
much more complex. There are two
other fighting arms" OF the service
the cavalry and the artillery. These
three branches Of the army are some
times called the "iine"-a term which
comes down to US from the day wher
soldiers In battle We're always drawn
up in line
The infantry Is tine backbone Of the
army. 1T is the infantry soldier who
! must bear the greatest stress Of battle
/ and war is more dependent for success
upon Ills individual action than upon
| any other factor" BY far the largest
! number Of men In the National army
| will go into the infantry branch Of the
! service. In the present war the impor-
lance Of infantry IS even greater than
! In previous wars.
! It is not enough for infantry to know
| how to defend itself. II must know
also how to attack. 1t is not enough
| that il should be able TO move forward
in masses. The infantry soldier must
| that will enable him TO act as an indi-
vidual: always, Of course, within the
limits Of military discipline.
The chances for Initiative in present
! day warfare can best be illustrated by
recOunting the story of Michael
OIeary, lance corporal of the Irish
Guards in the British army. On Feb
runry /, 1915, the Guards were ordered
to retake a trench which had been
temporarily lost to the Germans.
OLeary was off duty and need not
have Joined in the attack at all. But
that did not stop him for a moment
from using his courage and his brains
to help his regiment win
Jumping out of the trench he ran at
full speed to a 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 a 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.
Whcreupon the remainder of the squad
threw up their hands and surrendered.
Thus II happened that when his com
pany Of the Irish Guards reached the
second line without the loss Of a single
man they We're amazed 20 find OLeary
ahead Of them in complete possession
He was made sergeant on the field
and later given Victoria cross. After
other exhibitions Of bravery and initia-
tive, the twenty-year-Old soldier be-
came Lieutenant O'Leary.
There is always an element of luck
in such unusual achievements, but all
the luck in the world is useless unless
the soldier has developed his intclli-
gence, spirit and self-reliance during
his months of training.
The cavalry Is armed with Saber and
pistol, as we'll as rifle. Since the early
months OF the present war there has
been little opportunity to use cavalry
on the western front. Fer the most
part the cavalry forces OF European
armies have been fighting in the
trenches as infantry
Under these conditions il has beer
determined to reorganize several Of the
cavalry regiments Of our regular army
as field artillery. United States cav
airy. as s1ch, Is not to be used in Eu- |
rope at present. Some good judges be- |
lieve that the cavalry will again come
into Its own before the war is ended, |
but on this question no final opinion
can now be given.
The coast artillery. which handles |
the big-caliber guns guarding our chief |
harbOrs against naval attacks, is a |
branch distinct from the field artillery,
which handles the smaller guns drawn
by horses or motors and moved about |
with the rest of the army
The chief kinds Of artillery ammun-
ton are shrnpnel and high explosives.
The shrapnel is intended TO burst in
The face of the enemy and scatter a
large number of bullets. The high OK
plosives are used chiefly to blow up
enemy trenches.
The Importance Of artillery has been
very much increased during the pres
INT war. 1t is the most effective of all
weapons in preparing the way for at
ack.
The chief qualities of good artil-
eryman are intelligence and tenacity.
He must know his gun so well that he
an not only play his own part but, If
necessary. can take the place of any of
lis comrades. He must have the cour-
lge that enables him to hold any posi-
ion assigned to him until the order is
,iven to move.
Similar to the artillery in many re-
poets are the machine-gun troops. Ma
'hine guns shoot out steady stream
# bullets and have great value against
n attack from the front.
In handling machine guns, just as in
artillery, intelligence and te-
lacity are the qualities most needed. :
There are numberless examples in the
resent war of CONTAGIOUS Splf-rpliancp