Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from ...

302 THE MACEDONIANS UNCERTAIN.difficult to reconcile even the best ^f soldiers. They had beenlooking forward to meeting the enemy on the plains beyondthe mountains after the lapse of so.ne days ; and now theysuddenly found him in their rear to be encountered on themorrow. No doubt there was much ta^k in the Macedoniancamp of the surprising and incompreheasible situation. Asoldier likes to feel that his retreat is sal-^. Here the phalangianslooked back along the perilous pa\>h they had trod,and remembered the mountain ranges they had passed, thedifficulties they had overcome. Were not these passes nowoccupied by the enemy ? Must they not cut their way backto their homes through a sea of blood ? Could they accomplishwhat alone Xenophon had done? The Macedoniansoldiers were wont to speak their minds. They had a certainAmerican independence in thought and word. Theydid not understand or like this situation, and they openlysaid as much. This very independence and intelligencewas, however, what made them, like our own volunteers,such excellent material for an army called on to do longand arduous campaigning and to encounter dangers in whichdemoralization would mean destruction. This discussion wasa safety valve ; and it was coupled with unswerving faith intheir king. Soldiers are quick to catch alarm. These Ma^cedonians showed no sign of demoralization, but doubtlessthey were by no means lacking in that feeling of uncertaintywhich is akin to it. They needed the one touch to set themright.Well aware of this feeling among the men, but by no meansdisconcerted by it, for he knew his phalangians well, Alexanderheld another council of war, calling in all his chief officers(the infantry strategoi, and cavalry ilarchs, both of the Macedoniansand of the Greeks, of the light troops, mercenaries andallies), and exhorted them to do their bravest, promising