Such a man was apt to think that nicety of alignment, precision in wheeling, and correctness in the manual of arms were the ends of training and the guarantees of good soldiership, and that from guard mounting to sentry duty everything in war was to be done in accordance with what he had learned in peace.

As a matter of fact, most of what he had learned was never used at all, and some of it had to be unlearned.

The one thing, for instance, that a sentry ought never to do in an actual campaign is to walk up and down a line where he will be conspicuous.

His business is to lie down somewhere off a ridge crest where he can see any one approaching, but where a man approaching cannot see him.

As for the ceremonies, during the really hard part of a campaign only the barest essentials are kept.
Almost all of the junior regular officers, and many of the senior regular officers, were fine men.