Moltke

“ Why do these degenerate races hold back our holy and with-love-of-Fatherland-inspired troops? Perhaps the new Moltke has not been quite so sure in his touch or so triumphant in his plans as the old one—but then that ought not to have made much difference, because you and I have been there to keep him straight. ”

“ The genius and skill of Moltke became apparent to the world only when he was sixty-six years old—for he was born in the first year of this century, and he thus lived into his ninety-first year. His was a long, patient, and silent career of toil and of duty, before suddenly his fame burst forth; and the excellence of his labor was made manifest.... The war of 1866 made Moltke famous. This fame was won through hard work, constant perseverance, and rigid self-denial. Officers of every army can take no brighter example as their model than Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke. ”

“ Am I wrong, too, in believing that France is rising en masse, that Moltke did not understand his business in advancing on Paris, and that he will be crushed by the armies of the Loire and a dozen other places—if, indeed, our gallant heroes congregated in Paris give their brethren outside time to share in the triumph of defeating him? En attendant, we eat, drink, and are reasonably merry; our defenders mount guard, and drill when they are off guard. ”

“ Twice I heard Moltke speak, and each time on the army estimates. Nothing could be more simple and straight- forward than the great soldier's manner. As he rose, he looked like a tall, thin, kindly New England schoolmaster. His seat was among the representatives, very nearly in front of that which Bismarck occupied on the estrade. On one of these occasions I heard him make his famous declaration that for the next fifty years Germany must be in constant readiness for an attack from France. ”

“ Moltke walked beside him; the greatest strategist of our days striding along towards Paris on a country road near the French frontier in company with the greatest statesman of our time!
After we had returned to the carriages we saw a number of soldiers to the right putting up a telegraph line. Shortly after 2 o’clock we came to Commercy, a bright little town with about 6,000 inhabitants. The white blinds in the better class houses were for the most part drawn down, as if the occupants did not wish to see the hated Prussians. ”

“ General Von Moltke, the Grant of Germany, might often be seen, by those who knew when and where to look for him, in plain dress, walking along Unter den Linden, or through the city edge of the Thiergarten, near the building of the General Staff, of which he was long the Chief and where he lives. This most eminent student of the art of war lives a seemingly lonely life since the death of his wife, whose portrait is said to be the chief adornment of his private room. He is fond of music, and an open piano is his close companion in hours of leisure. ”

“ Moltke smiled.
"They can do nothing in Vienna," said the king calmly. "They intended to entice us to Olmütz, and there to hold us fast, to cover Vienna, and to prevail on Hungary to rise. All that is over. By Moltke's advice, we left them alone at Olmütz, and marched straight on. We are before Vienna, and it cannot hold out--the fortifications they have made at Floridsdorf cannot delay us; besides this, we hold the key of Hungary in our hands, and the Hungarians do not seem desirous of assisting Austria in her difficulties."
"I know all this, your majesty," said Count Bismarck ”

“ To meet this pressing danger, which came to his knowledge during the course of the 29th, Moltke sent a confidential staff officer, Colonel v. Verdy du Vernois, to the III. army to impress upon the crown prince the necessity of an immediate advance to distract the enemy’s attention from the I. and II. armies; but, like the French generals, the crown prince pleaded that he could not move until his trains were complete. ”

“ All things have an end; and so did this dazzling State pageant, at which all Europe assisted and where all Europe was looking on; but not until Bismarck's carriage had conveyed the Chancellor to his chief, followed by General Von Moltke, who had the good taste to drive up simply, with two horses and an open carriage that interposed not even plate-glass between the great soldier and the loyal multitude. A few moments after their entrance, the Emperor appeared at the palace window, Bismarck on his right and Von Moltke on his left, and the hurrahs of the crowd burst forth anew. ”

“ Germany is at war. While Paris is frantically shouting A Berlin!, while all Germany is singing and meaning Die Wacht am Rhein, Moltke's order goes forth into the towns and villages of the Fatherland for the mobilisation of the Reserves. Hans was singing Die Wacht am Rhein last night over his beer; but there is little heart for song left in him as he looks from that paper on the deal table into Gretchen's face. She is weeping bitterly as her children cling around her, too young to realise the cause of their parents' sorrow. ”

“ Bismarck once gave to some friends the following droll account of Count Moltke.
“When a declaration of war is floating in the air,” the Chancellor said, “even Moltke gets talkative, and when we were in for it in 1870, he grew ten years younger in a day. Before, taciturn and cross, he now chatted pleasantly, got an appetite for champagne and heavy cigars, and lost the last remnant of gout that he had acquired while resting on laurels that had grown [231] old. But at any rate, the famous old General is a comforting example for all enthusiastic smokers. ”

“ That old man in the tent, to which the wires converge from the field of battle, is General von Moltke, the best soldier that the world has ever known since the days of Bonaparte and Wellington, and the canniest. ”

“ I do not indeed suppose that the scholars and students of Göttingen and Vienna are doing as Von Moltke and his agents are said to have done before the war of 1870, collecting plans, and charts, and itineraries, and models of fortresses, and raised maps of provinces, whilst they were training men and officers both at work and play for conquest. I do not believe that they want to take from us anything, not even the pride of knowing more of our own history than they do, or that they want to engross to themselves by conquest the whole domain of historical knowledge. ”

“ Such a man was not born for political intrigue. Count von Moltke had played such a brilliant part in the last reign; he had so carefully and cautiously profited by the favouring circumstances of that day; he was so highly respected throughout the kingdom, that there was reason for believing that, under all circumstances, he would be alone able to withstand any opposition offered him by the court. It is true, that his ambition was notorious. It was known that he regarded pomp as an indispensable accompaniment of happiness. ”

