The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-03-20

German plenipoteniaries. extending
his hand to Foch, declared:
Marshal, we are at your mercy.
Our reserves of men and ammunition
are exhausted and we can no longer
continue the war;"
The famous "Hindenburg line" sup
posed by many military experts to be
impregnable and which not q few be-
lieved eventually. would bring about
q stalemate. had been pierced by
Foch's legions. The German dixie was
broken. The enemy. moreover, had
suffered tremendous loss and the
Allies casualties were comparatively
light. Foch's speed and decision. his
scientific calculation, were too much
for the Germans despite their boasted
prowess as warriors.
Sacrifices Germans
An American correspondent re-
ferred to the wanton slaughter per-
mitted by the German commander,
to which Foch laughingly replied:
did not your own General Grant
believe thai battles could not be won
without sacrificing men?"
"That is true" admitted the Amer
lean. IF you would win you are
obliged to sacrifice men,"
do not misunderstood me-" quick
ly replied the Generalisslmo, a twinkle
in his eye. Its the Germans that I
sacrifice. I never throw away my own
soldiers"
No wonder the poilus and the Of
ficers under this wonderful military
genius obeyed him. Although tact
turn and impetuous he always seemed
to act with clean thinking impulsive-
ness" following by the dash and head
long attack that assured victory.
Speaking to group Of officers one
night Foch is reported to have said:
"First find out your enemy's weak
point and concentrate your blows
there. That is commonplace Of tao
tics which is self-evident."
But General" broke in an officer
Of artillery, suppose your enemy has
no weak points? That sometimes
happens"
Certainly" replied Foch. "And in
that case you make weak point"
Battles Lost Morally
Again and again he would quote
Joseph de Maistre's aphorism, "a bat
tie lost is battle which one believes
to have lost. for battles are not lost
materially" And we would add:
Battles therefore are lost morally, and
it is morally, therefore, that they are
Won"
Thus the premier soldier gave the
keynote to Ills successful career as a
| fighter and leader of men. Given a
good cause he believed his armies and
himself to be invincible. For years
before the struggle with the Central
Powers began, Foch had been preach
ing preparedness" to France. He
had been for four years Director of
the Ecole de Guerre, Frances great
school Of war. He had been sub
laltern-like Joffre-in the Franco
Prussian war Of 1870.
Born in Pyrcnces
Marshal Fock was born october 2,
1851, at Tarbes, little city in the
Pyrenees, close to the Spanish bor-
der. His fathers family long had been
settled in the south of France. having
left the district Of Ariege in the sew
enteenth century, going to the small
town of Valentine. There they estab-
lished themselves as wooden manu-
facturers and took prominent part
in municipal affairs.
It was from his mothers side that
the marshal inherited his liking for
the army, his maternal forebears
having made an honorable military
record for their family.
The student days of Marshal Foch
were not marked by any particular
brilliance-due, perhaps. to frequent
changes in the family abode and con-
sequently Of his schools. His father
was lawyer at Tarbes and later a
revenue official, in the latter capacity
being assigned to different places
from time to time. In the moving
about of the family the marshal OBJ
tanned his education at the lycees at
TarbeS and Rodez, the seminary at
Polignan, and the Jesuit college at
st. Etienne. In class OF 20 at the
Ecole Polytechnique, which he en-
tered in 1871, just after the close of
the Franco-Prussian war, he was
graduated forty fifth.
Son Fell in War
Marshal Foch married Mile. Julie
Bienvenue. They had two daughters,
both Of whom are married, and
son, who was among the first to fall
in the World war.
After his graduation from the Ecole
10 =
as an artillery officer through vari-
GUS garrisons until 1884, when he was
admitted as student to the Ecole
de Guerrc.
General In 1907
Twelve years later. as Major Foch, he
returned to the war college as an in
structor. Later he won q colonelcy
and In 1907 became q brigadier gen.
eral. During his service as teacher
and later as commandant OF Frances
military school General Foch wrote q
number Of technical books. Two Of
these, works on the subject Of war
fare. both Of which were translated
into German, English and Italian,
were entitled Principles Of War" and
1.-THE Conduct Of War;"
Major Robert M. johnson, u. S. A.
wrote Of him: "F1e was the great
teacher who. more than any other
man in the French army. created the
mode Of thought under which its gem
erals and staff entered the present
war. Glasses Of young officers sat ct
Foch's feet at the Ecole de 0uerre
and carried away with them an un-
bounded devotion anc faith. He was
an. enthusiast and his patriotism and
his profession merged into q splendid
effort Of intellect In which his stu
dents delighted. One Of his great
ambitions was to permeate the