Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 7.djvu/50

THE VVliNTEK TliOUBLES. CHAPTER II. THE WAR ADMINISTRATION OF FRANCE. CHAP. II. The French system of war admin- istration. France — in that respect differing from England — ^had a real War Department — a Department singly charged with the task of preparing and maintaining war. Whether constructing fort- resses, or forging arms, or accumulating military stores ; whether raising or equipping or training horse, foot, or artillery ; whether feeding or shel- tering the men or the horses, ur watching over their health; whether oiganising or command- ing the forces thus created, or giving them, with prepared means of transport, the power to move as an army ; whether sending them by land or by sea, with all their thousand needs and appliances, or bringing them at length into the field, and there still supplying their wants, — it was always through the instrumentality of this one great Department that France maintained present war or made ready for wars yet to come. At times when peace reigned in Europe, the Department, so far as was practicable, had been wisely accustomed to conduct its multifarious business by methods that would hold good in