18th Century military quotes, what can you find?!

**Fisherking** · 02-13-2009, 16:22

There is no way of dealing with the Frenchman but to knock him down - to be civil to them is to be laughed at. Why they are enemies!

Lord Nelson-11 Jan 1798 after surrender of Capua.

**Jason X** · 02-13-2009, 17:42

"It's a cigarillo case engraved with the regimental crest of two crossed dead Frenchmen, emblazoned on a mound of dead Frenchmen motif"

- Lord Wellington (sort of)

**Necceh** · 02-13-2009, 17:51

Soldats! Je suis content de vous (Soldiers, I am pleased with you).

-Bonie after Austerlitz

**Sheogorath** · 02-13-2009, 18:30

"Train hard, fight easy."
Suvorov

"Hair powder is not gunpowder, curls are not cannons,
a queue is not a sword, and I am not a German..."
- Suvorov to Tsar (Paul I had a serious Prussia fetish and was essentially trying to turn the Russian army into the Prussian one.)

"... tell the Emperor that I am facing Russians.
If they had been Prussians, I'd have taken the
position long ago."
- French Marshal Ney in 1813

"If the French had the firmness
and the docility of the Russians
the world would not be great enough for me."
- Emperor Napoleon

"A soldier has no time for smartness on campaign."
- Kutusov in 1812

"Zaporozhian Cossacks to the Turkish Sultan!

You, turkish devil and ****ed devil's brother and friend, secretary to Lucifer himself. What the devil kind of knight are you, that can't slay a hedgehog with your naked arse? The devil s***s, and your army eats. You will not, you son of a b***h, make subjects of Christian sons; we've no fear of your army, by land and by sea we will battle with thee, fuck your mother.

You Babylonian scullion, Macedonian wheelwright, brewer of Jerusalem, goat-f**ker of Alexandria, swineherd of Greater and Lesser Egypt, Armenian pig, Podolian thief, catamite of Tartary, hangman of Kamyanets, and fool of all the world and underworld, an idiot before God, grandson of the Serpent, and the crick in our d*ck. Pig's snout, mare's arse, slaughterhouse cur, unchristened brow, screw your own mother!

So the Zaporozhians declare, you lowlife. You won't even be herding Christian pigs. Now we'll conclude, for we don't know the date and don't own a calendar; the moon's in the sky, the year in the book, the day's the same over here as it is over there; for this kiss our a**e!

Koshovyi Otaman Ivan Sirko, with the whole Zaporozhian Host"

-The ever famous 'Reply of the Zaphorozhian Cossacks' to the Turkish Sultan in 1676.
God I hope they dont get written off as generic 'rebels'. If anybody deserves a faction it's them.

"Save us Lord, from Cossacks"
-The German People, apparently, in the late 18th century

"Chlapowski of Old Guard Lancers describes how they fought with the Cossacks: "News reached the headquarters at Dabrowna that a Russian force had crossed the Dnieper River ... The Emperor sent four squadrons of Polish Guards under Kozietulski to investigate. We set off after midnight, and ... arrived at a spot half mile from Katane. There we encountered our first Cossacks. Our main body halted by som ebuilding and one squadron went out to meet them...As we sent nobody out to skirmish with them, they came closer and closer, shouting; 'Lachy !' (slang for Poles) when they discovered we were Polish. A Cossack officer on a fine grey horse came as close as a 100 paces, perhaps less, and in good Polish challenged us to meet him in single combat. Kozietulski forbade any of us to move.
The Cossack jumped from his horse and cried; 'Now you can catch me !' He then took off his cap and waved it in the air."
-I love these people :P

"By this time they were all approaching Tushin's battery
and a ball struck the ground in front of them.
'What's that that has fallen ?' asked the accountant.
'A French pancake,' answered Zherkov.
- Tolstoy "War and Peace"

"I was surprised at the precision and assurance of this infantry,
so well disciplined and of such extraordinary firmness would be
the first in the world if, to these qualities, it united a little of the
electric enthusiasm of the French."
- Napoleon, on the Russian Imperial Guard

"… a strong troop of Muscovite hussars halted at about a 100
paces from our weak advance guard. … Coming toward us,
the officer shut out in French: Qui vive ?
"France!" - our men reply quietly.
"What are you doing here ? F… off !" - shouted the hussar. "
-Roman Soltyk

"The English ... whenever they march or travel,
they bear with them a haughty air of conscious superiority ..."
- Moyle Sherer

“They are a nation of shopkeepers,
their glory is in their wealth”.
- Napoleon, on the British

"... the English army was absurdly under-rated in foreign countries
and absolutely despised in its own ...the ill-success of the expeditions
in 1794 and 1799 appeared to justify the general prejudice. "
England, both at home and abroad, was in 1808
scorned as a military power ..."
- Napier “History of the
War in Peninsula 1807-1814"

"I hate them all ... the rebellious people were trash."
-Admiral Nelson, on Americans

"Well posted, as Wellington knows how to post it,
and attacked from the front, I consider the English infantry
to be impregnable ..." - French General Reille

"Prussia had originally been an insignificant speck
on the south-eastern rim of the Baltic ..."
- Christopher Summerville

"At Jena, the Prussian army performed the finest
and most spectacular maneuvers, but I soon put
a stop to this tomfoolery and taught them that
to fight and to execute dazzling maneuvers and
wear splendid uniforms were very different matters."
- Napoleon

"Simonyi ... led his Hungarian hussars into Fontainbleu Palace
and, imitating Hadik, emptied his pipe on Napoleon's throne."
- Dave Hollins, British historian

"The most beautiful sight I have ever seen in my life
then unfurled before our eyes. Within a radius of about a mile,
we could see the entire Austrian army, with its right flank
anchored on the Danube, and its left extending beyond Wagram..."
- Chlapowski of Napoleon's Guard Lancers

"You should not tell a recruit: 'I will make you into a jager !'
You must instead take them from the forests. "
- General de Ligne

Hussar "Samuel Hemmer... had engaged
a large Cossack patrol by himslef in 1812."
Hollins - "Hungarian Hussar 1756-1815"

Gone were the republican days "when any officer
under the rank of major had had to hoof it with his men.
... Colonel Francois Roguet of the 1st Grenadiers...
has brought with him 6 servants, 12 horses and 2 wagons
filled with his personal effects ..."
(Austin - "1812: The March on Moscow")

"More dreadful-looking fellows I had never seen.
They had the look of thoroughbread, veteran,
disciplined banditti."
- Mr Hayden, on the Old Guard

"... the [French] government received the news of death
of Washington who had died ... This death was announced
to the Consular Guard by the following order:
“Washington is dead ! This great man fought the tyrants ...
His memory will be always dear to the French people,
as to all free men ...”
St.Hilaire - "History of the Imperial Guard"

**Megas Methuselah** · 02-14-2009, 03:59

"Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."

-Tecumseh

**pyradyn** · 02-14-2009, 04:28

"Do not fire until you see the white of their eyes!" -Joseph Warren

"Give me Liberty or Give me Death"- Patrick Henry

"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety,They deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." -- Nathan Hale's last words before being hanged by British

"There! His Majesty can now read my name without glasses. And he can double the reward on my head!" -- John Hancock after signing his name in large letters on the Declaration of Independence

"The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I Am Not A Virginian, But An American!" -- Patrick Henry in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party.

"The regulars are coming The regulars are coming !" Paul Revere on the Midnight Ride
"Two if by land, one if by sea" Paul Revere