Spread of English-Speaking Peoples 103 



boxing and wrestling; but their superior endur- 

 ance and the ease with which they stood fatigue and 

 exposure made amends for this. A white might out- 

 run them for eight or ten miles; but on a long jour- 

 ney they could tire out any man, and any beast ex- 

 cept a wolf. Like most barbarians they were fickle 

 and inconstant, not to be relied on for pushing 

 through a long campaign, and after a great victory 

 apt to go off to their homes, because each man de- 

 sired to secure his own plunder and tell his own tale 

 of glory. They are often spoken of as undisciplined ; 

 but in reality their discipline in the battle itself was 

 very high. They attacked, retreated, rallied or re- 

 pelled a charge at the signal of command; and 

 they were able to fight in open order in thick 

 covers without losing touch of each other a feat 

 that no European regiment was then able to 

 perform. 



On their own ground they were far more for- 

 midable than the best European troops. The Brit- 

 ish grenadiers throughout the eighteenth century 

 showed themselves superior, in the actual shock 

 of battle, to any infantry of continental Europe; if 

 they ever met an over-match, it was when pitted 

 against the Scotch highlanders. Yet both grenadier 

 and highlander, the heroes of Minden, the heirs to 

 the glory of Marlborough's campaigns, as well as 

 the sinewy soldiers who shared in the charges of 

 Prestonpans and Culloden, proved helpless when led 

 against the dark tribesmen of the forest. On the 

 march they could not be trusted thirty yards from 



