Notes on strategy and logistics

GIFT OF

W. C. Davis

NOTES ON

STRATEGY AND LOGISTICS.

Brevet Major WILLIAM A. KOBBE,

Captain Third Artillery, U. S. Army,
INSTRUCTOR.

ARTILLERY SCHOOL PRESS

FORT MONROE. VIRGINIA.
1896.

The following pages have been compiled from time to time for use with
authorized text-books, books of reference, maps, &c., at the Artillery School,
to establish, if possible, a common point of view from which to examine the
opinions which these publications advance. To gain distinctness, the field of
view is contracted, perhaps unduly, and many stock in trade principles of
strategy are, perhaps indiscriminately, ignored. In preparing the notes for
the printer, an erfort was made to so connect subjects that one would lead
naturally to the next.

FORT MONROE, VA., March, 1896.

I.

INTRODUCTION. Ttie profession of arms. — In the intercourse of
the human race there are conflicts of interest which, if these be
paramount, end in war. War is, therefore, a condition : it can-
not be concisely defined and the many definitions proposed are
elusive and vexing. He who follows the profession of arms need
not concern himself with them.

For him it is enough to known that disputes between the most
cultivated nations are settled ultimately by war and that success
in the field establishes the standing of a people. He is familiar
with the depressing story of nations sinking to decay when, in the
pursuit of luxury and gain, they had lost the agressiveness which,
wisely trained, defends that which is good and repels that which
is evil ; an agressiveness from which the noblest virtues have
arisen.

Armies. — War, indeed, has been often savage and soldiers have
been brutal : but in human affairs, whether in church or state,
nothing has escaped the ferment of development. The same in-
fluences have modified and tempered warfare which are always at
work to purify and elevate. The love of power and the fascination
of conquest, once mainsprings of conflcl, are now disreputable,
and no power may employ its armed forces with these motives
however well disguised. An army has become as much a conser-
vator of peace as it is and has always been an instrument of war.
Even the reproach that is an aggregation of non-workers which
contributes nothing to the common wealth must fall since humane
and enlightened methods have made of the army a school* of the
ofBcer a teacher and guardian, and of the soldier a pupil of the
state. " To take a lad, before either stature, or gait, or habit is
formed (often boorishly formed) and to give him an education at
once physical and moral, to teach him to march, to ride, to fire,
daily to pass many precious hours in the free open air ; to give
him habits of order, of precision, of cleanliness, of truth ; to
teach him how to obey and thus how to command; to tell him
that he has duties which he owes to his cpuntry: and to redeem
him at a critical age from idle frivolity " is to create a sterling
citizen, an invaluable ingredient for the community to which he
returns and on which he never will be a burden. A modern army
produces producers.

•2

An army, or at least a large army, it has been said, is danger-
ous to free institutions. Whether this was ever true or not it is
not true now. In monarchial countries personal fealty and al-
legiance to the sovereign sometimes breeds a military caste which
is unpopular and which may be hateful; but it is growing less
and less easy to use it to refashion any established order endeared
to a majority of the people. In a republic, — in the United
States, — this personal allegiance is diverted to flag and country
and is lavished on these with impassioned loyalty and devotion.
No military caste is then possible unless, indeed, it be based on
the respect for the army which it earns by hatred of intrigue and
freedom from debasing influences.

THE NATURE OF WAR. — War is the employment of physical
forces to render an adversary powerless to oppose a political
object by overthrowing him. It is, therefore, a continuation of
state policy after diplomacy and mediation have failed.

In this employment of physical force all recourses of the ad-
versary must be attacked, not in anger but with method. "The
greatest kindness in war is to bring it to a speedy conclusion";
hence "every idea of philanthropy in war is a most pernicious
error." "The essence of war is violence and moderation in war
is an imbecility."

The object of war may be attained short of actual physical
overthrow of an adversary, for he may be brought to realize that
he can, at best, postpone this result; or that success is improbable;
or he may be gradually exhausted by the magnitude of his effort
until public opinion reacts on state policy. From these consider-
ations spring the conceptions of the offensive and defensive.

Extreme conceptions of it. — The nature of war may be examined
by considering the esteem in which mastery in war is held. It is
manifest at once that success in the field overrides every other
form of prestige. This is, perhaps, partly due to a sentiment of
gratitude, often extravagant ; for a nation at war is a nation in
peril: but the unswerving verdict of the world for ages must be
based on something more real than this. The extremes of
popular and sometimes of professional opinion concerning the
eminence of military talent disclose some confusion of ideas. It
i-; held on the one hand .that there is something occult and subtle
in warfare into the mysteries of which a soldier to be successful
must first be initiated : and on the other that "we cannot conceive
where those difficulties lie of which so much is said, and what
that genius and those extraordinary mental powers required in a

— 3—

General have really to do. All appears so simple, all the
requisite branches of knowledge appear so plain, all the combi-
nations so unimportant, that in comparison with them, the easiest
problem in higher mathematics impresses us with a certain
scientific dignity."

One due to the literature of war. — The flrst view is not held by
anyone who has had any considerable experience in war: it may
be held and is held by many who have studied war, sometimes
with intense interest and application, from books. There have
been few great leaders and the inference seemed fair that these,
who have often held the leading-strings of history, worked by
superhuman methods which clever scrutiny and sifting might lay
bare. This has been the origin of many books and much writ-
ing, stimulated during long periods of peace by the fascination
of building up theories to fit the events of the most recent wars :
"and in this way it has been sought to establish maxims, rules
and even systems for the conduct of war." This literature has
been infinitely extended, directly, by official reports, narratives,
memoires and histories ; indirectly by those who cater to the
popular interest in military affairs and who write for the sake
of writing or for profit, what may be classified as pure romance
and fiction.

The necessity for a guide in study. — The military reader or student
who enters this field will be dismayed at its extent unless it be
made clear to him that most of it is a barren waste which he may
shun and that much which remains must be read with nice
perception and judgement. An instructor, to be well equipped
must be able to impart this faculty;* and he may insist at once on
the general rule that those books should be unreservedly rejected
which are not free from vague statement and military cant.

The literature of war. Official reports. — Except their official re-
ports, memoirs and narratives, leaders in war have been small
contributors to this literature. The greatest leaders have, perhaps,
contributed least of all. It would seem that official reports of
subordinates should be the richest and freshest sources of
reliable data, but they are not. The best evidence of this
is that they do not agree and that prominent incidents of the.
most important campaigns have remained matters of dispute.
Every one knows that it is difficult to obtain from several eye
witnesses accounts which are not at variance of common, every
day events, — and that these are subjectted to skillful and

* "I have studied history a great deal and often for want of a guide have been forced to
lose considerable time in useless reading". — Napoleon.

—4—

laborious sifting by experts to reach the truth. Whatever
may be the influences which cause this it is plain that they are
infinitely more potent in war; while the flush of vi6tory and
chagrin of defeat tend to produce a state of mind which is neither
judicial nor candid. Moreover official reports are made, so to
speak, over the same last, with a conventional phraseology in
which everything- that has happened is fathered tacitly upon a
common design. " Follow the working of the General's mind in
the rear, whatever his rank. From the first moment the condudl
of the fight has been taken out of his hands. Either too great
preliminary extension or the hot-headedness of a subordinate, or
a miscalculation, has precipitated matters, and beyond feeding
up troops as fast as they arrive he has been powerless.* But the
victory is won and he must write a report. Whatever he may
have thought during the crisis, it is perfectly certain that with
success will come a reaction of thankfulness to the troops engaged:
and even if he was aware of what was a6lually going on in the
fighting line all the time, he will forbear to refer to it, but will
only refer to his gallant troops for having saved the day. But
from these reports the official history is afterwards constructed."
"According to the official history, at Gravelotte on the i8th of
August, 43 companies of different regiments were at one and the
same time in the Auberge of St. Hubert. The building is scarce-
ly large enough to contain a single company on war strength.
43 companies are more than 10,000 men. Where were 9,800 men
who had no room ? "

Descriptive writing and fiction. — Official reports are the genesis
of military opinion and it is easy to trail them through history,
historical romance and finally through pure fiction. Whether
the last be taken seriously or not -it has been most potent in
upholding false notions of what really takes place in war: and
in fiction much should be included which is reported for the press.
The smallest rivulet, much less a river, never "runs red with
blood" and probably would not if soldiers fought in the water.
Away from field hospitals, blood is conspicuous nowhere on the
battlefield. Many wounds bleed very little; the blood from
others is quickly absorbed by the clothing and, if very
profuse, by the earth. "Whole ranks" are never "mown down
by shot" because, for one sufficient reason, anything like
drill ground formations are absent in battle. A multitude of
photographs taken immediately after battles show, with very

"During the battle my direction is of more harm than use. I must then rely on my
division and brigade commanders. I think and act with all my might to bring up my troops
to.the right place at the right moment; after that I have done my dutv."— General Lee.

5

few exceptions, that the dead lie widely distributed or here and
there in small groups. The cries and groans of the wounded
are sometimes distressing after an adtion but during its
progress they are rarely heard. Many men are wounded, even
severely, who do not discover it at once: others halt^quietly dis-
card their accoutrements and sit down or seek shelter to examine
the wound: only very few, outside of battle pictures, throw up
their arms and fall forward. Even these are little noted in the
rush and separation of battle and it is a common experience for
men to afterwards seek for and find a dead comrade who has not
been missed until the assembly and roll call.

Inaccurate data in reports — St. Privat. — "In military science, just
as in other sciences, accurate data are essential to the formation
of sound opinions; yet perhaps nowhere is this necessity more
frequently 'disregarded." The German official history of the war
of 1870, has long been accepted as a plain and unassuming state-
ment of events as they occurred, and so in one sense it is.
But the inexperienced or unguided reader, whether historian
or student, will receive impressions from it which are wide of
the truth. It is due to this, for instance, that the attack of the
Prussian Guard at St. Privat is famous and will be immortal
and their loss is commonly stated as about 6000 out of 18,000
men in 10 minutes. The impression gained from the offi-
cial account is that of a deliberately planned and well
ordered attack in which the advance was made in regular tactical
formations until on account of great losses the troops were
directed to halt and hold the ground. This account has been
"read" by an expert as follows, though without mention of the
inextricable confusion and intermixing of the attacking troops or
of the fact that owing to the extent of front no one portion could
possibly be aware of the losses which were being suffered else-
where. "About 5 o'clock in the afternoon the IXth corps (next
on the right to the Guards) was being hardly pressed, and to
relieve this pressure, Prince August of Wurtemberg ordered,
after seeking the concurrence of the Commander-in-Chief , the two
divisional commanders to attack the enemy." "The

first troops to commence the attack were the 4th Guard Brigade,
consisting of, in all, 26 companies, or about 5500 men deployed
in two lines with skirmishers in advance. Even during its deploy-
ment at St. Ail it was overwhelmed by a shower of bullets: and
almost immediately afterwards it broke into skirmishers and
advanced by rushes. The attack came to a standstill about 600
paces from the enemy; but the nien held their ground and did

— 6—

not retire. They lay out in the open until the final advance,
which took place some two hours later, repulsing with the aid
of the artillery fire, the counter attack of the enemy's masses.
When the final attack took place they accompanied it and
continued fighting until far into the night. Meanwhile the ist
Guard Brigade (about 5000 strong) had advanced from its position,
southwest of St. Marie aux Chenes, still preserving its rendez-
vous formation, viz., three lines of company columns, about 120
yards apart, and proceeded to change direction to the left under
a perfectt rain of chassepot bullets. It then crossed the high
road and continued to gain ground to the left; but the fire proved
more than it could bear, the rear of the column pressed on to the
front, and its change of front to the right does not appear to have
been made as on parade. The attack so disastrously begun was
pushed on with great courage, till within some 600 yards of the
enemy, where its momentum died out, and like the 4th Brigade
on its right, it lay down and held its own till the subsequent rush
carried it on some two hours later. From the commencement of
the movement, till the advance died out, about half an hour had
elapsed. Now referring to the talk of losses, we find that the ist
Guard Brigade lost altogether, during the whole day's fighting,
72 officers and 2100 men; the 4th Brigade almost exactly the same
number or a fraction over 30 per cent of their respective strengths,
in an action which lasted at least three hours and a half. Even
if we assume half of the whole loss to have been suffered in the
first half hour, the 6000 out of 18,000 in 10 minutes is reduced
to 2000 out of 10,000 in half an hour; a very different state of
things."

Obscure do.ta — The charge at Nashville. — About 4 o'clock in the
afternoon on the second day of the Battle of Nashville the
Federal line made the charge which finally overthrew the enemy.
It is instructive to trace the accounts of this charge in the official
reports, from that of the Commanding General down through
those of a portion of the line (General A. J. Smith's) which
took the most conspicuous part in it. Most of the reports are
dated a few days after the battle.

General Thomas, Commanding the Army. "About 3 P.M.
Post's Brigade * * * was ordered by General Wood" (4th Corps)
"to assault Overton's Hill. * * * Immediately following the
effort of the Fourth Corps, General Smith's and Schofield's com-
mands moved against the enemy's works, in their respective
fronts, carrying all before them" etc.

General A. J. Smith, Commanding Corps. "About 3 p. m.

General McArthur" (commanding ist Division) "sent word
that he could carry the line on his right by assault. Major
General Thomas being present, the matter was referred to
him and I was requested to delay the movement until he could
hear from General Schofield, to whom he had sent. General
McArthur not receiving any reply" (/. e. from General Smith)
"and fearing that if the attack should be longer delayed the
enemy would iise the night to strengthen his works, directed the
First Brigade to storm the hill."

General McArthur, Commanding ist Division. "Fearing that
if delayed until next day the night would be employed by the
enemy to our disadvantage, I determined to attack."

First Brigade, ist Division

"At length General McArthur, tired with the long delay and
fearful that the day would pass without making any serious im-
pression upon the enemy's lines, directed me to withdraw my
brigade and "take that hill."

Second Brigade ist Division.

"About 4 p. m. I received the order to assault the works in my
front"

Third Brigade, ist Division.

"Between 3 and 4 p. m. I observed the right of the division —
the First Brigade — advancing to charge the enemy's left, and
quickly Colonel Hubbard's brigade, immediately on my right,
started on the charge. Seeing that Colonel Hubbard ought to
be supported, I ordered the brigade to follow and charge the
works in our front."

1 2th Iowa Infantry.

"About 3 p. m. I was ordered to throw up an earthwork in my
front, and procured tools and had my work half completed when
at about 4 o'clock, a charge was commenced by the right of our
division. I at once ordered my men to cease work and prepare
for a charge, and a moment afterwards, being told that we were
ordered to advanced, I gave the command forward."

35th Iowa Infantry.

"About 4 o clock p. m. the line moved forward."
yth Minnesota Infantry.

"Towards the close of the day a charge was made upon the
enemy's works," * * * "My regiment moved forward with the
line."

33rd Missouri Volunteers.

"We remaind in this position until about 3.30 p. m., when
we received orders to intrench for the night. While this order
was being executed there was a general movement of the linens to
our right, and a charge was made upon the rebel works."

General Garrard, Commanding 2nd Division. "Noticing about
4 p. m., a heavy musketry fire on the right of the corps, and
believing that the critical point in the battle had arrived, I gave
the order for the whole division to charge. This order was most
promptly obeyed."

First Brigade, 2nd Division.

"About 4 p. m., a charge was ordered."

Second Brigade, 2nd Division.

"A few minutes before 4 p. m., everything being in readi-
ness, General Garrard' s order was received to charge the enemy's
works."

58th Illinois Infantry'.

"A fierce cannonading took place all along the line, during
which the men lay close, till 3.15 p. m., when the First Division
of our Corps having carried by assault the fortified hill which
covered the enemy's left flank, the order to charge was passed
along the line."

32nd Iowa Infantry.

"At 3.30 p. m. the right of the First Division carried the
left of the enemy's works; we then moved forward at a double-
quick over an open field, * * * and in a few minutes gained the
intrenchments.''

Third Brigade, 2nd Division.

< * * «At about 3.30 p. m. that portion of the command" (on
the right) "commenced its final advance upon the enemy's works.
It required but a moment to put my brigade in motion, and the
whole command, with a shout peculiar to this corps, advanced."

(The Third Division took no part as a whole)

The Nashville Report Explained. — Nashville was an all important
if not a decisive battle. Thomas defeated, Sherman's march to
the sea was neutralized and Hood free to operate in any one of
several effectual ways. The fighting on the first day had been
indecisive, so that the result of both days battle turned on this
charge of the late afternoon of the second. No battle of the
civil war has given cause for fewer differences of opinion or for
less controversy as to facts than this; yet the historian framing

—9—

is account of its climax and who turns with confidence to the
official reports is perplexed with what he finds. The commander-
in-chief writes as if he might be telling of something which he
had not seen and which had been told to him. One of his corps
commanders, Smith, makes it plain that neither he nor any of
his colleagues ordered or authorized the charge. Of Smith's
two division commanders one, McArthur, in the absence of
orders to the contrary directed one of his three Brigades to
advance; while at almost the same moment the other Division
Commander, Garrard, without instructions of any kind ordered
his whole division to charge. From the reports of brigade
and regimental commanders it is clear that many of them took
their cue from the movement of troops on either flank; two regi-
ments suspending on this account important work which they
had been ordered to carry out.

Here, then, is a good instance of the difficulty of forming cor-
rect military opinion from official reports. In case of defeat
explanations may well differ: but this was a battle fought with
great deliberation and which virtually wiped out the enemy's
army. Sherman had reached the sea; the situation was rose
colored for the North and commanders of all grades had undis-
tracted leisure in which to review calmly the parts which they
had taken and to make candid report.

Parts of the Nashville reports quoted are in fair accord; the
student will simply be puzzled to interpret them taken all
together. Most of all will he be disconcerted if he seek for deep-
laid plan or common design. Other portions of the reports
which need not be quoted show discrepancies which are curious
and for which it is not easy to account. Thus the capture of a
Confederate general officer is claimed in several of them, — two
regimental commanders giving details and each adding the name
and company of the private soldier of his regiment who made
the capture. One of them adds: "I make this explanation as I
am informed nearly every regiment in the command claims to
have captured him." Finally, correspondent and story writer
who, as has been said, are both potent in shaping popular judge-
ment will find accounts of the capture of guns and flags, of
individual gallantry and medals of honor which, with the help of
some lawful imagination, will serve them well.

The voluminous reports and correspondence of the War of
Secession compared with those of earlier and even later wars are,

10 —

on the whole, very free from misleading statements and conven-
tional false coloring: and this is true of both sides. There are,
of course, many statements which clash and many more which
should be read and construed with some discretion and allowances.
The charge at Nashville, already cited, is a case in point. Gen-
eral Thomas had led his inadequate force back from Georgia
with infinite skill, forethought and patience. At Nashville he
took up a defensive position, received reinforcements, perfected
his equipment and placed his troops in order of battle seemingly
untroubled by popular clamor and by the pressing demands of
his superiors for an immediate offensive advance. During both
days battle he rode quietly from point to point, watchful and
absorbed, giving few orders, making few changes, content to let
well enough alone. He had thought and acted with all his might
to bring up his troops to the right place at the right moment; he
knew his troops and he knew his corps commanders; he resisted
frequent appeals from subordinates for reinforcements or for
.permission to take this or that initiative. At 3 o'clock on the
second day Smith's line was 500 or 600 yards from the enemy,
Thomas and Smith not a hundred yards in rear of it, — giving no
orders, watching intently the skirmishers almost under the
enemy's works. Both knew from three years schooling in war
that in a little while from somewhere along the line would come
the impulse which would launch it forward.

It is quite plain from the reports how this impulse came in due
time from one of the two divisions commanders who led the way,
orders or no orders. But General Garrard, the other division
commander, reports that he ordered a charge at the same moment,
inferentially, on his own account and unaware of Me Arthur's
movement, — an order which at least one of his brigade com-
manders does not mention. Here then is a coincidence so
uncommon that, unexplained, the situation is improbable. As a
matter of fact, however, Garrard' s report is strictly true, at least
from his own standpoint, He knew instinctively, as even the
soldiers in the ranks knew, that the critical moment had come
and he ordered the charge. Two brigade commanders near him
received the order in person and started toward their commands.
The order for the 3rd and nearest brigade was carried at a gallop
by an Aide who reached the line only to find it already breaking
f/om cover and beginning the charge.

Accounts of early wars not trustworthy. — These examples have
been drawn from recent wars not because recent wars offer any
which are striking, for they do not; but because it is possible to

I I

examine them critically and to disprove this or that statement.
To do this with earlier wars is at first difficult and soon
becomes impossible. Indeed military history up to the
beginning of this century had not passed very far beyond
romance, and ere long an era is reached where it is little else
than a budget of tales and stories brought from the battle
field and spread abroad by word of mouth. That latter-day
reports of the doings of highly trained and highly organized
armies should be at all misleading is, however, strange enough
and adds by implication to the distrust with which older records
must be met.

Late military literature, — The latest reports if read and construed
with some discretion and allowance are, in the main, frank and
authentic and the latest military literature published largely in
professional journals has, in consequence, done much to eradicate
vicious dogmas and creeds in spite of stubborn traditions. Even
the war correspondent of to-day is often a writer whose exact
and spirited narrative and the charm of whose style bring him a
multitude of readers.

The other extreme of opinion due to misconception. — The other
extreme view of the eminence of military talent depreciates it,
as has been pointed out, and is not confined to the unthinking or
the unlearned: indeed the note of depreciation has been sounded
very clearly by a brilliant writer whose books are read everywhere.
"An unlearned person," he says, "might be inclined to suspect
that the military art is no very profound mystery; that its prin-
ciples are the principles of plain good sense; and that a quick
eye, a cool head, and a stout heart will do more to make a
general than all the diagrams of Jomini."

Why war is difficult. — Sever the irony and depreciation from this
passage and it is quite true; for "in war everything is very simple
but it is the simple things which are difficult. ' ' Macaulay 's < 'quick
eye, cool head, stout heart and plain good sense," is just a combi-
nation which is exceedingly rare. Their possession means the
ability to exercise common sense amid constantly recurring emer-
gencies, complications and chances, an ability which is the rarest
of all . "In war difficulties accumulate and produce a f riaion which
no man can imagine who has not seen war. Through the influence
of a thousand petty circumstances, which cannot properly be
described, things disappoint us and we fall short of the mark.
// is because the circumstances cannot be described that there is so great a
difference between real war and war on paper. The military machine,
the army and all belonging to it is, in fact, simple and appears

12

on this account easy to manage. But it is composed entirely of
individuals; no part of it is in one piece: and each individual
part keeps up its own friction. This enormous friction, which is
not concentrated as in mechanics at a few points, is everywhere
brought in contact with chance and thus facts take place upon
which it was impossible to calculate. The knowledge of this friction
is a chief part of that, so often talked of, experience in war which is
required in a good general: he must be aware of it that he may
overcome it and that he may not expect a degree of precision in
results which is impossible. Besides, it can never be learnt
theoretically; and if it could, there would still be wanting that
experience of judgment which is called tact. Through this
experience and practice the idea comes to the mind of itself that
such and such expedient will or will not suit."

Chance and contingencies. — The chances and contingencies which
have been mentioned are constantly crossing the commonplace
situations of every day life; and anyone may note how some of the
simplest designs are defeated daily by this or that accident which
he could not forsee. Now in war analogous situations, differing
only immeasurably in degree, are of daily and hourly occurrence:
they represent the normal condition of affairs: and added to them
all is the great element which is usually absent in daily life, the
element of danger, — the element which requires the strong will
and that moral and physical courage which can never be wanting
in a consummate general.

Qualifications for war. — To meet these situations in the presence
of danger requires self reliance, discrimination and good judgment,
and the last must be so prompt that it may be considered an in-
stinct or an impulse if not an inspiration. Sometimes in minor
affairs, men judge correctly without being sure that they have
done so: more rarely they judge correctly and are sure of it, al-
though the evidence has been no better in one case than in the other.
••What is required of a leader is a certain unfailing power of dis-
crimination which only knowledge of men and things can give:
because a great part of the information obtained in war is contra-
didory, a still greater part is false and by far the greatest part is
doubtful. Only thus is explained how so often. men have made
their appearance in war whose pursuits had been previously of an
entirely different nature: how indeed, distinguished generals
have often not arisen from the very learned or erudite class of
officers; and how even great experience in war has often failed
to produce a leader" where the leaders temperament or where this
or that qualification was wanting.

Special training not always recognized as necessary. — Something
of confusion and a sense of depreciation concerning the
qualities necessary in a general has been also bred by the
fact that special qualities and special training were only gradually
recognized as necessary. "It is not so long since that no state
had made any provision for a complete separation of even the
military and naval services. The old leaders fought battles by
sea as well as by land. Nor did the impulse which nautical
science received at the end of the i5th century produce any ma-
terial improvement in the division of labor. At Flodden the
right wing of the victorious army was led by the Admiral of
England. At Jarnac and Moncontour the Huguenot ranks were
marshaled by the Admiral of France. Raleigh, highly cele-
brated as a naval commander, served during many years as a
soldier in France, the Netherlands and Ireland. Blake disting-
uished himself by his skillful and valiant defense of an inland
town before he humbled the pride of Holland and Spain on the
ocean, — and great fleets were intrusted to Rupert who was
renowned chiefly as a hot and daring cavalry officer."

Study and reflection. — To enumerate the physical and mental
qualities which a general should have would be misleading,
because success depends mainly on a fortunate combination
of some of them in proper proportions: but great ability
never exists without capacity for work, moral and physical
courage and vigorous health. With these there must be a
certain amount of study and experience. "If an officer has
been accustomed to deal with military problems, even on paper,
the powers of his rhind will have been strengthened in
the right direction and the process of reasoning which the
solution of difficulties involves will come easier to him than
to the man who has to depend on a rusty intelligence and the
chance of a happy inspiration." "Study will not make a dull
man brilliant nor confer resolution and rapid decision: but the
quick, the resolute, the daring, will be able the more likely to
decide and act correctly in proportion as they have studied the
art they are called upon to practice." "A certain amount of
study is absolutely necessary for any man who ever wishes to
command troops in the field; the great thing is to read a little
and think a great deal, — and think it over and over again."*

The persistent study of military history, especially that of
modern times, will lead reflection and meditation in the right

•"It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I have to do in circura
tanees unexpected 1 y other pe " le "'on: it is meditation."- !

channels if the student keep in mind that he is in search of les-
sons and not of models; and that in the conduct of war he will
require wisdom, not learning", character, not intellect, "The
theory of the art of war is valuable just in so far as it assists to
guide a man through the vast labyrinth of military experience
and to prepare his mind to be ready to a<5t for itself under the
emergencies of actual wrar, but it must renounce all pretension
to accompany him on the field of battle/'

Summary. — It cannot be repeated too often that in war every-
thing' is simple but that these simple things are difficult. It is
hard to understand why this is not generally perceived and why
it has led to any confusion of ideas, because it is the same in
daily life and intercourse between man and man. There also
the simplest things are difficult because they are innumerable
and their relations form endless combinations which cannot be
discerned. The difference is only in this, that lack of discernment
results in one case in inconvenience or unhappiness to individuals
while in war it means disaster and perhaps ruin to the community,
"It is owing to the tremendous consequences which follow in the
train of war that men have invested their leaders with a whole
equipment of science and arts, — or failing to find these have
ascribed all success to genius and talent alone and denied all use
of knowledge." As always, the truth lies between the extremes,
"A certain stock of ideas, not inborn but acquired, is indispensible:
at the same time this knowledge is of a different nature and is
differently absorbed from that in all other arts and occupations.
In these it is the result of daily and hourly continuous experi-
ence, in daily use; and results follow ea'ch other as one brick or
stone is laid by its fellow in a building. If the engineer calculates
the strength of a pier the result is no emanation from his own
mind and he operates by rules which he is not first obliged to dis-
cover.* But in war the commander must carry with him the
whole mental apparatus and his knowledge must be completely
assimilated with his mind and life," though he may not be aware
from which book or from the study of which campaign he has
acquired it.

War is a succession of emergencies and presents an uninter-
rupted series of new problems; and each class must be managed
for itself. Moreover wars are few and far between and no one is
like the other; and the commander must have his machine per-
fect working in all its parts, on demand.

*It is less difficult, in one sense, to plan a bridge than, e. g., to arrange a festivity: the suc-
cess of one can be assured, that of the other cannot.

FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF ACTION. — Though precepts and for-
mulas are of no avail in war and lead only to disaster, there are
a few great elements of action which underlie every success.
These are ist. Definiteness of purpose. 2nd. Simplicity of plan.
3rd. Unity of action and 4th. Energy of execution.

1. A purpose which is not well defined leads to hesitation,
vacillation, councils of war and defeat : it is evident, also, that
advantage will not be taken of those situations and circumstances
which good fortune throws in the way of him who has a definite
end in view. Absolute inactivity is better than aimless action.

2. Whatever plan is adopted should be as simple as possible
and, while not too general, elastic enough to stand the strain of
complications and contingencies which cannot be forseen. Plans
whose success depends on combinations and cooperation are
plausible and attractive: but they are the "pontes asinorum" of
incompetency: cooperation do$6 not cooperate and combinations
do not work out if any one term fails.

3. Unity of action, — community of purpose, is already attained
to some extent if the troops which compose armies are homoge-
neous, — i. e. of the same nationality and class actuated by the
same motives and sympathies. This great advantage the Con-
federates had over the Federals: and every Confederate comman-
der knew to what extent he could call on troops which reported
to him from time to time from widely separated regions without
first testing and observing them in action. A general should also
communicate if not disclose the general features of his plans, with
some discretion, at first to subordinate commanders and finally
to as many as possible, even to the rank and file. That this, as
a rule, is not done infers a lack of cleverly conceived projects and
intentions or their absence altogether. In the War of Secession
the objea of a campaign, the troops to be met, the objeaive of
a march or movement, were unknown from day to day and a
thousand camp rumors, often exaggerated and alarming were
constantly afloat. "The plan, at the moment of execution should
be known to as many as possible of those who have to carry it
out. Far too often these things are wrapped in mysterious silence.
At the moment of aftion if possible even the soldiers should
know the plan; each then, even the private, helps intelligently.'
"It is needless to say that a temporary amount of reticence is
requisite on the part of a general, but it is a mistake to carry
this too far. Men will always work better when the reason of the
exertion demanded of them is made apparent."

4. A plan, once adopted, must be executed with untiring

energy and persistency. This is obvious and, it may appear,
comparatively simple; but it is not. In war there is endless fric-
tion and a multitude of obstacles complicate and embarras mat-
ters and in the aggregate tend to tire men out. Ordinary hard-
ships repeated day after day, fatigue, lack of sleep, hunger and
thirst, uncleanliness, lower the vital forces and affe6t the energies
to an extent which no one can conceive without the experience.
The strength and buoyancy of mind required to rise superior to
these constitute fortitude;* and without fortitude all other
soldierly qualities count for little.

