MILITARY FACT AND LEGEND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2080, 4 January 1894, Page 41

MILITARY FACT AND LEGEND.

History is so largely made up of events that never happened, and of striking sayings that weie never uttered, that it is impossible to refer to past military doings without a strong sense of misgiving that in many cases legend may have got mixed up with fact. Is it not an article of belief all through the British army that at a ciitical period, of the battle of Waterloo the Duke of Wellington uttered the stirring words, " Up, Guards, ani at 'em I " and that our splendid Household troops, roused to enthusiasm by this "pithy address, hurled themselves upon the Ifrench and swept them away like chaff before the wind ? It is unfortunately matter of; sober fact, and of common knowledge, that the Duke never used these words, and that he always scornfully repudiated them. Never mind ; they are part and parcel of the.traditional belief of the army, and apparently will always remain so. 1 Just at the present time, when there has been, and perhaps is still, considerable soreness between France and England over tho Siam business, concerning which our (gallic neighbours showed so much 'unnecessary irritation, it is interesting to recall a little _iocident which took place after the battle of Inkerman, where General Bosquet, coming with his Zouaves, Chasseur?, Algeiian Rifles, and other battalions, bad rendered yeoman's service to the hard-pressed 'English. When the Russians bad retired, Lord Raglan, who, it will be remembered, had lost an arm at Waterloo, rode up to General Bosquet, and dropping his bridle ou his charger's neck, took the Frenchman's hand and thanked him in the name of England for the part be bad taken in the battle. He added that he regretted noS beiag able to press both his hands in cordial acknowledgment of the signal services which he had just rendered. " 1 regret it more than you can," replied Bosquet, according to Mr Skene, from whose very interesting work, "With Lord Stratford in the Crimean War," we are quoting, " for it

v was our fault that you should have only one?' " AH ol.i scores have long since been wiped out," .sai.l Lord Raglan, who spoke French well ; •' but even if they bad not been already forgotten, the powerful support given by the French to the English this day would efface every painful remembrance between the two nations." General Bosquet put his hand on Lord Raglan's maimed shoulder, assuring him that he would gladly give one of his own to make it whole (continues Mr Skene) were it possible to do bo ; and the two great commanders rode off the field of battle side by side, appreciating each other as brave soldiers and good friends. This curious and little-known conversation, which turned almost entirely on the loss of Lord Raglan's arm at Waterloo, is a pleasant instance of those courtesies of war which take from that necessary evil so much of its harshness, and give it that touch of chivalry which elevates and softens it. Whether General BoEquet would really have given one of his own arms for the maimed -limb of -his English comrade is a matter of little consequence. It was, at any rate, kindly meant. And this leads us to one of those incidents of the battlefield which will seemingly always hold their own, in spite of every deaial of their authenticity. In this case it is the English and French who meet as foes at the battle of Fontenoy. The English and French Brigade of Guard 3 find themselves confronted with each other at a distance of 30yds. Then takes place that strange colloquy between the English and French commanders whioh tradition has preserved so carefully. Lord Albemarle, taking off his hat, calls our, "Gentlemen of the French Guard, fire." Whereupon the French general, not to be outdone in. politeness, answers, " Gentlemen of the English Guard, do you fire first, we will reply." Then came a pause which must have tried the stoutest hearts, and then the Brigade of English Guards fired, and a fearful volley it must have been. Lord Albemarle, in his Reminiscences, asserts that this tremendous volley, delivered with all the deliberate precision of men standing on parade, killed 18 French officers, puts hors de combat GOO of the French Guards, nearly annihilated another regiment, beat down the front French line, and caused them to retire in confusion on their left wiDg. This scene, which forms such a striking episode in our military annals, can never be repeated, though the legend connected with it certainly can. Granted that it ever really took place — and we need not repeat that it has been declaied to have no foundation — it wrss of course from a military point of view absurdity. From the point of view of the chivalresque spirit which animates the highest and best school of soldiers, it was an episode of which one can never read without pride and emotion. We know what the fightiDg of the future is to be. No standing within 30 paces and begging our friend the enemy to blow us into space, while he takes off his hat and insists on our first performing that kind office for him. With smokeless powder, noiseless projectiles, and arms of precision carrying enormous distances, it is a matter for conjecture whether the foes of the future will ever so much as see each other. Strong telescopes will reveal armies still distant, and a mechanical and concentrated fire will be poured upon columns as yet in ignorance of the neighbourhood of their enemy. This sort of thing will no doubt be scientific, but it will not be gay. It will try men's nerves as they have never been tried before, and we sincerely believe that if soldiers could decide whether they would prefer* the old desperate band-to-hand fighting, with volleys at 30yd8 and fixed bayonets at 3yds, or the shadowy terrors and long ranges of the engagements of the future, they would undoubtedly choose th*j former. — Times of India.