“I don't know what effect these men will have on the enemy, but by God, they terrify me.”

— Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Said to be his remarks on a draft of new troops sent to him in Spain (1809), as quoted in A New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles from Ancient and Modern Sources (1942) by H. L. Mencken, this quote is disputed, and may be derived from a comment made to Colonel Robert Torrens about some of his generals in a despatch (29 August 1810): "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."
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Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington 45

British soldier and statesman 1769–1852

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