Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1879-01-18
" TO ARMY OFFICERS.
some views OF schoaeld

at which the following officers for the
ensuing year were elected: President, Maj.
Gen. w. =. Hancock vice presidents, Coils.
George w. Getty, David s. Stanley, z. B
James B. Fry and Wesley Merritt ;
corresponding secretary, Col. I. F. REDEEM
bough; recording secretary, Maj. g. N.
treasurer. Col. Nathsn w. Brown;
vice treasurer, Capt Joseph T. Sanger. Col.
Whcrry read q raper prepared by Maj. Gen.
John NJ. Schofsld, superintendent and com
mandant Of the military academy,
The Scope and Objects of the
and its Probable Value to the
Service"
The duties of a military officer, the gen.
eral said, were becoming year by year more
complex and more difficult to perform. The
art of war had already approached the mar
gin of the exact sciences; and the elements
of the problems which war presented for
solution were vastly more complex and
difficult OF exact measurement than. those
with which any other branch ofscience had
to deal. 1t was not 10Y sufficient that Il
high officer of the army should
be q good military engineer
q good tactician, a good quar-
termaster and commissary, a good CON-
of a battery, OF a squadron, of a
battalion, or u good adjutant general. He
should have knowledge of all these, while |
being master Of his own special branch OF
the service. 1t WAS thought this institution,
akin to numerous other scientific associa. |
tons of this and other countries. that the
fruits Of the study, researches, and thought
of each members we've to be made the &C
Quired knowledge OF sill. Moreover, mill
tary students must study the history OF
military contests and endeavOr theiefrom
to learn the facts In this connection the
general remarked t.lat this and the coming
generation was and would be very favored
in having vastly more comprehensive, and,
upon the whole, far more accurate h stories
of recent wars than had ever before been
enjoyed by military students.
In the study of military b.s;nr he held
that one central thought should be The con
slant guide. That Was to ascertain whist
influence each OF tDe ascsr'ained conditions
exercised IN producing the known result.
A most common and fatal error WAS the
inference that euccess proved the wisdom
of all the means employed To secure il, or
that future condemned al these means. 1t
had also often been remarked that success
was the only criterion of generaiship. This
doubtless was true in popular estimation,
but it was nov true in fact, aud should not
be accepted as true by military students.
The writer would not attempt to %epurnerate
the great variety of special subjects of nit,
itary, study but what he would impress upon
his hearers was the necessity that every com
mander withinh is sphere, be it great or
small, should have such knowledge of every
one OF such subjects as would enable him to
understand the appropriate relations of all
branches of the service to each other to es-
innate properly the use of each, and to
measure with accuracy what each arm or
department was able to accomplish, and in
what periods of time given quantities of
work could be performed. These were
among the most important elements of any
military problem, yet they were among the
most neglected. The Importance of time
could not be overestimated, yet it might be,
and often was estimated enormously. There
was as much danger Of a misapplication Of
the principal in one direction as in the
other. Too great haste was nearly as great
a fault as too little, and sometimes might be
far more dangerous. The general who un-
derestimated the time required for adivision
to reach the place assigned it on the field
of battle, or who exhausted his troops by
excessive marches and privations before
the crisis of battle arrived, himself defeated
that part of his army before the battle be-
gan. Gar BETTER" said the speaker, the
certainty that an army would be in the best
possible condition to defeat the enemy
whenever they might meet than the most
%superhnman energy to capture that enemy
before he was defeated" He was talking
to commanders, whose business it was to
obey and execute. They all knew we'll
enough how to do the latter; the object of
their studies was to excel in the former. |
Blind obedience, courage, and even disci-
pline, however great, could no longer be
relied upon to gain victories.
There was another point to which the
called special attention, ard which,
he said, experience showed had been more
neglected than any other of equal import
ance. History was full Of examples where
vast masses of men, miscalled armies, and
vast military resources had been thrown
away and wasted through sheer mismanage-
ment and want of economy. By that word
did not mean mere economy of money,
of material resources, nor of time alone,
nor yet Of the lives and strength Of the men,
of all these combined-economy of mil
strength, Of the power which the ma
ion had willed should be used in the de-
'ense of its interests and its honor. The
moral effect of results upon troops must, he
'alu, never De overlooked. 1neee should
never be given reason to believe that their
commander had been defeated. They
should see that all events, even including
apparent reverses, had been anticipated and
provided for. Their movements were then to
hem only a part Of the general plan, and they
ware as full of heart and courage on the
morrow as they Nars. on the day before.
This subject NJ Wieesss believed to be more
importins il oar country than in any other,
for the tFfeiSpas sssiat Sur standing army is
very small, our organized and disciplined
not much larger. and hence, that our
main reliance would be upon an arm or
from the raw material after war had
imminent, or even after hostilities
had actually comPsaeed. Our own military
afforded soss splendid examples Of
the skillful handliaE % large armies, both
on the offensive anRon the defensive, during
long and bloody campaigns. These were
of the most careful study, and they
would show that there was practicallynolim INIT
to the spirit, endurance, and cheerful sacrifice
of the American soldier so long a. he was
inspired with reasonable confidence in bis
ability to make these sacrifices