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his orders; and, like most critical natures, his was deficient in the force indispensable in the greatest exigencies.
Brave enough personally, he utterly lacked audacity as a commander, and had no conception of rapidity in handling or moving troops.
But audacity and rapidity are as essential to success in war as skill or vigilance.
This battle was one of those tremendous occasions when both were required; when ordinary action is not enough; and Warren, devoting himself to details, placing himself at the less important positions on the field, unable to hold his troops in hand, or to perceive the necessity of intense, concentrated, instant action, failed at the moment when the genius of his commander became supreme.
The success of the one is the explanation of the failure of the other.
New York Appleton 1885.
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