Book: Elements of Military Art and Science

H >> Henry Wager Halleck >> Elements of Military Art and Science




"A general to be in perfect possession of them, must on the day of
battle be divested of every thought, and be inaccessible to every
feeling, but what immediately regards the business of the day; he must
reconnoitre with the promptitude of a skilful geographer, whose eye
collects instantaneously all the relative portions of locality, and
feels his ground as it were by instinct; and in the disposition of his
troops he must discover a perfect knowledge of his profession, and make
all his arrangements with accuracy and dispatch. His order of battle
must be simple and unconfused, and the execution of his plan be as quick
as if it merely consisted in uttering some few words of command; as,
_the first line will attack! the second will support it! or, such a
battalion will advance and support the line._"

"The general officers who act under such a general must be ignorant of
their business indeed, if, upon the receipt of these orders, they should
be deficient in the immediate means of answering them, by a prompt and
ready co-operation. So that the general has only to issue out directions
according to the growth of circumstances, and to rest satisfied that
every division will act in conformity to his intentions; but if, on the
contrary, he should so far forget his situation as to become a
drill-sergeant in the heat of action, he must find himself in the case
of the fly in the fable, which perched upon a wheel, and foolishly
imagined that the motion of the carriage was influenced by its
situation. A general, therefore, ought on the day of battle to be
thoroughly master of himself, and to have both his mind and his eye
riveted to the immediate scene of action. He will by these means be
enabled to see every thing; his judgment will be unembarrassed, and he
will instantly discover all the vulnerable points of the enemy. The
instant a favorable opening offers, by which the contest may be decided,
it becomes his duty to head the nearest body of troops, and, without any
regard to personal safety, to advance against the enemy's line. [By a
ready conception of this sort, joined to a great courage, General
Dessaix determined the issue of the battle of Marengo.] It is, however,
impossible for any man to lay down rules, or to specify with accuracy
all the different ways by which a victory may be obtained. Every thing
depends upon a variety of situations, casualties of events, and
intermediate occurrences, which no human foresight can positively
ascertain, but which may be converted to good purposes by a quick eye, a
ready conception, and prompt execution."

"Prince Eugene was singularly gifted with these qualifications,
particularly with that sublime possession of the mind, which constitutes
the essence of a military character."

"Many commanders-in-chief have been so limited in their ideas of
warfare, that when events have brought the contest to issue, and two
rival armies have been drawn out for action, their whole attention has
devolved upon a straight alignment, an equality of step, or a regular
distance in intervals of columns. They have considered it sufficient to
give answers to questions proposed by their aides-de-camp, to send
orders in various directions, and to gallop themselves from one quarter
to another, without steadily adhering to the fluctuations of the day, or
calmly watching for an opportunity to strike a decisive blow. They
endeavor, in fact, to do every thing, and thereby do nothing. They
appear like men whose presence of mind deserts them the instant they are
taken out of the beaten track, or reduced to supply unexpected calls by
uncommon exertions; and from whence, continues the same sensible writer,
do these contradictions arise? from an ignorance of those high
qualifications without which the mere routine of duty, methodical
arrangement, and studied discipline must fall to the ground, and defeat
themselves. Many officers spend their whole lives in putting a few
regiments through a regular set of manoeuvres; and having done so, they
vainly imagine that all the science of a real military man consists in
that acquirement. When, in process of time, the command of a large army
falls to their lot, they are manifestly lost in the magnitude of the
undertaking, and, from not knowing how to act as they ought, they remain
satisfied with doing what they have partially learned."

"Military knowledge, as far as it regards a general or
commander-in-chief, may be divided into two parts, one comprehending
mere discipline and settled systems for putting a certain number of
rules into practice; and the other originating a sublimity of conception
that method may assist, but cannot give."

"If a man be born with faculties that are naturally adapted to the
situation of a general, and if his talents do not fit the extraordinary
casualties of war, he will never rise beyond mediocrity."

"It is, in fact, in war as it is in painting, or in music. Perfection in
either art grows out of innate talent, but it never can be acquired
without them. Study and perseverance may correct ideas, but no
application, no assiduity will give the life and energy of action; these
are the works of nature."

