The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-07-28
NEW HERALD MONDAY JULY l07a-wITH SUPPLEMENT-

to dust and ashes In their hands, the imagined
merits turning out the very causes OF their reverses
When peace was signed and France collected from
the highways and byways from internment in
Switzerland and Belgium, nom prison cantonment
in Germany and from the corners OF her own ter.
ritory what remained 10 her Of the component
elements Of organizations that had once
been armies. the alternative confronted
her either to resign her position as
one OF the great military Powers or to make exer-
lions such IS perhaps never nation had made be-
fore, II she would assert her right still to occupy
that position and make good that right by speedy
reorganization Of her armies and
RADICAL REFoRM
In her military system. Az we all know she chose
the latter alternative. Theirs addressed his
measured purpOsefulness Of energy not alone to
the paying on Of the war indemnity, but to the re-
suscitation Of the army. new scheme OF organ
izati0n and for recruiting was devised, became
law and Is already In operation. To replace the
piles and stacks Of Chassep0ts that went TO Ger
many the government factories and private con-
tractors have worked day and night I can re-
member seeing In field outside Sedan 400 pieces
OF captured French field artillery, ranged in long
lines, with German sentries watching over them.
On that day in August 1871, when saw Kaiser
Wilhelm lead his victorious guardsmen In triumph
through the streets Of his capital the route from
La Belle Alliance Strasse down Inter den Linden to
the Schl0ss Platz was nanked on either side by
captured cannon-24O0 OF them, IN their long
avenue OF iron and bronze. All these had to be re-
placed. In short. what France had to DO, II she
would have armies capable OF holding their own in
the present condition OF military equipment and
preparation on the Continent--far more If that
word reuarche which she kept and keeps always
muttering through her set teeth, was to be any
thing else than wild utopian aspiraton-was to
begin at the foundation and build up for herself q
wholly new structure Of military organization.
The ruins OF the old one were too rotten to found
upon and the plans Of the old building that ex-
listed in her archives were vicious, obsolete, and
futile.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THURSDAYS REVIEW
consisted in this-that it furnished material for
the competent spectator to judge whether and to
what extent, II any, France was really bent on q
radical abnegation Of her old military traditions
and on sweeping reform based on an intelligent
appreciation lessons capable OF being learned
rom experience; whether she was in thorough
earnest no matter what the cost, in recognizing
her armies with the greatest possible speed, and
to what extent, it being apparent that such are
hrr aims, she has up till now succeeded in full
nlling them.
The ground on which the review was held al
certainly the best that could have been found in
the neighborhoOd OF Paris. On the plain of Satory
there is wider expanse Of marching ground, but
it Is further from the capital, and besides cal
cuated to awaken some awkward "reminiscences
OF how the good will of French soldiers was won
BY sausages and champagne administered by
President who afterward became an Emperor. On
the plateau OF Villiers, where the Emperor william
reviewed the SaX0ns and Wurtemburgers there Is
an excellent parade ground but on it there too
many grave mounds under which lie Frenchmen
killed in an unsuccessful combat for that spot to
be quite an exharating location for gala review.
True, LOngchamp itself is not by any means desti-
tute for Frenchmen of unpleasant military memo
ries AS gazed on the long lines of men in red
breeches the recollection came over me OF the
parade had witnessed on the same ground in the
Spring Of 1871. Almost in the same tracks stood
then the trim and vigorously disciplined regiments
Of Hessians, Silesians and Bavarans waiting there
till the moment should come for them to march
past Kaiser Wilhelm, who sat on his black charger
just in front Of the pavilion in which were now
sparkling the diamonds and rubies OF the Shah Of
Persia. Long years before that doeful day for
France another army Of occupation had been
seen in the Bots de BOulogne. In the forest glades
had been pitched the tents OF WeingtOn's SOL
diers, and under the hatchets OF his pioneers had
days of Charlemagne. What whirligig is the
world, to be sure Two short years ago, on this
very PLAIN, the red-breeched men were lining rifle
pits and constructing batteries against the ertif
cations OF that very Paris which to-day had poured
forth its thousands on the sward and into tribunes
to admire and applaud. Look at the high pitched
roof that surmounts that high swell OF foliage on
the left front. That is the roof OF
THE CHATEAU DE LA MUETTE,
and up against that chimney was the wooden
lookout" OF General Dombrowskis headquarters,
whence had looked out upon the Bots not half an
hour before the versaillist soldiery came streaming
over the breach in the shattered outworks of the
Porte ST. Cloud. to perpetrate relentless retribu-
ton which Paris seems to have forgotten before
the bullet holes in the facades Of her houses have
become weather.worn or the rain wholly washed
the blood stains from the walls bounding that Com
munist Aceldama In the corner of Pere la Chaise.
All the troops, except the garrison Of Paris had
bivouacked for the night in the Bois de Boogne
There were those who alleged that the real reason
for this the inability on the part OF any French
general to man9uvre 30 large force into the Park
in the course ola single forenoon, and yelling
toms famous remark was quoted that he did not
know single British general who could march
20 900 men out OF Hyde Park. The criticism seemed
to me censorious and uncalled for. In the intense
heat of the weather 1T was a wise humanity to
spare the troops as much as possible and the dis
positions on a cramped and very awkward theatre
of operations were perfectly adapted to the pur-
pose to be subserved as to prove that in tactical
arrangements General Ladmiraut's stan officers
were perfectly competent for their functions. The
troops on the ground consisted of the four corps
d'armee comprising the garrison OF Paris and the
Army OF Versailles. The total number Of men
nresent must have been little short of seyentv
thousand men. Had all the regiments been at their
full strength 1t would have exceeded 100000.
The First corps was under the command of
General Montauden. the Second OF General Chrui;
hent the Third Of General Douay and the Fourth of
General Bataile. The troops were formed, the
lines OF army corps facing the Seine and occupying
nearly the whole OF the open space OF the race
course. OF the parade, when 1t had been finally
set, the central object opposite the tribune was