The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1866-12-03

| There can be and Is no question a. to the in
dispensableness of q special military education
| for the officers Of an army. The schools of st.
| Cyr and Saumur, of Woolwich and West Point,
| and the rest (including naval academies), attest
| in Europe and America the universal rec0gni-
| ton of this fact And even the few brilliant
exceptions in the Federal and Confederate ar
mics during our late civil conflict prove the
general rule that mere civilians, "political
| generals" for instance, must yield precedence
to those who have regularly studied the art OF
| war.
| But although less widely and more recently
| acknowledged, education in q general sense is
| of inestimable advantage to the rank and file
| Of an army. Any nation will find it q solid
basis Of military power. We use the word
education in its true chronological signifcation,
| by no means narrowing it to instruction in
either the lower or the higher branches Of learn
ing. The studies pursued at the primary school
or at the university are but means to the end Of
educating, Of drawing forth the mental and
| moral powers. Education breaks up the masses
| into individuals. 1t trains each one to think,
| to will, TO act, in obedience to the spirit and
| the letter Of law. An army composed of indi-
viduals thus truly educated voluntarily and
| intelligcntly submits to that discipline without
| which no army, however brave and enthusiastic,
| is ihvincible.
| The ideas with which the old French republic
| inspired its fierce young armies were an edu-
cation for them, and rendered them irresis-
| tible. Theirs became "intelligent bayonets"-
| a new power IN the world. No wonder that,
welding such potent agencies Napoleon was
| 80 mighty coDqucror. The proverbial indi-
| yiduality of the French soldier is due 10 the
direct OF indirect educational influence of
ideas which have survived the fall OF the
republic and every change of government in
| France, securing its intellectual pre-eminence
| among the nations of the earth. In the wars
Of the empire, in Algiers, and particularly in
| the Crimean campaign, as well as in Italy,
! the g intelligent bayonet has proved its supe
| rior efficacy. II could not be resisted by the
| stubborn courage and physical force of the
Russian soldier. The Russian army was but
cumbrous and complicated piece of machinery,
| without the handspring of education. The
| British army still owes its numerical force to
| its Irish element, which has long been its
| strongest element also, thanks not only to the
natural pugnscity of the native of the Emerald
Isle but to his ineradicable idea of nationality.
| This supplies the place Of education and in
| fact educates him to be an individual. The
| praiseworthy pluck, the endurance and the
! bodily strength Of the English peasant, stolid
and ignorant as he is to an almost incon-
! ceivable degree, are no equivalent for the
| education which he utterly lacks. Nowhere
are the lower orders subjected 10 more
| despotic ignorance or more overwhelming
| wretchedness than in England. And this ire
| mendous fact must be taken into account when
we seek to explain why il has declined from
its rank among the great Powers.
| The triumph of Prussia over Austria against
! vast odds of numbers has been enormously
attributed to the famous needle gun. This
| proved indeed, no intellectual weapon but we
should not forget that The men who used il
were educated in schools superior to those
which the best school systems in other coun-
tries have yet established. Nowhere ON the
European continent is education more widely
| diiused than in Prussia, and its practical
results were splendidly illustrated in the rapid
and complete successes OF the Prusssn armies.
! France in the reorganization Of it's imperial
army is fastening to pay fresh tribute to edu-
cation as basis Of military power by adopting
! us model The Prussian army system which has
been erected upon H.
! The failure Of the Italians, brave and enthu-
siastic ss they are, TO win themselves The prizes
! which Prussian victories secured to Them can
be attributed only TO the lack OF education uni
vcrssl among the lower classes throughout
ltaly and Mr. Shanks, in his personal Recol-
| leciions of Distinguished Generals is not
without reason in Ascribing to the relative su-
/ pcriority, not only in numbers but in educa-
! tioD. OF The rank and lile OF The federal army
over the rank and file OF the Confederate army
/ The crushing victories OF the former. Not col
| iege graduates alone. such as those celebrated
IN the Harvard Memorial Biographies" but
| hundreds OF Thousands educated in the COM
mon schools Of the North, inferior as these
| are 10 their PrussiaD models, proved them
selves oil the better soldiers by virtue Of their
superior education. And in the Southern
| armies the Army of Northern Virgins" COM
posed a. il was more largely than any of the
rest, OF educated men--the flower Of Southern
chivalry-confesscdly took the lead, particu-
larry in its artillery arm. its special pride and
] glory; and the other armies, with few excep-
lions, were mainly Differed by educated vir-
7! giniaDs
I In an interesting and spirited article in
| recent number Of the Crescent Monthly, J. Quit
man Moore. Of Mississippi. SAYS" The organ
/ ization Of the Confederate army was finished
| piece Of military mechanism, metbodical, har-
monious, composite in all pertaining to its ex-
terror practical arrangement; but there was a