Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . al were baffled, over and over again, by the ac-tivity, the cotip tVoeil, the brilliant movements of theBritish commander in the actual stress of , not to speak of his stern constancy, perhapsnever more magnificently displayed, Wellingtongave proof of the very highest capacity and militaryskill on the great day of Waterloo ; he showed that,as a tactician, he was a master of his art, in the gen-eral arrangement of his army on the ground ; inhusbanding his reserves to the latest moment ; inscreening h
Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . al were baffled, over and over again, by the ac-tivity, the cotip tVoeil, the brilliant movements of theBritish commander in the actual stress of , not to speak of his stern constancy, perhapsnever more magnificently displayed, Wellingtongave proof of the very highest capacity and militaryskill on the great day of Waterloo ; he showed that,as a tactician, he was a master of his art, in the gen-eral arrangement of his army on the ground ; inhusbanding his reserves to the latest moment ; inscreening his troops from the destructive fire of theartillery which gave Napoleon so many triumphs ;and, finally, in attacking when he saw that the daywas won. His conduct of Waterloo is his real titleto eulogy in the Campaign of 1815 ; it is a legiti-mate set-off to no doubtful strategic errors. Wellington, to a very considerable extent at least,made his Peninsular army what it became, the bestarmy in Europe for its size. His military adminis-tration, during the many years when he held the. THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.(From a steel engraving.^ Declining Years—Death—Character 381 post of Commander-in-Chief, is hardly entitled tohigh praise. There is something in the system ofwar established in England which makes her forcesinefficient in time of peace ; this has been seen fromthe Peace of Utrecht to the South African did not attempt to make reforms in thearmy, of which he was the head; he allowed it toexist in the routine of the past; he did not try toimprove its quality. He had the highest opinion ofthe British officer; but he did not lay stress on hisprofessional knowledge ; his idea was that he shouldbe able to lead his men and to fight. He thoughtthe non-commissioned officers the backbone of thearmy; but he hardly sought to improve theircondition ; he regarded the great body of the Brit-ish soldiers as excellent troops when under severediscipline, but prone to drunkenne
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