Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 191, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 August 1917 — Citizen Soldiers. [ARTICLE]

Citizen Soldiers.

Fighting Arm*-of the Service. > We have spoken so far as if all soldiers were infantrymen; that_is, as if all fought on foot armed with rifle and bayonet. .As we all Jcnow an army is much more complex. There ,are two other “fighting arms” of the service, the Cavalry and the Artillery. These three branches of the army aye sometimes called the “line”—a term which comes down to us from the day when soldiers in battle were always drawn up in line. The- engineer corps and the signal corps are in part troops of the line, though they are herein described for convenience under the heading of Staff branches of the service. The infantry is. the backbone of the army. It is the infantry soldier who must bear the greatest stress of battle, and war is more dependent for success upon his individual action than upon any other factor. By far the greatest number of men in the national army will go into the infantry branch of the service. In the present war the importance of infantry is even greater than in previous wars. It is not enough for infantry to know how to defend itself. It must know also how to attack. It is not enough that it should be able to move forward in masses. The infantry soldier must also have the intelligent' self-reliance that will enable him to act as an individual; 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, a lance corporal of the Irish Guards in the British army. On Feb. 1, 1915, the guards were ordered to retake a trench which had been temporarily lost to the Germans. O’Leary was off duty and need not have joined in the attack for a moment from using his courage at all. But that did not stop him and his brains to help his regiment win. Jumping out of the trench he ran at full speed 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 satisfied with- this achievement, he ran ahead until he came up from the railroad 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 firn button when he was dropped by a yell-aimed bullet from O’Leary’s.rifle. He shot two other Germans who were attempting to fire the machine gun, whereupon the remainder of the squad threw up their hands and surrendered.

Thus it happened that when his company of the Irish Guards reached the second line without the loss of a single man they were amazed to find O’Leary ahead of them in complete possession. He was made a sergeant on the field, and later given a Victoria Gross. After other exhibitions of bravery and initiative, the 25 year old soldier became Lieut. O’Leary. “"There" is always an~element of luck in such unusual achievements, but all the luck in (he world is useless unless the soldier has developed his intelligence, spirit and self-reliance during- his months of training. The cavalry is armed with saber and pistol, as well as rifle. Since the early months of the present war there has been little opportunity tc use cavalry on the western front. For the most part the cavalry forces of European armies have been fighting in the trenches as infantry.. The coast artillery, which handles the big-caliber guns guarding our chief harbors against naval attack, 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 present field guns range in size from 3-inch to 4.7 inches. The field artillery also handles howitzers, which throw heavy shells high into the air so that they .will fall upon the target at a very steep angle. The chief kinds of artillery ammunition are shrapnel and high explosives. The shrapnel is intended to burst in the face of the enemy and scatter a large number of bullets. The high explosives are used chiefly to blow up enemy trenches. The importance of artillery has been very much increased during the present war. It is the most effective of all weapons in preparing the way for attack. In advance of an attack on a large scale there are often severg,Mays of continuous artillery duel, during which the big guns of both sides try to locate and put -out of action the opposing -guns. In fact, on the western front the artillery duel never entirely ceases. The chief qualities of a good artilleryman are intelligence and tenacityHe must know his gun so well that he can not only play his* own part but, if necessary, can take the place of any of his comrades. He must have the courage that enables him to . hold any position assigned to him until the order is given to move.» ’ Similar to the artillery in many respects are the machine gun troops. Machine guns shoot out a steady stream of bullets and have great value against an attack from the front. They may also be readily carried forward by attacking troops and used with great effect against the defenders of a position. In handling machine guns, just as" in handling artillery, intelligence and tenacity are - the qualities most needed.