Famous generals of the great war who led the United States and her allies to a glorious victory . and energy, andnever was honor more justly deserved or more mod-estly borne. Without more ado he turned back to hiswork of perfecting the defenses of Paris, and laboredso persistently that in five years the city had been madepractically impregnable; or as impregnable as it washumanly possible to make it. Joffre, in fact, became a master in the art of build-ing fortifications. His work was noticed, and, whenAdmiral Courbet telegraphed from Kelong—a port inthe Island of Formosa—for a French officer
Famous generals of the great war who led the United States and her allies to a glorious victory . and energy, andnever was honor more justly deserved or more mod-estly borne. Without more ado he turned back to hiswork of perfecting the defenses of Paris, and laboredso persistently that in five years the city had been madepractically impregnable; or as impregnable as it washumanly possible to make it. Joffre, in fact, became a master in the art of build-ing fortifications. His work was noticed, and, whenAdmiral Courbet telegraphed from Kelong—a port inthe Island of Formosa—for a French officer who under-stood thoroughly the way to dig trenches and to erectforts, Joffre was very naturally chosen for the had been occupied by the French for but oneyear, yet it was essential that an army of occupationshould be placed there to establish French rights and toexclude the growing German influence in the Far Joffre was to be given the task of making Kelonginto a formidable fortress, and so well did he accomplishthis duty that he was decorated with the Legion « T>» » PAPA JOFFRE PAPAJOFFEE 7 For three years the robust young Frenchman re-mained in Formosa, occupying himself—for the mostpart—in effecting a system of housing which was prac-tically perfect. Under his direction barracks were putup, and they afforded the men such excellent protec-tion against both heat and damp, that many valuablelives were saved which otherwise would have beenclaimed by malaria or enteric fever. In 1888, CaptainJoffre returned to France, and on May 6th, 1889, wasmade Major and Commandant at the War Office inParis. Soon after this he left Paris for Versailles,where he was appointed Major to the 5th Regiment ofRailway Corps. In this position he acquired a greatpractical knowledge of the French railways, which wasto be of such advantage to him when troops were to bemobilized against the Prussian invasion of 1914. Promotion now came rapidly for the young o
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjectgeneral, booksubjectworldwar19141918
