Indomitable energy and hearty courage are an old strain in the English blood. They are thus attested by Cromwell:--“Indeed we never find our men so cheerful as when there is work to do.” Carlyle, _Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell_, Supplement. That no specific decoration has yet been accorded to our Peninsular veterans appears a most amazing oversight. The courage displayed in our Peninsular sieges was of the highest order. There can be no question that, since the commencement of the world, no military daring, no dauntless valour, has been witnessed, Greek or Roman, Saracenic or Chivalrous, to exceed--perhaps none to equal, that of our storming parties at Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, and San Sebastian. But it is very doubtful whether human life was not unnecessarily squandered, and whether the fire of the besieged should not have been silenced, and their defences in the first instance destroyed. This opinion seems now to be generally maintained both by engineer officers and by experienced officers of the army. The dictum of the great master of the art of fortification is in one respect vindicated, though in another it has been broken down by British heroism: “La précipitation dans les sièges ne hâte point la prise des places, la retarde souvent, et ensanglante toujours la scène.” Vauban, _Maximes_. General Foy, who sometimes emancipates himself from his prejudices against England, and is often candid, while he praises the courage of our men, says that it was needlessly expended, and that the taking of fortified places by the rules of art is reduced to a mathematical problem. But the bravery of our troops is still unquestionable. “On eût dit que les ingénieurs étaient là seulement pour construire les places d’armes desquelles s’élanceraient les troupes destinées a l’assaut ou à l’escalade; et encore eût-on pu à la rigueur, avec des soldats si déterminés, se passer de leur ministère.” Foy, _Hist. Guerre Pénins._ liv. ii. I must transcribe his testimony as to the conduct of our officers: “L’officier anglais conduisait les troupes au feu sans effort, et avec une bravoure admirable. * * La gloire de l’armée britannique lui vient avant tout de son excellente discipline et de la bravoure calme et franche de la nation.” But Foy adds a stigma which these sieges affixed to our army, and these sieges alone in all our Peninsular campaigns, and the impartiality which I am determined to preserve, and from which in some years to come I am convinced not the slightest departure will be tolerated, requires that it be rigorously unveiled for the reprobation of a more enlightened age:--“Une fois sortis de la discipline, les soldats anglais se livrent à des excès qui étonneraient les Cosaques; ils s’enivrent dès qu’ils le peuvent, et leur ivresse est froide, apathique, anéantissante.” Humanity shudders at the brutalities perpetrated by our soldiers at Badajoz and San Sebastian.