The weekly union record., 1865-03-18
Yankee Military Tactics.

The English, forgetting past experience.
pretend to feel sovereign contempt for every
thing connected with the management Of our
military affairs, and sneer at the present war as
the game Of madmen." A writer 10 Black
wood, criticising our Generals, asks: why
Sherman before Meade, or Grant before Nc
Clellan' Surely the game could be played by
the whole asylum" Again. it says: You
cannot make marshals OF France out OF drab
coated Philadelphians or pedantic Bostonians,
10 more than you can make the very names Of
their battle fields ring 10 verse" As much
ignorance is betrayed in the above as the
English press have manifested during the war.
as to the geography of America. They ignore
the fact that all our principal commanders have
had the advantage Of thorough military educa-
tou, and that what our subordinate officers
lack in science is more than compensated for
by their courage and quick perception OF
strategic advantages. They seem to imagine
that, unless people have been accustomed to
wars and standing armies from tine immemo-
rial, as the people of Europe have been, they
lack the requisite qualifications for offensive or
defensive warfare. If they are blinded by
prejudice so much that, during this unhappy
war, they cant see it in that light" it may
become necessary to refresh the memory of
these forgetiul Britons by practical illustra-
tion that will bring ylyidly to their minds the
days Of TO and "'12" A cotemporary
speaking of American developments in the
modores, Generals and Engineer officers seem
to entirely set aside all books and precedents
in their military operations. They build mailed
forts TO rotate on pivots, and float them about
On our oceans, bays and rivers, wherever they
may be needed, TO attack the old fashioned
stationary defenses. They so back to the days
of the early Romans for an idea, upon which
they improve, and construct large rams of
massive iron, with which TO crush 10 the sides
Of their enemies vessels. They manage to
haul monster cannon, of caber hitherto
unknown, far out upon soft mora -ses, where it
was supposed nothing but web footed birds
could find footing. Military circles every
where, the world over, were astonished at the
utter indifference with which Sherman treated
military tactics in his late advance from
Atlanta. When our engineer officers wish 10
construct a railroad, although they have an
abundance of the best labor at hand, they
ignore the pick and spade, go 10 for light job,
and lay their rails up hill and down, with no
more grading than would be done for an ordi-
nary turnpike. A correspondent, describing
the military railroad along General Grants
rear connecting the various divisions of his
army, from left to right, says the line OF road
"s very curious one, dipping into and crossing
two or three marshes, aud rising abruptly over
several hills At times, the trains disappear
altogether in the hollows. This road is one OF
the VOL ders of the day, and proves that cars
can be run over the rough country without
much trouble" Thus it is that our officers,
both on land and sea. throw books and prece
dents to the dogs, 60 in on common sense, and
win at every turn.