y favoritism or political pull, and it was many months
(1885) before he gained admission.

The course which he took required two years to complete--years which
kept him away from home, but were worth while. He graduated as fourth
in a large class, and better still had made some valuable acquaintances
here. His professors and classmates soon recognized in this quiet,
studious Artillery Captain a man worth watching--one who would do in an
emergency.

The next eight or ten years were filled with the usual routine of an
army officer in peace times. He was transferred from one post to
another for periods of two or three years, but always it was active
field service which he liked, rather than the routine of office duty.
He established a brilliant reputation for horsemanship and cavalry
tactics which later were to be of advantage.

But still he had never seen actual warfare, nor heard the bullets whizz
about his head. He was an academic soldier, and seemed destined to
remain one for the rest of his natural life when, in 1895, he was
appointed Assistant Professor of Military History and Strategy, in the
Ecole de Guerre, the college from which he had last graduated, a few
years before. The faculty had not forgotten him. It was an honor in a
way, but Foch doubtless debated long before he accepted it. It meant
the giving up of the freedom of his broad outdoors.

He was a major by this time; and after a few years of lecturing, he was
made full professor, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. The work in
his classes was highly important. This being a post-graduate school,
the men to whom he lectured were not cadets but trained soldiers, many
of them seasoned veterans. They would have instantly detected any flaw
in his teaching. The impress which this college professor then made
upon the future heads of the French army was destined to have a
profound and far-reaching effect. In the years to come, when France
and the civilized world was in search of a leader big enough to measure
up to the crisis--they turned to this quiet college professor!

Foch won his position as "the most gifted and original of the
professors in the Ecole de Guerre" by no trick or sensational methods.
He spoke in an even, almost monotonous voice, using few gestures. But
his speech was clear-cut and precise. He reminded his hearers of a
scientist dissecting a foreign body, as he expounded the clash of
armies or the turning points of battle. He