ca, which was the practical school
where the commanders of the British Army of to-day first learned how to
command, their efficient staff work singled them out as coming men. Both
had vision. They studied the continental systems of war and when the
great war came they had the records which were the undeniable
recommendation that singled them out from their fellows. Sir John French
and Sir Ian Hamilton belonged to the generation ahead of them, the
difference being that between the '50s and the '60s.

It was the test of command of a corps and afterward of an army in
Flanders and Northern France which made Sir Douglas Commander-in-Chief,
a test of more than the academic ability which directs chessmen on the
board: that of the physical capacity to endure the strain of month after
month of campaigning, to keep a calm perspective, never to let the
mastery of the force under you get out of hand and never to be burdened
with any details except those which are vital.

The subordinate who went in an uncertain mood to see either Sir Douglas
or Sir William left with a sense of stalwart conviction. Both had the
gift of simplifying any situation, however complex. When a certain
general became unstrung during the retreat from Mons, Sir Douglas seemed
to consider that his first duty was to assist this man to recover
composure, and he slipped his arm through the general's and walked him
up and down until composure had returned. Again, on the retreat from
Mons Sir Douglas said, "We must stay here for the present, if we all die
for it," stating this military necessity as coolly as if it merely meant
waiting another quarter-hour for the arrival of a guest to dinner.

No less than General Joffre, Sir Douglas lived by rule. He, too,
insisted on sleeping well at night and rising fresh for his day's work.
During the period of preparation for the offensive his routine began
with a stroll in the garden before breakfast. Then the heads of the
different branches of his staff in headquarters town came in turn to
make their reports and receive instructions. At luncheon very likely he
might not talk of war. A man of his education and experience does not
lack topics to take his mind off his duties. Every day at half-past two
he went for a ride and with him an escort of his own regiment of
Lancers. The rest of the afternoon was given over to conferences with
subordinates whom he had summoned. On Sunday morning he always went into
headquarters town an