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IT has become a crystallized conviction in the minds of our people that in the hour of emergent danger the reliance of this nation must be upon the fidelity and intelligence of her citizen soldiery. No English-speaking people has ever yet maintained a large standing army, and, as we advance year by year with colossal strides in the development of our material resources, it becomes more and more the part of wisdom that a force ready to be called into action in the hour of need should be formed and fostered in times of public tranquillity, and this without permanently withdrawing productive hands from the industries of the country or encroaching upon the individual liberty of the citizen.

Never in the history of the world was the science and art of war more complex, more intricate, more vastly comprehensive; and never has the necessity for intelligence among officers of all grades been greater than to-day. Moreover, that which has been acquired by experience is slipping from our grasp. The veterans of '65 are rapidly passing away, carrying with them the valuable habits and lessons of discipline so difficult of attainment in time of peace.2 Statistics show that the military well-being of the States has already passed into new hands, and is now largely intrusted, to those who were yet children when the great conflict ended at Appomattox. According to the reports rendered during the last encampments (of the Ohio National Guard), the average age of your company commanders is but thirty-six, and that of subalterns and enlisted men only twenty-four. After all, as General Sher1 Read before the annual meeting of the Ohio National Guard Association, Columbus, Ohio. Revised by the author.

2 Indeed, as Captain Field says in his valuable paper on "Battle Tactics," "The conditions of war have so changed since we waged it that our experience is not much to the point."

man has truly said, "Every age produces its own workers, and the experience of mankind is that the agents of a former period are rarely adapted to modern uses." This is especially true in relation to war, for, as another distinguished military writer has observed, "It is doubtful if any period of the world's history affords so many important changes in the organization of armies, and in the elements of tactics, and even of strategy, as the last twenty-five years."

There is also a new and rapidly-widening field, to which our fathers were comparative strangers, and which will require for its exercise the highest military intelligence. This is found in the insurgent spirit of anarchy which is growing in our large cities.

soon.

I therefore have to congratulate the National Guard upon the organization of this admirable association. It has been formed none too It furnishes most encouraging evidence of your appreciation of the grave responsibilities with which men have to grapple in the profession of arms, and it may certainly be made a most potent agency for your own professional improvement and for the development of a muchneeded military spirit among the people.

Among the many changes wrought in war by rapid-firing arms, one of the most noticeable has been the increased relative importance of the company, battery, and troop commander. An accepted military authority says, "All recent experience shows that the result of a battle under fire of breech-loaders depends in a very large measure upon the skill of the commanders of small units;" and further he adds, "It cannot be denied that the danger of sudden destruction to an army in battle is now far greater than it used to be, that a mistake or false step is more likely to lead to fatal consequences, and that troops under fire must be handled with more skill, particularly among company commanders, and must themselves have more intelligence than was necessary before the days of the breech-loader." Owing to the rapid losses under modern fire, the command of a company is liable to pass in the very first stages of an action to the first or second lieutenant, or even to a sergeant or corporal, and this whether in a barricaded street or on the open plain. Hence the greatly-increased importance of the subject we are now to consider, viz., the thorough instruction in armories of company officers and non-commissioned officers in the elementary principles of the military

art.

Much valuable time is wasted during the winter months in the acquirement of accomplishments of little or no military value. General Drum, in his annual report for 1887, says, "It is evident that still many earnest workers in bringing up the militia to its highest efficiency seem to regard mechanical perfection as the great desideratum in the art of war ;" and General Vogdes, referring to the same subject, observes, “It

3 Captain Greene.

is unfortunate for us, both for the regular army and the volunteer service, that so much attention is paid to things of very little or no consequence. You want to teach the men everything they will have to do when actually in the field. Take up any of the military papers, and what do we see? Page after page occupied about things of little practical use, fancy marching and all that. It is all very fine, but it is not war." To all of which General Sherman adds this testimony: "The older I become the more convinced am I that . . . the good of the country calls for the practice of the simpler and easier parts of our profession."

