And when his long public life, so singularly chequered
with good and evil, with glory and obloquy, had at length closed
for ever, it was to Daylesford that he retired to die."
Sir Charles Napier was another Indian leader of extraordinary
courage and determination. He once said of the difficulties with
which he was surrounded in one of his campaigns, "They only make my
feet go deeper into the ground." His battle of Meeanee was one of
the most extraordinary feats in history. With 2000 men, of whom
only 400 were Europeans, he encountered an army of 35,000 hardy and
well-armed Beloochees. It was an act, apparently, of the most
daring temerity, but the general had faith in himself and in his
men. He charged the Belooch centre up a high bank which formed
their rampart in front, and for three mortal hours the battle
raged. Each man of that small force, inspired by the chief, became
for the time a hero. The Beloochees, though twenty to one, were
driven back, but with their faces to the foe. It is this sort of
pluck, tenacity, and determined perseverance which wins soldiers'
battles, and, indeed, every battle. It is the one neck nearer that
wins the race and shows the blood; it is the one march more that
wins the campaign; the five minutes' more persistent courage that
wins the fight.
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