Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1917-11-08
intimate Sketches Of Short and
Pershlnu by One VINO
Knows Them.
THEIR RECORDS As FIGHTERS
Both Generals Careful Planners and
Each Has an Envlable Record for
Getting Big Results By
Hard Fighting.
by EDWARD Q. CLARK.

Of the American expediti0nary force
In France. there was given study Of
the temperament, characteristics,
methods and personal attributes Of
Mai. Gems. John ]. Pershing and VIII
liam L. Slbert.
Here Is one thing that was said OF
the senior major general:
"Pershlng IL Of the quick-on.the-trig-
ger style. He Is Of the dashing type,
nervous, always on the 60. like sur
charged battery, stirring up everybody
he comes in contact with, forcing them
along at top speed"
Here Is what Is said Of the Junior
major general, who commands the d.
vision In the field:
"SIbert IL q deliberate, methodlcal.
tireless worker, watching every detail,
inslstent that reports Of his young Of
fcers be accurate, comprehensive. GOV.
ering every angle-of the type that Ii
persistent and sure he Is an
engineer with q training for accuracy
that figures down thOusandths of
an inch"
Now, in order to show that there IL
no thought on the part Of the writer
that he has appraised these men too
lightly, he says this:
"There are two big Jobs with two
big men to al them. The dashlng Per
shing and the 'methOdical Sibert make
a team that will be hard to beat when
their machine once starts"
American military officers from
Pershing down to the hast second lieu
tenant realize that this IL q war Of
method, a methodlcal war in other
words, and that It Is also largely an
engineering war. The picture that one
gets Of Pershing from the cabled ar
ticle Is lust such as one carries In his
mind Of Custer on the plains, his vel
low hair streaming in>the wind, a Colt
revolver In his left hand, q dazzling
saber in his right hand. charging head
long, regardless Of bullets, into the
heart Of q Sioux horde.
In q methodlcal war army men say
that this daredevil gallantry does not
win, and nobody knows It better than
PershinR. II the war department had
believed that Pershing was quick on
the trigger In the sense in which that
expression usually II. employed, ne
would not have been sent to France.
The campaign which John J. Per
shIng led against the enemy In the
Lake Lanac district in the Philippines
was O methodical campaign. 1t was
conducted on strict military lines, and
there was no '.forcing them along ut
ton speed" It was this campaign
which promoted Pershing from a cap
taincy to a brigadier generalship. he
win not sacrifice American lives In
France by q recklessness which IL for
eign to his nature, and absolutely Tor
eign to modern methods Of fighting.
Now az for William L. Slbert, have
said what I have about Pershlng from
q study Of his career and from a hum
dred or more expressions Of opinion
which, concerning him, have come to
me from army men who know him well
personally.
In the recently printed, and I think
misleading, although unintentionally
30, description Of Slbert's Characters
tics as q man and q soldier. he II de-
scrIbed 40 deliberate and methOdical,
giving close attention to the tiny
things and in fact having O purely
and mathematlcally methOdlcal mind.
Bluntly speaking. It makes Sibert q
student rather than q soldier.
Now for the truth Of this thing.
When william L. Slbert was q Junior
officer Of engineers serving in the Phil.
ippines he did both engineering and
fighting work 30 well that II called
forth the praise Of the general COM
mandInR, Theodore Schwan. The rec
ord Of It IL in the war department
today. General Schwan said that this
engineer insisted on having Q place
on the firing line at al times.
II was William I. Slbert who stood
alongside Of Reilly's battery, the Rel
" who afterwards was killed at Pc
king at the front Of q battlefield In
the Philippines, and there stood like
q rock against the furious clOse-range
IRE Of the enemy. II was Hibert who
under Gre On this same battlefield.
knelt beside the gallant MAJ. Wood
bridge Geary, who fell at the first nre
and died within few mOmenth
The methodical SIbert II a. quick on
the trigger % any man ought to Be-
he u q fighter Of the nrst rank. ! DO
not think that contradiction win come
from the war department II I should
put into words something which I long
have suspected Il IL my belief that
q certain military report Q nghtns
program report which IN effect o.
clared that there was no such thing a
the impossible where q real mflltnEy
end Il 10 be gained. . report which
q q said was made By. Blbert,
caused this fns junior bFigadler sen
eral % Be jumped over the heads q