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Show I No Battle Genius Yet TVHEN the great war began, in a little article VV in this journal the question was asked, '" from what source the great soldier of the war $ would spring; the soldier that would stand out as Alexander did, as Caesar did, as Napoleon did, the one wonderful battle genius who could compel Fate to obey him; who could call up his forces . from a hundred sources, have them at his bidding ',$ and then launch one blow that would at. once be I overwhelming and decisive. I During the year some great new names have appeared, but so far they belong only to the realm 1 '' of science. it f So far they have been but mathematicians. ' They have been demonstrating the utmost that , perfect mathematical rules applied to the science of war can produce, as a teacher makes clear to a class what in a given formula X equals. ' The leaders of the armies of Europe in Napo leon's time were all familiar with the rules under , which at that time wars were fought. j r Napoleon beat them in detail and then alto- 4 gether and moved on from victory to victory for at f twenty years, by doing what the enemy did not ? expect at impossible times. It was not haphaz- zard work, but was under a regular system, but , the system was a child of his own genius, and while his enemies saw the result of it, they (4 could not imitate it. ' So far the war has been fought by rule, no where under the battle canopies have those divine flashes been seen which point the way to that order or-der of victory which is decisive. It has been simply force against force armies have simply been machines, and generals have been merely engineers to direct the machines. The forces have been merely material forces and as a rule their successes have been due to the differences in the weight and accuracy of the missies hurled at each other. Said Dessaix, when he reached the battlefield of Marengo at 3 p. m.: "Sire, this looks to me like a battle lost." Napoleon lowered the glass r- ' from his eyes, and replied: "It looks to mo like a battle won." Then Dessaix looked at his watch and said: "Yes, it is only three o'clock." The corps of Victor and Launes had been falling fal-ling back for two hours and were terribly shab tered, but the emperor giving Dessaix orders where to strike, in person rode among the retreating re-treating troops, and crying to them that they had ' retreated far enough, to halt, reform and take the offensive, that a reinforcement had como, in ten I minutes changed the face of things and "made r victory certain, Dessaix was killed, but when ' the night came down on the long ill of the em- ' peror's triumph Marengo was the brightest and still a name for Frenchmen to conjure by. f Warfare has changed, No general can now look over more than a section of a battle field; the telegraph is a general's chief aide; the war is no longer between armies, but between nations; na-tions; the methods have all changed1; the scouts are in the clouds; it is as though the lightnings were the commanders and the earthquake their fighting machine; there seems to be no chance for mere individuals to separate themselves from the mass and shine out the concentrated elements of genius incarnated in one man. At least, up to date, while many scientific soldiers sol-diers have distinguished themselves, the distinction distinc-tion has been that which comes from culture. There has not been one that seems to have been born an Inspired battle genius. |