The Saint Paul globe., 1900-06-04
'NSDBEYED ORDERS WON
BROUGHT VICTORY IN SEVERAL
BATTLES THAT OTHERWISE
MEANT DEFEAT
CASE IN THE SPANISH WAR
Nelson Thus Won His Fight at CO.
penhaGen, and Other Instances
Where Instructions would
Have Proved Fatal.

Literal obedience to the military ders
Of the general commanding an army in
battle has always been nsdered a sol
dier's duty. BY soldier is not cnIy mean.
the man in the ranks. but the officers in
command of regiment. brigade, a di-
vision or corps, as the case may be.
DISCIPLINE REQUIRES IT
Obedience to orders Issued from the
headquarters of the commander responsi-
bic for the plan of battle has ever bee,
regarded as the first duty of those sub1r-
dinate in rank. but in charge Of saDarato
units Of the whole. Disobsdience t. or
ders emanating from such authority du--
ing the stress OF conflict is a crime pun
lshable with either death or court-nar-
ual' the severity depending upon the Ios4
sustained or the seriousness Of the result
due to noncompliance with the orders
received. There are many ms, ances On
record. however which go to show that
the officer in supreme command. no, h1v
ing all the details Of the vast field of op-
erations well in hand, or perhaps misjudy-
ing the situation. or, again. acting upol
misleading information, has given such or
ders to subordinate having command
OF an important number of troops and
holding a position of great vaIue, which.
If they had been implicitly obeyed. would
have entailed disaster ana the very result
desired would have been impossible to ac-
complish, thus turning a possible victory
into defeat
1T TAKES NERVE TO DISOBEY.
It requires a man of strong will power
and Salf-rpff1npA tC
quietly ignore a command given him by
his chief during the stress of battle. the
Cincinnati Enquirer says, but there are
cases on record, and well attested. show
ing there can be found a man occasion
ally who has had the hardihood to act
on his own responsibility at a critical
Juncture, even in direct opposition to the
plainly given and plainly understood di-
rections Of his superior. One need not go
farther back in history than the recent
short campaign that resulted in the
American victory at San Juan, Cuba. dur
ing the late Spanish-American war. Il
IS matter of history that the affairs Of
neither El Caney nor of San Juan would
have occurred had not Gen. Lawton and
Gen. Wheeler acted in direct opposition
to the instructions Of Gen Shafter. the
commander-in-chief, who for some in
scrutabIe reason did not wish to bring
on general engagement. These in
structions were, however, ignored, those
officers being in better position to Judge
of the situation than their commander.
six miles in the rear. and the consequences
was the assaults made and the Ameri-
cans won.
A CONTEMPLATED RETREAT.
On par with this Is another historical
fact that Shafter notified the war depart
men previous to the engagements in ques-
ton that he intended TO fall back to a
point that would be a retrograde move
ment as far as the coast. a virtual re-
treat. Before such a move could be car
ried out. however. others on the field
took the initiative and thus spared the
American people the humiliation OF its
army from running away from the enemy
for no good reason.
How Nelson received the order to re.
treat given by Sir Hyde Parker at the
battle Of Copenhagen is one Of the most
stirring episodes of history. When it wa4
communicated to him that the signal To-
leave off action had been hOisted on the
adnirals 5 ship, the London he turned t5
Capt. Foley, who was standing at his
side. and exclaimed:
Foley you know 1 have only one eye
l have right to be blind somelimes.''
Then, raising his telescope to his blind
eye, he added Il really do not see TN,
sIgnalr'
Truly it is an i'll wind that blows No
one any good, for the hero's blindness OK
that day placed a glorious victory {,
England's credit.