sharp@aquila.UUCP (09/29/84)
All these people who know no history. Tragic. In French there is a saying "mot de Cambronne" after a French general who, when surrounded by the British, was offered a chance to surrender. His one word reply was, of course, "Merde". He and all of his men were killed. Personally, I find such "heroism" quite stupid, much preferring the chance to fight again in the future (if I have to fight at all). Oh yes, Napoleonic wars. -- Nigel Sharp [noao!sharp National Optical Astronomy Observatories]
tmh@ihuxa.UUCP (Thomas Harris) (10/05/84)
w >All these people who know no history. Tragic. In French there is a >saying "mot de Cambronne" after a French general who, when surrounded >by the British, was offered a chance to surrender. His one word reply >was, of course, "Merde". He and all of his men were killed. Personally, >I find such "heroism" quite stupid, much preferring the chance to fight >again in the future (if I have to fight at all). >Oh yes, Napoleonic wars. There are two things I feel need to be mentioned about this incident the first serious the second comical. First this incident happened at the end of the Battle of Waterloo and the unit in question was the Old Guard. The Guard was at that time acting on orders to delay the English and Prussians long enough to let the rest of the French army escape. If you know anything at all about the Napoleonic wars and especially about the Old Guard itself the story needs no further explaination. If you don't then let the explaination stand at these were the best soldiers in the world at the time (possibly the best select group of soldiers the world has ever seen) and they were given an order to hold (and it never entered any mind of the members of the guard to do otherwise). The Second thing is that the reply merde (which is roughly equal to the English word shit) was tranlated by the official British military history of the Waterloo Campaign (the exact title escapes me) as, "The Old Guard Never Surrenders". I suppose in the situation the translation is accurate, but still...... : ) Merde, Tom H.