DEFINITIONS DEDUCED FROM < 'OBSTACLES." — Nearly all writers
on war have endeavored to define strategy and one definition may
well be as true as any other. But while definitions are little else
than "the mind playing with words," they are necessary in dis-
cussion, however feeble and inadequate they may be. Fair,
working definitions may be obtained, deductively, as follows:

The art of war is the art of overthrowing an enemy by an
armed force.

The means and methods of doing this are called the "opera-
tions of war" and the territory in which they are employed is
called the "theatre of operations.'

The operations of war consist in overcoming the natural and
artificial obstacles which may be met.

Natural obstacles are the climate and topographical features of
the country: artificial obstacles are temporary and permanent
fortifications, the troops of the enemy and, negatively, the neces-
sity for supplying troops and providing for their security and
repose.

Tactics may therefore be defined as the art of overcoming
obstacles in the theatre of operations.

Strategy may be defined as the art of selecting and occupying that theatre
of operations which will admit of the most favorable employ incut of tac-
tics.

Strategy in modern war intimately connected with logistics. — This
conception of strategy is especially applicable to modern war: it
is, perhaps, not applicable at all to conditions of warfare which
no longer exist. "The character of military operations is mainly
determined by the nature of the armies engaged in them," by
their military instruction, the weapons, and most of all by the
necessity of supplying them and the means employed to do so.
To say, therefore, that "the great principles of strategy have
remained unchanged" is a vague generality which means very

*"Not dangers, but discomforts prove a man."

—17—

i-tle; and to enunciate them is to set forth a few of the most
commonplace maxims. The first question which now, as always,
attracts the attention of a commander about to lead his army to
war is the choice of a line of operations on which it will act, but
to-day the considerations which determine his choice are resticted
by the necessity he is under of providing- at all times for the sup-
ply of food, forage and ammunition while at the same time
directing it against the point which he is to strike.

"The possibilities and limitations in raising, feeding, supply-
ing, arming, transporting and caring for armies, all of which are
branches of logistics are, therefore, intimately related to strategy,
ist. by the time which is required to organize the army for action
including its recruiting training and the preparation of its various
supplies: 2nd, by the time which is required to move it to its
sphere of . action and to furnish it with all necessary supplies dur-
ing its campaign: 3rd, in so disposing the depots, means of trans-
portation, communications, &c., that the movements of the army
may be restricted as little as possible by the necessity of covering
th m from the attack of the enemy: 4th, in collecting the sup-
plies of the country and storing them in depots, from which they
may be dispatched to the bases of operations of the various
armies in time to be available for their use."

In modern war "strategical combinations will generally depend
for their successful execution upon questions of time. The army
which can mobilize, concentrate and strike before the other is
ready, can, usually, by keeping up the initiative, push its
strategical combinations to a successful issue, one after the other,"
and the operations of mobilization and concentration belong
clearly to logistics.

Strategem, surprise, concealment, subtlety, craftiness are not
fundamental and essential elements of strategy and plans which
look to these rather than to prudence and sagacity for success,
should fail.

In modern war the opening of the campaign follows the
declaration so closely that there is no time, as there was former-
ly, to mature plans: they must be established in peace.

They will consist of "The Plan of War" and "The Project of
Operations." The "Plan of War" is dependent, mainly, on the
political situation, determines the general conditions which are
to govern the war and lies within the province of the government.

The "Project of Operations" is dependent on the plan of war.

determines the method of carrying it out and lies within the
province of the general in chief.

The general in chief will require information from the govern-
ment concerning the plan of war as follows:

Policy of the government in undertaking war.

The end to be attained.

The ways and means.

This will include information concerning possible friendly or
hostile allies, whether the war is to obtain indemnity, to avenge
national insult, rectify frontier lines, resist aggressions, &c. : the
forces and money available: whether attitude is offensive or
defensive: which theatre of operations is preferred from political
considerations, &c.*

The project of operations, based on this information, will
determine:

The theatre of operations.

Choice of a zone of concentration.

The first objectives.

The line of operation.

These will result not only from the plan of war, but also from
a consideration of the probable projects of the enemy, the forces
which he can place in motion and the lines of operation he is
likely to adopt.

It should lead up to the first battle.

The notes which follow will consider these subjects in the order
given. They should cover, however briefly, the whole domain of
strategy and logistics.

*"In my judgment the only duty which such a council" (the Aulic council in Vienna) "can
safely undertake is that of advising as to the adoption of a general plan of operations. Of
course, I do not mean by this a plan which is to embrace the whole course of a campaign,
tie down the generals to that course, and so inevitably lead to their being beaten. 1 mean
a plan which shall determine the objects of a campaign ; decide whether offensive or defen-
sive operations shall be undertaken, and fix the amount of material means which may be
relied upon in the first instance for the opening of the enterprise, and then for the possible
r serves in case of . nvasion." — Jomini.

II.

THE PLAN OF WAR. — While the plan* of war 'is dependent on
the political situation, determines the general conditions which
are to govern and lies within the province of the civil govern-
ment, its provisions will often hamper the general in chief and it
is then clearly his duty to .endeavor to modify them. To this
extent the plan will lie within his province also.

Extreme instances when projects of .operation were greatly
modified or neutralized under plans imposed by political consid-
erations may be easily found in the War of Secession. Some of
these were due, no doubt, to causes inherent in and inseparable
from the form of government, but conditions not altogether dis-
similar existed in the Austrian war of 1866, although both
belligerents were monarchies supporting large standing armies.
In the Franco-German war of 1870, political considerations where
they existed at all were thrust into the back ground, at least on
the part of the victors; and this contributed so manifestly to vic-
tory that in future wars, it seems probable, leaders will be allowed
more and more to perfect and carry out their projects unhindered.
The reverse will be, as it has always been, a short sighted policy,
for success in the field once assured, the civil government will be
all-powerful to take what measures it will.f

The case of the United States in 1861 is manifestly extreme
because the political situation was distinctly abnormal and the
conditions unfamiliar and unmanagable. When, later, these
became stable and fixed, political and military considerations
merged and the condu6l of affairs was handed over, not wholly
without misgiving, to a single, unhampered leader.

German statesmen, on the contrary, had looked forward for a
long time to a war with France, shaping the policy of the govern-
ment and organizing the nation for offence and defence with this
erd in view. After many years of general compulsory scr
nearly everyone was a soldier and all of her rulers held high
rank in the army or navy: in short, political and dynastic scruples
were ignored or compounded, with a steadfast purpose and a
forethought which it would be hard to match.

*The expression "Plan of War" is in a measure confusing but has been retained for want
of a better.

t"If there be any sure lession taught by the military experience of nations, it is that when
extrinsic influences, whether from councils, or war offices intrude into the direction of
military affairs, all hope of success is gone." — Swinton.

Conditions, political or other, favorable to a nation about to
engage in war "cannot be created by the genius of a general in
chief, but rather by the prudence of governments and by the
sacrifices that a people is willing to make. Those peoples who
recognize the importance of these advantages, will be ever ready
to submit to all 'the expenses which military operations entail.
Those who, not understanding it or distracted by preoccupations
of another kind, neglect them during peace, may be certain be-
forehand of condeming their armies to the defensive and their
country to invasion."* They will turn, nevertheless, when the
crisis has come to whatever armed forces there are, for deliver-
ance and there is no question that, as a soldier, the general-in-
chief must accept the charge, no matter how inadequate the
moans which are provided nor how small allowance^ is made for
the gravity and difficulty of his task. He will have one advant-
age and only one; he will be in position to demand a free footing
as the price of his acceptance, and, this granted, he has obtained
a concession of great import. On the other hand if the means
furnished him are inadequate and the civil government insists
nevertheless on moulding his projects to fit political exigencies,
it will be the duty of the general in chief to point out where and
how these changes are vicious and, failing to convince, he may
refuse the charge with propriety both as soldier and patriot.
If he do not he may add another to the list of those who have
marched against their better judgment to disaster.

But in any case something of compromise on both sides will
be expedient. War is a continuation of state policy and soldiers
are the servants of the state. It is human nature when civil
ministers and military leaders are limited, more or less, each by
their own horizon; it is the duty of the latter to make converts of
the former if they can, urging persistently that the shortest and
surest road to all goals lies through the field of battle.

Allies. — The question of possible friendly or hostile allies has
often complicated if not dictated the conditions which govern a
plan of war. The coalitions against France begat by the revolu-
tion constrained Napoleon to a fierce offensive from the start, if
only that his enemies might not join forces: afterwards, when
France had allies of her own his plans were time and again dis-
turbed by solicitude for them. But Napoleon was, in effect, a
military dictator and he had, therefore, the advantage that his
designs were never confused by divided responsibility and con-
fin ting opinions.

*Deri\'cagaix.

21

England and France were possible and, at one time, probable
allies of the Confederates. The United States government was
perplexed and harrassed with questions arising from this until
late in the war. Their solution reacted often enough on the con-
duct of active operations, especially on the high seas and in the
blockade of the southern coast; not infrequently, it is said,
though of course more obscurely, on land.

The prelude to the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 seemed at one
time a tangle of calculations referable to the question of allies.
The German Confederation, a legacy of the Napoleonic wars,
was a league of sovereign states so loosely united that the
impending struggle was almost free from the sinister ear-marks
of civil war. Still, to the Emperor and King and to the German
people it appeared fratricidal and palpably unwise, and both
monarchs dreaded a rupture, all the more that public opinion
was distinctly hostile. The question of allies was sharply defined
at once when Prussia withdrew from the Confederation, because
those states which remained became, ipso facto, arrayed against
her. Of these the kingdom of Bavaria furnished an army corps
to the federal army, Wurtemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt,
together, another, and all of these South-German states were,
more or less, in religious, dynastic and political sympathy with
Austria. Several states in the north, notably Hanover, were
wedged in between the eastern and western provinces of Prussia
— most awkwardly for that kingdom, — and Hanover had some
admirably trained forces. Saxony, on the south, sided openly
with Austria. Together these states could place at least 150,000
soldiers in the field. Hanover endeavored to remain neutral
knowing well that on account of geographical position military
reasons, if no others, would lead to the occupation of her
territory.

Moreover, the course which some of these states would finally
take was by no means certain because their rulers strove primarily
to preserve a subsequent independence which could be secured
only by siding with the victors; while the sympathies of the peo-
ple were pretty evenly divided. This led to a vacillating course
of action not without effect, afterwards, on military operations:
and was a factor which the foresight of Bismarck and of his mili-
•tary coadjutor took into account in converting the king who,
personally, was very unwilling to take the offensive.

Of the greatest importance, however, to both powers was the
offensive and defensive alliance tfhich gave Prussia the aid of the
irivr of Italy, a PJ.VJI* ea<?3r to bj rid of A i

22

dominion and to complete the unfinished war of 1859. Finally,
the armed intervention of France was a contingency which must
be provided for as it might incline to the side of one belligerent
or the other.

Turning to the Franco-German war there is now no doubt tha"
the project of the French emperor was boldly offensive and
founded, primarly, on the faith that Austria and perhaps Italy
would join hands with him. Then, too, he calculated that the
forces of the South -German states if not actively hostile to,
would be luke-warm adherents of Prussia, and that, in any event,
they would remain in and guard their respective territories.*

It is clear from the foregoing examples how the existence or
absence of allies exerts a powerful influence and it should be
clear also that this influence predominates in fixing on a belli-
gerent an offensive or defensive attitude.

Wars to obtain an indemnity or to rectify frontier Hues offer, as such,
few considerations of special value. The former if between
maritime powers, will often be confined, mainly, to naval opera-
tions and both are essentially offensive. The most natural step
would be to occupy 'territory; in one case, especially, the terri-
tory in dispute; the object being to hold it for indemnity or to
secure its cession.

Sometimes, at a critical phase of strained political relations,
some overt act on one side will arouse great popular passion on
the other. Mediation will then be inadmissible and it will be
idle to argue in the face of just resentment that retaliation is not
a lofty code, and unsafe to insinuate that national honor is a
quixotic figment. It may be pointed out, however, that in emer-
gencies like this the grievance is clearly on one side only, and
that a people inclined to be sensitive" should be prepared to chas-
tise a powerful adversary and, if necessary, to seek him beyond
the seas under conditions which he himself will be largely able to
impose.

Available forces. — At first sight it appears easy to make a cor-
rect estimate of the .armed strength available for war. It is not;
and the general must revise the lists which are given him, with
great care, if only, for one reason, because civil ministers and
the people are always over-sanguine as to numbers and efficiency,
"Available" forces are those only which are well drilled and dis-
ciplined and which can be assembled at a particular place in a
specified time, properly armed, equipped and supplied. Poor

'Attention may be called here to th3 fact, which will be discussed further on, that one of
the first results of German strategy was to practically denude these states of troops and to-
lay open their frontier towards Fr: n :e.

— 23—

troops cannot be made available, and to place them guarding
communications or in reserve or sandwiched in with good ones,
are lame and perilous makeshifts with which no wise leader will
delude himself. The idea of making- some use of them is allur-
ing-, but they must be unflinchingly discarded as a worthless en-
cumbrance.

Sometimes generals have been forced to employ untrained or
indifferent troops owing to methods against which they protested
in vain. During the American civil war Northern generals had
often, if not regularly, to accept some troops which formed only
weak links in the strength of their lines. A demoralizing sys-
tem of recruitment, adopted and persistently adhered to for poli-
tical reasons only, allowed ''veteran regiments to dwindle away,
while new ones were raised in which all from the colonel down,
had to learn their duties together. As a result, the old organiza-
tions were often ineffective for want of numerical strength and
the new ones inefficient for want of military training." — In one
instance a general in command was reinforced by a considerable
body of troops so undisciplined and riotous, that he was obliged
to employ his seasoned regiments to disarm and guard them.
Instances were too common to cause remark where wholly inex-
perienced men were appointed to high rank and command from
civil life; and remonstrances were met in at least one flagrant
case with the reply that it would be useless to discuss the matter
as the appointment had been made to conciliate certain interests
and would in no event be changed.

But the number even of those troops which are known to be
efficient must be counted with caution. Only those are available
for a leader who can help carry out his plans. The Austrian
infantry is a gallant force, aSmirably trained and equipped, but
its quality as an instrument of war has been questioned.* Its
inferiority was due, no doubt, to the variety of races in the ranks,
Czechs, Hungarians, Poles, Croats, Italians &c., who, as a rule,
could have no heart in any common cause. Large numbers of
thcs3 surrendered, armed and unwounded, to the Prussians at
Sadowa, and this must have convinced the Austrian commander
that he should not have counted on their availability.

In 1870 the French War Department could show a force on
paper of a million men, but of these nearly 500,000. the recently
organized Gardes Mobiles, had to be left out of account. A con-
siderable part — no one seems to have known how considerable, —
were the "reserve" troops, and opinions differ as to how many of

*Napoleon spoke of it, somewhat uncivilly, as "la mauvaise infanterie Autrichienne"

—24—

these wore well trained. After making" deductions for the garri-
sons in Algiers and elsewhere and for an indefinite aggregate of
individual soldiers who at the last moment do not respond to the
call to arms, the effective force seemed, early in July, to be about
340.000, and Napoleon III calculated that about 250,000, to be fol-
lowed by an immediate reserve, would be available for a prompt,
offensive advance. When, however, in the last days of July, he
arrived in Metz, he found less than 200,000 men assembled along"
the frontier, insufficiently equipped, only partially organized,
and wanting" the commonest necessities, while the railroads were
choked for miles with supplies which could not be distributed.

From the beginning" of a campaign other causes are at work
which reduce the numbers available for battle, apart from the
killed and wounded. The sick, the men on detached service and
in the administrative departments — the shirks, stragglers &c.,
cruelly deplete the ranks. In 1861 McClellan had an army of
about 150,000; of these about 8,000 were absent, 10,000 sick and
20,000 011 extra duty; and this showing is favorable because no
active campaign was then in progress. Later in the war the per-
centage of men detailed in the supply departments was excessive.
"As soon as our regiments arrived at their posts, details began
to be made for all the uses of administration, — in the trains,
hospitals, headquarters, engineers, telegraph corps, post office,
ordnance, clerks, mechanics &c., the greatest of all enemies
being the quartermaster's department. The officers at the heads
of these departments would by some means learn the names of
the best men and these would be detailed, sometimes reducing
regiments of 1,000 to 3 or 400, with a full complement of officers,
the detailed majority representing the best men who gave tone to
all the rest."* In the army of the Cumberland about 22,000
men, or about 17 per-cent were on extra duty or detached service
and were sorely missed at Chickamauga. These details wrere, it
is true, altogether extravagant and, in number, far beyond
what would have been required with specially recruited and in-
structed non-combatants such as exist in modern European
armies. "The loss in strength owing to disease is scarcely credi-
ble." * "It is something horrible to see day after day whole
railway trains full of sick being transported to the rear, reserves
only slowly coming in, and no remedy available for putting an
end to this continuous process of destruction. The conditions of
health obtaining in the German army in France were quite favor-
able; no dangerous pestilence broke out; and yet during the

*Hazen.

cj irse of the war 400,000 sick, besides the 100,000 wounded,
were obliged to have recourse to the hospitals. The average-
duration of their absence was about 20 days: the total result, in
respect to martial achievements, is accordingly equivalent to the
absence of twelve army corps for three weeks.* Including losses
in battle "a battalion which at the commencement of the cam-
paign, numbers 1,000 rifles, sinks at the close to 300. The army
corps, in respect of the number of their combatants, become
weak divisions, the divisions weak brigades. And yet a definite
plan and definite demands upon them are inseparable from their
names."

With regular troops, straggling on the march will be usually
checked by the company officers, but in a large army of volun-
teers there will be here and there regiments which will furnish
their full quota of stragglers; and stringent orders will be neces-
sary, together with a provost guard, to enforce them. For an
army corps a well disciplined battalion or a regiment reduced in
numbers should be detailed for this purpose, with a few cavalry
to pursue distant men. One or two medical officers attached to
the guard will be very useful in detecting malingerers among
those numerous stragglers who drift towards the ambulances or
hang about the train, f

Skulking in battle is not peculiar to volunteer troops only: in
any case it is hard to control because there are many opportun-
ities in action to withdraw from the fight on one pretext or
another. With the so-called dispersed or extended order of fight-
ing there is no need for any one to go forward who does not
relish his job. The Germans, whose fine discipline everyone
concedes, have been keen to ferret out, and frank in discussing,
their own short comings, and one of them has described what he
saw, bearing on this, in battle in 1870 — 71. "The field was
literally strewed with men who had left the ranks and were doing
nothing. Whole battalions could have been formed from them.
From where we stood we could count hundreds. Some were
lying down, their rifles pointing to the front, as if they were still
in the firing line, and" were expecting the enemy to attack them

*von der Goltz.

tDuring the War of Secession the long and forced matches in the interior of the Gulf
States developed a class of foragers who deteriorated into^mauraders of the worst sort.
They were known as "bummers," and it has been customaW to refer to them indulgently
if not jocosely, and even to ascribe to them some utility in the way of scouts and flankers.
Nothing could be more uncandid and no inference more vicious. Their presence with or
near the column was unconditionally demoralizing an*, without a single compensating fea-
ture. They were, often enough, villanous ruffians whose track was marked by infamous
crimes: and they easily avoided retribution, in part because the prospect of a speedy end
to the war seemed to render severe measures of discipline generally undesirable. Had the
war lasted longer it would have become necessary to stamp them out like fire.

— 2b— •

at any moment. These had evidently remained behind lying'
down when the more courageous 'had advanced. Others had
squatted like hares in the furrows. Wherever a bush or ditch
ga\ e shelter, there were men to be seen, who in some cases had
made themselves very comfortable." * * * "During our ad-
vance, before we came under any really serious fire', and while
only the whistle of an occasional stray bullet could be heard, we
saw six men, one behind the other in a long cue, cowering at the
back of a tree. Afterwards I saw this sight so often that I be-
came accustomed to it. Who did not ? At the time it was new
tome. In this instance the sixth was a sergeant." * *' * "This
epidemic of withdrawing from battle begins with the game and
spreading with pestilential rapidity rages over the battlefield like
a fever."*

The offensive and defensive. — Whether the attitude of the power
about to engage in war shall be offensive or defensive is deter-
mined by the plan of war and, therefore, by considerations which
either lie beyond the province of the soldier or which he cannot
alter. In the first case these considerations will be purely politi-
cal and questions arising from them must be decided, rightly or
wrongly, by statesmen. f In the second case the relative situa-
tion and conformation of frontiers and the relative state of
preparation for war will or will not preclude the offensive. These
are clearly conditions which neither the soldier nor anyone can
then control.

It is absurd to suppose that a people geographically well
placed, with ample strength and means arid with a highly organ-
ized army, will be content to forego these advantages by a policy
of inaction. When both belligerents are equal in these respects
or the inequality is not glaring, both will assume the offensive. In
other words, political considerations, unfavorable geographical
conditions, and weakness, may impose the defensive; but it is
illogical to hold that this attitude will ever be taken from choice.
Aggrcsive action is the fundamental attribute of war.

Xow it has happened very often that a nation has been con-
strained to await attack from one or more of these causes and to
them may be added others, especially in earlier times, where pne
power has been "caught napping," so to speak, and overrun by
another. In modern war the difference of a few days or even of

"There was little skulking in battle during the War of Secession, if the writer may

generalize from his own observation. This was, of course, limited, but it extended to

- trotn all sections and in several armies. Situations like those described would have

been inconceivable. This may have been due, in part, to tactics which kept everv soldier

from first to last under the eye of at least one officer.

+ Haply by a great war minister, but they are rare: Louvois, Pitt, Carnot, Stein, Stanton,
Bismarck. History has but a short list of them.

— 27 —

a few hours in preparation will force the defensive on an unready
antagonist, who will then appear to take it from choice. Indeed
he may be willing, for it will be easy, to deceive himself in this
respect. With no other foundation, and also because belligerents
are never so evenly matched in skill or resources that one or the
other is not soon obliged to subordinate his plans to those of his
adversary, there came a conception of war which divides it,
broadly, into offensive and defensive war, into two kinds of war,
as it were, different in nature and methods. This difference has
teen discussed in many solemn chapters which, he will be relieved
to know, the student need not read. It will be instructive, never-
theless, to look at the subject from the text -writer's standpoint, to
understand why they have devised two -forms of war each with its
own demands. In doing so it is convenient to imagine relative
advantages which each form may have.

Historical offensive &c. — Some of the fairest writers have con-
. eluded that there is an "historical" offensive and defensive which
precedes the strategical. In accord with this, they say, Turkey
sdopted in 1877 a defensive attitude from the first "because she
had entered upon a stage of historical development in which the
defensive was alone possible, whilst Russia, driven violently for-
ward by the idea of Panslavism, was naturally forced to attack."
From this is concluded that "even before the war, the historical
s'andpoint dictates to the belligerent the manner in which he
must wage the war." Surely, this is only a learned way of say-
ing that a nation, for reasons which are or are not historical, may
be in a positon where it is her interest to let well enough alone:
but it is not clear why, if attacked, she should therefore confine
herself simply to resistance. In 1877 Turkey had forseen the
war which then broke out and was either prepared for it or was
not. If prepared, there seems to be no reason why active offen-
sive operations would not have been as gainful for her as for
Russia; if not prepared, any other reason given for her defensive
attitude is far-fetched.

In 1 86 1 the attitude of the Southern States, historically, was
certainly defensive. They asked for nothing more than to be
let alone; to be allowed to go their own way unhindered. In the
light of the four years of war which followed it is doubtful
whether under any circumstances they would have gained in-
dependence; but they threw away their best chances of success,
singularly enough, by first beginning the war and then by allow-
ing the North to organize and perfect her armed forces at Jeis-
ure. By seizing on military posts and dock -yards and, finally,

— 28—

by tiring- on Fort Sumter the South exasperated and roused the
North, alienated the strong public opinion in her favor which
existed in that section and put herself in the wrong. There was
a chance, and not a bad chance, that the slave states would not
be interferred with in establishing a new nation, — in any event
there could be no harm in inaction for it would give them addi-
tional time to prepare for war. The war fairly begun and after-
wards at intervals during its progress a vigorous offensive was
strongly urged on the Confederate government by some of its
best men. To many of them this course seemed obvious at first
only: a few continued in the belief, at any time throughout the
war, that the South could win only by persistent attack. Im-
mediately after the first Federal defeat at Bull Run they con-
tended that the victory should result in the dispersion of all the
enemy's forces south of Baltimore, the capture of Washington,
and the occupation of Maryland, with the accession of that state
to the Southern cause: and they pointed out with much force that
from these achievements others would continue to flow, as in war
one success makes another easier. Moreover, they said, it would
be folly to allow McClellan to organize and discipline at leisure
the powerful army that in the end wore out the South. All this
was to be done after freely giving up all other points, concentrat-
ing in Virginia, and thus obtaining the full benefit of interior
lines. General Beauregard states the case forcibly as follows
"Apart from an active material ally, a country in fatal war must
depend upon the vigor of its warfare; the more inferior the coun-
try, the bolder and more enterprising the use of the • resources,
especially if its frontiers are convenient to the enemy. I was
convinced that our success lay in a short, quick war of decisive
blows, before the Federals, with their vast resources, could build
up a great military power; to which end a concerted use of our
forces, immediate and sustained, was necessary, so that, weaker
though we were at all separate points, we might nevertheless
strike with superior strength at some chosen decisive point, and
after victory there reach for victory now made easier elsewhere,
and thus sum up success. Instead of this, which in war we call
concentration, our actual policy was diffusion, an inferior Con-
federate force at each separate point defensively confronting a
superior Federal force; our power daily shrinking, that of the
enemy increasing." * * * " About three months after the
battle of Manasses I proposed that the army should be raised to
an effective of 60,000 men, by drawing 20,000 for the immediate
enterprise from several points along the seaboard, not even then

» —29—

threatened, and from our advanced position be swiftly thrown
across the Potomac at a point which I had carefully surveyed for
that purpose and move upon the rear of Washington, thus forc-
ing" McClellan to a decisive engagement before his organization
was completed, and while our own army had the advantage of
discipline and prestige. This plan, approved by General Gus-
tavus W. Smith as well as by General Johnston, was submitted to
Mr. Davis, but rejected because he would not venture to strip
those points of the troops we required. Even if those points had
been captured, though none were even then threatened, they
must have reverted as a direct consequence to so decided a suc-
cess. I was willing, then, should it come to that, to exchange
even Richmond temporarily for Washington. Yet it was precise-
ly from similar combinations and elements that the army was
made up, to enable it the next spring, under General Lee, to
encounter McClellan at the very door of Richmond. If that
which was accepted as a last defensive resort against an over-
whelming aggressive army had been used in an enterprising
offensive agajnst that same army while yet in the raw, the same
venture had been made at less general risk, less cost of valuable
lives, and with greater certain results. The Federal army would
have had no chance meanwhile to become tempered to that mag-
nificent military machine which, through all its defeats and losses,
remained sound, and was stronger, with its regular assimilated
new strength, at the end of the war than ever before; the pres-
sure would Jiave been lifted from Kentucky and Missouri and we
should have maintained an active defensive warfare, that is,
should have taken and kept the offensive against the enemy,
enforcing peace." Later in the war General Beauregard < 'urged
particularly that our warfare was sure of final defeat unless we
attempted decisive strokes that might be followed up to the end,
and that, even if earlier defeat might chance from the risk
involved in the execution of the necessary combinations, we
ought to take that risk and thereby either win or end an other-
wise useless struggle."

Strategical and tactical offensive crv.— The reader who follows ever
so many discussions of the strategical and tactical offensive and
defensive may be alternately persuaded; but in the end he will
find himself between the devil and the deep sea. A distiiu
between them is so obvious that, to begin with, no other defini-
tion is called for. To say, e. g., that "strategical defense con-
sists in repelling on a great scale; tactical, the warding off the
attack in the position we have chosen,*1 is to take the G

—30—

towards obscuring what is plain. After a first step critical inquiry
gains ground easily: in this case it seeks to establish a connection
and to show that the strategical offensive is practicable only when
combined with the tactical and that they belong inseparably
together, the same being true of both species of defensive. This
is the conviction of at least one writer of note, and it is a clean-
cut, attractive theory which seems to promise solid ground for
further progress. It is disappointing, therefore, to find that he
begs the question. "It is the tactical attack," he says, "that
first lends energy to the strategical, completes and finishes it with
results. The strategical sows the seed, the tactical reaps the har-
vest. The weakliest opponent, too, who is strategically driven
into a corner, will appeal to the fortune of arms upon the field,
before declaring himself vanquished. If the attacker were to
stop here, in order in this last crisis to enjoy the advantages of
the defence, it would be very frequently tantamount to renounc-
ing his claim to decide the struggle; for the enemy; who, up to
then has been the repelling and expectant party, will also remain
so to the last hour; and all the more readily, too, seeing that his
prospects are, as a rule, not improved by it." "It is similar with
the strategical and tactical defensive. He who has acted in his
movements on the defensive, will, in most cases, observe a repel-
ling attitude upon the battle-field. The attacker presses him;
he relinquishes advancing operations in favor of action. And
there it is exceedingly difficult for the defender to find the right
moment for shaking off the yoke imposed upon him, in order, in
turn, to play hammer, and not a^ivil. Here is seen what is im-
ported when one party has learnt to consider itself domineered
over by another. Even with superior numbers on its side, it will
often remain on the defensiue, and be glad if it can remain so to
the end with any degree of comfort." "When the original
defence is due to the constraining necessity, the army will usually
remain on the defensive. If the enemy's attack has been repulsed,
only in rare cases will all doubts have been dispelled as to whether
he will not again return with renewed strength and energy, or
whether his repulse was final and complete. Great precautions
will almost always have to be taken so as not, by a too rapid ad-
vance, to risk a success which has been already achieved. '. he
defender will be content to hold his position, so as not to lose
what is certainly his. He will readily abandon all idea of adding
to his successes, because he has, as it is, a victory in his hands.
And then it is never at the moment felt to be quite certain that
the attacker has relaxed his efforts."

As a matter of fact, no connection exists inherently between
the strategical and ta6lical offensive and defensive, and the
foregoing argument taken from a book which is often quoted
and widely read,* establishes none. Indeed others have main-
tained with greater reason that it should be profitable to combine
the offensive with the defensive by taking the initiative in move-
ment and then forcing an antagonist to become the assailant.
The student, however, may well be discouraged to read
that this combination is "very difficult to realize, and scarcely
ever to be met with in military history." Others, again, have
endeavored to show that defensive strategy with defensive tactics,
adhered to throughout, all else being equal, should succeed.

A short general discussion of the subject should rid it of am-
biguity: it is involved only for those who are captivated by a
theory and .attempt to pursue it to some end.

The two forms compared. — ist. It has been claimed for the
assailant that at the outset and for an indeterminate time after-
wards, he has the advantage because he is carrying out definite
plans. He should therefore, be able to forsee and to provide
against the steps which the enemy may take to thwart him, with
the additional chance that the enemy working in the dark, may
not take them. This should lead to a first success and that again
to others, until the defender is compelled to follow the lead of
his adversary.

