Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-11-29

other things a matter OF personality.
The greater the task the more im-
portant do these moral factors be-
come. Confidence and faith in ulti-
mate victory are the bonds which
unite the commander and his troops,
The group and army commands dis
! played initiative and understanding In
assisting us in our extremely arduous
| task. We always maintained con-
slant interchange of views with them,
| although the final decision rested with
us. General headquarters had, fur
Their to smooth out difficulties and
| to preserve a certain unity OF view
on the many matters which make up
! the life of an army. The frequent
transfers of troops made this partic-
ularly important.
Subject to these necessary limita-
tons each command was Independent
within its own sphere. This was more
/ the case during the war of movement
or attack than IN stationary warfare
and defence. Tactical situations did,
I of course, arise in which the views of
the commands did not agree in mat
! tiers of detail with those of general
headquarters. The local command
was in such often allowed TO decide
the question, For me this always in
volved a mental struggle; if they were
successful | was pleased, but if they
We're not 1 felt it was my fault.
Work On His Special Train.
I attached the greatest importance
to verbal discussion and gathering di-
rect impressions on the spot. I used
to like going to the front. and as first
| quartermaster-g general always had a
| special train with separate office and
| telegraph coaches. Work did not
cease during the journey. At pre-
arranged stations the daily reports
were handed in as they were at gem
eral headquarters, and. il necessary,
we could communicate with anywhere
and everywhere.
My personal relations with both
staffs and troops were harmonious. l
| enjoyed much confidence.
The chief of the staff of the Ger
man crown princes army group, Col
onel Count Won der Schulenburg, a
| very clear headed and energetic Of
ficer, always gave me sound and reli-
able support,
l often visited the army group of
I Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria
also. His alert and uncommonly in
! dustrious chief of staff General Won
!, Kuhl. was an acquaintance of long
standing; | had more than one oppor-
tunity of admiring his calm self-pos-
session even in very serious situa-
tons.
During my visits to the front the
various chiefs Of staff explained the
situation to me, in the presence of
their army commanders. They always
spoke as freely as IL they had been
officers at general headquarters. They
knew | wanted TO hear their real
views and have d clear idea of the
true situation, not a favorable report
made to order. Sometimes the armies
We're instructed to report bare facts
only, whether favorable or unfavor-
able.
Often Encouraged Staffs.
After the general statement we
would discuss matters and the army
commanders would join in, unless
they had explained matters, them
selves, a thing for which ] was always
grateful. AS a rule | used to extend
my visit and this enabled me to dis
cuss every kind of question with the
army commanders.
My intercourse with the armies was
not limited to the weekly journeys.
Every morning | spoke on the tee-
phone with the chiefs of staff of the
armies and was admitted to their APP
prehensions and their hopes. They
often had requests to submit and they
knew that ] would help them il I
could. l have often had to give them
encouragement. but I always felt that
they went back to their heavy task
with all the more confidence
At times one got a better and fairer
general impression of the strategical
and tactical situation from the office
chair than one could on the spot
where personal impressions had so
much greater influence.
My conversations on the telephone
had the object of collecting informa-
ton. Only in cases of emergency did
issue orders on these occasions. and
then they were always confirmed in
writing to the headquarters con-
cerned.
1t was an understood thing that
these conversations were reported to
the army commanders, / strongly OBJ
jected to a staff Officers Com
mand," besides the army commanders
themselves were men of far too indie
pendent character to tolerate such
situation.
He "Took Strong Measures
/ did hear OF cases where orders
were given on the authority~-of gen.
eral headquarters which I would
never have approved of; whenever it
occurred l took strong measures.
Changes IN the personnel of the
higher commands were unavoidable.
They were submitted by the army
commands TO the chief Of the military
NJ binaf in a re aa,sAt
staff to the chief of the general staff.
On occasions general headquarters
suggested changes. Ee3s
This had to be done when it be-
came necessary to have specially ex-
perienced officers at the most critical
points. 1t was beneficial to the opera
lions and particularly to the troops,
as 1t saved many lives
The head of the political depart
ment was General Won Bartenwerffer,
calm and clear-headed officer, i'm
bued with fervid patriotism. One i'm
portant duty of the general staff in
the field was to keep an eye on the
military policy of neutrals ana enc
mics. and refer i'll political questions
to which it gave rise to the imperial
chancellor: it also dealt with political
events in the occupied territories, in
so far as they were administered by
general headquarters.
The frontiers which we might ac-
quire by the war were q matter of
the greatest concern to the future Sc
curity of the country, and all ques-
lions connected with them formed an
important part of the work of gem
eral headquarters. All correspondence