I

IT all seemed like a real war. Once more the booming of artillery and crackle of rifles reverberated from Little Round Top to Culp's Hill and on over the town of Gettysburg, and again the red sun sank in the smoke of battle as it did forty-seven years before. Men marched and fought now as then, except in purpose. Then it was a conflict, now it was with a similar spirit and desire. And as a unit the men now strove for the future protection of that Government which then was so precariously existing. The United States army maneuvers have lately taken place at Gettysburg, and this is why for the month of July the tranquil hills of that region, which sleep in reverend memory, seemed such places of strife and conflict.

When the word maneuver in regard to the army is first heard by a civilian, his mind's eye most naturally pictures a brass band and parade. And, such is one's

inherent gentle conceit, that often what he imagines he makes himself believe to be the fact. In considering some military maneuvers as being composed chiefly of brass buttons he is not far astray; but were he to go to such as those at Gettysburg, he would be immediately convinced that in this case it is "all work and no play." Most justly the question arises : What is the advantage to be derived from a maneuver? It must take a great deal of money. What is the return? It is to answer briefly such a query that the consideration is here given.

The camp, located a mile on the other side of Gettysburg from that of the battlefield proper, was known as the Camp of Instruction. And that is just what it was. There regiments of regulars and volunteers were brought together to be practically instructed in the art of war. There was no ceremony outside of regular camp life; it was all business and hard

work. The officers and enlisted men were taught how to do and what to do in time of war, and the system used was, in a word, that of example. The volunteers camped beside the regulars, and only had to use their eyes to see how a model camp is made and conducted. They might have read many books on the same subject and never learned half as much. The officers were instructed in tactical rides and lectures and the camp routine how best to conduct themselves and their men. It is necessary to have the officers efficient in our volunteer service, for it is from them rather than their men that the results in war are ever to be obtained. The officers are men with minds matured to appreciate the responsibilities of their positions, while the soldiers of the volunteer ranks are in a majority of cases boys. And, when war comes, it is upon the boys that the Government must depend for volunteer service, for they, as a rule, are more at liberty to go to war than men with business interests and families. Since, therefore, it is the young men or boys upon whom the dependence is placed, it is obviously necessary to have their officers well-informed men. Some have said that the maneuvers were more for the officers than for the men, and to slight degree that is true, for the precise reason above stated. The regulars need the instruction too, although, of course, not so greatly. So to this camp troops were brought for a week's instruction by demonstration, and this directing was done by the officers of the General Staff and War College of the United States army.

The War College is that institution in Washington to which certain officers of the army are detailed for a year's study. During that time all the theories and higher arts of war are investigated and studied, and the whole work theoretically fought over. The instructors of the War College are the officers of the General Staff: men who are experts in their respective branches of military service. This brings up the point to which few people give just credit, and that is that at the present time the officers of the principal armies of the world have made their work as much of a profession as the study of law or medicine. And, in fact,

the investigations carried on by the officers in the United States are even more extensive in their particular field than in that of the other two leading professions. This may be a somewhat surprising statement; but the surprise may fairly be due to the fact that so little has ever been said about it. The time of the old listless garrison duty has fortunately long since passed into unrecorded history, and to-day one finds the army officer an intellectually alert man who, in the garrison school at Fort Leavenworth, and, if he has proven his capacity, later at the War College, must needs work hard in order to be prepared for promotion, or even to retain his commission. Not enough credit can be given to such men as are silently endeavoring to improve scientifically the standards of war so as to be better able to protect our welfare and international relations. The extent to which the War College goes into these investigations is remarkable, only to be made more so when it is seen how such theories are developed in a practical way, as at Gettysburg. The instruction given to the officers of the regular and volunteer army is the best, and the profit to them cannot be too fully estimated.