2nd. The second claim for the so-called offensive is based on
considerations which are purely psychological and in the same
breath asserts that, and explain$why, all the triumphs are on its
side. The attack appeals to intelleaual and moral forces and
these are stimulated again and again to effort by the demands of
changing situations: it requires and produces energy. "A spirit
of enterprise is aroused ' and communicated to all, even to the
lowest. Subordinate commanders are on their mettle and vie
with each other in seeking opportunity for action, each in his own
sphere.

3rd. Finally, it is stated, as in a nut-shell, that the great dif-
ference between the two forms lies in the fact that the defence,
to succeed, must do so at all points; while the assailant is victori-
ous if he gain the advantage anywhere.

It is noticable that while the so called offensive claims with
confidence "all the triumphs" for its own, the reasons advanced
for results so important, are intangible and disappointing. The
advocates of the defensive on. the other hand, are liable to argue

*"The Nation in arms." von der Goltz.

—3 2—

clearly in itvS favor; and while their reasoning is to a certain
extent negative it is none the less sound, and anyone may under-
stand it. It affirms:

i st. That the defensive is first and foremost simple while the
difficulties of the assailant increase with each step forward.

2nd. The offensive claims that there are always several or
many points of irruption all of which the defence must observe
but that anyone of them is open to the full force of attack. This
is not true. The points of possible irruption are, as a rule, very
few in number; they may be and, in the case of military nations,
they are, reduced to a minimum. How many of these an enemy
may use can be predicated long' in advance and to a vigilant
defence it should be clear which of them he is about to take in
ample time to frustrate his plans. It is not the case of a river,
notoriously an ineffective barrier, because it can be crossed any-
where: it is the case of a military frontier, corresponding roughly
to natural boundary lines.

3rd. The army on the defensive is easily supplied; it is in the
midst of its magazines or can fall back to them. To feed it with
men and material is hardly a problem, and its losses from strag-
gling, desertion and sickness are comparatively very small. Sur-
rounded by a friendly people and at home, it has the incentive
of defending its own. On the other hand the invader must bring
up his supplies of all kinds along a vulnerable line which he is
obliged to guard at a great sacrifice of men, and back along this
line there is a constant stream of sick and wounded and of empty
wagons. The difficulties due to this increase enormously with
the advance until the latter reaches its utmost limits, — unless,
indeed, victory has declared decisively for the invader and he has
been able to annex and hold with a great reserve force, the coun-
try in his rear,

It is only necessary to cite some of the examples from wars,
with which the partisan of one or the other forms endeavors to
prove his case, to be convinced that there is something funda-
mentally forced and unreal in his assumptions. Any unbiased
person who reads an account of the campaign of 1866 will con-
clude that the Prussians won, not because of any "living force
which dwells in the attack," but because they were well led and
had breech-loading rifles: and that the Austrians lost not from
being on the defensive, but because they were badly led and
because they loaded from the muzzle. Indeed it is very easy to
show why Benedek should have been the viclor in spite of inferior
weapons, and then the fine, Austrian cavalry which saved

—33—

's army would, in pursuit, have debited the < 'offensive"
with at least one undoubted disaster of the first order. Again,
what can be said of arguments and views, which by any possi-
bility can lead a distinguished author to the following conclusion:
"From reverses at first, material strength may — when a proud
and strong nation is at its back — accrue to the defence. The
Northern States during the great rebellion, and France in the
second half of the last war, furnish remarkable instances."

To follow the subject further would be to thrust considerations
upon the student which, as has been claimed, he need not read. It
is treated by all writers on the lines indicated in the foregoing
summary, — by most of them with an earnestness which it does
not deserve.

Conclusions. — In the conclusions which follow, the terms ' 'offen-
sive" and "defensive" are retained because they are indigenous
to military phraseology and it is difficult to elude them.

1. When war is brewing between two powers one of them will,
as a rule, take the initiative in preparing for it. From this time
until the war is ended that power may continue to act offensively,
even under defeat; or it may at any moment await the adver-
sary's movements and act on the defensive, even in victory.
Either attitude may be imposed by the soundest resoning and be
the best which can be taken under the circumstances.

2. When two belligerents are equally well prepared, it may
still be altogether judicious for one of them to choose the defen-
sive. His chances of success will then be at least as good as
those of his adversary.

3. History shows no preponderance of advantage to either
one form or the other. If it be true that the offensive is credited
with the greater number of victories it is because it was better
prepared and better led in each case.

4. However equally well prepared both belligerents may seem
to be, one is usually assured of his own superiority in advance or
else he discovers it very soon. If it be great, and, as a rule, it is,
he will push forward with vigor and the other is doomed to
defeat.

5. In the history of wars this marked superiority of one or
the other of two apparently equal combatants is very com-
mon and very curious. The theory of an offensive and defen-
sive form of war is a handy but far-fetched explanation. It is
not due to these: it is due to superior leadership on one or the

34

other side, and to this only. Between two leaders any inequality,
however small, is for all practical purposes infinite. Whether the
inferior miss his goal by an inch or a mile, it is enough that he
misses it.

III.

PROJECTS OR OPERATION. — If strategy sele6ts and occupies the the-
atre of operations, these reciprocal functions will be directly affect-
ed by the size of armies. As armies grow larger difficulties
thicken rapidly.

For this reason war in the future must lose much of the
mobility of former campaigns. "The masses of the future will
preclude tours de force and requirements of transport and sup-
ply will compel the adoption of the simplest plans."

The principles of strategy which will underlie these plans are
simple also:

1. Operate by interior lines.

2. Operate upon the enemy's communications without expos-
ing your own.

These truisms sum up everything included by writer after writer
in "the great principles of strategy which remain unchanged.''
The first should enable a belligerent to concentrate the largest
possible force on any desirable point at the right time and should,
therefore, enable him to engage superior with inferior forces.
The second should compel an adversary to retreat, to change his
base, or to form front to a flank.

Both principles have lost much of their significance. The
modern weapon is so huge — 10 or 12 or mojpe army corps — that
it must be wielded with both hands with no thought of feint or
finesse. Where, formerly, small states and communities of
wavering allegiance interposed an indefinite frontier, political
boundary lines are now sharply defined; and behind them stretch
in all directions perfected roads and railways into rich provinces
and fields of supply. It will not be possible to operate against
these lines of communication so broadly as to break up the
organic efficiency of the hosts which they sustain, and move-
ments against them will be dictated, more and more, by tactical
considerations. Movements of this kind will be strategic in their
nature and may be vital in results; but it will be quite impossible
to forsee and provide for the situations which call for them, in
any general strategic plan.

With pencil and paper the advantages of interior lines are,
geometrically, very striking, nor have they been unreal in decid-
ing campaigns and wars. But this has always been due rather
to nicely timed and rapid, movements together with superior

-36-

preparation and fine leading. To-day the telegraph connects
armies and parts of armies with each other and all with the high-
est in command and the latter is, within wide limits, independent
of time and space. Moreover, most nations have sought and, in
a measure, obtained political boundary lines which narrow the
possibility of favorable conditions of attack and, where neces-
sary, have supplemented these by the establishment of military
frontiers. With term after term eliminated there will be few
chances for combinations and the problem confronting the leader,
from its very nakedness, will be profoundly difficult.

A new complication in war will be inseparable, it seems, in the
leading of great masses of troops. These will spread over a
front so wide that the opportunity for favorable if not decisive
tactical action will arise at this or that point when there will be
no chance to first, obtain consent, and the subordinate commander
of any considerable body of troops will not only seize it, but the
necessity for doing so will be in a measure thrust upon him. It
is doubtful whether independent action of this kind can be pre-
vented and, if it can, whether prevention will be advisable.

Whoever reads the story of the Franco-German war will be
struck by the fact that many battles were brought on by com-
paratively small bodies and that (notably at Worth) orders from
higher authority to suspend the action were met with the reply
that it was no longer possible to do so. Indeed all the battles up to
Gravelotte-St. Privat were brought on in a manner and at
times and places not contemplated by the supreme com-
mand and clearly beyond its control; yet, from the results of
these battles, the strategical features of the war developed almost
from day to day. They were not accidental collisions — as they
have been called — on the contrary, they Were in every case due
to the deliberate action of subordinate leaders followed up with
all the confidence and deliberation of design. Their action was
accepted, at all events tacitly, at the general headquarters; but
in the orders for subsequent movements which each battle called
forth there is a non-committal silence regarding it which denotes
uneasiness and concern. In the German official report the ques-
tion is handled with gloves. •

The battle of Borny is a well known example, where v. d.
(ioltz with an advance-guard brigade, bodly attacked a French
corps deployed and covering the withdrawal across the Moselle of
the French army. It is not clear that he had any well defined
strategic object whatever, since the explanation that he \\ishcd
to delay the retreat and also prevent a flank movement against

—37—

the troops to his left, has all the signs of an afterthought. It is
very clear, however, that the strategic results were exceedingly
important; for, assuming that the retreat had been delayed, the
German headquarters promptly ordered a "vigorous offensive by
the II army" towards the roads west of Metz.

The explanation of this gallant leader of gallant troops adds
nothing to the merit of his course nor would the absence of ex-
planation detract from it. "It was their high spirit, their high
training, their knowledge of war, which made the German
leaders so hard to keep within the leash when they saw the prey
before them, and realized that it was a matter of moments
whether it could be seized or not."

That in case of failure they would have been blamed is prob-
ably true but means very little. Battles and campaigns have
often been lost or won, since war began, by the bungling or
expert initiative of subordinates. There is nothing novel in the
situation. What is novel is the matter-of-course high spirit,
high training and knowledge of war which prevailed and which
led commanders, from the highest to the lowest, to perceive,
whether dimly or not, the common design and that a certa'ii
course of a6lioii would advance it. This is war — this has always
been war: the difference is only in this, that while in the past, in-
dependent initiative was possible, in the future it will be inevitable
and must be prepared for: but no preparation will avail except
constant and most industrious training.

Theatre of operations. Selection. If — again — strategy selects and
occupies the theatre of operations it is plain that a correct choice
is all important. But in modern war the scope for selection is
greatly curtailed. This is due, primarily, to the fact that the con-
solidation of nationalities, for which the peoples were struggling
more or less blindly in the i8th century, has now at the end of
the i Qth been well nigh accomplished and the power of resistance
enormously increased. As has been pointed out, frontier lines
have been rectified and military frontiers established. These are
often guarded at places favorable for ingress by vast fortified
camps; indeed a military power is not unlike a huge fortress in
which, thanks to general compulsory service, every able-bodied
man is a soldier and which an adversary may reconnoiter :'
long time without finding a suitable point for attack.

When Bonaparte attacked the Austrian's in 1796, he could
select Italy as a theatre because that country consisted of a score
or more of petty, independent states. One of these. IVIdmont,
could be isolated by the direction of his aJvancj. anil d

from the coalition: while along the northern frontier, like a great
traverse, stretched the neutral mountains of Switzerland. The
first successes were followed promptly by the establishment of a
nc\v, fortified, military base, and, later, by supreme efforts to
oppose a national frontier to Austria by organizing a great, Ital-
ian republic.

In 1799 Austria was foremost in joining the coalition, not with
the ambition of regaining her possessions in Italy but because
"the safety of the Austrian monarchy imposed on her the duty
of rescuing Germany from the danger threatened by the estab-
ment of the French at the gates of the Voralberg."

In i^ftft the plan of the campaign of Marengo was based on
the fact that Switzerland, no longer neutral, was now in posses-
sion of the French and enabled them "to take in reverse the
enemy's lines of operation in Italy."

In 1805 the Austrians violated without scruple the territory of
Bavaria, expecting thereby to force the Elector to join the coal-
ition and to carry the theatre of war to the Rhine. By doing
this they increased their distance from the Russians, and by
pushing on to Ulm enabled Napoleon to base on the situation his
plan of a campaign which ended at Austerlitz.

These are all elementary considerations — but whoever leaves
them out, attracted by more conspicuous and dramatic features
of Napoleon's campaigns, will miss the first chapter.

It is clear, then, why the scope for selection of a theatre was
formerly much wider than it is now and than it will be in the
future; at least as between nations with large standing armies.
Every first class power, excepting the United States, is armed,
while the integrity of the smaller and weaker European States is
guaranteed by international agreement or by other conditions
which are, perhaps, more effective. The integrity of Belgium
was guaranteed in 1839, Great Britain agreeing to cooperate
a gainst the nation violating her neutrality: yet the Belgian peo-
ple have been greatly concerned lest in case of war between Ger-
many and France one or the other power would, from necessity,
operate through their territory; and they have, therefore, forti-
fied, and arc prepared to hold, the line of the Maas.

The integrity of Switzerland was guaranteed in 1815. That
her territory will not be violated in war is due to a number of
reasons, not the least weighty of them being due to disadvant-
ages of such a course from a military standpoint.

The Franco-German frontier is, therefore, about 200 miles
1< ng. It has been covered on the side of France "with a net-

—39—

work, nay, a breast-plate of forts and fortified places," present-
ing but few gaps, and the presence of these easily explained by
military considerations. The French have almost solved the
problem of barring all the roads by which an enemy coming from
the east or the north-east might attempt to enter the country.

In an unarmed power like the United States it would seem
that conditions would be in sharp contrast to those which have
been developed in Europe. But however great her degree of
immunity from the danger of war may be it is not complete, and
when war comes she will be confronted by limitations more hard
and fast than military frontiers and fortresses. A nation which
is obliged at the last moment to raise, drill, equip and supply
new levies, — to obstruct channels of approach by sea, and, per-
haps, to control or suppress domestic violence at the same time,
•will not be- embarrassed by having to select a theatre of opera-
tions.

Military geography.— -In general, a good knowledge of the geogra-
phy of the country and good maps are indispensible. To be avail-
able at any time, geographical and statistical information should b 2
collected during peace by officers specially assigned to that duty,
published in comprehensive and handy form and held ready for use.
It is difficult to place limits on the amount and kinds of information
which should be gathered, for it is probably true enough that the
most common-place fact may be of possible service to the gen-
eral. In practice, however, he will be able to use very little;* but
it is all important that the information which he requires be both
complete and exact. Obscure points of geography, cavalry
or wheelmen or countrymen and spies will clear up for him. The
available maps of most civilized countries are very good, some of
them are excellent and there are innumerable volumns of statis-
tics. Maps and tables of statistical information specially com-
piled for use in the field will be immensely valuable, but the
former must be clear and free from confusing detail. Some
European maps, notably German, are remarkable examples of
cartographic art, but it is burdensome to use them: and indica-
tions are not wanting, that in the war with France some of them
were defective.

If specially prepared maps and tables are not forthcoming,
everything necessary can be usually made up by intelligent staff
officers in a comparatively short time. If a country is a terra in-
cognita the general must obtain his information as best he can

*It is difficult to read without impatience opinions like this: "Yc.ur knowledge
wholesome herb may involve the feeding of an army, and acquaintance with an obscure
point of geography the success of

— 40 —

and from day to day: if it is not, it will be easy to ascertain, e.
g., whether its roads be good or bad and how and when they are
wanting, — and this without a knowledge of geology.* Certainly
it will be much the best way, to have all necessary data gathered
in advance by officers who know what is wanted and will become
expert at the work; but it is not wise to exalt their occupation
into a special branch of military science with which officers gen-
erally should be familiar. The study of geography, ^whether it
be called "military geography" or not, will not help to confer
what is known as a good eye for terrain or coup d'oeil.

Emergency reports. — During the War of Secession portions of
the country which were practically unknown to Northern leaders
became possible theatres of operations and it was necessary to
obtain information concerning them on the spot, as it were, with
the aid of staff officers. One of innumerable, excellent reports
of this kind was made to the commanding general, Department
of the Gulf, in January 1864, by an Aid de Camp,")" concerning
the routes from the Mississippi River to the interior of Texas.
It is quoted here, considerably curtailed, as a model of what may
be called emergency reports. After giving the distances from a
number of points on the Mississippi and in Arkansas to Shreve-
port, La., and from there to Houston, Texas, the writer continues:

"The water via Red River commences falling about the ist of
May, and the navigation of the river for the most of our gun-
boats and transports is not reliable after that time. The months
of March and April are unfavorable for operations in Northern
and Eastern Texas, owing to the high stage of water in the
Sabine, Neches, and Trinity Rivers and their tributaries, and
the overflows to which their banks are subject. The concentra-
tion of all the forces available for operations west of the Missis-
sippi in the vicinity of Shreveport requires that the line of supply
with the Mississippi be kept up. It would not be practicable to aban-
don the base with so large a force, with a line of operations of 300
miles, through a country occupied by the enemy, to be overcome
before communication could possibly be effected with points held
by us on the coast."

"The water communication to Alexandria cannot be depended
on after the ist of May, and it would be necessary to depend on
the road from Natchez, a distance of 80 miles, or possibly from
Harrisonburg, a distance of 50 miles. Boats of very light

*In the Program of Instruction of the Artillery School for 1882, geology, subdivided into
five sections, appears as an adjunct to militaiy geography, as part of the course of study.
It has since been dropped.

fMajor D. C. Houston, U. S. A.

Iranght, say 3 or 3^ feet of water, may go to Alexandria dur-
ing- low water at ordinary seasons, but the large majority of our
boats and gun-boats are of greater draught than this. The most
reliable routes would be by the railroad from Vicksburg to
Shreveport. The track is now laid from Vicksburg to Monroe.
The road, is graded from Monroe to Shreveport, and mostly
bridged; the distance is 96 miles. There is a good wagon road
from Monroe to Shreveport, crossing the Washita River and
other streams.'

"It would require at least three months to rebuild this railroad,
which is indispensible to the supply of an army in Northeastern
Texas."

"Suppose it is determined to concentrate the forces near
Shreveport, preliminary to a movement into Texas. This point
is the principal depot of the enemy west of the Mississippi.
There are some machine-shops and dock-yards there and the
place is fortified by a line of works with a radius of 2 or 3 miles.
The position is a strong one, being on a bluff and commanding
the eastern bank."

"The most direct and only reliable line of supply to this point
would be the road from Vicksburg to Shreveport, railroad as far
as Monroe, 52 miles, and a graded road the rest of the way, 96
miles. It would be necessary to put the road in running order
and procure materials for completing the road. This line could
be held much more easily than the Red River, which is very nar-
row and crooked and which has, in many places, high bluff banks
where field artillery could be placed to enfilade the channel and
have 110 fear of gun-boats. Such a point is Grand Ecore, where
the bluff is 120 feet high. This point, I have been informed by
spies, is fortified."

"Suppose our forces to be united at Shreveport, which could
probably be effe6ted during the season of high water, and that
arrangements have been perfected to supply the 4 army by the
road from Vicksburg via Monroe, Arkansas and Louisiana clear
of rebels, and the enemy in retreat. Whatever way he takes we
must follow and expect to have our path disputed at every point,
as he will be driven to desperate efforts. The numerous streams
with high banks will afford him a favorable opportunity to retard
our progress and effect a secure retreat to any point he may select.
Our subsequent movements cannot well be forseen. It does not
seem probable that the enemy will return to Houston unless his
force is large and he should propose to draw us into a trap."

6

—42—

''Again, recurring to the line of supply, it will be seen that the
Vicksburg and Shreveport road extends to Marshall, where there
is an interval of 40 miles to Henderson, whence the road is com-
pleted to Galveston. The road from Marshall to Henderson,
however, is graded, and could be completed in a short time. In
case the enemy should abandon the coast this road will fall into
our possession, and supplies could be obtained from two direc-
tions. Our colored troops, who are especially qualified for fight-
ing guerrillas, could be usefully employed in guarding the entire
line of this road from Vicksburg to Galveston. Texas is said to
be full of blacks, who will be a valuable auxiliary in our opera-
tions in that State."

"I should estimate, roughly, that it would require until some
time in May to effe6t the union of forces and be prepared with
transportation for a movement into the interior. This would be
about the commencement of the season most favorable for a6tive
operations in Texas. I suppose by that time wagon trains will
be provided to haul supplies from Monroe to Shreveport, that the
railroad will be in running order to Monroe, and the work of
completing the road well under way."

"A movement by the coast of Texas possesses great advant-
ages. Our troops and supplies can be quickly moved by steamer
to any point on the coast. Landings can be threatened at
different points and the enemy kept in ignorance of our inten-
tions. We now hold the harbor of Matagorda, the best on the
coast, next to Galveston. We have a secure point for the de-
barkation of troops and supplies. The distance by land to Hous-
ton is 150 miles, over good roads, three in number, one via
Texana and Wharton, one via Matagorda and Columbia, and the
third along the beach to the mouth of Brazos River."

"Very little baggage need be required on this march, as the
point of supply can be transferred to Brazos River and San Luis
Pass in succession. A much less force would be required for
this operation than the other. The rebel forces now in Arkansas
will remain there as long as our force is opposed to them, and we
would only have to meet the force in lower Texas."

It is evident from the foregoing example how, even in case of
a sparsely settled and new country 'uncontrolled by frontiers or
fortresses, the influence of railway lines predominates. Together
with the size of armies and the facility with which information is
obtained they are the prime influences which have modified
strategy. The study of military geography today is largely a

—43—

Q

study of lines of communication; and these are fixed by rail-
ways.

The military geography of Canada presents the case of a region
in which, so far as it is a military objective, old and settled con-
ditions prevail, but without an organized system of defense. The
information which follows was obtained from sources open to any-
one and easily accessible: it is given here condensed as much as
possible.

Extent. Of Canada's 3,500,000 square miles only about one
tenth is settled. The rest is, more or less, an unexplored and
unknown wilderness. The settled portion comprises the prov-
inces which lie north and east of the great lakes and extend to
the Atlantic. For military purposes this is the only important
seclion excepting the south-western portion of the Pacific prov-
ince which includes Vancouver Island and in which lies the
terminus of the Pacific railway.

Climate. The cold in winter is severe and the summers are,
very warm. Sudden changes in temperature are common. Mili-
tary operations on a large scale are impossible in winter and must
be confined to about six months in the year. As far as climatic
influences affe6l the health of troops, it should be good.

Population. About 5,000,000. Of these the older settled provinces
contain 4,646,000, Ontario alone having over 2,000,000 and Que-
bec nearly 1,500,000. The center of population lies somewhere
in the region north of New York and east of Maine. About
1,000,000 are available for aaive military service. From their
ancestry, their mode of life and their habits no better material
for soldiers can be found anywhere.

Military forces. 35,000 volunteer militia, well organized, armed
and equipped. Of these 2000 are cavalry, 1200 field artillery.
2000 garrison artillery and 28,500 infantry. The bulk of these
troops are at home in Ontario and Quebec, roughly speaking, by
battalions in the large places along the Lakes and the St. Law-
rence from Lake Erie east. About one half are drilled and dis-
ciplined, but unevenly, some battalions maintaining a high stand-
ard and others being inefficient if judged by professional rules.
The 1 8 field-batteries are still armed with 9 pounder, muzzle-load-
ing guns. The infantry is replacing, very slowly, the Snider
rifle with the small caliber, Martini-Metford. Supply depart-
ments fail altogether and there are no large arsenals or arm fac-
tories. There is an enrolled "reserve" of about 200,000 men
who are supposed to receive a few days training annually.

In studying the military resources of a possible enemy it is

—44—

not safe to dwell on defects, and it is wise to employ a factor of
safety in estimating the resistance which any community may be
able to offer. It is reasonable to assume that, if unhindered,
Canada could place 100,000 armed men in the field, brave and
hardy, organized and equipped, in six weeks, and that a sufficient
supply-service would be improvised. Given a leader with brains
and resolution this force might add another to the list of sur-
prises which the history of war offers.

Productions. From causes which spring from her institutions,
from political conditions and from sparseness of population,
Canada, in an economic sense, is a poor country. The individual
Canadian, however, demands and perhaps requires material com-
forts in profusion, and these are furnished him bountifully by
soil and climate with a large surplus for export. The- imports
for consumption exceed, in value, the exports. The supply of
food, horses and coal is ample for home military purposes, but
no invading force could live upon the country even if advancing
from day to day and in the most thickly settled parts.

Cities. Leaving out Winnipeg in Manitoba and the places on
or near the Atlantic or Pacific coasts there are from 20 to 25
towns of 10,000 inhabitants and over. A straight line drawn
from Detroit to Quebec will pass near nearly all of them and they
occupy, therefore, a narrow strip of country never further than
a few day's march from the frontier. Including Toronto, about
two thirds of these places are west of Lake Ontario and lie near
together in the cul de sac between that lake and Huron. Mon-
treal is the commercial metropolis with over 216,000 inhabitants,
Toronto next with 180,000. Quebec is a shipping port with a
population of 63,000, extensive dockyards and water for the
largest vessels. Ottawa (45,000) is the political capital. Hamil-
ton (50,000) and Kingston (20,000) complete the list of interior
towns of 20,000 and over, Winnipeg (25,000) alone excepted.

Waters. Of the innumerable waters of Canada only the Great
Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and the canals apply to this dis-
cussion. The Great Lakes are unique geographical features well
known in their general character. Lake Michigan alone lies
wholly within the United States while the Canadian shore line of
the others has about twice the extent of its neighbor's. Vessels
of the largest size can sail between certain lake ports, but owing
to the canals and the river above Montreal, only vessels of a
limited draft can make a continuous voyage from any Lake port
to the ocean and for only six months in the year. The straits
which connect Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario in the order

—45—

mentioned, are narrow channels forming in each case part of the
boundry line between" the two countries and commanded through-
out their length by the shores of both.

The St. Lawrence River from Kingston forms for over 100
miles the boundary line of the state of New York, and from
Kingston to Montreal it interposes between the most populous
parts of the Dominion. It is navigable, with occasional inter-
ruptions, by sea going vessels to Montreal. At Quebec it widens
to 5 or 6 miles and from there to the sea it is, essentially, a great
bay not unlike the Chesapeake in extent. Of the tributaries of
the St. Lawrence only one, the Richelieu, is of importance, as
the outlet of Lake Champlain. It is navigable by means of a
dam and lock and other improvements from the St. Lawrence to
the lake, a distance of 80 miles, the total water distance between
Montreal and New York being 450. Above Quebec the St. Law-
rence has no value as a line of defence: it is on the contrary an
element of weakness, because of its continguity to the American
frontier, its interposition between centers of population and from
the inherent weakness of rivers as lines of resistance.

Six or more canals have been constructed to circumvent rapids
in the course of the river, all, excepting one above Montreal, to
the north of it. They have all the vulnerability of works of this
kind and add to the difficulties of defence. The Welland canal
skirts the Niagara River circumventing the great fall between
Ontario and Erie and it, therefore, connects the St. Lawrence
with the great lakes. It is peculiarly exposed to attack through-
out its length. The rapids of the St. Mary's river, the outlet of
Lake Superior, are avoided by a fine ship canal on the American
side, which would require protection in the event of war if only
as a precautionary measure of economy.*

*The following notes show the present status of navigation on the St. Law-
rence and the Great Lakes:

In the sundry civil appropriation bill, the Fifty-third Congress, third ses
sion, 1895, provided that the President of the United States be authorized to
appoint three persons'who should have the power "to meet and comer with
any similar committee which may be appointed by the Government of Great
Britain or of the Dominion of Canada, and who shall make inquiry and report
whether it is feasible to build such canals as shall enable vessels engaged in
ocean commerce to pass to and fro between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic
Ocean, with an adequate and controllable supply of water for continual use:
where such canals can be most conveniently located, the probable cost of the
same, with estimates in detail; and if any part of the same should be built in
the territory of Canada, what regulations or treaty arrangements will be
necessary between the United States and Great Biitain to preserve the free
use of such canal to the people of this country at all times: and all necessary
facts and considerations relating to the construction and future use of deep
water channels between the Great Lakes and the All intic CXe.m.'' Writing

-46—

Roads. The Canadian roads are very much like those in the
United States excepting those in the neighborhood of large cities.
' They conneft all places of any considerable size but outside of
them the country is impracticable for troops. Much bad weather
or the passage of trains breaks them up, sometimes to the extent
of being impassible, but the same is more or less true of all but
the best European highways.*

Navy and shipping. While the bulk of the English navy is
distant and might be embarrassed by complications elsewhere,
its aid would be extended to Canada in time of war to the utmost
extent possible. In point of shipping Canada stands, pra6lically,
on a par with the United States and she has from 70,000 to 80,000
sailors schooled in her great fisheries. With the a6live aid of the
mother country this is so great an element of power that it has
been proposed to abandon any preparation for land defence and
to concentrate all expenditure in maintaining a force of cruisers
to assist England in the event of war: and, in case of war with

of this project from Ottawa, under date of June ji, 1895, a correspondent of
the New York Evening Post says in part:

"The Dominion Government is about to appoint a departmental commission
for the same purpose, and it is expected that the two bodies will meet, and,
if possible, arrive at a common plan. An international convention, held at
Toronto last fall, recommended that the route should be deepened to 21 feet
and a canal of the same depth constructed from the St. Lawrence to the Hud-
son, either by way of the Mohawk or by enlarging the existing channel of the
Richelieu River and Champlain Canal, the whole work to be done at the joint
expense of the United States and Canada and to be subject to their joint con-
trol."

"Canada has spent about $50,000,000 on the St. Lawrence route to secure a
i4-foot channel. From the Strait of Belle Isle to Duluth is 2,385 statute mles,
of which 72 are artificial and 2,313 open navigation. The artificial navigation
can be deepened to 21 feet for about $30,000,000. The cost of enlarging the
Richelieu and Champlain route to connect Montreal with Albany and New
York City is not accurately known, nor has any estimate been formed of the
cost of building a canal by the Mohawk. Some engineers recommend that
instead of going by the Mohawk or the Richelieu it would be better to build
a canal from Montreal to Lake Champlain. The entire project is still in the
nebulous form."

"The navigation of the Gulf of St. Lawrence was made free to both nations
by the treaty of 1783, that of the River St. Lawrence by the Wasnington
treaty of 1871. But the key to the navigation of the river lies in the Canadian
canals between Montreal and Kingston, and between Lake Ontario and Lake
Erie. The Welland Canal, joining these two lakes, is 14 feet deep and the
lower canals will soon be that depth; at present their greatest depth is 9 feet.
The fleet of large steamers,. 300 in number, plying west of Buffalo, is thus
literally shut up in the upper lakes; in other words, the St. Lawrence route
to tidewater is available only to the smaller lake craft, and till a depth of 21
feet is obtained from end to end the cost of transportation can not be mater-
ially reduced."

The New York Journal of Commerce of June 17, 1895, says in part: "On
Thursday the Canadian canal at the falls of St. Marys River, the outlet of

'Complaints of bad roads are easy to find in accounts of the Franco-German campaigns;
the writers, however, had probably no conception of the sometimes bottomless condition of
Southern roads durinir thf> War nf Sprpeairm

—47-

the United States, to give that nation ample employment in pro-
tedting her own commerce and sea coasts.

