MILITARY SCIENCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 716, 15 January 1910, Page 4

MILITARY SCIENCE.

' Objection; ;might reasonably, be taken-;.to"the'.uso of the term military science in connection with, the movement; . in/ favour, of the. University' ■'; embarking- on'.a course -of instruc- .'■ tion.in the higher branches of military training..' War , is ..the .meeting | and'expression of"forces-.which; can " inever-be;worked out by any method ■ known .to:,science "seeing that'■.the; greatest jfactbr: in itr-man—is, .and i for, ever'must be, an indeterminate' ■ quantity.-'The .waging, of .waiy-in ; .short,"can never be 'anything. more: than ah 'art; .Also, the "classification' ; of ..the various -branches of. the art'of > ■. war' (as published recently)' doesnot impress onb-with the, idea that the ; subject:,has..been given very 'deep : '.'■ thought,. /'lt: included ,'a ■ truly .'.vag^uo; and/riebulputv". branch .called:, "mili- ; tary geography"-but omitted a-most ' important one//sometimes .styled .; logistics---the : va.rt' of .moving ''largo' ' armics/oh' a 'given theatre:of -war.: '■ That'/ such.._ weaknesses /. could find: their, way into. ;the prospectus l of what may be,, and probably. in time- ' -will 'be, "a ;doparturbl^of , much ] im- : portanee- shows plainly enough that, . in■' a.;l)pminion /whore.a national at-, : titude-towards'■ defence 'seems,to' be" as 'burning;.'a tbpic. as 'any; other, ;some.:ihstruciion'/o'n the subject ap-, pears to ,be' necessary..' It can be stated;. ' ,at once,..that,; other/, things.-,:'being' ; -equal, the. educated officer- will. ,al-' ways;beat the-uneducated l neophyte.' -.' TheJ successes of the; West -Point; 6m-- ' '.'cers..in the stages of /the- • American'./Civil ..■ ,War r 'and Jof -,-' the/ great numbers of educated men who' { ifigured.iri-thc . Napoleonic ; wars of ; -France';as:.enlightened.c»mpa'ny/ ; ahd. regimental:'.' commanders are;. ■ cases in/point. '/jln'vthis'cbhncctionV how-" - .ever,,it-isjmuch.to be.regrette'd:that ', the/conception 'seems .to obtain'-.-very, . man'. who: has; • been',-thrqugh :thb;. mill"—that' is'to say,, the jman/who/h'as /seen'/sbino ;;limited/phase ~of ,'actiyb service—is. . '$j' .proper/and 'only; man to.impart .military;.ihstru'etibn-'/ib. the./young: '.officers.-'qf /a.'grpwipg.: State/;,lt/is' , 'the ,custbm':of /many, .-,whb.have' been" ' /through/ the.: mill" to /refer all/bb-; ■ j ectibns.'/tb';,' their . claims. to. ■ be,' in-, structorsito'-the'State to a-somewhat, notablb-ar'ticle'-'chtitle'd/.''.The.'De-'. fence'.;of,/Duffer's. Drift," '.'which ap'-.' peiired itifoo Vnit'edServiceMagazinc, some.' six'. or/seven' -years /ago.. :.This.artiple;:is 'supposed-'.to,/demon-: 1 .! strate/ tha't.•■ l aV' : bibed.-.all .the -military:/theories'in; . the: .world,!; and'' still.'; prove/ ' failure/when/the test ■ of /actual:" war.-' roaches: him.'v ; This/is .true,:;sb./far,as ;,it/: goes, /but it is not/ the /whole' truth: / :"/..If i:;.--.it \ /.iwere^i'/BAzAiNEy' . M.'Mahon./.'Canrpbbrt;. ./and others , /who/'had:/"been /through /the./'mill''/ in/Italy,; Algeria,' and : the Crimea; should .have:-,been most', successful loaders;;' against' Germany /in/"1870, /events -showed 'them '.-to "-be. no'match'for'Prussian generals/who had.'/hot'; only."'been /through "the miU"/in Denmark and :Austria,but had also beehvschooled : in the sound,est.'military'theory;of.,'the day./ : The truth ...about//('Duffer's ./Drift".'vis probably- that- itvwas/the vivid'impressionism ,of an. ill-trained- officer ..whqj'.in.'actual, warfare, discoyercd the..limitations' of, ..his..