xcept Jackson
himself, and his chief of artillery, not one of the staff had more
than a year's service. Twelve months previous several of the
brigadiers had been civilians. The regimental officers were as green
as the men; and although military offences were few, the bonds of
discipline were slight. When the march to M'Dowell was begun, which
was to end five weeks later at Port Republic, a considerable number
of the so-called "effectives" had only been drilled for a few hours.
The cavalry on parade was little better than a mob; on the line of
march they kept or left the ranks as the humour took them. It is true
that the Federals were hardly more efficient. But Jackson's
operations were essentially offensive, and offensive operations, as
was shown at Bull Run, are ill-suited to raw troops. Attack cannot be
carried to a triumphant issue unless every fraction of the force
co-operates with those on either hand; and co-operation is hardly to
be expected from inexperienced officers. Moreover, offensive
operations, especially when a small force is manoeuvring against the
fraction of a larger, depend for success on order, rapidity, and
endurance; and it is in these qualities, as a rule, that raw troops
are particularly deficient. Yet Jackson, like Napoleon at Ulm, might
have boasted with truth that he had "destroyed the enemy merely by
marches," and his men accomplished feats of which the hardiest
veterans might well be proud.

From April 29 to June 5, that is, in thirty-eight days, they marched
four hundred miles, fought three battles and numerous combats, and
were victorious in all. Several of the marches exceeded twenty-five
miles a day; and in retreat, from the Potomac to Port Republic, the
army made one hundred and four miles between the morning of May 30
and the night of June 5, that is, fifteen miles daily without a rest
day intervening. This record, if we take into consideration the
infamous roads, is remarkable; and it well may be asked by what means
these half-trained troops were enabled to accomplish such a feat?* (*
"Campaigning in France," says General Sheridan, who was with the
Prussian Headquarter Staff in 1870, "that is, the marching, camping,
and subsisting of an army, is an easy matter, very unlike anything we
had in the War of the Rebellion. To repeat: the country is rich,
beautiful, and densely populated, subsistence abundant, and the roads
all macadamised highways; thus the conditions are altogether
diffe