Frontiers. Measured on the railway, it is 3,700 miles from
Halifax to Vancouver. If this be divided roughly into 3, the
eastern third will contain the old and settled provinces of Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario: the western half of
the middle third is the fertile, wheat producing province of Mani-
toba, the eastern half being the wilderness lying north and north-
west of Lake Superior: the western third is divided in half by
the Rocky mountains, east of which is a long stretch of barrens
while west of them is the agricultural province of British Colum-
bia. From the head of Lake Huron west to the ocean this fron-
tier may be accepted as a straight line: eastward of that point
are the three reentering angles, Sault St. Marie — Detroit — Kings-
ton, Kingston — Lake Megantic — Riviere du Loup and Riviere du
Loup — St. Andrew — Moncton.

Railways. The conspicuous strategic feature of the Dominion
is the Canadian Pacific Railroad. There are numerous other

Lake Superior, was opened, and it affords to navigation much greater facili-
ties than the canal on the American side which is now in use, but the Ameri-
can canal which will be opened next year will in its turn surpass the Canadfan
canal in general capacity, though the Canadian canal will remain superior in
two dimensions. These canals and their locks may be spoken of interchange-
ably, because in each case the canal consists simply in the lock and the chan-
nels approaching it. It is only fourteen years since the present American
canal was opened, and yet the growth of the lake commerce was so rapid that
the construction of a new lock was begun six years ago. The inadequacy of
the lock now in use became apparent before it was opened for commerce, but
when it was projected a lock 515 feet long and carrying 17 feet of water on
the sills in a favorable stage of water seemed likely to respond to all demands
upon it for many years to come."

"The Canadian lock, which in rapidity of construction has outstripped ours,
is goo feet long, 60 feet wide and 22 feet deep. Of our new lock, the masonry
work is completed, and 'all the gates will be completed this summer, but
nearly a year's work remains on the approaches. The lock is 800 feet 1( ng,
100 feet wide, and a steamer drawing 21 feet of water can pass through it.
Though shorter than the Canadian lock, its superficial area is Co,ooo feet, and
that of the Canadian canal 54,000 feet. The American canal lock will accom-
modate four of the largest lake steamers at the same time. The depth of the
lock is as great as there will be any occasion for until the lake ports generally
are deepened. The two largest and finest passenger steamers on ttie lakes,
the Northwest, which was put on the route last year, and the A'ortJi I Mint.
which has begun her career this year, and which compare not unfavorably
witli Atlantic passenger steamers, excepting a very few of the champion
raeers, draw, we believe, but 17 feet of water. It seems unlikely at present
that steamers drawing more than 21 feet will ever be desired on the luk«.s.'

Observation and experience have proven that in the St. Lawrence crn.ils
themselves, at certain periods of low water, a depth of 9 feet can not be
maintained. It should be noted that on account of the rapidity o; the cur-
rent, the rapids which they avoid are impossible to boats ascending the i\vr.
but mo-t ot them can be passed on the downward trip by strongly built ves-
sels not too heavily laden.

Between Montreal and Rouse Point the water distance is about 130 miles,
with a lock and clam at St. Ours, and the Chambly Basin and cuiK.l at the
rapids of that name, admitting vessels of 61/.. feet draft.

— 4s_

lines with their branches but these lie gathered in a net work
within two of the reentering angles of the frontier "which have
been mentioned. In speaking of the Pacific road it will be con-
venient to include as part of its system the Intercolonial road
from Halifax to Quebec, skirting the Gulf of St. Lawrence and
then the right bank of the river, and a second line of rails from
St. John and St. Andrew to the St. Lawrence at Riviere du Loup,
skirting the eastern and northern boundary of Maine.* After
clearing the great salient of Maine the system, on its way to the
Atlantic, turns sharply to the south through New Brunswick
seeking harbors which are open for a part of or all winter, and
finds terminal points at Dalhousie, Chatham, Moncton, St. John,
St. Andrew and, ultimately, at Halifax. All of these places are
on good harbors and for most of these fortifications are proposed.
Navigation in all of them excepting Halifax is subje6l to inter-
ruption by ice. Halifax is an extensive naval station and strong-
ly fortified. A main terminal branch runs, almost directly, from
St. John s N. B. to Montreal, through the entire breadth of the
State of Maine, the course of the great system there as well as at
other places hapily indicating that an invasion of Canada from
the United States is purely a subjective theme. The road proper
follows from Quebec to Montreal the left bank of the St. Law-
rence and the Ottawa to the capital, where it crosses and runs to
Sudbury, forming with the Ottawa river the base of the Detroit
triangle. At Sudbury it throws out its last feeler, via the Sault
St. Mary to the United States, before it stretches out through
the wilderness to find a new center of railroads and population,
controlling the grain of • Manitoba and the North West, at Win-
nipeg. Of Quebec it may be said that it is a fortress and that,
however incomplete, it is, conventionally speaking, impregnable.
On the right bank of the river are modern works which command
a railroad center and which "occupy the ground from which
Wolfe shelled the town." "Frost prevents the possibility of a
winter investment by a modern army and limits the time of any
investment to five summer months; and even in summer the
mighty sweep of the St. Lawrence renders complete investment
almost an impossibility to an invader." Winnipeg, at the other
end of this se6tion is only about 50 miles from the United States
line at Pembina and could be easily occupied and held. Some
ioo miles from the Pacific, the road crosses the Fraser river and
runs on the right bank to its western terminus at Vancouver-New

*It is noteworthy that the construction both of the Pacific and of the Intercolonial roads
was suggested by stiategical considerations,— that of the former by the Sepoy rebellion
and of the latter by a series of complications with the United States.

—49—

Westminister. For one-half of this distance it is within 25 miles
of the boundary. Vancouver has a good harbor, easily accessible
by the Straits of Georgia, both banks of which are commanded
by English batteries. Vancouver itself, is easily defensible. A
great naval station is projected either there or at Victoria and
Esquimault on Vancouver Island, but it must be evident that here
as at the Atlantic terminus all efforts aim at preserving the integ-
rity of a great navy, that wherever its fleets may be in a wide
world of waters they may be at home.

All Canadian railways are single track, have the standard
American guage and are well managed, with American routine.
As far as the long, single lines which run parallel to the frontier
are concerned they are not a rapid, safe or certain means of
transporting troops: while the American railroads offer no im-
portant parallel the destruction of which would affect concentra-
tion. The Canadian lines in the Detroit triangle are continua-
tions of American systems and against them the resources of the
west could be concentrated at Detroit and those from the east at
Buffalo. The throat of the eastern net-work of roads is at St.
John (Quebec) which lies about half way between Rouse Point
and Montreal and two days short marches from either place. It
commands, also, the Richelieu River canal.

England has three great routes to the east: Liverpool — Canada
— Yokohoma, 12,000; Southampton — Suez — Calcutta, 8600 miles;
Liverpool — Cape Town— Calcutta, 13,000; (Yokohoma— Shanghai
— HongrKong — Singapore — Calcutta, 5600 miles, completes the
circuit). For the "British Empire, uninterrupted communication
between the mother country and her possessions beyond the seas
is a question, almost, of life and death.

In mileage, the route via Canada to Japan is not very much
shorter than the route via Suez, but the Canadian rails not only
economize time but avoid whatever of peril the navigation of the
Straits of Malacca and the China seas involves. As a route to
some of her East-Asiatic stations the Canadian Pacific may or
may not be favorable, according to circumstances, but in any
case it cannot be an advantageous route to India or to the south
eastern Asiatic ports; for the distances via Suez or via Cape Town
are so much shorter that the Canadian rails cannot compete in
economizing time. The latter would therefore seem to be of
strategic importance to British interests, only in the Northern
Pacific ocean.

7

—So—

To assure its integrity in time of war the Suez canal route calls
for extraordinary expenditure in time of peace, and for tireless
vigilance. Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Egypt and a great fleet on
its waters, may make of the Mediteranean, for the time being,
an Anglo-Saxon sea; but the Latin races will claim that it belongs
more naturally to them, while France with a strong navy, with
her Mediteranean ports and with Tunis, will decline, for long, to
allow communication with her Asiatic possessions through the
canal, to be endangered. Finally it is claimed that the Suez
canal may be easily rendered useless by means of high explo-
sives.

Under these circumstances it is not surprising to find much of
the best professional opinion in England in favor of ending the
costly occupancy of the Mediteranean, together with the irrita-
tion of wrhich it is a perennial source. It is pointed out that the
route via the Cape of Good Hope is without disadvantages other
than its length and that with the command of the sea and with
Sierra Leone, Ascension, St. Helena, Mauritius and Ceylon, Eng-
land may consider this route peculiarly her own.

The foregoing examples are intended to illustrate widely differ-
ing conditions. In the case of two military powers the choice of
a theatre of operations will be generally limited from causes which
are constant, and are thoroughly well understood; and success
will depend mainly on preparation and training. An opposite
extreme is a case like that of Texas, where it is desirable to
occupy abruptly a country about which comparatively little is
known, where the conditions which exist, some of them only for
the time being, must be ascertained promptly and, at the same
time, very accurately, and where the soundest judgment will be
called for: because these conditions and their bearing, while new
and unfamiliar to any one who is without experience in war,
offer in their combinations a wide field for choice to a skillful and
prudent leader.

In fixing, from time to time, the boundary line between Can-
ada and the United States, the possibility of war between the two
countries must have seemed very remote. It runs between two
industrial communities, and these have worked to facilitate rather
than restrict natural intercourse. Were both of equal extent,
population and wealth it might be hard to decide which would be
placed at a disadvantage in time of war, by the conformation of
the frontier. In no sense is any part of this a military frontier,
and the presence of a fortress like Quebec, however material, is
purely incidental: while on both sides the quantity of war n:a-

— 5' —

terial and the number of troops immediately available is insig-
nificant when compared to the extent of front. In a case like
this, conditions which have not been created but are none the
less hard and fast, will limit the choice of a theatre as a fortress
and camp and hostile armies can not do. They may be sum-
marized in that lack of preparation which will demand the use of
whatever means there are to strike whatever blow is possible, at a
time and from a dire6tion which will be fixed by stubborn and
inelastic terms.

With the aid of good maps it would be instructive to sele<5l
theatres of operation and to devise plans of campaign if the
student could submit them afterwards to tests which involve a
great deal of skill and work, and, finally, to the crucial review of
experienced leaders. A plan of campaign may be stated very
briefly and in a few sentences; but it should be ventilated by
means of remorseless figures, rather than by discussion in an
essay, however interesting. Books and writing are valuable just
so far as they do not interfere with practical duties. These,
// wisely ordered, will best develop, from day to day, the soldierly
qualities with which an officer is endowed.

IV.

THEATRE OF OPERATIONS. OCCUPATION. Transpoit by U'-'.ter.
In treating of the military geography of Canada, the aid which
could or would be extended to the Dominion by England was
not discussed, because there is some difference of opinion con-
cerning the feasibility of transferring an army to a theatre of
war beyond the sea.

With proper facilities transportation by water has many ad-
vantages. Schemes for embarking and debarking must be well
thought out in advance and plans must be adopted, for the rapid
alteration of the interior arrangements of merchant vessels
which are known to be available; otherwise their accomodating
power will vary greatly and will be in some cases too limited to
be of service.

The Great Powers possess very few troop-ships and these are
kept up only for the regular service of reliefs.* In case of war
they would, of course, be available at once, but for the transport
of large bodies of troops reliance is placed on the merchant mar-
ine.

Water transport avoids the hardships of marching, is seven
or eight times faster and as far as the subsequent condition of
the troops is concerned, compares favorably with long journeys
by rail.

River transport. — Where navigable rivers and water ways are
available their use is exceedingly convenient and advantageous.
In the United States the water ways and especially the western
rivers are peculiarly adapted for it anc^ western steamboats are
almost ideal as means of transportation. During the War of
Secession large numbers of these were moored, overlapping
each other, their bows run into the banks almost wherever they
might select: troops and animals were marched onto the boats
assigned them, with no delay to speak of, while the large deck
space below, open at the sides offered ample room; while the open
boiler arrangements offered facilities for cooking. Stores and
forage were quickly rolled on board, the work being facilitated at
night by fires on the bank. The fleet would then move in single
file, preceded and followed by gunboats and, if large, with gun-
boats at intervals in the column. It was sometimes necessary to
kind and drive a\\ ay artillery or sharpshooters who menaced it

'According to the Gotha Calender, 1895, Great 1 rltian has nine.

—53-

from shore and pilot houses \\erc provided with bullet pfOOi

shields, i.ivjit, specially selected troops, were held read} inland

from boats pro\ ided \\ it h \\ ulc i;an^ planks. In Case Of i

these ho. its ran promptly in she MV. the gang pi. ink WAS lowered

\\illi special tackle and the troops landed and di ployed . »n t he
run. The advance hoat usually carried tin- Commandant of the
expedition and he signaled his orders by means of a pivc. .ncerlcd
code o I" strain \\ hist le blasts, a c» >p\ of \\ hich \\ as posted <>n e\ rrv
boat. 1 >v combinations of Ion- and short \\ histlcs. repeated 1'roin
boat to boat, these signals COVered numerous eonl i HIM MUM, -;. e. n-..
"look out for ris^ht (OI lel't \ D*nk,n "let me «;o ahead and reemi
noiter,' --lie up for tlu^ nii;ht on ri^'ht bank," --elose up."
"boat Xo. - take the load, to land troops," &C,

These steamboats a.\ i-ra^eil 500 Ions ami one of them could
earrv supplies for an army corps for 3 or .} ilavs. Tom pa red \\ ith
a railway train, one boat was considei\vd eijual to .\o or 50 ears,
or about two trains. The loni; ri\er trips were a \entable per
iod i)f rest for the overmarehed l'\-deral troops. ()f!ieei-s and
men returniiiL; from a campaign in the interior, \\onld r^
lluMr pay and back mads, a^ain ha\e access to theii' ba-;.;a-i- and

enjoy regular sleep and comfortable meals.

In the autumn of 1864, General A. J. Smith's corps, about
17,000 men, 3500 animals and 450 vehicles, was scut from Mem
phis to vSt. Louis on steamboats. After driving (icncral Price's
forces out of Missouri, marching; through that State into Kansas
and return, it reembarked at St. Louis, \\as transported to Xash
\ille, Tenn., took part in the great battle and. in pursuit of
Hood's army, reached the Tennessee Ki\er at I'.astport, Miss.
Met hen- av;-ain by transports, it was sent ilown the Tennessee,
Ohio and Mississippi Rixers to Xew Orleans and thence by \\ater
to Mobile Hay, taking part then' in the storming of the defence s

and the capture of the city. In about si\ months, with about 40
steamboats, the corps tra\elcd some 4000 miles, reinforced three
armies and cn^a^cd in three campaigns.

"Rivers, when of sullicicui volume, form the most appropriate

of all channels of communication \\ it ii the interior of continents.

The greater or lesser derive of uniformity in the1 \olumn of
water in a river alonj;- its course depends on the manner in \\hieh
its supply is obtained. In certain /ones, the supply comes Irom
the rains \\hieh fall on the uplands, and a certain uniformity is
thus maintained through the greater part of the year: in Others
it depends mainly on the melt in- of the snows, and riv( FS 80 t\ d
are onl\ fed during the summer mouths. The rivers which ha\e

—54—

their origin in the Alps, for example, attain their highest level
in the month of June, and their lowest in January. Rivers, on
the other hand, which are not fed by the melting of the snows,
have their highest level from January to April, and the lowest
from July to October. The Congo receives its waters from north
and south of the equator where the rain falls at different periods
of the year; consequently, it is always full. In some regions
evaporation nearly equals the amount of the rainfall, and the
depth of rivers there is never great; in others the water is ab-
sorbed by the sands and is lost before it reaches the sea."

During Banks' Red River Expedition in the War of Secession
a portion of Admiral Porter's Mississippi Squadron had ascended
the river, keeping pace with the troops operating on shore, and
when these were checked and were obliged to fall back, found
itself above the rapids at Alexandria. The river was falling
rapidly and if the troops continued to retreat the gunboats would
be captured, provided they could not pass the rapids which would
then in all probability be impossible. Believing that their cap-
ture or destruction would involve the blockade of the Mississippi
and perhaps greater disaster, Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Baily,
4th Wisconsin cavalry, on April pth, proposed to Major-General
Franklin to increase the depth of water by means of a dam and
submitted to him his plans for the same. General Franklin
favored and urged the scheme but owing to want of confidence in
its feasibility on the part of higher commanders and to other
delays the necessary orders for working parties, tools, teams, &c.,
were not obtained until the 3oth.

The width of the river at the point where the dam was built
(the foot of the rapids) was 758 feet and the depth, 4 to 6 feet.
The current was very rapid, running about 10 miles per hour.
Two wing dams were also constructed at the head of the falls.
The increase in depth by the main dam was 5 feet 4^ inches;
by the wing dams i foot 2 inches, total 6 feet 6^ inches. On its
completion, May 8th, the entire fleet passed over the rapids to a
place of safety below.

Commander Mahan, U. S. Navy, writes,* in part, of this re-
markable work as follows: "Twelve 'feet were thought necessary
before going up, a depth usually found from March to June. At
the very least seven were needed by the gunboats to go down,
and on the 3oth of April there were a6lually 3 feet 4 inches. Ten
gunboats and two tugs were thus imprisoned in a country soon to

'"The Navy in the Civil War."

-55—

pass into the enemy's hands by the retreat of the army." * *
* "But Bailey had the faith that moves mountains, and he was
moreover happy in finding at his hands the fittest tools for the
work. Among the troops in the far southwest were two or three
regiments from Maine, the northeasternmost of all the States.
These had been woodmen and lumbermen from their youth,
among their native forests, and a regiment of them now turned
trained and willing arms upon the great trees on the north shore
of the Red River; and there were many others who, on a smaller
scale and in different scenes, had experience in the kind of work
now to be done. Time was pressing and from two to three thous-
and men were at once set to work. The falls are about a mile
in length,. filled with rugged rocks which, at this low water, were
bare or nearly so, the water rushing down around, or over, them
with great swiftness. From the north bank was built what was
called the "tree dam," formed of large trees laid with the cur-
rent, the branches interlocking, the trunks down stream and
cross-tied with heavy timber; upon this was thrown brush, brick*
and stone, and the weight of water as it rose bound the fabric
more closely down upon the bottom of the river. From the
other bank, where the bottom was more stony and trees less
plenty, great cribs were pushed out, sunk and filled with stone
and brick — the stone brought down the river in flat-boats, the
bricks obtained by pulling down deserted brick buildings. On
this side, a mile away, was a large sugar-house; this was torn
down and the whole building, machinery, and kettles went to bal-
last the dam. Between the cribs and the tree-dam a length of
150 feet was filled by four large coal barges, loaded with brick
and sunk. This great work was completed in eight working
days." * * *.

"The dam was finished, the water rising, and three boats be-
low, when on the pth the pressure became so great as to sweep
away two of the barges in midstream and the pent-up water
poured through." The gap was only 66 feet wide and through
this opening four more vessels steered, taking all the chances and
reaching the safe water below with some little damage. "The
work on the dam had been done almost wholly by the soldiers,
who had worked both day and night, often up to their waists and
even to their necks in the water, showing throughout the utmost
cheerfulness and good humor. The partial success that followed
the first disappointment of the break, was enough to make such
men go to work again with good will. Bailey decided not to try
again, with his limited time and materials, to sustain the whole

-56-

weight of water with one dam; and so, leaving the gap untouch-
ed, wentvon to build two wing-dams on the upper falls. These,
extending from from either shore towards the middle of the
river and inclining slightly down stream, took part of the weight,
causing a rise of i foot 2 inches, and shed the water from either
side into the channel between them. Three days were needed to
build these, one a crib and the other a tree-dam, and a bracket
dam a little lower down to help guide the current."

Transport by sea. Tonnage. — The exa6t meaning of the term
tonnage as applied to vessels requires explanation because it ex-
presses sometimes weight and sometimes carrying capacity. A
war-ship is designed to meet certain service conditions or, in other
words, to carry a maximum weight, which is fairly • constant,
without exceeding a certain maximum draught of water. Her
tonnage is expressed by the weight of water in tons, which is dis-
placed when she is immersed to the load-line, and this applies to
all war-ships and possibly to a few others, mainly government
vessels.

Displacement tonnage is not applicable to merchant ships be-
cause it is necessary to ascertain the space available for storing a
remunerative cargo, and the draught to which they can be safely
laden varies with the nature of the cargo, the length of the voy-
age and even with the season of the year. Their tonnage is
measured and registered that they may be equitably assessed for
port dues and charges; is ascertained by a system of rules adopt-
ed by law known as the Moorsom (British) system, adopted
essentially, by all maritime nations, and which embraces certain
concessions to ship owners which make it advantageous "to build
strong, fast -sailing and good sea-going ships, with ample accom-
modations for the crew. Tonnage denoting carrying capacity is
called "register tonnage," and the rules for finding it are very
full and elaborate. The measurements which they impose result
in formulae which are applicable in finding displacement tonnage
also, both designations being based on cubic content.

Displacement tonnage may be found approximately by calculat-
ing the cubic content of a parallelopipedon whose volume equals
the product of the length on load-line with the breadth and mean
draught, and taking 45% of this for fast cruisers, 55% for vessels
of common form and 60% for battleships, and assuming one
cubic foot of sea water to weigh 64 pounds, Designating the
tonnage of war vessels by their displacement can hardly be satis-
factory excepting in so far as increased displacement indicates
increased fighting power. Dues are not assessed on displacement

—57 —

tonnage, and in the case of war vessels passing through the Suez
canal the dues are assessed on a tonnage based on an assumed
carrying capacity.

Registered tonnage. Gross register tonnage expresses, in tons
of ioo cubic feet, the total capacity of the hold and deck-houses
of a vessel. Net register tonnage is obtained by deducting from
the gross all spaces not available for remunerative service, is that
on which dues are paid and is usually called, simply, register ton-
nage. As has been stated, the rules for finding the gross tonnage
are very elaborate but it may be found approximately by taking
the product of inside measurements of upper-deck length, main
breadth and midship depth, dividing by ioo and multiplying by
.6 to .8, according as the vessel approaches the "full-form" or
"clipper." To find the net tonnage deduct from the gross ton-
nage the compartments actually occupied by, or actually appro-
priated to the use of, the crew, including officers, but not to
exceed 5% of the gross tonnage; also the space actually occupied
by, or required to be enclosed for the proper working of, the
boilers and machinery, plus 50% of such space for paddle-wheels
and 75% for screw-shaft: but the total deduction for these spaces
shall not exceed 50% of the gross tonnage. As this limitation
tends to give crew and boiler-room their full allowance of space
the net tonnage of a steamer will be, as a rule, about 50% of her
gross tonnage. From 5% to 10% should be deducted from this
to allow for space which cannot be made accessible for men, ani-
mals or stores, when the net tonnage available for troops may be
safely taken at from 40% to 45% of the gross.

There is, of course, no relation between tons space and tons
weight, but an arbitrary one has been adopted based on the aver-
age weight of mixed cargoes. Freight is charged per ton of 40
cubic feet, if 2000 pounds or less; exceeding 2000 pounds it is
charged at total dead weight. The dead weight which a vessel
can carry depends on her "reserve of buoyancy," which is the
volumn and buoyancy of the part of a ship not immersed but
which may be made water-tight. The number of tons weight
which a ship can carry will always greatly exceed the number
which expresses her register tonnage. The "load-line" marks
the limit of immersion. It is located by law in Great Britain but
not in the United States.

' Transport by sea. — This subject has received some attention in
England but not as much as it deserves. A nation which has
possessions in all parts of the world, together with the uncontested

8

-58-

command of the sea, a large merchant marine, and a very res-
pectable number of fine troops at home, should find it interesting
and important. As late as January, 1894, however, there seems
to have existed some diversity of opinion, even there, concerning
it. In a lecture and discussion before the Military Society of
Ireland at that time, the lecturer, Captain James, said: " There
is a very mistaken notion about the amount of shipping which is
required for the transportation of troops. Troops can be packed
like herrings in a barrel for a short vpyage. For instance, when
the French went to the Crimea they took, I believe, some 2000
men in one line of battleship, and if it were possible to do this
in those days, it is certainly possible to do much more in these
days with the hugh steamers which now exist. As a practical
fact, there was a great discussion some years ago at the United
Service Institution, London, and it was shown by Lord Wolseley
that there was always present in French ports a sufficient amount
of ships to transport 100,000 men without any difficulty what-
ever." * * * "We could certainly command the whole French
coast with a proper fleet, and, if so, we could throw our troops —
the 100,000 men I spoke of — anywhere along the coast of Europe,
from the Baltic to the Black Sea, without any great difficulty."
(From England to the Black Sea is over 3000 miles by water)
Captain Copley said that he did "not know where we would get
ships first of all to move 100,000 men at one time, and secondly,
I think it extremely doubtful even if you can get the shipping
and the men, that they could be moved without the enemy becom-
ing aware of it;" indicating thereby that a descent on the coast
must be a surprise to succeed. General, Lord Wolseley, in clos-
ing the discussion, said: "Now, as the conveyance by sea of an
army — say, three army corps and a strong cavalry division,
100,000 men — which the lecturer said could be easily moved by
us from one part of the world to the other — I worked out this
question many years ago, and as well as I remember, to convey
such an army from England to France it would take 150 large-
sized steamers and no more. For a voyage, say to Constantino-
ple, which is about the farthest point to which we are ever likely
to send that number of men. and speaking roughly from mem-
ory, I believe that 300 large-sized steamers would suffice, and 300
ships could be easily collected in England at any time."
"The lecturer proposed, not only that we should be always able'
to protect England against invasion, but have the power of strik-
ing an offensive blow beyond the seas, with an army of 100,000
men complete in every requirement. If we had during war a

—59—

regular army in England, between the militia and volunt<
150,000 men, we should always be in a position to carry out the
lecturer's proposal. It may be taken as an actual certainty, that
we should never send abroad an army were it in any way possible
for an enemy to invade us. There can be no doubt that the des-
patch of a force abroad, would be of enormous benefit to Eng-
land in bringing to a rapid conclusion any war she became in-
volved in. If in any such war we had at home a thoroughly
equipped force of the proposed strength ready to be embarked
for a6tive service, that fact would give us an enormous power,
and consequently a very great influence in the world, and no
nation would lightly go to war with us."

Difficulties inherent in this method of transport are; the neces-
sity for convoy should the enemy possess war vessels; difficulties
of ventilation, lighting and cooking and providing proper and
sufficient exercise for the men; the construction, maintenance and
inspection of closet and washing arrangements; the storage of
arms, accoutrements, baggage, &c. in convenient, safe and acces-
sible places; police arrangements, consideration of cleanliness
and prevention of contagious diseases. All these things are in-
evitably complicated by sea-sickness: a few hours of rough
weather with closed hatches, puts the between-decks, when
occupied by troops, in a horrible condition. No matter how fav-
orable circumstances of weather may be when embarking troops
for even a short voyage by sea, it is well to take the same precau-
tions as if sailing into the teeth of a storm for an indefinite per-
iod. In March, 1873, the Artillery School battalion embarked at
Fort Monroe for Washington, a 12 hours trip in a land-locked
bay. The weather at starting was warm and pleasant but before
midnight the vessel was battling against a dangerous storm with
ice-encrusted decks, which made it necessary to crowd the com-
mand into the limited cabin space.

Transport by sea is difficult in proportion to the length of the
voyage; and the varying capacity and internal arrangements of
vessels make it impracticable to adopt other than very flexible
rules by which to estimate the size of armies that can be trans-
ported. In military matters, however, it is folly to say what can
or can not be done, given favorable conditions and an intrepid
and enterprising genius in command.

The command of the sea.-— An indispensible condition is the full
or at least ample command of the sea, even if only for the time
being in a particular region. This has been recently illustrated
by the sinking of a Chinese transport by a Japanese cruiser "and

— 6o—

in the narrow escape of the Chinese reinforcements for their
army in the Korea." As long ago as 1871, Captain Hoseason,
R. N., contended that by virtue of having command of the sea,
England was no longer merely a great naval nation, but a great
military nation also, — the first military nation in the world. He
bases his conclusions on the argument that England, with the
command of the sea, if she will keep on hand a sufficient number
of transport ships in addition to available merchant steamers
will, in case of war, have the widest possible selection of bases of
operation, any one of which she can occupy in the most efficient
and economical manner, by steam water-transport: thus avoiding
the necessity for keeping a large force over the entire line of
communications with a great sacrifice of men, animals and ma-
terial as in case of a base of operations on land. He claims that,
"the transport of horses, and of all kinds of munitions of war,
including the heaviest ordnance, is an operation of no difficulty
in the present day, and the rapidity and economy of such mode
of transport is perfectly marvelous." "It is by an efficient steam
fleet conveying a flying army, that we shall possess the power to
keep the coast line of an enemy in a fever of alarm; no town
within 15 or 20 miles of the sea should be safe from a nocturnal
visit, and the terror which a well-organized flying army a6ling on
an enemy's coast would create,' must paralyze a force of twenty
times its strength." "The commercial interests of this country
are so widely spread, that it is impossible to forsee the moment
when our forces will again be called into the field, or with what
nation we may be next engaged; but one fa6l is most apparent,
that our chief power lies in the rapidity and economy of our
transport by sea, which our wealth and our command of the
ocean enable us fully to develope." "Our success in ocean steam
navigation has long justified us in disregarding distance, and en-
abled us to resolve all questions upon- war to the one element-
time. The economy of steam transport over every kind of land
transport is so great that we may be assured of the power of ex-
hausting the strength of any nation with whom we may be at
war, without seeking to engage them in any vast numbers; it is
disease and exposure which tell upon an army harrassed by long
marches and counter-marches. The deaths in the field of battle
are as nothing to the loss thus infli6ted, and more especially if
the enemy should have an extended coast-line, and efficient steam
sea-base therefore, is of vital importance to secure success to our
military operations, and it is certain that any amount of land
transport can be conveyed by sea most rapidly and economically,

for the world's resources are open to that nation which holds the
dominion of the seas." "It will be perceived at a #1 a nee, how
impossible it would be to defend Canada, in the event of any hos-
tilities with America, by any amount of British troops which we
might retain in that country; but most important aid could be
rendered by a counter-attack, made by a combined naval and
military force along the entire coast -line of America, and having
for its base of operations so many important colonial possessions."
Fast ocean liners carrying troops will not, it is claimed, require
convoy, because they can outsail'the fastest cruisers.

Number of vessels required. — A simple rough rule is to allow 2^
tons per man, 7 tons per animal for the longest voyages. This
is ample and includes every allowance for arms, ammunition,
wagons and vehicles of every description, rations, forage and
stores. The stores comprise camp and garrison equipage, cloth-
ing, tools, &c., and the provisions full rations for 6 weeks and
forage for the same time. The space demanded for the fodder
for the horses is comparatively very small, while water in ample
quantities can be condensed daily from sea water. Rations in
original packages, properly stowed, correspend in dead weight to
ordinary mixed cargoes, and an ordinary coasting steamer can
carry provisions for 50,000 men for a month. Vehicles would, of
course, be taken apart and packed in the smallest space possible.

This rough allowance will hold good with large steamers of
about 4000 tons gross register each, and Lord Wolseley must
have had ships of this capacity in view when he spoke of trans-
porting 100,000 men in 300 large-sized steamers. The carrying
capacity for troops, of smaller vessels, decreases disproportion-
ately with their size.

