The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-09
Us cAPrAIN eENnRALs.
Those Holding the Highest Rank in
the snnnigh Armv.

!
However deficient Spain may be in ma
val officers. Of whom she does not possess
sufficient number to equip the aeet of
! auxiliary cruisers which she proposes to
/ put into commission, she is certainly not
lacking in field officers for her land forces.
There are nearly 800 generals, some Of
them belonging to the reserve forces. but
most Of them on the active list and draw
ing fun pay. In fact, Spain possesses a
sufficient number of generals to command
the combined armies of all Europe. There
are colonies, majors aud captains in pro-
portion, and, in fact, there is no power in
the world, not even Germany, that pos
sesses such an extraordinary number of
commissioned officers in relation to the
size Of the army.
| AT the head of the list are ten captain
! generals. whose rank is equivalent to that
of field marshal in other foreign armies.
In several Instances this grade is of a pure
ly honorary character. II is held by the
| young King, who IS a boy L. years old
ana like wise by his grandfather, the old
| ex-hlng, Don Francis of Assist, the hus-
band of Queen Isabella. He is a dwarf
in stature, and only a little taller than his
grandson, King Alfonso XIII. Indeed, it
is difficult TO conceive anything less war
! like than the spectacle presented by King
Francis, when arrayed in the gorgeous
! gold-embroidered uniform of a captain
general his squeaky falsetto voice being
quite as much out of keeping with the mil
Atary profession as Is his appearance.
as regards the boy King, the Queen
Regent, who is a sensible woman, has
turned deaf ear to all the suggestions to
the effect thar he should appear on state
occasions In the uniform of a captain gen
| eral, and, instead, she has him always
garbed in the trim, natty and exceedingly
simple uniform Of a cadet Of the military
| school of San Idalfonso, which has not an
| atom of gold lace about it, the only en-
blem of his royal rank being the insignia
of the Order OF The Golden Fleece, which
peeps forth from tine collar of his tunic.
Among the other captain generals are
/ Gen. Blanco, Marquis of Pena Plata, who
is now in chief command in Cuba, and who
| is too well known to need more than pass
Ing mention; Martinez Campos, who, as
one of his predecessors at Havana,is equal
! ly familiar 20 people in this country; Gen.
Primo de Rivera and Gen. Lopez Domln-
| guez.
1t is Gen. Domlnguez who is generally
regarded at Berlin. Paris, Vienna and 9TH
er military centers as the eJevenest and
strongest of all SpaEn's generals, and who
in any grave emergency is likely to be in
| vested with the chief command of the
| Spanish army, or else with
| the portfolio of minister of war.
! He has been justly described as a mixture
! of the celebrated Russian GEN Skobeleff,
| and Of the French Gen Chanzy, and like
them he is the idol of the rank and file
/ of the army to Which he belongs. He is
s.-s I. H-G.I IL
! rose from the humhlest beginning to be
| Dictator, Regent and President of the Re
! public of Spain. He has been the author of
| nearly all the reforms that have taken
/ place in the last twenty years, and in con-
| sequence has come to be looked upon as
the soldiers friend. II he has been kept in
| the back ground of late years it as because
| ministers and even the court dread his pop
| ularity and his ambition and fear that the
! latter in moment of crisis might lead him
| to avail himself Of the former to secure
| for himself some such dictatorial power
as that repeatedly possessed by his uncle
Serrano.
Infinitely less popular in the army, but
more liked at court, is Capt. Gen. Primo
de Rivera, the very type of the polished
scoundrel, who by his smooth tongue and
talent for intrigue has managed to win
to a marked degree the confidence of the
]
! gotten the circumstances which led him to
be Shot at some eight years ago and Sc
| verely wounded by one of his officers
! major who had been subjected to persecu-
| ton of the most incredible character at
| the hands of the general at the instigation
| of a demi-mondaine whose anger the
major had incurred and who had the
general completely under her sway. The
major, who was driven by desperation to
the act, was sentenced to death and execu-
| ted leaving wife and children In a pen
,. niess condition, while the Queen seems
to think that the general was shot al and
severely wounded while in the perform
ance of his duty, and, therefore, possesses
! claim upon her good will Even Weyler
! with his brutality is preferable to Primo
! de Rivera, for while Weyler will have
man hanged or shot, giving the order for
his execution with a gross oath or coarse
| gibe, Primo de Rivera will order the most
! fiendish fortunes TO be indicted, COUGHING
his instructions in the most courteous,
suave and gentle language, smiling gen.
| tally the While. Only those who have
been out in the far east and who have
knowledge Of the atrocities committed by
his orders and under his very eyes when
he was viceroy of the Philippine Islands
can realize The true character of this
man.
Another general who is likely to make
his name known abroad If the present
war lasts sufficiently long Is Cassola, one
of the few officers who have never been
implicated in any pronunciamento. He
has sometimes been called the Spanish
Molike, owing to his cea seless and indie
fatigable activity, and to his remarkable
silence and reserve. This popularity in
a country where loquacity and gesticula-
ton are the order of the day Is sufficient
to cause people to look upon him as
kind Of rara avis. He is stern and up
right soldier, who, to quote one OF his
own remarks, wants TO make the army
loyal to its King and country, with its
face T6 theienemy and its back turned
upon, political struggles"
Cassola is so strict a disciplinaran that
while minister of war he actually placed
old Captain General Martinez Campos un-
der arrest, besides severely reprimanding
him. for having refused In his capacity as
captain general Of Madrid, TO take the
countersign from the PRINCESS Eulalie in
the absence Of the QHeen from the capital.
Martinez Campos took the ground that, in
asmuch- as Don Antonio, the husband of
Princess Eulalie was a mere captain OF
oa.,a1rV forming mart of the Madrid gar