Nebraska advertiser., 1868-07-30
Grants Place Among Great
Generals.

GENERALS
Marshal MarmOnt elassifies generals
into four categOries, counting first
those who have never lost a battle,
whose courage and judgement were
equal to every emerVenCv.n such as
Alexander and Caesar in ancient times,
and Gustavus AdOlphus,. Turenne,
COnde, Luxembourg, and Napoleon
till 1872, in modern times.n In the
second class he places itthOse who, if
they have often gained victories, have
sometimes lost them, in spite Of des-
perate fighting and good generalship.
Among these are the AFehduke
Charles, SuwarrOW and Wellington
The third category contains those
generals who have been habituRlly
unfortunate in war, but have never al
lowed their armies to be destroyed,
nor been personally discouraged; al
ways offering a menaeing front and
impressing the enemy with fear. u
Such in ancient times were SertOrius
and AEithridRtes, and in more modern
times Wallenstein and William III Of
England. Finally, the fourth categO-
~ contains "that numerous class,
common to every country and every
epoch, who have lost their armies with
out serious fighting, or without ma
king the enemy pay dearly for his vic
tOry.n In describing the qualities Of
a great leader, MarmOut speaks Of a
union of intelligence and courage, but
prefers, if either be in excess, that it
should be courage, for reasons which
are obvious. Another writer declares
that the distinctive Characteristic of
genius, is the apparent ease and sim
plicity with which it accOmpIishes the
most difficult things. Now, let Grant
be tried by these rules, and what rank
must be assigned to him in history?
Where must he be placed? Clearly
in the highest category of great
soldiers; but, in order that this may
bestin further beyond the pale Of dis
pute, let US consider the grounds for
this conclusion somewhat more in
detail.
Grant having been educated at West
Point, the first military school Of
| America, if not of the world, and hav-
| ing served under both TAYLOR and
Scott, had at the outbreak of the rebel
| lion received all the training, both
theoretical and practical, that was re-
quisite to a thorough understanding
| Of the military art, as applicable to
warfare in America. In the very out
| set of his more recent career, he
showed plainly that he had not been
an idle or unobservant student Of his
profession. He was from the first al
ways opposed to that spirit of MARITIME
tism which Fredrick the Great sue
| ceeded in making the basis Of military
discipline in nearly all modern armies,
and believed in developing the indi-
viduality of the soldier as much as
possible, trusting to his intelligence
and patriotism for a full performance
of duty, instead Of relying exclusively
upon the capacity Of officers to control
brute masses. He had the sagaeity to
preceive that the system of Friedrich,
/ while it might do well enough for feu-
dial Europe, before the days Of the rev.
OlutiOn, could not be made to apply to
| citiZen-sOldiery, and he therefore
wasted no time in trying to enforce
the strict rules Of fixed military estab-
Iishments. He did not make the
usual mistake Of suppOsiDg that the
common soldier was ignorant and
/ thOughtless, and, therefore, to be con-
sidered as a mere machine to be pro-
vided with a musket or saber, and
| then to be harassed into a reluctant
! performance of duty, but was prOfOud-
/ " impressed with the idea that the
volunteers were intelligent citizens of
the republic, whose business had been
to become acquainted with public af-
fairs. Withal, he was not unmindful
of the necessity of drill and organiZa-
/ ton, for the purpose of insuring eohe-
renee and uniformity Of effort, though
he acted upon the. reasonable suppOsi-
/ ton that volunteers would obtain
more of the practical knowledge of
warefare in a weeks campaign than a
years drilling in a camp of instrue-
/ ton. He has been often heard to say
that the officer who could not tell that
| his movements were in the way of
successful execution by reading the
faces Ofhis men, was already defeated !;
/ he believes that American soldiers
'are as smart as town folks" and
what they do not know, or can not
] find out, is scarcely worth knowing.
Looking at the army in this light, he
wisely devoted more time to the selec-
ton Of good officers, and the wedding
out Of bad ones, than in working from
the men upward.