The embarkation would take place at several ports simultan-
eously, where the demands of commerce have provided commod-
ious docks and wharfs, steam-cranes, electric lighting, &c. :
modern appliances offer also increased facilities for debarkation,
e. g., specially constructed steam or electric launches for towing
floats, and notably, flat bottomed, light draft vessels.

The collection, purchase or chartering, alteration and adapta-
tion of merchant vessels for transports is sure to be slow. It is
probable that no nation has sufficient tonnage lying idle, as it
were, for 40,000 troops, or to begin embarking them until the
sixth day after the order reaches the ships. The collection of the
ships necessary to transport an additional 60,000 men would be
subject to many delays, even in England: but with her enormous
tonnage there is no reason for supposing that the withdrawal of

—62 —

300 of her large steamers from commerce would endanger her
food supply, as has been freely stated.

To land French troops in Italy, a voyage of from 3 to 5 days,
3 tons are allowed for an animal and ^ tons for a man. With
an allowance of ^ ton per man troops are much crowded, but it
has often been deemed sufficient for trips of 36 hours. In all
cases there is a tendency to put more men on ships than is com-
patible with their comfort and health, and this must be vigilantly
guarded against by the highest authority; for, at the last moment,
a subordinate commander cannot well refuse to embark his men,
no matter how inadequate the accommodations are that are furn-
ished him. Naturally the most available vessels are those which,
for the time being, are unemployed, and these will always include
all those that for one reason or another are undesirable, frequent-
ly unseaworthy. This kind comes to the front promptly when
the government is seeking vessels at remunerative rates.

The British expedition to Egypt in 1882, as far as the trans-
portation of troops is concerned was very successful. "Between
July 3oth and August i2th, 41 large transports were despatched
to the seat of war; advantage was taken of numerous excellent
ports, so that the despatch of troops and stores was going on
from several ports at the same moment, and yet without the
least interference one with another. 13 sailed from London, n
from Southampton, 9 from Portsmouth, 2 from Liverpool, 3 from
Kingston, one from Queenstown and one from Woolwich."
"Each unit embarked on board its own ship, with its transport
and tentage complete. To each infantry battalion was allotted
one ship, each of which carried, on an average, about 30 officers
and 760 men, with 55 horses, 2 water carts, 10 two-wheeled carts,
and about 150 tents of sorts. The cavalry had two .ships per
regiment, each of which carried, on an average, 13 officers, 290
men, and 270 horses, with water-cart and 3 two-wheeled carts,
while a proportion of small-arm ammunition carts and forage
wagons were taken. The artillery had one ship per battery,
averaging 7 officers, 170 men, and 130 to 180 horses, and, of
course, their guns, ammunition, and stores. The ammunition
column had one ship, carrying 185 officers and men, and 207
horses, with the ammunition reserve. The engineers were sim-
ilarly provided for in separate ships, as also were the base hos-
pitals and other departments." In all, about 70 large steame:s
(including storeships) were required for about 24,000 men.

Descents on hostile coasts. — The history of war is replete with
accounts of descents or attempted descents on hostile coasts. In

-63-

almost every case success or want of success can be traced dire<5Uy
to the personal character and qualifications of the leader. ///
modern times steam poiver has placed immense power at command
of expeditionary forces "in the way of certainty of transportation
to tlieir destination by any fixed date, and the speed with which
the seas can be traversed. No longer at the mercy of winds and
currents, an expeditionary force is now a mobile instrument in the
hands of its commander, capable of being placed at will exactly
where required, and rapidly transferred from one point to another.
Moreover, there is now the certainty of co-operation, if so required, be-
tween forces starting from points far apart, and the power of threaten-
ing one point of a hostile coast, and then effecting the actual descent upon
some quite different spot." li Probably in all countries the communica-
tions around the coast-line are very indifferent, and the transfer of troops
from one point to another along the coast by land is a slow and difficult
operation. But, ou the other hand, an expeditionary force, packed in
swift steamers, is capable of being shifted in a few hours from any point
to so /tie other widely separated from it. The land forces of the defend-
ers, once set in motion towards any given point of the coast, cannot readily
be afterwards diverted. " * .

Descents have been successfully made in opposition to naval
preponderance. In 1796 the French descended on Ireland, in 44
vessels, 8 days out, penetrating without loss a triple line of Eng-
lish ships; and Napoleon evaded the English fleet on the expedi-
tion to Egypt.

Whether an isolated country, like the United States, with a
long coast line and many bays, inlets and harbors, can be invaded
by any considerable European force, is a question concerning
which differences of opinion are known to exist. A coalition of
European powers against her would be very formidable; and con-
sidering the Monroe Doctrine, exclusive tariffs, the asylum offer-
ed to political offenders, the Nicaragua Canal, American indif-
ference to foreign opinion, &c., such a coalition seems at least
possible. t When there is a great extent of favorable beach,
there seems to be nothing to prevent the invader steering for it
and, favored by weather, landing without opposition. The guard-
ing of a coast at every point requires a more extensive system of
lookouts, signals, and coast guards than it is easy to furnish, or;
at any rate, than exists. An army landing in this way must put
itself sooner or later where it can get provisions, place its trans-
ports in safety and maintain communication with home, and this

*Major Elmslie, R. A.: the italics not in the original.
fWritten ifi 1893.

— 64—

necessitates the occupation of a seaport. The capture and occu-
pation of a seaport and harbor ab initio is not possible if it be
defended by modern works: it can be made very difficult or
greatly delayed by improvised defence.

Smooth water, i. e. favorable weather, is absolutely necessary
for landing on a beach and the interruption of landing by a pro-
longed storm may mean failure or disaster: but climatic and
weather conditions have long been a matter of special study, the
results of which will be factors in any scheme, as to the time and
place selected.

Light draught vessels, gun-boats and merchant steamers of
1500 tons displacement are now constructed drawing no more
water than the ordinary harbor tug-boats. There are flat-bottom
boats available with a carrying capacity of several hundred tons
which have a draught of water under 2 feet and a speed of 15
miles an hour. These could simply be beached at low water,
with a certainty of being floated with the tide and land troops in
the most convenient fashion.

"An expeditionary force is now under full command. The
modern, well-found steamers can keep together without the
slightest difficulty, if required to do so. They will thus be easy
to convoy, can make the land at any given point and hour de-
sired, and after making an apparent descent upon one portion of
the coast sufficient to attract the attention and troops of the
defenders, can with great rapidity transfer the blow to some
other and quite different spot, where the real debarkation can be
effected." "The enemy's coast will be given as wide a berth as
possible, a detour being made if necessary to keep the fleet out-
side the radius of torpedo-boat action, and the descent upon the
coast, if attack by torpedo boats be a possibility, should be
effected at right angles to the general coast-line, so that as short
a time as possible is spent within the radius of their action."

A European coalition could dispose of several hundred swift
torpedo-boats (England alone has over 200), and these could not
only reconnoiter the coast but could enter all but the best pro-
tected harbors and destroy property: while the battleships and
cruisers covered the transports and landing.

Descent on a hostile coast is the only military operation in
which surprise on a large scale is any longer possible.

General Scott disembarked nearly 12,000 men at Vera Cruz,
and landed Worth's division of 4500 men in 65 lighters of
100 men each by 4 o'clock P. M. These advanced simultaneous-
ly until they grounded, tne men landing waist deep, the lighters

-65- .

returning: by 10 o'clock the remaining troops were on shore.
Many if not all the horses were lowered or driven overboard and
swam. The landing of equipage and supplies consumed several
days. There was no confusion, accident or disaster and — it is
fair to add — no opposition.

Embarking, &c. — Detailed instructions exist in all services for
embarking and disembarking troops. Those for the U. S. ser-
vice* are simple and clear and should be implicitly followed.
The leader of an expeditionary force can have no more material
concern than that of obtaining his own personal assurance that
adequate, safe and comfortable transportation is furnished for
his men and animals.

"When boats are under charter, it becomes most necessary for
the quartermaster in charge to be exceedingly vigilant, or he will
not get worth for the public money. Captains and crews under
these circumstances appear to join hands to do as little work as
possible." "The embarkation of troops should be carefully
studied and provided for. The capacity of a ship should be
ascertained and berths fitted up;" including pegs &c. for accou-
trements, "cooking arrangements provided; abundance of water
and ample stores secured for the whole voyage, with adequate
surplus for emergencies. All freight, stores and material should
first go on board, and be stored so that what is needed on the
voyage, is placed where it may be had promptly. If animals are
to go with a command, they are loaded after the stores, and just
before the men. After every other provision is made the men
should go on board, and not until then.f The English regula-
tions provide that a trooper shall embark with his horse.

"During the actual embarkation visitors should be excluded
from the ships and wharves. This enactment should be widcly
notified and rigidly enforced."

Proper ventilation of the space occupied by troops is not only
necessary but is indispensable. Regulations for this may well be
left to the medical staff, but they must be revised and enforced
by the commander-in-chief.

It is very important that latrines should be large, easily acces-
sible and well lighted and ventilated. If possible, they should be
on deck with a clear drop to the water.

*Manual of Heavy Artillery Service, 4th edition, page 325, et seq.

tMajor Lee. U. S. Q. M. Department, in Journal of the Military Service Institution,
March, 1894. The same article contains practical rules for the shipment and care at sea of
horses and mules, derived from the writer's experierce in the War of Secession, when he
had charge of the depot of Alexam ria, with 400 sea and b*y*going craft, using from IOQO
to 3000 tons of coal per day: and from whence he shipped in one year 65.556 animals with
exceedingly small loss.

—66—

The British regulations require that each ship should be able
to distil daily one-fourth more than the regulation quantity of
water for all on board. An allowance of one gallon per man and
7 or 8 gallons per animal per day is ample for all purposes.
Water can be kept in iron and wooden tanks and in barrels.
Large iron tanks' measuring 4 feet in every direction are usually
arranged in rows in the hold, resting on the ballast, water being
drawn from these as required by means of a suction pump.

After the stores are shipped and stowed the embarkation of
men and animals is very rapid. The vessel should then lie for about
24 hours in smooth water, until everyone and everything is shaken
down in place, so to speak; and so that order may arise out of
what seems hopeless confusion before meeting rough water out-
side.

V.

OCCUPATION OF THE THEATRE OF OPERATIONS OVERLAND. — The
process of transferring an army from a peace footing to a war
footing is called mobilization. The assemblement of the mobil-
ized forces near the frontier of the state to be attacked is called
concentration.

Mobilization "is the passage of all the units to the war footing.
It is absolutely distin6t from concentration. This principle
appears trite to-day yet" in 1870 "the two operations were
confounded" by the French, "and reciprocally embarrased one
another."

"Formerly, at the commencement of the century, for example,
a political rupture was visible a long time in advance, especially
by the power that, counting upon a superiority of military
resources, had resolved to take the offensive. It then prepared
its forces in secret, assembled them with equal concealment,
declared war when it was ready, and endeavored to bring on hos-
tilities at once. To-day, with the development of intercourse,
increase in the number of railroad and telegraph lines, and
expansion of the influence of the press, such methods are no
longer practicable. All preparations for war in view of an early
offensive will immediately become known. Indeed, the character
of the masses to be moved, no longer permits action under the
same conditions. But if the assemblement of men and horses,
in view of hostilities, can no longer be concealed, it can, on the
other hand, be executed at the decisive moment with a prompt-
ness formerly unknown, and in a shorter space by one belligerent
than by the other. This is dependent upon the kind and degree
of preparation in time of peace.'

"With the introduction of compulsory service, the opening of
war has become a more critical moment than formerly, for the
nations concerned. It is no longer a question of sending against
the enemy a portion of the young men organized as an a<5tive
force, but the entne able-bodied population of a country is called
out. From one to two millions of men must be rudly torn from
the peaceful pursuits of ordinary life. To them must be added
from one to two hundred thousand horses. It is necessary to
feed, group, equip and transport these masses with all the
material required by them. This is a supreme ordeal which

—68—

profoundly stirs the nation, reaches all households, all occupa-
tions."

"Now it is nothing to raise a regiment to the war effective.
Difficult, however, is the execution of that great body of meas-
ures requiring simultaneous execution : the installation of new
authorities ; the formatior of new agencies ; the organization of
depots, interior garrisons, commands, special governments and
station services ; the creation of new staffs from heterogeneous
elements ; the organization of trains, parks, convoys, and
accessory field services ; the assembling of horses, provisions,
munitions, means of transport, &c. A simple enumeration of
the details of such an operation makes it apparent how greatly
confusion is to be feared, and how indispensable it is that minute
preparations be made in time of peace."

'j Still further reasons demand this. The mobolization must
be effected as rapidly as possible, for the sooner it is finished, the
sooner will the concentration be accomplished, provided the rail-
roads lend themselves to a prompt transportation of troops. An
army which concentrates upon a frontier more speedily than the
enemy, possesses advantages which exercise a favorable influence
upon the entire course of the campaign.' *

The term "mobilization" is applied improperly but conven-
iently to whatever preparation a nation may make to place armed
forces in the field, however meagre the available war resources
may be. The burden of improvisng means of defense will fall on
officers of the permanent establishment, and it will help them if
they are familiar with the methods employed by military powers
when placing their troops on a war footing. In all military
powers these methods are now substantially the same and those
of Germany may be taken as a model.

Mobilization of the German army. Each unit mobilises every
year some portion of its personel or material. A field battery,
for instance will furnish its guns complete on a war footing,
another the wagons, another the horses, etc. The complete bat-
tery is exercised, marched, worked by train and brigaded for
maneuver with an infantry command. The next year each of
the batteries will mobilize a different portion and by this means
all gain experience.

In actual mobilization the first and simplest operation is calling
in the reserves and thereby, roughly speaking, doubling the

* Derrecagaix, modern war. Foster's translation.

-69-

s':rength of the establishment. This is simple because in Ger-
many localization has been carried to its extreme limit, and each
unit has its special recruiting ground. The' country is divided
into 17 corps districts, each of which is subdivided into 2 divisions
and 4 brigade districts, — these, again, into regimental, battalion
and company districts. The system of recruitment is so localized
that every company comes from a certain village or group of
small villages. Every town, village, hamlet, &c., has well pro-
tected sign-boards placed where the main roads enter it, setting
forth the company, battalion, regiment, brigade, division and
corps to which its men either belong or owe duty, together with
much either information, chiefly the exact location of their equip-
ment and stores. The unit is a regimental district, called the
"Landwehr district," and each of them has a permanent district
commander. The latter has an adjutant, 3 clerks, and orderlies,
per battalion, and a ist sergeant and 2 other non-commissioned
officers per company. These keep the register of the names and
addresses of all reserve and landwehr men in their district, also
summon, collect and forward them in time of war.

There is a periodical census and registration of all horses in
the country, and owners are by law obliged to produce the
animals if required, and dispose of them to the government on
terms which are settled by a .commission. The horses are
brought to convenient centres for distribution.

In every district there are store houses where the necessary
wagons and harness are kept : also others for articles of clothing
camp and garrison equipage. All of these are frequently in-
spected during the year and kept in good order and repair, and
are so arranged in racks that their distribution is very rapid.
Similar arrangements exist for the medical and all other depart-
ments. Germany and France can mobilize about 20 corps each
in 6 days ; Russia 22 corps in 14 days ; Italy 12 corps in 21 days.

When notice of mobilization is telegraphed to the landwehr
districts, every man of the reserve and of the landwehr is at once
summoned by notices which are always kept ready, and which
state when and where he is to join. These men are formed into
detachments and forwarded to their regiments under non-com-
missioned officers. They there find themselves in the same
regiments, battalions and companies in which they formerly
received instruction and serving with relatives, friends and
fellow townsmen.

While the reservists are joining their regiments the artillery
prepares its munition columns, its parks and its depots of reserve

-ye—

munitions ; the engineers their bridge equipage, their implement
columns, their companies of pontoneers and sappers, their rail-
road and telegraph sections; the train, its supply columns, its
sanitary detachments, its horse depots, ambulances, etc.

While, as a whole, the mobilization of a great force seems a
"gigantic" undertaking, it is in reality simple, provided the sys-
tem is decentralized and has been well tested during the leisure
of peace conditions. If every corporal, in an army however
large, can summon his little command, clothe and equip it, — if
every teamster knows where to find his wagon and the harness
for its draught animals near at hand, and if, at the same time,
the purchasing and supply departments accomplish their work
with the same division of labor, the difficulties are reduced to the
old element of discipline and vigilance during peace, with a sys-
tem of inspections which from sheer routine, however, tend to
degenerate and become perfunctory. The main thing here as
everywhere in the army, is that every individual be convinced, no
matter how trivial and petty the work given him may seem, that
his part is to do it as well as he can.

Mobilization in the United States. — A small standing army re-
cruited by voluntary enlistment may be placed on a strong war
footing with much of the facility and promptness peculiar to
great military nations. For this, the service should be, first of
all, popular, for which reason of many others, the territorial sys-
tem is indispensable.

Suitable organization 'is of course prerequisite. A well con-
sidered plan* is based on the peace strength recommended by
Major General Miles in his annual report, viz., one soldier for
each one thousand, or one-tenth of one per cent., of the popula-
tion. Omitting many details it is as follows :

36 regiments of INFANTRY 36000

14 regiments of CAVALRY 14000

6 batteries of HORSE ARTILLERY at 84 men -each 504

30 batteries of FIELD ARTILLERY at 84 men each 2520

N. C. S. clerks, orderlies, etc., recruiting parties and unassign-
ed recruits for 10 battalions of field and 2 battalions of
horse artillery 300 3324

100 batteries of HEAVY ARTILLERY at 75 men each 7500

Bands. N. C. S., artillery mechanics, and other specialists,
clerks, orderlies, etc., for organized commands of heavy
artillery, and for recruiting parties and unassigned recruits
for the heavy artillery 750 8250

* Proposed by Major H. C. Hasbrouck, 4th Artillery. The details omitted are very
complete.

4 battalions of engineers at 300 men each 1200

For band, N. C. S., engineer specialists, clerks, orderlies, etc.,
and for recruiting parties and unassigned recruits for the
engineers ,5O I35O

Mechanics, clerks, messengers, teamsters and laborers, etc., to
be employed in Quartermaster and Subsistence Depart-
ments at military posts and stations garrisoned by troops,
being about 5$ of the combatant strength of the peace
establishment 3000

Post N. C. S., the Hospital Corps, Signal Corps, Military Acad-
emy detachments, and enlisted men of the Ordnance De-
partment at arsenals and armories 2500

Total enlisted strength on peace footing 68424

INFANTRY REGIMENT, PEACE — ENLISTED STRENGTH.

3 battalions of 4 companies of 75 men each 900

Band, regimental and battalion N. C. S., etc., recruit detach-
ment, recruiting parties and unassigned recruits .... 100
Total enlisted strength on peace footing 1000

A I3th and I4th company to be skeletonized and to them to be assigned
officers absent on detached service or present for duty with the regimental
recruit detachment.

• INFANTRY REGIMENT, WAR — ENLISTED STRENGTH.

Each company to be increased to 125 men.

The I3th and i4th companies to be organized into a depot battalion for the
purpose of collecting, enlisting and instructing men for the service battalions.
The President to have the authority to increase the recruits in each depot
company to any desired number.

3 service battalions at 500 men each : 1500

Regimental N. C. S., etc., 7, battalion N. C. S., etc., 15 ... 22

Total enlisted field strength on war footing 1522

CAVALRY REGIMENT, PEACE — ENLISTED STRENGTH.

3 squadrons of 4 troops of 75 men each 900

Band, regimental and battalion N. C. S., etc., recruit detach-
ment, recruiting parties and unassigned recruits .... 100
Total enlisted strength on peace footing 1000

A i3th and i4th troop to be skeletonized and to them to be assigned officers
absent on detached service or present for duty with the regimental recruit
detachment.

CAVALRY REGIMENT, WAR — ENLISTED STRENGTH.

Each troop to be increased to 100 men by the addition of 25 privates.

The 1 3th and I4th troops to be organized into a depot squadron for the pur-
pose of collecting, enlisting, and instructing men for the service squadrons.
The President to have the authority to increase the recruits in each depot troop
to any desired number.

3 service squadrons at 400 men each 1200

Regimental N. C. S., etc., 7, battalion N. C. S., etc , 15 ... 22

Total enlisted field strength on a war footing 1222

LIGHT ARTILLERY, PEACE— ENLISTED STRENGTH.

12 battalions of 3 batteries of 84 men each 3024

Battalion N. C. S., etc., 60. Recruiting parties and 3 recruit

detachments including unassigned recruits, 240 300

Total enlisted strength on peace footing > 3324

LIGHT ARTILLERY, WAR --ENLISTED STRENGTH.

Each battery to be increased to 175 men.

The three recruit detachments to be organized into 3 depot batteries for
collecting, enlisting, and instructing men for the service batteries and ammuni-
tion trains. The President to have the authority to increase the recruits in
each depot battery to any desired number.

12 battalions at 525 men each 6300

Battalion N. C. S., etc 65

Total strength of field batteries on war footing 6365

HEAVY ARTILLEY, PEACE — ENLISTED STRENGTH.

The Heavy Artillery to be organized in commands of one or more batteries
according to the armament, extent of works to be occupied, and the accessi-
bility of the national guard or volunteer heavy artillery that can be relied
upon to aid in the defense.

loo batteries at 75 men each 7500

Bands, Post N. C. S., artillery mechanics and specialists assign-
ed to posts and recruit detachments, including unassigned

recruits 750

Total enlisted strength heavy artillery on peace footing ... 850

HEAVY ARTILLERY, WAR — ENLISTED STRENGTH.

Each battery to be increased to 150 men.

The recruit detachments to be organized into depot batteries for collecting,
enlisting, and instructing men for the service batteries and ammunition
trains. The President to have the authority to increase the recruits in each
depot battery to any desired number.

100 service batteries at 150 men each 15000

Bands, Post N. C. S., etc., artillery specialists and mechanics

assigned to posts 500

Total enlisted for service batteries on war footing 15500

ENGINEERS, PEACE.

To consist of 4 battalions of 4 companies each to be organized as recom-
mended by the Chief of Engineers. Two of the battalions to be specially
trained in field and siege engineering work, one in pontoon work and one in
submarine mining.

ENGINEERS, WAR.

Each company and battalion to be increased to desired strength and a depot
battalion organized. One battalion of engineers and one pontoon train, to be
served by two companies, to be attached to each of the two army corps to be
formed. The battalion of submarine miners to be divided into suitable frac-
tions and sent to, plant and operate the submarine mines for harbor defense.

AH

—73—

ARMY SEKVICK C3RPS AND STAFF DEPARTMENTS ON WAR FOOTING.

"The enlisted men not required for services at posts and permanent stations
would furnish a nucleus of well-trained, reliable and disciplined men for the
organization of the services of the Quartermaster, Subsistence, and Medical
Departments in the field. The additional men needed should be specially
enlisted or hired for duty in these departments."

"The proposed peace organization would be sufficiently large for thorough
instruction and maintenance of order, and would permit the formation in a
short time of two complete Army Corps; each consisting of 27,000 infantry,
90 field guns, a regiment of cavalry, an engineer battalion, pontoon train and
ammunition trains. Also two cavalry divisions of six regiments, each divis-
ion having 6000 men and a battalion of horse artillery. The coast defenses
with aid from local national guard and volunteer heavy artillery could be
efficiently manned and, the works and guns being provided, the protection of
the coast would be assured. The field force would be efficient and reliable,
for the new men necessary to bring the peace establishment up to the war
footing would be quickly trained and disciplined by close association with the
old soldiers. It would be able to at least hold in check any force until time
was gained to enlist, organize, and train the necessary volunteers. A suffi-
cient regular force for the first operations of war with any of the great Euro-
pean powers is specially needed. It will take time to organize and train
volunteers, but possible adversaries, who are ready for war and have abund-
ant means of ocean transportation, will certainly not allow time for prepara-
tion. Too much reliance is placed upon the organized national guard of the
several states. These troops are acknowledgedly good and capable of excel-
lent service, but there are many of them who could not leave their business
for any considerable length of time without a great sacrifice of personal inter-
ests, and these could not give cheerful, willing service during the period
necessary to organize the volunteers. Besides this, it is in the national guard
that would be found the men, the best and most eager, to officer the volun-
teers, and almost the only ones in civil life who have the technical knowledge
necessary to train them properly. It would be a mistake to employ the na-
tional guard infantry, cavalry and field artillery in the first line. Except on
occasions of emergency the)- should be used only for local defense and every
facility and encouragement given them to obtain commissions in the volun-
teers. It is probable that more reliance can be placed upon the service to be
obtained from the national guard heavy artillery for local defense than upon
the other arms of the same force for distant field service."

"To organize the regular army for war service, the companies, troops, and
batteries would be increased to their war strength, and the recruiting depots
to keep them full would be established. The 36 infantry regiments would be
organized into 12 brigades of three regiments each; the 12 brigades into 4
divisions; the 4 divisions into 2 army corps. To each division to be assigned
one battalion of field artillery for the divisional artillery, and to each corps 3
battalions for the corps artillery. To each army corps to be assigned one
regiment of cavalry; one squadron being attached to each division, and one
kept under the immediate orders of the corps commander; each division and
corps commander would then have the facilities for information, security and
reconnoitering in the vicinity of his command. One battalion of engineers

— n—

and a pontoon train to be served by two engineer companies to be attached
to each corps. 12 regiments of cavalry to be organized into 4 brigades of 3
regiments each; the 4 brigades into 2 cavalry divisions of 2 brigades each.
One battalion of horse artillery to be attached to each division."

"The divisional and corps ammunition trains to be officered by surplus offi-
cers of the light and heavy artillery and manned by non-commissioned offi-
cers and men furnished by the artillery depots."

"The necessary vehicles and harness for the ammunition and supply trains
to be kept in store ready for use."

"The proposed organization of the infantry is recommended because the 3
battalions for a regiment, the 3 regiments for a brigade and 3 brigades for the
largest battle unit, the division, permits two thirds of the force to be employ-
ed in the fighting line with its local supports and reserves and the remaining
third to be used as a general reserve. The proposed organization for the
cavalry regiments and brigades offers the same advantages for dismounted
fire action and permits the ready formation into three lines for mounted
action."

"A scheme should be prepared and altered from time to time to meet
changed conditions for the mobilization, command, and staff of each brigade,
division and corps, and for the organization of the recruiting depots, the
ammunition and supply trains. The number of clerks and orderlies for
brigade and higher headquarters, and the source from which these men are
to be obtained, should be determined. The organization of the companies,
troops, batteries, battalions, regiments, and recruit depots for the volunteers
should be the same as that prescribed for the regular army. Time would be
gained and possible errors of hasty legislation avoided, if regulations, based
on Act of Congress, are provided for the organization of volunteers to be
raised, for their subsistence and quarters until mustered, and for their muster
into service."

The scheme of mobilization which this organization contem-
plates and admits of, while it would be pra6licable under many
circumstances, would be greatly facilitated as to economy in tini£
and expense by permanency of station and the localization of com-
mands. These two advantages are paramount, but there are
others which are very striking.

i st. Because of the bond of sympathy which would exist be-
tween the troops and the community in which they were perman-
ently stationed and which would furnish the young men to the
ranks. These would be under home influences during their
whole term of service; they could visit their homes with short
furloughs and at small expense; cases of misconduct would be
known and disparaged by a public opinion which the soldier had
been accustomed to respect, while promotion for good conduct
and attention to duty would become doubly valuable. In a few
years the pride of the community in its regiment and the pride
of the regiment in its locality would build up a wonderful morale
and esprit de corps, and troops from adjacent sections would

*J E*

compete in creating and upholding honorable traditions of ser-
vice.

2nd. Because of the ease and economy with which the ranks
could be kept filled in time of peace and recruited to the war
strength if hostilities threatened. At present the United States
army is absolutely divorced from the people at large and the
officer or soldier is like an alien when away from his post in uni-
form, albeit the country has no better or more loyal citizens.
With commands localized in populous communities in which dis-
bursements for supplies would generally be made, the large posts
and barracks would be visited by civilians in all stations of life,
who would be impressed with the good order, system, cleanliness
and humane and wholesome displine of the service; and who
would be quick to notice physical and mental improvement in
friends and acquaintances. It would be apparent that the soldier
has comforts and means assured him, which are often wanting in
civil life and that the army is in no respects a Botany Bay for
unruly characters. After his tour of service he would go back
to the community, where his ingrained habits would be of incal-
culable use to him at home, in business and in the militia. His
example and advice would induce others to follow in his footsteps
and these, in turn, others, until, in many places, boys would look
forward to the army as a career or to entering it as they would
enter any other school for a term of years. If war threatened,
the enthusiasm and martial spirit which is then always rife,
would supply recruits in ample number, for these would join rela-
tives, friends and fellow townsmen, in place of being drafted to
distant commands to serve with strangers. There would be
available a self established reserve, of men who had served with
the colors, most of them within convenient distance for promptly
joining their old commands.

It is hardly necessary to point out that the extent of the United
States, with its varieties of climate, produdions and material
interests, has in some quarters a tendency to create seftional
differences and prejudices which in time may loosen the attach-
ment of one section or another to the general government. A
popular army will introduce a leaven of loyalty and devotion to
the flag as nothing else can.

3rd. Because of the acquaintance which would spring up and
increase between army and militia, to the professional benefit of
both. Under the system of frequent changes of station the
militia, officers and men, no sooner feel at home at the nearest
military station, than the entente cordiale has to be renewed, if

-76-

at all, under difficulties and with strangers. Permanent garrisons
mean that the personnel of the militia will ultimately form,
essentially, a part of them in professional work and social recrea-
tion.

4th. Because in every part of the country there will be some
troops thoroughly familiar with the terrain and, in case of invas-
ion, a few troops at least who will be fighting literally for their
firesides and homes. In case of sea-coast artillery troops, these
cannot be too familiar with the harbor which they may be called
upon to defend: to remove them from time to time to other
places is a shortsighted and indefensible policy.

5th. Because the supplies necessary for the complete equip-
ment of the "reserve" must be stored, inspe6ted and kept in
good order at the large stations: if they are destined for the
organizations serving there and not for unknown troops who may
sooner or later come after, an interest, however selfish, will be
taken in maintaining them at the highest standard.

VI.

Concentration. — Immediately after mobilization is completed the
work of moving the forces and massing them near the frontier
of the state to be attacked, begins. Concentration may there-
fore be divided into two periods: the transport of troops and
their strategic deployment.

The region in which the troops are massed, from whence they
will advance or in which they may await attack is called the zone
of concentration. It has been selected in advance of war, ac-
cording to the character of the frontiers, but is subject to modi-
fication by the duration of the enemy's mobilization and by the
strategic significance of his first movements thereafter.

In concentration the massing of the forces must be protected
from interference by the enemy, and threatened home provinces
must be covered. Skillful selection and occupation of a zone
should result in doing both.

