We all feel for them, and are always
sorry to see an old soldier passed over, unless he has been guilty of
any manifest crime, or neglect of duty. He has always some relations
among the native officers who know his family, for we all try to get
our relations into the same regiment with ourselves when they are
eligible. They know what that family will suffer when they learn that
he has no longer any hopes of rising in the service, and has become
miserable. Supersessions create distress and bad feelings throughout
a regiment, even when the best men are promoted, which cannot always
be the case; for the greatest favourites are not always the best men.
Many of our old European officers, like yourself, are absent on staff
or civil employments; and the command of companies often devolves
upon very young subalterns, who know little or nothing of the
character of their men. They recommend those whom they have found
most active and intelligent, and believe to be the best; but their
opportunities of learning the characters of the men have been few.
They have seen and observed the young, active, and forward; but they
often know nothing of the steady, unobtrusive old soldier, who has
done his duty ably in all situations, without placing himself
prominently forward in any.
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