Taktik nach der für die Königlich Preussischen Kriegschulen vorgeschriebenen "Genetischen Skizze" ausgearbeitet. H. Perizonius. 2 vols. Berlin, 1870. The Recent Campaigns in Virginia. Col. Chesney. Drill and Discipline. Captain Flood Page, Adjutant London Scottish. Henry S. King & Co. On Outpost Duty. By Major-General Beauchamp Walker, C. B. A Lecture delivered at the United Service Institution. Le Spectateur Militaire. 23d vol. Guerre de 1870. Par V. D., Officier d'EtatMajor. Perizonius. Recent Campaigns in Virginia. Captain Flood Page. General Walker (2). V. D. Par un Les Causes de nos Désastres. Les Causes de nos Désastres. The Essentials of Good Skirmishing. 2d edition. By Colonel Gawler, K.H., late of the 52d Light Infantry. 1852. (1st edition, of which this is a Reprint, with Additions and Notes, published in August 1837.) Avant-postes de Cavalerie Légère. Par le Général de Brack. Aperçus sur quelques détails de la Guerre. Par M. le Maréchal Bugeaud. Conférences Militaires Belges. Etude sur l'Emploi des Corps de Cavalerie au Service de Sureté des Armées. Par A. Fischer, Major au 2d Chasseurs à Cheval. Conférence d'Etat-Major. La Cavalerie et son Armement depuis la Guerre de 1870. Par A. Lahure, Capitaine d'EtatMajor. Colonel Gawler. De Brack. Bugeaud. Conférences Belges.* Conférence d'EtatMajor.* Modern Cavalry. *These papers reached England after the essay had been written. Foy. Histoire de la Guerre de la Pénin- Eine Militarische Denkschrift. Foy. Truppen Führung. Prince Hohenlohe. Fezensac. Von Prince Frederick Charles. Prince Frederick Charles. A Military Memorial. By Prince Frede- Paper read before the U.S. Institution. By Major Jones, 20th Regiment. "The Les Maréchaux de France. Etude de Baron Stoffel. Major Jones. Les Maréchaux de The last book has not been published. It has been placed in my hands since the essay was written. Captain Henry Brackenbury, Royal Artillery, Military History Professor at Woolwich, was the principal representative in France of the Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded. In that capacity he had opportunities for comparing evidence and sifting statements such as seldom fall to the lot of any student of war. French being as natural to him for purposes of composition as English, it seemed to him more courteous to the French army, with whom he had been so closely associated, to publish in that language, and in Paris, the upshot of his conclusions on the war. The above work, embodying these, had accordingly been announced, and would have some time since appeared; but, owing to some delays in the publication, it was not actually before the public when the French Government decided to try, at his own request, Marshal Bazaine by court-martial. It will not surprise English readers, though it appears very greatly to have astonished certain French newspapers, that under these circumstances Captain Brackenbury, at very great personal loss and inconvenience, thought it right to withdraw a book of which the title tells its own tale. As, however, personal matters in no way concerned my essay, and his evidence was more valuable as to certain facts than any other that could be obtained, he has kindly allowed me to quote freely from the book all that was relevant to my purpose, provided I did not put forward anything which should militate against the purpose which had induced him to suppress it. I have, of course, not put references in this case, but have quoted at full. INTRODUCTORY. MANŒUVRES have been defined to be "the quick orderly change of highly-trained and flexible masses from one kind of formation to another, or their transference from point to point of a battle-field for purposes which become suddenly feasible in the changing course of the action."* I have been led to the conclusion that the very basis on which at present our scheme for accomplishing this "manoeuvring" is founded must be changed if we would meet the changed conditions of war. The objects to be attained are precisely those named in the definition: the method of securing them is greatly modified. Those who have been engaged in the recent fighting, and who have recorded their experiences, are very unanimous on the subject. I must therefore ask for a little patience, if, before proceeding to the detailed consideration of our future manoeuvres under the several assigned heads, I am drawn into an inquiry, the relevancy of which will be, perhaps, not fully apparent till the details are discussed. As it is one which would not be relevant to the discussion of a system of manœuvres based on a drill dependent on prescribed words of command, it may seem at first to be disconnected from the issue raised by the proposed subject. I have urged throughout the following pages that the less we imagine we can dispense with any of the lessons of the past, the sounder our conclusions will be. But as I have maintained, nevertheless, the necessity for some very radical changes, it has been scarcely possible to approach the question from precisely the same side which would have been natural formerly. |