be placed, the approach to which would be defended by the redoubts and the intrenchments constructed between them.

The right of the village should be covered by an indented trace, 7, 8, 9, 10. The portion of this marked 7, 8 should be armed with three or four guns to sweep the downward slope of the ground on the left of the road B.

Starting from the salient 7, the intrenchment crosses the valley of the stream.

A dam constructed at the point ʼn would enable us to make the water reach up to the level of four mètres, and to render the road Cimpracticable.

The left of the village would be protected by similar intrenchments.

On account of the importance of the road D, and in order to sweep the ground between it and the crest of the plateau to the left of the redoubt -2, another redoubt (3) should be constructed.

To the right and left of this work a line of abatis should be formed with the resources offered by a small wood situated close by. This line should be flanked by the redoubts 3 and 4. The redoubts 4 and 5, and the intrenchment r s t, which joins them, would defend the rear of the village.

Although the part on the other side of the stream is the most exposed, yet on account of the remoteness of the Army, the enemy might perhaps send round one of his columns to the opposite bank, so as to attack the rear while the bulk of his forces advanced against the redoubts 1 and 2.

For this reason the rear must be intrenched as carefully as the sides.

This is not the only difference in the defence of the two villages.

The first one, being in advance of an Army in readiness for battle, must be covered by a line of works with large intervals, to facilitate the marching in and out of the troops; for the same reason the principal streets must be left clear.

A village occupied by a detached post, whose object is to dispute the ground as long as possible, does not require these precautions. The most exposed part would consequently be covered by a continuous line of obstacles, and all the streets would be barricaded; openings would only be left on the side from which assistance might arrive.

The choice of the réduit must be guided by the following considerations.

one.

The church b is too near the point of attack to form a good The town-hall, situated in the square c, would suit better, but the occupation of this building would leave open to the enemy two bridges, which must be disputed to the very last. We should intrench ourselves, therefore, in preference in the factory d, which commands one of the bridges, and in the group of houses i i, which command the other.

But if, as we must suppose he would, the enemy have Artillery to support his attack, these two posts would not make a long resistance; we should therefore propose to make a stronger and more easily defended réduit by joining the redoubts 4 and 5 by an intrenchment, u v w, facing towards the interior of the village.

The reserve consists of 3 battalions and two squadrons; one battalion should be posted in the public square c, to assist and rally the supporting detachments a, a, a, a (which would retire by paths formed across the gardens); half a battalion would defend the passage of the stream by loopholing the walls of the factory d and of the houses i i, and by taking measures to interrupt the communications at a suitable time; the two remaining battalions would occupy the interior of the réduit; and lastly, one of the two squadrons would remain behind the little wood on the left, and the other behind the redoubt 4.

If the village to be fortified were quite isolated, if it had no assistance to look for from any side, and might be attacked on

all points of its circumference, the réduit would have to occupy the interior of the village.

The two examples we have explained embrace almost all cases, and demonstrate the principal conditions which the defence of villages must fulfil in the present state of the art of

war.

SPOTTISWOODE

LONDON: PRINTED BY

AND CO., NEW-STREET
AND PARLIAMENT STREET

SQUARE

London.

A CATALOGUE OF MILITARY WORKS

PUBLISHED BY

MESSRS. HENRY S. KING & Co.

Important German Military Works.

The four following books are the first of a series of Official Records of the late war which is being issued under the authority of the German War Department. In this series the operations of the separate German armies will be represented in a continuous manner. All the works are compiled and edited by officers of the respective Generals' Staffs, and are based upon the official documents: they will thus be most valuable to the military student, as revealing the German method of conducting warfare in its entirety; and the series, when completed, will form a perfect and authentic history of the Campaign of 1870-71.

THE

OPERATIONS OF THE GERMAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, from Sedan to the end of the War of 1870-71. With large Official Map. From the Journals of the Head-Quarters Staff. By Major WILLIAM BLUME, of the Prussian Ministry of War. Translated by E. M. JONES, Major 20th Foot, late Professor of Military History, Sandhurst. Demy 8vo. price 9s. [Ready.

"The work of Major von Blume in its English dress forms the most valuable addition to our stock of works upon the war that our press has put forth. Major Blume writes with a clear conciseness much wanting in many of his country's historians, and Major Jones has done himself and his original alike justice by his vigorous yet correct translation of the excellent volume on which he has laboured. Our space forbids our doing more than commending it earnestly as the most authentic and instructive narrative of the second section of the war that has yet appeared.'-Saturday Review.

"The book is of absolute necessity to the military student.......The work is one of high merit and......has the advantage of being rendered into fluent English, and is accompanied by an excellent military map.'

'In closing, we must remark that both books ("The Operations of the German Armies" and "Tactical Deductions") are got up in a handsome uniform style, that does credit to the publishers.'— Colburn's United Service Magazine.

"The military public has much reason to be grateful for the enterprise of Messrs. King for the publication of these two valuable text-books ("The Operations of the German Armies" and "Tactical Deductions"), which we place purposely together because the facts of the first form the deductions of the second, and both together are of such value to the military student that we do not see how either can be dispensed with wherever professional teaching is being carried on under new lights. They have both found able translators, at once sympathetic and scholarly; so that, although originally written for the German military reader, they now become equally valuable and available for the English soldier-student.'-United Service Gazette.

The work of translation has been well done; the expressive German idioms have been rendered into clear nervous English without losing any of their original force; and in notes, prefaces, and introductions, much additional information has been given.'-Athenæum.

