Browsing named entities in William Swinton, Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. You can also browse the collection for Marmont or search for Marmont in all documents.

Your search returned 2 results in 2 document sections:

William Swinton, Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, chapter 6 (search)
minent a figure at the commencement of the contest; for it was inevitable that the first leaders should be sacrificed to the nation's ignorance of war. Taking this into account, estimating both what he accomplished and what he failed to accomplish, in the actual circumstances of his performance, I have endeavored in the critique of his campaigns to strike a just balance between McClellan and history. Of him it may be said, that if he does not belong to that foremost category of commanders made up of those who have always been successful, and including but a few illustrious names, neither does he rank with that numerous class who have ruined their armies without fighting. He ranges with that middle category of meritorious commanders, who, like Sertorius, Wallenstein, and William of Orange, generally unfortunate in war, yet were, in the words of Marmont, never destroyed nor discouraged, but were always able to oppose a menacing front, and make the enemy pay dear for what he gained.
William Swinton, Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, chapter 7 (search)
The cause of all this could not be concealed; it was the lack of confidence in General Burnside—a sentiment that was universal throughout the army. Troops who have by experience learned what war is, become severe critics. It is a mistake to suppose that soldiers, and especially such soldiers as composed the American army, are lavish of their lives; they are chary of their lives, and are never what newspaper jargon constantly represented them to be—eager for the fray. The soldier, says Marmont, acquires the faculty of discriminating how and when he will be able, by offering his life as a sacrifice, to make the best possible use of it. But when the time comes that he discovers in his commander that which will make this rich offering vain, from that moment begin to work those malign influences that disintegrate and destroy the morale of armies. General Burnside had brought his army to that unhappy pass that, with much regard for his person and character, it distrusted and feared