Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-09-30
MILITARY COURAGE.a|
THE KINDS AND FISTS OF VAL0R-L0RD
WOLsRLBY'S STRIKING PAPER.
The Universal Admiration Of Bavsy-fus Nil
itary 6snns-Gsn. Lee a. One Of The
Five Greatest Commanders.

In the Fortnighay Reriep for September
Lord wolselsy has a most interesting pa-
per on military courage and genius. from
which the following extracts are made:
To understand courage one must thor
oughly understand cowardice in all its
phases, and they are infinite. It is the
most subtitle of mental diseases, the exist
ence of which may never be known to any
but the man whose heart it gnaws at.
When the day arrives on which all hearts
shall be open, we shall, / am sure, be
astonished to find that many of those who
have passed muster in our ranks as brave
men will plead in extenuation of sins
committed the astounding fact that they
were towards by nature.
In this short article, then, I shall as
sumo that c1ursgs is high virture and
cowardice dsstsrdly vice, and shall pro-
coed to treat of the subject from purely
practical point Of view, and as it hss pre-
ssnted itself to me under various aspects
and guises in eoldier's career.
SENSATIONS IN DANGEROUS SITUATIONS.
The young company officer when in &C.
ton has little time to gauge the feelings
or character Of his brother officers. His
time is fully occupied in fighting hard,
and determination possesses him to do his
duty at all costs or to attract attention by
reckless bravery 10 the 'neck-or. nothing, "
''double-or-quits" game of selfseekiug for
distinction. When, however, the position
OF leader is reached, and he must be con-
tent to say TO others in calm tones, go
onr' his opportunity for studying the
thermometer of human courage are endless.
Asa rule, in the case of commander, sue
cess most largely depends upon the gift Of
knowing how to select the man who will
do his bidding best. The fiery spirit who
will volunteer for sill services of danger
and 60 straight to the point to which be
is ordered is often worth a kings
ransom TO an army and to the nation
whose cause it is fighting. 1t is impossible
to put down automatically the value Of
such an officer, and next to the sensations
which vibrate through every nerve and
muscle of the man himself l know of moth
ing that stirs the whole mental and bodily
fibre more completely than to watch such
such hero as he bounds forward in front
of his men into some deadly breach. When
the affair lie over and he has cooled down
from the white heat which the electrical
currents running through him have aDgen-
dered, ask him about bis sensations. They
are difficult to anslyze, still more difficult
to describe in words. am, however, toler-
ably certain that almost every man who
has ever led stormiug party across the
open in full view Of the enemy will &C
knowledge that his prominent and allah.
sorbing anxiety from first to last was,
"Will my men follow meP" He has no
shsdoz of misgiving as 10 his own courage
snd determination to lead the way, but
that horrid question and the doubt it en-
genders robs him Of much of that frenzied
enjoyment which is past the understanding
of sll who have not taken part in such an
enterprise. All maddening pleasures seem
to be compressed into that very short space
of time, and yet every sensation expert
enced in these heetins moments is 80 in
delibly impressed on the brain that not
even the most trif1ing incident is ever for
gotten in after life. What gratitude the
leader feels forever afterward to those two
or three men who stuck close to his heels,
whose eyes met his whenever he looked
over his shoulder to see how those behind
were following!
UNABLE TO BE HRAvE.
have been associated with weak, nerve
less men who sincerely desired to be brave,
and whom some demon within them drove
into positions of peril for which their
nerves were unsuitsd. There are men
who can plan operations which they do
not possess the courage to carry out, who
will even attempt to carry them out upts
the last awful moment, when their hearts
failing them, they actually take to their
heels. A man may be honestly mistaken
in bis eetimate of the stuff of which his
spirit is constituted. A notable instance
ia that of Lord Grey, Of Werke, who
planned the thanking movement by night
with his cavalry at the battle Of Ssdge-
moor. Up to the point almost of impact
with the royal troops he seems to have
done fairly well, but when the danger Was
encountered, no sickly school girl could
bava ahoyn less nerve leas courape Yet