II

THE OPERATIONS OF THE SOUTH ARMY IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1871. Compiled from the Official War Documents of the Head-Quarters of the Southern Army. By Count HERMANN VON Wartensleben, Colonel in the Prussian General Staff. Translated by Colonel C. H. VON WRIGHT. Demy 8vo. with Maps, uniform with the above, price 6s. [Just out.

III

THE OPERATIONS OF THE FIRST ARMY TO THE CAPITULATION OF METZ. By VON SCHELL, Major in the Chief General Staff. With Maps, including one of Metz and of the country around, which will be the most perfect yet published of the district. In demy 8vo. uniform with the above. [In preparation.

*** The most important events described in this work are the battles of Spizhern, those before Metz on the 14th and 18th August, and (on this point nothing authentic has yet been published) the history of the investment of Metz (battle of Nouseville).

This work, however, possesses a greater importance than that derived from these points, because it represents for the first time from the official documents the generalship of Von Steinmetz. Hitherto we have had no exact reports on the deeds and motives of this celebrated General. This work has the special object of unfolding carefully the relations in which the commander of the First Army acted, the plan of operations which he drew up, and the manner in which he carried it out.

A CATALOGUE OF MILITARY WORKS-continued.

IV

THE CAMPAIGN OF THE FIRST ARMY IN NORTHERN FRANCE. (Against Faidherbe.) By Colonel Count HERMANN VON WARTENSLEBEN, Chief of the Staff of the First Army. In demy 8vo. uniform with the above. [In preparation.

N. B. It is believed that General BEAUCHAMP WALKER, of Berlin, will translate this work.

TACTICAL

DEDUCTIONS

Capt. A. VON BOGUSŁAWSKI.

By

FROM THE WAR OF 1870–71. Translated by Colonel LUMLEY GRAHAM, late 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment. Demy 8vo. uniform with the above, price 75. [Now ready. 'In all essential things, according to our conviction, the author has rightly apprehended the lessons of the late war, and his views are a guide and criterion that will be of service to every officer.'-Militair Wachenblatt.

'Major Boguslawski's tactical deductions from the war are, that infantry still preserve their superiority over cavalry, that open order must henceforth be the main principle of all drill, and that the Chassepôt is the best of all small arms of precision... .We must, without delay, impress brain and forethought into the British Service, and we cannot commence the good work too soon, or better, than by placing the two books ("The Operations of the German Armies" and "Tactical Deductions") we have here criticised, in every military library, and introducing them as class-books in every tactical school.'-United Service Gazette.

CAVALRY FIELD DUTY. By Major-General VON MIRUS. Translated by Capt. FRANK S. RUSSELL, 14th (King's) Hussars. Crown 8vo. limp cloth, 55. [Ready. This is the text-book of instruction in the German cavalry, and comprises all the details connected with the military duties of cavalry soldiers on service. The translation is made from a new edition, which contains the modifications introduced consequent on the experiences of the late war. The great interest that students feel in all the German military methods will, it is believed, render this book especially acceptable at the present time.

THE ARMY OF THE NORTH-GERMAN CONFEDERATION.

A Brief Description of its Organisation, of the different Branches of the Service and their role in War, of its Mode of Fighting, &c. By a PRUSSIAN GENERAL. Translated from the German by Col. EDWARD NEWDIGATE. Demy 8vo. [Shortly. *The authorship of this book was erroneously ascribed to the renowned Count von Moltke, but there can be little doubt that it was written under his immediate inspiration.

Shortly will be published, an authorised and accurate Translation of STUDIES IN LEADING TROOPS. By Col. VON VERDY DU VERNOIS. Translated by Lieut. H. J. T. HILDYARD, 71st Foot. Parts I. and II. Demy 8vo.

Notice. The German publishers of this work desire to make it known that the author protests against an edition of Part I. which is on sale in England, and which is both an inaccurate and unauthorised translation.

Gen. BEAUCHAMP WALKER says of this work:-'I recommend the two first numbers of Colonel von Verdy's "Studies" to the attentive perusal of my brother officers. They supply a want which I have often felt during my service in this country, namely, a minuter tactical detail of the minor operations of the war than any but the most observant and fortunately placed staff officer is in a position to give. I have read and re-read them very carefully-I hope with profit-certainly with great interest, and believe that practice, in the sense of these "Studies," would be a valuable preparation for manoeuvres on a more extended scale.'-Berlin, June 1872.

DISCIPLINE AND DRILL. Four Lectures delivered to the London Scottish Rifle Volunteers. By Captain S. FLOOD PAGE, Adjutant of the Regiment, late 105th Light Infantry, and Adjutant of the Edinburgh Rifle Brigade. Just published, a Cheaper Eaition, price is.

'One of the best-known and the coolest-headed of the metropolitan regiments, whose adjutant, moreover, has lately published an admirable collection of lectures addressed by him to the men of his corps.'-Times.

'Capt. Page has something to say......and in every case it is said moderately, tersely, and well.'-Daily Telegraph.

The very useful and interesting work...... Every Volunteer, officer or private, will be the better for perusing and digesting the plain-spoken truths which Captain Page so firmly, and yet so modestly, puts before them; and we trust that the little book in which they are contained will find its way into all parts of Great Britain.'--Volunteer Service Gazette.

'The matter......is eminently practical, and the style intelligible and unostentatious.'-Glasgow Volunteer News.

Now publishing in parts.

THE HISTORY OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1870-71.

This work is being issued in the same manner as the History of the Campaign of 1866 was published. It is edited by the War-historical Department of the General Staff, and comprehends the wide scope of surveying the working together of all the Army Divisions, and of stating the tactical particulars of every action. It will thus form an entire picture of the whole campaign.

HENRY S. KING & Co., 65 CORNHILL, LONDON.