[It is an excellent instance of the capricious and haphazard manner in
which honours and rewards are bestowed in the army, that the operations
in the Mamund Valley and throughout Bajaur are commemorated by no
distinctive clasp. The losses sustained by the Brigade were indisputably
most severe. The result was successful. The conduct of the troops has
been officially commended. Yet the soldiers who were engaged in all the
rough fighting I have described in the last eight chapters have been
excluded from any of the special clasps which have been struck. They
share the general clasp with every man who crossed the frontier and with
some thousands who never saw a shot fired.]
CHAPTER XVII: MILITARY OBSERVATIONS
" ... And thou hast talk'd
Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents,
Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets,
Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin."
"Henry IV.," Part I., Act ii., Sc.3.
It may at first seem that a chapter wholly devoted to military
considerations is inappropriate to a book which, if it is to enjoy any
measure of success, must be read by many unconnected with the army.
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