Old Humphrey

“ Some on these occasions act a brutal part; but there are men in the army whose hearts are unhardened by their profession, and whose generous dispositions move them more to clemency than cruelty. War has horrors enough, without adding to its evils by selfish and reckless cruelty and brutality. The soldier, whether he carries a musket, or wears epaulettes on his shoulders, who, fired with revenge and flushed with victory, stains his blade with the blood of a vanquished enemy, or ill-uses fear-struck and defenceless woman, is a ruffian, and not worthy to be called a man. ”

“ Fancy to yourselves, boys, a general, setting off with his aid-de-camp in a great bustle, and in high good humour, determined to hurry through his duties. You may be sure that the colonel and the adjutant of the troops to be inspected will not be inattentive to him; and if the colonel and adjutant are forward, the paymaster, the quarter-master, and the surgeon are not likely to be backward. How can the kind-hearted general make himself disagreeable to others by finding fault, when every one is trying to be agreeable to him? ”

“ O boys! boys! ‘Will honour take away the grief of a wound?’ A soldier had need have something better to support him than the mere love of glory: he ought to have the consolation of knowing that he has fought in a just cause, and that it is his country’s good, and not his own that he aims at. In my time, perhaps, I have run after the bubble glory as ardently as the boy pursues his butterfly; but there are seasons—I speak from experience—when the heart of a soldier is sick of war; and then he muses and moralizes like other men. ”

“ It is discipline that keeps the army and the navy of England in order.”
“What is discipline? Is it flogging those that do wrong and disobey orders?”
“Discipline is the instruction, as well as the control of soldiers, sailors, and marines. Bravery alone would never enable men to discharge their duty in the field; it is discipline which renders their strength, skill, and bravery efficient. A good soldier should have somewhat to hope; a bad one should have something to fear.” ”

“ My curiosity was excited, and I wished to hear all I could about modern arms, from the poniard to the pike, from the cutlass to the carbine, from the hand-grenade to the Congreve rocket, from the six-pounder to the big brass cannon at Bejapoor in Hindoostan, and from the horse-pistol in the houlster of a dragoon to the monster mortar used at the siege of Antwerp. ”

“ Many a foot-soldier in his coarse grey great-coat, and his knapsack on his back, has a heart in his bosom as brave as that of a life-guardsman!”
“Ay! a little man may be quite as brave as a big man.”
“I have somewhere heard the remark that ‘all great men are little men,’ but there is not much truth in it, though many great military commanders have been of small stature: Alexander the Great, and Napoleon Buonaparte among them. The body, after all, let its stature be what it may, is of little value compared to the mind. The one is the leathern scabbard, the other the finely tempered sword. ”

“ It was almost a hopeless position, and a Russian officer appeared and summoned him to capitulate, when his answer was, ‘A Mareschal of France never surrenders.’ Though the batteries opened on him a tremendous fire, he fearlessly plunged into the ravine, cleared a passage over the stream in spite of all opposition, and attacked his enemies at their guns. None but a soldier can estimate his danger and his daring. Again and again he was beaten back, but all in vain, for in the face of the whole army of his foes he maintained his position, disdaining to surrender or retire. ”

“ I wish that punishments could be safely done away in the army and navy, but when we consider that the men are principally drawn from the lowest and most ignorant classes, it would be too much to expect them to be kept in order if insubordination were not punished. Punishment, though it may not make a culprit a better man, may prevent him from repeating the offence, and deter others from committing it; still justice should be tempered with mercy, and I have known cases wherein clemency has had the happiest effect.”
“How are officers and men generally punished?” ”

“ When, harassed, day after day, and night after night, when, bivouacing on the cold ground, or watching by the dying embers of the camp-fire, and, especially, when lying among the wounded on the battle-field, he sees friends and foes around him who have been swept down by the sharp scythe of war, he yearns for the calm quiet, the soothing peacefulness of a happy home, where the wasting sword of battle is unknown ”

“ The thought of death should lead a soldier to act humbly in his life. The tallest grenadier ought not to lift his head proudly above the lowest man in the regiment. But I have not yet told you anything of a sailor’s burial. When a seaman dies he is sewn up in his hammock, with a couple of shot fastened between his feet. As he lies upon a grating, with his comrades around him, the chaplain of the ship, or the captain, reads the Burial Service appointed for the dead at sea. ”

