indefinite, nameless dread of
the enemy. If the average man was to analyze his feelings in war and
was to ask himself if he were actually afraid of being killed, he
would probably find that he was not. The ordinary soldier is prepared
to take his chance, with a comfortable feeling inside him, that,
although no doubt a number of people will be killed and wounded, he
will escape. If, then, a man is not unreasonably afraid of being
killed or wounded, is it not possible by proper training and
instruction to overcome this vague fear of the enemy? Experience shows
that it is. If a soldier is suffering from this vague fear of the
enemy, it will at least be a consolation to him to know that a great
many other soldiers, including those belonging to the enemy, are
suffering in a similar manner, and that they are simply experiencing
one of the ordinary characteristics of the human mind. If the soldier
in battle will only realize that the enemy is just as much afraid of
him as he is of the enemy, reason is likely to assert itself and to a
great extent overcome the unpleasant feelings inside him. General
Grant, in his Memoirs, relates a story to the effect that in one of
his early campaigns he was seized with an unreasonable fear of his
enemy, and was very much worried as to what the enemy was doing, when,
all at once, it dawned upon him that his enemy was probably worrying
equally as much about what he, Grant, was doing, and was probably as
afraid as he was, if not even more so, and the realization of this
promptly dispelled all of his, Grant's, fear. Confidence in one's
ability to fight well will also do much to neutralize fear, and if a
soldier knows that he can shoot better, march better, and attack
better, than his opponent, the confidence of success that he will, as
a result, feel will do much to dispel physical fear. By sound and
careful training and instruction make your men efficient and this
efficiency will give them confidence in themselves, confidence in
their rifles, confidence in their bayonets, confidence in their
comrades and confidence in their officers.

The physical methods of overcoming fear in battle are simply to direct
the men's minds to other thoughts by giving them something for their
bodies and limbs to do. It is a well-known saying that a man in battle
frequently regains his lost courage by repeatedly firing off his
rifle, which simply means that his thoughts are diverted by physical
movements. This is no