Note 144 — THE FORMAL TACTICS OF INFANTRY. (continued 3)

Marshal Bugeaud gives a very graphic description of the moral effect of fire in his Aperçus sur quelques détails de guerre, based upon his experiences in the fights with the British in the Peninsula: “The men began to get excited when still 1,000 m. from the enemy; they talked to each other; the march became more and more hurried; and disorder appeared here and there in the columns. The British remained quietly at order arms; their calm demeanor was not without effect upon our young soldiers. We approached closer, the men shouting: ‘Vive l’empéreur! En avant, à la baionette!’ Shakos were raised upon the points of bayonets; the march became a double time; the ranks became mixed; the excitement caused confusion here and there; and a few shots were fired from the column. The British continued to stand immovable, and seemed to pay no attention to us even when only 300 paces separated the two forces.

“The contrast was apparent. Everyone felt that he would have to deal with an opponent tried in battle; that the fire so long withheld by the enemy would surely be annihilating. Our fighting ardor cooled; the moral power which calmness, even when only apparent, exercises over confusion, which seeks to drown itself in noise, made itself felt in our ranks. At this moment, when the highest tension had been reached, the British line raised its rifles—an indescribable feeling rooted many of our men to the spot—and began to fire. The volleys, coolly delivered against a narrow front, plowed through our ranks; we wavered, decimated though we were, in order to recover; then three overpowering cheers from the opponents’ line, which rushed forward to the bayonet attack, and everybody turned to seek safety in disorderly flight.”

[145] The defense of the cemetery at Beaune la Rolande. Hönig, Volkskrieg, pp. 157 to 212.

[146] Dec. 15th, 1870. Geschichte des Regiments Nr. 20, p. 246. Kortzfleisch, Feldzug gegen den Loir, p. 81.