“ Many of my old comrades, though living, are dead to me, for they are scattered about the world, and many who are really dead are alive in my remembrance. You shall have a few anecdotes of some of the French generals. Whatever may have been their failings, no one can call in question their personal bravery; and a true soldier will never cover the name of an enemy with the slime of slander, but rather speak the truth, be it good or evil. ”

“ Before now, I have seen men on the very eve of mutiny, when a prudent and considerate word on the part of an officer, has broken their proud hearts at once, and brought them to a sense of their duty. Englishmen hate oppression, and it ought never to be practised. When officers temper the discipline of the service with due consideration, and kindly feeling, soldiers, sailors, and marines, are ready to follow them through fire and water. ”

“ It is a great advantage, also, in a battle, to have the wind and sun in your favour; to meet an enemy with the wind and dust against you, and the sun in your eyes, is very trying. The artillery should be distributed with great care, for it forms, in most cases, the principal strength of an army; and the horse and foot should be posted on ground the fittest for their operations.”
“But, how can an army fire cannon without killing their own soldiers, for they must at times be mingled together with the enemy?” ”

“ A battle should never be fought when it can be avoided. It is said to be the last resource of a good general. If skill and stratagem can attain an object, fighting is altogether out of the question. When, however, a battle becomes inevitable, the first thing is to take advantage of the ground, for oftentimes the possession of a hill, a thicket, a village, or of a single building, is of great consequence. If you had been at Waterloo, and seen what efforts were made to possess the house called Hougomont, I should have no occasion to say a word on this point. ”

“ Great as the duke was in military fame, he at last became childish, and wept when beaten at chess, saying, ‘Every one can beat me now?’ You see, boys, how little it becomes us to be proud, for he who is great to-day may be little, indeed, to-morrow. While I tell you about soldiers and sailors, and of the reputation that many of them have attained, remember, that to be a great warrior unennobled by proper motives, is only to be a great destroyer. Aim at uprightness, usefulness, patriotism, loyalty, honour, and humanity, and you will then be true friends to your country. ”

“ The art of military surveying, is to represent on paper the features of a country, that the operations of the service may be carried on with less difficulty, and more effect. If the commander of an army, or of a smaller force, is unacquainted with the country or neighbourhood in which he is, it will be necessary to reconnoitre it, for a knowledge of hills, woods, rivers, and brooks, as well as that of the force and position of the enemy. Military surveying is much the same as reconnoitering, only the latter is done rapidly with the naked eye, the former with instruments, and with greater care. ”

“ Buonaparte, while constructing a battery under the enemy’s fire, had occasion to prepare a dispatch, and called aloud for some one who could use his pen. Junot leaped forward; but while he was leaning on the breastwork, writing down what Buonaparte dictated, a shot struck the ground and scattered the dust all over him. ‘Good!’ said Junot, laughing, ‘this time we shall spare our sand?’ Buonaparte was so much pleased by the cool intrepidity and gaiety of the sergeant that he kept his eye on him afterwards. In course of time Junot became Marshal of France and Duke of Abrantes. ”

“ See him in the north, when the rigging of his ship is hung with icicles; in the east and west, when the deck is almost as hot as a baker’s oven; holding his weary midnight watch in the calm, and reefing the fluttering sail in the storm. ”

“ It is, and a very important part, too; what may seem to you of no consequence, is of real value in the discipline of the army. Every, even the least, important movement in military affairs, is a link in the chain of discipline that cannot be dispensed with without loss. The act of standing in a proper position may be thought a trifle, yet, in military tactics, it is of great importance. If a soldier cannot stand properly he cannot step properly, and still less can he march, countermarch, face, wheel, and perform the various evolutions required of him ”

“ A private should be proud of his general good character. A staff-officer should lean on nothing but his merit. The major part of a captain’s duty is the care of his company. A quarter-master should do the whole of his duty, and the highest officer in the army should remember that he is but a man. ”

“ The boats of the fleet are manned, and, with a party of marines in each, are drawn up abreast the ship where the execution is about to take place. All this occurs early in the morning. At last comes the unhappy culprit. He mounts the platform, that stretches across the forecastle; a dead silence prevails; the sentence that has been recorded against the prisoner by the court-martial is read, as well as the articles of war under which he has been condemned; the signal-gun gives the fatal flash, and the unhappy man is run up to the fore-yard-arm. ”