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In bringing the regular and volunteer soldiers together one has an unusual opportunity to draw a comparison. It is obvious that the regular troops are superior to the volunteers in everything; but why shouldn't they be? It is the vocation of the regulars, that which they have made a study and for proficiency in which they are compensated, while with the volunteers military service is merely an avocation. They cannot be expected to attain the high standards of the regulars; but they are desirous of improving as possible, and it is for this reason that the Government has sent them for a week's training at Gettysburg. With this fairness of judgment in view, one case out of many might be given as an example. For instance, a regiment of regulars arrived one night by railway. The train was in two sections, the first arriving forty-five minutes before the second. By the time the second section reached the camp the men of the first section had not only erected their tents and established a model camp, but some had already gone to bed

and were asleep. A volunteer regiment arrived the next morning, and twenty-four hours after they were still at the task of settling their camp. It was a case of men who were used to doing it and those who were not; but the next time that volunteer regiment goes into camp it will not take them half so long, for they have been given a practical demonstration by the regulars how to do it. The kitchens of the volunteer regiments were so inferior to those of the regulars that it is almost impossible to compare them. The regulars had very little more to do with, but they had that valuable knowledge taught by experience which enabled them to do a great deal with a very little. However, the secret of the superior kitchens and care of the food was not so much to be found in equipment as it was in enlisted cooks as compared to civilian cooks. It was the business of the enlisted cooks to do things properly, while the civilian cooks employed by a majority of volunteer regiments were merely temporary, for the encampment, and did not care. And one

their deficiencies, leaving with great profit for future experiences.

The sanitation of this enormous camp, which included approximately two thousand regulars and ten thousand militiamen, was excellent. This work was in charge of an expert medical staff. All refuse was disposed of by a new system of incinerators, which reduced all waste matter to a minimum. A course of lectures was conducted on sanitation and field hospitals, with practical demonstration. The hospitals were established a few miles from camp, and there everything was conducted as it would be in time of war. Men with supposed injuries were brought in and treated as if they really had been shattered by shrapnel, except that amputations and such operations were descriptive, of course, instead of actual. The perfection of the medical department is most commendatory. Nothing is lacking in experience or equipment, and the lives of those who suffer for their country are now as safe almost as if the injured ones were in our best city hospitals:

The maneuvers at Gettysburg were conducted according to a programme, which is interesting, as it gives one an exact idea of just how the instruction was presented. On the first day of the week the regular and militia regiments would

arrive. Camp would be established on that day, and the morning following the officers of the regiment would be taken upon a tactical ride and walk and study of the exercises for the afternoon. These exercises were carried on in the fields and hills beyond the camp, and consisted in the maneuvering of companies and troops in advance, with rear and flank guards and patrols under the direction of the regimental commander. The officers of the Staff and War College would present a problem such as the reconnoitering and taking of a hill or other point of vantage, which would be guarded by an opposing force, and it was necessary for the commander and his officers to conduct the movements of their troops according to the best tactical require ments. At the completion of the exercises the troops were marched to the camp by the non-commissioned officers, and the officers remained on the ground to discuss the work with the instructors. These exercises were continued for five days with various arrangements of regiments, while the troops remaining in camp were engaged in drills and instruction in other military matters. Beside the regimental maneuvers there were also squadron and battalion exercises in outpost and reconnaissance, done generally by the

cavalry, and artillery work in attack and defense. All the instruction and work was done with the final maneuver on the last day in view. Then the entire force, divided into two sides, the Reds and the Blues, fought an enormous sham battle extending over several miles and making practical use of the theories of war in which they had been instructed on the previous days. This final maneuver closed the week's programme, and the next day the soldiers were paid off and departed for their home stations. They were replaced by new regiments, and so the work was continuously carried on through the month.

The excitement with which one witnesses the battle is unparalleled in an average experience. Along a country road in the soft sunshine of a summer's morning the troops go by, turning presently into an open field with the wheat stacked high. They are advancing on an outpost on yonder hill. Suddenly from out of the cool green of the woods before them there is a puff of smoke, then a rattle of rifles. The woods are alive with the enemy. On the advancing infantry dart from behind one stack and another; the men scattered by ones and twos over the field. Suddenly from the woods the enemy swarm down. The snapping of