The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1921-11-29

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but Pruned and Grated the Two
Together--sense Of Propriety.
MY center gives way, my right re-
cedes: the situation is excellent; l
shall attack"
The writer OF this message to his
commanding officer was either a Grim
lnal braggart or one of the greatest Of
generals, depending whether his at.
tack succeeded or failed. II 1t failed,
country would have clamored for
the life Of general who sent his com.
mand to certain destruction. II IL
succeeded, his dispatch should rank
with other historical battle messages,
such as Don't give up the shis,"
England expects every man to do his
duty" and eve have met the enemy
and they are ours
The attack did not fail. The author
] Of this dispatch had said several years
before: "a battle won is a battle in
which one refuses to admit that one Is
beaten" After writing the dispatch he
gave the order to attack, then, while
his men were going forward, he took
a young staff officer for q walk and
discussed metallurgy and economics
His men pushed back the enemy at q
vital point In the line, the enemy with
drew and Paris was saved.
The message was sent during the
first battle Of the Marne In September,
1914. II was written by Ferdinand
Foch, marshal Of France, then q gen.
eral commanding the Ninth French
army holding the allied center.
Second Battle Of the Marne.
The offensive begun by Foch at La
Fere-C hampenoise represents the turn
Ing point OF the first battle Of the
Marne. But the allied generallssimo
was in q similar situation on the eve
ming Of July IL, 1918, while a second
battle Of the Marine was being fought.
At that time he might have para
phrased his earlier message by writ
ing: my left In Flanders gives way,
my center recedes, Paris and the chan
mel ports are menaeed. The situation
Is excellent. I will attack"
And attack he did on the morning of
the 18th with two French and two
American divisions. He continued to
attack until the Germans. came to him
and asked him to stop, and his attacks
did not stop until 10 so a. m, Novem.
Der II, 1918. And had the armistice
failed, he had vet another and more
disconcertlng attack planned in every
detail for November ID, In which
French and American divisions would
have swept past Metz and into Lor.
raine Since he was twenty, Marshal
FOch had been working for the defeat
of Germany.
OF the many generals who achieved
prominence during the war, Foch and
Hindenburg were military school teach
ers before 1914. Here comparison ends
Hindenburg was a retired officer dur
ing the war. When the Germans
moved toward Paris the Russians
swept into Prussia, and the German
high command was in a near panic
Then some one remembered the grlz
zled individual with a close-croppeC
head and generous mustache who 70,
year after year at the staff college
. had annlhilated the enemy In paper
campaign in the MasOrian lake region
then invaded by the Russians. Hin
denburg was summoned to Berlin. HI
refreshed himself with his lecture
: notes took command of the eastern
forces, and the Mssurlan lakes cam
paign was won for the Germans. Hin
denburg's military reputation rest
upon this one campaign that had beef
German general staff exercise TO
years before the war.
FlexibllIty Foeh's Maxim.
With Foch. on the other hand, II wa
one Of his principles that war agains
Y sk!llful enemy cannot be waged sue
cessfully according to blue print alone
: He had been teaching for years L
e young French officers, candidates 70
r star positions, that, above all else
a modern warfare demands 6exibility
Plans 60 wrong, and surprises occu
r constantly which must be met as the
r arise. These were the principles h
g set forth In his works on the "Art O
A War;" as Foch prefers to term wha
n is called more often military scienc'
Like other French officers, he satr
y rated himself with Napoleon's can
, paigns, but in addition he had been
= painstaking student of German sta
! methods. AS result he accepte
Il neither Napoleon nor the German gel
a eral STAFF slavishly, but rather prune
;. and grated the two together. tn
!. fundamental of his principles of wa
a was the insistence upon morale, thG
: as much intelligence and spirit al
d needed to carry out orders as to issu
"A them.
h II is doubtful whether the FrenC
o. army should be more grateful to Foe
Is for his services during the war or II
II his work as an instructor at the 81
70 perior School Of War during the yea
previous TO 1914. He was the fir
UNvan AMMAN aud nrnhahIy tho Ar