Evening journal., 1898-09-19
AN OLD MEMS WAR.
Out Few of the Commanding or;cern
I'm the Field To-day Are
Youthful.

This is an old mems war, so far as
the army is concerned. When the civil
war broke out, Lee, the two John
ktons, Cooper, and perhaps one or two
/. other men of years and rank, joined
!, the confederacy, for most of these Off
I GERS were from the southern states;
few elderly officers went into serv-
7 fee in the national armies, but with
I rare exceptions it was the captains
! and lieutenants OF the regular army
/. who became the generals of the civil
4 war, and the civilians who were APP
4 pointed to military command were
; usually young men. Most of the gen
eral and field officers of what is known
+ as the old army were deemed phys
I ically unavailable, and their names
!, are not known to a generation that re-
I. members well the names of scores of
i military commanders who in 1861 were
I company officers, or, if in civil life a
the time, were just beginning their
h business or professional careers.
In 1861 the ratriarchs of the United
4 States army we're Sumner, aged Ga,
4 and Mansfield, aged IS. The latter was
killed at Antietam; the former, soon
after Fredericksburg, was relieved
u from service In the field at his own re-
quest. Ormsby Mcknight Mitchell
was 50 when the war began; Hooker,
AZ; Meade, 40; Thomas, As; Mcdowell,
Ord and Buell., 43; Sherman, Al; Aufur,
40; Grant and Pope, 80; Hancock and
Burnside, 81; Logan and Mcclellan, 35;
MACPHERSON, 80; Howard, 81 Sheridan.
30y and Merritt, 25.
Most of the general officers of the
lpresent army were the generals and
colonies of the regular army; few of
these are under 60 years of age. The
four original major generals of the
volunteers, appointed from civil life,
I achieved high rank in the civil war.
4 A man who was only q when that war
closed would low be 60, so that these
commanders are over that age, for
Slthe Youngest Of them, Gen. Wheeler,
+ was 2s at the end of the war. Gen.
,Sewall declined his appointment, pre-
'ferring to remain in the senate, and
the president added to this list But
n tler, of South Carolina, and Kiefer, OF
4 / Ohio, both CO; these men were not 30
4 years old when the civil war closed
and both of them had distinguished
81 themselves in that struggle.
Dandolo took Constantinople at SC
Nor over, and Won Moltke was over &c
a at the time Of the Franco-Germar
& war. Several other German officers
Aiwere well over GO, but these must be re-
Il lgarded as exceptional cases. Napoleon
81 and Wellington were about As at Wa
a terloo, and most of Napoleon's gen
erals were young men. Our officers
& lin the revolution were generally
81 iyoung, but so were the leaders of civi
life; the active period of life seemed
tthen to begin and close earlier thar
u now Scott and Taylor were past mid
"a die life in the war with Mexico. After 45
man is liable to develop physical weak
nesses that interfere with campaign
ing, and a man of so does not general,
ttake the chances that man of 30 does
ltusnd in war many chances must b.
81 arllen. If Gen. Shafter is to be crit
ilcised at all, however, it is for being
too aggressive, and not for being to-
cautious. We Go not criticise the gen
eral, but If he were to be criticised, I
would be for fault of youth, and no
for a fault of age. But he is over GO
;weighs over 300 pounds, and, on &C
icount of a trouble with his legs, is un
able for days at time to stand. Gen
Wheeler is GO, and was carried for
ward to the fighting before Santiago
on litter, but, against the protest.
of the surgeons. he insisted on mount
ga ing his horse when he reached tn
front. Gen. Young, also over 60, ha
been invalided home because he can
not stand the climate of Cuba. Men be
tween 30 and 40, the age of most o
the generals Of the civil war, are a
present subalterns. Col Roosevelt
who is one of the boys of this war
must be 40 or little over.-N. Y. Com
mercial Advertiser.