In the old days, to drill and discipline the soldier into a machine
was undoubtedly the end of all his training. To-day his officers have
the more difficult task of stimulating his intelligence, while, at
the same time, they instil the habits of subordination; and that such
task may be successfully accomplished we have practical proof. The
regiments of the Light Brigade, trained by Sir John Moore nearly a
century ago on the system of to-day, proved their superiority in the
field over all others. As skirmishers, on the outpost, and in
independent fighting, they were exceedingly efficient; and yet, when
they marched shoulder to shoulder, no troops in Wellington's army
showed a more solid front, manoeuvred with greater precision, or were
more completely under the control of their officers.
Mechanical obedience, then, is perfectly compatible with the freest
exercise of the intelligence, provided that the men are so trained
that they know instinctively when to give the one and to use the
other; and the Confederates, had their officers and non-commissioned
officers been trained soldiers, might easily have acquired this
highest form of discipline. As it was, and as it always will be with
improvised troops, the discipline of battle was to a great degree
purely personal.
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