The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-03-02
WAR WILL LAST
ANOTHER WINTER
SAYS GENERAL
Continued, from page 1.)

''The trench warfare prevailing
since has been purely a matter of tao
tics, without either side being able to
make any maneuver in the realm of
strategy. stonewh Pill Jackson suffered
tactical reverse at Kernstown but
won a strategical success by forcing.
the Union commanders to move great
forces in all directions.
People wonder frequently why,
with the superior resources in man
power undoubtedly possessed by the
Allies, more progress toward victory
is not made. The reason lies in the
form Of strategy which made your
Civil War so long and enabled Napo-
leon to keep his back to the wall so
long, when he had coalition of
Europe against him. Lee and Napo-
leon warred on interior lines from a
central position, and they had the
genius to make the best possible use
Of the great advantage this gave
them.
THE Germans understand this form
of strategy SO well that even in peace
times their economic necessities are
frequently to military needs. In their
transportation system alone the re-
suit of this policy can be- seen. Lee
and his small army held back greatly
superior forces for four years and,
there is no reason to anticipate, on
purely military grounds, an early col
lapse Of the Germans.
'Of course, Lee operated on battle
lines measured in miles while the
present fronts extend almost across
continents, but the principle of STRAIT
egg, covering time and space, remain
the same, so the duration of this war
Is not surprising.
"I see no indication of what has
been asserted, that the Germans are
withdrawing at some places along our
front. because OF a desire to force open
fighting This movement is retire
ment forced on them. They do not
like it any more than we did when,
after the second battle of Ypres, we
had to retire a shorter distance to
straighten our lines.
s'You may be sure no army likes to
retire and therefore it is certain that.
the Germans will make a determined
effort somewhere to restore their lost
prestige We are now merely gather
ing the fruits Of our winter operations,
the result of which is that from Arras
to the Ancre, a salient decidedly dan
gerous to German positions, has been
{ "Our raids on the Somme front gave
us commanding positions from which
our artillery fire was much more eff
fective The Germans, who no longer
are occupying snug and well con-
dugouts. are more than anx-
ioms to retire to "a safer line. They
also probably counted on making our
preparations for an offensive over
this ground abortive by giving UP
their front line and compelling us to
alter our plans.
S II have no patience with the idea
that the Germans are at the end of
their fighting resources. They still are
capable of and will put up a strong
fight From a purely military stand
point I see no reason why the war
shouIdi not go through another winter
but conditions outside the military
zone may operate to end it sooner.
"How far the shortage of food in
Germany has affected the physique
and morals of the latest recruits
cannot say, but some deterioration
from this source is almost certain and J
will become more and more effective
with the passage Of time. Without |
morale even the genius Of Lee could
never have won his victories, and in
our armies I believe that we have the |
as we1l as the material SUI
periority, which will result in ulti-
mate victory
Gen. Maurice belongs to a family of
students. His father was
professor of military science in the
war staff college and was famous as a |
expert. Work begun by
Gen. Maurice on a military biography
Of Gen. Robert e. Lee had to be de-
ferred after only two chapters had |
been written, by the European war;