I. The first, and probably most conspicuous, defect of the National Guard-not only in Ohio, but in all the States-is in guard-duty, yet, considering the great interests that are often committed to your keeping, it is of the very first importance. The officer who inspected the Maine troops last year (1887) writes: "Guard-duty is poorly done. This is the weak point of the Maine militia. When I visited the guard-tent both officers of the guard were absent." The inspector of the Pennsylvania forces reports: "The most conspicuous defect is their general ignorance, from want of practice, of the duties of sentinels." In Indiana "guard-duty was performed in a very slovenly manner." In Minnesota the troops "did not attach much importance to sentry duty," and in Vermont "it was done in a very careless way." The report from Alabama shows "it was only fairly performed," while in New York "it was well done in some respects, in others less so." Reports from many other States might be quoted to the same effect."

To cure this grave defect guard-mountings should be held occasionally throughout the year, but guard-duty should never be omitted. Care should be taken that every man takes his tour in regular order, the first sergeant keeping the roster and posting the detail on a bulletin-board, with which every armory should be provided. It will be found that very few men are familiar with the insignia of the various grades, and know but little of the manner in which they are classified by our organization into field, staff, line, etc. A brief explanation should be made of these distinctions, and the various shoulder-straps and cuff-braids indicated by drawings on a blackboard. The eye will learn more quickly than the ear. Salutes will be improperly or awkwardly rendered, and calls and challenges will be almost as often wrong as right. All these errors can be eliminated by a persistent course of instruction in the armories, and this will be found to possess a positive value, not only in developing the interest of the men and strengthening

The recent reports (1888) indicate marked improvement in New York and Pennsylvania; but in New Hampshire and North Carolina "guard-duty was not as well performed as it should have been;" in Illinois "very few were found who knew anything of the duties of a sentinel ;" and in Indiana the guard was conducted and maintained in a wholly irregular and unsoldierly manner."

the morale of the company, but in augmenting the moral force of the commander himself. Lack of such instruction, says Colonel von der Goltz, of the German army, "always causes voids to be felt, makes us doubtful and apprehensive, disorders the imagination, weakens the power of determination, and is already the beginning of demoralization." Our own experience teaches us that nothing is so quickly detected by a mob as a seeming want of confidence and resolution, and the hesitating, awkward, and sometimes ridiculous performances of a half-instructed sentry will actually add fuel to the flame at the very critical moment when the display of every military virtue is of paramount importance.

Guard-duty can be made interesting to men; it affords a pleasant relief to the humdrum routine of company drill, and I have found, by experience with certain companies with which I have been associated, that in a few weeks it can be learned and performed by national guardsmen with all the precision of veterans. The chief difficulty, I apprehend, in teaching this important duty is probably a lack of appreciation of its grave responsibility. Men should be made to understand that it is the most dignified, responsible, and honorable duty a soldier can perform. It is a sacred trust. When a sentry is given charge of a post he is for the time being and from the very necessity of the case the absolute autocrat in and over that place. All persons, of whatsoever condition, rank, or degree, must recognize his dignity and respect his authority. This principle has been acknowledged ever since the days of Joshua; it is recognized by the law of nations and is fixed in the statutes and customs of every civilized country the world over. Military power is a one-man power, and nowhere does it more fully find its exemplification than in the duty and authority of the sentinel. This point received a forcible illustration in our own service, a few months ago, where a sergeant of the guard shot and killed an escaping prisoner. The case was taken before the United States Circuit Court, and, after very careful deliberation by that tribunal, the accused was duly acquitted, complimented on his fidelity, and restored to duty. I am sure if its character were better understood by the National Guard we should see a marked improvement both in the respect paid to sentinels and in the becoming discharge of their duty. It is needless to add that a good manual of guard-duty should be in the hands of every non-commissioned officer, in which they should be required to stand periodical examinations.

II. There seems to be a tendency, since the invention of the breechloader, to cast aside the bayonet and sword exercise, as obsolete and of no further utility in war. Captain James, of the British Royal Engineers, says, "We see in modern wars no attempt to push the enemy from the position he holds, and henceforth it is to fire, and not to hand-tohand conflicts, that we must look for the decision of the fight;" but an