GENERAL JOFFRE AND HIS ARMY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2407, 12 March 1915, Page 6

GENERAL JOFFRE AND HIS ARMY

| A VISIT TO THE FRENCH 1 HEADQUARTERS : INCOMPETENTS WEEDED OUT

}v The "Neuer Zurcher Zeitiing" of ((January 10, publishes an interesting [teontribution from its correspondent—a iprofesspr_ orthe' Zurich |3attorly .in France, dealing , with the [Headquarters of the French Army and "its'. superior leaders. • The writer says: [-< The French Headquarters are situated m a. small town north- of Paris, '.which, however, I must not name. IJp sio the end of November their seat was !afc Komilly, a little place of 10,000 int habitants, between Troyes and Paris, ssome 7o' miles Irora the Paris-Belfort i Jine. General Joffre and his staff have; ibus come nearer to the capital and •ftho northern theatre of war. i •'-■■'•

What strikes ono at the headquarters lis ithe great quietness which obtains •there. Those who do not know would •never guess that from this place the ;»perations. are , being directed of . an [fermy which numbers a million and a [ttialf : soldiers. *: At, the entrance gates of the big hotel where tho General Staff ;!has ; its: Jiorii^'.there stands, only one ;£ehtinel.:; Th'ere' : is- not- tlie" .'slightest, k'anovement to be noticed here, no comjing , and. going, of, officers dashing the streets in. gallop. The offii cers-of can scarcely' ever be i'seen— they", are inside, engaged on their, [.work. .' lir j.a .neighbouring, stablethere j area number; of riding horses, still fur- ; flier a garage some twenty I,motor-carsstanding in readiness for.the i/iE //tlieGeneral Staff should l.ihave-.ito .'seek;' safety elsewhere. '. On:

Itho lawn.in front of the hotel a. battery

i of' six'.; machine-guns has • been placed. 5 'and 'the men themselves from a patrol j'at : ; a tent close by, ready to ward off an attack by aeroplanes. ' One also noticed.a' few- motor lorries 'for laying ; Itelepliono wires, Further "still, one sees f.Va>T cordon of watching patrols, standing [if/ ; .a'distance of . thirty yards from one j&riother,' inv.order to meet any possible 1 ['attack upon;the headquarters. . This is i'iall and yet : the spectacle produces a ( deep impression .upon the onlooker. tiWhat : impresses him is not what he sees*, j Sbut the simplicity, of the means ;i with. '^hich-.the wheels of the gigantic army ISnachine are set in motion. L The French Generalissimo. In front of the local post office stands (lan enormous motor-lorry, on . which" ' eight field telegraphists are working day i'And night." : It-is connected-by wire on ; .the ono hand with the lo.cal telegraph Suffice, and on the other with the hotel. 'Here, one, sees the main artery of the [ ariny ' command.: . Through itare disfitrib'iited all'orders, and through it converges all/the news from the whole of', c France' and- the. gigantic,, front.'; What < has 'thus, been . collected lodges and- sumrmarises itself finally in one human brain i T^in-that of .General. Joffre, the chief of i'jthe.French, armies. .' [ I .will not detail here the career of fih'e.French;Generalissimo. v Besides his •. Tnilitdry-'qiialities," it -• is .his •• strength' of j- character,'his^doggednessj.and the moral [-.authority: which , he. inspires that:',de[serve our admiration. ■ It - jwas only be [•who' was ; in : a position to prevent- a [.'disaster' after the battle 'at Charleroi' yhy -inspiring',;,the[entire;army with the j conviction.'.that'the retreat was an; in- | tentional move and pursued with the ob- ; ject. of .placing the storming" Germans !' ibetween[ the; two • blades of a ■ pair of ! scissors. l, The army believed. him, and i'iriot only.'was. a flight avoided, but the [ strategical manoeuvre was crowned with [ 'complete success. Thanks to this moral [authority,. which has become still more \ profound since, then,. he ■ has succeeded !in making ■ the French soldiers adapt [' themselves to the . war 'of , positions, : which has . ever been : a!, speciality of [ 'General- Joffre: in his capacity of enis still owing to his per[[sonal influence if in -the present phase, r.when. the.- strategical, operations' are paralysed and the armies are condemnf ed to inactivity, the officers and men do' [•not give vent to their native tempera-. ! jnent, but are.waiting-patiently-for' the 1:.. moment'.when Joffre considers it at last [.bpportune to act.. [: Incompetent Cenerals Weeded Out. ; His firm character is also revealed in ' liis- attitude towards incapable leaders, j'; Since.. Joffre has been in supreme comi mand he has dismissed or replaced no • fewer than seventy-seven generals—a : number which has since then probably increased. Of all the political generals; i and . corps commanders—that is, those ■e who owed their places to tlie good offices iof politicians-—only 'one 'has .remained, ' General Sarrail, who has [exhibited high r strategical abilities. . The slightest error i an the leading of the troops is severely i punished, and the number of-high offir cers -treated . in: this -way amounts to ; 150. Not only has Joffre reduced the age-of-the higher command, but he has been | isystematiclly at'work to eliminate the [ physically. and mentally unfit, and thus ; .to raise the general level of the military [ spirit.'' : , - ; f This hecatomb of political generals las hot been effected without Isome rej sistance. But Joffre remained obstinate, ! and , when a high personage one day asked him to cancel a certain order he [ categorically declared that should these i efforts continue he would put his sword on tho table. This was carefully noted : for future guidance. To-day Joffre. is ; the most popular man in France, and • ; had he really teudered: his resignation i for reasons which could not long remain i a. secret there would have arisen a storm i in the land which . the , Government .would not have been able to resist.

In spite of Lis strictness towards'the isubordinate General Staff ; officers, General Joffre is-a perfectly simple land lovable gentleman. . The inhabitants of the little town see hie:, almost daily when ho takes liis walk. He goes about without any ieseort, and readily enters into convcr'sation witi civilians or greets a passin!; soldier with an encouraging word. 'All of them are attached to this tall and somewhat corpulent man with a full and ruddy face, and sparkling, clever' eyes. ' He has nothing of the Southern type about him, thqugli he is a native of the Eastern Pyrenees. He belongs to. the Catalonian race, whose 'Northern origin is well known.

Generals Foch and Pau. . ; Next to Joffre, the most popular leader of the army is at present Gene- ; ral Foch, the commander of the nor- : them armies. Ho gained fame by the bitter fight in the north and the opera- : tlons which are known as "the race to- : wards tho sea." General Foch is the ' intermediary between the French su- ? premc command and the command of tho Allies—a position which requires ■' quite special tact and diplomatic abili- ' ties.* For three years he had been - di- • xeeting the Military School, and hia : work "Tho Conduct of War" enjoys a reputation among profesional soldiers, i Ho also is-tall, but slim, with a dis- ?■ tinguished and: attractive exterior. '• Though born in 1851, at Metz, -he is I nevertheless by origin a Pryeanean - Basque. It is a singular coincidence 1 that- the two most prominent French leaders aro both of a semi-Spanish and F ''Genii-French origin—free, however, from the Oriental influence which has found I'.'-its way into Southern France. • General Pirn is known to every :■ Frenchman as a man of action, of the • spirit of offence, and with the .repu:v tatipn of being able to carry with him r the-troops as no one else can. Till recaytly he commanded the eastern, m

Vosges armies. A bad cold, however, prevented him from exercising complete control over his troops. Fortunately, he lias at his side one of the most able officers in the French Army, whose name has hitherto been comparatively little known. This is General Legrand, who is the second assistant cljief of the General Staff, and commander of the' 21st Army Corps at Epinal. He will probably bo much talked of one of these days.