Quote Originally Posted by ForresterModern View Post
That probably is the result of the fact that you lost the war. Militaries are not real big on rewarding or condoning the "nice effort, we'll get them next time" thought process.
Actually, if you read the regimental history of the Black Watch, the sentiment was one of not celebrating a victory between family, i.e. "kith and kin". I know in this day and age, and in a society that values winning, we tend to view things in a more cynical eye, but in a British sense, honour comes just as much from playing the game as it does from taking the trophy.

And of course, there are a number of examples of Americans celebrating military defeats -- the 7th Cavalry and the Little Bighorn, the Alamo, the Dade Massacre -- even Pearl Harbor and the Philippines.

T.