The Passing Glory of Modern Warfare
WAR is losing its glory; it presents few opportunities to-day, for personal exploits. Battles are no longer won by a brilliant bayonet or cavalry charge. The sword never gets near enough to the enemy to do any damage. This is the result of the substitution of modern long-range rapid-firing guns for those used up to very recent times. Lord Roberts, says a London dispatch, has abolished sword, lance, and bayonet exercises in the British army; and a board of expert cavalry officers “has pronounced the sword to be practically useless in warfare, although a sword of different pattern will remain a part of the cavalryman’s equipment.” But war is still “hell,” as it used to be.