Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1859-04-29

most tremendous armed conflict which
the world has seen since the downfall
Of Napoleon the Great. The wars Of
Imperial France were bloody wars, as
all the world knows. No slaughtered
hectacombs were ever piled 90 high as
the great emperor piled them. The
dead never lay so thickly on any bat
tle-field, of which history makes any
lention, as they lay on Eyland ar :
Borodino, and Waterloo. What
mount of destructio' and misery sci
eAce, in the hands OF genius, could in
given time, deal ont on given num-
b'r Of men was there amply demon
s..ated,
But it is not saying too much to say
that if the European powers let their
iordcs loose upon one another this
summer, ruthless destroyer as. Napoleon
was, he will be shown before three
years are over to have been mere
tyro in the art of destruction. Since
his day all the arts have advanced with
rapid strides. But none with strides
so rapid as this one. The weapons
with which his soldiers we're armed,
with which the bridge of Lodi was
carried, and Austeriletz and Marengo
were won, bear much the same resem-
bance to the rifle of the present day
as the Matchbox bore to the old fire.
lock. Death di Int tin his time flash from
serried ranks until the foeman stood two
or three hundred yards apart. 1t now
flies in the air nearly three quarters Of
a mile, so far as the sharpest eye cen
mark human figure. His siege artil-
lery would be to-day by no means
heavy field piec Wellington's hesyi-
est preaching guns at E..dajos and
Salamanca were twenty four Founders.
The Russians at lnkermann, and the
British at the Tehcrnayna, brought
thirty-two Founders into the field with
ease and effect. But the advantage
which heavy guns had over light one ;,
hitherto, for the ordinary purpose Of
field artillery, has ben rather in the
length Of the range than n the size Of
the ball. A twelve pour der rushing
through column of infantry !; full as
destructive and almost as demoraliz-
ing as one treble the weight; br.
formerly it could not be projected near
SO far. Science has, in Our day, de-
stroyed the difference between tn n.
Recent inventions, some of them those
OF our own countrymen, some Of Eng
llshmen, some Of the present Empere-
of France, have furnished light field
pieces, which four horses can whirl at
the widest gallop from point to point,
with more than the desdlypower which
forty years ago, belonged only to weap-
IS which sixteen could move with
6,fliculty, which were always pieces de
position.
Moreover, FACT ties have been crc.-
ted since Waterloo was fought, for
bringing together masses OF men thus
arm !, and flashing them against one
ano' her, such as the great Napoleon
in all his widest dreams never dream
ed Of. We all know how the rapidity
of his movements dazzled and aston
ished our fathers. We know how he
strobe oyer Europe like a magicis y,
taking armies up, as it seemed in those
days, in the hollow of his hand, and
in fling;ng them in the twinkling of an
eye on every point where his giant
plans needed them. We know how
distance seemed to shrivel up At the
blast of his trumpet. We know how
the pupils of Turenne and Monteculli
recoiled in dismay before lcgions which
struck like thundcrbolt after having
advanced like the wind. But great as
was the perfection to which he carrie /
the art Of rapid concentration, it be-
comes the crawling of turtle when
compared with the power with which
railways have armed the generals of
our day. When Napoleon started on
his expeditions, armies were of necessi-
ty divided into columns, which, in Or
der to secure the bare means of sub
sistance and Of transport, were CON-
PEELED either, to follow each other at
tolerably long intervals or else march
on the same point by different circui.-
uous routes. And ihey did march
orally marched, trudged every inch
OF the way on foot, and the eagle flap
ped his wings over them in approba-
ion if they achieved fifty miles in the
twenty-four hours. The madde.t i'm
patience Of the maddest conqueror had
n those times to adapt itaelf to the
capabilities Of human legs and human
.omachs.
1t took, even, in the hands of Napo-
leon, long while to concentrate two
hundred thousand men at q point three
hundred miles distant; and when they
were there it required stupendous
energy and stupendous resources to
feed them. All the grand old heroes
had to take pork and -four into their
grandest calculation and pork and
flour, alas have to be carried, about
to be OF any use.
The other day We we're told, in con-
trast with this, that the present empe.
ror was able to.send twenty-five thous.
and men in day from Pa is to LYONS
Ia distance of about three hundred
miles. 1t would have taken his uncle
week of forced marches to accom-.
pish the same object. Austria is send
ing troops into Italy at the same rate.
Moreover, the same power which rem
ders this rapid concentration Of troops
renders their subsistence, while con-
centrated, just a. easy. The railroad
dumps the soldioss now . days, down
on the battle field, and the next d.v