Quote: A mule, though he should have made ten campaigns under prince Eugene, would not have improved in his tactics (Frederick II 1758)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Dave Hause mentioned the following saying:

Napoleon's mules had seen a hundred campaigns but they were still mules

Jonathan Lighter responded with: "It was also said of Frederick the
Great's horse."

Here is a preliminary trace for the military mule saying. There is
good evidence that Frederick II wrote a version of the saying by 1758.
A version of the quotation has also been attached to Marshal Saxe, but
the supporting evidence is weak. Here are selected citations in
chronological order.

Year: 1789
Title: Posthumous Works of Frederick II, King of Prussia,
Volume: XIII
Section: Letter dated December 21, 1758; Sent from Frederic II to
General Fouquet (addition to Letter I)
Translated By: Thomas Holcroft
Publication: Printed for G. G. J. and J. Robinson, London
Pages: 76 and 77
[Begin excerpt]
Thought, or, better to explain myself, the faculty of combining ideas,
is what distinguishes man from beasts of burden. A mule, though he
should have made ten campaigns under prince Eugene, would not have
improved in his tactics. And to the shame of humanity it must be
confessed that, with respect to this kind of indolent stupidity, many
old officers are not superior to such a mule.
[End excerpt]

Year: 1815
Title: History of the war in Spain and Portugal, from 1807 to 1814
Author: General Sarrazin (Jean Sarrazin)
Publication: Printed for Henry Colburn, London
Page: 226
[Begin excerpt]
"A mule," said Marshal de Saxe, "that had made twenty campaigns under
Caesar, would still be but a mule." Experience alone does not make a
general, if nature has not endowed him with a genius for war; but this
genius, again, must have been improved by practice, and profound
study.
[End excerpt]

Year: 1820
Title: Memoirs of the Court of Westphalia under Jerome Bonaparte:
With Anecdotes of his Favourites, Ministers, &c
Publication: Printed for Henry Colburn & Co., London
Page: 206
[Begin excerpt]
It was said that Ochs had experience, and that he had risen from the
ranks; the names of great generals, under whom he had served were
cited; but as Marshal Saxe says: "An ass who had served twenty
campaigns under Caesar, would always be an ass."
[End excerpt]

Year: 1831
Title: The United Service Journal and Naval and Military Magazine
Part: II
Section: Reminiscences of a Subaltern: No. V.
Publication: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, London
Page: 177
[Begin excerpt]
Marshal Saxe used to say, that a mule which had made twenty campaigns
under Caesar would still be but a mule.
[End excerpt]

Year: 1838
Title: Manual of Political Ethics: Designed Chiefly for the Use of
Colleges and Students at Law
Author: Francis Lieber
Volume: 1
Publication: Charles C. Little and James Brown, Boston, Massachusetts
Page: 11
[Begin excerpt]
"A mule," says Frederic the Great in his Considerations on the Manner
of Waging War with Austria (1758), "though it might have made ten
campaigns under Prince Eugene, would not become for all that a better
tactician."
[End excerpt]

Date: 1839 January 5
Title: The London Saturday Journal
Article: Difference of Mental Action in Animals and Man
Publication: Published by William Smith, Fleet Street, London
Page: 12
Column: 2
[Begin excerpt]
"A mule," says Frederick the Great, in his Considerations on the
Manner of Waging War with Austria (1758), "though it might have made
ten campaigns under Prince Eugene, would not become for all that a
better tactician."
[End excerpt]

Year: 1847
Title: Adventures of the Connaught Rangers: From 1808 to 1814
Volume: 1 of 2
Author: William Grattan: Late Lieutenant Connaught Rangers
Publication: Henry Colburn Publisher, London
Page: 114
[Begin excerpt]
Marshal Saxe used to say, that a mule which had made twenty campaigns
under Caesar would still be but a mule.
[End excerpt]

Year: 1854
Title: Summary of the Art of War, Or, A New Analytical Compend of the
Principal Combinations of Strategy, of Grand Tactics and of Military
Policy
Author  Antoine Henri Jomini (baron de)
Publisher: G. P. Putnam & Co., New York
[Begin excerpt]
If certain obstinate military men, after having read this book, after
having studied attentively the discussed history of a few campaigns of
the great masters, maintain still that there are neither principles
nor good maxims of war, then one could only pity them and reply to
them by the famous saying of Frederick the Great: "A mule which should
 have made twenty campaigns under Prince Eugene, would be none the
better tactician therefor."
[End excerpt]

Garson

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