Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1917-07-19
Some Things for America 10 Consider

(By Spencer Wilkinson. Professor OF
Military History Oxford University.
written for The United Press).
ARTICLE ONE.
LONDON, July 5.-(By MaiD.-In
my judgemnt the important matters
for nation going into war are these:
First Of ALL the statesmen and the
people should have a true conception
OF the nature of war and Of the char
acter OF the particular war they are /
taking up. Otherwise the leading can /
not be right. The supreme leader is /
always the s>>tesman and In demo /
cratic country the people must un-
derstand and sympathise with the
statesman. II he sees too fur ahead /
they won't follow and II the popular
/ ideas on the subject OF war are not
true the greatest leader may be Grip
/ pied
In the military sphere the first
thing is the choice OF a commander
and his assistants. When raising an
army the vital matter is the choice
and education Of the officers. In the
training OF troops all soldiers viii
say the thing 70 aim at IS discipline
and the best means OF giving It, pro-
viding the officers have been we'll
chosen and rightly taught, is to teach
} the soldiers to shoot and to march.
an war" said Napoleon, writing
= to his brother Joseph, "the men are
nothing. One man is everything"
At the end Of his career, Napoleon
, dictated a pamphlet which he called
Notes OF the Art OF War. the purpose
OF which was to explain TO govern
! ments and nations about to go to
war how to set about Il. He said "the
. principles OF the art OF war are those
which guided the great captain OF
the past-Alexsnder. Hannibal. Gaze
: snr, Gustavus, Adolphus. Turenne.
Prince Eugene and Frederick the
, Great" Reviewing the campaigns Of
5 these commanders Napoleon pfinted
out that on all the vital points the
! practice OF all OF them was the same.
u He then reviewed his own campaigns
and concluded by saying that "you
should make your war as they made
: It and model yourself upon them" for
u there is no other way OF mastering
] the secrets OF war. In other words,
"a knowledge OF the high parts OF
/. war can be obtained only by study
IL ing the history OF great campaigns
and by experience"
In an army that has passed through
a long period Of peace, experience is
. necessarily lacking; a knowledge OF
n war IS possessed only by those who
have studied It in the way Napoleon
recommended. Such a student was
the late Admiral Mahan. OF the Uni
Il ted States Navy No writer in any
l. country has shown a stronger GRASP
r. OF war OF better illuminated by his
e writings its larger aspects. especially
in all that concerns maritime war
u fare.
e My first point Is: Warfare cannot
q be conducted without knowledge, but
10 in the choice OF a commander the
e first requisite Is not knowledge. bui
character. II / were looking for 4
e commander-in.c chief I should searci
IS above all for a man Of high purpose
n who. ] could be sure. would think o
his duty, only OF HIS country ant
never OF himself. In war more thai
in any other OF the affairs OF life, thu
saying holds good IF thine eye b
single thy whole body shall be ful
I Of light
l. I think that Grant as a general an
as commander OF the armies in IN
Civil War had the single eye and
IA had a remarkably strong charaote
! Sherman before setting OF for Altar
a to spand an evening in conversatio
"a with an intimate friend. one OF hi
NJ best cavalry generals, who report
n that late at night they talked littl
- about Grant. After a pause, Sherman
n looking in the fire, said:
he Il know a lot more about hlstor
,e and law and war than Grant does
Id but I'll tell you where he beats m
TX and where he beats the lot OF US. IL
m doesn't care a damn for what h
can't see the enemy doing and
scares me like hell"
Sherman was a good judge OF IN
kind OF character that a commander
in.chief requires.
In the second place your command
er must have that grip of affairs an
= breadth Of view which are general
associated with a liberal education
and, which give TO those who knoV
. him the impression of a man OF large
than the common mold.
Nothing is more fatal in war tina
the appointment OF generals fer an
. other reason than their capacity 70
. generalship. More battles have bee
lost by the appointment Of comman,
ers for political OF personal reason
: than from any other single cause.