The New York herald., 1922-01-01
A Field Marshal
Under Catherine
sUVoROF. By W. Lyon Blease. z. p.
Dutton & Co.


mental wrench is required to
plunge from present-day dis
cussions Of disarmament into the
crowded chapters In which Mr.. Blease
recreates the personality and amazing
achievements of Alexander Vassilye-
witch Suvorof, field marshal under the
Great Catherine and her successor,
Paul I. of Russia. The student of
military history, of course, makes a
clean dive at first sight of the title
page, remembering suvorof's rank as
next to Frederick the Great, Napo-
leon and Wellington, unquestionably
the greatest soldier of the last half
of the eighteenth century and OF the
wars that followed the French Revo-
luton" a man whose influence upon
military strategy persisted in Russia
up to the very twilight of the Cars,
and is still felt in other countries or
Europe. Once in the stream of Mr..
Blease's narrative we a.e impelled to
follow Suvorof through fifty-five
years of campaigning in Turkey, Fin
land. Poland, Italy and Switzerland
TO admire his genius, marvel at his
hardihood, gasp at his fantastic be-
havior and emerge at the end strug-
Cling to reconcile the simultaneous
greatness and littleness of the man.
To the layman 1t appears that
Suvorof possessed all those qualities
the absence of which has distinguished
so many Russian leaders of later date.
A fIrve,f
and political honesty, indifference to
hardship, all were his. His biographer
says that no man ever loved woman
more passionately than Suvorof loved
war. and he might well have added
that no man ever loved with greater
cxclusiveness of devotion. Nature
created Suvorof immune to the attrac-
tions of wealth, political preferment
and social intrigue which have lured
other gifted men to their ruin. His
outstanding faults were Jealous vanity
and a scorn for all conventions, but
these faults never betrayed him into
neglect of duty or mistakes of tacti-
cal policy. His independence of mill
tary precedent, to which he owed his
greatest victories as well as his
moments of greatest danger, was the
independence of man who has mas
tered his art so thoroughly that he
is no longer bound by it.
His conception of warfare was the
destruction of armies, not merely the
occupation of territory. In relying
upon mobility and endurance, upon
swift and crushing blows, rather than
upon any outward semblance of dis
cipline or fixed system of tactics, he
took Caesar as his model. "Remem-
ber," he said, victory depends on the
legs; the hands are only the instru-
ments of victory" His men, con-
stantly drilled in forced marches in
storming heights, in crossing difficult
territory, could be set in motion for
actual service at astonishingly short
notice. They literally did not know
how to retreat, and had absolute con-
fdence in themselves because their
little father" told them they could not
fail. Their weakness in craftsmanship
was counterbalapced by their formid-
able use of the b 'yonet, the weapon
Suvorof found best adapted to the
stolid immobility of the Russian serf
1.-The bullet misses, the bayonet doesn't
miss; the bullets fool, the bayonet's
IL Ilfle ldu, WdS ouNOTOI IdFOTlIe eX-
hortation on this subject.
Suvorof transformed unpromising
raw material into a wonderful fighting
machine by building upon the native
idiosyncrasies of the Slav, and he won
the anectionate obedience of his men
in the same manner. Most of all he
endeared himself by exchanging broad
jests with his soldiers, lounging among
them before the camp fire and in
duging in ridiculous pranks for their
amusement. During marches of the
second Polish war the hour of de-
parture was designated as cock
crow" Every morning Suvorof him
self tapped his arms and crowed, and
in fifteen mi rIes the troops were in
movement.
His eccentr cities, however. were not
confined to camp life. On his rare
appearance at court he skipped about
like buffoon and overwhelmed his
acquaintances by extravagant obei-
sances and speeches. No presence was
august enough to restrain from out
bursts of sputtering sarcasm when he
chose to consider himself offended
Honors went to his head like wine |
When he received the rank of field
marshal after the victory Of Praga |
"he set a number of stools in a row,
and in the presence of his officers
leapt over them one after the other, |
saying Over Ryepnin-over Saltikof-
over zorovski'-reciting with each |
leap the name of some senior general |
whom he had passed i'm the race for |
promotion. After this he put on his |
new uniform and all his orders and |
went solemnly to church to give |
thanks"
Such glmpses of Suvorof. woven |
into the account of his brilliant ex- |
ploits and enthusiasm for the glori- |
hcation of his sovereign, provide the |
high lights which give to Mr.. Blease's |
narrative form and substance. Sight |
of the mans clay feet counteracts the |
sense of remoteness which his genius
inspires. He becomes no more than
human, a creature OF circumstances |
like ourselves. The gallantry which |
he displayed, unfortunately on the !
wrong side of the struggle. in the