The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1866-11-08

oietVHt uhIHOny Oi " kT'ht uANS
ing machine More battles hrv
been lost since war first began b
lack Of knowledge on the part {
commanders how to move thei
troops, than, perhaps, from an.
uiher one cause. An army is
c"mmunity, a colony OF wandering
Bedouins, under a dictator an
to keep il well in hand. while dis
persed over many square miles o
country, to be able to calculat,
with unerring certainty upon th'
exact time and place, when an'
where all its parts can he concen
trated, and to keep it. sufficiently
supplio,i with food and material
90 far to the making Of a success
lful general. But abovo lhee,
qualifications, and greater than al
of them, ia that wonder ul faculty
which the first Napoleon possessed
in such q remarkable degree tht
power Of infusing confidence ans
elasticity into the whole mass of q
command, so that it can accom-,
lplish long and tedious march
with the same buoyancy and elan
with which it would charge ia,
ltering, enemy. 1t is this spirit
that "iakes armies invinciblc; /; aud
whoever can succeed in perfectly
uniting in himself all these condi
tions becomes Of necessity a great
general. II an example be sought
from onr own annals, the name oi
William I Sherman will occur as
very conspicuous realization OF
these conditions.
"Well-but how docs an army
marcbl"
Not at all, nv dear sir, or mad
anne. as some of the kaves of the
quill would have You believe II
does not move ont from pleasant
camps nr grim Tortific tions in Gilt.
terry array of epaulets and sashes
and plumes with TIC ranks aeon.
rately dressed with the left foot
foremost, and with the music play
ing the National airs. The men
do not move along at the rcgula.
til qnickstep and with arms at a
right-shoulder.shift nor do the
officers carry their swords in the
fashion of the fierce hnssar of the
child's wooden toy. Such would
be an ideal march, born of the
brain Of an imaginative civilian
from the reading Of Abbott's" Life
of Napoleon, or Ileadley's
"Washineton and his Generals. y
Let us take cursory view OF the
reality.
Time, five o'clock, ante meridi
an an early hour, much before
daylight, and intentionally chilly
one place, TIC fields contiguous
to any of the Virginia highways.
Tho tops Of the adjacent noun
tains are wreathed in mist, and the
air is III OK with vap"r and obscure
with darkness Were the time
hal an hour later, 30 that objects
could be distinguished, any centre
Of observation would show you
! ng vistas Of stacked arms, aud
countless rows of motionless fig
ures recumbent on the ground,
covered with a single blanket OF
shelter tent. They lie in all shape,
and positions, just as they Liz
themselves down late last nigh
after a wearying days march
some with heads pillowed on thei
boots or canteens some singly
and Others in groups of two, iour
or six-all quiet as death, still at
silence itself. You viii! look in
vain for the officers; the contusions
Of field service are complete in the
bivouac. The form shrouded II
yonder rubber blanket may posi-
bly, be that of Colonel Grizzly
himself; but just now he appear
to no better advantage than does
Private Mahoney at his elbow
with his heels over the next mans
chest, and his long-dlawn snore'
rushing out like the explosion of 9
thirty-two. la the far background
You might discover an indistincl
assemblaee Of picke:ed mules and
horses, and the canvas thatchins
of the wagon train and q snal
group Of tents might mark thu
place of some headquarters. Sud
denly rises a distant bugle note
uncOmfortably suggestive to TIN
lighter sleepers. Mkt q fife anC
drum, presently another, a ratll,
and a shrek of shcepskin and rreC
runs like a lighted train throngl
the army till the sound is lost il
the distance, and the whole bivoua
is quickly Jared out of its slum
bers by the merci!ess reveille =
Prostrate soldiers start to their ell
bows, sore and stiff. and not mucI
refreshed by the copions d.ws Q
the night eyes are rubbed, con
sciousness regained. maiediction
invoked on the drum corps, an
Everybody is quickly in notion
1t is true Indeed that " music hat
t charms to soothe the savag
breast; )" but did the gent
Shakespeare ever hear the tune
sect mp, you lazy soldier" play
ed at five o'clock OF chilly MON
ing :
Our lieutenant is an indefatiga
BILE sleeper, aud long neglect ha
deafencd his ears to tile seductiv
strains of the reveille. Sometime
while il continues, you can pei