Evening star., 1916-03-26
ANCIENT MILITARY "HARANGUES''

A dispatch dated Paris. March 81.
conveys through Gen. Alexieff. chief of
the Russian general STAFF.
Modern the fluctuations of the
czar to Gen. Joffre for the
CnaAses. brilliant conduct of the
Goth Army Corps at Verdun, Gen. Alex
Jeff adding his own expressions of adj
miration. The incident suggests the
changes wrought by electric wire in
many ways. and not the least in the
matter of the ancient military ha
rangue. which. by reason of the vast
numbers engaged and the great length
Of battle lines. has been superseded by
the telephone and the proclamation
The personal address or ''harangue" OF
the generalissmo is no longer pos
sible. This duty now devolves upon
the division and brigade commanders
colonies of regiments and captains of
companies. Formerly the harangue OF
the Roman general was made from a
mound surrounded by his legion massed
about him.
The books of history. and among
these the ''Conciones" of the Latins.
contain the harangues of their chiefs
to their troops. Thus. Furius camillus,
the second founder of Rome. who. ad-
dressing the troops he would lead
against the Gauls at Antium 1899 B. c.,
whence he would bring back the
brazen prows of the galleys as trophies.
harangued the Roman army At Latium
which feared the coalition of the An
tiates, the 1.atins and the Herniques:
Companions where are the joys and
the desire to fight l have always seen
in your eyes? Have you forgotten who
] am, who you are. and who your en-
emies? Do you not owe to the Vols
ques and Latins the glory you have
acquired? Have you not conquered
Neies. defeated the Gauls and delivered
Rome under my orders? Am ] no long
er Camillus because ! have not the
title of dictator? Attack only. and as
usual our enemies will fly before YOU"
In no period has the soldier been per-
without some idea
Informinp the of the cause for
Fighting Man. impsru his life
Nor is this true alone of the civilized
soldiers The native African chief ha-
raneues his men before the battle. and
always after. taking care to accentuate
the fact that but for his leadership
the battle would have been lost. on
the other hand. if the battle had gone
against them the chief does not hesi-
tate to place the blame on his men.
The chief is not always prudent or
wise. The writer on one occasion in
the African jungle. interposed to save
the life of Gimmoro, chief of the
Fatiko. vino counting too much upon
his capacity as a cloud compeller and a
cloud controller. haranGued his men.
who had been deluged by frightful
transform. which had caused them
great hardship and suffering. Sim
moro. overconfident in sudden indi-
cations of fair weather. made A speech
and ordered the rains to cease most
peremptorily. The heavens rebelled
however and the rains set in during
the night with renewed violence. The
following day. the storm perststing and
Gimmoros prestige hopelessly gone the
Fatikos would have killed their chief
but for my intervention. I was obliged
to explain that whilst Gimmoro was an
undouhted rain maker, he was no good
as rain stopper. but that | was. The
storm having ceased my argument was
readily accepted
Modern captains like the famed Bay
ard. the chevalier without fear and
without reproach" Henri ", Conde
Charles XII. have maintained the an
'touitiohS DIS 10 HdFanSueS 10
their troops.
Chevalier Bayard GPierre TerraiI,
Ssr. de) won imperishabie renown
during the wars of Charles VIII, Louis
MI and Francois /. His bravery and
generosity excited the admiration of
his enemies and won for him the
unique title of "chevalier without fear
and without reproach." He defended
alone the bridge at Garigliano against
200 Spanish noblemen. He was killed at
Abbrate-grasso in 1924. and before dy-
ing he severely reproached the Bour-
bon constable with his infamous con-
duct. Besieged at Mezieres. Bayard
harangued his men, praising the re-
sources of the fortress. the solidty of
the ramparts and the succor that was
certain:
Comrades, shall it be said of US
as a reproach that Mezieres was lost
by our fault when we are
Bayard's in such good company
AIJ and with such good peo-
pie? 1t seems to me that
If we were in a meadow, with nothing
before us but a ditch of four feet, still
we might fight whole day before be-
ing defeated. But. thank God, we have a
wall and rampant. where, l think, be-
fore our enemies place their feet many
of them will sleep in the ditch"
Julius Caesar in the midst of his vic
tories was always certain of repressing
rebellion or indiscipline by disdain and
t;.e aDDlication of the word .'uuiriteS"