The translation has been thoroughly revised for thesense as well as in regard to technical military termsand expressions. To the name of every German generalofficer mentioned in the text has been affixed, withinbrackets, his specific command, a liberty which thereader will perhaps not resent, since the interpolationis intended to facilitate his clearer understanding ofa narrative condensed by the author with extremeseverity.
In further aid of elucidation there has been occasionallyinserted, also within brackets, a date, a figure,or a word.
A few footnotes will be found, which may perhapsbe excused as not wholly irrelevant. In the Appendixhave been inserted the "Orders of Battle" of both sides,as in the first period of the war.
Field-Marshal von Moltke began this history of theWar of 1870—1 in the spring of the year 1887, andduring his residence at Creisau he worked at it forabout three hours every morning. On his return toBerlin in the autumn of that year, the work was notquite finished, but he completed it by January, 1888,at Berlin, placed it in my hands, and never againalluded to the subject.
The origin of the book was as follows. I had severaltimes entreated him, but in vain, to make use of hisleisure hours at Creisau in noting down some of hisrich store of reminiscences. He always objected, inthe same words: "Everything official that I have hadoccasion to write, or that is worth remembering, is to beseen in the Archives of the Staff Corps. My personalexperiences had better be buried with me." He had adislike to memoirs in general, which he was at no painsto conceal, saying that they only served to gratify thewriter's vanity, and often contributed to distort importanthistorical events by the subjective views of anindividual, and the intrusion of trivial details. Itmight easily happen that a particular character whichin history stood forth in noble simplicity should behideously disfigured by the narrative of some personalexperiences, and the ideal halo which had surroundedit be destroyed. And highly characteristic ofMoltke's magnanimity are the words he once utteredon such an occasion, and which I noted at the time:"Whatever is published in a military history is alwaysdressed for effect: yet it is a duty of piety and patriotismnever to impair the prestige which identifies theglory of our Army with personages of lofty position."[vi]
Not long after our arrival at Creisau, early in 1887, Irepeated my suggestion. In reply to my request thathe would write an account of the Campaign of 1870—1,he said: "You have the official history of the war.That contains everything. I admit," he added, "thatit is too full of detail for the general type of readers,and far too technical. An abridgment must be madesome day." I asked him whether he would allow meto lay the work on his table, and next morning hebegan the narrative contained in