American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1915-09-02
NO BATTLE GENIUS YET.

journal the question was asked, from what source the
great soldier OF the war would spring; the soldier that
would stand out as Alexander did, as Caesar did, as Napo-
leon did, the one wonderful battle genius who could COM
pei Fate to obey him; who could call up his forces from a
hundred sources, have them at his bidding and then launch
one 9Iow that would at once be overwhelming and decisive.
During the year some great new names have appeared
but SO lar they belong only to the realm of science.
80 Tar they have been but mathematicians. They
have been demonstrating the utmost that perfect mathe-
NAUTICAL rules applied to the science of war can produce, as
q teacher makes clear to a class what in a given formula
X equals.
The leaders of the armies of Europe in Napoleon's
time were all familiar with the rules under which at that
time wars were fought.
Napoleon beat them in detail and then altogether and
moved on from victory to victory for twenty years, by do
ing what the enemy did not expect at impossible times.
IL was not haphazard work, but was under a regular sys-
tenn, but the system was a child of his own genius, and
while his enemies saw the result of it, they could not
initiate it.
SO far the war has been fought by rule, nowhere un-
der the battle canopies have those divine flashes been seen
which point the way to that order of victory which is
decisive.
1t has been simply force against force-armies have
simply been machines, and generals have been merely en-
gineers to direct the machines.
The forces have been merely material forces and as
a rule their successes have been due to the differences in
the weight and accuracy of the missiles hurled at each
other.
Said Dessaix, when he reached the battlefield of Mar
engo at 3 d. M: "Sire, this looks to me like a battle lost.
Napoleon lowered the glass from his eyes, and replied:
at looks to me like a battle won" Then Dessaix looked
at his watch and said: eyes, it is only three o'clock"
The corps of Victor and Launes had been falling back
for two hours and were terribly shattered, but the en-
peror giving Dessaix orders where to strike, IN person
rode among the retreating troops, and crying to them that
they had retreated far enough, to halt, reform and take
the offensive, that a reinforcement had come, IN ten MN
utes changed the face of things and made victory certain
Dessaix was killed, but when the night came down on the
long roll of the emperor's triumph Marengo was the
brightest and is still a name for Frenchmen to conJure by
Warfare has changed. No general can now look over
more than a section of a battle field; the telegraph IS a
generals chief aide; the war is no longer between armies
but. between nations: the methods have all changed; the
scouts are in the clouds; it is as though l%ightnings were
the commanders and the earthquake their fighting ma
chine; there seems to be no chance for mere individuals
to separate themseles from the mass and shine out th'
concentrated elements Of genius incarnated IN one man
AT least. up to date, while many scientific soldiers
have distinguished themselves, the distinction has beer
that which comes from culture.
There has not been one that seems to have been porI
an inspired battle genius.-Goodwins Weekly.