and Unpreparedness 153 



Every time a warship goes to sea and cruises around 

 the world, its captain has just such an experience as 

 the colonel of a regiment would have if sent off for a 

 six or eight months' march, and if during those six or 

 eight months he incessantly practiced his regiment 

 in every item of duty which it would have to per 

 form in battle. Every warship in the American navy, 

 and not a single regiment in the American army, 

 had had this experience. 



Every naval captain had exercised command for 

 long periods, under conditions which made up nine 

 tenths of what he would have to encounter in war. 

 Hardly a colonel had such an experience to his 

 credit. The regiments were not even assembled, 

 but were scattered by companies here and there. 

 After a man ceased being a junior captain he usually 

 had hardly any chance for field-service; it was the 

 lieutenants and junior captains who did most of the 

 field work in the West of recent years. Of course 

 there were exceptions ; even at Santiago there were 

 generals and colonels who showed themselves not 

 only good fighters, but masters of their profession; 

 and in the Philippines the war has developed ad 

 mirable leaders, so that now we have ready the right 

 man; but the general rule remains true. The best 

 man alive, if allowed to rust at a three-company post, 

 or in a garrison near some big city, for ten or fifteen 

 years, will find himself in straits if suddenly called 



