The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-11-05
THREE COMMANDERS.
MEN WHO WOULD LEAD EUROPEAN
ARMIES IN CASE OF WAR.

Kussinn and French General.
do not know tho now commander
III chief OF the English land forces. l
saw nm once or twice i'll my life, but
.'iiS is many years ago, and in military
matters OF tho magnitude involved in
the supreme command Of great army
am afraid I should prove an incompe-
tent critic. But believe to great en-
tent Ill physiognomy, and if Viscounr
"olseley be not very clever man he
ought tobring an action for libel against
his face, for no looks decidedly clever
Ii 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 1 read
i'll one Or two French newspapers. "You
are an irritable people, envious, Jealous
and proud to q degree" said Bismarck
to General dc Wimpffen on Sept. /,
1870. You are an irritable people, en-
vious, jealous and proud to degree,
he repeated. "You were under the i'm.
preston that victory is an appendago
which was exclusively reserved to you
Has the quarter of century gone by
since those words were uttered made
difference i'll that respect in tho French
people? 1 should not like to say.
1t may not be altogether uninterest-
ing to look at tho two men against
whom the English commander in chief
will be pitted if a quarrel should ever
unhappily break forth in Europe. am
alludng to the commanders in chief of
the Russian and tho French forces.
Tho Russian army contains several
men of unquestionablo capacity; never
thcless, there appears to be consensus
of opinion that, in the event of war,
with 10 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 ut the head of his
legions.
Having declared myself at tho outset
incapable of judging the English COM
mander in chief from military point
of view, am not going to stultify my
self by endcavoring to do this in the
case of Obroutcheff. only repeat what
have heard. Until very recently the
chief of Vannowski's staff and Abide
camp General Obroutcheff was, in spite
of his recognized talents, looked askance
at i'll Russian military circles. Tho
epithct red was invariably tackled to
his name as late as Is years ago, and
the third section of tho imperial chan
cellcrie, without troubling to inquire
into the matter, placed him on the list
of dangerous" men "to be watched
very closely A note like that from the
Russian police becomes practically
indelible, and, aid-de-camp general
though hewas, not the slightest attempt
was made to effaco his name from the
list. After his exploits on tho Danube
Loris Melikoif drew tho attention of
Alexander III to this apparently fragrant
injustice, to this permanent insult The
name was maintained on tho list for
all that, but tho opithet was changed
from red into "woll meaning. -
Obroutchetf has married u French
woman, and is Il declared partisan-or
supposed to be-of an alliance with
France. His views i'll that respect date
from 1870, when he was an obscure
general. repeat, about his abilities
there is little or no doubt After tho
first checks i'll the Turko, Russian cam
paign he was sent i'll hot haste to the
Danube. and he is credited with having
saved the Russian army from total de-
struction. Before that, though, he had
already become the intimate friend of
the heir to the throne, and the friend
ship underwent no diminution during
Alexander Ills reign.
Wherever the scene Of the next Ell
ropean campaign of the French may be
laid, General Felix Gustave Saussier.
the present military governor of Paris,
is beforehand designated as the leader.
Saussier is close upon 20. In spite Of
his large size he is very active, but for
that size he would give one the idea of
n mousQuetare of the Louis XIV period
dressed i'll modern uniform. There is no
doubt about his value as % soldier,
which does not always mean an equal
value rs a supreme commander, but it
is fair to state that i'll the battles around
Melz, quarter of Il century ago, no
distinguished himself most signally.
The famous infantry charge ut st. Pri-
vat, which practically barred the prog
ress OF the Germans on that side, was
led by him.
Saussicr WAS one Of tho officers who
signed the protest against tho surrender
OF Metz. Having refused TO pledge him
self not to serve again during the cam
paign, he was sent us prisoner of war to
Cologne. Nor would he give his prom
iso not to escape, consequently he was
transported to small town OH the Wis
tula lGrandeuz [ helinYcl and nhSo-