Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1892-03-31
GREAT GENERALS.

~ IL -
BY Col. Theodore Dodge Of the United
States Army.
CESAR.
Caius Julius Cesar was Ahe
most usefu mar of antiquity; do
I ing equally good work as states
man and soldier. 1t is only as .
soldier We are to study HIM.
Cesar came of good stock: In
youth he was one OF the dandies Of:
Rome, but commanded respect.
salla remarked: That it would
BE we'll 70 have an eye to yonaer
dandy"
1t is worth noting that the 80
called aexquisitesn have generally
made good soldiers from the days
Of Alexander's Companions
down to the time Of Wellington,
Who wrote home foom the penin-
sula for aanother regiment of
aandies.n
Caius Julius had been a weakly
lad, but gymnastics and q right
regimen had given him q fair
physique, hia education had been
attended to. and he early made a.
reputation as q lawyer and orator,
held several public Offices and be-
came q leader of the young upper
tendon Of Rome.
Gaear did nothing, however,
which showed any exceptional
force ofscharacter until he was a
mid dle-aged man. His foe, Pom
spey, was surnamed sThe Great" at
sfiiirfy-fonr. Casar's distinguished
81 sWofk siidsnos opeu until he Was'
forty-two,
His opportunity came when ne
was chosen consul with Gaul as
his province. Both he and Pom
pey belonged to the triumvirate
that governed the Roman state,
but Pompey was the leader. Cesar
saw that if he could subdue the
Gauls-always the terror of Rome
he would be the great national
hero. He saw, too, that while
fighting the barbarians he would
be creating an army of veterans
with which he could rise to sole
control.
Hisiway of approaching the new
business of war shows that Caesar
considered first the strategic sit
uation," just as Alexander OF Han
nibal would have done. ].
In those days STRATEGY was
understood as q science. Tactics
the art of maneuvering troops
ON the battle feld-was we'll de-
yeloped. Strategy has been called
the art of moving troops on the
map. It is the art of moving
armies over large section OF
country ill such q mapner as to
place the enemy alta disadvantage
Cesar made II study of the ma
tural features of Gaul-its noun
tains, rivers, forests, and coast
lines. Then he formed general
scheme Of conquest. Some Of the
chiefs of Gaul were very able men,
but in eight years Cesar made the
country a Roman province.
Shortly after Cesar and Pom.
pey found themselves arrayed il
arms against each other-the
other member of the triumvirate
Crassua, had died. Pompey stooo
for the aristocratic party-Cesal
for democratic ideas.
Pompey had vastly larger re
sources, but Cesar in ten month";
had driven him over into Greece
and himself held all Italy. H'
marched into Spain and captured
and disbanded Pompey's sever
legions there. Then he went int
Greece with his veterans ant
fought Pompey again, and Pempe.
fed to Egypt whittier Cesar leis
urely followed.
There weIe campaigns in Afric'
and Asia. but the end was tha
after only fourteen years of wa
this man, who was not bred
soldier, stood monarch of ROM
in all but the name. and controlle
of the whole Of th9 then-knowl
world.
How was II?
e =. -
He had gone into the busines
Of war with a trained brain in th
maturity of its superb vigor, Hi
intellectual grasp Of any situatio,
was perfect. His control Of me-
WAS complete; his character i'm