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I am no expert on von Moltke, and am not aware of his saying anything quite in the nature of the phrase in the query. While conducting a little research, I did find the following quote from a speech Moltke gave in the Reichstag in defense of a professional military: "Wars conducted by militias have the characteristic of lasting much longer and for this reason costing much more in terms of lives and money than all other wars. I remind you of the recent War of Secession in America, which each side had to wage essentially with militias." As quoted in, Antulio J. Echevarria II, "Moltke and the German Military Tradition: His Theories and Legacies," _Parameters_: 91-99 (Spring 1996) , Air War College Gateway to Military Theory & Theorists, <http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/96spring/echevarr.htm>. It seems unlikely that he would have stated that nothing could be learned from the American Civil War--his statement suggests that he had. His statement leaves me with the impression though that he may well have thought of our Civil War in terms much like those expressed in the query. J. Johnson
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