-poor/peace .and, -mistaking'causeiifor •effect, ■committed /himself':''to"-'print' on' a, wholly 'mistaken: line. / : .;'/ i /; . ;.'/. In/',considering'i/'any,:/.course /'of military .instructibn.;/in. a'/young State/such ..as New Zealand-it seems, to- be /exceedingly/ necessary., to lift the. finger ! of warning with/reference .to .any 'State-.or'•University- iristruc-; fton in two,.-'of -.the most,important branches , of, military/ study—strat- - bgy ; , -(generally '/confounded with stratagem)-and .tactics.- / Jnstruc-' tion in ,either/ of .'.these;' imparte d by a' teacher of narrow//.vision -and .limited i study'//might <'-l eventually,, prove.somethingjTvorse .than'.a "dead loss of' State money. One of' the most /features - : about 'English ,conception's' of/ strategy ;is ■that, it ,is■". generally •, regarded -"as Bbmething; fixed and, steadfast-some-thing that - may D 8 overcome" by 'in/sfcructiori and'.study. /The truth/is that nothing is;more unsettled than the -principles /, of.'.'strategy' and, added ;tothis, is .the further circumstance; that nearly'all. English works on tho' subject, are/ mediocre. : The current edition";, of/-,. the/". Encyclopaedia . Britannica '■_ is'., not. only vio- . lently / in' ■ conflict : with ~ such '. ail- ; thorities' as: CrjATjSE'wriz on' matters of' opinion,/ but it/is .also self-evi-dently wrong, on elementary -questions of-fact.:-Perhaps this aspect '.of-the matter'will be nibre readily 'seen if'the history ;'bf the study of strategy.is outlined./ After the, wars of Napoleon. a -number of writers, and, othersj;set,,(jo work to-' 'analyse- tho causes; of/success arid failure . in . the .■ various, conflicts which,., betweoh ,1793/ arid, 1815, ; cov.erod the Continent-of Europe with more than 2,000,000 "dead. /These writers reached the/stage of noting - that every theatre'-; of ■. war had za certain;geometric t'ohdency, and that this tendency, was. not, without' -its: influence on the course of hostilities. There, they left the. subject, and the, next war—that in the , Crimea—be- ■ ing waged by : "rule of thumb" 'necessarDy proved- nothing. The "geometric" .school/of strategy still grew in favour however, and the : next great, war—the Civil War in' Amorica—gave it a certain importance. At. first the .-West Point menoik the .northern side were all in favour of "sparring for/position," / but the plain, commoh-senso of Pre-' / sjdent _; Lincoln -imposed certain limitations: on this academic view .' of:-things,, and the services of a Dumber, of "geometric" generals— 1 notably- M'Clellan, /styled by the i newspapers v qi .his day as /'the ! Napoleon of the: North' I —were dis- \ paused with. Notwithstanding this, ,

the geometric school' soon found a brilliant exponent in Sherman, whose celebrated "March to was too. dramatic in its execution,. and too. far-reaching - in'■' its - cprisequences to be' ignored. • 'Further, emphasis was given to it by an article published in 1886 by':General' SHERMAN himself, and entitled The (h-and Strategy of the War of the Rebellion, in which; the- "heresy of position" was greatly stressed. This set the geometricians. of England off again and the next publication of note .was Hamley's Art. of: War— since discarded and., out/ of.. date, though sometimes quoted -by colonial officers ■'• in .the - daily ■; prints 'as the be-all' and'end-all of war. On top of it,'however, came the FrancoPrussian,, War. 'of 1870-71 where Moltke s simple plan (not generally 1 understood at the ■ time). was that all corps. commanders'should,... always and everywhere, "march to the sound of the cannon." The reason for such a plan was simple enough: Moltke knew that he had- more men and , better,. men .; than./ the /French, and .that/every concentration of 'his hosts; must in the long 'run lead to what,-/in >his own words, 5 was' "a .lovely/massacrd.of -Frenchmen." So "sparring: for geometric' position" .was. almost : a waste', of time, -and Moltke : avoided: it. ■■■ ' ■..'--■•