"It has been my fate (observes the Marshal) to see several very
excellent colonels become indifferent generals. I have known others, who
have distinguished themselves at sieges, and in the different evolutions
of an army, lose their presence of mind and appear ignorant of their
profession, the instant they were taken from that particular line, and
be incapable of commanding a few squadrons of horse. Should a man of
this cast be put at the head of an army, he will confine himself to mere
dispositions and manoeuvres; to them he will look for safety; and if
once thwarted, his defeat will be inevitable, because his mind is not
capable of other resources."

"In order to obviate, in the best possible manner, the innumerable
disasters which must arise from the uncertainty of war, and the greater
uncertainty of the means that are adopted to carry it on, some general
rules ought to be laid down, not only for the government of the troops,
but for the instruction of those who have the command of them. The
principles to be observed are: that when the line or the columns
advance, their distances should be scrupulously observed; that whenever
a body of troops is ordered to charge, every proportion of the line
should rush forward with intrepidity and vigor; that if openings are
made in the first line, it becomes the duty of the second instantly to
fill up the chasms."

"These instructions issue from the dictates of plain nature, and do not
require the least elucidation in writing They constitute the A, B, C of
soldiers. Nothing can be more simple, or more intelligible; so much so,
that it would be ridiculous in a general to sacrifice essential objects
in order to attend to such minutiae. His functions in the day of battle
are confined to those occupations of the mind, by which he is enabled to
watch the countenance of the enemy; to observe his movements, and to see
with an eagle's or a king of Prussia's eye, all the relative directions
that his opponents take. It must be his business to create alarms and
suspicions among the enemy's line in one quarter, while his real
intention is to act against another; to puzzle and disconcert him in his
plans; to take advantage of the manifold openings which his feints have
produced, and when the contest is brought to issue, to be capable of
plunging with effect upon the weakest part, and carrying the sword of
death where its blow is certain of being mortal. But to accomplish these
important and indispensable points, his judgment must be clear, his mind
collected, his heart firm, and his eyes incapable of being diverted,
even for a moment, by the trifling occurrences of the day."

The _administrative service_ of an army is usually divided into several
distinct departments, as--

Pay department.
Subsistence "
Clothing "
Medical "}
} These in our service are united.
Hospital "
Barrack "}These in our service are combined
Fuel "}in one, called the Quartermaster's
Transportation "}department
Recruiting "
Military Justice, or Court Martial department.

It was intended to enter into the history, organization, and use of each
of these civico-military departments of an army; but our limits are such
as to preclude any thing like so detailed a discussion as would be
necessary for a proper understanding of the subject. We therefore pass
from the staff directly to the _line_ or rather the four principal arms
of an army organization.[30]

[Footnote 30: Of works that treat directly of staff organization and
duties, those of Grimoard, Thiebault, Boutourlin, Labaume, are esteemed
among the best. The writings of Jomini, Napoleon, Rocquancourt,
Vauchelle, Odier, Scharnhorst, also contain much valuable information on
this subject. The following list of books may be referred to for further
information on the subjects alluded to in this chapter:

_Aide-Memoire des officiers generaux et superieurs et des capitaines._

_Precis de l'art de la guerre._ Jomini.

_Memoires de Napoleon._ Montholon et Gourgaud.

_Cours elementaire d'art et d'histoire militaires._ Rocquancourt.

_Cours elementaire d'administration militaire._ Vauchelle.

_Droite elementaire d'art militaire, &c._ Gay de Vernon.

_Annuaire militaire historique, &c._ Sicard.

_Cours abrege d'administration militaire._ Bernier.

_Cours d'administration militaire, &c._ Odier.

_De l'administration de l'armee d'Espagne._ Odier.

_De l'organization de la force armee en France._ Carion-Nisas.

_Elemens de l'art militaire, &c._ Cugnot.

_Memoires sur la guerre._ Feuquieres.

_Cours d'art militaire et d'histoire._ Jacquinot de Presle.

_Cours d'art militaire._ Fallot.

_Theorie de l'officier superieur._ Leorier.

_Histoire de l'administration de la guerre._ Audouin.

