“How do soldiers manage when a flag of truce is sent?”
“I will tell you. A flag of truce is sent to an enemy when a cessation of hostilities is required; when time is wanted to bury the dead, or when articles of peace are about to be drawn up. It is the duty of an officer carrying a flag of truce to make the best of his eyes, that he may observe all he can of the strength and position of the enemy. And when a flag of truce arrives the receivers of it should blindfold the messenger who bears it, if he goes to head-quarters. The bearer of a flag of truce is generally preceded by a trumpeter.”
“How do soldiers manage to get across brooks, that are deep, and rivers? That must be no easy matter?”
“The crossing of great rivers is one of the most difficult of military operations, yet this is frequently necessary to be done in the face of an enemy. It is effected in different ways; sometimes a river, which cannot be crossed in a straight line, may be crossed in a slant one. When not fordable at all, pontoons, and pontoon bridges are resorted to. Pontoons are flat-bottomed boats, made of wood, but lined with tin or copper, as the case may be, a little better than twenty feet long. Bridges of boats, too, are used, as well as cables, stretched from the bank by tackles and capstans, and resting on the decks of vessels, moored at different distances. Flying bridges are at times very serviceable. They are formed by anchoring a floating body in the water to receive the action of the stream obliquely, by which a force is derived from the current to move the vessel across the river. Then, there are rafts of timber, casks, air-tight cases, and inflated skins, resorted to, as well as carriage-bridges, and suspension-bridges, bridges on trestles, piles, truss-frames, and other applications of carpentry.”
“Oh! tell us what an inspection is?”
“Inspections, like many other duties, are only useful when they are well and efficiently performed. An inspecting general should have a thorough knowledge of his profession, a quick eye, a sound judgment, a love for the service, a nice sense of honour, and an independent mind, altogether inaccessible to flattery. In a word, he should do what he undertakes to do; he should patiently and narrowly examine the troops under inspection, commending and encouraging soldierlike conduct, and reproving and correcting what is deserving of censure.”
“No doubt, inspections must be very good things!”
“I will show you how an inspection may be rendered useless. Fancy to yourselves, boys, a general, setting off with his aid-de-camp in a great bustle, and in high good humour, determined to hurry through his duties. You may be sure that the colonel and the adjutant of the troops to be inspected will not be inattentive to him; and if the colonel and adjutant are forward, the paymaster, the quarter-master, and the surgeon are not likely to be backward. How can the kind-hearted general make himself disagreeable to others by finding fault, when every one is trying to be agreeable to him? The thing is out of the question; and he looks with a favourable eye on everything in the barracks, the hospital, and the books. He is highly gratified in finding such order and discipline, and praises much, and censures very little. He must be very different from the common character of men, if a well-supplied mess, good wines, and complimentary speeches, should sour his temper; so that when the review, the grand field-day comes, on the morrow, he must be a Turk if he does not regard things with a kindly spirit. He is struck with the admirable manner in which the battalion is put through the manœuvres by the senior major and captain; both manual and platoon exercises are ably performed, and all goes off surprisingly. With a courteous and condescending air, he approaches the colonel, in the fulness of his heart, and thus addresses him:—‘Colonel, the soldierlike bearing, and general appearance of the men under your command, afford me much satisfaction. They show what British soldiers, under the command of British officers, can attain. Their steadiness and promptitude under arms, and the correctness and precision of their movements, are highly creditable to you and to them. I trust that a spirit of emulation will be kept up among the troops, so that they will never decline from their present high state of efficiency, nor forfeit the good opinion they now deserve.’ Now, if all this were to be huddled up in haste, instead of occupying a reasonable time for its accomplishment, and good humour and kindly feeling were thus allowed to take the place of discipline and duty, it is clear that very little advantage would be obtained from the inspection. A sense of duty, and a high and honourable bearing, should fill the bosom of a soldier, whether he be a drill-sergeant or a commanding-officer.”
“A review must be a grand sight!”
“Many of them are very much so. The review which took place 7th July, 1824, before the Duke of York, when the guards were present, is thus described:—‘The whole of the movements were executed with a degree of precision which excited universal admiration, and received the unqualified approbation of the commander-in-chief. It would be difficult to imagine anything, except an actual field-of-battle, more terrific than the view of the troops when performing some of the attacks. One brigade charging at full gallop, the other supporting them in the rear; the roaring of the artillery in the flanks; the irregular discharge of carbines by the pursuers; the sounding of trumpets, and neighing of steeds, all combined in forcing upon the mind a powerful idea of a scene of real warfare.’ A presentation is often an imposing spectacle.”