Boys Book of Famous Soldiers

Book of Famous Soldiers, by J.
Walker McSpadden

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Title: Boys' Book of Famous Soldiers
Author: J. Walker McSpadden
Release Date: November 24, 2006 [EBook #19910]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOYS'
BOOK OF FAMOUS SOLDIERS ***

Produced by Al Haines

BOYS' BOOK
OF
FAMOUS SOLDIERS

BY
J. WALKER McSPADDEN

THE WORLD PUBLISHING CO.
CLEVELAND, OHIO ---- NEW YORK, N. Y.

Copyright, MCMXIX
by
The World Syndicate Publishing Co.

Printed in the United States of America

PREFACE
So much has been written about the great soldiers of the world, that it is
a matter of considerable hardihood to attempt to present another
volume on the subject in any sense "new." But the Great War has not
only brought to the center of the stage a new group of martial figures--it
has also intensified and revivified our interest in those of a bygone day.
The springs of history rise far back. We can the better appreciate our
leaders of today and their problems, by comparing them with the
leaders and problems of yesterday. Waterloo takes on a new aspect
when viewed from Vimy Ridge.
The present book includes a round dozen of the great soldiers of
yesterday and today. The list is about equally divided among British,
French, and American leaders, and is confined to the last two centuries.
Each man selected is typical of a particular time and task. His life story
contains a message of definite interest and value.

In telling these stories, however, in the limits of brief chapters, we have
carefully abstained from the writing of formal biographies. Such a
treatment would have resulted merely in a rehash of time-worn data
beginning "He was born," and ending "He died."
The plan of these stories is to give a personal portrait of the man, using
the background of his early life--to trace his career up from boyhood
through the formative years. Such data serves to explain the great
soldier of later years. Every schoolboy knows, for example, what
Washington did after he was placed in command of the Colonial
Army--but what he did in the earlier years to deserve this high
command is a story not so well known. Yet it is both interesting in
itself, and serves to humanize its subject. The stately Washington steps
down off his pedestal, and shoulders again his surveyor's tripod of
boyhood days, while he invites us to take a tramp through the Virginia
wilds.
The writing (and, we hope, the reading) of these life stories brings an
especial message. We discover that in each instance the famous soldier
was not a pet of Fortune, but was selected for his high and arduous task,
because of the training received in his formative years. His peculiar gift
of leadership was merely an expression of his indomitable will to forge
ahead. He exemplified in his life the Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared."

CONTENTS
WASHINGTON
GRANT
LEE
NAPOLEON
WELLINGTON
GORDON

ROBERTS
KITCHENER
HAIG
JOFFRE
FOCH
PERSHING

BOYS' BOOK OF FAMOUS SOLDIERS
WASHINGTON
THE YOUNG SURVEYOR
"Turn your guns around on them! Stop them!"
The command was given in peremptory tones to a demoralized group
of soldiers. Not waiting for them to carry out his orders, the young
officer who gave them leaped from his horse, and with his own hands
turned one of the guns upon the advancing foe.
Had it been the Argonne Forest, and the year 1918, it would have been
a machine gun that the officer manned. But the time was over a century
and a half earlier than this--and the weapon a light brass field-piece,
which after being fired once, must be painfully reloaded.
Meanwhile, the redskins came on.
The young officer, whose name has come down to history as George
Washington, was trying to stem the tide of defeat. It was the fateful day
when old General Braddock of the British army received his first and
fatal lesson in Indian warfare. Says an old Pennsylvania ranger who
was also in the fray:

"I saw Col. Washington spring from his panting horse, and seize a brass
field-piece as if it had been a stick. His look was terrible. He put his
right hand on the muzzle, his left hand on the breach; he pulled with
this, he pushed with that, and wheeled it round, as if it had been a
plaything. It furrowed the ground like a ploughshare. He tore the
sheet-lead from the