Evening star., 1921-10-02
PRESIDENT VIEWS
5000 "DEVIL DOGS"
IN MIMIC BATTLE
CONTINUED from First Page.)

4
walled tent prepared for the President,
has been called. dinner was served the
party in the Officers tent on nrs, reg z,
for coffee and the community style of
service, the visiting executives evil
dencing great pleasure at the rough
ing it" feature.
President Harding paid special at
tention to little group of Confed-
shaking hands with them twice over
and declaring to Comrade Gulich:
We'll, comrade, l guess you and my
father did the most of the fighting
they did in the civil war, that right?"
Then the ice was broken.
Gen. Lejeune Greatly Pleased.
Maj. Gen. Lejeune has expressed
himself as more than pleased with
the weeks strenuous campaigning"
which his 5000 devil dogs" have
just completed in this district. so
celebrated as the scene of one of the
civil wars bitterest battles. district
where forest fires added to the hor-
ror of six days incessant infantry
battle, and where nearly $4,000 Amer
ican soldiers were listed in the cas-
ualty columns.
In spite of the spectacular features
of this week in the Wilderness and
the romancing indulged in by the
mary object has been to properly
condition and drill this force of men.
many of whom are ignorant of actual
war conditions. The famous devil
dog" regiments which fought the
great fights of Belleau Woods. in the
Argonne and at Chateau Thierry
have been badly decimated by three
years of peace-time rehabilitation.
Only per cent of the troops now in
the field are overseas veterans.
Consequently the operations under
Force Commander Brig. Gen. Butler
has been a constant and diligent ef-
fort to accustom the men to field con-
ditions, to prolonged marches, to ef-
fective movements through woods.
across broken terrain and around
water areas. The work of achieving
coordination between all the differ
ent branches. such as signalers. ar
tillery. aviation. supply and general
staff is as highly necessary to the
success of an army as is the matter
of personnel strength and clever
strategy. 1t was these fundamentals
that have been stressed all week dur
ing the maneuverS, in which marines
were landing from imaginary battle
ships, landing on assumed beaches,
scaling fortified bluffs and digging
themselves in securely on hostile
ground in the face of enemy counter
attacks.
Brig. Gen. Smedley Butler set the
pace for the men himself on the
march from Quantico. when many of
the undisciplined soldiers fell victim
to the heat and dust. He hiked the
twelve miles from Fredericksburg at
the head of the column, and on hear
ing reports of many stragglers. went
to the rear, inspired the exhausted
stragglers to renewed effort and him
self shouldered a sixty-pound pack
and gun for a young private and thus
brought up the rear" After that
example there was no more Crouch
ing heard from the ranks.
An achievement which the corps
has special reason to be proud of,
also, is the performance of the bat
terry Of six 155-milimeter guns, which,
with their limbers and an eleven-ton
caterpillar tractor each. made 4 cross
country trip of sixty miles from
Quantico. because the main roads
were forbidden them on account of
the excessive weight, twenty-five tons
to each unit. This battery, comprised
of guns that will throw hundred
pound projectile containing either
tance Of ten miles. climbed steep hills
about the Rappahannock and Rapi-
dan valleys, crashed and cut their
way through woods and made the
distance in six days time in excellent
spirits and condition.
The Signal Corps men are making
some remarkable time records in the
matter of radio messages and field
telephone service. Their best show
ing was made in the first phase at
tack, when the landing party reached
the objective and a field wire served
the colonel fifty yards behind the first
line. He sent the message announc-