At no time has
the reputation of the British infantryman been higher, or his
achievement more worthy of his renown. . . . Immense as the
influence of mechanical devices may be, they cannot by themselves
decide a campaign. Their true _role_ is that of assisting the
infantryman. . . . They cannot replace him. Only by the rifle and
bayonet of the infantryman can the decisive victory be won" (Sir D.
Haig's Dispatches).

{23}

THE TEXT-BOOKS.--Changes in tactical methods are recorded from time to
time in circulars issued by the General Staff, to be embodied
eventually in the official text-books. These text-books ("Infantry
Training" and "Field Service Regulations") are the foundation upon
which the study of Infantry Tactics should be based, and of these books
Colonel G. F. R. Henderson has left behind him the following opinion:
"That portion of our own text-books which refers to Infantry in Attack
and Defence is merely the essence of Tactics. There is no single
sentence that is not of primary importance, no single principle laid
down that can be violated with impunity, no single instruction that
should not be practised over and over again." After four years of
warfare, in which the principles enunciated in the text-books had been
put to the most searching of all tests (_i.e._ practical application in
War), the General Staff of the Army was able to preface a list of its
recent publications with the following exhortation: "It must be
remembered that the principles laid down in Field Service Regulations
and in Infantry Training are still the basis of all sound knowledge."

At the close of the final victorious campaign, Marshal Haig emphasised
the truth of this claim: "The longer the war lasted the more
emphatically has it been realised that our original organisation and
training were based on correct principles. The danger of altering them
too much, to deal with some temporary phase, has been greater than the
risk of adjusting them too little. . . . The experience gained in this
war alone, without the study and practice of lessons learned from other
campaigns, could not have sufficed to meet the ever-changing tactics
which have characterised the fighting. There was required also the
sound basis of military knowledge supplied by our Training Manuals and
Staff Colleges."

[1] Author of "Ben Hur."

[2] For an example in military fiction, see _The Second Degree_ in "The
Green Curve."

[3] "Unus homo nobis c