The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-04

At Aeast 400 Generals
and Several Admirals
Ruthaessly Shelved
Since 4 Began

No. "0Un4NVU~0WBN.
Yr~ 6rlnO tusS1s % Q Ssw nm
~ - oaS11 oummAnnsrs, -
1shvss the-WUps q ~ rspuoa-
tn - many q Shoss vho have
aOuso8 most largely In t1se pubtso eyA
m Unk International oonzsut whlch
saStng sanos Shs eommsncs-.
mnA e ~ August has ben fsrtls
0ouUs1BO u tn ksnd.
oWMA Admiraas nawe bssm sum-
l@060hakved. wtAie q beast 400 Cen
01D 1Hws bssn rutfsessay deprived
q chslr oommands and placed on the
rs0EV6 ~ - inefficient, Incompetent,
inSubordinate and. in one word, I'M
n0sa - ssaA. That - - ~. At tesst
go 0ensgaAs ere known 70 have thu
Sufrssed what most Of them u ~
0ud - d1ssraCe. since 10 b rsttred
uu0r hrs. Cor having faHlad to give
0k4s6Acaoa. muSt always b rsgardsd
aasmnso - No. Of . btp& upon . 3D.
@efS reputsf8on. But II - said that
xhere r hundreds Of other Generals
VINO have also been superseded for in
competence, but whose identity has re-
mAined shrouded in a kindly obscurity,
which, thanks to the consideration
and spirit Of camaraderie Of their
guperiors. Of their military colleagues
and Of their subordinates, has not as
yst been dispelled. at any rate as far
- tho public IL concerned.
wAr n the fiery furnace which
separates the pure metal from the
dro@ IN the matter Of the gifts and re-
Qu1rements Of military and naval
hAdership. It Is the supreme and most
searching. nay. even the most cruel. Of
an tests. It enables each General.
every Admiral. to md his true level.
regardless Of influence and favoritism.
the injustices Of which It repairs.
Intrigue and the ingenious capture
q the good will Of the great may land
q soldier or a sailor in high command.
But II ne has not the necessary capaci-
ties for the post a war such As that
which Is o raging soon brings to
light his deficiencies, results In his
speedy removal and causes his super
session by men who had until the be-
ginning Of the conflict been ~unJustly
kept in the background and who had
failed to receive their deserts.
Perhaps the greatest holocaust Of in
competent Generals has been that
made by France. or rather by her
wonderfully able commander in chief.
the near septuagenarian Joseph Joffre.
When at the end Of August last he
launched his armies upon the Ger
mar he had every reason to look for
victory. But owing to factors alluded
to above, and which only the test of
war a reveal. he sustained defeat.
The blame for the failure Of the
Allies was distributed among all RANKS.
The men exposed themselves in the
most foolhardy to fire. The
reservist officers showed by their COM
pany leading that they had forgotten
many of the lessons OF thei training.
Battalions were launched across fire.
swept fields to attack i~mpregnable
positions. There were premature ad-
vances and premature retreats. Above
all scores of Generals showed them
selves wholly incapable Of holding
their commands.
Jofre was thereupon urged that
since the attempt to crush the German
centre had failed It vas his duty "a
Ala ~,,o,,, niIah to xn,- nm thA Tau
ton left. But with a se~lf-possession
and a military acumen rarely equalled
he decided against this course and de.
termined before anything else to pull
his army together. He wanted time
to remove incompetents and to choose
a place for giving battle again which
satisfied him in all respects.
But in order to obtain time for this
and IN order to choose his own field
Of battle 1t was necessary to carry out
Q retreat-a long retreat-which meant
Q tremendous draught upon the morale
Of his troops. Fortunately for France
Joffro had the boldness to adopt this
course. The retreat was of a purely
voluntary character and not undel
compulsion. During It the French
fought several brilliant battles AND ont
Of them was so strikingly successful
that the General who had % 1t asked
leave to undertake the offensive forth
with. Joffre's answer was that th'
General in question could hold MI
ground for six hours and then continu,
the retreat.
During this retreat Joffre fount
time to purge the army Of incompe'
tent commanders in the most whole
sale fashion. No less than forty-thre,
Generals were removed from post.
that they held at Charleroi alone ant
in the month of September the Parii
Official Gazette contained the names
Of 320 Generals who had been PLACED
on the retired list by Joffre.
Then came the battle OF the Marine
which arrested the march Of the Ger
mans on Paris when they had almos
reached the latter's gates, the hurlint
back Of the invader to his present line
far eastward, and the appearance upoi
the scene Of the Sixth French Arm!
Corps, the very existence OF whicl
had been until then unsupported b!
the Germans despite their EXTENSIVE
System Of espionage. For this victory
for this driving back the German
from Compiegne to the borde
provinces and in some instances be
You'd the frontiers Of the Teuton EN-
pire, Joffre was mainly indebted to tn
men whom he had selected to take tn
olaces of the Generals whom he ha'
.belved in so wholesale a fashion.
Curiously enough, they were no