“ When the Franco-Prussian War was declared, Von Moltke was awakened at midnight and told of the fact. He said coolly to the official who aroused him, 'Go to pigeonhole No. —— in my safe and take a paper from it and telegraph as there directed to the different troops of the empire.' He then turned over and went to sleep and awoke at his usual hour in the morning. Every one else in Berlin was excited about the war, but Von Moltke took his morning walk as usual, and a friend who met him said, 'General, you seem to be taking it very easy. Aren't you afraid of the situation? ”

“ The merit of having brought to light and of having given free scope to the statesmanlike genius of Bismarck, the organizing genius of Roon and the military genius of Moltke; the merit of that sound sense which, sacrificing pride and prejudice, puts those more capable into action and encourages them to the highest exertion of their power; the merit of that unselfishness which is so often lacking in the powerful, which permitted him to say after an achieved success to Bismarck, Roon and Moltke: “This is your work.” ”

“ The boldness which the favourite displayed, and the loose life he himself led, and to which he habituated the king, at length aroused a party against him, which plainly increased more and more daily. At the head of it was the Supreme Court Marshal Frederick Christian von Moltke, who had recently been deposed on behalf of a man who in other respects stood far below him. But this Count Moltke did not possess the cleverness and practised craft of his father, and did not know how to overthrow the arrogant favourite. This was reserved for another man, from whom it had not been expected. ”

“ After the battle of the 1st of September, Moltke and I went to Donchery, about five kilometres from Sedan, for the purpose of carrying on the negotiations with the French. We spent the night there, the King and his suite returning to Vendresse. The negotiations lasted until midnight, without, however, leading to an understanding. In addition to Moltke and myself, Blumenthal and three or four other officers of the general staff were present. General Wimpffen was the French spokesman. Moltke’s demand was very short. The whole French army must surrender as prisoners of war. ”

“ What impresses every one on seeing him for the first time is his air of vast bodily strength. Appearances are never more deceitful than when Bismarck and Moltke, the two main pillars of the Empire, are seen together. A stranger who had merely read of their respective achievements, without deriving from art some familiarity with their features, would, on first beholding them, infallibly mistake the diplomatist for the soldier. ”

“ With great effort he could indeed maintain a calm visage, but his heart was beating and every pulse of him throbbing. In his torture of suspense he caught at straws. Moltke asked him for a cigar. As Bismarck handed him his cigar case he snatched a shred of comfort from the inference that if matters were very bad Moltke could hardly care to smoke. ”

“ This powerful personage, who for years, as Quartermaster-General, was in training as Moltke’s visible heir, and was until recently at the head of the greatest fighting machine the human race ever saw, is still but little known to the general public. This is because press popularity and interesting personal qualities and connections have nothing whatever to do with a man’s promotion in the German Army. Heroic actions on the field advance him no more than does the advertising faculty in times of peace. ”

“ But though a Prussian intrigue was set up for the supersession of Bernstorff by Moltke, the latter, convinced that Bernstorff was the right man in the right place, supported him with unswerving loyalty. Moltke was far less liberal in his views than many of his contemporaries. He looked askance at all projects for the emancipation of the serfs, but, as one of the largest landowners of Denmark, he did much service to agriculture by lightening the burdens of the countrymen and introducing technical and scientific improvements which greatly increased production. ”

“ Since then the posthumous publication of Moltke's private correspondence, [1] and of the first instalment of his military correspondence, [2] has thrown a flood of light upon the whole subject. I had the good fortune to be furnished with an earlier clue. As soon as my essay was ready for the press I ventured to send a proof to Count Moltke, with a request that he would allow me in a dedication to couple his name with studies of which his work had been the subject. He was good enough to reply in a letter of which the following is a translation:—
BERLIN, January 20, 1890. ”

“ This principle, owing to the peculiar circumstances of the German army, was carried to an extreme in the case of the chiefs of staff. Moltke himself was a chief of staff, the king, although more experienced than any officer in his army, deliberately accepting Moltke's guidance and assuming the responsibility for the orders that Moltke issued in his name. ”

“ LOUIS ADOLPHE THIERS.
the conditions, he alone has the right to modify them; I will take his orders; I must consult with Mons. de Moltke." He left the room; it was nearly an hour before he could find Moltke; then he returned to give the answer to the Frenchmen. "You had refused that we should enter Paris; if you will agree that the German troops occupy Paris, then Belfort shall be restored to you." ”

“ Moltke’s plan was to assemble the whole army to the south of Mainz, this being the one district in which an army could best secure the defence of the whole frontier. If the French should disregard the neutrality of Belgium and Luxemburg, and advance on the line from Paris to Cologne or any other point on the Lower Rhine, the German army would be able to strike at their flank, while the Rhine itself, with the fortresses of Coblenz, Cologne and Wesel, would be a serious obstacle in their front. ”

“ Moltke's answer was a rapid march of sixty thousand men to the Rhine; then France excused herself because of the Emperor's illness. The French army was unprepared for war; was not armed with breech-loaders nor complete with men. But France was steadily arming, and Moltke knew it. He had the fullest information from France, and when the war came he was ready. France was buying corn in England for forage. On the tenth day after mobilization was ordered, the first troops were descending from the railway-carriages close to the French frontier ”

“ If it is the sword of France the conditions can be greatly softened; your message would have an extraordinary importance." He thought and he hoped that the Emperor wished to sue for peace, but it was not so. "It is only the sword of the Emperor," answered the General. "All then remains as it was," said Moltke; he insisted on his demands; Wimpffen asked at least that time might be allowed him to return to Sedan and consult his colleagues. He had only come from Algeria two days before; he could not begin his command by signing so terrible a surrender. Even this Moltke refused. ”