COSSACK OR 



two to the ground. The team then 

 rushes to the twenty-yard mark, where 

 the last three men over the wall each 

 discharge five shots. All this is gener- 

 ally done in less than half a minute. 

 The value of such an exercise was dem- 

 onstrated during the late Boxer re- 

 bellion, when two companies of the 

 Fourteenth Infantry, United States 

 Army, led by Trumpeter Calvin P. 

 Titus, scaled the walls of Pekin and 

 planted there the Stars and Stripes, 

 much to the surprise and admiration of 

 the assembled troops of England, Ger- 

 many and Russia. 



While all the exercises of the infan- 

 try are open to the cavalrymen, there 



are certain exercises in which the infan- 

 try cannot participate. These are the 

 exercises known officially as mounted 

 gymnastics, but more familiarly known 

 to the men under the name of "monkey 

 drills." They are exercises of a highly 

 exciting kind and decidedly practical, 

 though they have been disparaged by 

 some army officers as too spectacular to 

 be of practical use. It is not enough 

 for the American cavalryman of to- 

 day to mount and dismount with ease, 

 or bring his steed to a walk, trot or gal- 

 lop at will. That much is always ex- 

 pected. If he wishes to catch the eye 

 of his commanding officer, he must 

 now be able to perform those feats of 



MONKEY DRILL 

 102 



