Army

“ An army guards against the blows of an enemy's demons with every kind of cover, every kind of deception, with all resources of scientific ingenuity and invention; and an army guards its own demons in their lairs as preciously as if they were made of some delicate substance which would go up in smoke at a glance from the enemy's eye, instead of having barrels of the strongest steel that can be forged. ”

“ In the breasts of all who serve or have served in the army there exists an esprit de corps, a filial attachment, to all that belongs to their regiment, to its past history, its conduct in peace and war, its badges won in battle--those honours which are the heraldry of the service, and connected with the glory of the empire--in its officers and soldiers of all ranks. ”

“ HOW AN ARMY IS FORMED. The making of an army—that is what it means to turn men of peace to men of war, to fit the mechanic or the business man, the farmer or the miner, for a passage at arms with a foreign foe—has been for the present generation a matter of conjecture and of lessons drawn from previous passages in the nation's chronicles. ”

“ Sages have thought the army worth preserving for a dash of scarlet and a roll of the kettledrum; in every State procession it is the implements of death and the men of blood that we parade; and not to nursemaids only is the soldier irresistible. ”

“ Soldiers, soldiers everywhere; every likely youngster was in uniform, and there were many older men whose keen, quiet faces bore the ineffaceable stamp of the regular officer of the old Army—the old Army that was gone for ever, only a fragment left after the first fierce onslaught of war. ”

“ And, sir, let an army of thirty thousand men be collected, let them be put under the command of a popular leader, let them be officered to suit his purposes, let them be flushed with victories, and see the fascinating career of military glory opening upon them, and they will not thereafter ever be deficient in resources. ”

“ An army, especially a defensive army, multiplies itself. The contagion of enterprise spreads from one heart to another. Zeal for a native, or detestation of a foreign sovereign, hope of sudden greatness or riches, friendship or emulation between particular men, or, what are perhaps more general and powerful, desire of novelty and impatience of inactivity, fill a camp with adventurers, add rank to rank, and squadron to squadron. ”

“ Is not all, at home, satisfaction and tranquillity? all, abroad, submission and compliance? Is it the interest, or inclination, of any prince, or state, to draw a sword against us? and are we not, nevertheless, secured by a numerous standing army, and a king who is, himself, an army? Have our troops any other employment than to march to a review? ”

“ Nobility is not an army. To form an army of half a million, at least a hundred and fifty regiments are needed, and we, as thou thyself sayest, have forty. How could those men who to-day are herding cattle, ploughing land, making pots, or drinking and idling on their lands, learn the art of warfare? ”

“ But what possibility was there of raising an army out of nothing, without the all-powerful aid of gold, and the inspiriting name of a victorious commander; above all, an army which, by its discipline, warlike spirit, and activity, should be fit to cope with the experienced troops of the northern conqueror? ”

“ We would say to our laity what the editor of the 'Columbiad' wrote in the October number: "The vista of the glory of service that opens before the mind musing on the power for good within our grip is sublime. To each the image rises. An army, a host of faces keen with knowledge, calm with contentment, eager with honest ambition looks up. ”

“ You have sent to the army, as though supplying fuel to the fire, a young man who is consumed with a passion for sovereign power, and who recognises that the only way to it lies in passing his life surrounded by armed legions and perpetually stirring up fresh wars. ”

“ To this army, alike formidable for its numbers, its discipline, and its equipments,—aided in its operations by a numerous fleet, and conducted by commanders of skill and experience, was opposed a force, unstable in its nature,—incapable, from its structure, of receiving discipline,—and inferior to its enemy, in numbers, in arms, and in every military equipment. ”

“ THE ARMY.—At about this time a great change took place in the constitution of the army. The occupation of a soldier had become a trade. Besides the levy of citizens, there was established a recruiting system, which drew into the ranks the idle and lazy, and a system of re-inforcements, by which cavalry and light-armed troops were taken from subject and vassal states. Thus there arose a military class, distinct, as it had not been of old, from the civil orders, and ready to act separately when its own interest or the ambition of favorite leaders might prompt. ”

“ Even at present, by mere force of order and authority, the army is the salvation of myriads; and men who, under other circumstances, would have sunk into lethargy or dissipation, are redeemed into noble life by a service which at once summons and directs their energies. ”

“ The royal army, on the other hand, consisted in great part of gentlemen, high spirited, ardent, accustomed to consider dishonour as more terrible than death, accustomed to fencing, to the use of fire arms, to bold riding, and to manly and perilous sport, which has been well called the image of war. ”

“ In every army there are mighty warriors with strength to lift the Censer, swifter of foot than the war horse; who can take the enemy’s standard, or slay his general, If such men be selected, and set apart, cared for and honoured, they are the life of the army.
“Those who use the five arms [1] with skill, who are clever, strong and quick, and careless of the enemy, should be given rank and decoration, and used to decide the victory. Their parents and families should be cared for, encouraged by rewards, and kept in fear of punishment. ”

“ The army is a country itself, converted into a weapon of protection and defense, and is constituted not only of men who form the ranks of the present, but also of the glorious traditions of the men who have formed the ranks of days gone by. ”

“ An army composed of men of property, who have been all their days inured to labour, will generally equal the best veteran troops, in point of strength of body and firmness of mind, and when fighting in defence of their religion, their estates, their liberty, and families, will have stronger motives to exert themselves, and may, if they have been properly disciplined, be not much inferior to them in the skill of arms. ”

“ Nor is this picture confined to the host in battle array beneath the walls of Ilios; we must remember that in all early societies the distinction between soldier and civilian is unknown; the army is the nation, and the nation is the army. ”