"It is certain, indeed, that if the assemblements of a grand
army take place upon the flank of the probable direction of the
enemy's columns, the latter will be forced to abandon his pro-
jeds. '

"The assemblement of the different parts of an army cannot,
without danger, be effected under the eyes of the enemy and
exposed to his blows. The army is then obliged to conceal its
movements behind a protecting screen formed by troops,
obstacles of the ground, or a combination of both."*

"Mistakes made at the outset, in the assemblement of the armies, can-
not be repaired during the entire course of the campaign."

Inversely, it is true that the general who succeeds in massing
his troops betimes in a zone of concentration rightly chosen,
already controls the situation. He may go forward confident
that thereafter the best line of conduct will be made plain to him
from day to day by the course of events. Even if defeated in
battle the defeat will be inflicted under circumstances which are,
relatively, the most favorable for him.

Strategy, therefore, has no concern with any operation nearly
so important as concentration. It is equally true that the size of
modern armies is imposed by railroads,! i. e., by the number of
soldiers that may be transported to the frontier and kept supplied

* Derrecagaix.

t As the size of modern cannon is imposed by improved powder.

-78-

and in a state of efficiency. Here the connection between strat-
egy and logistics is very close.

Principles of transport. General considerations. ''First of all,
provision should be made for the wants of the troops during the
period of transportation. On account of the positive rule which
prescribes that the troops shall be transported first, — the different
arms of the service being apportioned according to the exigencies
of the situation, — and that the provision trains shall be held
back until the last, it must be calculated that the units disem-
barking during the first days will not receive their supplies of
provisions in less than a week. As to the local resources, it is
estimated that the richest sections can furnish these troops sub-
sistence for no longer a period than two days. Abundant sup-
plies must, therefore, be collected near the zone of concentration
either before the actual declaration of war or during the period
of mobilization."

Transport by rail. "The concentration is of such importance
that the loss of a single hour should not be looked upon as a
matter of trifling consideration. The greatest possible number
of railroads should, therefore, be called into requisition."

"The influence of these roads upon the movements of armies
now becomes all-controlling. It is understood that if each army
corps had an independent double track at its disposal for the
transportation of its various elements to the frontier, if it were
stationed upon this line, and so mobilized as to ensure uninter-
rupted use of its means of transport, the concentration would be
effected under the most favorable circumstances. Finally, if at
the terminal stations the sidings were sufficiently numerous to
allow the trains to succeed one another every 15 minutes, 96
trains could be unloaded in 24 hours. It would thus be possible
to secure the arrival of the 105 trains of an army corps in 26%
hours."*

The great military powers have endeavored to so construct
their railroads in number and direction that this perfection of
result may be approximated. On the frequency with which trains
can be dispatched rather than on the speed of these, depends the
number of troops which may be transported in a given time: in
any case, therefore, it is necessary to have a number of disem-
barking stations on each line at convenient intervals and within
supporting distance of each other.

Military nations have a railway section of the General Staff
(apart from the Supply Department or Railway Troops proper)

Derrecagaix.

—79—

whose duty it is to follow everything that affects the subject cf
military transport, and to possess an accurate knowledge of all
railway systems at home and abroad, together with the amount
of traffic they are capable of, and work out large military trans-
port arrangements. When railwa)^ lines pass suddenly from
ordinary traffic to transport large bodies of troops and munitions
of war great confusion will ensue unless proper measures are
taken beforehand to avert it. In 1870 the French had no such
system, and as this was their first experience in transporting and
supplying large bodies of troops confusion soon resulted. Early
in the war 7000 railway carriages were blocked together in a solid
mass at Metz. It is easy to understand that, even on several
tracks, these extended for miles. The supplies, food, ammuni-
tion, arms, clothing, medicines, pontoons, wagons, were urgently
needed, yet no one knew what any one carriage contained, and,
opened at random, it was found that many contained an assort-
ment of miscellaneous stores. In this case, want of system and
management rendered the railways an absolute disadvantage.
There was telegraphing to and fro, the officers in despair the
men murmuring and insubordinate, new trains constantly arriv-
ing and the enemy advancing like a black cloud from the
horizon.

In addition to keeping up supplies of all kinds railways are
necessary to remove the sick and wounded and especially to- keep
up the effective strength of the army at the front. In active
campaign the yearly losses will be 50% under most favorable
conditions and will usually reach 70% to 75%. At the end of
the first month about one-eighth of the yearly loss must be for-
warded and thereafter one-tenth to one-twelfth. In addition to
these, special reinforcements are sent after a battle.*

Special considerations. — Whether a distinct advantage will be
gained in point of time by sending troops by rail should be care-
fully considered. It will often accelerate concentration, if only
by disembarrassing a terminus of troops with which it is over-
crowded, to direct them by marching to some other station
towards the point of concentration, where return carriages may
meet them. For short distances no time is gained in moving
large forces by rail, as the time required for entrain-
ing and detraining and the interval of time between trains and
delays which are incidental to railroads and cannot be foreseen.

* A European estimate of the annual loss of infantry in campaign is 4f*. that for the cav-
alry and artillery. 21%. In future wars the cavalrv losses should be greater than this if it
be well fought, disencumbered of lances and trappings; and the artillery should suffer
from improved shrapnel, and be decimated if it attempts to "go in" to some of its more
effective ranges by small-caliber bullets.

— 8o—

will counteract the advantages due to rapidity of transit. This
simple consideration was unaccountably overlooked on several
occasions by the French in 1870. Canrobert, ordered with over
30,000 men, horses, &c., from Chalons to Metz, a four or five
days march, took about that length of time to entrain. He
could have been in Metz with the whole of his troops on the day
when his last trains were leaving Chalons. There were other
instances quite as striking.

This matter has been clearly stated* as follows:
"In calculating the net gain of time by transporting masses of
troops by rail the following factors should be kept in mind:"

1. "The number of trains which can be loaded within a given
time; this again depends on the number of entraining stations,
the rapidity with which the rolling stock can be collected at these
points and the time required for entraining the troops."

2. "The rapidity with which troops can be disembarked and
with which the detraining stations can be cleared of troops and
empty trains."

3. "The interval of time which the considerations of safety
require to be observed between successive trains."

"Taking as a basis the figures obtaining for a German army
corps at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war we have:"

"The corps requires 92 trains of from 50 to 60 cars; 18 trains
are despatched per day, making 360 miles in 24 hours; this dis-
tance will bring a corps to almost any frontier in Germany. The
embarkation will last a little more than five days, i. e., the last
troops would embark on the 6th day, arrive and disembark at the
terminal station 360 miles distant on the yth day. The whole corps
would begin a6tive operations on the 8th day; it would have trav-
ersed a distance in 24 hours which would require 24 foot marches
at the high average rate of 15 miles per day and without any
days of rest. The net gain would be 17 days."|

"Were the distance to be traversed but 15 miles, the corps
would cover it in one day by foot march, while by rail it would
take seven days, a loss of six days. To ensure gain of time by
transport of masses by rail, requires therefore that the distance
to be traversed bear a certain ratio to the number of troops."

As a rule this ratio will be best determined by the traffic man-
agers of the roads, in consultation with the commandant of the
forces. The officials of the railroads in the United States and
Canada are men of uncommon practical ability and entirely

* By Lieutenant Carl Reichmann, cth U. S. Infantry.

t The number of days stated has since been greatly reduced.

— 8i —

>tworthy. As many of the details as possible may safely be
laft to them.

The accumulation of rolling stock at stations requires time
and the first days after declaration of war or after war is known
to be inevitable will be devoted to this and to completion and
concentration of small bodies ready at their garrisons to be
marched to points of entraining. The concentration of large
bodies, such as an army corps, is not advisable, previous to their
transport. It is also best to complete the concentration of a
unit on the frontier, — at least a division, rather than parts of
several, and to do this complete organizations must arrive in
rapid succession. Thus a full regiment with its regimental trans-
port, ready for a campaign of any length will be entrained and
protea the concentration of its brigade, the other organizations
of which follow promptly. To do this it is necessary to prepare
careful time tables in advance and to test them frequently in
time of peace.

Railway troops. Continental armies have battalions of rail-
way troops intended to form in war the nucleus of the military
railway forces, and in peace to train men and officers. A rail-
way battalion is divided into constructing and working com-
panies. The first make improvised lines, the second take them
in hand as soon as made, man them with engineers, firemen and
personnel generally. The service, once established, is handed
over to the civil staff, the trained companies moving on to com-
plete another section.

General Sherman pronounced against the formation of a
special railway corps for the United States, probably recalling
the efficient services rendered during the War of Secession by
the railroad corps which was quickly and easily organized mainly
of mechanics and railroad men. Yet General McCullum,* the
military superintendent of railroads showed in his report that
the railroad corps used with such success in 1864, was the result
of the experience gained in 1862 and 1863; in other words that
the practical training of two years was required to create a corps
d' elite. The United States can, however, afford to negleft this
matter during peace with impunity, while other nations cannot.
Apart from the army of trained employees which numberless

* An architect and engineer, appointed superintendent of all the railroads in the United
States, with full power to appropriate them with all their appurtenances for the public use
and with positive orders to be ready at all times to execute any orders that might be given.
He a± once organized a strong military administration centering in his own hand, of the
lareest system of railroads in the world and created a quasi 'military corps of engineers,
skilled mechanics and laborers."

II

— 82 —

roads render necessary and who all have the keen, practical sense
peculiar to their nationality, nearly everyone else has a famili-
arity with railroads and their working. The trains are open from
end to end, the public as a rule, is not excluded from stations,
sidings, yards and shops, the track passes through the center of
populous towns and is a highway for pedestrians, and everywhere
.in the country people have taken a personal interest from child-
hood up in railroads which their communities have helped to con-
struct. In Europe opposite conditions obtain in every respect.*

Indeed, as far as ability is concerned to call promptly into exis-
tence and to organize a corps of railroad troops, the United
States has an advantage over most other nations which is unique.
A measure of their efficiency can be best obtained by citing, in
general, what they accomplished in the last last two years of the
civil war, when the actual running of trains and transport of
troops over thousands of miles of rail were the easiest of their
tasks.

"As an illustration of the nature and magnitude of the work
accomplished in the military division of the Mississippi alone in
supplying General Sherman's army, it may be mentioned that
there were laid or relaid 433 miles in length of track. There
were built or rebuilt over eighteen miles in length of bridges.
There were in use 260 locomotives and 3,383 cars. There were
employed 17,035 men and the whole expenses reached the enor-
mous sum of $29,662,781. It would not be difficult to multiply
examples; a better and more satisfactory idea of the importance
of the department and of the actual part it played in the war,
may be gathered from a perusal of the following figures: At one
time there were employed in the department 34,964 men. From
first to last we operated 2,105 miles of road and made use of 419
locomotives and 6,330 cars. Of bridges we built in all over 26
miles. The expenses of the department are scarcely less sug-
gestive. They reach the high figure of $42, 462, 145. "t

Railways were constructed at the rate of a mile per day, in-
cluding grading: where a road had been destroyed, reconstruc-
tion was much more rapid, — so rapid that the enemy often found
it profitable to interfere with traffic by obstructions, switching
out a rail, firing on trains, &c. The railroad bridge over the
Etowah, 625 feet long and 75 feet high, was rebuilt in 6 days, and
one equally long but only half as high, in less than two.

* This seems to be a good example of a number of cases where American and European
conditions are at variance. American officers who are disturbed at what seem off-h?-d
methods and at the apparent neglect of matters which are thought vital in Europe, sh u! 1
c jnsider these differences well, before advocating changes.

t General McCallum, quoted by Lieutenant Reichmann.

[n 1865, Schofield's corps pf about 18,000 was moved from Ten-
nessee to the North Carolina coast to co-operate with Sherman.
Within 5 days from the receipt of the order the troops, baggage,
wagons, animals &c. were concentrated at various landings on
the Tennessee and Ohio rivers, from which they were taken in
boats to the railroads, and then by rail to their destination — a
move of 1400 miles, in the midst of winter in n days without
accident. Every train was composed, one half of cars with seats,
and one half of box-cars with straw. At certain stations along
the road hot coffee was prepared in advance, with which the sol-
diers filled their canteens and then exchanged places in the cars,—
those who had occupied seats going to the box cars to sleep.

Entraining and detraining. These matters are regulated in
all services, especially as regards field batteries and horses: the
regulations may be consulted at any time and need no recapitu-
lation. To load a field battery on flat cars and the horses in
horse-cars is said to require one-half an hour, but it has frequent-
ly been done in the United States service in 15 minutes without
previous practice. Infantry can board the cars anywhere along
the line and need no platforms. It is not well to confuse the
men with instructions; the main thing is that all officers, from
the regimental commander down, be present, that absolute quiet
and good order be preserved and idlers and spectators be exclud-
ed or kept at a distance. European carriages are filled and
emptied of foot troops more readily than the American cars.
The latter should be entered simultaneously at both ends, the
first men entering taking the first seats next the door, to the
right and left without obstructing the passage (while removing
their knapsacks and accoutrements) and filling the car towards
the middle. When the car is full, an officer should direct the
removal of knapsacks and accoutrements and see that they are
stowed properly: he can then do valuable service, however un-
congenial, by remaining in the car throughout the journey.

The ordinary water tanks in American cars are entirely inade-
quate for the needs of troops and a barrel of water should be
placed by the railroad officials in each car. The officials are also
apt to leave lamps uncared for: once under way negleCts on the
part of the company in this and other respeCts are difficult to
correct: darkness adds especially to the discomfort of travelling
in a crowded car.

The number of trains that can be despatched in war, from one
station in a- given time seems to be greater in the United States
than in Europe where 20 trains per day was a fair average. On

— 84-

tvvo occasions the French moved large bodies of troops in trains
running" at 10 minutes interval. The question is entirely one of
sufficiency of equipment on the part of the roads and celerity of
handling- the troops, and it is impossible to formulate general
rules which may be always trusted. These may apply to the
great trunk lines, but where several lines are included in the
route, tmforseen delays are apt to be numerous. Ordinary
break-downs, wash-outs and interruptions from many other
causes are of daily occurance in peace traffic and they will occur
more often when trains are running at short intervals with new
time tables. Delays in entraining troops will be reduced to a
minimum if all officers, including those of the highest rank are
present and leave no part of the work to subordinates or staff-
officers. Under the usual conditions it is within limits to assume
that from 90,000 to 100,000 men, with horses, wagons and sup-
plies can be moved 250 miles in 24 hours.*

Destruction of railroads. Railroads may be crippled, i. e.,
rendered useless for a time, but they cannot be destroyed. In
mountainous sections where there are many tunnels and viaducts
traffic may be interrupted for an indefinite period by destroying
these, but this kind of road is exceptional. European troops
carry a demolition equipment with dynamite cartridges, with
which to destroy the fine solid bridges, viaducts, &c., which are
common there. The more rapid methods of the American war,
where they are applicable, are more serviceable because the time
necessary for undisturbed work is often wanting.

A sufficient number of men all on the same side of the road
can pry under sleepers and rails, and at^ the word of command
raise track sleepers and all and overturn it bodily. Rails are
then detached from the sleepers, the latter piled crib fashion in
piles 4 or 5 feet high and bundles of rails laid across, weighted
at the ends. The cribs being fired the rails become red hot in
the middle and are bent by the end weights. This is a very
rapid method, but the road can be quickly restored . because the
rails can be straightened on the spot very easily. If there is
time each rail is taken, when red hot in the middle, and bent
against and as far as possible around a tree or telegraph pole; or
a lateral twist may be given it by applying leverage in opposite
directions at the ends. These methods are comparatively slow

* The General Manager of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad statei that 3so,<-o troops, fu'ly
equipped and supplied, could be moved from the interior of the United States to the sea-
coast. 1000 miles, in 30 hours, bv four trunk lines, without interfering matcriallv with the ordi-
nary traffic of the country . At the United States Infantry and Cavalry School, it is taught
Miat 'trains should not be despatched from a station with less interval than 10 minutes. *
* * 10, 16 passenxer cars constitute a train and run 20, 3.1 miles per hi-ur."

-85-

*

mt are very effective, as rails properly twisted must be sent to
the rolling mill.

With adequate proteftion and precautions a long line of rail-
road may be kept in running order in spite of an unremitting
succession of raids against it. "The energy displayed in repair-
ing the line will discourage the enemy, who will soon come to
recognize the futility of wasting much time and labor with no
lasting results."

Administration. — As a means for concentrating armies within
striking distance of the theatre of war railroads must be under
military administration: as a means for supplying these armies
while operating in the theatre of war, they should be under civil
administration. As both conditions exist at the same time there
must be between them a line of demarkation which is called the
transfer line, with its transfer stations. As the army advances
new transfer lines are selected, the older lines becoming second-
ary depots. In rear of this line the administration is civil be-
cause there should he no interference with the regular traffic of
the country or the supply of its productions on which the army
depends. At the same time it is obvious that for a certain dis-
tance in rear of the army there should be absolute military con-
trol regulating the distribution.

In the Franco-German war the Rhine was for some time the
transfer line, Mayence, Mannheim and Coblenz being the trans-
fer stations. Subsequently the line was moved to the Moselle
and afterwards to the Meuse.

Deployment. — "The troops having reached termini and disem-
barked, it is essential to consider their further disposition. To
leave them at the landing places is impossible. They must be
established to the front in such a way as to be able to support
each other in case of need. Hence the necessity of making sev-
eral marches, generally short, after disembarking, the effect of
which will be to place each division upon the points it is to pro-
visionally occupy. With the transport, this completes the con-
centration of the forces upon a frontier zone, and is equally sub-
ject to rules. The strategic deployment is designed to put the
army in condition for immediate service."

"The cantonments should be chosen so that the army may be
able to undertake the first marches as soon as possible, sometimes
even before the transport is completed. Their localities will be
dictated by the roads upon which the corps must advance toward
the enemy's frontier. The certainty of being able to take the
initiative will give the power of extending the deployment. The

—86—

contrary would be the case if an offensive movement on the part
of the enemy was feared."

"Once the deployment is ended, each army will occupy a cer-
tain number of frontier posts constituting1 its front. The direc-
tion of this front with reference to the enemy's lines of opera-
tion, is not a matter of indifference; it should vary according to
circumstances. In principle, it is so ordered as to be prepared
for all contingencies, while, if possible, threatening the adver-
sary's line of communications. In every case, the first condition
of success for a deployment as well as for a concentration, is
security. Hence arises the necessity for double precaution:"

"In the first instance, to protect the frontier against the enemy's
incursions during the period of mobilization; then, to cover the
concentration."

"At the moment war is declared, the protection of the terri-
tory devolves entirely upon the garrisons nearest the enemy.
But immediately afterwards, or at the same time, if possible, a
defensive screen should be organized, capable, by its strength
and the extent of its front, of allowing the various bodies to
assemble and to support each other in case of attack. Hence
arises the obligation of sending to the front strong masses of
cavalry reinforced by artillery and supported in rear, if circum-
stances require it, by a large infantry unit."

"This duty is a feature of the reconnaissance service of the
independent cavalry divisions. To cover the concentration is,
however, only a part of the service they are called upon to ren-
der. They must, in addition, seek to retard the union of the
enemy's forces. Eight or ten brigades of cavalry, each accom-
panied by a battery, throwing themselves unexpectedly upon the
enemy's territory, on the day following the declaration of war,
would burn his magazines and destroy his railroads, detraining
stations and other important works, spreading terror among the
inhabitants for sixty leagues from the' frontier, and at one blow
arresting mobilization and concentration."

"Whatever may be the difficulties presented by a concentra-
tion, this truth must be understood, that the strategic deploy-
ment of an army is the only act of war that depends completely
upon the will of the supreme directing power. The combina-
tions connected with it, however complicated they may be, are
not under the control of outside circumstances. It is later only
that chance comes into play to put a hand upon the course of
events."

-87-

«The general principles, then, which, though not absolute in
their charaaer, greatly facilitate the concentration of armies,
are as follows:

i st. Before the concentration, assemblement near the disembark-
ing stations, of provisions sufficient to supply the army, at least during
the entire period of transportation;

2nd. Protection of the frontier, from the day war is declared, by
the first disposable troops;

3rd. Dispatch to the frontier of the first mobilized units, for the pur-
pose of covering the strategic deployment;

4th. Distribution of the corps and division upon the zone of concen-
tration, in order more or less close (generally echelon) according
to the probable character of the first combats;

5th. Concentration of the armies upon angular fronts, when the
circumstances are favorable for such a direction."*

The first movements after concentration will lead to collisions;
if the concentration was faulty the forces will not be at places
where they are available. " Where the opposing forces are equal
such errors will in most cases effect the retreat of the one and
the advance of the other." "It is easy to perceive the connec-
tion of the seven defeats, which were inflicted upon France in
the first period of the great war, with the original dispositions
affecting the massing of the troops."

Marching. — After troops are detrained their first marches
begin and it is desirable that, for the first two or three days,
these should be short, though increasing in length from day to
day. After a long journey by rail, troops are very unfit and
nothing will be gained, while much may be lost by a long initial
march, even if over good roads with favorable weather.

Rate. Everyone knows that, including short rests, the aver-
age rate of marching is for infantry, 2^, 3 miles, for field artil-
lery 4 miles and for cavalry and horse artillery 4, 5 miles, per
hour. But this is for small bodies of troops under favorable con-
ditions of roads and weather. The rate is affefted:

i st. The rate for the field artillery is almost always, and that
for the cavalry and horse artillery often, limited to that of the
infantry.

2nd. The rate decreases rapidly with the size of the force.
Under normal conditions a division will average 2% to 2^ miles,
and a corps only 2 miles per hour.

3rd. Weather affefts the rate apart from its effect on the
roads. Heat reduces it: excessive heat, especially with dust,

* Condensed from Derrecagaix

—88—

may reduce it practically to zero.* Stong head winds retard a
march greatly as do, also, driving rain storms, while a gentle
rain is often of service. Cold weather, even if severe, accelerates
the rate of marching.

4th. The condition of the roads predominates as a co-efficient
of the rate. They may be more or less dusty, sandy, muddy,
slippery, icy, swampy (as in the Gulf States, where many miles
of improvised corduroy had often to be laid), or cut up generally.
It is hardly an alleviation to have stretches of good and bad
road alternating. In the War of Secession the roads were never
good; they were sometimes fair; they were usually vile. March-
ing and manoeuvring on exterior lines of vast extent, these
roads were a most formidable obstacle. At the other extreme
stand the fine highroads of Europe, on many of which two col-
umns in route can march abreast, the unfenced fields on either
side being frequently passable for mounted troops. It is impos-
sible to overestimate the effect of bad roads: it extends from a
considerable retardation all the way to infinity, i. e., the rate of
march may become zero. One day during the pursuit of Hood's
forces after Nashville, a body of Federal troops took the road in
the early morning, only to lie about in the same place all day,
and return in the evening to their bivonac of the night before.
Good roads are much cut up by the passage of troops; bad roads
become rapidly worse and add to the difficulties of the rearmost
troops, already beset by disadvantages of their position in
column.

5th. The rate decreases with the number of miles marched,
the decrease being very perceptible after the second hour. It is
difficult for an average man, walking alone, to make 5 miles per
hour: 4 miles is rapid walking, but practicable; 8 miles in 2 hours
is impossible without continuous effort or special capacity. The
rate is greatest, everything else being equal, in the early morn-
ing: it decreases as the day advances: troops starting in the
afternoon are already tired, in a measure, from lounging about
camp. This is another disadvantage for troops in rear.

The head of the column should start at early dawn, as soon as it is
light enough to distinguish the road."\

Rests and elongation. The necessity for rests reduces the

*In the summer of 1864 marching in the Gulf States, the writer arrived in bivouac one
afternoon with one other officer and the colors: the rest of the regiment, including t.ie
mounted officers, were prostrated — the Colonel, permanently disabled by sun-stroke. TIP
division of 10,000 or i;,ooo men was temporarly broken up and scattered along the road for
10 or 12 miles. To march troops under such conditions is an absurdity.

t The writer, it is fair to state, is here at variance with others and perhaps with regula-
tions. His personal experience in marching has, however, been exceptionally great and
has left him with firm convictions on the subject.

-89-

aggregate of miles. Rests are intimately conneded with the
elongation or tailing off of a column. After marching an hour
a rest of 10 minutes is allowed. This is longer than necessary
but is obligatary for the foremost troops because those in rear
will get less. After the third hour, or when the march is about
three-fifths completed, allow a full half hour for all the troops.

In marching the depth of the column increases up to a certain
maximum, this maximum varying with the condition of the
roads, with the drill and discipline of the troops . and even with
their nationality and morale. The original cause of this ' 'tail-
ing off" is, perhaps, difficult to trace: it may start with individ-
ual soldiers throughout the column who want and take more
room than the drill regulations give them or who pick their foot-
ing with undue care: at any rate it is inevitable and unavoidable.
It is also exceedingly inconvenient. To lessen it, the Germans
drill their infantry, almost to excess, in marching while keeping
distances. That they are not entirely successful, Prince Hohen-
lohe may testify, when he refers to 1870 war experience and says:
"Anyone who has ever made a march of this kind knows how
disagreeable, trying and wearisome these checks are on the
march, when at every moment each man, enveloped in thick
dust and with his nose jammed against the pack of the man in
front of him, has perpetually to halt, not knowing whether it is
worth while to 'order h'is arms:' even though the words 'order
arms' be given, he must still, at the command 'right shoulder,'
take up his rifle again and march on." The amount of elonga-
tion will vary greatly with its funaions which are many, mainly
the state of the roads, the strength of the column, the drill, dis-
cipline and morale of the troops and, as already stated, with
their national characteristics: also with their physical condition.

The connection between rests and elongation is, of course, this:
Whenever a body of troops halts, those in rear close up to drill-
book distances, — but if at the hourly halt of 10 minutes, fhe
elongation has been so great that it. will take those in rear about
that long to close up they will have no rest at all. It therefore
becomes necessary to designate a march unit, which shall march
and halt independently and the size of which may vary with the
funaions of elongation referred to. For praaical purposes these
may all be eliminated excepting the state of the roads. It will
then be the duty of the commanding officer of each march unit
to keep his proper distance from the head of the unit immediately
preceding him, and to halt at the proper time for rests. To do

1 2

—9o—

this, all must have watches set to a common standard with which
they must be frequently compared.

On normal marches of 5 to 6 hours duration troops march one
hour and then rest 10 minutes: at the end of the third hour they
rest about 45 minutes.

It is desirable and indeed necessary that the march unit cor-
respond with the unit of command, and the latter must be small
enough for the mounted chief at its head to observe and control
the distance which he is required to keep. Taking the depth of
a three battalion regiment of 1200 men at about 530 yards and
the rate of march at 3 miles per hour, the following table may
be constructed:

Roads.

Tailing.

Elongation.

Rear men close up in

Rear men rest.

Fine.
Good.
Fair.
Bad.

H

l/2

65 yds.
132 yds.
198 yds.
264 yds.

45 S.

i m. 30 s.
2 m. 15 s.
3m.

9 m. 15 s.
8 m. 30 s.
7 m. 45 s.
7m.

It will be seen from this that if the regiment is taken as a
march unit the rearmost men will have 7 minutes rest even on
bad roads. If the roads are very bad, i. e., if the elongation
exceeds two-thirds, the wagons alone will so delay the march that
any system will be impossible and it will then be necessary to
allow each company commander or even each chief of squad to
make what progress he can, retaining as well as may be his place
in column. A march under these circumstances will throw the
best command out of gear.

If, then, the grouping which answers to a halt of 10 minutes
is the regiment of infantry, or a number of carriages of an
equivalent extent, every regiment which will form the head of a
column, will maintain as nearly as possible the prescribed pace,
and will make a halt of 10 minutes at the end of every hour's
march. "In this case an extreme regularity is indispensible.
Every day the chief of the column gives the indications of the
march" (i. e., allows for, or permits, a certain amount of tailing)
"and every chief of a group should apply them rigorously.
Nothing is more simple than to insert, in the order of movement,
the indication of the time of the first hourly halt. Everyone
knows that the pause is for 10 minutes, that they ought to march
for an hour, neither more nor less, and traverse during that time
a certain distance. That being well known the fractions will of
their own accord make successive halts at the same hour, and the
whole of the movement will be regular. There is nothing in

this but what is very practical, with watches regulated every
day."

"There remains only .to determine the distances to take at
starting- off between the heads of groups, and to preserve these
integrally during the whole march. They will be one-eighth or
one-fourth of the length of the group, at the least, and some-
times much more. A good method of marching, rigorously
applied, will undoubtedly restrain the losses of distance in a very
sensible manner. The chief of the column should take account
of the pi elongation of his troops by attentive and sustained
observations during the first days of the march. According to
the results obtained he will modify his instructions, so as to ap-
proach his groups as much as possible without ever closing them
so as to deprive them of the necessary elasticity." '
If, for example, the elongation is allowed at one-half:

Regiment in column 530 yards

Elongation 265 yards

Distance between regiments 40 yards

Total 835 yards

the leading guide of the second regiment will be kept at about
835 yards from the guide of the first, and it should be made one
of the special duties of a mounted staff officer to maintain him
at that distance, as nearly as possible. He can 'do this sometimes
by the eye alone, if he is a practical judge of distances, but more
generally he must occasionally estimate and check the distance
by time. Being mounted he can frequently notice when the
head of the regiment in front passes a conspicuous obje6l near
the road: in the case in point the head of his own regiment
should pass this point between 9 and 10 minutes later.

To start the march in the morning: an initial point is desig-
nated in advance of the bivouac the evening before and the order
for the march .must designate the precise hour and minute when
the head of each march unit will pass it. The commandant of
each unit will have caused the ground between this point and his
bivouac to be reconnoitered, and in passing it he will compare
his watch with that of the staff officer stationed there. The lat-
ter will have orderlies whom he can despatch in time to hasten
any organization which appears to be tardy.

It may be well to say that the method which has just been
sketched does not work as smoothly under conditions of a<5live
service as the description indicates, especially for the first few
days, but even an approach to accuracy soon developes a system

— 92 —

immeasurably superior to what may be termed the "go as you
please" methods which formerly obtained. It requires unceas-
ing vigilance and hard work on the part of all officers, especially
of the mounted officers and aids: but it is a great misfortune for
the troops and indire<5tly for their leader, if on this account and
because of occasional friction, it be allowed to fall into disuse.
Aids are furnished with horses on the march and are enabled to
live with comparative comfort in camp. This enables them—
and is intended to enable them — to do work on the march which
is of infinite value and which no other officers can do as well be-
cause of other duties which demand attention.

Marches require zealous, expert and tireless supervision. The
most brilliant conceptions, the soundest plans, the strategist and
tactician alike must fail, if troops do not move over the prescribed
distance and do not arrive where they are wanted in good condi-
tion. Ragged troops fight well* and hungry troops, if not weak-
ened by privation, fight well also; foot-sore and weary troops who
have been jerked along the roads to cover a certain number of
miles, are worthless.

