line advancing that was not crooked as a ram’s horn?  Each ragged rebel yelling on his own hook and aligning on himself!  But there is as much need of the machine-made soldier as of the self-reliant soldier, and the concentrated blow is always the most effective blow.  The erratic effort of the Confederate, heroic though it was, yet failed to achieve the maximum result just because it was erratic.  Moreover, two serious evils attended that excessive egotism and individuality which came to the Confederate through his training, association, and habits.  He knew when a movement was false and a position untenable, and he was too little of a machine to give in such cases the wholehearted service which might have redeemed the blunder.  The other evil was an ever-growing one.  His disregard of discipline and independence of character made him often a straggler, and by straggling the fruit of many a victory was lost."* (* Southern Historical Society Papers volume 13 page 261.)

General Lee was not less outspoken.  A circular issued to his troops during the last months of the war is virtually a criticism on their conduct.  “Many opportunities,” he wrote, “have been lost and hundreds of valuable lives uselessly sacrificed for want of a strict observance of discipline.  Its object is to enable an army to bring promptly into action the largest possible number of men in good order, and under the control of their officers.  Its effects are visible in all military history, which records the triumph of discipline and courage far more frequently than that of numbers and resources.  The importance and utility of thorough discipline should be impressed on officers and men on all occasions by illustrations taken from the experience of the instructor or from other sources of information.  They should be made to understand that discipline contributes no less to their safety than to their efficiency.  Disastrous surprises and those sudden panics which lead to defeat and the greatest loss of life are of rare occurrence among disciplined troops.  It is well known that the greatest number of casualties occur when men become scattered, and especially when they retreat in confusion, as the fire of the enemy is then more deliberate and fatal.  The experience of every officer shows that those troops suffer least who attack most vigorously, and that a few men, retaining their organisation and acting in concert, accomplish far more with smaller loss than a larger number scattered and disorganised.

“The appearance of a steady, unbroken line is more formidable to the enemy, and renders his aim less accurate and his fire less effective.  Orders can be readily transmitted, advantage can be promptly taken of every opportunity, and all efforts being directed to a common end, the combat will be briefer and success more certain.