The Washington herald., 1915-05-02

Mfllerand is the minister of war. Joffre
is the generalissimo of the armies and
Foch. the dashing. brilliant second in
command.
Companions almost since boyhood, they
Vpify in their close association, In tho
remarkable thi~gs they have accom-
plished and in their respective characters
the three warriors whom Dumas made
famous.
His refined, long, thin face and blue
gray eyes express intelligence and WILL"
writes friend of General Foch, who is
the diplomat, the subtle, the carefully
planning Athos Of this group. He is tall,
slim. graceful. the embodiment OF per-
feet simplicity and quiet authority. A
Basque from the Pyrenees, educated at
Metz, he has the nerves Of supple steel Of
his race and the calm will OF Lorraine"
The D'Artagnan of the trio is Mil
lerand, war minister. He has and has
had through all his career the courage.
the audacity the brilliancy and the abil-
fly to accomplish the impossible that was
the characteristic trait of Dumas famous
ministers, the most powerful personages
in the French republic. and has done It
with a nonchalance and audacity that
have won for him the thing he desired
Big in body. tenacious, firm as a rock.
rather than brilliant or daring. Jofre,
who has held French lines without a
strategic loss to speak of for almost eight
months. is the giant Porthos Of this trio
He comes from the southeast corner OF
France, from the Pyrenees- Orientales de-
partment. and Of him there is a saying in
the Catalan dialect as follows:
He is like to the wine of his country.
the muscatel of Rivesaltas. strength and
flavor. eaveloped in sw"etnesS."
Although many things have been
published about General Jofrre. general
issimo of the French armies. little has
been heard on this side of the Atlantic
about his second in command, the prn-
cipal lieutenant, confGant and adviser.
General Foch
Foch Is no., as so many persons be-
lieve. an Alsatian. bu: halls from the
BASQUE country on the borders of Spain
and is the son of deputy pror;nc:a.
governor NJ the reign of Napoleon III.
That he vas brought up in a BOnaDartist
atmosphere Is perhaps best shown by the
fact that one Of his brothers bears the
nam" Of Napoleon. Another is a Jesuit
priest
General FOch Is the same age %
General Joffre, and, like him. took part
in tie Of 1870. Afterwards he was
appointed as a professor at the Ecola de
Guerre or Staff college Later on. after
having exercised various commands. he
was selected by Clemenceau, when
premier. for the dictatorship of the
school, although he was not candidate
for the office Thanks to this appoint
ment most of the reCimental commanders
and also the briCadipr generals of today
received their training under his direc-
ton.
While at the Fc0lo de Guerra the
general produced two remarkable mill
tarv works, entitled Principles Of War"
and ''ConduCt of War" which have been
translated into German. Italian and
English. and whj h. of course f ire in
the library of the war college of the
United States
The secret of Gene~0l Focr's snccnss-
ful strategy in the present Camuai-n.
has been to bring superior forces to bear
upon the enemy's weak point after hav-
ing "scertained the latter and his great
est feat was when in the early part Of
September. having become convinced that
there must he a gap in the long line
formed by the Prussian and the Saxon
armies. he found it, and by bringing
troops and especially artillery from the
country round and managed to pierce
that gap.
General Ferdinand Foch vas horn al
Tarhes, in tho southern department of =.
Ger. on October ;. 1851 His father was
Napoleon FOCh and secretary of the pre-
lecture at Tarbes. His three sons. OF
whom Napoleon is the oldest attended
COLLEGE in Tarbes. One son chose the
army. the other the law. and the third
the church
1t did not take Ferdinand long to make
his mark At the age of twenty-six he
was nominated artillery captain. He
rapidly progressed and was made pro-
lessor Of tactics with the title Of com
mandant at the war college. where he re-
NAMED FIVE years
In 1908 he was created brigadier gen.
eral and at the same time succeeded to
the dictatorship of the war college. 1t
is one of the highest and most confideR-
tial positions in the war department.
Later he left this post to assume COM
0aAA Of the Thirteenth division. and