32. The principle on which to manage an army is to set up
one standard of courage which all must reach.
[Literally, "level the courage [of all] as though [it were
that of] one." If the ideal army is to form a single organic
whole, then it follows that the resolution and spirit of its
component parts must be of the same quality, or at any rate must
not fall below a certain standard. Wellington's seemingly
ungrateful description of his army at Waterloo as "the worst he
had ever commanded" meant no more than that it was deficient in
this important particular--unity of spirit and courage. Had he
not foreseen the Belgian defections and carefully kept those
troops in the background, he would almost certainly have lost the
day.]
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