Fanatical Military Recruiting

27Mission Drive

I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor food; I offer only hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles, and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart, and not merely with his lips, follow me.

—Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian military leader

The remnants of what was once an army stood shivering in the sleet and freezing rain on a frigid Christmas day. Casualties from a string of defeats had shrunk the ranks by more than two-thirds.

To say that nothing was going well would be an understatement. The army had been outflanked by the forces of its enemy at every turn, supplies were razor thin, and it was teetering on the edge of total collapse.

The remaining soldiers were worn out. Many had no shoes and little in the way of coats and blankets to protect them from the brutal winter weather. On paper the situation was dire, with little hope.

The commanding General needed more men. He had dispatched recruiters to find fresh replacements and agonized over how to retain the soldiers whose enlistments would be up in another five days. He begged his government for the resources he needed to retain them.

The political leaders, though, were blind to just how close their army and country were to total defeat. Instead of sending resources, they bickered and argued over mundane issues. And following his defeats, loss of territory, and nearly constant retreat, the politicians were beginning to doubt the General.

Though he revealed this to no one, the General was beginning to ...