El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-06-04
IT IS THE SOUL THAT WINS IN
WAR IS0LD GREED9F CEN. F0GH
Commander in Chief Of Allied Armies Says "a Battle
Lost Is Battle That You Think You Cannot
GAIN; Persuades the French to Quit Initiating
the Germans and to Study Napoleon More.
By JOHN L. BALDERsTON.

7 ONDON. Eng. June An war
II men are nothing man is every
tEinE." This saying Of Napoleon
comes naturally TO the mind in be-
ginning a story about Gen Foch. for
it IS one of the maxims Of the en-
peror which the great strategist who
is now directing all our armies is
most fond Of quoting. Twice I have
met Foch- once in London, once in
Paris on each occasion. he uttered
few polite pharses. the sort Of thing
generals say to correspondents. with
out great interest were 7 at liberty
TO quote them. which am not.
But 7 have found a way Of seeing
inside the head Of the man upon
whose brain and nerve depend the
tate Of the world For many years
the master OF our troops was profess
sor Of military history at the French
school Of War and from his chair
he drove into the minds of a whole
generation Of French staff officers
his views about war. above all. about
this war, for which he spent most Of
life preparing himself and his pupils
Today those men who studied under
Maj Foch. believing in him as they
all do. delight in recalling how he
used TO break away from the techni-
cal subjects under discussion and re-
veal in cries from his heart his dis
trust in mechanical German formulas.
1T is the soul that wins battles-' he
would say, and add, 1T was not Cae-
sar's Roman leEiOns who conquered
GauL II was Caesar. the soul OF Cae-
sar-"
Believes in Preparation.
A mere boy during the Franco
Frussian war OF 1870, Foch saw hard
service, and Immediately afterwards
went through St Cyr. the French
" est Point Within a few years he
became professor OF strategy, and
French officers credit Foch. espe-
ciaIly between the years 1886 and 1901.
with revolutiOuizing the French con-
ceDLion Of the war Of tomorrow" He
believed and taught the most thor
ough scientific preparation, he
preached efficiency night and day, but
he would declare repeatedly with
savage emphasis his disbelief in Ger
man military science The science Of
war does not exist. but only the in
stinct for it," he would say, and often
quoted with approval saving OF
science, war is a melodrama, fright
1ul and passionate"
Moral Force Rules Armies.
OF greatest interest, in judging the
character Of Eoch today by his words
Of years ago is the l1sisrence which
he always placed upon the personal
ity Of the general-his viii, his belief
in himself. as wei as his knowledge
and competence a battle lost is
battle which you think you cannot
GAIN he would appr0viugly quote,
year after year. TO his classes Two
other favOrite quotations Of F0ch are
on the lips OF his old pupils in these
days For there's nothing either
good or bad. but thinking makes il
So from Hamlet. and moral force is
the mistress Of armies" attributed to
The French colonial general BuEeaud.
But Eoch never relied upon i1spira-
ton or VIII power 70 make up for
blunders or stupidity arising from
lack Of knowledge Of the art OF war
Each year, at the end Of his lectures
he would tell his pupils TO make them
remember, the unchanging and uu-
changeable character Of fundamental
principles no invention, no new
machine. no increase in the number Of
your electives, can change the mex
CRADLE laws OF war. Great command I
ers may sometimes appear TO achieve /
success by breaking the rules, but
examine closely and you viii find
that the career OF each OF them is