The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-06
lIBZD MARSHAL COUNT V0NM0Dl@
WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT.
BIZ GEN. v1scouNT woLsELEY, Z. P, q. Or
Commanding the Forces III ireland.

80 SoVAA AAAAVkA9 ! AGA
consul. that she meant to be the greatest
and most powerful of all nations. That
most extraordinary Of all human beings
had just conquered northern Itaiy by his
victory at Marengo, while MORGAN, the most
formidable Of all Napoleon's rivals, had in
like manner destroyed an Austrian army 1t
Hohenlinden. $5S@ VIZ al
The childhood and early youth Of the
great modern organizer of victory waa thus
passed in the most stirring times. TIL in
cidents Of crnel war were mingled with His
earliest memories. The total defsat of
kingdom Of Prussia were among his first
recollections. The wild disorder and rapins
which followed upon the French ~storn,ing
Of Lubeok-whero he then resided-and
the plumber of his own home
s e. 10, de 81. IL Into ,..rs sh Cd. Wind Wind, CO. e
man then in Lubbock could ever forget the
bnrbnrity Of the French soldiers and the
cruel sxactions Of their officers upon the
occasion? Yet he never ovinced any desire
to avenge upon tho French tho sutferings
and indiRnities they had inflicted upon his
countrymen. He was, however, infsxible
Of purpose; and vsly properly most stern in
terms which he deemed the military nsces-
stiles of the German army ~dsmanded. No
sentimental feeling for q fallen foe in
duenced his dealings with them.
When slsven years OF age he was sent to
the military academy in Copenhagen.
the most rigorous, harsh and u~nbsnding
school regulations. he spent six dreary
years of what he described as his
thoroughly joyless childhood" In writ
ing of this time when an old man he says:
The only good l ever derived from this
to every species of deprivatation."
Among the many wise apotheQms of
Napoleon none is truer than his
saying that poverty ID the best school for
q soldier.' In such . school, where poverty
was made moro than usually distasteful and
unquestioning obedience, young Moltks
was educated. Referring to hia subsequent
life in Berlin, when his parents had lost
almost everything they possessed through
war and misfortune, he says: "Not ono
penny could they give me. and you can
hardly imagine how .pinched was. In
spite Of this, however, l oontrived to spare
enough to get instruction in foreign Ian
guages." M@
In the military academy at Copenhagen
he was taught, not by fuss and feathers,
marching past generals, but BY real soldiers
who had themselves learned their trade in
tho numerous campaigns Of thsir period, BY
msngwho could not only lecture from nowl-
edge acquired BY study, but from the e1-
perienoe of those many wars in which they
thsmselves'had taken part SzrssbG8@ stASSSffa&N
Here young Moltke had to study ina for
eign~8language-a very serious disadvantage.
! hope it may be an reimbursement to all
was thus heavily handicapped, he
came out first on the list at the
final examination, previous to quitting
the academy.
In 1873. after one years duty as a page at
court, he received his first commission. W.
H FNhia fpir h u i7,01 h1no avah aud oor,rfooro
young officer was then chiefly remarkable
for his persistent industry and indefatiga-
Ne energy. From his earliest days his
w%atchword was, DUTY before all other con-
siderations.o
While at this military school his uncle. at
whose house he was born, had been killed
fighting against Napoleon at Beresina.
From this we may gather that, although
Denmark had, been the firm allv OF France
during all this period, the heart of the
Moltka family still remained Prussian and
thoroughly aati-Napoleonic.
When Waterloo destroyed forever Napo-
Icons empire, the Danish army, like all
others in Europe, was considerably re-
duoed. There was a superiority of officers,
and the chances of promotion seemed few
indeed. Naturally ambitious, the small
Danish army promised him little scope for
his abilities and little ohanoe for either adj
vanoement or distinction. This fact. added
to a strong instinct of nationality, decided
Moltke to quit the Danish service and seek
admission into the Prussian army. This he
did oarly in 1922, and, after a very stiff e1-
animation, was made second lieutenant in
a Plussian infautry regiment then quar-
tered at Frankfort ON the Oder. So
The following year he graduated at the
war sohool in Berlin. There he studied
deeply, and from the history of all Freder-
ick's and Napoleon's wars he learned those
great lcssors in strategy and tactics which
were ever afte rward his guiding lights. Ills
superior knowledge soon attracted the, at
some time he was employed ns instructor in
tho military school at Frankfort on the
Oder. There he soon made his mark and
was selected to serve in the typographical
branch of the general staff. He was some
time employed in the military survey OF
Selisia, a species of work that serves greatly
to train soldiers to observe the nature of
ground in a way that other officers with no
surveying experience seldom learn to do.
The great event in his early army career
WAS his appointment at the ngs of 30 to the
general staff of the army. He was 35 be-
fore he obtained the q of captain.
A longing to travel and see foreign lands
took possession of his mind, but this was
not the idle desire for novelty, the outoome
Of no occupation. He wanted to visit the
sceneB in Italy and Greece where the great
deeds Of heroes, the stirring events which
had shaped the course of history, were
enacted. He had learned all he could Of
them from books. He now desired to study
them on the spot, as it were. He wished to
stand upon the ruins Of Pergnmos and oom-
pare the scenery and position with the
Homeric story he new 10 we'll. His mind
turned naturally to tho east. for there
military enterprise seemed more possible
and moro likely than in Europe at that
time. He had read much Of Nohammedan
history, and the bent OF his mind Seems
then to have been toward the carly home of
civilization. In 1886 he obtained leave Of
absence to travel and started from Berlin
on route for Turkey.
The condition ofNI'urkey at this time was
deplorable. Sultan Mohammed H., a clever
and most determined man, was bent upon
reforming the out-of-date institutions Of
his kingdom. He alone Of all the leading
Turks had early perceived that sweeping re-
forms were absolutely necessary, before the
empire could be regarded as healthy or even
in q satisfactory condition. Raised to the
lea, he soon realized this insecurity Or his
position, resting, al IL did, upon the good
will of that turbulent body. All hope of re-
form was, he felt, impossible 50 long ss that
insolent, insubordinate and undisoiplined
body of wild aoldiery rep presented the mill
fury force of the state. He felt that, come
what may, hs must either destroy this army
of Pretorian fanatics or be destroyed by
them. In 1896 he came out the winner after
the serious struggle in watch he utterly
routed that dangerous force. His next
object was to raise an army upon tho
European system, the basis of which should
be prompt obedience, enforced by the sever
est discipline. He had wisdom enough to