Help: Translating Napoleon

[pezhetairoi]

Hail EB countrymen! I need your help. Dodge quoted a huge chunk of Napoleon in relation to Hannibal's Alpine crossing and while I have tried to check the dictionary, there are some parts still obscure. Is there any French-speaker here who can help me decipher this and let me check if my jangled personal 'translation' is correct?

It goes:

'Le première qualité d’un général en chef, c’est d’avoir un esprit calme qui ne reçoive des objets qu’une impression exacte. Il ne lui est pas permis de se laisser éblouir par les bonnes nouvelles ni abattre parles mauvaises. Les sensations qu’il perçoit successivement ou simultanément dans le cours de la journée doivent se classer dans sa memoire de manière à n’y occuper chacune que la place qui lui est dévolue; car le raisonnement et l’appréciation des faits sont le résultat de l’exacte comparaison des différentes impressions qu’ils produisent. Il y a des hommes qui se font ue singulière peinture des événements d’après leurs conditions morales et physiques; aussi, malgré leurs connaissances, leur habilitè, leur courage et toutes les autres qualités qu’ils possèdent, la nature ne les a pas appelés au commandement des armées, ni à la direction des grandes opérations militaires.'

I'd really appreciate any help you guys could give, because Dodge quotes this without translation and makes the whole paragraph sound like it's something very important...

There's actually another shorter passage further on, another Napoleon commentary on Hannibal's crossing. I need to find it...

Once again, thanks in advance!

[Tellos Athenaios]

'Le première qualité d’un général en chef, c’est d’avoir un esprit calme qui ne reçoive des objets qu’une impression exacte. Il ne lui est pas permis de se laisser éblouir par les bonnes nouvelles ni abattre parles mauvaises. Les sensations qu’il perçoit successivement ou simultanément dans le cours de la journée doivent se classer dans sa memoire de manière à n’y occuper chacune que la place qui lui est dévolue; car le raisonnement et l’appréciation des faits sont le résultat de l’exacte comparaison des différentes impressions qu’ils produisent. Il y a des hommes qui se font ue singulière peinture des événements d’après leurs conditions morales et physiques; aussi, malgré leurs connaissances, leur habilitè, leur courage et toutes les autres qualités qu’ils possèdent, la nature ne les a pas appelés au commandement des armées, ni à la direction des grandes opérations militaires.'

Let's give it a try:

"The first and foremost quality of a general is mainly to have a calm spirit which does not receive anything but a clear impression of matters at hand. He is not allowed to let himself become full of the good nor may his spirits be damped by the bad news. The sensations (feelings) he perceives in succession or simultainously during the course of the day must each be given nothing but their proper place and recognition in his memory; for reasoning and the appreciation of facts are the results of meticulous comparison of the different impressions they produce. There are those men whose state of morale and shape forms towards/after a single interpretation of events; and also despite their knowledge, skill, courage and all their other qualities; nature does not call them for the command of armies nor the supervisions of major/large-scale military operations."

[pezhetairoi]

Thanks Tellos! I had suspected something of the sort, because I read some subchapters in Clausewitz which sounded a lot like it and also made much of the impressions a general received and what he did with it.

[Tellos Athenaios]

EDIT: I skipped 'en chef' which means "mainly"; secondly it might not be entirely 'clean': it's been some time since I used to read French regularly.

[cmacq]

My French is very bad.

'The most important quality of a commander in chief is a calm demeanor which entertains substance with an exacting sense. He can not be overwhelmed by good news nor laid low by negativity. Successive or simultaneous emotions perceived over the course of a day must be cataloged in his memory so each may be revisited only in a setting reserved for themselves; as interpretation and appreciation of facts result from a precise contrast of the various effects they evoke. There are men who make a singular picture of events according to their morals and physic; also, in spite of their knowledge, their ability, their courage, and all their other skills, they are not called to command armies, nor direct great military operations.’

I hope this helps?

[pezhetairoi]

It certainly does, cmacq. Clearly your bad French is practically literary in comparison to mine... One thing I do know is that 'general en chef' is commander in chief. Hope this helps in return, Tellos!

EDIT: The last one, just a very short sentence on Hannibal's making across the Alps into Insubramrog: 'Cet Annibal... qui ne descend en Italie qu'en payant de la moitie de son armee la seule acquisition de son champ de bataille, le seul droit de se combattre.'