Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-09-07
THE SCIENCE OF WAR.
Defective Organization of The Frerc


We find the following thoughtful article
under this head IN the Missouri Republi-
can:
"For twenty years." say Arsene Hous-
save IN Paris paper, nobody IN France
has studied war. Everything has been
done specifically. whilst the Prussians are
first in the military art"
The French have the military schools at
| Paris and st. Cyr, school for the educa-
ton of staff officers at the capital, and
cavalry school at Saumur. The four schools,
however, are not only carried on accord
| ing to the old routine of the Empire, but
| thousands Of officers are every day ap-
pointed from the rank with no other
knowledge of tactics than those which they
practically learn from the older eorporals
and sergeants in their regiments. There
is an amount of ignorance in the corps of
officers which contributes immensely to
their subordinate condition in French So
ciety, and which really would be intolera-
BILE if the French trooper in general did
not make up for his ignorance by his great
urbanity and bravery.
But this is not the essential point of M.
Arsene Houssaye's criticism. What he al
ludes to is the entire absence of scientit-
ic treatment of military matters IN France
|
! ~ ever produces two geniuses like Carnot
in two continuous generations. When in
| 1893 he entered his duties in the Commit
tee of Public Safety, the armies were dis
organized and unruly; there were no funds
and no provisions; enemies had invaded
France IN every direction; the insurgent
Vendeans were successful; Lyons was re-
sisting . beleaguering army and Toulon
had just been delivered by treason to the
| English. And yet the genius of Carnot
succeeded SO well that the French called
him the organizer of victory. He WAS a
tactician of the highest ability, and it was
he who planned the admirable campaign Of
| 1896, the success of which was secured in
| italy by Bonaparte.
| 1t is upon this great science that the
French tacticians have lived since the de-
feat OF Waterloo; and just as they permit
ted the English to eclipse them in natural
science, because they lived on the glory of
Joufroy, St Hilaire and Cuvier, just SO
they have permitted the Prussians to sur
pass them in the scientific Reorganization
of their military establishment, because
| they believed that in the tactics of Nj. Car
not military science had been exhausted.
After 1866 the French became convinced
of being far behind the Prussians. 1t was
not only the effect of the needle gun which
startled them, but they felt that the victor
les Of the Prussians were principally due
| to the organization of their army. They
at once went to work by the introduction
OF a new breech-loader, and by the organ
ization of the garde motile to bring up the
French army to the standard of the Prus-
sian. General Mel was entrusted with
the elaboration and the execution of a
new plan. 1t is now evident how incom-
pleteiy the Prussian organization was
Initiated by General Mel, or, to use
p more correct expression, how poorly the
Prussian system was adapted to the
French war establishment. General Mel
never discovered the principal meritsof the
Prussian organization. He placed it in the
enrolment of immense numbers of men,
while it is essentially in the almost abso-
lutte equality Of the reserve corps with
those in active service. The Prussians
now have not only as many troops, and
more, than the French, but her soldiers,
from the first to the last, are
cast in the same mould, and
! the battalionS OF reserve are as
available and ready for service at first
call as the veterans. Nobody doubts that
the French may be able to put q million of
men in the field, but at the same time it is
known that one-half of this number are
mere recruits, without any drill IN the
management of the new arms. It is even
palpaple that the commissariat and the
number of Ohassepot guns is not IN any
available proportion to alegy en- naasss, and
that if the French army were raised to a
million of soldiers, they might starve in the
field, and in the best case be armed with old
masks, which are entirely worthless, in any
fight against the long range firearms
The French, in one word, attempted to &C
complish in a short time what the Prus-
slams had done during an uninterrupted
study of forty-fve years. While the French
were defeating inferior armies to their own
in Russia and in Italy, and making demon
alizing expeditions to China and Mexico,
the Prussians were silently perfecting a
military organization which now proves to
be the result of the application of every
principle of modern science that could
possibly be used for the Improvement of
arms, tactics, and the mobilization of
trOOpS