War Explained," points out that a commander who cannot look beyond
the local situation is not competent to command a detachment, however
small. In addition, it must be remembered that superior knowledge of
the art of war, thorough acquaintance with duty, and large experience,
seldom fail to command submission and respect. Troops fight with
marked success when they feel that their leader "knows his job," and in
every Army troops are the critics of their leaders. The achievements
of Jackson's forces in the _Shenandoah Valley Campaign_ of 1862 were
almost superhuman, but under Stonewall Jackson the apparently
impossible tasks were undertaken and achieved. General Ewell, one of
Jackson's commanders, stated that he shivered whenever one of
Stonewall's couriers approached him. "I was always expecting him to
order me to assault the North Pole! But, if he _had_ ordered, we
should have done it!"

THE NECESSITY FOR STUDY.--It is not pretended by any sane writer that
study alone will make a perfect officer, for it is universally
recognised that no amount of theoretical training can supply the
knowledge gained by direct and immediate association with troops in the
field; nor is it claimed that study will make a dull man brilliant, or
confer resolution and rapid decision on one who is timid and irresolute
by nature. But "the quick, {5} the resolute, the daring, deciding and
acting rapidly, as is their nature, will be all the more likely to
decide and act correctly in proportion as they have studied the art
they are called upon to practise" ("The Science of War"). Theory,
applied to the profession of arms, is to some a word of most obnoxious
sound, but it is obnoxious only to those who refuse to listen to the
advice, or to take warning from the practice, of Napoleon, of
Wellington, of Foch, and of many of the most famous generals of
history. "A man thoroughly penetrated with the spirit of Napoleon's
warfare would hardly fail in all circumstances to make his enemy's
communications his first objective; and if Wellington's tactical
methods had become a second nature to him it would be strange indeed if
he were seduced into delivering a purely frontal attack. . . . The
same tactical principles regulate the combat of a large force and a
small, and it is the thorough grasp of the principles, combined with
courage and coolness, that makes a capable leader, whether of a platoon
or an army corps" ("The Science of War").

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