The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-02-28
FIRESIDE STRATEGISTS.
HOW THEY NAVE INrENTED PLANS
or CAMPAIGN.
They Were Active In THIS Country During the
ti,l War rhcS Have Recently Rccn Active
In spain -Sanir Are Vet Ready for service.

war In 1861. Any one would tell how the Sc
cessioi,ists could he beaten or corncred by
landing II body Of Union troops at some partic-
ular spot or attacking the enemy in n certain
way, or selling an unprotected point OF van.
tage in the region of hostilltics. or sccding .
warshlp. n not n squadron, 20 some place ON
the seaboard from which the heart OF the en-
emy's country could easily he reached. A STRAIT
cgIst would often %critlcisc the movements Of
the commanders In the field. try to prove that
.hesc commanders were blunderers. and. In the
case OF the failure Of any one Of them. attempts
To show tlat lie had adopted the wrong plan II
campaign. The strategists often argued with
each other. and. indeed. II is said that hardly
any two of them ever agreed in regard to any
question In strategy. tactics. ~mahTuvring. or
gunncry. One man would maintain that the
attack ought To he on the left flank. another
that It ought to lie In tho rear. and II third that
II ought TO be made behind well.constructed
carthworks or other Notifications, II. ength-
encd by II ditch into which the enemy would
fall u he at'e'"pted to yet over II.
After the war hni been waged for a year or
two. most OF the rational strategists became
more dlnldcnt than they had been at an earlier
period. Perhaps they saw that a commander
whose plan Of campaign they had disspproved
Of, had successfully carried out the plan. or
that II battle In which tac strategy was wholly
erroneous had lie IN wJn. or that imperfect ma
nTuvting In the field had given the desired re-
suits. or that the enemy had been trapped In o
way they had never thought Of, or that an at
tack In the front had brought an uneX pectcd
victory, or that each party was projected by.
cnrthworks from behind which one Of the par
ties must come out II there was ever to be .
fight. Incidents like these brought diacour-
ageinent to many Of the stay.at-homc strnte-
gists. aud led them to think OF the uncertain
ttsa NJ Nyar How snp1t IN mn l,plI nm hta
head II. after demonstrating tEc incapacity of
the General ia command somewhere. he learned
from the papers that the General command
ing there haC routed the enemy. Won the
battle. and gaiEc cd military laurels.
Toward the end Of tho war there were COM
parntivcly few private stratcgists in the coun-
try. The greater number OF the original body
had retired from the places n: which they had
eXpounded their views or held argument with
tho opposition in another chair. or standing at
the sane corner. or speaking in "A louder voice.
Wien war RACES In a country, or between
two countries. there are always plenty OF fro
side strateglsts, ready to marshal the troops.
attack the enemy at a weak roint. fall at once
on both OF his TANKS. as well as his front
and hi, rear. order up the ,avalry. cross a ditch
AT II jump. and deal somehow with the fallen.
There have been lots OF them in Spain within
n couple Of years, as can be ascertained by any
| one VINO rctls the spanish newspapers. lney
seem tn BE- holder than most American strate-
gists OF their kind. They have done some fine
work against this country, though Spain and
tue United Stat - ars at peace. When the
Spanish heart was fired up ut one time by rea-
sou of Yankee intermeddling, the stra ,eRists
of the coffee shops Of Madrid and, Barcelona
rushed o,t, in full force. They showed how
easy II would be for Spain 70 defeat the Amer
leans in the event OF hostilities. A spanish
squadron would make n plunge at New York.
seize the poorly defended place. chase away
the unwarlike militia, and demand such .
heavy indemnity as 70 compel the Governments
to sue for peace. 4 body of the Spanish troops
serving in cuba would be throwl into Florida.
and would there terrorize the South to such an
extent a. TO lead TO a renewal of the secession
movement: \ spanish man-of-war would can.
tyre San Fra um,ns and the marines aboard nS,.S
having formerly been happy under the Gov
ernmen, of Spain. would gladly renew its al
welcome. at the end Of the nineteenth century.
to the royal flag which waved over San Diego
ships Of spain would DESTROY the American
commercial marine. ravsge the coasts OF the
United states. and thus compel the Washing
ton Government To accept SPANS terms.
It was the more sedentary Spanish strate-
gists who devised such simple plans as have
been spoken Of. The iiercer stretegists. whose
service; reserved the G9mmendation of the
mSeh @ 1s'rtsi imnsin MhSs.a they RsSs Rsi pians .f fos
moving the armies and navies OF spain against
he United states in a way TO frlshten the shop.
keeping Yankees and cause theta TO shell out
their dollars. One long-sighted strategist of
Madrid could see all America ut the feet Of
Srain, offering the Young King carloads OF
dollars in return for peace and mercy. and ask.
inc his Majesty for such grace as he might feel
gi,t won especial favor from that portion Of
the inhabitants OF Spain. who take y, easure In
a successful campaign upon paper.
Even in recent times one can frequently see
in the newspapers Of spain plans OF cainpaisn
ed States. The straiegists. after neatly and
quietly crushing. the revolt In cuba and the
IA nj rantnFipn American dollars. amid the
thunder OF spanish artillery and the screams
Of fugitive Ameri AN shopkeepers.,
IL l. but natural that the spanish strateRists
should have 20 ne riya;s In this country: IL
Is. OF course. easy, for an American private
Spain he seized with madness and declare war
upon the United states. THE SrS has been
sinon to those Of the strs,esicai Spaniards.
Some OF them provide for merely defensive
near SeW YORK 'H some day: and others Of them
provide for offensive operation" upon the north
eri,, Would seize Fsrroi. reduce Fort San Fee
hpe. and from there issue defiance to the Span.
i,h monarchy. Another belIigerent, who has
a more romantic imagination, says he would
take the white squadron. strike directly for
the port Of lalos. from which christopher Co:
lunlbus sailed on, hts voyage 81 discovery, and
there give the Oh World n lesson never TO 10
FORGOTTEN regarding the power OF The New
Word. There would. of course, ne regiments
ot American troops aboard the expedition
AIRY vessels Of he white squadron: and whom
march umrtnward through Andalnsia.
\ third oueraiur would merely make n naval
and military descent upon cuba. and from there
give spain hS much fighting as she might do
sire. Yet mn, thrr plan. that seems ~ salts
factory -. any ot the other plans that have
hrru spoken OF, has been furnished TO THE
- rs n citizen Of Brooklyn who has seen
+, war in fUur countries OF the world. III Spain
should declare var against the United States"
> he -R'~, "thr American plan for meeting her
would he n very simple one. To hrgil with,
s. hRy" got 10 understand that the supplies
tor the SIaui~h troops IN cuba ARE brought
from spain in SLui-h shipS, When Was in
/ Havana a short time ago, saw the landing
uI tuu provisions tor the army. ~ thing which
You can zee there any day, Weylrr's men In
cuba u0uId not live a wees without the prov
% eHd'r and other things which, they get from
l spain. Now, then. here is what would do in
the way o. CHulNHlgning. would take n hall
duIen - the best naval ships belonging 10
tn" I uitrd state. run them out TO sea, block
ale Havana and the other nOrts of Cuba. In
\ less TIL a muuth the SIHuish army IN Cubs
l would be Ia we'd ont or compelled to surren-
I der, AMI thu- The war would very soon he
? brought to an end. urrhRns without llOOdshed.
Inhn Mnm-l ~ fr.n. nMl NnLlm Mmnll got hnc K