Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1914-12-10
Lee and JACKSON
GUIDE To BRITISH
Southern Leaders Had Superior
Tactics, Says English Officer.
THEIR METHODS ADOPTED.

to Great American Civil War In De-
scribing Present Day Strusgles-Wis
dom Of Following Southerners' Elk.
ample IL Demonstrated.
LondOn.-There is nothing more no
dceable in the writings by the present
British war correspondents than the
frequent references to the American
civil war and the tactics employed by
the great leaders who directed it. par
ticularly Robert e. Lee and "Stone
wall' Jackson.
British officers always have paid es
pecial attention to the American civil
war. but according to well informed
military men it was the battles of the
Franco-Prussian war which were con
sidered best to repay study by British
soldiers until the publication. about tif
teen years ago. Of ''Stonewau Jackson
and the American Civil War;" by the
late Colonel 6. e. r. Henderson of the
British army. with an Introduction by
Field Marshal viscount Wolseley
The two volumes of this work are
quite familiar in the army crammin.
schools of London. 1t is studied closely
by officers of all ranks. as is shown in
the following estimat ton of it's effects
on British tactics, which was recently
given in an interview by Colonel viii
loughby Werner. late Of the Rifle bri
gade. fellow professor at Sandhurst
of Colonel Henderson and later on the
headquarters staff during the Boer war:
II know Colonel Henderson well. and
for the three years prior to the Boel
war we were both professors at Sand
hurst. be of military history at the
Staff college and | Of military topog
raphy and reconnaissance.
I'VE often discussed questions OF
troop leading and the best way OF
handling men under modern rifle fire.
Before this. for many years. it had
been the system OF our staff college
to accept the methods Of the German
armies in the war OF 1870 as the be
ginning and end of all modern tactics
| had been audacious enough. when a
student at the Staff college in 1892.
to disbelieve this. and then had found
few supporters. So ! was delighted
when one day Colonel Henderson told
me that be had formed very similar
opinions. adding that be believed there
was infinitely more to be learned from
the great civil war in America than
from the Franco-Prussian war. and
Colonel Henderson spoke from an I'm
rivalled knowledge and close study OF
the campaigns in the United States
1.-The accuracy of Henderson's views
was demonstrated on many occasions
during the BOer war. with the result
that the whole of our British infantry
since has adopted methods for devel
oping rifle fire and OF extended forma
tons whereby the greatest possible
amount Of protection is obtained for
those engaged in the firing line. com
bined with the maximum fire effect.
which was the basis alike of the light
division work in the Peninsular and OF
much of the successful fighting in the
American civil war.
"According to all accounts. the Ger
mans today adhere to their dense for
nations in the attack. as in 1870. and
it Is notorious how their attacks have
been consistently met and repulsed by
pvpifi HOh
intelligent lines The relative amount
of execution thus attained will he
known accurately only when the losses
on both sides are reckoned up Officers
at the front assert that it is as much as
eight to one, but it can be said safely
that. save when overwhelmed by mum.
bers. the British methods have proved
their superiority over those Of Ger
many.
1T Is no exaggeratfOn to say that
Colonel Henderson's book is viewed by
all educated British officers as one ct
the very finest works on military art
I'm his own autobiography he writes:
'Hendersons delightful and instructive
work on 'Stonewalr' Jackson and the
American civil war l recommend to all
our officers. They would find its we'll
told story as intensely interesting as
it's teaching is sound and full of usefm
advice to Englishmen Of today
"Few people nowadays know that In
1862 Wolseley. then a lieutenant colo
mel on the staff I'm Canada. obtained
leave of absence on private affairs and