Some modern writers have recommended, on the other hand, to limit the
period of service, in order to bring the whole youth of a country
successively under arms. By this means they purpose to have the levies,
_en masse_, all ready trained and capable of resisting successfully
a war of invasion. But however advantageous at first sight such a
military system may appear, I believe it will be found to have many
objections.
In the first place, the soldier fatigued with the minutiæ of discipline
in a garrison, will not feel much inclined to re-enlist after he has
received his discharge, more especially since, having served the
prescribed time, he will consider himself to have fulfilled all the
duties of a citizen to his country. Returning to his friends, he will
probably marry, or establish himself in a trade. From that moment his
military spirit declines, and he soon becomes ill adapted to the
business of war. On the contrary, the soldier who serves long, becomes
attached to his regiment as to a new family. He submits to the yoke of
discipline, accustoms himself to the privations his situation imposes,
and ends by finding his condition agreeable. There are few officers
that have seen service who have not discovered the difference between
old and young soldiers, with reference to their power of supporting
the fatigues of a long campaign, to the determined courage that
characterizes the attack, or to the ease with which they rally after
being broken.
Montécuculli observes, that “it takes time to discipline an army; more
to inure it to war; and still more to constitute veterans.” For this
reason, he recommends that great consideration should be shown to old
soldiers; that they should be carefully provided for, and a large
body of them kept always on foot. It seems to me, also, that it is
not enough to increase the pay of the soldier according to his period
of service, but that it is highly essential to confer on him some
mark of distinction that shall secure to him privileges calculated to
encourage him to grow gray under arms, and, above all, to do so with
honor.