used to maintain the equilibrium; in this at
once, an evident proof of the moral superiority of the enemy is given
which seldom fails to stir up in the soul of the Commander a certain
bitterness of feeling, and a sort of contempt for his own troops.
But the principal thing is, that men who have been engaged for a long
continuance of time are more or less like burnt-out cinders; their
ammunition is consumed; they have melted away to a certain extent;
physical and moral energies are exhausted, perhaps their courage is
broken as well. Such a force, irrespective of the diminution in its
number, if viewed as an organic whole, is very different from what it
was before the combat; and thus it is that the loss of moral force
may be measured by the reserves that have been used as if it were on a
foot-rule.

Lost ground and want of fresh reserves, are, therefore, usually the
principal causes which determine a retreat; but at the same time we by
no means exclude or desire to throw in the shade other reasons, which
may lie in the interdependence of parts of the Army, in the general
plan, &c.

Every combat is therefore the bloody and destructive measuring of the
strength of forces, physical and moral; whoever at the close has the
greatest amount of both left is the conqueror.

In the combat the loss of moral force is the chief cause of the
decision; after that is given, this loss continues to increase until it
reaches its culminating-point at the close of the whole act. This then
is the opportunity the victor should seize to reap his harvest by the
utmost possible restrictions of his enemy's forces, the real object of
engaging in the combat. On the beaten side, the loss of all order and
control often makes the prolongation of resistance by individual units,
by the further punishment they are certain to suffer, more injurious
than useful to the whole. The spirit of the mass is broken; the original
excitement about losing or winning, through which danger was forgotten,
is spent, and to the majority danger now appears no longer an appeal to
their courage, but rather the endurance of a cruel punishment. Thus the
instrument in the first moment of the enemy's victory is weakened and
blunted, and therefore no longer fit to repay danger by danger.

This period, however, passes; the moral forces of the conquered will
recover by degrees, order will be restored, courage will revive, and in
the majority of cases there remains only a small