“ Into the city from which they marched, men and boys would come back; an army nearly as great as had gone forth, but an army halting, maimed, helpless, wounded, suffering, shot to pieces. They had seen it too often not to be able to forecast the scene absolutely. ”

“ It is not an army that we must shape and train for war; it is a nation. ”

“ It is curious to see, therefore, how the first voluntary national army, long embodied, produced an antagonism, among the mass of the people, to standing armies altogether, a feeling which lasts even until now in theory, if not in fact. ”

“ By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure. ”

“ He had in his army 44,000 old soldiers, every way answerable to what I have said of them before; and I shall only add, a better army, I believe, never was so soundly beaten. ”

“ Here are two armies drawn up in battle order—hundreds of thousands of young and valiant men; fighting for what they regard their rights and duties; suffering unspeakable privations and performing deeds of matchless valor—the army of the North and the army of the South—whose conflict demonstrated to the world the extraordinary resources of this nation, the exceptional qualities of the American soldier and the absolutely unconquerable strength of a united country. Who are these soldiers? Fathers and sons from farm and store and factory. Average men. ”

“ Imagine an army of 300,000 men advancing by five parallel roads on a front of 50 m., each column (60,000 men, 2 army corps) being covered by a strong advance guard, coming in contact with a similarly constituted army moving in an opposite direction. ”

“ Are thy army consisting of four kinds of forces, viz., the regular troops, the allies, the mercenaries, and the irregulars, each furnished with the eight ingredients, viz., cars, elephants, horses, offices, infantry, camp-followers, spies possessing a thorough knowledge of the country, and ensigns led out against thy enemies after having been well trained by superior officers? ”

“ The more you hear or read of tactics, the clearer you will see that the better they are understood the more likely is an army to be successful. It is generally agreed that there are some principles which should always be strictly attended to in the formation of all military bodies.
“First, Each regiment, or integral part of an army, must be under the uniform command of one man, interested in its good appearance, efficiency, and success, who must be responsible for his charge, and removeable when not found equal to his duty. ”

“ Most of the officers in the American army and navy, and most of the rank and file, had probably entered the service with no expectation of ever shedding the blood of men. The navy and army were looked on as instruments of peace ”

“ An army has two main factors of strength—that is, two main material factors apart from the moral factors of courage, discipline, habit, and relationship. These two material factors are first its numbers, and secondly its supply. ”

“ And so soon as your army is assembled, let them by and by be exercised, every man to know his weapon, and that there be all other things prepared in readiness, for your army, as if they should march upon a day's warning, especially carriages, and a commissary of victuals, and a master of ordnance. ”

“ Francis the Church possessed an ever victorious army—a wandering army which spread over the roads, in the villages and through the towns, penetrating to the firesides of artisan and peasant, and gaining possession of all simple hearts. ”

“ An army composed, as that I have in view, ought not to be officered by men who can get forward, as at present, by purchasing over the heads, too often, of much better soldiers than themselves, in point of gallantry, [Pg 22] military science, and experience. ”

“ When the army returns from any campaign, it lays down its arms and disbands, with the understanding that, at the slightest rumour of a military summons, they are to present themselves with their uniforms, and the cavalry with their horses. ”

“ Not only were the officers and soldiers largely benefited as individuals, but the army, as a whole, was sustained and strengthened by the knowledge that through these two societies, and others of similar character, the whole people were manifesting their readiness to bear their share of burden and sacrifice. ”

“ There we remained stationary till the advance of the army into France; and as the business of one day very much resembled that of another, I shall not weary my reader by going much into detail, but state, in few words, only some of the more memorable of the adventures which gave a character to the whole space of time in its progress.
In the first place, the main business of the army was to fortify its position by throwing up redoubts here and there, wherever scope for a redoubt could be found. ”

“ You take the sense of the army from the conduct of the guards, with the same justice with which you collect the sense of the people from the representation of the Ministry. Your marching regiments, Sir, will not make the guards their example either as soldiers or subjects. ”

“ An army of soldiers, on the contrary, is a machine organized and adjusted for a particular purpose, and formidable, not in the proportion merely of the numbers of which it is composed, but in a much higher degree ”

“ In time of war several corps are formed into an army, each army embracing from two to four corps. The army corps, both in peace and war, is subdivided into divisions, brigades, regiments, and battalions. ”

“ The household corps of the British army represent a body of troops which, for appearance, for discipline, for intelligence, and for respectability, are unequalled by the troops of any other nation upon earth. ”

“ Most signalling is now done by means of one flag.
On page 208 you will see a little picture which compares a man with an army. An army in the field is very like a man, as you will plainly see if you study the drawing.
[207]
First, let us look at the man's brain. By means of it he thinks, makes his plans, and orders all the movements of his body. What is called the staff of an army is the brain of the army. It plans how to outwit the enemy, thinks out ways and means, and controls the movements of all the troops. ”

“ We built our military fabric upon an entirely different theory—a small standing army to be used as a nucleus around which the aforesaid fighting citizenship would rally. We believed implicitly in the volunteer. ”

“ Every part of the kingdom, and every man and every woman in every part of it, is called upon to make his or her contribution and to do his or her share, and our primary business is to fill the ranks. [Cheers.] There is, I find, in some quarters an apprehension that the recruiting for the new army, and the functions to be assigned to that army when it is formed and trained, may interfere with or may in some way belittle or disparage the Territorial Force. Gentlemen, believe me, no delusion can be more mischievous or more complete. ”

“ Is their army to be raised, or mustered, and brought into the field? The Lord shall blow the trumpet, to gather the forces together, to proclaim the war, to sound the alarm, and to give directions which way to march, which way to move ”