me companies in which no man has
ever been sent to the guard house, none ever straggled in marching, none
ever been missing when ordered into battle. The officers of these
companies are such as we have described above. We know other
companies--too many--in which the men are constantly straying around the
country, constantly found drunk or disorderly, constantly out of the
ranks, and constantly absent when they ought to be in line. Invariably
the officers of such companies are worthless. If, then, the system of
holding officers responsible for the faults of the men, were adopted, a
great reform would, in our judgment, be introduced into the service. It
is a well-known fact in the army that the character of a regiment, of a
brigade, of a division even, can be entirely changed by a change of
commanders. A hundred or a thousand men, selected at random from civil
life anywhere, will have the same average character; and if the military
organization which these hundred or thousand form differs greatly from
that of any similar organization, it is attributable entirely to those
in command.

Passing to the army at large, the next matter of prominent necessity to
be noticed is the infusion in it of a uniform spirit--so as to make all
its parts work harmoniously in the production of a single tendency and a
single result. This must depend upon the general commanding. It is one
of the marks of genius in a commander that he can make his impress on
all the fractions of his command, down to the single soldier. An army
divided by different opinions of the capacity or character of its
commander, different views of policy, can scarcely be successful.
Napoleon's power of impressing his men with an idolatry for himself and
a confidence in victory is well known. The _moral_ element in the
effectiveness of an army is one of great importance. Properly stimulated
it increases the endurance and bravery of the soldiers to an amazing
degree. Physical ability without moral power behind it, is of little
consequence. It is a well-known fact that a man will, in the long run,
endure more (proportionately to his powers) than a horse, both being
subject to the same tests of fatigue and hunger. A commander with whom
an army is thoroughly in accord, and who shows that he is capable of
conducting it through battle with no more loss than is admitted to be
unavoidable, can make it entirely obedient to his will. The _faculty of
command_ is of supreme importance