During the War of Secession it often happened that little or
no attention was paid to the proper marching of troops. The
frequent want of success in isolated and subordinate operations
of the Federal forces can, it is believed, be generally traced to
this neglect; and the aggregate of failures reacted to upset one
combination after another. The Federals operated on exterior
lines, over an immense territory, always difficult, sometimes a
wilderness. The most obvious considerations should have sug-
gested the necessity for closing in on their well led and brave
adversary behind his breastworks, with elastic troops, hardened
and trained by systematic handling. As a rule, however, the
matter of systematic marching was neglected, and harrassed and
tired troops were hurried into line at the sound of the guns in
front. So true is this, that* men often welcomed the indications
of a fight, in that it withdrew them for a time from the roads to
the woods and fields, where lying down awiting orders, it was
nothing uncommon for them to fall asleep under fire.

There is one thing which the General in command, and he
alone, can do under any circumstances. His strategy may be at
fault, his tactics left to subordinates to execute, his supplies in-
sufficient or tardy: he can march his troops properly, — march
them so that each day will be an improvement in that the men

* Ragged troops for s<">me inscrutable reason, have always fought well. Anglo-Saxonr ,
at least, fight better be.ore, than after dinner.

will be gaining by systematic training in the open. He can sur-
round himself with staff officers imbued with this idea even if
they can neither read nor write, and he can see to it personally
that they carry out its demands. If the road has obstacles
they must be removed in time: and if it takes long to do this the
troops will rather be left in camp than attempt to make 5 or 10
miles by irregular forward movements. Excepting the hourly
and noon-day halts none must occur without ascertaining prompt-
ly their probable duration and notifying subdivisions at once by
preconcerted signals passed rapidly down the column. Where
heads of march units and others responsible for its conduct do
not attend strictly to their duties, penalties for neglect should be
imposed without exception and without mercy.

No march should be undertaken without every soldier knowing
its probable length, and, if possible, none so late that any con-
siderable number of troops will reach camp after dark. What-
ever be the hour named for the start the troops must not be
aroused sooner than necessary. In this connection there is some-
times a tendency on the part of subordinates to make assurance
doubly sure. Thus the commander-in-chief will designate the
start for 4 a. m., his leading corps commander, to be sure, for
3:30 a. m.: division commanders, for the same reason, for 3
a. m., and brigade and regimental cornmanders for a still earlier
hour: In all of these cases, and in all others connected with the
march the higher commanders and their aids must be ubiquitous
and indefatigable, whatever the hour of day or night. There is
an ever present, strong temptation, especially where everyone is
fagged out during a protracted campaign, to cling, or get back,
to the camp fire or tent and not to miss the hot meal which is known
to be in waiting and which 8 or 9 hours in the open air has made
very inviting:

"You would scarcely believe how easily a mounted officer for-
gets the amount of exertion required from a dismounted man,
above all, if the officer has never himself marched on foot dur-
ing a campaign. There is an abyss between the comfort of the
one and the discomfort of the other," who, in addition, at the
end of his march goes on outpost duty or fatigue, or finds what
sleep he can on the ground in the rain.

The greatest amelioration of marches are the rests. Men
look forward to the hourly rests of only 5 or 10 minutes with ab-
solute pleasure. The midday rest may be an hour or longer. A
whole day's rest every few days is recommended in the books;
but this is often not practicable and is of doubtful value. March-

—94—

ing gets to be a habit or a knack, like keeping in training, and
men look forward to the end of the day's march as they do, in a
lesser degree, to the end of the hourly spurts, while they will
spend a whole day lying about in the open fields with something
like impatience. . It is better to shorten the daily marches a little.
Still, occasional halts of a day are necessary that troops may
wash their underclothing, bathe, sew on buttons and make re-
pairs generally. If troops seem tired the halts should be length-
ened without lessening the pace: a uniform, swinging gait is
always the best.

After all has been said, every march is a case by itself, requir-
ing special care on the part of the officers. These must famil-
iarize themselves as nearly as possible with the features of the
road and country. Defiles, bridges, hills, bad places in the roads
and the like, all obstruct a march, and there are always unforseen
circumstances which arise to interrupt the smoothness of a march
as it is ordered on paper. The standing orders for marches, of
Major-General Crawford as issued to the Light Division in the
Peninsular War, often quoted, cover most points relating to
inequalities of roads.

In any case, all depends on the officers. On arriving in camp
the temptation is great to stretch one's length on the ground and
to stay there until the meal is prepared. If, in place of doing
so, Captain and subalterns will go among the men (and if the
Colonel will note that they do) and direct the non-commissioned
officers in looking after their squads to examine their foot gear
and sore feet, the work, while it may be excessively monotonous
day after day, will pay well for itself. Many men on arriving in
camp prefer to lie about, dirty and travel-stained, and will not
wash unless required to do so. Sudden, absolute rest after
fatigue, stiffens the joints and relaxes the system unduly: it is
much better to move about and obtain the rest by degrees. Men
should be compelled, after removing accoutrements, to take off
their blouses, beat out the dust and place them where they will
be aired and the perspiration be dried: then to loosen trous-
ers and adjust their underclothing comfortably: stockings should
be changed, shoes greased while on, and feet, together with
hands, face and neck, washed. If the feet are tender or sore, hot
water is much better for them than cold. Supper will also be
more wholesome than if eaten immediately after prolonged exer-
tion. Men will soon observe this routine by preference and will
need little supervision.

From this care and work will result willing, a<5Hve, well trained,

—95—

»

well seasoned, loyal soldiers, who, when called on for forced
efforts — as they sometimes must be, — will respond cheerfully;
and they will perform1 incredible feats without strewing- the roads
and fields with a string of fagged out, grumbling and insubordi-
nate men.*

If the head of a column be attacked the most skillful tactics
will be of no avail if the troops can not be brought up in good
condition and the ammunition in sufficient supply.

An old maxim is to march by as many roads as possible pro-
vided the intervals are not too great to allow of easy communica-
tion and reciprocal support: but, as a rule, when near the enemy
one is much limited in this respect. As a matter of fact, the
several roads running- in the same direction and the proper dis-
tance apart, are, in practice, not to be found. With large arm-
ies, it will seldom be possible to march less than a corps on one
road. In May, 1864, Sheridan marched on the James River in
a single column 13 miles long "for," he said, "I preferred this
to the combinations arising from separate roads, combinations
rarely working as expected, and generally failing, unless subordi-
nate officers are prompt and generally understand the situa-
tion."

The worst obstacle to a march is a timid or overcautious com-
mander who allows a small retarding force in his front to stand
in his way to induce him to halt and deploy. The commander
must decide promptly whether or not the force can offer serious
opposition and he must not be misled by noise and demonstra-
tions. He should be able to judge from the reports of his cav-
alry whether there is any possibility or probability of the force
in his front being considerable: if he judge that it is not, the ad-
vance guard should be ordered to sweep it away and to keep it on
the run. This was done by General Canby in his advance against
Mobile when the enemy wished to gain time to perfect and rein-
f jrce his defences.

The great bugbear in marches is the weight which the soldier
is expected to carry. The question is a vexed one in all armies
and admits of no solution because the average man is not strong
enough to carry all that he needs in the field without being fatally
encumbered. Most soldiers solve it for themselves by soqner or
later throwing away the knapsack, usually when going into action
for the first or second time. German troops are now required to
pile their knapsacks before battle: it is said, they can be collected

* See note at the end of chapter.

-96-

after a victory, while in case of defeat they would be discarded
in any case. This is possible and will work well at maneuvres:
in war, no regiment knows, as a rule, at what moment it may be
suddenly ordered forward under fire or whether the order will
come or not. In the first case there will be only time enough for
each man to discard his pack where he stands, while in case of
uncertainty no one will know the right moment to pile knapsacks:
in both cases the regiment will usually be far away from the spot
after a battle. Men cling longest to great coat and blanket, sel-
dom or never discarding the last. Unencumbered men can
easily march one third farther than others.

It is difficult to discuss foot-gear temperately when men are
permitted to buy and wear any kind of shoe they please. In
theory they are supposed to selecl good shoes of a size which
will fit: in practice they are judges neither of workmanship nor
quality, are imposed on by cheap dealers or sele6t fashionable
shapes without regard to comfort. A shoe with square toe,
double extension-sole, bellows-tongue, of grain leather, lacing
well above the ankle and purchased of a first-class dealer at his
own price will do much towards preventing straggling and will be
very inexpensive in the end.* Shoes should be amply large but
not loose. Stockings of pure wool are much the best to march
in without regard to the season of the year; they are, however,
expensive and cannot be kept from shrinking.

Tentage, excepting to a limited extent, cannot be carried with-
out extravagant allowance of wagons, yet some sort of shelter is
desirable in most climates. In the South and Southwest, during
the War of Secession few troops had tents, but the climate was
mild. They suffered much, however, from cold at night and es-
pecially from prolonged rains. This suffering was largely tem-
porary physical discomfort and did not affeft their health unfav-
orably; colds and the like were unknown. In very cold
weather tents without stoves are hardly an alleviation and men
hug the camp fires outside. For a prolonged campaign with
reduced transportation the choice must be between shelter tents,
which add to the weight carried by the men, and bivouac. For
eight months in the year and with plenty of fuel the latter can
oftenbe made satisfactory and there will be an occasional apple
tree or fence corner in the way of luxury.

The faft is that on a long campaign no one can be comfortable
excepting the higher and older officers, (as it is right they should)

__ * Shoes can now be had ready made in any style and to fit any foot. In case of war a
Captain of foot troops can obtain a supply of "shoes— if need be, on his personal credit— for
his command, in a few days.

—97 —

unless the weather is fine: bad days must be met with youth and
a philosophieal frame of mind.

NOTE. — American, like English troops, do their duty soberly: they lack, in
addition, the stimulus of traditions, brilliant uniforms and military song and
story which relieve monotony and hardships in European battalions. In the
Civil War, regimental bands, soon decimated, disappeared or were consoli-
dated at distant Headquarters: tents and transportation were reduced to a
minimum, and regular mails were possible only in the short intervals between
campaigns. The day's march was often through a barren, nearly always
through a thinly populated and deserted region, lacking the picturesque sur-
roundings of people and villages, of hills and vineyards, which freshen the
spirits of troops on the fertile plains of Europe. The one thing that could
have been done for them was to supervise their marching. Often no word of
of the length of the morrow's march reached the troops and men might hus-
band their strength and available food and water or not as they saw fit, — and
at the end of a reasonable number of miles undergo the most harrassing of
all experiences of looking every few minutes for the sight of camp which
would not come, perhaps for hours and until long after dark. Late at night,
for, as a rule it. was late when the last troops can^e in — a message would be
sent to divisions, probably by a staff officer, naming the hour for march the
next day. The same message was rapidly transmitted by mounted troopers
to subdivisions — and this was all. Reveille was sounded about the same time
everywhere and often troops got under arms and in ranks only to lie about
until it was time to take the road. This seemed to depend largely on the
subordinates down to regimental and even company commanders. If one of
these, or a brigade commander, knowing that his command could not move
until an indefinite time later, waited until what he himself took the responsi-
bility of considering the last moment, it was an even chance that his men
stood under arms an hour or more, previous to marching, either through ex-
cess of caution on his part or because of frequent halts of the column due to
improper marching at its head or to obstacles on the road which should have,
been discovered and removed the preceeding day. The only orders insisted on
during the march were to keep well closed up, to comply with which meant
usually the most tiresome and wearing changes of gait from a run to a "mark
time." Hourly rests, if ordered at all, were consumed in closing up, the tail-
ing out being in most cases excessive, due to obstacles in the nature of defiles
ahead. Word of these obstacles was rarely sent to the rear while they were
being made passable or were being removed, so that troops at a sudden halt
would waste opportunities for rest in waiting for the usual onward movement.
Prolonged noon-day halts on account of heat or for food were exceptions, and
the men often munched hardtack and whatever else they had while en route.
Some time in the afternoon camp would be anxiously looked for, often hours
in advance. In any event the rearmost troops seldom reached it until after
dark, the difficulties and fatigues of the road increasing many fold after sun-
set. Perhaps at 8 or 9 o'clock or later the reflected light of innumerable
camp fires on the sky would indicate, unmistakably, "camp ahead." This
meant inevitably a rather prolonged halt at first (while the troops ahead filed
off the road) and then a succession of short halts and forward movements as
the successive regiments were shown their quarters by an Aid. Arms being

'3

-98-

stacked many were content to throw themselves on the ground and sleep:
others would erect, anywhere, the bits of shelter tents to which they had
clung: in all cases fires were started and coffee made, but rarely without a
laborious search for wood and water, blinded by the many fires, knowing only
the general direction, stumbling over sleeping troops lying in all directions
and followed by their imprecations; and traversing the inequalities of un-
known ground, stumps, logs, underbrush and morass in the dark or worse
than dark, of the fire-light.
The picture is not overdrawn.

VII.

The concentration and strategic deployment of the German forces in
1870, profoundly planned and skillfully executed, placed France
at the mercy of her antagonist, in advance even of the first col-
lision, if the, view which has been taken of modern strategy in
these notes is correa. Modified by conditions which will differ
in degree but not in kind, and by the size of the armies which
will be employed, these operations must long serve as a model.
Their study will show, it is believed:

i st. That the strategic plan must be made in advance and be
ready when war is declared, because its execution depends on
promptness of mobilization and concentration.

2nd. That its most vital problem will be the selection of a
zone of concentration.

3rd. That it can lead only up to the first battles. The situa-
tion resulting from these will impose the necessity of adopting
new plans from day to day, it may be from hour to hour.

4th. That "mistakes in the original massing of the armies can
hardly be retrieved in the whole course of a campaign." "It is
not impossible that a campaign unfortunately begun may sud-
denly, by a single victory, take a favorable course, but it is in
the highest degree improbable." "The better strategical posi-
tion of one side proclaims at once definitely its tactical superior-
ity."*

The order for mobilization issued July isth: on the 23rd trans-
port by rail to the frontier commenced: on the 3©th the three
armies occupied the line of the Rhine from Coblenz to Carlsruhe.

On July 3oth the simple order which follows, initiated move-
ments which resulted in the subjugation of France and in the
destruction or capture of her armies:

"JtJLY 30, 9 o'clock P. M.

"His Majesty considers it expedient that as the Third Army is
reinforced by the Baden and Wiirtemberg divisions, it should ad-
vance toward the south by the left bank of the Rhine to seek and
attack the enemy. In this way the construaion of bridges to

* von der Goltz.

IOO —

the south of Lauterburg will be prevented, and the whole of
South Germany protected in the most effective manner."

(Signed) "VON MOLTKE."*

Moltke's plan. The plan was, simply, to unite the three arm-
ies on the northern frontier of France, between Luxemburg (the
Moselle) and the Rhine where that river forms with the northern
frontier nearly a right angle. In selecting this theatre of opera-
tions, therefore, he not only declined to utilize the Rhine as a
line of defense but he left that portion of the German frontier
open to the enemy. Knowing, however, that the concentration
would be accomplished before the French would advance in force
he felt sure that the German advance towards the Moselle would
"protect the whole of South Germany in the most effective man-
ner."

This admirably conceived and masterly plan i£ characterized
by simplicity and directness: it may even seem that its adoption
should have been obvious now that its brilliant results are known
and may be easily traced back to it. Any plan, however, which
involved leaving, at the outset, the South German frontier open
and unguarded, requiring the actual withdrawal from there of its
natural protectors, the South German contingent, called for im-
plicit confidence in the chief of the general staff together with
courage and convictions on his part, of a high order.

The zone of concentration which was selected is divided in two
by a range of mountains of considerable length; on the one side,
the Rhine valley, on^the other, the Palatinate. The latter was
the real base of operations against the Moselle, with much the
largest army of the three in the center closely connected with the
First Army on its right and covered there by the neutral frontier
of Luxemberg: while in the Rhine valley, with the passes over
the Vosges mountains, were assembled the troops, the Third
Army, which on account of restricted space could not be deployed
in the Palatinate and which, in any event, were required to cover
the right flank.

Moltke assumed in his original, and, in a certain sense, pro-
visional plan, that the German armies would be mobilized and
concentrated on the frontier in fourteen days: that the French

* The three armies were composed, as is well known, as follows:

First Army (Steinnietz) I, VII, VIII, Corps. . - \/ 94.000

Second Army (Frederick Charles) II, III, IV, IXTXII, Guard Corps 228,000

Third Army (Crown Prince) V, VI, XI, I Bav. II Bav., Baden Division, Wurtemburg

Division 195,000

The totals, which represent "paper strength," are given at nearest round numbers in the
fourth place, and 7$ may be deducted. The I, II and VI Corps did not join their respective
armies until some time in August.

101

would take longer than this but that, in any event, their concen-
tration would not begin until mobilization was completed: it
therefore contemplated placing the Second and Third Armies on
the frontier at once; but to provide against the possible violation
of the neutrality of Luxemberg by the French the First Army
was to assemble to the right and well to the rear of the second.
This plan plainly designates the Second Army as the main body,
which the First Army could readily reinforce, while the Third
might, according to circumstances, be called on to remain on the
defensive, to operate southward along the Rhine or, finally, to
take the offensive and advance into France.

The German concentration was to take place, and did take
place, principally by rail and it is interesting to note how skill-
fully the existing railroad lines were iitilized in first bringing up
troops where they were most needed and afterwards distributing
the others according to the requirements of the situation as it
developed.

Nine lines, in all, were used; — four of these, the three South
German lines and the line from Minister being short and expect-
ed to transport rather less than one corps each. The VIII Corps,
the Baden and Wurtemberg Divisions and the II Bavarian Corps
could reach their destination in time, by marching. There were
therefore five railroads available to transport the. rest of the
troops, nine corps, shortly increased to twelve. About two corps,
therefore, fell to each road. Most of the railroads terminated
at the Rhine, along which river most of the troops would be de-
trained. Only two lines extended beyond the river to the French
frontier.

Four lines terminated in the zone of concentration of the
Third Army, and this zone could be promptly occupied by the
South German contingent by marching. It would be occupied
then by a large force, before the advance troops of the first and
second armies had begun to arrive elsewhere, consisting mainly
of a contingent which the French, by promptly crossing the
river, might otherwise endeavor to cut off and defeat separately.

Moltke's assumption that the French would first complete their
mobilization and then concentrate was wrong. They assembled,
instead, considerable forces along the eastern and northeastern
frontier and these might easily combine and take the initiative
by advancing into Germany. An advance by crossing the upper
Rhine seemed improbable fo'r obvious reasons and \\a> more
p -ovided against by the position of German troops, especially o:
those of the Third Army; while an advance into the Palatinate

102

would be met by the main force, which was then being concen-
trated in proper shape and advancing with caution in view of this
contingency.

French ina6livity and the certainty that the neutral territory
of Luxemberg would not be violated, speedily cleared the situa-
tion: and the frontier was finally occupied, in general, as follows:

The First Army on the line of the Saar from Merzig to Saar-
louis, joining- immediately on its left with the Second Army, which
extended from Saarlouis beyond Sarreguemines. Both together,
therefore, formed a single group of about 200,000 men (not in-
cluding the corps in reserve) occupying a front of about thirty
miles, about 6,500 men to the mile. At this time this group was
about twice as strong as the Third Army: its organization in two
''armies," while perhaps no longer called for, was retained. The
The Third Army, then about 130,000 strong was concentrated
between Laudan and Carlsruhe on a front of about twenty miles,
also with about 6,500 men to the mile. It was divided unequally
in two by the Rhine, but ample facilities for crossing were pro-
vided. 6,500 men to the mile of front is about 3^ men to the
yard or about one-half the number with which the Germans
attacked in the first battles; and about one-half the number with
which the Federals defended the position at Gettysburg.

Between Sarregemines and Laudan is the mountainous region,
about fifty miles wide which the Germans occupied by a small
corps of observation. Its main highway into France was com-
manded by the French fortress of Bitche.

It is clear from the geographical chara6ler of this region that
the two groups of armies were intended to operate separately as
no junction would be possible, unless it were by an advance into
France or by a retreat into Germany. The reserve corps, how-
ever, which had been concentrated in rear on the Rhine were so
placed as to be able to reinforce either group or both, at pleas-
ure.

The strategic deployment and march to the frontier of the
Second Army. — The zone of concentration of the Second Army
was the Rhine between Bingen and Mannheim.

On July 25th the advance troops were detraining on this line.
Instead, however, of being pushed forward at once they
were held to await the completion of the large units near the
stations, because it was now known that the French occupied the
frontier in considerable force and might make a forward move-
ment.

10?

By July 3oth it was believed that no offensive movement on
the part of the French need be looked for. The army was there-
fore ordered to the left bank of the river to occupy the strong
defensive position on the eastern slope of the mountains, Alsenz,
Grlinstadt, Golheim.

On July 3ist the III and IV Corps occupied this line, while the
IX and XII received orders to push forward to it as soon as
possible.

The 5th ard 6th cavalry divisions had been sent forward to the
frontier to explore. On the 3ist they formed three columns,
holding the two highroads from Mayence and Mannheim to
Sarrebriick, while a regiment established connexion between the
Second and Third Armies at Pirmasens. The front of exploration
was about 45 miles.

Up to August 3rd the forward movement of the army was con-
ducted with great caution because, in the first place an offensive
movement on the part of the French was still deemed possible,
and also because the corps were still being reinforced and com-
pleted by the last troops from the detraining stations. Two ad-
vance detraining stations had, in the mean time, been established
at Baumholder and Kaiserslantern. Communication with the
First Army had been established at Tholey.

In case of an offensive movement the line of the Lauter, be-
tween Offenbach and Kaiserslantern was to be occupied (August
2nd, 3rd), presumably with the III Corps on the right, the IV
Corps on the left, the IX Corps in the center, with the X Corps,
XII Corps, and the Guard Corps within call. Otherwise the III
and IV Corps were to advance a short day's march and await the
closing up of all the corps to within half a day's march. This
latter movement was inaugurated so that August 3rd, 4th, the
army was in two lines as follows:

In the first line the III and IV Corps, their advance troops at
Konken and Bruchmuhlbach, on a front of about 15 miles.

In the second line the Guard Corps was at Kaiserslantern, the
IX, XII and X Corps advancing from Grlinstadt, Alzey and Fiir-
feld, respectively.

The exploring cavalry was 25 miles in advance, quite close to
the frontier and covering a front of about 20 miles.

In these positions the corps held the wooded and hilly country
on the western slope of the Hardt, on a narrow front, in great
depth and ready at any time to take up a strong defensive posi-
tion. Its next marches would result in the deployment of the

— 104—

army beyond the wooded defiles, the deployment being covered
on the right by the First Army.

This deployment was originally intended to take place Augur t
yth. It was known that the French had attacked Sarrebriick and
made demonstrations towards Volkingen and Saareguemines,
which might or might not indicate a general offensive movement
on their part; moreover the Third Army was to take the offen-
sive the next day (4th), and the result of this movement was to
be awaited. If victorious, the First and Second armies would at
once advance to the Sarre, while the forward movement of the
Third army would cover their left flank.

But already on the 4th it became known that the Second Army
could deploy from its defiles without fear of attack and prelimi-
nary orders for the march were given.

This knowledge was obtained from the reports of the cavalry
and especially from those of the 6th cavalry division, which were
promptly transmitted to Headquarters. On receiving informa-
tion of the combat of August 2nd at Sarrebriick, the command-
ing officer of this division, not content with any explanation of
the French movement, no matter how plausible, promptly des-
patched a squadron on each of four principal roads leading from
the vicinity of Ottweiler to the frontier with orders to keep in
contact with the French forces wherever found. These squad-
rons reached the frontier, attacked patrols, took prisoners and
discovered that the enemy's columns were everywhere retiring.
Following these, the brigade on the extreme left, at Zweibriicken,
sent forward five detachments, each of several squadrons, which
pushed on, ten miles beyond the frontier and viewed the camps
at Rohrbach and Bitche. On the right the cavalry penetrated to
the vicinity of Forbach, five miles in rear of the formost French
positions.

In consequence of the information received dire6lly, or indire6t-
ly (through General Headquarters) from the cavalry, and for
other reasons which will be mentioned further on, the Second
Army advanced into the open region of the Sarre and on the
evening of the 5th held the following positions on four roads,
Neunkirchen — Sarrebriick, Homburg — St. Ingbert, Horn burg —
Sarreguemines, Einod — Rohrbach, leading from the Neunkirchen
—Zweibriicken line to the frontier: III Corps, Neunkirchen,—
advance guard at Sulzbach, 6 miles in front; X Corps, probably
on or near the road Neunkirchen — Homburg, about half way
between these places, advance guard 8 miles off at St. Ingbert;
Guard Corps on the line Homburg — Einod; IV Corps near

— io5—

Zweibriicken, little more than one mile from the frontier, its ad-
vance guard on the line; IX Corps in rear at Waldmohr, and the
XII Corps advancing from Bruchmiihlbach.

The front of march was now that of a line of battle which the
six corps deployed would occupy with about seven men per yard
of front, while the furthest troops were less than a day's march
in rear.

The formation may be considered to be in three echelons, each
of two corps.

The frontier was to be crossed by the heads of all the columns
at the same time. .As is well known, this plan was frustrated by
the advance of part of the VII Corps of the First Army.

Comments. The foregoing sketch of the strategic deployment
of the Second Army and the march to the frontier from its zone
of concentration on the Rhine, is a general outline only, and is
not exa6l. The salient features of the movement as it was
planned, ordered and, to a great extent, executed, are given,
unencumbered by non-essential details which would obscure the
narrative while adding to its accuracy. Some of these details
follow.

On July 28th, only two corps, the III and IV,had finished detrain-
ing at Bingen and Mannheim, respectively. As, at this time, the
Third Army had attained sufficient strength to hold its own, these
, two corps were no longer needed on the Rhine and it was conven-
ient if not necessary for them to vacate cantonments for troops to
arrive. They were therefore ordered forward to the Alsenz line,
on the 29th, which line they would reach on the 3ist. The IX
and XII Corps were not concentrated near Mayence until August
2nd, while the X and Guard Corps did not finish detraining until
the 5th, though it is true that their detraining stations had been
advanced to the line Kaiserslautern — Baumholder. It would
seem, therefore that the stricl: separation between concentration,
strategic deployment, and attack of the frontier, which the Ger-
mans inculcate, was not observed and could not be; for the rapid
developing of the situation demanded that these operations be
carried on, nolens volens, simultaneously.

When the Second Army was ordered to occupy the Alsenz line,
only two corps, the III and IV, were ready to march.* Thty
would reach the new position on the 3ist, and it was evidently
the intention that they should hold it, or, at most, advance slow-
ly, until some of the corps in rear could advance to supporting

•The IV Corps complete: the III was not completed until August ard.

I I-

— io6 —

distance. As a matter of fact the two corps continued to march
towards the line of the Lauter — and this, again, it would seem,
because the regular sequence of events had been disturbed and
it was already necessary to meet the new. In anticipation of the
march of the Second, the First Army was assembling in the
neighborhood of Wadern, therefore well in advance of the gen-
eral line: with the Second Army stationary the first would be
isolated not only by its position and distance from the Second
but because of the nature of the country which separated them.
Then, again, it had become necessary to utilize the railroads be-
yond the original zone of concentration and to advance the
detraining stations for two corps: to cover these an advance was
imperative. Finally, the 5th and 6th cavalry divisions had been
ordered to the frontier line and it was deemed advisable to sup-
port them by a division from each of the two corps,* beyond the
defiles of the Hardt.

It is worthy of note that the 5th and 5th cavalry divisions were
not ordered to the front until July 3oth, and that up to that date
no exploration of the frontier by cavalry had been organized. This
was undoubtedly due to the slowrness with which the mounted
troops were entrained, to difficulties of furnishing their transpor-
tation and to the fact that they were not, as a rule, forwarded
until a large proportion of infantry had already reached the zone
of concentration. These obstacles will exist in future and it will
be necessary hereafter to station permanently large bodies of
cavalry near those frontier regions in which war may be looked
for, to protect the concentration, to disturb or prevent that of
the enemy and to keep in touch with his columns. As the 5th
and 6th divisions could not reach the frontier line until the 3rd or
4th, it is clear that their presence and advance was not intended
to protect and cover the concentration of the Second Army, be-
cause that concentration had then been accomplished, i. e., if any
particular date may be accepted as marking its termination. The
date usually given in narratives of the war is the 2pth or 3oth of
July, but the last effectives did not join the Third Army until
August 3rd, the day before its first action, and did not join the
Second Army until the 5th, on the eve of Spicheren; (indeed, one
battery was detrained on the field during the progress of the bat-
tle), while long after these dates the transport to the frontier of
parts of the I, II and VI Corps was still going on.

It must not be forgotten, however, that, though it was defective
in more than minor details, the concentraticn was not begun until
mobilization ivas fltris/ieJ, and no matter what proportion of its

effective force or what part of its equipment this or that corps
might lack, it stood ready somewhere, complete in everything, to
be forwarded at the first favorable opportunity. This was the
radical distinction between French and German methods at that
time.

The advantages attending rapid and systematic concentration
were so conspicuous in this war that since then many have been
satisfied to trace to them alone, the brilliant results which followed.
It is quite certain that, in future, plans of mobilization, trans-
port and assemblement will be perfected and tested in peace with
the greatest diligence and that the first effort in war will be to
interfere with and, if possible, upset the concentration of an ad-
versary. In 1870, the concentration of the German armies was
undisturbed, in spite of which fa6t it was necessary to modify
original platis at more or less critical moments: and it is easy to
understand how, at one time, an enterprising enemy could have
played havoc with them. Hereafter, liberty to concentrate with
comparative leisure must be purchased in battles which will take
place between masses — for the most part, mounted troops— far in
advance of the zone and ready in position at the outbreak of
war. Every effort will be made to transfer the theatre of this
preliminary warfare to the adversary's territory.

The First Army. The line of the Sarre between Merzig and
Sarrelonis was assigned originally to be occupied by the First
Army. At that time this consisted of the VII and VIII Corps
only and on July 3ist the VII stood concentrated at Treves.
The VIII, on that day, had two or three regiments on the fron-
tier line and other troops were en route, so that the corps was
making a movement forward by various roads, all leading in the
direction of Sarrebriick, in a depth of about 60 miles. In the
mean time orders from General Headquarters required the First
Army to occupy the line, from Wadern east, by August 3rd.
This was a precautionary order to prevent the First Army from
advancing at a rate which must result in isolating its operations.
but it soon transpired that the cantonments of its foremost troops
already overlapped those of the Second Army. It therefore re-
ceived orders to incline to the right. "But its chief, fearing to
be deprived of the honor of giving the first blows, had cleared
the ground by pushing his troops upon the frontier. In conse-
quence, one of his corps, the VII, took measures to move its ad-
vance-guard upon Sarrebriick." This movement led to the bat-
tle of Spicheren.

