Knoxville Whig and chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1875-1882, 1875-10-13
Won MOLTKE ON WEST POINT.
The Reason why Our civil war Failed
IL Produce Distinguishpd General,

ia PrOduceR Distinguished General.
London Correspo rdence of the Capitol.
Shortly after our arrival here in London
we encountered distinguished gentleman
on his way to the continent, armed with
| letters OF Introduction, and among the rest
one to Won Moltke. Wishing TO know
whether the famous General had really said
what had been attributed to him, THAT
evolutions of armed mobs had no interest
to him from n military point Of view" we
asked our friend, If the oportunity occur
red, TO fetch up the subject and give US the
result of the interview. Our friends letter
/ is now before us, and il is gratifying TO
| know that the views we expressed ten years
since, from actual observation, are those
Of this great Captain. Our friend writes:
brought up the subject, and the old
hero expressed himself very frankly. lie
| said
was asked why neither side in the
civil war in America produced Il very dis
t,uguished general. Even their respective
p1rtlsans hardly claim any leader of trans
Cendent genius. In so long "a war, and
where 50 many men fought, does it not i'm
/ ply a lack of military talent in Americans Z
1 answer, no. Their true reason was be.
cause their field of selection was so limited
n o officer could hope to attain the supreme
! command of their armies unless he had
]
son River, in the State of New York The
number ofthese students, deserving as they
might be, was, and Is, extremely limited
! The Southerners adopted the pernicious
| system of eXclusiveness as many of the
| West Point officers bad Joined their side
and their President had also been at the
! academy. IL was, perhaps, fortunate for
the North that the South did not seek for
talent among the mass Of the people. 1t is
evident that the chance of obtaining n is
| tinguished general increases as the field of
! the selection widens, and dimnishes rs it
contracts. In our army every soldier may
| aspire to the supreme command, but in the
| American armies the line of demarcation
was drawn rs deeply as between the former
/ slaves and masters. The volunteer, who
| represented the great bulk and strength of
the people, might indeed, attain dis
| tlnctOn in subordinate position, but the
| highest place of all was forbidden. In
reading the records of the American civil
war 1t really appears MS if the whole contest
was between a few officers Of West Point
and the mighty heart of the nation had
never throbbed. The aristocratic system,
which the Americans still follow, was
| formerly the practice in European armies
| In the revolution of 1898 Carnot, the French
Minister of ar. first abandoned it, and
we have followed. For the sake of exam
/ pie, and not binding ourselves to any cx-
| actness OF figures, except that the one is
/ very small and its opposite, with which it
| is compared, very large, let us suppose the
number of West Point officers to be 500,
and the number of Prussian soldiers 500
GOO. Evidently, as we have fund a thou
sand times larger to draw upon, to render
the chances of obtaining great general
equal, each American must possess Il thou.
sand-told the talent Of Prussian, which is
! absurd
but / said to him, do you not regard
the Sou as having the advantage in thi,
respect?
of that section did not seem to comprehend
the situation. Their advantage was the ex-
cess of military spirit their disadvantage,
the lack of resources and the prestige of an
established government Their blows
therefore. should have been swift, sudden
and aggressive. On the contrary, they
acted on the defensive, thereby giving the
! government of the United State, full time
to develop its resources. Every day the
North had its opportunity to grow strorg.
er, while the South weakened. On the
other hand, the Northern leaders, instead
of using the advantages rendered them, by
creating armies and calling to the front the
militrry genius of the country, exhausted
themselves by throwing armed mobs in the
field, so badly disciplined and drilled that
their battles were fought by regiments and
separate brigades The one great axiom
which directs the concentration of a heavy
force against the weaker point of the
enemy, that the side of the government haC
in its power to illustrate, was neglected
and lost. -Four years of Oppressive wal
exhausted the South, without in any way
contributing to the military rcnown of the
successful side"