Ripley County democrat., 1917-05-04

0tSCuACu uA WI - AuNM - AN66A~~5
Upton, in bis Military Policy Of tn
and treasure, which he shows witt
main, the result Of dependence upc
whether or not an enormous and
unnecessary sacrifice Of life and
treasure will attend the prosecution
OF the war upon which we are now
entering depends in large degree
on whether or not Congress Is guided
by the mistakes made In other wars
or whether II follows the make-shift
courses that civilian Judgment so
often substitutes for military knowI
edge.
The volunteer system was q failure
In the Revolution because men were
enlisted for short terms Of service
sixty and ninety days, q period too
short to enable them to be moulded
into disciplined soldiers.
The weakness of short enlistments
crippled Washington from lthe very
moment he took command at Cam
bridge. He had $1,000 men before
him; but as their terms OF enlistment
did not cover the time required to
turn recruits into disciplined soldiers,
one OF his first duties was to have
provision made for another army to
take the place Of that which should
soon leave him!
From the beginning to the end OF
the struggle almost 100000 men were
called out; yet Notwithstanding this
formidable pumber--on paper-the
most men that Washington could get
together for any one battle was 1880,
while as rule the fighting strength
Of his command was so far below
that number that an alert and aggres.
sive enemy had many opportunities
to terminate the war at one stroke
r., for Illustration, Howe had struck
at Boston. the cause would have been
lost Washington FULLY expected the
enemy to take advantage Of his well
known weakness and to strike Q
crushing blow.
Many Enrolled; Few Ready
Blind To the difference between mer
enrolled and men developed Into sol
dlers, Congress pursued It's veal
policy; and though In one year 4
summoned $500 men, Washington't
flghting strength before Princeton ant
Trenton was only 1000!
This failure to have properly or
ganized army was the result Of mill
tary Legislation by "a body Of citizen
who in their individual experience
were totally ignorant Of military al
fairs"
The cost Of this mistaken polic'
In money and In discipline was enoT
nous. Men came and went, consume
public stores, created spirit OF i1
subordinatlon, often indulsed y
shocking lawiessness, and presentl
returned to their homes. having don
little besides taking up the time OF off
GERS and being charge upon th
public treasury.
But deplorable as was the waste )
money, It was nothing In conipariso
With the evils II spread. Tive OF tn
disasters are sufiicient to show th
far.reaching effect Of the mistake
policy
In The campaign Of TITS the onl
important Offensive movement unde
taken by the Coloniats was the inv
sion of Canada. General Montgomer
crossed the frontier and invested Mo-
treai. General Arnold marchs
through the wilderness Of Maine
Canada. They joined forces, attacks
the stronghold Quebec, and the 2
sanit failed. sixty Americans wei
killed or wounded; between 800 ~
400 were made prisoners; Montgor
cry lost his life.
The failure was due TO the ctrcul
stance that the attack was made
an inopportune time. The terms 4
enlistment of nearly all Of MontgoI
ery's men we're about to expire, q
Ne knew that they would Immediate
leave him: hence he determinsd up'
flnai stroks erc hIs force Dissolve
though his military judsmeft won
have dictated otherwise had he be-
master of Ihe situation.
The second misfortune occurred
| i777 when the American command
| was unabls ID grasp the great frul
| yof the American victory over n
goyne a. Saratoga!
The lattsr's army 81 5,7sl naen y
4 Invested by : total American scr
| of 1880. and surrendered.
n why ne War Was proIonssd
VI Ordinary military wisdom wos
hare suggestsd the Immediate tra'
| jfer Or this army flushed with the
II aspiration of 4 victory, 10 Phihdelph
\ where the British army had eatahlil
ed Itself: and had this been done "a
is every reason 10 believe that 10
would have been defeated and tho ~
luton wouid have ended there inste
II of dragging along for NE more yea
Il The transfer WAS not made tecAy
81 the army was again dIssolyinss
fhs Continuation oi the var
another Ave years cost at least {Sl