Nelson's history of the war. Vol. XI., The struggle for the Dvina, and the great invasion of Serbia

NEW SITUATION IN THE NEAR EAST. 39

Napoleon’s example is worthy of imitation. In 1796 he tendered his resignation when the Directory wished him to execute a futile scheme, and conversely in 1800 he cancelled his orders to Moreau when ‘he was unable to make him understand their advantages.

When a plan has failed and a campaign is brought to a stalemate in one Zerrain it is common sense to try to break it off and employ the troops more fruitfully elsewhere. But it is not always easy to retrace one’s steps. We had landed great forces in Gallipoli at a heavy cost. The question wasCould they be withdrawn without a far greater cost ? This was obviously a matter for experts, and the experts differed. There were those—and among them Sir Ian Hamilton may be reckonedwho believed that to move the Allied forces from the peninsula would involve a higher casualty list than the April landings. There were others who maintained that with the support of the ships’ guns only a comparatively small rearguard need be sacrificed. Some argued that to leave Gallipoli would be a fatal blow to our prestige in the East—a weak contention, if the same troops were destined to pursue the Gallipoli objective, an attack on the Turks, in some other Near Eastern theatre. One school maintained with much force that it was a case of Hobson’s choice. Winter was coming, when contrary winds would make the task of supplying the Gallipoli lines extraordinarily difficult. The Turks were about to receive from Germany a great new munitionment, and in that case we must decide between abandoning our positions and being blown out of them. They did not mini-