Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/151

 may not be procurable, unless for a very limited quantity of essentials, and the means of transporting a tent out of the question. The country may be found desolate and deserted; the crops destroyed; the cattle driven far beyond reach; the towns burnt to the ground; the roads broken up, and the bridges broken down; the wells poisoned by putrid carcasses; the means of subsistence—the rough rations of the commissariat; and the bivouac the only alternative; and even that disturbed by midnight attacks along the line of outposts.

7. DISCIPLINE.—Military discipline is as rigidly adhered to, even in the presence of the enemy,as in a cantonment. If a petty theft be committed by a camp follower, the thief, if caught, is immediately punished; if a soldier be detected plundering, he is liable to be flogged by a provost sergeant, upon the spot; if an officer be guilty of any gross breach of duty, he may be brought before a court martial, and be cashiered; if even a Cooly be found dead in camp, a court of inquest is immediately assembled, to ascertain the cause of his death. Even divine service is performed when the bugle may summon the congregation to disperse, and stand to their arms; and a funeral party may be hurried from the graves of their comrades that fell in battle, to meet the enemy in another battle equally destructive of life.