Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-20

day. For obvious reasons he asked
that his name be withheld.
"As the sunny fields and swelling
hills of France have constituted the
western theater of war, the broadcast
press has been inclined to ascribe the
recent success of the allied arms en-
tirely to France. The columns of the
daily papers have been filled with the
doings of the really great Gen. Joffre
and the inspired enthusiasm of the
Frenchmen who are bent upon aveng-
ing the disaster of 1870.
"The legions of the war lord have
been checked in their victorious adj
vance; the great strategic pivoting
movement upon Strassburg, wherein
the kaiser has swung his forces with
hammerlike blows upon the allied left,
has failed, checked through the de-
tense offered by bullet and shrapnel.
and the Germans are in retreat.
ut is not my desire to detract from
the glory of Joffre. for his was the
plan which lured the advancing hosts
to their humiliation; nor to deny one
lot or little of glory to the Frenchmen
who have waited over two decades 1or
the day But it is my earnest desire
to give due credit for sustaining the
most crucial point of the line OF bat
tie in the hour of need, and the credit,
in my opinion, goes to Sir John French.
*.
Had the allied left failed before the
German assault, two army corps nolo-
ing off five. the story would have been
different, for the allied line would nave
crumpled before the blow, and the de-
Tending armies would have been forced
into each other, their line of communi-
cations severed and their defeat as
sured: but Gen. French saved the day.
"Strategists agree that the most
difficuIt movement to execute on the
field of battle is that In Whlch lesser
force successfully wltndraWs before
the battering OF stronger one, VII.
to almost insure defeat. TINS SIR Jonn
French did, back to the hne OF the
Marne. The strategy OF Gen. JoHfe
is to be recognized In directing tnat
the allied line retire with Dut faint
resistance until the battle-ground OF Its
own choosing was reached, Dut the e4-
ecution OF the dlhcuit haneuVefs W
the left flank, Was Entrusted 10 the
British forces. under lts COMMANDER,
and to him the CONTAMINATION OF the
victory must be awarded A general
omcer of mediocrity could never have
accomplished 1t.
For an army the size OF that Whlch
Germany launched, the advance OF seven
miles a day. unopposed IN time OF peace.
is a ralr rate. The rrencn ana British
forces about eQualed the NUMBERS OF
the Germans, and 1T is evident that
much greater opposition could have
been offered If deemed desirable. Yet
the attacking force was permitted to
advance at the average rate OF about
six miles a day.
why? Did you ever see a wrestling
master get an opponent on his bal
ance before throwing him? The French
induced the Germans to swing Oft their
balance by hasty advance and the at
tenuation of their line or communica-
lions. Then they strickland struck
hard French did the striking.
''Time and again, as letters from the
front show, the British "Tommies,' oc-
cupying magnificent local defensive
positions, checked the assault, yet
were Immediately afterward directed
to withdraw to positions further to
the rear, which they unquestioningly.
vet wonderingly, did. The strategic
answer is obvious.
"Sir John French is sixty-two years
of age, having been born in Ripple,
Kent, in 1852. Like another famous
British soldier, Sir Evelyn Wood, his
military career began in the navy,
where he served as naval cadet and