CADORNA THE SILENT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 40, 10 November 1917, Page 9

CADORNA THE SILENT

LEADER OF ITALY'S PERILOUS

FORTUNES

A PERSONAL GLIMPSE

t'l'ho following personal sketch of tho Italian Generalissimo (General Cadorna) appeared recently in Hie Boston "Transcript," In view of recent events, it has a topical intorest,] Not easily olateil by success, fully and calmly conlidont in his strength and in that of his men, devoted to Italy with the deep devotion that needs iio words to be expressed; built, mind and body, on generous lines; r.adiatiug power and energy from his whole countenauco; and above all simple, unassuming, optimistic, with a slight touch of humour and a great reserve fund of goodness and strength, General Cadorna deserves fully t]je love of his soldiers, the gratitude of Italy, from the borderland of Lago Jlaggiore, between Lombardy and Piedmont; and the house of his forefathers can bo seon ,in Pallanza, though no more in his hands, still emblazoned with tho family crest. Suro enough, all tlio-Lom-bard uprightness and c-pen-heartedness are characteristically his, while' a' certain exuberant vitality in his manner fits indwell with tho traditions of tho bersaglieri to whom he \belongs, endearing him to the hearts of the southern ■people. You. always recognise Cadorna'e voice; there is a , peculiarly clear and ringing tone in it, mid the quality of ■command. P«w people know or remember, outside of Italy, that he is the son (if that general, Count Ealfaele Cadorna, who entered Home with tho Italian troops in IS7O, and giiva it thus for a capital to the kingdom of Victor Emmanuel tho Secuiiu, with whom, as with Count Cavour and a few others, ho ranks high in the reyeront memory of tho nation. Cadorna is the only supreme commander! of any Allied army that has neyer been. removed or "promoted" jfrom his. post, just as Sorinino is the only Minister of Foreign Affairs unchanged sinco the beginning, and both hoTcTput us good now as at the beginning, which speaks well for the steadiness, of the much-berated Latin norves; and both hold their high offices with the fullest confidence of thoir King, their country, the Army—and tho ASies. it more careful spender of human life and of tho strength of hie soldiers than General Cadorna can hardly be found, but while he believes that "expending one fife wantonly is a crime," he is ejuafly convinced that it is a duty not to hesitate before the eacrifico of ono hundred thousand fives if needs must be. This explained tho high moral standaru of the Italian war, which makes it posslijlo for tho commanders to ask almost anything from ' their soldiers, sinco these men aro suro that no us«less, headlong command will be given and to no recklessly innne result will they bo sacrificed through cruelty or unfeelingness.on tho part of their leaders. I remember one of them, General Ricordi, who died sinco on tho Carso, telling, nio that what pleased liirn most in tho military medal that had just, been . given him was , the reason for tho awwd : " ... with consffierato daring haviuj; led his men. to ,-tho attack . . ." and so forth.' No general or officer, in fact, would ever bo rewarded by General ■Cadorna for misuse of his men. This.explains also tho spirit of order, of mercy, and of civiltsafton wfflch goes along with the Italian Army and_reveaTs itself in every detail of the Italian miltary life; and at' the same, time, the spirit of self-control, power, and discipline that pervades tho territory of operations. ; To have achieved such a unity of ccin- ' mand and diffused such a senso of the indisputability of orders, not because the'y are ordors but becauso they are : morally right, is to any one familiar with tho critical and individual Latin temperament as great a merit of General Cadorna and the Italian Staff as the ; most ■■ conspiouous military result. For the Italian soldier would not willingly Bubmit to any but the highest qualities of command; ho, will give his life, if needs be, for his' leador, -upon his one condition, that the , leader deserves it, which, by the'way, is the very keynote ef the relations between the Italian oflU csr and his soldiers; human relations in l the highest acceptance of the term. As all the big minds do, Cadorna thinks on broad lines and visualises things on a large scale, so that all the unnecessary details that frighten and halt or hamper the little men'are swept aside by the powerful trend of his main thougiil. Ho sees right and wrong clearly, and does- not stop to see if they couldn't possibly be made to reconcile half-way down; he sides by the right, and all tho little fringes at the • other end do no more exist for him; thus decent men act in a world of men. The story is well known of The soldier who, some minor officer believed, couldn't be made a sergeant because he couldn't wfite or perhaps even read. "Make Mm a sergeant, by all means," said the Gen. oral. "AVe don't want him to read to us;_we'want him to keep this tronch against tho enemy." And 6urD enough, "keep the trench" he did, and helped to conqner something besides it. \ In another less striking instanco tbo same disregard of minor detail appears. When the great military station at Tldine was to be built, at the beginning of the war, and Austrian airplanes were still frequently raiding tho'city; no-

