The routine of army business and the routine of drill had to be learned by every army officer.

The regular officer of some years' standing already knew, as a matter of course, what a new volunteer officer must spend some time in learning.

There is something of value also in the habit of mind formed in actual service, even if the service is in subaltern grades and on a petty scale.

Familiarity with danger and with the expectation of danger is acquired, both by the Indian wars of the frontier and by the hunting and field sports which fill more or less of the leisure of garrison life.
But there were some drawbacks upon the value of the preparation for war which these officers possessed.

There was a marked conservatism as to military methods and arms, and an almost slavish reverence for things which were sanctioned by European authority, especially that of the second French Empire.