powder. There have been experiments to determine how much
powder shall be used, whether it shall be as fine as mustard-seed or as
coarse as lumps of sugar, and the results are all noted here. All the
appliances of science, industry, and art are brought into use to make it
the best army the world ever saw.

It is the business of the government to bring the materials together,
and the business of the generals to organize it into brigades,
divisions, and corps,--to determine the number of cavalry and batteries
of artillery, to place weak materials in their proper places, and the
strongest where they will be most needed.

The general commanding must have a plan of operations. Napoleon said
that war is like a game of chess, and that a commander must make his
game. He must think it out beforehand, and in such a manner that the
enemy will be compelled to play it in his way and be defeated. The
general-in-chief must see the end from the beginning, just as Napoleon,
sticking his map of Europe full of pins, decided that he could defeat
the Austrians at Austerlitz, the Prussians at Jena. That is genius. The
general-in-chief makes his plan on the supposition that all his orders
will be obeyed promptly, that no one will shirk responsibility, that not
one of all the vast multitude will fail to do his duty.

The night before the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon sent an order to an
officer to take possession of a little hillock, on which stood a
farm-house overlooking the plain. The officer thought it would do just
as well if he let it go till morning, but in the morning the English had
possession of the spot, and in consequence of that officer's neglect
Napoleon probably lost the great battle, his army, and his empire. Great
events often hang on little things, and in military operations it is of
the utmost importance that they should be attended to.

From the beginning to the end, unless every man does his duty, from the
general in command to the private in the ranks, there is danger of
failure.

Thus the army is organized, and thus through organization it becomes a
disciplined body. Instead of being a confused mass of men, horses,
mules, cannon, caissons, wagons, and ambulances, it is a body which can
be divided, subdivided, separated by miles of country, hurried here and
there, hurled upon the enemy, and brought together again by the stroke
of a pen, by a word, or the click of the telegraph.

When a battle is to be fought, the gen