Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-11-07
FOUR BRITISH GENERALS.

A year ago there were four British
generals who possessed the unbounded,
confidence of the people of England.
Butler. Kitchener, Roberts inc Wolseley
had all seen years of service and APP
proved themselves as valiant soldiers on
many a hard fought field. Then. a now,
Lord Roberts of Kandahar, was proba-
bly, the one whose personal popularity
was the greatest, but General Butler was
the man who was considered most fully
adapted to command the forces in the
Transvaal. 1t is interesting to note what
difference a year has made in the stand
ing of those generals who have been ae-
lively engaged.
When we consider the story of tie
campaign. it seems that General Butler
has not done badly. His great mistake
was the buster, with which he started
on his expedition. Probably no one in
the United Kingdom at the time, realiZed'
that the Beers We're so fully prepared,
and their successes at Laings Neck and
at Majuba hill had everywhere been at.
tributed to accident, rather than to the
military genius of the great general of
the Transvaal. Pushed on by his own
over confidence, and by the pressure of
that public opinion. which, perhaps, he
had done as much as anyone to create,
the general evidently began operations
Will a rashness that met its natural
fate. Blu when the difficulty came, he
seems to have been competent to deal
win if Surely no man cDnid ha We held
his men together better, and fought bat
tie after battle, with so little intermis-
sion and under ~discouraging circum-
stances, more persistenly than he. his
refusal to accept defeat, was an import
ant part OF General Roberts success
But the end of the campaign fms aim
with diminished prestige just where he
began.
Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, has seen
wenty years of constant service in
Egypt, and had given evidence of the
highest qualities OF an administrator, a
tactician and of a good soldier. His
position as chief of staff, left him largely
out of popular view, and to the general
public his part in the campaign is not
clearly evident. His friends will not be
affected by the criticism of his chief, yet
his standing is for the time at least
somewhat injured. He may console him
self with the reflection that his youth
will give him an opportunity to regain
what little standing he has lost.
But to "Bobs," as e is called, Lord
Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, as
he is in reality, the war has only con-
firmed the reputation he had already
gained by forty years of service on the
battlefelds of India, Burmah and of
~Afghanistan. His promotion had come
slow, and had evidently been thoroughly
earned. Born in Campore in 1882, enter
ing the army as a second lieutenant in
1851, the conclusion Of the indian mus
tiny, which brought rapid advancement
to many an inferior man, left him only
a full lieutenant. Through thirty-fve
years that followed his advancement was
steady. and when, less than a decade
ago. he left India for goou, he stood in
military reputation inferior to no other
general. In the operations in the Trans
vaal, success has been constant where
he has had personal command. 1t is by
recognition Of the popular will, as much
as by the choice of the court, that he
now succeeds to the position of
der-in-chief of the British army, that
has for five years been held by Viscount
Wolseley.
n ro- VXv,1roJa1y roortiD-, p.i11 ho
made here because of his retirement from
the position which he has held. 1t is
doubtful If in military genius he is the
equal of his successor, or even Of Lord
Kitchener. But in fifty years Of active
service in all parts of the world, he
has made no serious mistakes. His rec
ord has been good in Burmah, in China
in India, in Canada, in Africa and in the
Mediterranean. It is rumered that the
developments of the past year havA
shown that the organization of the Brit
ish army was inferior to what had been
the general opinion, but it is also ru-
mored that this is far from being the
fault of the commander-in-chief. 1t is
'aiu lAhol las !" pei SoiiS popularity,
and the experience the British have had
in the war with the Beers, Will give
Gen. Roberts opportunities for reform
hat We're wanting to his talented pde-
decessor.
In considering these -four generals, it
would not be right to omit a comment
regarding one of the maxims of states
manship and warfare. The saying, "old
men for counsel and young men for
war;" received it's fullest recognition in
the Franco-Prussian war, when Won
Moltke voluntarily stepped into the
background and left the of
the soldiers in the field to ung men.
But in the war With the Rnars the