The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-10-18

perhaps. may he at a premium
experience is seemingly showing its
strategic worth. History in both re-
pee ting and reversing itself In this par
uculsr and this adds sOmeth hing to the
psychological puzzle which the present
situation offers for consideration IL
II age that makes "A general. or is the
military talent n native gift rather than
the cumulative fruit of field expert
ence7
Nearly all of the british generals are
SO years old and over. The heaviest
burden OF active responsibility in the
field has been placed hy France upon
msn In the sixties. Gcrmony apparently
has looked we'll nigh askance At any
general OF less than threescOre years.
Austria has seemingly placed pre-
MUM upon men that have passed by
a goodly margin the half century mark.
and this is equally true Of Il iss!l and
servia.
And yet the battle annals - G rinany
have shown old age to he an objection.
sble element In !ts military leaders and
the overconfidence Of advanced years
probably placed Prussia IN It's most
crttical position as a nation and brought
upon Il tho Grav"s' hr,nrIa'iors II has
ever suffered this riyht IN the wake ~
brilliant exploits Of Frederick the Great.
When Napoleon invaded Prussia in
1906 he ard mos, ~ ~ Narshals
ranged between 3j and g. years old.
yet Poultney Bigclow saws: "On the
Prussian side the King alone was within
these years His commander in chief
wus not A. to he on horseback
Out Of sixty-six colonies In the Infantry
OF the line twenty-eight were over 80
years: Of PSI ma tors e'Fhtv-siv were
over 81. and 1870 more than 50 years
old"
The Duke Of Brunswick. then head Of
the army. wEs 20 years old. In one
case the commandant OF an important
fortress was more than so, and what
might bs termed exaggerated ma
tur.ty was characteristic Of subs;an-
TALLY all OF the commandments of the
Prisslan fortress cities.
In the Thirty Years War 1t took a
Siege OF seven months to capture the
stronghold OF Magdeburg. and yet the
Prussian commander, IL count of %
years, surrendered the city In 1906 10 a
handful OF French troops without firing
a single shot. True he called a coun-
ell OF war before he capi,uiat"d. but
Pertz, q German chronicler. 90 Bgc'ow
tells US says that the n!re.cen mem
bers OF this military council aggro gated
l400 years OF life. wh.,h gives a pretty
high average for the individual"
But all OF these former pupils ~
Frederick the Great were not faint
hearted. One OF the Geucr9's present
a man Of H. dared 10 protest against
the surrender and urged that there
were plenty OF military stores and
troops enough to put up a good and
long fight. The comrnnn dant promptly
called him to order IN these words:
You are the youngest one here. You
will give your opinion when 1t is asked.
And then they proceeded 10 sign the
contract OF shame"
On the eve of the battle Of Jena
fought October IA. 1906, King Frederick
William III. rested al Auerstadt and
there called council OF war. composed
OF the Duke Of Brunswick Field Mar
shal Mollendorf, an octogenarlan; foul
generals and couple OF colonies
Those men represented the highest
military authority then in the Kingdom
They wasted hours IN useless tall
while the comparatively juvenile Ma
poleon pushed his army within cannon
range.
There was. however. one officer on th'
alert--Blucher, relatively a boy Of g.
years. He knew the danger threaten
ing and sought TO reach his royal mas
ter, but the King was asleep and hat
given orders that he should not De dis
turbed However. Frederick William
III. was rudelv aroused some hour
later by the booming Of Napoleon
guns and the noisy retreat OF his owl
troops. who, encamped and asleep, ha,
been stumbled upon in the fog by th'
onrushing French,
Napoleon was "A better judge Of gen
erals than Frederick William Ill, ant
recognizing In Butcher a formidable
enemy ordered the King OF Prussia t
in 1911 This was done Three year
later, when fortune smiled upon tn
efforts of the Prussian army, Bluche
was able to retallate and he drove Ma
poleon beyond the Rhine and defeate
him at Laon,
Again, at Waterloo upon that fatefu
June Is. 1915 It was the timely arriva
Of Butcher and his men that spoile
Bonaparte's plans ana turned the tide o
battle In Wellngtons favor His :
years had not halted Blucher's 'auda
cious activity" as one OF his Frenc
military critics described the charncte
OF his services upon that day.
The Marshals of France at Water
loo were all about Napoleon's age, an
wellington was less than four month
older than his imperial antagonist, hay
ing been born IN April, 1859. Crouch!
whose tardy arrival on the BATTLEFIELD