body was willing to toko the Tospijjasibillty of keeping tbo tracks lighted for work at night, and yet it wns evjdently impossible to hnvo it finished in duo timo withresorting to night shifts.. The general in chargo of the proceedings climbed ono by ono all tho stops of tho mighty, only to meot tho same hesitations and Uoubts. Finally ho had himself aniiounced to General Cadorna, and briefly stated tho situation. "Aro tlio night shifts necessary?" asked tlfo General,, lifting Lia head from a pile of reports that ho wns poruaing; and upon tho nfflrmative answor, swift aud sure came tho decision: "Sβ o nocessario, si faccia" (If it is necessary, lot it be done), irrespective of the possibilities of Austrian raids upon tho city, which in this case would obviously bo the minor jssuo. Fortunately no casualties attended tho work But only tho General's decision made tho thing possible, and would havo made Te. crimination impossible, eventually. Cadorna's Lieutenants. In selecting those to aid him in hie campaign, General Cadoma has surrounded himself with able lieutenants. Among them General Count Carlo Porro —wTio is also known as vice-Cadorna— is a sharp contrast to his chief in personal characteristics. To tho manner born are both of them (General Porro belonging to tho very best Milaneso aristocracy), but each with an entirely personal manner, which mokes them excellent foils for each ofher, ana impresses it upon you ffiat they must k~'aloug perfectly .together, completing oacu other all along—both of which they cit-. tamly .do. While Ca3orna comes from the adventurous bersaglieri (and it is reported as ono of von Billow's disparagingly meant remarks that flio Italian war is led by a poet ami a bersaglioro, d'Annunzio and Cadorna), General Porro belongs to the artillery, and sinco ho lectured for a timo at the Military School of Modona, the young officers' still call him on the sly "Professor Porro." It is also generally believed that if you were eventually doubtful as to w!to General Porro might bo among a group of high officers, you could niako euro by looking at their hands—tho most immaculately groomed aud invariably gloved fo perfection, whatever the etress of tiie moment might be, is General Porro; you never catch him with his cap aslant in the boyish fashion that a snapshot sometimes will reveal about General Cadorna. A charming trait about Gehoral Porro is tho interest with whicft h? follows' the career of .the younger officers and finds a way to ehqw them that they are not forgotten even u events have brought them away £toih Ms immediate circle. .Another general that is very highly and often spoken of, and very much beloved by the soldiers, is His Royal Highness tho Duko of Aosta (cousin to the King, Urother to tho Duke of Abruzzi, arid cousin also to the Prince of TJdinoJ, a commander whose reputation is due not to family connections but to the high quality of his personal action. In fact, before tho war he was, as would naturally be'expected of a prince of Savoy, an officer and a gentleman, who looked the part vory well, but when called by the duties of his position, for instance, to open eome exhibition or preside (it some ceremony and deliver, the inaugural speech, wns certainly not at his best. Nothing Bcemed further removo-I from liin natural abilities than to deliver a speech npon such formal occasions.

To hear him address tho soldiers now, upon some military,occasion in the war zone, is a treat oven more than a privilege. The leader in him has risen fully to tho extraordinary situation, '-nd its call for the -heroic qualities, which the amenities of the inano social life failed to awaken in him. It is generally felt by tho Army that should by any unfortunate circumstance Count Cadorna's health or presence fail, tho Duke of Aosta ought to bo, and would ]k,< the general in chief of the Italian forces. Ho is commander of- the Third Army now, the army that took Goriza and that occupied the difficult fastnesses of 'the Carso. . '

And there is a snap anil & go about everything connected with tho Third Army that shows die personal traits of its leador even in details, and tho perJonal care that this royal prince takes of the sons of the people entrusted to his leadership, for it is one of the interesting and intensely satisfactory characteristics of tho Italian leadership of tho war that the royalty and tho aristocracy of Italy havo fully'-understood'tho'high duties of their exalted positions, and shown themselves deserving of tho high,est honours because of personal qualities, not of alleged hereditary distinctions.