_Instructions diverses a l'usage de l'ecole d'application du corps royal
d'etat-major._

_Handbuch fuer offiziere, &c._ Scharnhorst.

Having omitted all discussion of the several departments of the
administrative service of an army organization, it is not deemed
necessary to give the names of books of reference on the subjects of
pay, courts-martial, medicinal and hospital departments, &c., &c.]




CHAPTER X

ARMY ORGANIZATION.[31]--INFANTRY AND CAVALRY


_Infantry_.--Infantry constitutes, in active service, by far the most
numerous portion of an army; in time of peace its duties are simple,
and, in most countries, of little comparative importance; but in our
country the continually recurring difficulties on the Indian frontiers,
render this arm peculiarly necessary and important, even in time of
general peace. From the nature of infantry service--no peculiar
technical knowledge (we speak of the privates and officers of the lower
grades) being so absolutely indispensable as in the other arms--the
soldier may in a short time be trained and instructed in his duties. For
this reason the ratio of infantry in a peace establishment is ordinarily
much less than in active service, this arm being always capable of great
expansion when occasion requires.

[Footnote 31: In discussing our own organization, it may be well to
compare it with the armies of some of the principal nations of Europe.
Our limits will not allow us to go very much into details, nor to make a
comparison with more than a single European power. We shall select
France, inasmuch as her army organization has served as a model for the
rest of Europe, and is still, in some respects, superior to most
others.]

In the early periods of society, and in countries where horses abounded,
men have usually preferred fighting on horseback; but civilization and a
more thorough acquaintance with war has always increased the importance
of infantry.

The Hebrews, and also the Egyptians, employed this arm almost
exclusively. The Asiatics generally employed both infantry and cavalry,
but with the Greeks the _infantry_ was the favorite arm. Even their
kings and generals usually fought on foot. The Romans conquered the
world mainly with their infantry. This arm was also considered of the
greatest importance by the ancient Germans and Gauls; but the migration
of the Huns and other Mongolic tribes mounted on small and fleet horses,
and the acquaintance formed by the Franks of northern Spain with the
Moors, who were mounted on beautiful horses from Arabia and the plateau
of Asia, introduced a taste for cavalry in western Europe. This taste
was still further cultivated under the feudal system, for the knights
preferred fighting on horseback to serving on foot. During the crusades
the infantry fell into disrepute. But the invention of gunpowder changed
the whole system of warfare, and restored to infantry its former
importance.

"The Romans," says Napoleon in his Memoirs, "had two infantries; the
first, lightly armed, was provided with a missile weapon; the second,
heavily armed, bore a short sword. After the invention of powder two
species of infantry were still continued: the arquebusiers, who were
lightly armed, and intended to observe and harass the enemy; and the
pikemen, who supplied the place of the heavy-armed infantry. During the
hundred and fifty years which have elapsed since Vauban banished lances
and pikes from all the infantry of Europe, substituting for them the
firelock and bayonet, all the infantry has been lightly armed......
There has been since that time, properly speaking, only one kind of
infantry: if there was a company of chasseurs in every battalion, it was
by way of counterpoise to the company of grenadiers; the battalion being
composed of nine companies, one picked company did not appear
sufficient. If the Emperor Napoleon created companies of voltigeurs
armed like dragoons, it was to substitute them for those companies of
chasseurs. He composed them of men under five feet in height, in order
to bring into use that class of the conscription which measured from
four feet ten inches to five feet; and having been until that time
exempt, made the burden of conscription fall more heavily on the other
classes. This arrangement served to reward a great number of old
soldiers, who, being under five feet in height, could not enter into the
companies of grenadiers, who on account of their bravery, deserved to
enter into a picked company: it was a powerful incentive to emulation to
bring the giants and pigmies into competition. Had there been men of
different colors in the armies of the emperor, he would have composed
companies of blacks and companies of whites: in a country where there
were cyclops or hunchbacks, a good use might be made of companies of
cyclops, and others of hunchbacks."

