been increased to 100.

Reports received from divisional and army corps commanders on officers
who have been trained at the school are most satisfactory.

10. Since the date of my last report I have been able to make a close
personal inspection of all the units in the command. I was most
favorably impressed by all I saw.

The troops composing the army in France have been subjected to as severe
a trial as it is possible to impose upon any body of men. The desperate
fighting described in my last dispatch had hardly been brought to a
conclusion when they were called upon to face the rigors and hardships
of a Winter campaign. Frost and snow have alternated with periods of
continuous rain.

The men have been called upon to stand for many hours together almost up
to their waists in bitterly cold water, only separated by one or two
hundred yards from a most vigilant enemy.

Although every measure which science and medical knowledge could suggest
to mitigate these hardships was employed, the sufferings of the men have
been very great.

In spite of all this they presented, at the inspections to which I have
referred, a most soldierlike, splendid, though somewhat war-worn,
appearance. Their spirit remains high and confident; their general
health is excellent, and their condition most satisfactory.

I regard it as most unfortunate that circumstances have prevented any
account of many splendid instances of courage and endurance, in the face
of almost unparalleled hardship and fatigue in war, coming regularly to
the knowledge of the public.

Reinforcements have arrived from England with remarkable promptitude and
rapidity. They have been speedily drafted into the ranks, and most of
the units I inspected were nearly complete when I saw them. In
appearance and quality the drafts sent out have exceeded my most
sanguine expectations, and I consider the army in France is much
indebted to the Adjutant General's Department at the War Office for the
efficient manner in which its requirements have been met in this most
essential respect.

With regard to these inspections I may mention in particular the fine
appearance presented by the Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Divisions,
composed principally of battalions which had come from India. Included
in the former division was the Princess Patricia's Royal Canadian
Regiment. They are a magnificent set of men, and have since done
excellent work in the trenches.

It was some three we