Salt Lake Telegram | 1930-04-06 | Page 33 | Grant Portrayed as Greatest Commander in Civil Conflict

Grant Portrayed as Greatest Commander in Civil Conflict Colonel Fuller Presents General in New Light; Shows Blunders Overcome LI tHAIMAI rvausei 'I Th task of ths reviewer w ho has read Tha Generalship of C lyase M. Grant.- by J. K. C. Fuller, with con. stonily mounting admiration Is to try t malt plain to th reading public what unauapected, rlchea are hidden under Ita modest title. In tha first place. It I what II purports to br, a study of military atmingy. and In this respect so com. potent thel It must not only win lite respect of sll specialists In that field, but decisively Influence the view which history will tske of the actors and lha actions dealt with, snd at Ihs same time It is so lucid snd so fssclnstlng lu ths general reader that It inlkhl well Inaugurate a vogue for military studte suited I Ihe general ruuip elienalon to shsrs ths field with ihe current In-lereet In-lereet In biography. Aa a concomitant con-comitant uf the study of Civil war strategy, there Is sn tncislvs and profound reading ot Grant character. char-acter. To bee p up th measur and maka It run over. Colonel Puller adda an analysis of the nature end causes of wsr whli'h, In brief com. paea, la as revealing and challenging challeng-ing aa any atudy wa have eea by pltlloeopher, atslewnian or economist, snd more thought compelling aa coming from a military man. Tha civilian may ahrink from thla soldier's sol-dier's relentless demonetrstion thst wsr, with sll Its horrors, may be a socially therapeutic measurs preferable prefer-able to the dlseaees which make It nceearv; kut nu ons can withhold a startled agreement with the author's demonstration thst when ths guns begin lo boom It Is merely a cllnisA to nag Uuu fg truoti s going en for a lunger r shorter tlm Ul ths economic; field. To clinch his roiiipsrison of open snd concealed wsr. Colonel fuller shows on Ihe one hand how prlncl. pies of I Irs Ms stretegy may spply lo Industry and, on Ilia othep hand, saya that there are no books more useful tu sn underatsndlng nf generalship gen-eralship than P. W. Taylor's "The Principles t'f m-lentlflc Management" Manage-ment" and Henry r'erds "My Ufa and Worka" No ona ran follow Colonel Puller's analysis of Ihe atralegy of Iho great conflict of 1141-llte without coming to complete agreement with hie demonstration Dial llrant waa Im-sieesuishly Im-sieesuishly Ilia greatest roiiiinander In that conflict. In his grasp of major ma-jor strategy, In his decisiveness sf sctlon snd his rsient leesness of pur. Pose. He blundered badly al flrat, but rarely mada tlie, aama mists ks twice. He never fully graaped the linplh eltons of tho supremacy ot ths rifle nor Warned Ih full power of artillery. On Ihe other hand, tha allegation that Grant cold-bloodedly sacrificed Ms own men In bludgeoning bludgeon-ing tactlca la shown to be without ground, and In cotnprelteaaloa of the necessary grand strategy of tliewer, Involving a "light flank wheel of over a thousand mllea extending In time over three years," hs wss ths superior of any other man Involved to the tragiu buslneee. Tha distinguished British Officer who wrota tills book displays a completeness, com-pleteness, a sympathy, an Inward-noes Inward-noes of uhtlerstandlng of American matters aulierlor to that of any author of Ills nation, historian, novelist. nov-elist. Hiet or what not, who work w pate, a vac iced.