Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-21
EOCH At ZENITH
AS WAR TACT|C|AN
7! -
Allied Commander Spent
Lifetime in Preparation for
Supreme Ordeal.
Toch the man.

&OCL bilG HAL.
In due course of time there un-
6oubtedly will be many volumes in ref
erence to Ferdinand Foch; his life, his
teachings, his great deeds-the letter
will be studied in the minutest detail
rs long as that civilization endures
which he did so much to preserve.
Ferdinand Foch and his brother and
sister were very piously reared, and at
an early age learned to love the church
and to seek 1t for exaltation and con-
ISOLATION. Ferdinand was hard stu
dent, serious beyond his years, but not
conspicuous except for his earnestness
and diligence.
when he was IL years of age his
fervor for Napoleon was pronounced.
His professor Of mathematics remarked
of him that "he has the stuff Of poly
technician." In 1869 he was sent TO
In less than O year. by unanimous vote
of his fellow students, he was awarded
the grand prize for scholarly qualities.
Just at that time the Franco-Prussian
war began. Immediately Ferdinand
Foch enlisted for the duration Of the
war-a young soldier Of lost cause.
He did not distinguish himself In any
vay. Whatever blows he struck In
1870 were without weight In helping
to avert Frances catastrophe.
roch entered the Polytechnic School
at Paris November 1. 1871. just after he
had completed his twentieth year.
Among his fellow students was another
hard student who was also tremendous.
" In earnest, Joffre. Foch graduated
third In his class from the Artillery
tended after leaving the Polytechnic
ne asked to be sent to his native town
az TArbes in order to study cavalry
tactics and practice trough riding" In
each school he attended. beginning with
Metz. he chad close class associations
With men from many provinces. men
Of many types. This was valuable 70
him In preparing him to command
,,nder-oficers in whom rigorous uni
fornity of training could not obliterate
bred-in-the-bone differences.
Went to Artillery.
Foch next went, as o captain, TO q
regiment of artillery at Renles, where
he stayed for seven years. ana Wnere
he learned to know the Bretons. he
was called to Paris in 1885 and entered
the Superior School OF War. There ne
seemed to have impressed people, Win
whom he came In contact, as man oI
ts,nrcmchness October 81, 1895, when
1,ist entering on his forty-fifth year:
he was made associate professor OF
military history, strategy and applied
tactics at the Superior School OF war.
The thoroughnesS Of his training was
beginning to make itself felt at null
tary headquarters.
. The, oficers who succeeded one
snother at this Superior School Of war
between 1896 and 1901 were impressed
6eeply by Foch. It was the course that
he conducted that was looked forward
10 with the keenest curiosity, as the
foundational instruction given BY tine
school. It has been said OF him tnat
Eoch was the incarnation Of the french
military spirit. He made the men we
sat under him love their work for the
works sake and not for It's rewards
He fred them with an ardor ior mni.
tary art which made them feel that IN
Al the world there is nothing so las
cinatinr. 50 worthwhile, as knowing how
70 defend ones country when she neeos
defense. He was able, In peace times
when the military spirit was little ap-
plauded and much decried, to give MS
students an enthusiasm for prepared
r,ess." At the beginning Of his celebrat-
"a course Of lectures on tactics ne al
ways admonished his students thus:
sYou will be called on later to Be
tie brain Of an army. 30 say to you
today-learn to think" In that con-
nection, 1t may be remarked, that there
VAS probably never before In history Q
battle fought In which every man was
q general, 30 to speak. as at the battle
OF Chateau hierry, in July. 1918. That
ID to say, there was probably never be-
fore q battle in which so many men
ocmprehended as clearly as II they had
held the rank Of general what 1t was
an about. and. acted as II they had
been generals to obtain their objectives
Feeh Had Greater Vision.
at, was not" Napoleon wrote, "the
Roman legions which conquered Gayl
but Caesar" And already. 1t has been
suggested that historians will write OF
the World War: 1T was not the Al-
Had armies, struggling hopelessly fol
four years. that finally drove the Ger
mans back across the Rhine, but Ferdi-
nand Foch." Foch had o greater vision
uf generalship than was possible to any
commander Of long ago. His strategy
was based on close study OF theirs.
Foeh IN 1903 was made colonel and
sent to the 35th Artillery at Vannes
In Brittany. Only two years later he
was called to Orleans as chief Of staf1
OF the 6th Army Corps. June 20. 1907
he was promoted to brigadier general
and elevated to the general stan oil
the French Army ut Paris. Clemenceau
. as minister Of war, put Foch in com.
mand Of the School of War. After
!. four years came the white plume" oil
! general OF Q division, and Focl. at so
took command Of the 18th Division o.
tChavmont. Just above the source of tn,
s:Marne. He was placed at the heat
OF the 9th Army Corps 1T Bourges II
E.1sl2. Eight months later he took com.
ssriand Of the goth Corps at Nancy.
z. Foch had not trained the German
sxeneral stan. 1t made war other thar
m taught 1t, and well he knew it. H,
isAlso knew what happened to the Ger
sn1ans when their "blueprints" would no
ksnt unexpected conditions. He knew
fkthat they expected to take Nancy easily
esthat they were looking for some effor
ITO defend It, but not for q French at
fstack. They did not know his maxim
The best means Of defense Is to at
stack" He attacked.
Is Those who lived through the tragi
sShours Just before the battle of Lorrain
with Foch recall the chief questioning
g he. liaison Officers who did not knoy
spuhctuating his questions with: "Yo
= don't know? Very well, then. 20 an
ssfind out!" And through all this stres
= he had the personal anguish of bein
" nnAble to get word Of his only sor
s. German Foch. or OF his son-in-lav
= Capt. Becourt. both of whom had bee
& lighting on the Belgian front. The
were killed In action it transpirec
= Then was not the time, however. fc
i personal emotion. The father effaee
y. himself before the soldier. There wa
nothing to be thought Of save the coun
try.
Thus was Ferdinand Foch on the ey
;'of the first battle of the Marine. =
= Elevated to High Command.
= Foch, at Chalons, received Telegram
< October 4. 1914, that he was appointe
flrst. in command under Joffre and In
r. ntr,yctiuc him IN leave At once for til