304 OPINIONS ON CANROBERT EXPRESSED CHAP. XI. Opinions of Canrobert expressed by men in authority. 22d of April, and to a victorious sense of its power on the 1st of May when Pelissier, over- coming the resistance of his then Chief, attacked, and carried, and conquered the Sousdal Counter- guard. It was therefore in spite of Canrobert, and by the happily over-dominant energy of his irrepressible subordinate, that the French army, proudly emerging from out of that state of de- pression to which the ' mission ' had lowered it, stood ready and eager for action. The men in authority were swift, I observe, to appreciate the sacrifice implied in General Can- robert's resignation; yet, even whilst expressing this sentiment, they did not conceal their desire to see the French army commanded by a more determined Chief. ' General Canrobert,' wrote Marshal Vaillant, 'is a noble heart.' ... 'I ' hope we are now going to advance more reso- ' lutely.'* Lord Panmure, after speaking of Canrobert's 1 vacillation and indecision of character,' writes : ' I am riot sorry that he no longer fills a position ' to the responsibility of which he appears to ' have been quite unequal. Possessing in the ' most eminent degree all the qualities of courage ' and zeal which constitute the brave soldier, he did not possess those comprehensive views, nor ' that moral courage in Council, which mark a ' sagacious and resolute general.' t General Kiel was not silent. Referring to the
- To Niel. Quoted, Rousset, vol. ii. p. 177.
+ Despatch to Lord Raglan, 21st May 1855.
