The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-10-07


Ono of the strangest incidents Of a battle is
the indifference, for the time being, of the
fighting men to the wounded. The army re-
gulations forbid any attention 60 the later
during The ighting declaring that the highest
Cuty aud most spressing emeI gency is to win
the battle. 10y which only can the proper
treatment Of the wounded be secured. This
Injunction is obeyed quite as often from in
chDation as from sense of duty, l think;
certainly, the ruling idea of soldier in a
battle is 10 kill the enemy. There is no
spirit within him then but that of slaughter.
Put on arInnt coward in the line. and compel
Lin to Stsv there, and ipsiinct-if nothing
lightr--will tell him TO takea musket aud re-
taliate upon the men who are trying to slay
b,m.
No more truthful words we're ever spoken
OF soldier than those of the Duke of We'll
hpgton. who remarked of an officer who was
leading line into action, HE is a brave
man" Il should say, said an aid, ''from
his deatl lv white face, that he is a coward. y
''He is q rave man." repeated the Duke,
with emphasis. ''He realizes his danger aud
firmly accepts it. Such man will always do
his whole duty"
This, think, is the whole theory of bravery
in battle-a stern, heroic endurance of dread
ful danger from conviction of duty. True,
there are soldiers of fortune and rattle
for its own sake, and who go through battle
as they would through a steeple-chase; but
this is kind of frenzy which is not moral
courage, aud which is only just nearer to
bravery than the inspiration of opium or
liquor.
''You are afraid, said one officer ieeriugly
to another at the opening Of battle. eyes, -
was the ready answer; land if you were
half as frightened as l, you would have run
long ago
The sights and sounds of battle are we'll
nigh indescribable. Noise, tumult, danger,
excitement all blend together to make a
scene which can have no parallel on the
bither side of the internal regions. During
his first battle, perhaps the novelty of the
thing may fill the recruit with genuine en-
thusasm, and put fear in the back ground;
but after that he will find the poetry of the
battlefield somewhat overdone in "Hohen-
linden" and fighting itself rather prosaic
and dangerous butchery. There is nothing
less like pageant, 1 verify believe, than a
battle. The arms are not polished and shiny
now, for the dew of last nights bivouac in
the grass has tarnished them: brilliant uni
forms have disappeared; belts are loosened,
or, in the fury of the fight, are thrown aside
altogether; shoulder-straps and epaulets are
discarded, out of wholesome regard for the
<nemys shaTp-shooters; and after the fight
has progressed an hour you will fud those
who are still fighting dirty, grimy, and labor
i1g to kill the enemy with about as hard
manual labor as navy is used to:
sAnd like smiths at their forges
Labored the red St Georges cannoneers.'
An army the day after fight is like ship
that has passed through a tornado and barely
escaped wreck-shattered, crippled, and al
most powerless. Next to defeat, there is
nothing 90 prostratiDg to au army as vic
terry. A few score men around torn and
ragged flag will represent regiments bri-
gades have dwinded to regiments, and divi-
sions to brigades Some are killed, many
wounded and many more have struggled or
become temporarily mingled with other
commands If every man brought into q
battle actually remained under orders until
the victory was won, or until he was killed,
wounded, or forced from the ground by pres
sure of numbers, the problem of battles would
be much harder of solution than It's. EXpe-
rience has shown that even the most efficient
and best disciplined regiments generally
contain, a modicum of poor fighters, who
may be divided into three classes; first, the
skulker who is certain to leave the field a
the first instant he can withdraw himself from
the eye of his officer or file-closer; second
the stragoler, who will fight till the battl,
grows hot and the danger thickens, and thel
make for the rear, thinking he has quite don,
his part; and third, the benevolent coward
who will not fight if he can help it, but i
anxious to save appearances, and so exert
himself to help the wounded off the field
and forges to return. For the deficit il
strength caused by such as these the Office
relies upon the fidelity and virtue of the goo
soldier, who never deserts his colors and VIII
will endure the pangs of hunger and fatigu,
that he may be on the line with his regimen
when the hour of trial arrives.
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