The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1900-04-07
DEMOCRACY And
THE FIGHTING LINE.
BY Paul Leicester Ford, Author Of
t 1Janice Meredith"

The parallel between the American
struggle for Independence and that be-
Ing wage0 BY the Beers Is close
enough 20 have produced frequent COM
parsons but these have dealt only with
me SUPERFICIAL phases. and the most in
structive one Las hitherto been wholly
neglected This resemblance. primarily
military one. becomes OF greater In
terest when itH underlying cause can be
traced TO political influences
ANY one familiar with the dispatches
OF the British officers during the Revo-
luton. who has read the recent ac-
counts from the Transyaal, cannot fail
70 have been struck with their simll-
artty. The rebels were for a while
dispersed" and THE men behaved
with their usual intrepidIty," is the
way Gage described the AFFAIRS of Lex
ington and Concord. yet the British re-
treat was really fight, and a loss Of
eighteen officers in killed and wounded
was fearful one for the fewness Of
the troops engaged.
IN the Burgoyne campaign the Eng
lish regulars repeatedly drove the
American militia from their positions,
put always with loss OF men, and
especially OF officers, which was
uigntfully disproportionate to the adj
vantage gained, and In a few hours
the defeated rifiemen were once again
hanging upon the tanks OF the victors.
80 at Guiiford Court House. which
was claimed by CORVALLIS as victory,
bis army suffered a loss OF thirty-one
omcers, and he was forced to confess
that I'm that fortunate exploit the
BRUSH army was crippled by the
quality and number of officers killed
and wounded" and retreat followed
TO
amples might be cited, but these are
sufficient TO show the parallelism with
the recent engagements.
whether we turn to the conflicts OF
the Revolution or to the newspapers Of
the last two weeks. we find certain fac
tors equally In evidence-that the Brit
Ism regulars carry positions by assault
at cost OF officers well-nigh murder
otis; and SO far from these successes
compelling retreat or dispersion OF
the defeated forces they only fail back
temporarily, to return to the conflict in
such numbers and spirit as to force the
Victors into inaetion or retreat
This resemblance is not purely acct
1ental. and though due apparently to
two causes, is in fact but the result OF
me In both these series of conflicts
he heavy loss of officers proves a
eckiess exposure OF themselves to the
'nemy. and this exposure shows that
50 mo- hDf'pPEHIp VI lHeiT opponents
vas of such quality that the off,
ers had to set an example to the rank
md file In order to get them to adj
'ance, and that the same accuracy of
which compelled this
eoessary sacrifice resulted secondarily
2 deliberately picking off Of officers
his meaHs man behind the gun"
tho under tbs most exciting circum-
tances can think enplly and shoot
tralght, The bad craftsmanship of the
armies of Europe is notorious.
or is the British standard a high one
Why. then, should unmilitary peoples
Ike the American farmers and the
'utch burghers show such proficiency?
II VIII no doubt be promptly ans
cred that each has been a people Of
oortemen. well accustomed to the rife.
ut 1t is certain that the average
inuteman of the American Revolution
as far less trained in the use of the
I'm than the British regular, and it is
well-known fact that the game of the
ransvaal has so disappeared that at