He said that many times throughout the war. At a formal settings obvious he'll say it a little nicer. British soldiers get paid only one shilling per day and are constantly short on supply and had to plunder to survive. There is even a book on why soldiers are not 'scum of the Earth'
Much less so than the french who lived of the land - which means you cannot as easily concetrate force at the schwerpunkt (the key point of the battle field)
http://www.amazon.com/All-Kings-Shilling-Wellington-Commande...