Omaha daily bee., 1918-11-26
SIR Douglas Hang
New York Times.

duced does not speak for himself or about HIM
self. He praises Others and is slow to censure
Sometimes his government has tailed 10 seho
him re-inforcements when his need Tor them
was sore; but he has not complained. IN more
than four years of war he has always peeh al
the 'front.' engaged with rare respite in what may
be called intensive fighting often OF the most
desperate character. The wonder is that ne
has gone through the ordeal with sound BRAIN
and strength apparently unmpalred mere
have been three commanders OF the french
armies since mid December, 1915 but only one
commander of the British Has any other SOL
der in history been exposed to greater STRAIN
upon his faculties than Sir Doug las Haig has
endured and triumphed over in the last three
years. less three months' Yet all that IS known
of him by Americans and by most OF his coul-
trymen for that matter, is that his name hgures
a good deal in headlines, 1t is impossible TO
dissociate him from the British army. On Sep
TENDER 10 Field Marshal Haig in an order OF the
day thanked it for its valor and DEVOTION:
THE capture of $4,000 prisoners and I?O
guns in the course of four weeks'fghtlng speaks
for the magnitude of your efforts and the mag
nifcence of your achievement"
For once D. Haig-so he signs his name
showed more emotion than was ever Wrung
from him before by success or failure, We
have passed through many dark days" he said
ocNt
these never will return" This great soldier, tor
such he is, goes to little Presbyterian church
behind the lines every Sunday morning, and
when he speaks OF the name of God which IS
c-'Aom, lest his piety seem ostentatlous, 1t IS
: h reverence. One of those dark days was
April II of the present year. when the British
army was fighting for its life in the 4pres sec
domitably Sir Douglas Haig then issued his
ba fine wall" order of the day:
MANY among us now are tired 10 those
| would say that victory will belong to the side
which holds out the longest. The French army
is moving rapidly and in great force to our sup
port There is no other course open to us but
to fight it out. Every position must be held to
the last man. There must be no retirement.
What has Sir Douglas Haig not done in his
four years and more in France that an accom-
pshed and intrepid soldier should do? With
Sir Horace Smith orren, This fellow corps
commander, he more than once saved the Brit
ish army on its retreat from Mons Its histor
ian, Mai Ernest W. Hamilton, says that I0O
Victoria crosses were earned on that glorious
retirement for every one given, One-thrd OF
the expeditonary army sleep the long sleep in
France, Smith-Dorrien, whose health broke
down under the strain, and Haig the man OF
iron, We'd with each other in fighting rearguard
actions until flesh and blood could endure no
more. The escape of remnants OF brlgades Dor
dered on the miraculous. We shall have to
hold here for a while if we all die for it" said
Haig on one desperate occasion. The British
army was always holding on; every extrication
from the German development was like for
lorn hope. SmithDorren, he of the eagle eye
and massive jaw, was never himself again. Hang,
who did not take his life so tragically, lived
through many dark days with CLEANS OF glory.
The first Ypres was as touch-and-go bust
ness as anything experienced in the retreat from
when it left England, lost 1856 officers out OF 4O0,
and 1904 men. On the darkest day, when all
seemed lost, down the Menin road galloped Sir
Douglas Hag and his smart escort OF the Sew
teenth Lancers, shells falling thick about them,
to encourage the faltering troops-for no other
reason, the generals place being behind the line.
On another day--it was Cheluvet-he stood on
a road in consultation with Sir John French.
who had given an order for the army to fall
back, when courier rode up to say that the
Germans were retiring. Sir Chafles Fltzclar-
ence an Irish soldier, had thrown a Norfolk
battalion into breach in the enemys line and
turned the tide of battle. SO critical was all
the Ypres fighting, so suddenly did shafts OF
success pierce the pail of defeat. Haig was Sir
John French's right ARM and when the veteran
retired the government. in naming the Scotch
man for supreme command, reflected the hope
Of the army.
This Scotch gentleman, son of John Haig of
Ramornie. in Fife, who commands 100000
British and colonial troops, is in the prime OF
life at 81, tall, 1.-THE. we'll knit" a consummate
norseman, fair of complexion, blue of eye, in
manner gracious, reserved, but kindly. Il have
rarely seen masculine face so handsome and
vet so strong" says one who tried to interview
him. He shuns publicity. An industrious STU
ient of the profession of arms, it is said that he
never commanded larger body of men than
.egment in battle before the great war The
influence of the genial duke of Cambridge Sc
cured him a commission after he had been re-
ected for defective eyesight Sir John French |
saved him from drowning in the Modder river
n the Boer war. Lucky" Haig he has always
,een called. He predicted the war with Ger
many in letter to Field Marshal Sir Evelyn |
Wood years ago. He has refused peerage, |
out is knight of the priced Order of the This
le He has owed much to his aristocratic con-
lections, but infinitely more to the virtues of |
lis race and to inherent soldierly qualities. He |
las keen sense of humor. He is never visibly |
angry. Born in the purple and favorite at
,ourt and in Mayfair, he is soldiers soldier"
There are many Hags on the British army list, |
,ut only one Sir Douglas. Modest and indiffer- |
mt to fame, he will be reckoned among the |
,reat commanders of the greatest war in history. |
A Famous Railroad Car