El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-17


tlmenJ IN England itself, and the slug
gishness with which the British con-
Quoted the war, together with the time
~ assistance of the French under La
Fayette, the United States might still
pc British colony. ! can but quote
here what Gen. Light Horse Harry
Lee said years after the war, in writ
ing of the action or one Of our regi-
ments:
Had No Chance.
"A GOVERNMENT Is THE MUIR
DERER OF ITS CITIZENS WHICH
SENDS THEM TO THE FIELD UNIV
FORMED AND UNTAUGHT. WHERE
THEY MEET MEN OF THE SAME AGE
AND STRENGTH MCDANIEL BY
EDUCATION AND DISCIPLINE FOR
BATTLE. I CANNOT WITHHOLD MY
Dl1NUNCIATIONO OF ITS WICKEDNESS
AND FOLLY
THE false teachings of American his
tory are largely responsible for our
state OF Unpreparedness today" said
Gen. Pershing. Should we be forced
into war now, your boys would go out
into the field against very great ODDS
An Englishman recently wrote to one
of our general officers and. speaking
or the loss Of his son on the western
frontier of Europe, said: We have lost
our only son, but neither he nor his
fellows had n sporting chance--they
had never had military training
still Unprcpared.
In spite of the lessons of the revolu-
ton, the war Of 1912. 20 years later,
found the country still unprepared for
defence. The same inexcusable and
criminal neglect to anticipate the fu-
ture made 1t necessary again to enlist
unprepared citizens. mostly boys as
usual; and send them into the field I'M
der ignorant officers and without prop
er rganization-a method which pro-
duced the same needless waste of hu-
Il. lie tel
were compelled to put into the field
during this war the relatively eXhor-
bitant number of $4,000 officers and
$4,000 men, while the greatest number
OF British regulars on the American
continent at any time was less than
Il. 500.
Surrender to Smaller Number.
among the disaster of this war were
Hulrs surrender at Detroit of 1900 men
to a British force of 1920 without firing
a shot. Then Hampton with body of
5000 men, moving on Montreal. was put
to flight by n force OF 400 Canadians
and indians Gen. Wilkinson command
ing the 5000 men also moving on Mon
treal was whipped by 500 British regu-
lars at Crystlers Fields Another force
of 1000 Kentucky militia under Gen.
Hopkins, marching toward the indian
villages on the Wabash and Illinois
rivers, got scared at a prairie fire, and,
retraced their steps and fled to their
homes.
Humiliaffng Defeats.
Il shall not further recall the humil-
iating tales of defeat incident to this
war" said Gen. Pershng. Except a
small victory on the Thames. the action
at Lundy's lane, where the regular
troops covered themselves with eternal
glory and Jackson's victory at New
orleans won after peace had been de
clared. the military operations of this
war, including the surrender of the cap
ital city to the British. after the head
! long flight of our troops from Bladens-
burg. were absolutely disgraceful
Nearly all the blunders committed were
repetitiOns in an aggravated form Of
like them. had their origin either IN
mistakes or omissions Of military leg
islation.
Civil War Mistakes.
you would think that sensible
people after all our experience, would
realize the necessity for adequate
preparation. but at the beginning of the
civil war we were still adhering to
| the fatuOus policy of previous wars,
and must record the same result, total
/ failure of the volunteer system and
! tremendous loss of life and property.
These costly experiences have proved
! that it is impossible. without tremend-
Gus losses. to build up national army
! By depending upon state governments
for cooperation. In the state militia
each Of the 4S states has its own policy,
which usually changes with every new
governor and it is unreasonable to sup
pose that these troops will be fit for
war until they have had several months
/ of hard training in the field under the
/ direction of competent officers.
Central Government Mast Control.
There can not be any reliance upon
anr- n7ap for imu1 adiare 1vpDareOuegg
which does not place the details Of or
ganization and training under the con-
! troll Of the central government"
Gen. Pershing then spoke of the re-
markable changes in the art of war
that have occurred during. the past 10
years. the motor truck for troop trans
portation and supplies, wireless telegra-
ply, the use Of the airplane for scout
ing. submarine warfare and otheFim
prOvements which make military pre-
paredness before beginning Of the war
. absolutely essential He then COM
mented upon the fighting strength of
1 Europe. "Of the entire population
OF Europe" he said, rs percent is
engaged i'm this war or 90 percent of
the entire world Thirteen million men
are under arms, 100000 have been
wounded, not counting the slightly
wounded. who have been able to return
to the front, and 2,225.0O0 are prisoners
Of war. In comparison with our own
civil war, the numbers are 10 times
as great.
The Great European War.
along the western frontier OF Eu-
rope the present stage of operations of
the European war consists Of two lines
Of infantry 800 miles long, from the
ocean to the mountains, occupying deep
trenches only a few hundred yards
apart This line is held approximately
by 2,5O0OOO men on a side or nearly
five men to every yard and if it were
in the United States. il would reach
from New York city to Lake Ontario"
Contrast in Armies.
In contrasting the strength or the
standing armies Of Europe with the
United States Gen. Pershing said:
Germany has a standing army Of over
3,OOOOOO, France 100000, Russia ). 000,-
goo. Austria Hungary 100000, italy
2,bOu,O0O. Japan 2,212.O00, England $50
200 and the United States about 100, 900,
including coast artillery, but there is
today a mobile force Of only 10000 in
Inc regular army within the limits of
me united States. Add to these about
6OUO fairly trained national guard
troops and we have about 10000 men
scattered from the Atlantic to the Pa
citic. The trained soldiers in the Unit
Cd states are less than one to every
lOOO OF the population, while the aV-
erage among our possible enemies IS
60 for each 1000"
Weak Coast Defences.
H NH