Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-11-16
THREE COMMANDERS.
MEN WHO WOULD LEAD EUROPEAN
ARMIES IN CASE OF WAR.

MEN WHO WOULD LEAD EUhOfEAN
ARMIES IN CASE OF WAR.
An EngIishman Who Thinks It Would Be
Profitable to Make Technical Compar-
ison Between yiseount WoIseiey and
Russian and French General.
do not know the new commander
in chief of the English land forces. /
saw him once or twice in my life, but
this is many years ago, and in military
matters of the magnitude involved in
the supreme command Of great army
/ am afraid / should prove an incompe
tent critic. But ! believe to great ex-
tent in physiognoIny, and if Viscount
Wolseiey be not very clever man he
ought to bring an action for libel against
his face, for he looks decidedly clever.
If there were any doubt in my mind
about his ability, it would be set at rest
by the not very enthusiastic remarks in
connection with his appointment / read
III one on two French newspapers. "You
are an irritable people, envious, jealous
and proud to a degree, said Bismarck
/ to General de Wimpffen ON Sept. /,
/ 1870. lyon are an irritable people, en-
vious. jealous and proud to degree. /"
he repeated "You were under the inn
preston that victory is an appendage
/ which was exclusively reserved to you.
/ Has the quarter of century gone by
since those words were uttered made a
difference i'll that respect in the French
people? l should not like to say.
Il may not be altogether uninterest-
! ing to look at the two men against
whom the English commander in chief
will be pitted if quarrel should ever
unhappily break forth in Europe. am
alluding to the commanders in chief of
| the Russian and the French forces.
The Russian army contains several
men of unquestionable capacity; never
theless, there appears to be consensus
Of opinion that, in the event of war,
with no matter whom, the supreme
command would virtually devolve upon
/! General Obroutcheff, to the exclusion
even Of General Kouropatkine I say
virtual command, for, nominally, young
Nicholas would be at the head of his
legions.
/ Having declared myself at the outset
incapable of Judging the English conn
mander in chief from military point
of view, am not going to stultify my
self by endeavoring to do this in the
case of Obroutcheff. only repeat what
| / have heard. Until very recently the
chief of Vannowski S staff and Aid de
camp General Obroutcheff was, in spite
of his recognized talents, looked askance
at in Russian military circles. The
epithet "red' was Invariably tackled to
his name as late as Is years ago, and
/ the third section Of the imperial chan
eellerie, without troubling to inquire
into the matter, placed him on the list
of dangerous men "to be watched
very closely" Anote like that from the
| Russian police becomes practically
indelible, and, aidde-camp general
though he was, not the slightest attempt
was made to efface his name from the
! list. After his exploits on tho Danube
Alexander II tc this apparently fragrant
| injustice, to this permanent insult. The
name was maintained on the list for
all that, but the epithet was changed
| from red into well meaning.
Obroutcheff has married a French
woman, and is a declared partisan-or
supposed to be-of an alliance with
/ vii tt,f lot rJ,t{r
from 1870, when he was an obscure
general l repeat, about his abilities
| there is little or no doubt. After the
first checks in the Turko Russian cam
paign he was sent in hot haste to the
Danube, and he is credited with having
saved the Russian army from total de-
struction Before that, though, he had
the heir to the throne, and the friend
ship underwent no Elimination during
| Alexander HIS reign
Wherever the scene Of the next Eu-
ropean campaign of the French may be
laid, General Felix Gustape Saussier,
the present military governor of Paris,
is beforehand designated as the leader.
i
his large size he is very active, but for
that size he would give one the idea of
a mousqretaire of the Louis XIV period
dressed in modern uniform There is no
doubt about bis value as soldier,
which does not always mean an equal
value as a supreme commander, but it
is fair TO state that in the battles around
i nv f,f l,a
distinguished himself most signally.
The famous infantry charge at st. Pri-
vat, which practically barred the prog
ress of the Germans on that side, was
led By him.
Saussier was one of the officers who
signed the protest against the surrender
of Metz. Having refused to pledge him
self not to serve again during the cam
paign, he was sent as prisoner of war to
Cologne. Nor would he give his prom
Use not to escape, consequently he was
transported to a small town on the Wis
tula (Grandenz, believe), and abso-
| lutely questrated-without effect, for
| he made his escape after all.
He allowed oiambetta to remain ig-
norant of all this, as well as of his re-
publican origin, and the great trib-
une," whose infallible instinct has
been Wanted SO much. only looked upon
Saussier as a colonel of the empire and
treated him as such. After that Saus-
sier went once more to Algeria. Saus-
| sier. should say, has had more fight
ing than any general in-the French ar
my, but it would be rash TO say that
this made him strategist. A bril-
liant soldier he was and is still, in
spite of his age. and as he was barely
40 when France suffered her reverses
he may have profited by them. To many
| in France herself he is an unknown
quantity. These are the two men COM
parison with whom and Viscount Wolse-
| ley it would be profitable to establish,
but / mean technical comparison.
London Illustrated News
/ Sumatra Tobacco.
E. Spencer Bates, United States con.
sui at Singapore. is making an effort to
! introduce the cultivation CT Sumatra to-
bacco into the United States, in view of
the high price it commands and its SUI
periority for wrappers. He says that
this tobacco is suitable for growing in
lower California and on the southern
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