They know men, and it is necessary to
possess a world of common sense to acquire any such knowledge. Many of
those elements that make success in a military man are exactly the same
as those that make a man successful anywhere. A president of a
university, a lawyer or banker or merchant or engineer, has exactly the
same kind of daily problems to solve, and requires much the same talents
as those possessed by a military leader.
Since success in battle is the thing at which we are driving in all
military training, it is common sense to prepare a machine that will do
the business. Every officer and noncommissioned officer has got to know
how to play the game. A good private makes a good corporal, a good
corporal makes a good sergeant, a good sergeant makes a good
lieutenant--a good colonel makes a good brigadier general--all exactly
as in civil life.
Prussia has had her greatest military success when she devoted her
energies to manoeuvers and to the solution of tactical problems. Her
defeats and humiliations have come when she has neglected this work.
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