FOOTNOTES:
[4] Mr. Larpent’s opinion on the moral deficiency of the English soldier has astonished many; but it should be remembered that he was a non-combatant, and his professional practice as Judge-Advocate-general brought him more in contact with the delinquents than with the real steady soldiers of the army. Let any reader who inclines to think that the French can outmarch the more robust English, remember the advance of the light division to Talavera under General R. Craufurd, so justly eulogized in Napier’s History. An English soldier becomes sulky, careless, and insubordinate in a retreat; but let a battle be announced, and spirit and discipline reappear together. Witness the conduct of Sir John Moore’s army, when he offered battle at Lugo, and afterwards when he was attacked at Corunna.—Ed.