Albuquerque morning journal., 1916-02-21
ItLVLItSION To NApOLEON's
TACTICS.

General Bonnparto, in his earlier
battles. employed the tactics Of Fred.
erick the Great and Turcnne. He de-
pended for success upon the great IN
sniration Of his soldiers. But the
spirit OF the revolution which had
cd less and less fierccly IN the armies
of the empire. aud the emperor was
hard put 70 II 10 find a substitute
for enthusiasm.
The substitute was cannon. lie
wheeled into line hundred pieces Of
artillery. an unhcard-of cxpedicni.
Their fire blew hole In the encmy's
line at the vital point. and into this
gap the great captain thrust infantry
and cavalry. His opponents finally
learned his methods and practlsed the
same al Leipzig, while WELLINGTON At
Waterloo stationed his men behind
the ridge as long as the storm Of shot
prevailed
Rifle fire oquallcd cannon fire hy
tile time Of our civil war, rendering
futile such attempts as that Of Lee at
etisahurg to oVerwhelm the defense
With artillery fire and likewise rcn-
dering worthless frontal assaults, with
or without artillery preparation, az
Fredericksburg aud cold Harbnr, as
well AZ Gettysburg. demonstrated
0utflanking movements became tho
one effectual recourse. Stonewail
Jaekaon's genius WAS exhibited IN
surprising ouiflunkIng movements,
elaborated what the civil war evolved.
Germany early IN the war attempt
ed again to exemplify the system Of
Won Moltke. Iindenburg achieved 4
tactical masterpiece ut Tannenherg.
and In France the invaders attempted
90 produce a magnIficd Sedan The
same was true Of the attempts. over
and over again. Of the Germans to
close their pineers on the forces Of
the Grand Duke Nicholas in Poland
and Russia
But developments AZ Won Moltke
conceived them, havo been. proved
we'll nigh impossible under tho con.
ditIons Of this war The opposing
lines are too extended and there are
virtually no flanks IL force is cut
off and surrounded, the fault Of the
local commander accounts for what
is merely accidental In this war
aasailable flanks are not disclosed,
because the lines Of the opposing
armies stretch from sca TO neutral
frontiers.
Frontal assaults thus become inn
peratlVe again. development by the
Germans having failed In France the
second month Of the war. the often
sive was forced to resort to frontal
attacks, Of which those against Ypfes
were the most persistent aud san
culinary. The Germans are said 70
have wasted a quarter OF million
men In their assaults upon the ypros
salient and thereabouts The eNhhi-
tion demonstrated that even the ut
most galor ana devotion can not sue.
ceod IN direct attack, no more now
than at Cola Hafhor in 1864, or
Grayelolte in 1870. or Ido.yang In
1904.
The Gcrmans discovered last spring
a new tactical cNpedent. exactly aa
did Napoleon Ia ls0e. Hut they did
not learn unta after Ypres aud after
lltndenbufes $ repeated, vain and cost
ls attacks ii year age, and NOR
aemHsi Warsaw Maekensen blew ln
The Ianow defensive line Of the
Grand Duke Nicholas with artillery
fire massod and concentrated. pre-
ciseiy hi The Nanoleonlc manner Ana
the british and French, in their great
offensive last fall. used the same e',.
pediei against Lens and in the
Champagne region.
The first great discovery Of the wur
was that fixed land foftresses we're
easily dominated iy heavy field ord.
nance. The sccond that frontal as.
saults can succeed, provided the ar
tiliera preparation has been suffi.
oient Hence, We behold reverson
10 the tactics OF the Emperor Na.
poleon.