The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1888-09-22

military genius, but beyond his own
immediate military household, with
whom he lived Oh terms Of Intimacy,
no one loved him. 1t is for this rea-
son that I think he will never be
classed in the same rank Of military
@rta'ness-of real military genius
with the five great leaders Of men /
hace named above.
NAPOLEON.
As the highest type of military
genius let me take Naf,olesun. 1t there
be any one rule which may be said to-
sum up the science OF strategy aud the
tactical art, it is that you should make
your plans and carry them out SO as to
be always superior 10 your enemy at
the point of contact. This rule, Cur
ried out with the utmost secrecy and
c-.e4hy Of movement, may be said 10
have bsen the great secret Of Napc-
Icons success. The more one studies
that grand campaign of 1915 the more
ls one unwillingly convinced that had
Napoleon then been physically the
man he was at RivOlj, he would have
defeated Wellington at Waterloo rs
he had just defeated Butcher ut Ligny.
Napoleon failed because at the period
Of his life he lacked one of those quail.
ties which are essential to military sue
cess. lie was suffering from such
terrible physical ailments that the
marvellous energy of the past was ut
times altogether lacking in him.
CESAR.
Now let ine lake CR5ar. What few
men not soldiers realize is that quality
which Caesar showed when defeated
by no fault Of his own at Dyrrhachium.
or when, after almost all the world
had deserted him hecause Of his ap-
parent failure in Spain, he changed the
history OF the world by his calm facing
of misfortune and his power of using
his knowledge of men and his military
skill undisturbed by the accidents Of
fate. 1t was probably this latter quality
that Poinpey, himself no mean strate-
gist, lacked, and his want of steadfasi-
ness lost him the empire of the world.
Unduly elfted after Dyrrhachium, he
abandoned himself to despair after
Pharsalia.
MARLBOROUGH.
Let me now take Marlborough. No
part of his life perhaps more perfectly
brings out the varied qualities which
went to make up the sum of Marlbo-
rough's genius than the campaign OF
Blenheim and the diplomatic labors
with the States General which pr. ced.
ed it. The large and statesmanlike
political grasp OF the whole situation IL
easily appreciated by the careful reader
of his life. But what Marlborough
was on the field of Blenheim itself,
n vvNf,s ,nnN r>f
success and failure his presence, by its
| combined fire and calmness, reauima-
! ted the wavering and assured tho vict-
ory-this may be recorded, but here, as
elsewhere, bs lieve that not one in n
! thousand who reads of it real zcs what
it implies.
GEN. LEE.
! And lastly, let me glance at Gen.
| Lee. Lees strategy when he fought iDde-
fence ofthe Southern capital and threat
ened and finally struck at that of the the
! United States, marks him as oDd of the
greatest captains of this or of any other
age. No Imam has ever fought au up
hill and losing game with greater
tirmnes5, or ever displayed higher
order of true military genius than he
did when in command of the Con fed
crate army. The knowledge OF his
profession displayed by Gen. Mcclellan
was considerable, and his strategic
conceptions were admirable, but he
lacked on attribute as a general, with
out which no man can ever succeed in
war-he was never able to estimate
with any accuracy, the numbers op-
posed to him. 1t was the presence in
Lee of that intuitive genius which
Mcclellan lacked, which again and
again gave him victory, even when he