The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-22
BRAVEST ON BATTLEFIELDS.
THE ANGLO-sAXONS EXCEL ALL
OTHER RACES.


eipIine Upon Large Bodies of SOL
diers-Very Few Troops VIII Fight
when They Are HunGry-COnH-
dcnce i'm the Commanding General
Is Very Important FactOr-The
Turks Are Individually the
Bravest Fighters In the World.
English and Americans.
From the London Spectator
1t is by no means easy to decide which
of the races of mankind is the bravest
upon the battlefield. We are rather in
clined to assign that place to the Osmanu,
who. besides his natural stolidity and ex-
emption from nerves has the pride of a
race of hereditary conquerors, exalted by
an honest belief either that God is on his
side or that fate is irresistible. If he is
die he will die; if not, not; and he charges
through the hail of shot with an imper-
turbable serenity which makes him the de-
light of disciplinarians and the despair
of decent men. 1t is, however, most diff
fcult even to institute a comparison as to
national courage, so much depends upon
some races upon leadership. Very few
troops fight well when they are hungry.
FTenchmen are distinctly drawer, by their
own confession, when they are led by a
Napoleon, and Germans differ violently
from themselves according to the perfcc-
ton of their discipline. Slavs will face
any danger which approaches if they are
ordered to face it, but 70 induce them to
show fierce charging courage, the courage
which sweeps away armies, they must
have confidence in their general, and see
him al their head. Italians have hardly
been tried of late years, though they died
in their tracks at Dogali; and Spaniards,
once esteemed the bravest infantry in Eu-
rope, have in more recent years appeared
TO have lost some confidence either in their
officers or themselves. Even the evidence
is imperfect.
We English believe in our hearts that
We make the best soldiers in the world;
but, as a matter of fact, there is no evi-
dence for the assertion indeed there is a
little evidence the other way. There is
plenty of proof running through all history
that the class of Englishmen who take 10
the army have no superiors in battle, il,
| indeed they have any equals; but the
English people have never yet been tried.
| They have never been subjected 10 Il on
scription or anything approaching TO one,
and the voluntary adoption of soldier
life naturally acts as a wnnowlng pro-
cess
Taking our self-chosen soldiers, however
as samples, it is fair to say that the Eng
lsh soldier seems less moved by compdr-
atlVe numbers than the man of any other
race; that he is less alarmed by an I'M
| lucky position, probably because he does
not perceive il; and that his courage is
singularly Independent of leadership in his
generals. He likes 10 see his officers IN
front but the universal testimony of his
enemies, as well as his friends to his ca
paclty for fighting when badly led to
making" in fact, "a soldiers battle Of
it," seems positive on that point. The same
quality must be in Americans, or they
could not have exhibited such courage af-
| Ter the dreadful massacres under McCiel-
| Ian; and military historians give much the
same praise 10 Russians, who however, az
shown before Plevna, dislike being mowu
down without gaining a success. 1t is prob
able that Engllshmen, Americans, Ger
mans, Frenchmen and Russians are (he
best troops in the world very much in chat
ORDER that after them come the Turks,
who are individually the bravest Of tnem
| all, and that the remaining Latin must be
content TO come next, though Spanards
! when defending a city or building have in
all ages been almost Incompatible.
The question of the comparative pro-
| portion of really brave men in any army
/ VIII probable never be determined. Great
| officers on the continent keep their knowl-
! edge on that subject vigorously as pro-
/ fessional secret and assume as a certainty
| that all soldiers are brave. They know
/ very well, however, that they are not, ana
! when, confidential, will admit, as Mar
| shall Won MoltlSe once did in public, that
! with a great number 1t takes discipline
! and severe discipline, too, to induce them
! to face shells unshrinkngly. American
officers have been known to acknowledge
| that of their men, who are as brave as
any in the world, 20 per cent would run
away IL they could, and in every army
! even ours which a man enters only Of free
| Will, there is a certain proportion who lit
| orally cannot overcome their fears They
] are stricken with sort of paralysis. The
proportion is, probably not high in any
army, the majority, IL in health, being
| able TO do their duty, and having intense
motives to do It; but neither is the pro-
portion high of those who literally feel no
fear. There are such men, who do not
! ouite understand what the emotion is, as
! there are also some who have in extreme
danger a sense Of pleasure, which some
times not only luickens their blood but
| distinctly increases their intellectual
/ force.
This is aid to have been true Of Gen. Pic
! ton. who, though a hard rough man, was
/ an "angel when bullets were about" and
was undoubtedly true Of the first Lord
| Cough. who had trick highly disagree
able 20 his staff. of seeking points OF fun
| exposure to the enemys fire. The i'm
mense respect paid to such men in all ar
mics shows however that they are ex-
ceptional, and, on the whole, we belive
that the opinion of the first Sir Henry
/ Havelock is very nearly the truth. The
writer once had an opportunity, during a
! discussion on the utility Of the Victoria
! Cross. of cross-questioning that famous
general on the subjest, and never forgot
his reply In my experience" he said,
"in any British regiment there are always
a hundred men who would storm the
gates of hell; eight hundred who if they
did II. would follow in; one hundred who
want to skulk in the bitches. and about
thirty who actually do skulk there or
elsewhere" The averages should be
higher in a conscript army, but then, also,