f Pratzen. His
plan was to draw the weight of the Russian attack against his
right--which was so disposed as to invite the headstrong and {10}
self-confident Tsar "to administer a lesson in generalship to
Napoleon"--and then to launch a superior attack against the Heights,
which contained a village and a knoll, the key to the position; and
finally to hurl his General Reserve in a decisive counter-attack on the
Russians when they were involved in battle with his right wing. When
the rattle of musketry and booming of the guns showed that his right
was engaged, Napoleon launched Murat, Bernadotte, and Soult against the
allied centre; when Soult was master of the village and the knoll, and
as the broken remnants of the enemy's centre were streaming down the
reverse slopes of the Pratzen Ridge, the French centre wheeled round to
the right and threw itself upon the flank and rear of the Russians, who
were still heavily engaged in their original attack. These operations
were completely successful and over 40,000 of the opposing armies were
accounted for. Wellington defeated Soult at Sauroren in the Pyrenees
(July 28, 1813) by taking advantage of a minor incident. He had ridden
forward to see the disposition of the French forces, and as his men
cheered him all along the line, he turned to his staff and said, "Soult
is a very cautious commander. He will delay his attack to find out
what those cheers mean; that will give time for the Sixth Division to
arrive and I shall beat him"--and the event turned out exactly as he
had predicted. Generals R. E. Lee and T. J. Jackson frequently played
upon the nervousness of President Lincoln for the safety of Washington,
and by threatening to cross the Potomac induced him to withdraw troops
that were advancing against Richmond.

NATIONAL MORAL.--The moral fibre of the nation and of the troops must
also be taken into consideration. "The common theory that, in order to
win, an army must have superiority of rifles and cannon, better bases,
more wisely chosen positions, is radically false. For it leaves out of
account the most important part of the {11} problem, that which
animates it and makes it live, man--with his moral, intellectual, and
physical qualities" (Marshal Foch).

DISCIPLINE AND MORALITY.--The discipline, courage, and endurance of the
troops, as well as the cause for which they are fighting, are at least
of equal importance to their armament and numbers. "If their
discip