would probably arrive on our shores in
good condition, and manned by full crews of well-trained officers
and men, habituated to their duties by recent practice and thoroughly
ready to fight, as the _Shannon_ was. We could not meet this fleet
successfully unless we met it with a fleet more militarily effective;
and we could not do this unless we had in the regular service and
the reserve a personnel of officers and men sufficiently numerous
to man immediately all the vessels that would be needed, and to
man in addition all the shore stations, which would have to be
expanded to a war basis. The officers and enlisted men, of course,
would have to be at least as well trained as the corresponding
personnel in the attacking fleet, and have as recent and thorough
practice in their respective duties; for otherwise, no matter how
brave and devoted they might be, the fate of the American fleet
would be the fate of the _Chesapeake_.

In order to be ready when war breaks, the first essential is a
plan for preparation. Preparation is divided naturally into two
parts: first, preparation of sufficient material and personnel;
second, preparation of plans for the conduct of the war after it has
begun. These two parts are both considered in what are technically
called "War Plans."

Preparation for war has always been known to be essential. Lack
of preparation has never been due to lack of knowledge, but always
to neglect. The difference between the wise and the foolish virgins
was not a difference in knowledge but a difference in character.
The difference between Alexander's little army and the tremendous
army of Darius was not so much in numbers as in preparedness. Trained
under Philip of Macedon for many years, organized for conquest
and aggression, prepared to meet any situation that might arise,
Philip's army carried Philip's son from victory to victory, and
made him the master of the world. Caesar was great in peace as well
as war, but it was by Caesar's army that Caesar's greatness was
established; and it was a thoroughness of preparation unknown before
that made Caesar's army great. Napoleon's successes were built on
the splendid preparation of a mind transcendently fitted to grasp
both principles and details, and on the comparatively unprepared
state of his opponents.

The Great Elector began in 1640 a course of laborious and scientific
preparation which committed all Prussia, as well as the army, to
acquiring what now we c