Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-01-11
THE FRENCH OFFICERS.
one OF the Features That Make the
Frenci, Army Formidable.

New Century RcVleW)
one OF the features which make the
French army corps so terrible a weapon
Of attack. when properly handled Is tne
large number Of non-commissioned OH
GERS who have won minor commissions
such as sous-lieutenant and captain, ana
II their education is faulty, they more
than atone for 1t by superb courage. lney
hope to win their promotion by the SWORD
and not by the book. IT Is this very Grass
Of whom Won Moltke said, In 1870 that
while they possess no other instruction
than that OF bad primary French lnstruc-
ton. and give evidence Of gross lgnO-
rance. II was precisely these oihcers VINO
Tor the greater part, strOve on the battle
fields OF France to wash out, at the cost
Of their blood, faults for which they were
in no way responsible" AS class, the
French officers are equal TO any officers
on the Continent, up 10 a certain point
I have already alluded to the advanced
oee Of the French military chiefs. which
makes It impossible for them to cope with
hardship and fatigue. The officers be-
tween % and 30 are at their very best
and any young man who has thoroughly
understood the teaching at ST. Cyr might
mount a horse and lead an army corps
but the absurd reverence for age makes
this an impossibility. In our own day
we have seen the magnificent clear-head-
edness OF youth In three departments
Kitchener i'm war, HarmswOrth I'm jour
uallsm. and Tasker in chess-all of whom
seem 10 emphasize the great lesson that
tho coming general must be between the
thirties and forties. The statement
that Frances commanding generals are
between IS and 60 is almost q confession
u coming defeat.
Another fault lies i'm the tendency Of
The French officer stationed i'm Paris 10
grow fat. The English officer never has
his ridiculous leaning toward embOn-
point, but II one were 20 watch a batch
N officers enter the Cercle Miitalre-I am
now speaking OF those I'm the forties and
milestone might easily mistake them for
aldermen In uniform. This argues lack
Of exercise, and would argue badly for
the drill Of the troops were II not that
in France. as in England, the bulk Of this
work depends upon the non-commissiOued
officers. Luckily for France, her young
army officers are in the pink Of condition,
ready for any emergency, and equal to
any demands on their physical and men
tai systems. The new rules laid down
Mt st. Cyr In 1897 must result in an i'm
prOvement in the morale of the French
commanders Of the future. The tyranny
of mathematics is abolished, and every
effort is TO be made to instil into the
minds Of the students that war is not so
much science as an art, which can be
best achieved by good sense and inspira-
ton.
General Maillard, one Of the professors
of tactics at the Ecole Superieure de
Guerre, says very wisely: Under the pre-
text that the progress Of science and in
dustry will be used I'm the coming fight
between the nations, It is proclaimed that
the conducting of war must be scientific
and that II Will demand high mathemati-
cal knowledge. Nothing is more opposed
TO the spirit OF war. The Rule Of Three
alone, up TO the present, has sufflced. and
will suffice, for all problems depending
On calculation, but to conduct a war means
that the chiefs must have high natural
Qualities, a professional knowledge, which
must be constantly advancing, a strong,
intelligence, but above all, the
spirit o. reflection, of calculation-in
word, the philosophical spirit"