The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1914-08-20
Joffre, GeneraIiSSimo of the
French Army, Believes In
Policy of Attack.
JELLICoE AND KITCHENER
British Commanders On Sea and Land
Are Notable Figures-SukomIinoff
and Grand Duke Nicholas
Head Russla's Millions
of Troops.

Notable figures and interesting per
sonalities are the men who are COM
handing the armed forces of the triple
entente in the European war. Prob
ably the least known Of them all in
this country is Joffre, generalissimo of
the French army, who controls the
movements of more than 100000 of
ticers and men.
Like so many great military leaders,
General Joffre is a silent man, rather
retiring in his demeanor, yet of the
kindest, Quietest, most unaffected and
easy going manners, which do not at
first convey the impression of his rigid
will and steel-like determination that
constitute his chief characteristics.
Burly in figure, with heavy flaxen
mustache plentifully tinged with sill
yer, thickly tufted eyebrows, shading
a pair of very clear blue eyes that
often twinkle with merriment, are
usually genial and but seldom hard, he
suggests when in civilian clothes one
of those courtly country gentlemen
that are to be found in rural France.
Army Has Confidence In Him.
During the three years that he has
been in supreme command of the army
the latter has had time to take his
measure, with the result that it has ac-
corded to him it's unbounded conf
dence and believes in him as a leader
who can be trusted TO lead it to vic
tory.
Although the cleverest mathemati-
clan in the army and a scientific sol
der in the best sense of the word,
General Joffre is the most determined
supporter OF the policy of attack in
war. The only tactics that he has any
use for are those of the offensive, and
it is these that are best suited in his
opinion for troops of the temperament
of the French soldier of today
Hailing from the Pyrenees, a gradu-
ate of the Ecole Polytechnique at
Paris, from which all the engineer and
obtained the rudiments of the scien-
tific branches of their profession, he at
the age Of eighteen commanded a bat
terry of artillery throughout the siege
Of Paris, and on the restoration of
peace was appointed to a first lieu
tenancy in the engineer corps. He
took part in the Formosa and Tonkin
campaigns, and later was engaged in
West Africa, directing the construc-
ton of railroads there, heading the re-
lief column which went to the assist.
ance Of the Boanier expedition, and
finally penetrating as far as Timbuc-
too, and Selling that mysterious city,
which for centuries had been the head
quarters of the native trade of Central
Africa, He likewise had large share
in the conquest of the island of Mao
agascar.
Jof res chief lieutenants are the
brilliant Marquis de Castelar,, General
Pau, a hero of the war OF 1870, and
General Hubert Lautey, to whom
Frame is indebted for the conquest of
Morocco.
Peyrere Heads French Navy.
AS for the French navy, 1t is under
the supreme command of Admiral de
la Peyrere. Acknowledged both at
home and abroad as the most distin-
guished officer of the French navy, he
has both in his capacity as chief OF
the admiralty staff and as minister of
marine completely reorganized that
service, eliminating the dead wood,
abolishing hundreds of almost incred-
fb1a oh pnnufnpfnn fn
heap battleships and cruisers that
were out of date and paying particu-
lar attention to the development of
submarine navigation. His popularity
among all grades of the service is
very great.
With knowledge of warfare at sea,
derived from his experiences as chief
Of staff to Admiral Courbet in Frances
naval conflict with China, it is to him
that not only his own country but also
England and Russia look for the pro-
lection of the interests of the triple
entente in the Mediterranean, where
all the naval forces of France are con-
centrating under his command.
Admiral sir John JeIIlcoe.
Great Britain's powerful home fleets,
for the greater part assembled in the
North Sea, are under the chief com
mand of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, un-
I'll now second sea lord at the admiral
ty and renowned as the shortest officer
of the British navy, barring of course
the mldshipmen. His exceptional
brevity of stature did not, however,
prevent him from winning fame in his
younger days as an all round athlete
and as a boxer.
Moreover, he has seen plenty of
fighting, having been present at the
bombardment of Alexan dria in 1882
and afterward taking part in the bat
tie OF Tel-el.Kebir as an officer of the
naval brigade, while he was badly
wounded in the attempt to relieve the
beleaguered foreign legations at Pc
kin. IA years ago, receiving a boxer