The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-05-13

charlsmagne conquered Aqustaula 1t TWEEN.
ty-eight, made hlmsclf master Of France
and the greater part Of Germany It twenty
nine, 1sasy a. thlsty-t~o. and Spain al thirty
six. Henry ~, oi Ffaaee BECAME chief Of tha
HHagaenet army at ias age OF sixteen, 81
nineteen, ksag Of Navarro; ct for;s he had
conquered all his enemies aud placed him
self on the throne Of France. Sake entered the
army at twelve, aud soon obtained the COM
maud Of . regiment Of horse. HegaiDed the
celebrated victory Of Foutcnay at forty nine
vauban 1t the age Of twenty ave had conduct
ed eevera, sleges. Tureune had won al his
military reputation by the age Of forty. The
great Condo gained the famous battle OF
Rocroi It the ago Of twenty-five, and Won
oil HE military FINE before twenty-five
Prince Eugene, of Savoy. was Colonel at
twenty one, Lieutenant Fiald Marshal Of
twenty four, gained the battle OF zente AZ
thirty four aud Of Blenheim at forty one
Charles the Twelfth of Sweden completed
his 6rst successful campaign against Den
mark at eighteen, overthrow eign'y tnou-
sand Russians at Narva before nineteen, and
couq aered Poland and Saxony at twenty
four. Frederick the Great Of Prussia terni'
mated the first Silesian war at the age OF
thirty; the second Silesian war ~ thirty
three; aud at forty three, with population
Of i've millions, he successfully opposed d
league of more than one hundred millions
OF people. Cortez effected the conquest OF
Mexico at thirty six, and Pizarro the con-
quest of Peru at thirty-nve. Lord Give
reached the zenith of his military fame at
the same age. Napoleon was Lieutenant
at seventeen, Captain at twenty, Chief of
Battalion at twenty.four, General Of brigade
at twenty-five, and Commauder-iu-Chiefo OF
the Army of Italy at twenty-six.' His great
Generals were all, with scarcely single ex-
ception, young men. The mean age of
the eighteen Marshals whom he nominated
OF becoming Emperor was forty-four. On
the other hand, the principal Generals who
opposed him, were, In the campaign of 1876,
Beaulieu, nearly eighty; Wurmser, eighty;
and Alvipzi, over seventy. In 1900 Meles
was Generalin Chief of the Austrian forces,
who had served fifty years in the army. In
1905 the French were opposed by Kulersotf,
then sixty, while still more aged Generals
directed the plan of operations. In 1906 the
French were opposed by the Duke of Bruins
wick, seventy-one; Hohenlope, sixty, and
other old Generals who had served nuder
the great Frederick; men, says Jomini, tex
humed from the Seven Years War" "whose
were frozen by age, ""who had been
buried for the last ten years IN lethargic
deep" In 1907 the French were opposed
" Kameuski, thea eighty; Berringser, elk
y, and Buxhowden, also Of advanced age
The allies at last began to profit by their
painful experience. In 1909 the Austrian
Array WIS led By the youthful Archduke
Charles, and although thwarted by the pro
ects Of the old Generals OF the Aulic coun-
ell, wiped off much Of its former disgrace.
La 1912 kaiuso1f was seconded by younger
.owick, fofty-nine; Wintzeueirode, forty
hree; Schowralof, thirty Ave, and the Arch
luke Constantine, thirty-three-Genera's
yho in the two succeeding campaigns rolled
,ack the waves of French conquest. The
Aust-ians were led by youthful, Generals
With the exception of Butcher, one Of those
neu whose martial energies the fires OF time
10 not chill In the campaign of 1915 Ma
poleon was opposed 10y Wellington and
the former the same age as Ma
poleon, and educated at the same time with
,im il the military schools of France. Both
we're younger than most of his own Gene
ais. 1t is observed that Napoleon's plans
we're never better conceived, and his troops
,ever fough1 more bravely, but the dilatory
of his Generals, who had lost
heir yout hful energy, paralyzed the blows
Lmed at his enemy.
Washington was about forty-6ve when he
was called to the chief command of the
American army. For seven long years he
with unfailing fortitude and in.
creasing energy that remarkable struggle
In the war Of 1912 we dug up the old officers
Of the Revolution, men who had been sue
cessful in their youth, and placed them at
the head Of our armies. The consequence
was steady series Of disasters and defeats
not retrieved till we supplied the places of
the octogenAzians by the younger men
the Jacksons, Scots, Ripleys, and others
who soon turned the tide Of battle. Our
wonderful naval victories were won mostly
by young men.
There are not wanting in ancient or mod
ern history many examples Of aged Gene
rails who have achieved remarkable military
successes. In our own co untry Taylor and
Scott, in the Mexican war, surpassed all
others in energy and generalship. Noyouth
Of twenty-one ever fought with more rim
than Rough and Ready, and SCOTS achieve
ments in Mexico, seconded by the remarka-
ble soldier now at the head OF the Army of
Northern Virginia, completely threw into
the shade the military reputation which he
had achievefin his youth. But it is clear,
from the history of the past, that promo
rion to high military rank should not be
based on the system of exclusive seniority.
Wellington declared that such o system
would soon utterly destroy the efficiency Of
the British army. Military knowledge and
military energy form the essential combina
ton for leader Of armies. The man of
sixty or the man of twenty one who pos