Evening star., 1914-10-11

<<1N the last edition OF the arm!
regulations, issued during the
= past spring. there Is fore
.badowed the revival in modern war
fare of the long obsolete night at
tack" remarked veteran officer ol
the regular army. This reversion to
. method of fiehting that has been dis
carded for a century or two would be
caused" said the writer, "by the tre-
mendous danger and mortality attend
ant upon storming intrenched positions
nv daylight Trenches defended by the
modern small arm, fatal at q mile OF
more. and by modern cannon, are weii
nigh impregnable If the ground In
front Of them Is at all clear. Hence
the attacking force must resort to the
cover Of darkness.
"How accurate was this prophecy is
shown by the great number OF night
attacks which have characterized the
fighting in northern France. 1t Is not
exaeeerating to say that there have
been twice as many Of these encounters
between the dusk and the dawn WITHIN
the last six weeks as have taken place
in all previous wars for more than q
hundred years. Moreover. the ais
patches show their proportion Is IN
crssv .BSt Of ali forms Of offensive action,
the night attack is by far the most
nerilous, First, there is lacking TO ~
the support of the artillery nse. .Sa ,Ss
as a surprise. which precludes the idea
of a preliminary cannonade, but IN
the darkness it would De lmposslpie
to serve the guns with any accuracy.
-
Then, too, control by the ofiicers.
difficult from the beginning in any at
tack, grows practically impossible as
such a night attack progresses. Con-
fusion is inevitable: regiments. COM
panies, even squads find themselves
isolated in the darkness. confused as
to direction and lacking In the conn-
dence and feeling Of security tnat 10
given by the visible sight OF thousands
Of companions-at- near at hama.
again, night attack made stimuli
taneously along an extended front Is
an impossibility. A forca as large as
a brigade may make successful night
attack upon a definite part OF the
enemy's line, but, to be successful. each
regiment and. indeed. each company.
must know accurately beforehand just
what and where they are to strike in
movement by body Of troops larger
than a brigade would be the court
ing of almost certain disaster. SUCH
body. instead Of making q simultaneous
attack, would assault by piecemeal,
the most effective form known to mill
tary incompetence Of tactical suicide
on the part Of q large military force.
"And yet" continued the omcer;
where a night attack is made by well
trained troops. carefully prepared Tor
the work, and led with care and oex-
terity. there is no more effective form
of assault The enemy is taken by
surprise, which works havoc with their
morale at the outset. Then. too. when
they are driven back in the darkness
it Is a case Of every man for himself
It is impossible for the fugftives to
rally upon any point, for in the DARK
ness and the excitsmsnt everything
and every soldier looks like an enemy
IF an enemy can be driven out OF his
trenches by q well-directed night at
tack. a counterstroke on his part is
nra ctically impossible. The attack
ine force. therefore. has time to in
trench itself, and the dawn nnds It
thoroughly rooted in what the DUSK
left as the enemy's lines.
"Aeain. there 10 something romantic
about a night attck that appeals to the
imagination of the soldier. Even the
ire the CONSERVATION and terror Of the
enemy as they leap over the trenches
and upon him out Of the silence and
darkness, and fall upon him with the
bayonet; hence. they go forward 70 sne
attack filled with anticipation. Ihe
very silence, ordinarily depressing. now
acts as q stimulant. for this silence u