The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1877-02-03
SEVENTY YEARS A SOLDIER.

SEVENTY YEARS A SOLDIER.
The Military Career Of the German
Emperor.
From the Cincinnati Commercial.l
On the first day of the new year
William l., the Emperor of Germany,
celebrated the 10th anniversary day OF
his entrance into the Prussian army. In
1907 the Prussian army was small and
in poor condition, but the young Prince
entered the army and he grew with it ;
and he is now the chief commander OF
the greatest and best disciplined army
in the world. The military course Of
the German Emperor is closely con-
nected with the history Of the Prussian
army, and therefore it may be of some
interest to review the single moments
and facts of his military life.
King Frederick William III. the father
of the Emperor, was a very earnest and
strong man, and gave his children q
careful but rigorous education. In the
education of the young princes, the
military character prevailed, and Prince
William was only boy, years old,
when his training as soldier commence
ed His first masters were Sergt. Benn-
stein of the Garde battalion, and Sergt.-
Maj. Clery of the regiment Moellen-
dorf. On the 4th Of January, 1907,
during the New Years graduation in
Koenigsberg, Prince William, then IL
years old, was made Ensign, and on
the Christmas eve of the same year here
ceived as q Christmas present the patent
as Lieutenant. His military instructor
was Maj. Won Pirch, and the young
Prince was very jealous and diligent
in studying and practicing all the the
oretic and practical branches of the
military exercises and tactics. In 1918
he followed the royal family to Bres-
lau, but as in March of the same year
the King, with the Crown Prince, the
late King Frederick William w., took
the field, the young Prince William
had, in consequence Of his weak health,
to stay at home, and only sfter the bat
tie of Leipzig he was allowed to join
the army. In the month of November,
1918, he entered the field army as Cap
tain, and participated in person in all
the military actions of the following
campaigns. In the battle of Bar.sur-
Aube, Feb. 81, 1914, the young Prince
distinguished himself by personal
bravery, and he received from the En-
peror Alexander of Russia the high or
der of St. George, and from his father
the order of the Iron Cross. During
the skirmishes around Paris the young
Prince always was at the side of his
father, and he participated, as twice.
decorated young Captain of the Guards.
in. the entrance of the allies in the
French capital. A few days later he
got his patent as Major, and partici-
pated afterwards, on the 9th day OF
August, with his father, the Crown
Prince, Bluecher, Tauenszien, Bulow,
Scharnhorst and the other heroes OF
the great campaigns of liberty" in
the celebl ated entrance of the victorious
army into Berlin.
In the beginning of the new cam
paign of 1915 he commanded the third
battalion of the First Regiment de
Garde, and he and his battalion took
part in all the actions of the short but
bloody campaign. The victorious army
entered Paris the second time, and
Prince William stayed there until the
great festival of victory, on the 2lst day
Of October. Then followed protract-
ed time of peace, and Prince William
climbed step after step the very long
and tedious ladder of the army to the
highest honors and places, and finally
to the top of the ladder, where he now
stands-the chief commander of the
Prussian army and the Oberste Kriegs-
herr" of all the armies of the German
Empire, the greatest and most formida-
BILE army of the whole world. In 1888
he was made Commander of the Garde
du Corps, and in 1910, after the death
of his celebrated father, he got the
title "Prince of Prussia" and the
gevernorship of the province of Pom
merania. In the exciting time of the
revolution in 1848 he favored very
strong measures against the revolution
lists, and in consequence of his order to
clear the streets Of Berlin with grape
shot, he was called the Kartaetschen
P,tnz" (the prince of grape-shot), and
the population was SO indignant that
he had to leave the country awhile.
During the revolution in the Grand
Duchy of Baden, in 1849, ne was the
Chief Commander of the Prussian Ar
my of operation, and after the capitu-
lation of the fortress of Rastadt, on
July 81, 1849, he got the highest
military order, the "Ordre pour le Me-
rite" and in 1854 the highest military
rank as General Colonel of the Infan-
try and Field Marshal. During the
years 1857 and 1861 he had to perform,
as Prince Regent, the royal duties for
his sick brother, and during those years
the great reorganization of the Prussian
army was commenced and finished I'M
der the continuous control of the Prince
Regent, and, since January, 1861, King
William 1. of Prussia. In ascending the
throne he made the solemn promise
that he would "guarantee aud strength.
en- the kingdom of Prussia in that posi-
ton to which it was entitled in conse-
quence of its glorious history and the
highly developed organization of its
army" The history Of the past IL
years has confirmed this proud word.
But it is not necessary to repeat here
the history of the Prussian and German
army since that time. We mention on
ly the names Koeniggraetz, Sadowa,
Pardubitz, Woerth, Spicheron, Mars la
Tour, Gravelotte, Metz, Sedan, Stras-
bourg, Belford, Paris, and so on; and
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