Litchfield enquirer., 1880-12-02

T. co., .etf
/ JoMIN1-One day, early in 1906, the EN-
peror Napoleon, being then the temporary oc-
cupant Of the imperial castle of .Schonbrunn,,
in the outskirts Of Vienna, cbanced-a most
uncommon thing with himAto find himself at
leisure. The browning victory at Austerlitz
had been won not many days before, and the
defeated foroesBofIthe allied Russians and Aus
trians were still further demoralized by the
rapid man9uyres of the French Emperor,
commenced after the battle with view to
forcing his enemies to make peace upon his
TERMS Napoleon, like few other historical
soldiers of the highesttype- such, for instance,
as Hannibal, Scipio Africanus. and Julius Ce-
sar, among the ancients, or Cromwell, Marlbor-
ough, and Frederick the Great among the mod
erns-was even greater as diplomatist than as
General. In the tranquility of his study at
Sehonbrunn4the favorite room of the dispos-
| sessed Austrian Emperor--he foresaw that
peace must inevitably result from the work
achieved by him during the last few weeks
and with the restless activity of mind which
| up to 1910 was his most marked characteristic,
| he turned to Maret, who was not yet Duke Of
Bassano. exclaiming: ''You have nothing to
| do; come, read be few pages from that work
| sent to me at Austerlitz by Ney, and written
| by one OF his staff officers. Maret took up
| the book with regret for, as he afterward Goa.
fessed to iis author, he could no more under
stand it than if it had been the cabalistic vol
| ume Of magician. Before he had read
many pages the Emperor stopped him with
| the ejaculation. Don't tell me that the
is young chef de- battalion, and, what is
worse, Swiss, who teaches US what no
Professor ever made me learn, and what,
moreover, very few Generals understand.
| AS Maret proceeded with his reading the aston
ishment of the Emperor knew no bounds.
Presently it was succeeded by an ebultion of
anger. Chow on EARTH" he demanded,
''could Fouche allow such book to be print
ed? Why; it is calculated to teach my. system
| of war to all my enemies It must be seized,
and will at once take steps to prevent its
| further circulation" Maret pointed out to
him that it was impossible to suppress the
book, as its publishers were sure to- have dis
| tributed many dozen copies among their
| friends as presents, while another hundred or
| two must have found their way to Germany
a country with greedy appetite for such
| works. After few moments reflection the
| Emperor said, perhaps attach too much
importance to this publication. The old
Generals who command against me read
| nothing, and will not profit by its lessons,
| while young soldiers who read it will
| never be trusted with a command for
| years to come" The work in question was
the "Traite DIES Grandes Operations Mill
taires," written BY Antoine Henri Jomini
when he was in his twenty second year. Many
| capable judges (aud among them Sir Archibald
Alison and NJ lie Colonel Charras) have express
ed the oppinion that Jomini, as a writer, had no
superior among those who took part 10 the
| NepoleOnic wars upon either side. 1t is true
! Jomnl had none of the fire which inspired
/ Sir William Napier, and that he lacked the
grace of style which distinguished the memoirs
of Segur, and in a less degree of Marshal Mar
mont. But it is certain that none of his con-
temporaries, excepting Napoleon himself, pos
sessed in higher degree that keenness and
breadth of sight, AND also that grasp of mill
| tary detail, which go to the formation of
consummate strategist. AS is usual with men
| of his type, Jomini was prig, without tact,
| with no idea of managing men, and with
self consciousness and irrtabilIty fatal to sue
cess in the field or the council of war; He
| had not the art of winning friends, while his
| abilities and quickness of perception raised
| him UP q host Of enemies among the officers at
his side. But, given certain conditions OF
warfare, no man was quicker in discovering
| what it was possible for a commander to
| achieve, or what were the tactics to which his
| antagonist could, and probably would, have
| recourse. To those who have taste for the
study of war the career and character of such
| man as Jomini can never be without tran
| scendent interest, and more so than eyer in
| these days, when armies consisting of many
hundred thousands of men, and perfectly pre-
| pared for immediate action, are moved with
the precision of clock work. and when the
| fate of campaigns Is decided in few days, so
as to make irreparable the errors which arise
from unscientifc ignorance or from national
unreadiness The Fortnight1Y Reoie~. ..