Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-20
HA|G LOVING, MILD,
LION ON BATTLEFIELD
From Battalion Commander He
Has Grown Into One of the
Ablest Soldiers of the War.

about himself He praises others, and is
slow to censure. Sometimes his govern
ment has failed to send him reinforce
ments when his need Of them was sore;
but he has not complained. In more than
four wears of war he has always been at
the front, engaged with rare respite IN
what may be called intensive fighting.
often of the most desperate character
The wonder is that he has gone through
the ordeal with sound brain and strength
apparently unimpaired There have been
three commanders of the French armies
since mid-Deccmber. 1915, but only one
commander of the British Has any other
soldier in history been exposed 10 greater
strain upon his faculties than Sir Douglas
Haig has endured and triumphcd over IN
the last three years less three months?
Yet all that Is known Of blm by AmCrI-
cans. and by most of his countrymen, for
that matter. is that his name figures a
good deal in headlines. Ii is impossible to
dissocatc him from the British Army,
ONLY ONCE SHOWED EMOTION.
For once ID. Haig. so he signs his name,
showed more emotion than was over
wrung from him before by success or
failure. "Wc have passed through many
dark DAYS, he said IN the address to his
troops. Please God. these never viii re-
turn This great soldier. for such he Is.
go : to little Presbyterian church behind
the lines every Sunday morning. and when
he speaks the name Of God, which is
seldom. lest his picty seem ostentatious.
1t is with reverence One of these dark
DAYS was April II of the present year.
when the British Army was fighting for
its life in the Iprcs sector. where it had
bled so much. but always ndomitablv
L. q. II
to the Wall" order Of the dav, in which
he said with simplicity with something
of the sublime in it:
MANY among us now are tired. To
those would say that victory viii belong
to the side which holds out tho longest
The French army Is moving rapidly and
In great force to our support. There IS
no other course open to us but to fight II
out. Every position must he held 10 the
last man. There must be no retirement.
SAVED BRITISH ARMY.
What has Sir Douglas Haig not done
in his four years and more in France that
an accomplished and intrepid soldier
should do? With Sir Horace Smith
Dorrien. his fellow corps commander, he
more than once saved the British Army
on its retreat from Mons It's historian.
Major Ernest W Hamilton. saws that
one hundred Victoria Crosses were
earned on that glorious retirement for
every one gwen. One thiri of the expe-
dltionary army sleep the long Sleep IN
France Smth-Dorrlen. whose health
broke down under the strain. and Haig
r the man of iron. We'd with each other IN
fighting rearguaui actions until flesh and
blood could end,nc no moro Tho escape
ot remnants OF brgades hordcrcd on the
miraculous. we shall have 10 hold on
here for whileIf We all die for IT said
Haig on one desperate occasion
The British Army was ALWAYS holding
on, every extrcation from the German
cnvelopment was like a forlorn hope
smith, Dorrieu. he Of the eagle eve and
massive Jaw. was never himself again
Hoig. who did not take life SO tragcallv,
lived through many dark days with
CLEANS of glory
IN RAIN or SHE'LL. WITH MF~.
The fi~st Yprcs was sS touch-and-go
5 business as anything experienced in the
retreat from Mons The 9Th Division.
1900 strong when il left England, lost
236 officers out OF 400. and 9.664 men.
On the darkest day. when all seemed lost,
down the Menin road galloped Sir Dough
as Hang and his smart escort of the 18th
Iancers, shells falling thicl, about them.
to encourage the faltcring troops-for
no other reason. the General place being
behind the line
On another dav--it was at Chcluvet-
he stood on a road in consultation with
Sir John French. who had given an order
for the army 10 fall back, when a courier
rode up 10 say that the Germans were
retiring Sir Charles Fitzclarence, an
Irisn soldier, had thrown Norfolk bat
talon into q breach in the enernv's line
and turned the tide Of battle So critical
was all the Ypres fighting. 50 suddenly
did shafts of success pierce the pail of
oeteat.
HAfG, RrNTTESs NEMESIS.
Haig was Sir John Frenchs right
arrn, snd when the veteran retired the
Government, IN naming the Scotchman
for supreme command, reflected the hone
of the army. Upon the battle Of the
Somme, which he fought himself with
tired and with green troops, SIR Douglas
Haig's fame will mainly rest 1t was the
hardest and the longest battle ever re-
corded. The enemy had TO be pred out
OF ne Gibraltar after another. Criven
from one Plevna after another. but ever
the British Army, under the tireless and
patient Halg, moved relentlesSlv for
ward.
The British losses were 100000. the
German losses much greater If tho
commanding General ever showed q
trace OF the tremendous strain nobody
has made mentlol of the fact The
whole wear OF 1917, up to November.
when Haig WAS in front OF Cambria. he
pressed his advantage. Then came a
loss of ground In surprise attack. and in
March of this year began the German
offensive which was 10 end the war
There were more dark days for a British |
Army overwhelmed by numbers. The
Back TO tie Vail order held its ranks |
mvIolabie.
81, HANDSOME, STRONG.
This Scotch gentleman, son OF John |
Haig Of Ramornie, IN Fife who com |
mands 100000 British and Colonial |
troops, rs IN the prime Of life at 81, tall. (
hthe, well KNIT, a consummate horse /
man, fair OF complexion, blue of eve. |
N manner gracious, reserved but kindly. /
Il have rarely seen masculine face so |
handsome and yes to strong, saws one who
tired to interview him He shuns pnh-
hcity An industro Is student of the
profession of arms, II is said that he
never commanded larger body Of men
than regiment In battle before the great
war.
The influence of the genial duke of
Cambridge secured him a commission
after he had been rejected for defective
eyeslght. SIR John French saved him |
from drowning IN the Modder River
IL the Boer war.
KNOWN as LUCKY HAIG.