Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-06-02
WHOLE NUMBER 373.
Gens Mcclellan ON JOminI-AD Horps NJ
JOmtni and Napoleon


the June number Of the Galaxv7 III
WE can not better sum I'M fbo r,tr,..
Of JOmini's literary efforts than bv re-
peatlng that he was the first who de-
duced from history the principles of war.
/ before his time concealed in the brains
/ of the few great Generals who have an
| peaTed from time to time. He eDUncia-
/ ted them in distinct formula, and thus
/ formed a code of maXims for the ruid-
ance of Generals and the instruction of
students. He has indicated the Datb
but 2the ''TOyal rOadu remains vet nm
opened for the difficulty of the aUDIica-
/ ton of these principles still remains
| Were his works universally studied bv
militTry men, one of their legitimate
results would doubtless be to decrease
the number of very bad Generals, and
to increase the number of moderately
good ones; but the great captains must
ever be, III the future as i'm the Dost
very rare. NIOrtals endowed wifi tba
peculiar combination of intellectual and
moral gifts found in such characters ne
Napoleon, Frederick, Caesar and Hanni-
bal, Will appear only at long intervals
III the history of the world. Such works
as JOmlnTS Will greatly facilitate the
Iabors of such men, but can not create
them.
General JOmini, as the writer saw him
about year ago, was somewhat below
the middle height, a little bent, his hair
white, his eyes bright and piercing un-
der shaggy eyebrows, his voice clear,
his face much like that of an old worm
out eagle. He had, for long time. been
confined to his room, and suffered much
pain; he spoke, without dread or affec-.
tatiOn, of his approaching end, and
manifested the greatest interest in the
present, while his memory was perfectly
distinct as to his past. His converse
ton as to the men and events of the era
Of the great Napoleon was repIete with
interest. Two anecdotes which he re-
lated were new to me, and peahaps
worthy of record here. He said that
upon a certain occasion, while cOnvers-
ing with the Emperor, the latter asked,
What do you thing of Massena ?''-
"Sre," replied JOmini, % I can best ex-
press my opinion by relating under
what circumstances I first saw him. In
1893, when a Major in the Swiss service.
l was sent to consult with MaSsena then
in command in Switzerland in regard
to some military affairs. I was told that
he was on the front line, but as that ex-
tended from Basle, through Zurich, the
GrisOns and the Valais, to Geneva, it
was difficult to find him; at last I met
with him on the Limmat in front of
Zurich, where he had MOiIter's division
Of four regiments watching the Arch
duke Charles, who was with some 40
600 men in Zurich. I then paused said
JOmini to me, "when the FmDerOr at
once slapped me on the shoulder. as was
his frequent habitwhen cOnversing with
officers, and exclaimed. THAT is Mas
sena exactly! When other men lose
their senses he begins to gain his ~ To
understand the point of this it must be
remembered that very shortly after JO-
minis interview with Massena, the Iat-|
ter, after having long remained inactive
in his exposed position in front of the
vastly superior forces of the Archduke,
becoming aware of the danger to which
SuwOrrOw's movement over the st. Got
hard exposed him, took advantage of
the Archduke's departure with portion
OF his troops toward the lower Rhine:
suddenly gathered his troops: forced
the passage of the Limmat: won the
battle of Zurich, and entered upon those.
brilliant manRUverS which rendered
abOrtive SuWaITaw's painful and dang
erOUs march. JOmini said that Massena
was man who required great dangers 4
and emergencies to arouse him to theI
full extent Of his powers that under or
dinaTy circumstance he was bynO means
a brilliant character. The defenses OfI
Genoa and EssLng show what endur-
ance and herOism were in the man his
passage of the Limmat, the campaign
against SuwaTrow, and his superb flank |
march across the field of Wagram, at /
test the brilIiancy of his powers when /
occasion called them forth. The other /
anecdOte which shall attempt to relate, |
Tsnfnrrnd moro T,arF ion ". /
perOr himself, and illustrates some ofl
the peculiar qualities of his great mind |
more fully than any circumstance I re-
member. During the battle of Esslingl
the victorious progress of the French /
was arrested by the destruction of the
bridge over the main Danube, while a
large portion of their army still remain
ed on the Vienna bank. 1t was clear
that nothing could be done but TO hold
the positions of Essling, Aspern, &c.
until nightfall, in order to secure a re-
treat into the island of LObau. While
the Archduke Charles was making his
most desperate attack upon Massena, in
ESsling, Napoleon was sitting OH the
ground debating orders to several aides
de-camp, when Massena's senior aide ap-l
preached, and reported that the Marshal
had directed him to say that If he was
TeinfOTcements, otherwise it would be
impossible. The Emperor quietly look
ed up at the aide, and pointing to the
ground Immediately in front, where
LanneS lost his Life, and where the enc
my was at that moment attacking in
great force, and with much vigOr, said.
q should be very glad to have Massena'sl
troops there. Tell him that I have no ]
to give him; he must
hold the village at any cost with what
means he has; he must do the best he
can in his own way} and tell him it is {
hes business and not mine. Say to him {
not to trouble me again about it." He =
hen quietly resumed his dictatiOn.
These orders were the detailed orders I
If march for that wonderful cOncentra- I
ion of troops from IIIyria, DaImatia, I
Northern Italy, Naples, Spain, France, i
he TyrOl, Belgium, &c, which was ear L
led into effect the day before the battle /
# WagTam. JOmini mentioned this as ;
most striking instance of NapOIeOn's Il
marvellous control over his mind; the ;
moment he saw that the day was lost |
le sat down where he happened to be v
lnder fire-and at once began the ar II
angement of the combinations that led
o Wagram. The Emperor was indeed
in possessing such IieutenaDts
s MassenG, to whom he could conf
emily intrUst the defense of a vital point t,
With insufficient means, telling him O
hat it was not his business to attend "
D it. p
Jomini conversed frankly about the Il
lodern changes and Improvements i'm
re-arms, railways, telegraphs, Sc. He fC
RELY acknowledged their advantages.
nd the'changes they would bring about o
q war, but insisted that they could not al
lOdify its principles. ''NVOe to the tC
ieneTal,n said he, "whO trusts i'm the
lOdem inventions, and uegIects the Pc
rinciples of strategy; those principles
iii remain unchanged through all the pc
of the future, and can
ever be inconsistent with them; future pc
istory will show that under no circum-
ances can. those principles he violated th
18th impunity." G. B. NJ.
Income Returns.
From the return of Incomes for IS6S i'm
IT q part of New York CITY, we CLEAN a