This corporate spirit forms the bond of union
between the natural forces which are active in that which we have called
military virtue. The crystals of military virtue have a greater affinity
for the spirit of a corporate body than for anything else.

An Army which preserves its usual formations under the heaviest fire,
which is never shaken by imaginary fears, and in the face of real danger
disputes the ground inch by inch, which, proud in the feeling of its
victories, never loses its sense of obedience, its respect for and
confidence in its leaders, even under the depressing effects of defeat;
an Army with all its physical powers, inured to privations and fatigue
by exercise, like the muscles of an athlete; an Army which looks upon
all its toils as the means to victory, not as a curse which hovers over
its standards, and which is always reminded of its duties and virtues by
the short catechism of one idea, namely the HONOUR OF ITS ARMS;--Such an
Army is imbued with the true military spirit.

Soldiers may fight bravely like the Vende'ans, and do great things like
the Swiss, the Americans, or Spaniards, without displaying this military
virtue. A Commander may also be successful at the head of standing
Armies, like Eugene and Marlborough, without enjoying the benefit of its
assistance; we must not, therefore, say that a successful War without
it cannot be imagined; and we draw especial attention to that point,
in order the more to individualise the conception which is here brought
forward, that the idea may not dissolve into a generalisation and that
it may not be thought that military virtue is in the end everything. It
is not so. Military virtue in an Army is a definite moral power which
may be supposed wanting, and the influence of which may therefore be
estimated--like any instrument the power of which may be calculated.

Having thus characterised it, we proceed to consider what can be
predicated of its influence, and what are the means of gaining its
assistance.

Military virtue is for the parts, what the genius of the Commander is
for the whole. The General can only guide the whole, not each separate
part, and where he cannot guide the part, there military virtue must
be its leader. A General is chosen by the reputation of his superior
talents, the chief leaders of large masses after careful probation; but
this probation diminishes as we descend the scale of rank, and in just
the same measure we may reckon less