"In 1789, the French army as composed of regiments of the line and
battalions of chasseurs; the chasseurs of the Cevennes, the Vivarais,
the Alps, of Corsica, and the Pyrenees, who at the Revolution formed
half brigades of light infantry; but the object was not to have two
different sorts of infantry, for they were raised alike, instructed
alike, drilled alike; only the battalions of chasseurs were recruited by
the men of the mountainous districts, or by the sons of the
garde-chasse; whence they were more fit to be employed on the frontiers
of the Alps and Pyrenees; and when they were in the armies of the North,
they were always detached, in preference, for climbing heights or
scouring a forest; when these men were placed in line, in a battle, they
served very well as a battalion of the line, because they had received
the same instructions, and were armed and disciplined in the same
manner. Every power occasionally raises, in war-time, irregular corps,
under the title of free or legionary battalions, consisting of foreign
deserters, or formed of individuals of a particular party or faction;
but that does not constitute two sorts of infantry. There is and can be
but one. If the apes of antiquity must needs imitate the Romans, it is
not light-armed troops that they ought to introduce, but heavy-armed
soldiers, or battalions armed with swords; for all the infantry of
Europe serve at times as light troops."

Most European nations, for reasons probably similar to those of
Napoleon, keep up this nominal division of _infantry of the line_ and
_light infantry_; but both are usually armed and equipped alike, and
both receive the same organization and instruction. The light infantry
are usually made up from the class of men, or district of country, which
furnishes the greatest number of riflemen and sharpshooters. In France,
the light infantry is best supplied by the hunters of the Ardennes, the
Vosges, and the Jura districts; in Austria, by the Croates and Tyrolese;
in Prussia, by the "foersters," or woodsmen; and in Russia, by the
Cossacks. Our own western hunters, with proper discipline, make the best
tirailleurs in the world.

Light infantry is usually employed to protect the flanks of the main
army, to secure outposts, to reconnoitre the ground, secure avenues of
approach, deceive the enemy by demonstrations, and secure the repose of
the other troops by patrolling parties. They usually begin a battle, and
afterwards take their places in the line, either on the flanks, or in
the intervals between the larger bodies. The battle of Jena furnishes a
good example of the use of French light infantry; and at the battle of
Waterloo, the Prussian tirailleurs were exceedingly effective in
clearing the ground for the advance of Bluecher's heavy columns. The
attack of Floh-hug by Augereau, of Vierzehn Heilegen by Suchet, of
Iserstaedt by Desjardins, are models well worthy of study.

The infantry of the line acts in masses, and, on the field of battle,
constitutes the principal fighting force. Its formations and the manner
of engaging it have already been discussed under the head of tactics.

The importance of infantry is due, in considerable part, to the fact
that it can be used everywhere--in mountains or on plains, in woody or
open countries, in cities or in fields, on rivers or at sea, in the
redoubt or in the attack of the breach; the infantry depends only on
itself, whereas the other arms must depend in a considerable degree on
the efficiency of their materials and the will and strength of brute
force; and when the snows of Russia or the deserts of Egypt deprive
their animals of the means of sustenance, they become perfectly useless.

Foot-soldiers, in olden times, were armed with a spear and sometimes
with a sword, arrows, lance, and sling. At present they are armed with
a gun and bayonet, and sometimes with a sword. In some European
services, a few of the foot-soldiers are armed with a pike. Some of the
light troops used as sharpshooters carry the rifle, but this weapon is
useless for the great body of infantry. The short-sword is more useful
as an instrument for cutting branches, wood, &c., than for actual
fighting. The infantry have no defensive covering, or at least very
little. The helmet or cap serves to protect the head, and the shoulders
are somewhat defended by epaulets. It has often been proposed in modern
times to restore the ancient defensive armor of the foot-soldier; but
this would be worse than useless against fire-arms, and moreover would
destroy the efficiency of these troops by impeding their movements. The
strength of this arm depends greatly upon its discipline; for if calm
and firm, a mass of infantry in column or in square is almost
impenetrable.

The bayonet was introduced by Vauban in the wars of Louis XIV., and
after the years 1703 and '4, the pike was totally suppressed in the
French army. This measure was warmly opposed by Marshal Montesquieu, and
the question was discussed by him and Marshal Vauban with an ability and
learning worthy of these great men. The arguments of Vauban were deemed
most conclusive, and his project was adopted by the king.

