| Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989. | | | |
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| | | NUMBER: | 1184 |
| AUTHOR: | Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) |
| QUOTATION: | Really when I reflect upon the characters and attainments of some of the General Officers of this army, and consider that these are the persons on whom I am to rely to lead columns against the French Generals, and who are to carry my instructions into execution, I tremble; and, as Lord Chesterfield said of the Generals of his day, “I only hope that when the enemy reads the list of their names he trembles as I do.” |
| ATTRIBUTION: | ARTHUR WELLESLEY, DUKE OF WELLINGTON, letter to Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Torrens, August 29, 1810.—Antony Brett-James, Wellington at War, 1794–1815, p. 199 (1961). Lord Chesterfield’s comment is unverified. |
| SUBJECTS: | Military affairs |
| BIOGRAPHY: | Columbia Encyclopedia | | |
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