Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-08-27
WAR AS A NEW SCIENCE

War, one Of the Oldest occupations of man, has be-
come a new science, and regulations won in it must, for
the greater part, be won in a manner different from that
with which we have become familiar in studying the
lives Of the worlds great generals. So far as the on
locker is concerned, the spectacular element which al
ways attended the campaign of movement has been prac-
ticaly oblterated, and we have come to base our esti-
mate Of an army on its ability to give and take punish
ment rather than on its ability to perform surprising and
unexpected featz- &c.,. ~
Generals Of the olden time operated over wide ex-
panses Of territory which were. often destitute Of popula-
ton, and which. again. were 'peopled only by peasants
and villagers who took no part in the proceedings. To
illustrate the point we need, not go back to the time Of
Alexander and Caesar, but have only to glance at the
events Of our own civil war. Grant at vicksburg, sher-
man on his march to the sea, Sheridan with his rapidly
moving columns, Lee at Gettysburg, all operated under
conditions which have no parallels in the field where the
greatest battles of this war are being fought. Relatively,
they commanded few men, They had a freedom Of move
ment which is unknown in France. Their campaigns
were fluid. and in them all there was the wide sweep
Of action that the crowd always loves to see.
Thus far the operations in France have more nearly
resembled a continuous siege, with men massed in close
formation, and gains or losses often measured by yards.
Foch, the master strategist, has matters in his own
hands. and we may view his work in the large. but those
who support him. Petain. Haig and Pershing. stand
elbow to elbow. with their forces in many cases overlap
ping and intermingled, so that except to the initiated it
is impossible to identify their work or follow it contin-
uously. ~ y
There have been EXCEPTIONS. Of course. When the
fun history Of the war is written. II it ever is, some
thrilling chapters will be devoted to the campaigns on
the Russian front and along the northern slopes Of the
Carpathiana, where, upier conditions Of strategy more
nearly resembling those Of our civil war, great armies
swung back and forth across hundreds Of miles Of coun-
try. and where the long march was more familiar than
the trench raid We will learn, too, more about the ad-
vance Of the Brittsh mp the Tigris valley, Of the obstacles
met and how they were overcome. We will, perhaps see
the laconic dispatch telling that a British force had
taken possession Of Baku expanded into a war classic;
we are told of forced marches across a broken and desert
country to gain the shores Of the Caspian and make Sc
cure from German control the great oil depot Of south
eastern Europe
All Of these stories will be told, and the telling Of
them in such form that they will seize upon the imasin-
alton will be a worthy task for many great writer's. But
Of the campaigns in the west, where the men are maseed
and the trenches are deep and strong. what is to be said
of our generals and our men up to the present save that
they fought, and fought, and fought, again? Unless.
perhaps, the variations are to come, and that presently
the Huns will be got into sufficiently rapid motion for our
generals to weave some picturesque features around the
march to Berlin