The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1891-03-20
coLp-BLooDED oEnERALs.

coLD-BLOoDED GENERALS.
Grant N NapsisoM ON the Ffsld Of HAtAi0
-MarAt's Bravery.
The great General should have !
double nature. In, order that hK may
make prompt and we~ll-reasoned de.
ciisiens hs should be calm and insap-
able OF excitement 81 great IND shddsh
emergAncies. But Ii order. to. Animate
his solaiers and keep them up to. q hirR
moral pitch he should be capable OF en-
thusiasm and high nnpitits. It is need
less 70 Say that the two qualities are
not often perfectly united, and when
they are found so Joined the result Is A
military genius.
Gen, Grant vas one. Of The cpolsst
men IN the world; bit his splendid co1::
hdenee and eheerfdlnsss often paartosok
of; the naturs, Of enthusiasm and IN.
spired his soldiers, as we'll as in after
yeara lis civilian fellow.citizens, with
ardent admiration and sympathy.
1t is a somewhat strange thing, re-
marks the Youths Companion, that
France, the nation of hot blood, should
have produceda long line Of Generals
who showed the eomplesest sang-froid
on the field Of battle. Napoleon soimiee::
times assumed 4 certain ardor, bdt
nothing Gould exipte him II he did not
CHOOSE to be excited. Murat, Nnpo.
Icons chief Of cavalry, whose splendid
enthusiasm won many desperate
charges, would be as cool as his master
upon occasion.
At the taking of Moscow, while the
troops sat in their saddles under a muir.
derous fire, Murat received o dispatch
TO which an answer was required.
Though his mett!esome horss was
trembling; Mhfat laid the rsins Upon
The HORN Of the saddle, took his note
book in one hand and q pencil in the
other, and began to write q response.
Suddenly ashell fell and exploded on
the ground close by. The horse leaped
into the air. and swung wildly around.
Murat simply transferred the pencil to
the hand that held the notebook,
Gained the horse with the other hand,
and went On writing his dispatch as if
nothing had happened.
Ashout OF admiration went UP along
the line. Murat sew that the enthusi-
asm aroused by his trifing act had cre-
ated q favorable moment for charge.
He gave the order, and his men swept
clear through the enemy's line.
1t is said that Gen. Reynier once
saved the French army, in Calabria,
1906, from a complete route simply by
the manner in which he smoked a cigar.
The English infantry had compelled
the French to retreat. Revnier, fear
ing a panic, remained to the last and
brought up the rear. Though the
English fire was murderous, he had
lighted a cigar, and his ~retreating men
noticed that the puffs of smoke went
up, as his horse went slowly on, with
absolute regularity.
Puff! A wait! Puff! Another wait
Puff The enemy were pouring OF;
firing vigorously as they advanced, but
nothing could accelerate Reynier'a
smoking. His soldiers rallied unde,
the inspiration of the queer spectacle
and got off in good order.
Perhaps the most cold-blooded com
mander who ever lived was the French
General, Saint-Cyr. He wss o great
tactician, but totally neglected the mo.
rails of his men. He WIS never seer on
horseback, and lever showed himself
before the lines. o. one occasion,
when he was simply & general of divis-
ion, the impetuous Marshal Oudinot,
puzzled to know what to do in an emer
gency, asked Saint-Cyr's advice
frankly telling him that he was mon
plused."
"You monseigneur," said Saint.Cyr
"are a Marshal of the Empire, and
am a General Of Division. I shall
faithfully carry out your orders, Blu
it would not be becoming for me to ad
wise you"
Later on Saint-Cyr succeeded to til
command of the army, and the
adopted a peculiar method of ger
eralship. He formed his plan {
bait e clearly, precisely and with al
mirable foresight. Then he sent hi
orders to his subordinates, and shu
himself up in his quarters, absolutel
fprbiding entrance to q single soul
Then he took out his violin aud wen
to studying a hard piece of music q
tranquil: as if he had been in the mids
of profound peace.
The battle which won Saint-Cyr hi
baton rs a Marshal of the Empire wa
fought while he was iddling in hi
tent. He had apparently f~oreseel
everything, and the carrying out of hi
plans completely crushed the enemy