This question has been agitated by military writers in more recent
times, Puysegur advocating the musket, and Folard and Lloyd contending
in favor of restoring the pike. Even in our own service, so late as the
war of 1812, a distinguished general of the army strongly urged the use
of the pike, and the fifteenth (and perhaps another regiment) was armed
and equipped in part as _pikemen_; but experience soon proved the
absurdity of the project.

Napoleon calls the infantry the _arm of battles_ and the _sinews of the
army_. But if it be acknowledged, that, next to the talent of the
general-in-chief, the infantry is the first instrument of victory, it
must also be confessed that it finds a powerful support in the cavalry,
artillery, and engineers, and that without these it would often be
compromised, and could gain but a half success.

The French infantry is divided into one hundred regiments of three
battalions each, a battalion being composed of seven companies. There
are also several other battalions of chasseurs, zuaves, &c., being
organized especially for service in Africa, and composed in part of
native troops.

In our own army we have eight regiments of infantry, each regiment
forming a single battalion of ten companies. The flank companies are
intended for light infantry.

In all properly organized armies the infantry constitutes from
three-fourths to four-fifths of the entire active force in the field,
and from two-thirds to three-fourths, say about seven-tenths of the
entire military establishment. In time of peace this proportion may be
slightly diminished.

_Cavalry._--The use of cavalry is probably nearly as old as war itself.
The Egyptians had cavalry before the time of Moses, and the Israelites
often encountered cavalry in their wars with their neighbors, though
they made no use of this arm themselves until the time of Solomon.

The Greeks borrowed their cavalry from the Asiatics, and especially from
the Persians, who, according to Xenophon, held this arm in great
consideration. After the battle of Platea, it was agreed by assembled
Greece that each power should furnish one horseman to every ten
foot-soldiers. In Sparta the poorest were selected for this arm, and the
cavalry marched to combat without any previous training. At Athens the
cavalry service was more popular, and they formed a well-organized corps
of twelve hundred horsemen. At Thebes also this arm had consideration in
the time of Epaminondas. But the cavalry of Thessaly was the most
renowned, and both Philip and Alexander drew their mounted troops from
that country.

The Romans had made but little progress in this arm when they
encountered the Thessalians, who fought in the army of Pyrrhus. They
then increased their cavalry, but it was not numerous till after their
wars with the Carthaginians. Scipio organized and disciplined the Roman
cavalry like that of the Numidians. This arm was supplied from the ranks
of the richest citizens, and afterwards formed an order intermediary
between the Senate and the people, under the name of _knights_.

At a later period, the cavalry of the Gauls was particularly good. The
Franks were without cavalry when they made their first irruption into
Gaul. Under the reign of Childeric I. we see for the first time the
"cavaliers francs" figure as a part of the national forces. At the
battle of Tours the cavalry and infantry were in the proportion of one
to five, and under Pepin and Charlemagne their numbers were nearly
equal. Under Charles the Bald armies were composed entirely of cavalry,
and during the middle ages the knights disdained the foot service, and
fought only on horseback.

After the introduction of artillery, cavalry was still employed, though
to little advantage. Gustavus Adolphus was the first to perceive the
real importance of this arm in modern warfare, and he used it with great
success. But it was left for Seidlitz to perfect it under the direction
of Frederick the Great.

Marshal Saxe very justly remarked, that cavalry is the "_arme du
moment,_" for in almost every battle there are moments when a decisive
charge of cavalry will gain the victory, but if not made at the instant
it may be too late. The efficiency of cavalry depends upon the moral
impression which it makes on the enemy, and is greater in proportion to
the size of the mass, and the rapidity of its motion. This last quality
enables a commander to avail himself immediately of a decisive moment,
when the enemy exposes a weak point, or when disorder appears in his
ranks. But this requires a bold and active spirit, which shrinks not
from responsibility, and is able to avail itself with quickness and
decision of every opportunity. If it be remembered that it is essential
that this _coup d'oeil_, so rare and so difficult to acquire, be
accompanied by a courage and vigor of execution which nothing can shake,
we shall not be astonished that history furnishes so few good cavalry
generals, and that this arm so seldom does such execution as it did
under Frederick and Napoleon, with Seidlitz and Murat as commanders.

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