Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/33

 GENERAL PELISSIER. 3 apparently by a sort of convention — is accepted chap as the 'roughness of camps,' though all the while — _ — in reality he was a man of high cultivation, and, moreover, one versed in those duties — the duties, I mean, of 'stall" service — which try the brain- power of officers engaged in the business of war. With the aid of such training as this, he had be- come fully capable of having or quickly acquir- ing the kind of statesmanship needed by one in the exalted position of commanding a splendid French army assembled in the enemy's presence, and, for instance, understood, to begin with, how best to maintain honest concert with the English allies at his side. Without speaking except by mere reference of his achievements in Algeria, or recurring by more than allusion to even the caves of the Dahra, or repeating what already we have seen of his vic- torious self-assertion maintained against what was then lawful authority, one can say of this stubborn commander that, whether pressing hos- tilities by a normal exertion of power, or strain- ing his warlike prerogatives to a questioned ex- treme, or bringing new life to an army benumbed by want of sound leadership, he never ceased to disclose a strong and persistent will.* He was specially apt for those trials which have to be borne by a general engaged in an obstinate siege, ante, vol. ii. pp. 159 and 160. The last allusion in the above senteuce is to Pe"lissier's wilful and victorious course of action, recounted ante, vol. vii., chap, viii., pp. 20G ct seq.
 * A passing mention of the 'caves of the Dahra' appears