Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-08-30

THE reader who attempts to carry
in his mind an intelligent under
standing of the progress of the
war in Europe will find himself, from
time to time, much puzzled by the diff
ferent names given to the same battle.
Thus. to cite a very recent instance,
the dispatches from Brussels and Lon
don last week told of hard fought
engagement at Haelen. small city
between Liege and Brussels. For sew
eral days the news from the side OF
the allies constantly referred to this
battle as the battle of Haelen. On
the third day dispatches from Berlin
and Hamburg, inside the German lines.
began to come through. In these dis
patches, however. there was no refer
ence to the battle of Haelen. but much
explanation of how the Germans were
repulsed at the battle of Diest- Ac-
cording to these latter dispatches, this
battle of Diest, which no American
reader had ever before heard of, had
been fought several days before.
1t now comes out that the battle of
Haelen and the battle of Diest were
one and the same battle-the allies
calling it by the first and the Germans
by the second name. A glance at the
map makes clear the reason for this
duplication Of the battle name.
The immediate headquarters of the
divisions of the allies that were en-
gagged in the battle were at Haelen,
and SO, when they came to give
name to the fight they named 1t from
the town where they were stationed In
force, and from which they moved out
into the fight The Germans, on the
other hand, had their field headquar-
tiers at Diest, a small town some miles
- 1on q
the battle the name of the town where
they were making their field pase.
Thus it happens that the battle Is
given two names, according as one
looks at it from the point of view OF
the allies or the Germans.
This custom Of giving battle two
names was very common in the civil
war. especially during the early years
of the conflict.
Thus, the first great battle of the
war is known among the southerners.
even to this day, as the battle of
Manassas. 1t is probable that were
a traveller to go into some of the in
terror towns of the central south and
speak of the battle of Bull Run, not
tenth of the people would know what
he was talking about.
On the other hand, the countryman in
Vermont or New Hampshire would not
know what was meant by the battle of
Manassas. The two names were given
it on account of the geographical posi-
ton of the opposing armies. The
southern army had it's immediate
headquarters at the little town of
Manassas, about five miles from the
battlefield. All the dispatches and let
tiers sent from the scene of conflict
were dated Manassas" Hence, both
the soldiers in the field and the folks
at home came to speak of the battle
as the battle of Manassas"
On the other hand, the northerners,
finding the stream of Bull Run as the
most prominent natural landmark in
the vicinity, named the battle from
that. 1t was to them the geographical
monument most directly connected
with the battle. 1t was just a few
minutes after they reached and cross
ed this stream that the battle began.
The carrying of the stone bridge across
the stream lower down marked the
beginning of the crisis of the battle.
and 1t was this same bridge, blocked
by broken wagons, that impressed it,
self upon the retreating Union troops.
Hence, they unanimously referred to
the fight as the battle of Bull Run
In like manner. the northerneG spoke
for many years Of the battle OF Pitts