Evening star., 1915-03-28

l
broken and its defensive will he
broken in turn.
commanded by captains who are reg
uiar officers, three by captains of the
reserve and three by lieutenants. Each
company has at least three officers. In
sum, the state of the army as regards
the commissioned ranks from the
highest to the lowest is declared to be
exceptionally brilliant. The army is
led by young. we'll trained and daring
| chiefs, and the lower commissioned
ranks have acquired the art of war by
| experience. Finally a warm tribute is
paid to the work of the stats of the
| armies and of the army corps, which
| were formed three years ago and have
| thrown themselves into their work In
entire agreement both of views and
| methods.
France Now Has 2,50o, 900 Men.
| Including all ranks. France now has
more than 100000 men at the front,
and every unit is, or was January15, at
war strength. The infantry companies
are at least 200 strong. In many regi-
ments the companies have a strength
Of ESQ or more.
In the other arms, which have suf-
Tered less than the infantry, the units
are all up to, or above, regulation
strength.
This fact constitutes one of the most
important advantages of the French
army over the Germans. While Ger
many mas created a great number of
new units. army CORPS or divisions
which absorbed at q blow all Of har
aVaiia apIe resources in officers and men.
ane french supreme command has
avoaned svoane ! the formation of new units,
admitted exceptions to this rule when
it was able to count with Certainty IN
Delng able to provide amply for both
n efe present and future requirements
wltnout encroaching upon the reserves
neeoed Tor the existing units.
AT the same time. thanks to the
deposs ahn ssda,, In the interior of the country.
maintained at full strength. The
sources of supply for this purpose
were the remainder of the eleven class
ot .ne reserve, the younger classes
cIass OF 1914: large number Of the
men wounded in the earlier engage.
naen.s men.s OF OF A the war have been able to
cornorated rnrn 20 me e., front They have been in
ing these with a useful stifYeninr of
war-tried men. VI
Mlth regard to the supplies of men
tha Mncn ane army can draw to repair
mere are practically half as MANY men
IN the depots as at the front. in Other
words about 1,250.oO0. Further sun
piles OF men are provided by the class
oa+a ao anu she revision Of the various
categories or men of military age nre.
viously exempted on grounds Of health
VI LOT other reasons from the dutv AZ
bearing arms. AS a result Of this meas
- neaIy naf million men have
oeen claimed for the army, almost ali or
Whom, after rigorous physical tests ha1a
oeen declared fit for military service
IN the depots in which the new sol.
uaers are pelng trained the services az
many officers and non-cornm ssionsd ~
ncers discharged as convaIescents -.
er oeing wounded, are utilized In order
10 give practical turn to the instruc.
..on. Inere are still many voluntary
enifstments, and with ali thasa ~
sources of men the army ean re re-
upon reinforcements, soon to he avsiI
apie, Wnich Will considerably augment
lts offensive power
Quality Of Troops Improved.
The quality of the troops has n,
proved perceptibly since the beeInnin.
OF the war. The men have become
hardened and used to war and their
health-largely owing to the excellence
OF the commissariat-is extremely SAT-
isfactory. In spite of the severity NJ
the winter. hardly any cases of disease
OF the respiratory organs have occur
RED. and the sanitary returns of the
afihy sno" an apprectable improve
ment on those of the preceding winter
win regard to the reserves, expert
ence mas verified the dictum Of the Ser
bian and Bulgarian generals in the
war OF 1913, namely, that two months
In the Held are necessary in order 70
get at the full value of reserves" Our
rnIadtry ranid .nd Is ,,ns" now accustomed to the
the defensive. In August it neither
liked, nor had the habit Of using the
spade Today those who see our
trenches are astounded. They are veri-
against the 77-mllimeter gun and often
against artillery of higher caliber. Dur.
Ing the past Ave months not a single
encounter can be cited in which our In
fantry did not have the advantage over
the German infantry. All the enemy's
attacks have been repulsed excent TO
the north of scissors. where their sue
cess was due to the flooded state of the
Atsne and the carrying away of our
bridges. Our attacks. on the other
hand, have yielded important results
and have been carried out with plenty
OF spirit. although without the impru-
dence which cost us such heavy losses
in August.
The cavalry has made remarkable
progress Throughout October this
DTdHCH was cdlleQ on 10 exc out the
inadequate numbers of the infantry
and showed itself perfectly adapted TO
the necessities of fighting on foot. sew
eral regiments of cavalry have been
used as infantry and, armed with rifles,
have rendered the most valuable sery-
ices.
The artillery has displayed a SUPER
iority in the use Of its admirable ma
terial which is recognized by the Ger
mans themselves
This chapter of the report concludes
with tributes to the work of the ayi-
ators and to the less brilliant but not
less useful work of the engineers, who
In the trench warfare which Is now be-
Ing waged have naturally been called |
upon to display great activity.
Siege War From Disc to vosees,
The third installment Of the historical
review of the war. emanating from
French official sources and purely from
the French viewpoint, received by the
Associated Press. contains a long chap
ter upon the siege war from the Disc
to the vosges. which lasted from Sep
tember 1s to November 80.
Most of the incidents in this pro-
longed and severe warfare have been
recorded in the daily bulletins. The
operations were of secondary import
ance and were conducted on both sides
with the same idea Of wearing down
the troops and the artillery of the op-
posing forces, with the view of tnflu.
encing the decisive result in the great
theater of war In the north. The next
chapter deals with the rush to the seal