The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-27
seemingly to foresee every possible combi-
nation AGAINST him. and without doubt he

seemingly to fOresee every possible comDl-
nation against him, and without doubt ne
was always prepared for failure. lie left
nothing unprovided for, and he certainly
succeeded in eliminating chance occur
rences from his calculations. rs far as this
can ever be done in war, or in any human
affairs. In the field success may be said to
be the offspring of f~orethought.
war gift of sleeping we'll and easily. He
could at any time take eight hours sleep at
a stretch. He had a good ear, and was as
fond of music as Frederick the Great. and
OF oatmeal porridge as any poor Highland
or. He was q very good linguist, an excel
artist in water colors. He played chess we'll
and was an accomplished swordsman.
He once asked an English officer how
came it that Lord Wolseley objected SO
strongly to the proposed Channel tunnel,
when the whole French army might be
killed with sticks if it ventured to debouoh
from it. 1t was then explained to him that,
if ever made, it must Ibe by q company
bent on money making, and could never be
a purely government affair; that our COM
mercial interests and notions Of liberty
caused s to live in such a state OF military
unpreparedness that at any moment an enc
nv might possess himself of our end of the
tunnel by the sudden descent OF even y few
thousand men near Dover. As soon as he
took this in, he exclaimed. 'Then 1t must
never be-" Upon another occasion, over
hearing some of his officers criticizing one
of our small wars. he turned round and
said, Gentlemen you must remember that
when the English make war their officers
are not carried to the front in first class
railway carriages"
referring to himself and the part he took
in his country's wars, he says: u have done
my duty u filled my position. ! hope hon
orably, like all my comrades-nothing
E,lSs ol~,SrrE{u npxunr hna rriHoH
the victorious flight of tho Prusslan eagle;
the bravery of her army, the caution OF her
leaders. as we'll az my plans, are only the
instruments of his will. and when ! hear
the boundless laudations which the public
heap on me, the thought always lecurs,
paralleled success, had not crowned our
etforts2 Would not the unmerited praises
of 40 many ignorant critics have become
Just so much unmerited blame!".
Reputation came to him late in life; but
as the best and hardest timber Is slowest
Loyalty ia his king and devotion to his
country constituted his proud rule Of life.
He could n~ot--indeed. ho would not--sep-
arate those two ideas. To him they were
az inseparable ms is the love of England
from devotion to England's queen in the
heart of every British gentleman; This
feeling was the foundation of German
unity, of German success; and on IT Moltke
built up the Huperstructure of absolute II
complete preparedness for war.
The rewards he received from his king
and country rendered him we'll off in his
declining days. After the war or 1866 ne
was given about G30, DOC, and after that Of
1870 a further sum of about $4,000. With
this he purchased II landed estate.
I have often been much struck by the
fact that, Sedan excepted, none OF the
battles of 1870 came off rs Moltke intended.
In some Instances they aotuallysoame off a
day before he had intended or wished to
fight. W~eissemburg, Worth }, Spicheren.
Colombey, Nouilly and Mars la Tour
ali we're brought on without orders
from Moltke by the initiation OF subor-
dinate commanders. Those battles were
not designed by him, nor indeed by any Of
tho generals in of the three large
Bile results of the modern use of very large
armies. ,
War always was. always must DO. the able