The evening times., 1898-09-05
SOME LESSONS OF THE WAR.
Germany Finds Out the Value of
Our Militia
From the Frankfurter zeitung.)

From the Frankfmter Zeitung)
The course of the Spanish-American
war up 10 date has brought many disillu-
sions TO the despfsers Of militia armies,
and the German newspaper strateglsts
especially who jeered at the militia
generals going into the field in elegant
| dress have become somewhat more eau
| tious in their criticism since the fights OF
! July l and before Santiago. When we
consider under what unfavorable clrcun-
| stances the American soldiers were
Obliged to fight, must admit that they
| have exhibited an endurance and bravery
| that cannot be surpassed by any troops
no matter how well trained Dismounted
cayaIrymen were employed to storm q
strong position; a preparation for the IN
| fantry attack by artillery fire was I'M
| possible as there was no artIiery, the
| men suffered from lack or food. because
J the commissariat had to struggle Win
! great difficulties of transportation: the
| preliminary preparations for the care OF
| the wounded were very defective All
| this was known 10 the soldiers. who. new
| ertheless. advanced with Undlmlnished
courage. The positions the Americans
| gained on both days Of battle tney hol
! Cn,y retained. but later won SIN more
| ground. 80. -
| ities are valued very highly by the op-
! ponents OF the militia. We're stationel III
| excellent strong positions. had with theh
| sufficient artillery. made use OF smokeiess
| powder were superior in numbers 10 the
! Americans and were commanded oy OF
| fcers experienced in war Why did not thest
| F,uropean-,rained troops sally out of San
| tiago and simply drive the Americans
| into the sea? Why does not Marshal Blan-
co. who is said 10 have at his command
| a well-armed army Of at least l0p."J men,
| accustomed TO the climate, and to fight
| ing. make his superiority fell? Our news
paper strategists and despisers OF militia
! soldiers have not yet ventured 10 give
| an answer 10 these questions.
! The value of troops does not depend
| merely on the military drill, such as Is
usual in Europe There is militia and mi
Htia. A popular army ike the Swiss. with
| its full equipment ever ready for war,
represents u stronger power at the be-
| ginning of the war than the American
State militia, which is not intended for
| foreign service. and out OF which, when
| war breaks out, an army must be form
ed In spite of all these disadvantages
| and difficulties the Americans have SCI
an army on foot in a few weeks which
! was obliged to take the field under unfa-
| vorable circumstances. and nevertheless
has shown itself therein not merely equal
but superior to its well-trained adver-
sary.
Almost as instructive as the combats
on land have been the sea fights. In the
| first place, a former experience has been
| confirmed namely. that a bOmbardment
of modern earthwOrks, even with guns Of
large caliber. does little damage. When
the English sixteen years ago lombard
| ed the fOrtifiCatiouS Of Alexandria they
! believed they had completely destroyed
| them but on landing they found out, 10
their aston!shment, how little harm their
heavy firing had done. The Americans
have now met with the same experience
at Havana, al San Juan de Porto Rico
and al Santiago de Cuba IL is not alarm
over the mines but fear of the guns Of
Moro Castle and Of La SOcapa that has
restrained Admiral Sampson up TO the
present from risking an entry into the
| harbOr of Santiago. although the Moro
fort has been repeatedly bOmbarded and
the newspaper reports have more than
once announced that ''the fort has been
reduced 10 heap of ruins
| OF an effective use of mines We have
heard as little as of the use of torpedoes.
In the battle between the fleets the
Americans had no occasion to approach
the Spaniards near enough to bring their
torpedoes into play. while the Spaniards
were so hard pressed by the American
fire that they could not even think of let
ting loose torpedoes. Whenever Spanish
torpedo boats have attempted 10 approach
American ships they were either. when
the attempt was made at night. discOv-
| cred by the searchlights and then over
whelmed with such 4 hail OF shot that
they were obliged 10 withdraw. or else,
as in the case of Cervera's 5 dash. were at
once shot to pieces. The two Spanish tor
pedo boat destroyers Furor and Pluton
had a speed of twenty-eight to thirty
knots and were armed with two 14-pound
| and two 6-pound quick-firers and a Maxim
gun. AS soon as they came out of San
tiago HarbOr, nevertheless, they were at
tackled by the armed yacht Gloucester
carrying only a few 6-pounder and
3-pounder quick-firing guns, and rendered
useless in a short time. The Gloucester is
said to have fired 1,40o shots and suffered
hardly any damage. The fact must be
noted that in this case two torpedo boat
destroyers, vessels which heretofore have
been represented as extremely dangerous
for battleships, were destroyed by an
armed yacht of inferior speed to theirs.
Equally interesting are the observations
made on the fight between battleships and
cruisers. AS in the battle of the Yalu. he
tween the Chinese and Japanese supe-
riority in craftsmanship decided the fight
off Santiago. The Spanish vessels were
in part superior in speed to the American:
the valor and discipline of the Spanish
sailors are much praised by the Ameri-
cans; experienced officers comma nded the
ships. but nevertheless they We're de-
feated without doing any damage worth
mentioning to the enemy. 1t is we'll
known that for years the Americans have
kept up industriously target practice.
and that they expected good results from
this themselves. Good guns without good
gunners are useless in a fight The Span
iards shot poorly and the Americans shot
we'll The result was that the Spanish
vessels caught fire and were, therefore,
| compelled to run ashore. How far better
| armor influenced the outcome of the fight
cannot be determined with certainty.
One thing, however. is settled. Her speed
| could not save even the CristObOl Colon
from the sure aim of the Americans.
Besides this. the American material, mis-
| siles as well armor plate, seems to
have shown itself TO be much better than
the Spanish American experts. indeed.
believe that in this respect they are supe-
rior even to the English.