FAMOUS GENERALS & HORSEMANSHIP 73 



In referring to great generals of the past and 

 present as horsemen, it is well known that 

 Napoleon was a most indifferent rider, and it is 

 said he had all his chargers tested for their nerve 

 and complacency by means of pigs. If they could 

 not stand the compulsory squealings and antics of 

 a pig they were not passed as suitable chargers for 

 the great Napoleon. 



Again, the Duke of Wellington was a very poor 

 horseman. He had no hesitation in telline stories 

 against himself, and in describing the falls he sus- 

 tained. The Duke of Wellington was also inclined 

 to be blunt and uncompromising in his dispatches. 

 During the Peninsular Campaign he became sadly 

 short of staff officers ; the authorities at home, in 

 sending one to join his staff, enclosed a letter 

 saying : ** We are sending you a man with brains." 

 " Damn your man with brains," was Wellington's 

 reply ; " I want a man with guts ! " 



Biographers of this great man are inclined to 

 comment on what might be called a cold-blooded, 

 unsympathetic nature. They said Wellington 

 could be roused from sleep, sign the warrant of 

 death for a man and in two minutes be sound 

 asleep again. 



The story, too, of the Quartermaster in General 

 Picton's brigade, as given in dispatches, is an 

 example of iron discipline on the batde-field. 



