The Portland daily press., 1897-10-11
SOLDIERS OF EUROPE.
General Miles Talks of His Tour of
observation.

New York, October 9.-Major General
Miles, commander-in-chief of the army,
arrived home from Europe last night on
the St. Louis, accompanied by his aid-de-
camp, Capt. Maus.
Since last May the General. acting I'M
der orders of President Mckinley, has
been making an inspection of the armed
forces of Europe.
Gen. Miles was dispatched to Europe
last May to watch the Greco Turkish war
By the time the general reached Con-
stantinople active hostilities had ceased,
and his reports in consequence were con-
fined to detailed accounts of the admin
istration of Turkish and Greek troops
Gen. Miles says the ease with which
the Turks modified 600, 900 men was
surprise 10 the military world. The
Greeks were unprepared from the start to
fight well-armed equal numbers, let alone
an aggregation of 100000 splendidly
drilled and well-equipped troops.
II continued from Turkey" said the
General, "to view the standing forces of
the several powers of Europe. l saw the
armies of nearly all countries with the
exception of Spain. 1t SO happened that
q number of important events took place
during my stay In Europe, all of which
oonduced to improve my opportunities
for inspection.
"In England d, 900 imperial and colo
NAL troops were seen during the jubilee
| ceremonies. 1t is doubtful If it would
be possible to observe SO many British
| soldiers together at any other time short
of war In addition to the land forces
of England I SAW something like 4o,oOo
men OF the naval establishment
~ was present at the German manoeu-
vres at Hamburg, and had personal au
dience with the Kaiser The German
troops are about perfect in point of drill:
1t goes without saying that they are well
disciplined.
| 81 also attended the manoeuvres of the
Russian army. l was greatly impressed
with the Russians. They are fine lot OF
soldiers. Russia has today as line an
army as it is possible to find in Europe.
1.-The French soldiers surprised me. l
was not expecting to find the earnest and
business. like looking lot of officers and
men that came under my notice. was
present at the French maneuvres at ST.
| Quentin So far from being theatrical
| in appearance the French army is as near
q
anything have seen since leaving the
United States.
/ 1.-The French army made a profound
impression on me. 1t is stronger than
most people would believe. In small
arms and field artillery the French are in
the first rank. No charge can be brought
against the French army today that it is
not prepared for war.
| Europe is vast camp of military
| forces. Germany is as dependent on her
army for existence as England is on her
navy. With Austria, Russia and France
surrounding her, Germany is able only
| by show of arms to maintain her
position today as power on the conti-
nent. France is smarting as much, at
this late date, over the loss of Alsace and
Lorraine as in 1872, when Russia is ire
sistibly moving her forces toward the
| frontier, as if impelled by destiny. Under
such conditions armies must be main
| tanned, and the point of interest to be OBJ
served is which one is best prepared to
fight.
II could not but notice the personnel
of the continental armies. The men are
drilled like machines and have the ma
| chine-like intelligence we might expect
of them. But nowhere did / perceive the
brightness and the alacrrity to catch on
which seems so characteristic of the
| American soldier.
:.
| there are men in the United States who
are as competent to talk of war and the
methods to be pursued in modern war
fare as any in Europe. There are today
| brigade and division commanders of the
late war in this country who have seen
as much severe fighting, if not MOI g, than
the majority of military men on the con-
tinent.'
! Gen. Miles declared that fighting is
pretty much the same the world over.
All the drilling and man@uvring that
is DOW going on in Europe Is in the inter-
est of discipline and tends to prepare the
troops for the real ordeal of battle, but
| the actual experience of action, he asserts,
has been learned to superlative degree
| by many men of this country.
| When asked if he doubted the outcome
of conflict between American troops
and some of the forces he had seen on
| the continent, the general declared that
| United States soldiers were the equals
of any in the world. Their stayin pow
ers were too well known to him to per-
nit of his having any doubt on that
score.
"We lack supply stores, sufficient guam
titles of small arms and the coast artil-
lery is not as numerous as 1t might
be- he said "Still we are making
strides in the latter respect, but 1T must
be kept up and pushed vigorously"
| Gen. Miles has made three reports TO
the war department since his absence in
| Europe. On his return to Washington
he will report in person to President
Mckinley.