Reasons for Small Army

The Volunteers

One reason why the regular army had been kept small was because there seemed to be so little for it to do. Its only active service was in suppressing Indian outbreaks, which have been growing more infrequent. It also served the purpose of enabling the officers to maintain the standard of military efficiency. In case of war it was intended to serve as a nucleus for the volunteer army, upon which it has hitherto been the custom of our Government to depend. What we should do in case of sudden war with a powerful foreign power, Congress had not thought out.

Consequently, when war was declared, the Government was obliged to depend on volunteers to fill up the army. The President issued calls for 200,000 volunteer soldiers. Five men stood ready for every place that was to be filled. Many of the best young men in the land struggled with each other for opportunity to go. In many States entire regiments of the National Guard volunteered. In some States whole regiments were enlisted, organized, and drilled, without any authority whatever, in the hope that further calls would be made, and, being organized, they would have the next chance.

In addition to the 200,000 volunteers called for by the President, Congress authorized an enlargement of the regular army from 27,000 to 62,000 men, and also the enlistment as "United States Volunteers" of 10,000" immunes" (or men who were proof against yellow fever), 3,500 engineers, and 3,000 cavalry

men.

The Rough Riders

Organizing the Volunteers

The famous" Rough Riders," led by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, were part of the volunteer cavalry. The regiment of Rough Riders was one of the most notable bodies of troops ever enlisted in the United States service. Every man was an expert and picturesque horseman. Side by side in the ranks of this very democratic regiment were cowboys from the prairies, football men from the colleges, and hardy athletes from the wealthy clubs of the great cities.

The volunteer troops could not in the nature of things be prepared for service in a brief time as completely as the regulars. Congress had made no provision for equipping a volunteer army, and the equipment furnished by the States was very inadequate. Much of the equipment which the States provided was either out of date or made for show rather than service. With all the riches of the country at the time of the declaration of war, there was almost an entire absence of clothing, shoes, tents, camp utensils, horses and wagons, arms and ammunition available for the active service of an army of 250,000 men anywhere, least of all in a campaign in a foreign and tropical country, mountainous and without roads, and in midsummer.

The American volunteer soldier is of course not inured to field service. He is a man of wits and resources, capable of adapting himself to new conditions and rising to occasions; but he can hardly be expected, in three months, to carry himself like a professional, or to fight as effectually with antiquated arms as the veteran with rifles of the highest power. But notwith

Krag-Jörgensen Rifle

Smokeless Powder

standing the disadvantages under which most of the volunteer troops worked, they pressed forward with alacrity, supported the regulars with unfailing courage, fought bravely when opportunity offered, and if the war had lasted would soon have been professional soldiers themselves.

The modern Krag-Jörgensen gun has far greater velocity, carries much farther, and is more accurate than the old Springfield rifle. Not a regiment of the State troops, which formed the bulk of the army, was equipped with this new gun, however, and the factory which made them could not turn out more than one hundred and fifty per day; at this rate it took nearly two weeks to fit out a single regiment. Many States sent arms of different types and calibers, so that they could not be served with the same ammunition.

There was also à scarcity of ammunition at the time of the declaration of war. This lack was so great that target practice had to be limited. But under the emergency appropriation of fifty million dollars, contracts were let for large quantities of ammunition, and the factories were worked night and day, making one kind for the regulars and other kinds for the volunteers, until they were fairly supplied.

The sequel proved that smokeless powder played a new and a large part in the efficiency and comparative safety of the troops. If the volunteer soldiers who fought at Santiago had been supplied with the KragJörgensen rifle and smokeless powder, they would have been more destructive to the enemy; offering a less

Wrong Done by Congress

The Navy's Preparation

conspicuous target by their clouds of smoke, they would have suffered less slaughter themselves.

Each passing month saw more deficiencies remedied, however, and by the time we were through with the war the army was nearly prepared for a war. But it is an unpardonable wrong that brave American youth must lay down their lives in battle needlessly, or waste away with disease in camp, because of the parsimony of successive Congresses, or the inaction of State legislatures, or because ambitious politicians insist upon trying to do things which none but professional soldiers are capable of doing well.

The

The navy, fortunately, was better prepared for battle than the army, and the navy had to strike the first blows. The changes from a peace to a war footing in the navy are not so marked as in the army. necessary additions to the force of men are smaller and less conspicuous. Moreover, the naval service has been saved from the political officer. Men who are certain they can lead troops on land have more hesitation about managing battleships at sea, and so the direction of the navy is in hands that are properly and thoroughly trained.

For nearly a score of years Congress had been making considerable appropriations for naval vessels. Many of these were ready for service, and they were the best upon the seas, commanded by the most thoroughly educated naval officers in the world. The science of naval architecture had been developed by

Buying New Vessels

The Naval Reserves

American naval officers to an extent unequaled by any other Government.

The first and largest expenditures from the special fifty million dollar appropriation, made by Congress just before the war, were in the purchase of additional vessels. Everything available, at home and abroad, which would be likely to prove effective was taken. Ocean greyhounds, ferryboats,tugs, millionaires' yachts, were brought into service. They were all put under the command of trained naval officers. Mechanical experts were brought from the technical schools, the Land-Grant colleges, and the State universities to strengthen the force of naval workers. The cadets from the Naval Academy at Annapolis were ordered to the vessels.

The militia of the Naval Reserve volunteered for service, and most of them were assigned to the auxiliary fleet. The sterling patriotism of this body of men deserves particular mention. The majority of them were amateur yachtsmen; some of them were men who owned large yachts themselves. When they volunteered, their former organization was broken up and they accepted duty on the same level with all the other jack-tars of the service. There is a much greater distance socially between the officers and men in the navy than in the army; yet these yachtsmen, when they enlisted aboard the national cruisers, accepted coalheaving and every other humble duty without a thought of complaint, showing how deeply ingrained in the American mind is the essentially democratic feeling.