FORESTERS IN THE GREAT WAR 



859 



View of Part of the City of Nancy. 



near nancy there has been almost continuous fighting since the beginning of the war. at the left 

 of the picture are shown the garden and buildings of the forest school, the only school in france 

 for the tr.\ining of technical foresters. the names indicating its location were written on the 

 photograph by prof. henry, assistant director of the school. 



The importance in warfare of all these 

 qualities can hardly be exaggerated. 

 Modem war is not, as the present 

 titanic struggle has proved, entirely 

 a question of heavy guns. The man 

 behind the gun is still the most impor- 

 tant factor, and it is mainly upon the 

 physical hardihood, the moral stamina, 

 and the enduring powers of the men on 

 the firing line and in the trenches that 

 the final outcome will depend. It is, 

 therefore, perfectly natural that fores- 

 ters, who possess all of these qualifica- 

 tions in a peculiar degree, should be 

 looked upon by the military experts 

 as too good material not to be put to 

 use in time of need. 



The military qualifications of foresters 

 have been especially recognized in 

 France — notably since the Franco- 

 Prussian war of 1870. Previous to the 

 establishment of the forest school at 

 Nancy in 1825, most of the higher 

 forest officials were appointed from 

 retired army officers, but up to the 

 time of the Franco-Prussian war the 

 personnel of the forest administration 



did not form a part of the regiilar 

 army. Events in that war, however, 

 proved conclusively what valuable 

 military service could be rendered by 

 foresters. The subordinate forest 

 officials everywhere voluntarily offered 

 their ser\dccs and acted effectively as 

 guides and as bearers of despatches 

 between the ines of investment at 

 Strassburg, Metz, Sedan, and Paris. 

 After the first disasters to the French 

 arms, the higher forest officials, unan- 

 imously offered to assist in the 

 organization of new corps, and some 

 even joined the ranks of the active 

 army before the mobilization of the 

 new troops could be effected. In a 

 letter of June 30, 1871, to the Minister 

 of Finance, General Cambriels gave 

 the highest praise to the foresters who 

 had served in the war, stating that they 

 had given such striking proof of their 

 courage, patriotism, devotion to duty, 

 and disinterested self-sacrifice as to 

 command the respect and admiration 

 of all. 



