Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-19
ENGLISH ARMY OFFICERS.
Courage Praised at the Expense of
Their Military SENSE
From the Frankfort Gazette.

| i'Ail 'At } HhioTl 'rHZ'Ite.
Ignorance of campaign service and negIi-
gence in accommodating We're the cause Of
the enormous losses of the English in their
previous encounters with the Beers An
English major with whom I conversed upon
| the preparations made for the coming wa,
said to me: 1T will be ended, no doubt, to
our advantage. because our forces are vast
ly superior to those of the Beers, but it will
cost rs enormous losses. for the reason that
our generals know little or nothing Of war.
and our officers don't know how to lead
their troops against a well-armed enemy >
asked him If he did not think that the
suppression of the purchase Of commits
slons, the result Of which is beginning to
be seen in the high ranks, had not pro
duced some good effects upon the efficiency
OF the corps of officers.
Not at ALL" he said THE efficiency of
our officers would be superior if in our army
the system of favoritism played a smaller
part. 1t is not merit, il is faVOritiSm which
in most cases, brings about the appoint-
ment OF a man to some high command Our
young officers enter the army without hav-
ing the slightest idea of military service
lf they should be sent out just now in q
campaign against the Beers they would no
doubt conduct themselves bravely, but they
would not know when to turn back or what
to do with their men"
After witnessing the recent English ma
ntuVers. | myself got the same impression
The officers Of every grade have a careless
attitude: the orders are slack and but lit
tie Importance is attached TO their eXecu-
ton and that IS something which | have re-
marked on several occasions The officers
take no account of the nature of the ground
upon which they mancuVer and each
movement of the English infantry which
always fires volleys and never seeks shell
ter, brings one back TO the time of the bat
lie Of Waterloo. the only battle, probably,
that these officers have studied to get an
idea of tactics
An English military writer has pointed
out in his work upon the British army the
dislike Of studying the history of wars
which exists among the officers Outside
of their campaigns against the Afridis and
Soudanais. they have had no chance to
gam any practical military knowledge
Neither does the training of the soldiers
present any opportunity to acquire a knoWl-
edge Of tactics. The English officer is care
ful to put aside everything that is military
except during the hours of exercise, and
lnaSmuch as he confines his studies to a
few of the old battles, one need not be sur
prlsed that, even on a maneuvering ground
ne plays a poor part from the viewpoint
OF trained soldier. In a word. these gen
tlemen simply play soldiers They have an
air of Indifference during the hours Of
service and exercise. and show clearly that
tney don the uniform simply to get the title
or ofhcer and because it is the custom
among the sons of rich families
No doubt in their uniforms they are
brave An English officer said to me one
LAY MAJ ne toHHluered IL incompatible with
his dignity to kneel down or to prostrat t
himself before the fire of an enemy He
thought that such an attitude might set n
pad example to the others. because it might
be taken as a sign of fear The heavy
losses among the officers in the CAMPAIGNS
against the Beers, and even the defeats in
the war of 1851 against the Transvaal We're
lhe result OF Iaudable courage. but they
dispIayed the utter military incapacity Of
their leaders
The English have great hopes of the eff
fciency of their cavalry in their coming
campaign against the Beers, and from
what / have seen of the English army [
90 not hesitate to declare that their cavalry
Is the only arm which comes up to modern
military instruction and which SURPRISES,
perhaps, the cavalry of certain European
countries. The cavalry officers also present
favorable impression; but this does not
mean that they have any more military
knowledge than their comrades in the in
fantry and the artillery
Naturally there are generals and other
superior officers who can see the defects of
the English military system. For instance
Sir r. Butler, who is to be commandment
chief in the campaign of the TranSvaal
KNOWS very well that against the Beers he
VIII have to adopt new tactics. After his
inspection OF the troops destined Tor the
IranSVaal made some little time ago at
AlderShot. he said: Don't stick with too
much zeal to your old habits" And he re-
preached the infantry officers for taking too
much care in forming and preserving pref
" lines, ana for not taking sufficiently into
account the formation and nature Of fhe
sons will have no good effect upon the Of
ficerS. -