“ The reduction of Antwerp was a siege; the place was invested by an army, and approached by covert ways. A surprise is an unexpected assault and capture. A skirmish is an encounter between two smaller bodies of troops in the neighbourhood of their respective armies. A repulse, is the disaster of being beaten back by an enemy. The destruction of the powder-magazine at Jean D’Acre was an explosion; it was the blowing up of the magazine, though accidentally accomplished.”
“If we can remember one half you have told us, we shall be able to talk like old soldiers. ”

“ My knife was already buried in the flesh, its point grating against the lead, when the marshal, feeling that I had ceased to cut, and calculating, perhaps that my steadiness as an operator might be influenced by the rank of my patient, again turned round, and with as much sangfroid as if he had been merely a spectator, said, in an encouraging tone, ‘Cut boldly, doctor; I never fainted in my life.’ Almost at the same instant I placed the bullet in his hand. ”

“ This was on the British right, and Wellington was obliged to form his troops into squares. The French cuirassiers were desperate, but their attacks were fruitless. All that men could do was done by them, but British hearts and British hands were too strong to be conquered. Ten thousand men on the part of Wellington, and fifteen thousand on the side of Buonaparte, lay dead upon the field. Marshal Ney led on the French bravely. Never was a braver soldier. The old French guards, the flower of the army, dashed forward, and the carnage was dreadful. ”

“ If you reflect, boys, for a moment, common sense will tell you, that if one man stands upright and another crooked; if one takes up a little space, and another a great deal; if one makes a long step and another a short one; if one be quick in his movements and another slow, confusion must of necessity follow, and no officer can calculate either on the ground which the troops under him will occupy or the time they will take up in their marches and evolutions. ”

“ Not that French soldiers are superior to English soldiers, for he who would say that, must altogether mistake the matter; but they have had so much to do in warfare with the countries around them, and their armies have been so successful, that their fame has spread all over the world. The battle of Waterloo sadly humbled their pride, but for all that we must not undervalue the intrepidity of a brave people. ”

“ I have read that the soldiers of the Anglo-Saxons were mostly foot-soldiers, though some of them fought on horseback; but when William the Conqueror came, soldiers were mostly cavalry. Under the feudal system, if a man held land to a certain amount, called a ‘knight’s fee,’ he was obliged to serve the crown a period of forty days every year at his own expense, finding a horse, a helmet, a coat of mail, a shield, and a lance. After that, spear-men, battle-axe men, cross-bow men, and archers made their appearance; but when gunpowder was found out, it made a wonderful difference in the army. ”

“ In little better than two hours after the attack commenced, Ghuznee, with its garrison of three thousand five hundred men, was taken, without a single ladder being raised in escalade—thus showing the wondrous superiority of British valour and British tactics.”
“Well! that was a very desperate affair.”
“It was; but war is a desperate game; it is often so to the winner, and always to the loser. There has been sad news lately from India. The Affghans have been victorious, some thousands of our troops have fallen, and the wives of several British officers are in the hands of the enemy.” ”

“ So long as British men, in the army and navy, keep up their present character for courage and discipline, and are led on by commanders in whom they have confidence, they will always rank as the bravest of the brave. I was to tell you of the siege of Antwerp. The general operations of a siege shall be described, and then we will come to Antwerp itself. You may remember what I said about fortification, and the little that I told you of a siege. ”

“ The qualities in British soldiers that recommend themselves to all, may be said to be cleanliness, order, obedience, fidelity, and invincible courage; to which, among the officers, may be added enterprize, and that quality so susceptible of injury and disgrace, and so emulous of reputation, called honour. The love of country is strong in almost every bosom, from the recruit to the commanding officer. ”

“ It is one thing to hear or to read of a battle, and another to fight in the ranks. War is no child’s play, as every one knows who has seen service. There are different opinions about war: one man sees in it nothing but what is honourable and glorious ”

“ The disuse of the long-bow is hardly to be accounted for. An archer was deemed disqualified for service if he could not fire twelve unerring shafts in one minute. This, if we take the accuracy of their fire, for we must be allowed the term, into consideration, will make the practice of musketry very inferior.”
“Do you think bows and arrows will ever be used again by soldiers?”
“I think not, for the archer is not so well provided for close fighting as he who carries a musket: the ball on the inside, and the bayonet on the out, render the musket a most formidable weapon.” ”