/Inconsequences of .this. in England;were, again important.: • Among the school /-of young; officers'.who were 'making;'their ■ way. at■: the I'time was :WbLSELE'Y,..and-'hc,, being-im-pressed, by; the ; : events'; of " 1870-71'; .threw .. ''theoretic." ;Out of his conception of war,' dis-couraged-military study, of a'."thcoretic".. nature, and point-blank.-: re-. :fused;to---take Hamley/with-him to: Egypt/on the 'occasion of theArabi 'rebellion in -.'1882...'; To ; a large'/ex,tent; this..attitude,- of' Lord , AVolseLEY's .killed'the-.- theoretic -study of strategy in; England;' but hot' in' -the: Indian: Army ...between .whom /arid .the/army, quarteredv in.': England.' there' -have always .-.been 1 - 'sharp dif-ferences/-of. opinion.- -//.The' matter /seemed/likely/to/remain;in the; statu, 'quo but, fortunately -'for.'; the geometric school,- the Boer War broke - out in 189?.v:;;This gave' the /most bril.Hani alumnus of- the. Indian' Armyj LoRD-rRoBERTS,, the/opportunity, .of his,lifetime,,'and he .planned any, 1 intensely' 'geometric- campaign,: ipractically-suspending .any.Advance through.; the awkward salient /angle of ;Norfchem Natal ' until/the; British advance/through'-the Free/State had ; :sufficienyy/developed/;;-/Also,'; preparatory. to any .advance' oh his'own': |, parfcj/ho spPnt.-tbe month' of • Jah,uary/1900;iri; ■ making-, preparations' tb'ienvelop the shnth-west/airner/of /the Free; State, 'which /was -the'only l: part of the, enemy : 's frontier >hicfr .offered/a re-entering / angle./' ..And!; '..there'; tho: position,; as \ far, as,/strati/egy; is . concerned, remains.;/. Even' German''- authorities,.'.' Hoeniq; "and' -'still; ■differ on/it./,-;In tactics'-it- ,ia/'hot too .much/to "sayv that',popular/Eng'lish'notions' are,'for- 1 the. most: part,' l wrong._>' The '; general-view ,is.that .every,:' improvement': iri; firearms, must' tend, to.' make the "defensive .sideunassailable.':'/This.vicw has ; never', been: - held,in .Germany, and; is: hot '• enter-'* tained by'imahy 'of tho. besfr'.intcl-" lects. ;-in v the "English' - Army.;/'; 'The : latest; theory/'that/all.'imprbvemehts' in woapons,,':,will ; /ultiraately':fav6ur' the dffonsive': will-, probably--;be gehr 'erally. accepted ,-within .'the ,'nek't- ten years and,'.indeed, -all that;iß,,want-, ip'g''tb,;-mako';'.'it'/accepted„-now; is; a' cortain : ;/imprpyeirleht. in.-'artillery .fuses../,Such>'con'sid.eratipnsV'as/tho; foregoing,/therdfore,':' may/-serve; : t'b', show' that .the'.'studyj',6f'- ihe■ military, art is a more' faf-reaohinfj 'ahd : subtle /thing;,than'-;,is/commonly' sup-; /posed, / and ■ ; , that /any.. ; 'ill-devised ■ measures ,■ in' ;;Ne.w v/'Zealand. /inight' produce /'consequences i.not .pleasant to;, contemplate; ■''.•:.Btit,'' l ''once".:figain, ; ." otherrthihgs':being;,;equal;'/the,, edu- ; cated officer,: even/if' ho 'understands ''nbthmg'--'-.m6r'e^';Vthan'.V'theV I 'c6hflict'"''of. raahy military i will-always, have 'the advantage bver ; uneducated commanders.. ; /:z- '■■■ ? : -*! ;'':/;'!.:/ ; : /■:;/ //-i>