The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1883-12-27
COUNT Won MoLTkE.
Ehe German Napoleon. Who Moves
Men as He Moves Chess Pieces.

4 Inc GCEuAAu NapOAcOns VINO LONcA
Men as He Moves Chess Pieces.
London Times.
The advance of the German armies
over France was like the impetus of a
man skating -one false step would have
| brought heavy fall-and Won Moltke
was not admirable only IN having
drafted and executed point for point
the most elaborate plan of campaign
ever conceived, but in having accurately
foreseen all the demoralizing effects
which defeat would produce upon his
foes. Had he made any miscalculation !;
had the French shown spirit when he
expected them to be cowed; had they
resisted stubbornly when he had
reckoned that they would yield--the
end of the war might have been very
different from the beginning. More
than once the silent commander must
have been anxious in spirit; but he let
nothing of this be seen. A foreigner
who called upon him at Versailles in
the midst of the siege of Paris, and on
day when great sortie was expected,
found him quietly reading an English
novel.
He is an extraordinary man. A
diplomatist who met him in the Wilhelm
strasse of Berlin the day before he
went to the seat of war would have
taken leave of him In a hurry, suppos-
ing that he must be busy but Won
Moltke said, 81 have nothing to do
and went on chatting with his usual
composure. In this incident was re-
yealed the whole strength of the Ger
man military system, which allots to
each officer just as much work as he
can easily and efficiently perform. The
formula of the whole system may be
defined as the constant search after
able men; and, as the princes of the
royal house of Prussia have steadily
adhered to the principle of letting
merit be erecompensed and Incompetence
shelved without favor or fear, they have
been contributors equally with the best
of their generals towards the events
which have made Germany what it
now is
The organization of the German army
has much in it that produces awe q
well as admiration on foreign minds
The staff Office in Berlin, over whicl
Marshal Won Moltke presides, has de-
partments as mysterious and inquisitor
ial as those of the Roman curia; and th,
place is in fact a military inquisition
Maps of all countries and cities of Eu
rope are there, with plans for invadin
these localities, and minute details as t,
the accommodation which the invader
wonld find in the way of board and
lodging. When Gen. Won Gobeu, al
the head of the Eighth army corps,
into Rouen, he astounded the
by sending out, within hal
an hour of his entry, adjutants who
marked on the door of each house tht |
number of billets it was to furnish
Protests were of no use. The general |
had his instructions what each hous
could do and must do; and he knew
that the city was in a position
10 supply 10000 pairs of boots, 1000
flannel waistcoats, and 10000 good ci
gars to his men at twenty-four hours
notice. Perhaps the staff Office has
thoroughly considered the capabilities
Of London in the same manner.
Marshal Won Moltke may well take
his ease, attend with methodical punctu
Atty all sittings of the reichstag, play
MS rubber every evening, and devote
80 many tranquil weeks yearly to bot
anizing and agriculture on his estate al
Kreisau. The system which has reduced
he management of armies to the pre-
,ision of mechanical science was no.
in day; but now that long
experience has shown how we'll it works
is principal engineer can leave it with
,ut misgiying to be regulated, during
lis occasional absences, by the expert
pupils whom he has trained. The
marshal himself disclaims the idea that
lie is necessary man. 1t is the very
ssence of his system, as he maintains,
hat it shall always bring out men OF
.enius so long as any are to be found in
iermany; but on this point foreigners,
yhile recognizing all that is good in
russian military administration, viii
OF readily concede that men like the
larshal are easy to replace.