The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-09-09

One Of the principal causes Of the unvary-
ing successes Of the Prussians has doubtless
been their superior numbers. Wherever the
Prussian and French forces have met for
battle, the strength Of the former has been
greatly superior to that of the latter, and the
victory has as usual remained with the
strongest battalions. AS a result of this
overwhelming proportion of men the Prus-
slams have been able to follow up their VIC
tories with vigor and premptitude. Had the
movements of the invaders been less rapid,
the French might have been able to bring
new levies enough into the field to remedy
their disparity in numbers; but Won Moltke
was too sagacious a strategist not to appre-
ciate the advantages Of rapid action, and
ever since the first victory at Weissenburg
the Prussians have been necessarily pushing
the French. At the commencement of hos
tilities it was uncertain where the Prussians
would first strike, and the French army was
therefore distributed all along the frontier
When, finally, MacMahon and Bazaine had
each concentrated his army. the Prussians
thrust a sufficient force between them to
prevent them from forming junction, thus
effectually checkmating any attempt at CO.
operation.
All the advantages which accrue to an army
wagipg an offensive war have been enjoyed by
the PTussians, and all the disadvantages of
continually acting on the defensive have
fallen to the French. The Prussians have
carried on the war upon foreign soil, and
thereby saved their own country from the
devastation which has been spread over the
fair fields of France, and in addition, their
victories have elevated the morale of their
army and have correspondingly depressed
that of the French. While the attacking
force has always been able to move
towards the point at which it has been
-. 4 lae Loax
efforts to repel continual assaults The
French are not SO well able to act long on
the defensive as their adversaries, for in their
military system they place far greater stress
upon the fortitude and elan of the individual
soldier than upon the steadiness of the COM
pany and regiment. The French chasseur or
zouave will exhibit q dash and spirit in at
tacking which are not surpassed by any SOL
diery, but it requires other qualities than
these to enable an army always to pre-
sent an unbroken front to a conduerinp
and advancing foe. The French pride them,
selves on their freedom from the stiffness
and precision which characterize the Ger
man soldiers, but it is these very character
istics which have given to the latter their
great effective strength While the French
foot soldiers are chiefly organized to act as
light infantry, the Prussians still adhere to
the cumbrous three-rank formation, although
in battle the third rank act as tiTaiAeu7S, or
skirmishers, thus giving greater mobility to
the rest of the command. If The present war
is test of the merits of the respective sys.
TENS, the old has more than held it's ground
against the new. The modern tendency in
tactics is doubtless toward less stiffness and
precision in drill, but the French seem tc
have gone so far in this direction that steadi
ness has been sacrificed to dash and elan.
In all that pertains to logistics or the NOV.
ing and supplying of troops, the French
were greatly inferior to the Prussians. The
meat sausage with which the latter were sup
piled formed good substitute for fresh beet
when the latter could not be obtained. and
was of great service during the rapid marche.
! upon which the Prussian strategists so mucl
rely. In the matter of bread, too, the Prus
SLAMS have made a valuable improvement
| Their army on the march is now supplied
with kind of war bread, somewhat simils,
| to the ''hard-tack" which the soldiers
talked about so much in our war, and which
was really very good substitute for fresh
| bread. r...--
The Prussian staff officers, moreover, were
thoroughly informed as to the resources O
every town, village, and hamlet in France
They knew just how many men could bt
quartered in each town; how large a requisi
tion of provisions and forage each section
could furnish, and they we're prepared to b,
Indifferent to any plea Of inability to furnish
what was demanded.
These are but a few points in which tn
Prussian military organization has shown it
superiority, and which has been rendered al
the more prominent by the rapidity wit
which action has succeeded action.