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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 1904)
Mimic War on Bull Run Field w I ASOTNGTOJf , D. C, Aug. S. (Special.) Over the historic, field of Bull Run In Prince William county, Virginia, where the forces of Beauregard, Johnston and Mc Dowell met in sanguinary combat In July, 1861, and where a year and a month later Jackson, Longstreet, Lee and Tope tried conclusions to the discomfiture of the southern arms 30,000 soldiers made up of the flower of the regular establishment nnd militia organizations of states cast of the Mississippi will participate In a series of ham battles which promise to be educa tional and noteworthy to the highest de gree. The maneuvers will begin at Manassas the last days of August and continue to the middle of September. The regular troops will arrive on the ground August 28 and leave September 15. The militia will arrive during September 3 and 4 and depart September 11 and 12. Every state In tha Atlantic division except Mississippi will bo represented. Major General Henry C. Corbin, former adjutant general of the army and now in charge of the Military Division of the At lantic, with headquarters at Governor's Island, will be in supreme command anil tho two divisions of the force, to be known as the Blues and the Browns, will be com manded by Brigadier General J. Franklin Bell and Brigadier General Frederick D, Grant, son of the famous soldier-president. Brigadier General Theodore J. Wlnt, In command of the Department of tho Mis souri; Brigadier General Tasker II. Bliss, former collector of customs in Cuba, now of the war college; Colonel Butler D. Price of tho Sixteenth infantry and General Rus sell Frost of the Connecticut National Guard will command the First, Second, Third and Fourth brigades, respectively, of the First division, and Brigadier Gen eral J. M. Lee, Brigadier General Thomas) H. Barry and Colonel F. A. Smith of tho Eighth cavalry will be in charge of tht Becond division. The First division, under General Grant, will occupy Maneuver Camp No. 1, near Manassas, nnd will wear the old-style blue flannel blouses, while the enemy, the Sec ond division, under General Bell, will be encamped at Thoroughfare, more than ten miles away, and will wear khaki uni forms. During the Ave days that the actual :naneuvers will last, problems of vital Im portance In modern warfare will be worked out, and In order that the regular and militia troops engaged may derive the most lasting good from the operations conditions of actual armed conflict will be approxi mated to the nearest possible degree. Sentiment over memories of tho great civil war had nothing whatever to do with tho selection of the old Bull Run battlo ground. There has been an Impression In some quarters that tho sham engagements are to be In a large measure a repetition of the first great battles of the civil war. Nothing of the sort. It is the new style of fighting, not the old, that the regulars and militia will be drilled In. Congress, at Its last session, appropriated a round million dollars to be expended this summer nnd fall In sham battles by the regular troops and picked militia from the various states. Of this sum, $400,000 Is di vided between Generals Funston and Mac Arthur for maneuvers west of the Missis sippi river. Tho remainder, $CiOO,000, goes to General Corbin for the operations of the Atlantic division, the field of Bull Run having been chosen for the first really east ern gre.it ciiip of Instruction since the firing upon Fort Sumpter. The maneuvers will not Include very much of the usual spectacular sham battle display of fireworks and smoke. The gen erals of the opposing forces will bo given Intricate problems of modern warfare to solve, and will be judged by the manner tn Which they handlo them. The tests made with from 10,000 to 25.000 troops at West Tolnt, Ky., and Fort Riley, Kan., last year will be carried out on a much more ex tensive scale. The maneuver camps, as shown In the map, will bo ten miles apart. Major General Corbln's headquarters will be at Gainesville, which Is almost directly between them. There Is no fault to be found with the sanitary conditions of tho camp ground. The strip Is about ten miles long and five miles wide, through an undulating country, neither too hilly nor too level. Army of ficers say the scene has not changed much since tho battle of Bull Run was fought there. Some of the houses still have frag ments bf shot and shell sticking In them as reminders of that famous engagement. Many of the farms are In the hands of the same owners. Muddy little Bull Run creek still flows from the mountains to Aqula creek. The opposing camps are drained Into different streams. Wells abound with good drinking water. The transportation of so many troops, to say nothing of visitors. Is a great under taking for nny one railroad. So far as Camp Manassas Is concerned, the Southern railway has a monopoly. No other road goes near the place. Section gangs have been nt work for weeks laying miles and miles of sidings nnd additional tracks. It will require more than 500 passenger cars to convey the troops, nnd as many mora freight cars for the artillery, ammunition and commissary supplies. Sidings cava j BRIGADIF.R OENERAL THEODORE J. WINT, 17. S. A.. COMf ANDING TTIR DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, WHO WTT,T, TAKE PA RT IN T11U ARMY MANEUVERS AT THE OLD BATTLEFIELD OF BULL RUN. been built to keep these cars In camp, but out of the way of the soldiers. Spurs have been constructed connecting the tw camps. The railway will be taken d vantage of in tho mimic war, just us lit real war, and the military problems to b worked out will give tho ciil7.cn soldiery better understanding of tho requirements 08 modern military standards than could pos sibly bo gleaned In years of practice at state camps. Tho Interest In tho forth coming urtuy maneuvers Is an untnlstukabls manifestation of the appreciation of ou people In our military Institutions. k. c. a Kcmiiulcd Her ITuslnessliko Suitor Miss Blllmore, I hav como to notify you that nftcr conciliation with my friends nnd much deliberation on niy own part I have decided to ask you II you will consent" Miss llnklo llillmoro (Interrupting) Mr, Wellup, do you think tho right way to pro. pose to a girl Is to talk to her as If you wore offering her a nomination for tho vio presidency ? Chicago Tribune. Vest's Idea of Arc On a certain occasion Mr. Vest had re turned to tho sennto after olio of his brief absences. Senator Hoar of Massachusetts, four years his senior, met him In tho lobby; and chlded him good-naturedly for not at tending strictly to business when vital niciisures were being debated. "You're a flno young man," suld Mr. Hoar, "to absent yourself at such a time and leave us old fellows Cockrell nnd mo and tho rest to) handle theso matters." "You'll never bo as old ns I." Bald Ves "If you live fifty years longer." "Bless you, I was born In 1S20 and was preparing for college before you c.imo into tho world," said the Massachusetts man. "If you were born In 176 you wouldn't b as old as I," said tlio Mlssourian. "You and Cockrell will see years, but you will never see age. You haven't lived as lively as I have and I am wishing sometimes that I hadn't," ho said with a weary smile. Kan sas City Star. map kf M- CAMPS fur AKMV ALTOEUVHES) Scjilomljor HJOr V""' PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY. VIRGINIA. 3 JK-O t jo Y f ' Fairfax J Muno(Mm e Cnrnj Xmtm spm, ? 0Centervj, , v - OSthrt J fpNeBt,.r. XXL I J iVsris Crowley I 4 ,,,oft 5 "X NOTE ' iS. r ' lanueuvre Camps uro shoivn th us - Jk. Jp ItcminQton Paul fields are ahoivn thus Manoeuvre Circa. 05000 Clcres. X 'I