The Third Army. This army was intended to ad independ-

— io8—

ently, only if opposed by a considerable French force. If un-
opposed or if confronted by a containing force it was to brush
this aside and by the direction of its march unite with the advanc-
ing Second Army, west of the Vosges. It was possible to increase
its effective by one or all of three corps, then in rear, or to
reduce it by one or two corps by withdrawing these to join the
troops on the Sarre. At the end of July, the distribution of the
French army wras pretty accurately known at German General
Headquarters, and it was thought best — as it was certainly most
convenient — to finally add one additional corps to each, of the
three armies. The right wing and center were then so strong
that it would be exceedingly difficult to employ the entire force
at the same time, and for this reason, if for no other, the effect-
ive strength of the Third Army was not reduced, but increased
by the VI Corps. Under the reasonable supposition that the
French would act with ordinary prudence and perhaps with much
skill, the plan at that time was an advance by all three armies to
confront the enemy with an overwhelming force beyond the
Sarre. With this in view, the Third Army, which had the long-
est and most difficult route, was ordered to advance first. It was
expected to unite with the center, in the neighborhood of Sarre-
guemines about August 9th. In any case the direction of its
march would threaten the right of the French and it might be
conducted so as to threaten their rear.

However interesting, it is idle to discuss now what the French
should have done or even what, under the circumstances, they
might have done; for these considerations are not relevant to the
lesson which it is sought to inculcate. The lesson is this: That
a good general plan, simple in its features and unhampered by
profound combinations, executed with decision, but with the cau-
tion which does not underrate an adversary, is the best part of
strategy.

The conception of such a plan requires professional skill and
experience of the highest order, and it must be laboriously tested
with an exact; knowledge of details and minutiae. Its execution
requires the best organization, discipline and morale; an infinite
amount of painstaking, monotonous work during peace; and per-
sistent drill, especially in that higher sense which ensures co-
operation of the three arms of the service combined.

"These conditions can not be created by the genius of a gen-
eral-in-chief, but rather by the prudence of governments, and
by the sacrifices that a people is willing to make. Those people
who, distracted by preoccupations of another kind, negledt them

— 109 —

during peace," must be content to rely— as a rule in vain— "on
whatever brilliant tours de force their leaders may be able to
devise.

Some of the comments which the German operations have-
called forth, however irrelevant to the main point at issue, will
help to a better understanding.

"In 1870 a certain independence in the operations of the First
and Second Armies on the one hand, and of the Third Army on
the other is recognizable. While the Crown Prince was passing
the Vosges his communications with the other leaders could only
have been by the telegraph lines in his rear; and he continued to
move on a distinct line towards Chalons, while they advanced on
Metz. It might therefore at first seem that the Germans were
operating by a double line. But their base — namely the Rhine
to Germersheim — was common and continuous and their main
lines of advance were never more than from thirty to forty miles
apart, so that their flanking troops and outposts must generally
have been nearly within a march of each other." "With the
disparity of force existing in this campaign, it must be doubtful
whether the French, if in other respects more equal to their ad-
versaries than they proved to be, could have successfully main-
tained a forward position. But had they been so well informed
as they should have been of the intentions and movements of the
enemy up to the 6th, August, they might have contested the
frontier line with very different results, even if at last compelled
to retire by superior numbers." "Their course, if they were
resolved to defend the frontier, seems clear. Nothing but super-
ior concentration, in conjunction with a proper use of the topo-
graphical advantages for defence, could avail against numbers so
disproportionate. A retarding force on one side of the theatre
would have gained time for the action of an army capable of
striking a blow on the other. Two circumstances pointed to the
Crown Prince's line of advance as that on which the French
retarding force should be placed: ist, it lay through the most
difficult and defensible country; 2nd, the retreat might be con-
ducled for some time without laying bare the communications
of the co-operating army on the other line." "Looking at the
situation on the oth, it seems impossible to doubt that their ad-
vance might have been roughly checked, and that the French, if
compelled by superior numbers to fall back, would have retired
with a very different aspect on the prepared line of the
Moselle."*

* Hamley.

1 IO

'Several writers have held that the First Army should have
been attacked in force while taking up the Wadern line. If at-
tacked then, they claim, it would have been obliged to fight under
unfavorable circumstances or have retreated. The claim is un-
doubtedly quite true, though it is not clear just what the French
could have accomplished after forcing the retreat. There seems
to have been friction in this case, in carrying out the German
plan, either by a neglect at General Headquarters to keep the
First Army in touch with the Second, or because it was difficult
to keep under control the commander-in-chief of the First Army
without trespassing at the same time on his prerogative as an in-
dependent commander. The German official account makes the
following good natured explanation:

"The First Army could avoid an attack from superior forces
in the mountainous ground, which was extremely favorable for
the purpose." * * * "It was unmistakable that there was a
considerable difference in the opinions and in the first intentions
prevailing at the Royal Head-Quarters and at the Head-Quarters
of the First Army respeaively." "The First Army was assem-
bled before either of the other two. It was nearest to the enemy
and formed an offensive flank for the Second Army, at all events
until the latter arrived on the same line with it. General v.
Steinmetz therefore endeavored from the commencement to draw
the enemy's forces upon himself just as he had done with success
at the beginning of the campaign of 1866." "When the posi-
tion at Tholey was subsequently taken up in virtue of superior
orders, and troops of the Second Army already extended west-
ward beyond the quarters of the First Army, General v. Stein-
metz had cause for apprehension that any longer delay on his
part might throw him completely into second line in the event of
the corps of Prince Frederick Charles reaching the frontier before
him." «Up to this time General v. Steinmetz had only received
delaying or hampering instructions from the Royal Head-Quar-
ters. He therefore wished to have more comprehensive directions
extending over a longer period, during which he could preserve
the desired freedom for his own resolutions. On the other hand,
the opinion was held at the Royal Head-Quarters that neither the
Second, much less the weaker First Army, should be exposed
singly to a collision with the French main force." * * * "It
consequently appeared essential to halt it for a time at Tholey."

"It was expeaed at the Royal Head-Quarters that the French
army would be found, if not earlier, at any rate in position be-
hind the Moselle with its flanks resting on Thionville and Metz.

— II I —

In this event the First Army was to engage the enemy in front,
while the Second was to attack him directly in flank, from the
southward. During the wheel of one-eighth of a circle to the
right, which this operation rendered necessary, the First Army,
having the shortest line to traverse, formed the pivot; it ought
to leave the roads by which the right wing of the Second Army
marched, perfectly free."

"As every day might usher in some great decisive result, the
Royal Head-Quarters thought that it could not give any direc-
tions extending beyond the immediate events. It was rather,
considered permissible and necessary on this and subsequent
critical occasions, to control the movements of the large units by
definite orders from the Royal Head-Quarters, however much
that arrangement might provisionally limit the independence of
the commanders of armies."

VIII.

OBJECTIVES. — The selection of the theatre of operations to be
occupied, requires previous knowledge of the nature and extent
of whatever obstacles may be utilized or must be overcome,
together with a just estimate of their relative military import-
ance.

The possession, destruction or removal of one or more of them
will augment an army's power for action. These are then called
"Strategic Points," and they become "Objective Points" or
"Objeaives."

The side which is best prepared and first ready will be able to
selea the theatre of operations. If the seleaion is wise, the ad-
versary will- have no choice other than direcl: opposition. For
this reason and because it is the soverign obstacle the enemy' s army
should always be the first objective.

The surest, shortest, most economical and most effective way to defeat
an enemy is to seek and attack his army.

However elementary and evident this conclusion may seem, it
has time and again been ignored. Wars abound from their be-
ginning in apparent opportunities to keep one's cake and eat it—
"to make omelets without breaking eggs" — to cripple an enemy
and bring him to terms by indirea methods, which are very
promising and very enticing. It requires good judgment together
with firmness and strength of purpose to disregard them, and to
.resist pressure due to solicitude or local interests and to the in-
evitable schemes of amateurs in the forum and press.

In the War of Secession, it is no doubt true that "'the magni-
tude of the task which the North proposed to itself — the conquest
of such a vast territory, defended by such an able, resolute, and
gallant population — was not fully seen at the beginning." It is
also true that a flood of political questions seemed to demand
immediate attention and that the situation was abnormally in-
volved by them. But as early as 1861, General McClellan, in his
report, could put the military aspe6l very clearly as follows:

"The objea of the present war differs from those in which na-
tions are usually engaged mainly in this, that the purpose of
ordinary war is to conquer a peace and make a treaty on advan-
tageous terms. In this contest it has become necessary to crush
a population sufficiently warlike to constitute a nation. We have
not only to defeat their armed and organized forces in the field.

but to display such an overwhelming- strength as will convince all
our antagonists, especially those of the governing, aristocratic
class, of the utter impossibility of resistance." "The rebels
have chosen Virginia as their battle-field, and it seems proper for
us to make the first great struggle there."

Now the best way "to display overwhelming strength"
after defeating armed and organized forces in the field was to fol-
low them up and defeat them again and as often as necessary,
and, so far, General McClellan was correct. But like everyone
else he was unable to banish from his mind the idea that the
enemy must be crippled elsewhere in his vast territory, in some
of the many sections where independent operations seemed to
promise valuable results. -The Mississippi must be opened, Mis-
souri and West Virginia secured, East Tennessee occupied, and
he advocates "the employment of a strong naval force, to protect
the movement of a fleet of transports intended to convey a con-
siderable body of troops from point to point of the enemy's sea-
coast, thus either creating diversions and rendering it necessary
for them to detach largely from their main body in order to pro-
tect such of their cities as may be threatened, or else landing and
forming establishments on their coast at any favorable places
that opportunity might offer. This naval force should also co-
operate with the main army in its efforts to seize the important
seaboard towns of the rebels."

That no attempt to carry out this plan was ever made is well
known, but for three years afterwards a military policy was pur-
sued by the North, beside which it seems simple and direct.
"For three years there was presented the lamentable spectacle of
three or four independent armies, acting on various lines of
operations, and working not only with no unity of purpose, but
frequently at cross-purpose," while "in Virginia, the Army cf
the Potomac had not only to combat the main army of the South,
but an army that by means of the interior lines held by the Con-
federates, might be continually strengthened from the forces in
the western zone, unless these should be under such constant
pressure as to prevent their diminution."*

In addition to the numerous grand operations which were un-
dertaken throughout the South and Southwest every year, cither
in continuation ot others, to retrieve failure, or planned anew, the
number of inferior expeditions runs up into the hundreds. These
were frequently undertaken by, and at the urgent request of. sub-

* Swinton.

''5

ordinates, had no well defined objects other than "to injure the
enemy," while, as often as not they resulted disastrously and
goaded an already exasperated people to desperation. Grand
operations which aimed at penetrating and holding whole sections
of country at well defined strategic points, seemed to, and no
doubt did, require diversions on the part of troops distributed so
widely, that combinations offered themselves freely.

In February, 1864, General Sherman marched from the Missis-
sippi River to Meridian, Mississippi, across the whole state, with
an army of 20,000 men, to destroy the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
General W. S. Smith was to co-operate with 10,000 cavalry by at-
tacking Forrest further north. Smith failed to co-operate and
General Sherman after destroying many miles of railroad
returned to Vicksburg and Memphis. Of this expedition which
occupied 30,000 of the finest troops for a month. General Sher-
man says in his report: "My object was to break up the enemy's
railroads at and about Meridian, and to do the enemy as much
damage as possible in the month of February, and to be pre-
pared by the first of March to assist General Banks in a similar
dash* at the Red River country, especially Shreveport, the whole
to result in widening our domain along the Mississippi River,
and thereby set the troops hitherto necessary to guard the river,
free for other military purposes." After recapitulating the re-
sults of the expedition, General Sherman says: "I attach little
importance to these matters, but. the great result attained is the
hardihood and confidence imparted to the command, which is
now better fitted for war. Animals and men returned to Vicks-
burg after marching from 360 to 450 miles in the space of the
shortest month in the year, in better health and condition than
when we started."

This expedition is, in kind, only one of a great number im-
posed on commanders nearly everywhere outside of Virginia;
penalties which had to be paid to keep the imaginary gains of a
wasteful and vicious military policy. Sherman, who was a great
soldier, understood this well. Only a few weeks later he could
say — as he afterwards did say — that his army at Chattanooga was
Grant's "right:" in other words that every successful step in his
operations would strike, however indirectly, at the true objective,
the main force of the enemy in front of Richmond.

To a certain extent General Grant himself was obliged to ac-
cept the situation as he found it. Diffusion had obtained certain

* This "similar dash" was the well known disastrous Red River Expedition, under Banks.
The assistance give i by General Sherman (A. J. Smith's Corps) averted total defeat, if not
ruii .

results, each in itself of value, which it was not desirable to waste.
When General Sherman started on his march to the sea, he
arranged that 15,000 men under General A. J. Smith (the same
force which had averted ruin on the Red River) then engaged in
repelling Price 's maurading expedition in Missouri, should be sent to
General Thomas. Their co-operation in Missouri was, as it
proved, not vital, and Thomas was informed that they would
leave St. Louis about November loth. As a matter of faa,
Smith had to march across the whole state and did not arrive at
St. Louis until the 24th. "Had he come at the proposed time it
was General Thomas's intention to place him at Eastport, on the
Tennessee River, so as to threaten Hood's flank and rear if the
latter advanced. With such disposition the battle of Franklin
and Nashville would have been relegated to the category of
events which never come to pass. But when Smith reached St.
Louis, Hood was threatening Columbia; and it was an open
question whether he would not reach Nashville before the rein-
forcements from Missouri." No reinforcement "was ever more
anxiously awaited than this."

As in wider, so in narrower strategical movements, it seems to
have been difficult to resist the temptation to employ troops —
especially cavalry — in diversions or what not. "What fascinated
the ingenious mind of the American general, was a raid, design-
ed to burn bridges and tear up railroad tracks, to destroy sup-
plies, capture trains, and the like. * * * What good was
accomplished in this way has never been figured up. Stuart's
raid around McClellan's lines in June, 1862, may have served a
useful purpose in creating a feeling of insecurity in the Army of
the Potomac; but the only tangible result of the repetition of the
performance in August of the same year, was the capture of the
overcoat of the Federal Commander; while, when for the third
time the maneuvre was tried, in the Gettysburg campaign the
next summer, the march of the Federal army westward actually
prevented the Confederate cavalry from rejoining their mam
army and reporting the movements of the Federals. It was
much the same in our experience. Hooker no sooner got a large
and finely mounted and equipped body of cavalry together, than
he sent them off, a fortnight before he commenced his own cam-
paign, to destroy the enemy's communications and supplies, and
to render their retreat, in the event of a Federal success in the
impending struggle between the two armies, more disastrous
than it otherwise could be. The result of this far-seeing move
was to deprive the army of the Potomac of the information which

— n6-

would have prevented the great disaster of the campaign of
Chancellorsville." * * * "The campaign of 1864 had hardly
opened when Sheridan was allowed to go off, on his own sugges-
tion and evidently against Meade's judgement, with nearly all
the cavalry of the army, on a raid toward Richmond, and it was
not until Grant had crossed the Pamunky that the cavalry re-
joined the main body. Then, for a very few days, they remain-
ed with the army, anH rendered excellent service, among other
things, capturing and holding Cold Harbor. But when, a fort-
night later, the army had got down to Petersburg, Sheridan was
on another raid, and the opportunity which really existed during
the 1 6th and iyth of June of taking Petersburg when its defend-
ers numbered less than fifteen thousand men was unknown at
headquarters, simply for lack of cavalry to make the needed
reconnoisances." * * * "In spite of all the railroad ties that
were torn up, and of all the barns that were burned, General
Lee did not leave Petersburg and Richmond until the result of
the battle of Five Forks rendered it impossible for him to remain
in his lines.''

"It is almost inconceivable to us now, that General Lee should
have sent Stuart, with less than two thousand cavalry, in O6lober,
1862, just after the battle of Antietam, to ride through the towns
and counties of central Pennsylvania, picking up horses, cloth-
ing, boots and shoes, a few prisoners, and what not, and running
the most imminent risk of being captured with his whole com-
mand. What possible good could Stuart do to the Confederacy
with his petty booty, which could not be compared for a moment
with the exultation with which the news of his capture would
have been received at the North, and the injury which it would
have been to General Lee's army to have lost its great cavalry
leader? So in the Gettysburg campaign — when Lee actually
gave Stuart carte blanche to do as he liked — whether to keep be-
tween the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Po-
tomac, or to attempt to make the circuit of the latter army." *
* * "At that stage in the war, it was out of the question that
the Federal army should be 'rattled' by any such game as this.
Both officers and men were too well seasoned to war to care very
much where Stuart's four or five thousand men might be. The
trains were well guarded; all Stuart succeeded in bagging were a
hundred and twenty-five wagons and four or five hundred prison-
ers; but, as this was all he had to show in justification of his
course, he brought them all in, notwithstanding the continual
delays caused by such impediments. General Halleck was prob-

ably the only Federal officer at all worried by this eccntric move-
ment of Stuart's, and he kept telegraphing Meade, who was in
command of the Army of the Potomac, to take measures to cap-
ture Stuart's column, which might, so Halleck thought, do un-
known damage somewhere. But Meade, intent on the great task
before him, was not. to be diverted by any side-show like this.
'My main point,' he cooly and dryly wrote to Halleck, 'being to
find out and fight the enemy, I shall have to submit to the cav-
alry raids around me in some measure.' "*

Other objectives. — Text writers have distinguished and classi-
fied other objectives and have ransacked military history for in-
stances when these have been an army's first aim. From this
classification have resulted principal, secondary, geographical,
decisive, contingent objectives and objectives of maneuvre. The
consideration of these would be interesting but not valuable.
Essentially, the enemy's main army is, first and last, the only
objeclive: deviations from this rule have been either apparent
only, or have been mistakes. Railroad centers, fortified places
and the like, form no exception as long as their possession pre-
vents reinforcement of the enemy, cuts off his retreat or facili-
tates the advance of the attack.

The enemy's capital has nearly always been a secondary, and
sometimes a principal objeclive. The reasons, in general, for
this, lie on the surface and are very human; but they are not
always good military reasons. It is easy to trace the down-fall of
Napoleon to Berlin, 1806, Madrid, 1808, and Moscow, 1812. On
the other hand when the Allies pushed for the Capital in 1814,
they had first worn Napoleon out; and the occupation of Paris,
moreover, would lead, it was known, to his dethronement and
to peace.

The capture of Richmond at any time during the War of
Secession, with Lee's army pradtically intact, would not have
shortened the war: indeed there were those in the South who
repeatedly urged its abandonment as an element of weaki

In 1866, the Prussians marched on Vienna, after Sadowa, be-
cause that was the direction of the Austrian retreat, and, for rea-
sons which are now known, they never had the intention of enter-
ing the Capital under any circumstances. In 1870 they were not
so wise. The march on Paris was undoubtedly demanded by
public opinion at home, and stimulated by grim memories, in
short, by motives which were "very human:" but in a military
sense it was an expensive blunder. The monarchy had fallen.

* Ropes.

the last regular soldier was in captivity or in Metz, and Germany
held a third or more of the country as security for pecuniary and
territorial indemnit}T. She preferred to take a course which
roused the most formidable national opposition, prolonged the
war for many months, permanently embittered a neighboring-
people and, at one time, placed her cause in peril.

Strategic lines. — These have been conveniently divided into
"bases of operations," "fronts of operations," "lines of opera-
tions," and "lines of communications:"

Bases of operations. — It has always been necessary, as it is
necessary today, to have somewhere in rear of an army a portion
of territory with which it keeps up communication and from
which it is supplied. Formerly this was a comparatively con-
tracted section in which stores of all kinds had been collected,
workshops established, hospitals erected and depots organized
for recruits. It was usually easily defensible and strongly forti-
fied, from it the army obtained supplies and reinforcements,
transferred to it the sick, wounded and unserviceable material,
and counted on it as a line of defence or place of refuge in case
of reverses. It was, in short, imperative, to collect the supplies
of a country in advance and to focus them at some place con-
venient to the army, because communication between one part
of the country and another was very slow, and because factories
and workshops capable of turning out at short notice many
things which an army needs, did not then exist, as they do now,
in every other town.

Railroads have rendered compact, thoroughly organized bases
like this no longer necessary: except, for the convenience of
retaining the term it would be expedient to hold that bases of
operations were out of date and absolete. For while it would not
then be necessary to invent a new term, it is now necessary to
sele6t a new section of territory to which the old term may be
applied.

The rather indefinite territory selected is; "the frontier zones by
which tfte armies communicate with their country" and "which to-day
constitute true bases of operations ."* This will not only include the
zone of concentration but also that zone in advance of it in which
the strategic deployment takes place.

This zone has some of the characteristics of the old bases of
operations. It is selected in advance; it is, or should be at first,
directly in rear of the line of advance, and it is strong by nature

* Derrecagaix.

and perhaps by the protection of neutral frontiers or has "forti-
fied places which guarantee possession of the railroads conned-
ing the base with the country itself," while the returning sick
and wounded there reach home and have the care and attention
which they could not receive at the actual seat of war.

These bases of opei ations are, however, in no sense, bases of
supply. The corps distrifts, the whole country, every town and
hamlet, contribute whatever they can, and what they can furnish
is accumulated by many kinds of roads and transport, at places
on the main lines of railway. "At the end of July, 1870, the
Germans had colle6led six weeks supplies for seven corps, at
Cologne, Coblenz, Bingen, Mayence and Mannheim." * * *
"All these places were either principal or branch-point stations
on railroads leading to the Rhine. Forseeing the difficulties of
providing for the troops during their transportation to the fron-
tier, the commissary service had, in addition, accumulated six
weeks supplies in each corps region. A portion of these was car-
ried by the troops to the zone of concentration. And up to the
day when the railroads were available for the transportation of
provisions, the armies were fed from these supplies, those found
at the cantonments, and especially those brought together in the
cities of the Rhine. Even by making the most of the local re-
sources, the German commissary department recognized the faa
that the Rhenish provinces, notwithstanding their fruitfulness,
would be able to furnish but two days provisions to the troops as-
sembled in the zone of concentration. During the first days of
August, when the German armies had become assured of the de-
fensive attitude of the French, the dispositions made with refer-
ence to their supply -centres were modified."

From this "it is seen that the chief modifications in bases have
been in the location of Magazines, depots, hospitals, &c. These
are upon the principal railroads in rear of the base."

"France in 1870, had for its base of operations the Metz-
Strasburg zone, but it was an offensive base, established in antici-
pation of events whose course was arrested by the first engage-
ments. The mistake was made of establishing the first supplies
upon this base, instead of placing them upon the railroads in
rear. These supplies consequently fell into the hands of the
enemy, when one of the points supporting the base was taken."

Extent of bases of operations.— The direaion of bases of
operations has been already discussed. In extent they should
permit convenient supply and the ability to concentrate for fight

* Derrecagaix.

120

ing. The latter means that the entire force must, if necessary,
be so echeloned that it can unite in battle at 2 \. hours notice.
Beyond this, the longer the base which, in case of necessity, can
be occupied, the better, because the line of communications can be
changed at will and be at the same time covered. In the War of
Secession the Federals had the single but distin6l advantage of
being able to change their base at 'will without exposing the suc-
cessive lines of communications. This was due both to the direc-
tion and intent of the dividing lines between the two adversaries.

Derrecagaix summs up these considerations as follows:

"i st. Bases of operations have been transformed by the establishment
of railroads;"

"2nd. The supplies formerly assembled upon the bases, will hence-
forth be established along the railroads charged with army transport ser-
vice;"

"3rd. Bases of operations are frontier zones which connect the arm-
ies with their countries, and upon which they concentrate before the com-
mencement of operations y"

"4th. The direction of the base, with regard to the enemy' s lines of
operations, increases in importance in proportion as the masses become
more numerous and -the first conflicts more imminent ;"

"5th. An angular base is always the most advantageous;"

"6th. There should be a sufficient number of railroads running from
the interior of the country to the base to assure the prompt concentration of
the arm\"

Fronts of operation. — This is a convenient term by which to
designate the space occupied by the heads of columns of an army.
Some writers call this the "strategic front" and apply the expres-
sion "front of operations" to the space between two opposing
armies. The former application is the better because it applies
to a line the length of which the commander-in-chief must con-
trol and which must fulfil certain conditions.

The most important of these is that the front must be .so
limited that the army maybe concentrated for battle in a day, or
in other words, that no corps will have to make more than a day's
march to enter the line of battle.

This principle is so important and at the same time so simple.1
that it would be gratuitous to assume that because it was often
violated in the War of Secession, its importance was not per-
ceived. As a matter of fa6t it is often very difficult to live up to
it — often impossible in a theatre where there are few roads and
where they are bad. In such cases any advance must be labori-
ous and slow, preceeded and flanked by strong cavalry forces and

the trains

— 121 —

Lhe trains kept well in rear. The negleft of these precautions
led to the failure of the expensive and well organized Red River
Expedition in 1864. In his otherwise long and explicit report of
the campaign the commanding general makes the following inad-
equate and scant explanation:

"The result of the position of the cavalry train and the loose
order of march by the leading column of troops, on the 8th of
April, before the battle of Sabine Cross Roads, has been stated.
A commanding officer is, of course, responsible for all that occurs
to his command, whatever may have been the cause. I do not
shrink from that responsibility. But" * * * "it was sup-
posed that the movement of a single column of 13,000 men, mov-
ing in advance on one road for a distance of less than 50 miles in
such manner as to enable them to encounter the enemy if he
offered resistance, might safely be intrusted to an officer" * *

* "whose rank, except in one instance, was superior to that of
any officer of the expedition or in the Department of the Gulf.'

In the summer of 1864 it was thought important to engage
General Forrest, to disperse his forces and to destroy the Mobile
and Ohio Railroad. To do this 8.000 or 9,000 men of all arms
were sent out from Memphis. This force was routed, or as its
commander expresses it in his first, short report: "Our loss ill
killed and .wounded is very heavy. We have lost most every-
thing, including a number of wagons and artillery, and ammuni-
tion." In forwarding the detailed report, General Sherman says:

* * * "I do know that misfortunes may befall us all, and
these are rendered more likely in wooded countries,, with narrow
roads and deep mud. He was dealing with a bold and daring
foe, on fresh horses, familiar with the roads and by-paths, and
perfectly unencumbered with trains. I consider a train of wag
ons reduces a command just one half, for it cannot move without
covering its train."

The proceedings of the board which was convened to investi-
gate and report on this disaster cover innumerable pages, but its
verdict may be condensed into a single sentence. "The imme-
diate cause of the defeat, was meeting the masses of the enemy
with fractions."

This campaign, one of many, utterly uncalled for and waste-
ful in their inception was undoubtedly lost, primarily, by mis-
management. Still, there are many reasons— explanations if not
excuses — why great skill, forethought and vigilance were required
to meet the unencumbered, enterprising and embittered enemy

16

on anything- like equal terms. The roads, or more truthfully,
the road, was of a kind which made it convenient if not obliga-
tory on individuals, to travel on horseback: in effect it was sim-
ply a succession of defiles. While the invading force was com-
pelled to operate under explicit orders, the "front of operations"
was, as often as not, a swamp, and it had rained for eight succes-
sive days. The reports, which are very voluminous, illustrate
many principals which have been insisted on in these notes and
extracts from them are given, almost at random, as follows:

General Sturgis. "It became a serious question in my mind
whether or not I should proceed any farther. The rain still fell
in torrents. The artillery and wagons were literally mired down,
and the starved and exhausted animals could with difficulty drag
them along."

Colonel Wilkin. "I would state that at the outset one great
difficulty existed in the fact that the command was composed of
troops of different commands, unacquainted with and distrustful
of each other and new to the general commanding."
<<The enemy met us where common sense would naturally lead
them to do so, a few miles from the point in advance, where sup-
plies could be obtained, and yet as far as possible from our base
and where the greatest difficulties presented themselves in the
way of retreat. Through the medium of the citizens along the
route they were of course advised of our force and movements,
while we could gain no reliable information in regard to theirs.
We were obliged to move on one road, the column extending
along the road at least five miles, although well closed up. At-
tacking our front, they being already formed in line on their own
ground, it necessarily took time to bring up our whole force and
they had to be moved up rapidly. The weather being very warm,
many men were obliged to fall out and all came into action more
or less fatigued and distressed. If they had marched in the
cadence and with the proper length of step required by the
tactics," * * * "which troops seldom do, they would have
been in better condition."

Colonel Waring. "The rude character of the country through
which we were moving rendered all tactical precautions (except a
simple advance guard) impossible; while it was so utterly barren
that an immediate .advance or retreat was necessary to procure
forage for teams and cavalry horses."

Several officers report that the men of their commands, when
hurried into the fight, were toj exhausted to load their pieces.

When the remnants of this expedition arrived near Memphis

General A. J. Smith with two divisions of the i6th Army Corps
had touched there in transports and received orders to move
against Forrest, destroy as much as possible of the Mobile and
Ohio Railroad, and, in short, to retrieve the disaster. His own
troops were well seasoned and two brigades of cavalry, in all
about 3000, under Grierson, were assigned him. The command
numbered about 14,000 men with 50 guns. The train was too
small to supply the command in a country destitute of everything
and it suffered from lack of rations and accommodations for the
wounded.

Opposed to it were from 9,000 to 12,000 men under Forrest,
nearly all mounted, but fighting habitually on foot. This force
was pradtically without impedimenta, was widely dispersed for
subsistence but gathered in Smith's front and on his flanks from
all dire6Uons as he advanced, being thoroughly familiar with
every feature of a most difficult country.

July 5th. Smith moved with the infantry, artillery and train
from Lagrange, Tennessee, by country roads, towards Spring
Hill; Grierson, with all of the cavalry and one battery, from
Grand Jun6lion southeast on the Ripley road. Grierson had
orders to communicate frequently with the main column, which
he did without difficulty.

July 6th. Smith reached the Salem-Ruckersville road, which
he could do by several roads from Spring Hill in a formation to
resist attack from the front or from the right. The cavalry col-
umn reached the cross-roads near McLean's Store. Forrest at
and beyond Ripley. His object was to protect the Mobile and
Ohio Railroad by arriving first at any point for which Smith
might push and in the mean time to take every opportunity to
strike the invading columns if they were unduly lengthened or
not within supporting distance of each other.

July ;th. The cavalry to Ripley, dispersing a brigade of the
enemy. The main column following on the same road, slowly,
taking up successive strong positions in line of battle, to the
junction of the Ruckersville road, three miles north of Ripk-y.
Forrest on the roads covering the stations at Boonville and Gun
Town, and able to reach Rienzi first.

July 8th. The main column with one regiment of cavalry to-
wards New-Albany, taking up a strong position on the Talla-
hatchee, — a force towards Buncomb. The cavalry via Molino to
Ellistown and Buncomb. Forrest probably at Old Town, Poplar
Spring and Pontotoc.

. — 124—

July 9th- loth. Main column advanced slowly to strong posi-
tion near Cherry Creek. The cavalry on the Eilistown-Pontotoc
and intermediate roads. The enemy apparently concentrating
at Pontotoc.

July nth. The enemy held Pontotoc with two brigades. Smith
attacked them in front and Grierson on their right flank, driving
them so precipitately from the position that their dead and
wounded were left on the field.

July 1 2th. Smith, willing to be attacked, remained at Pontotoc,
the train parked in rear, sending strong reconnoitering parties
south and southeast on the roads. The bulk of the cavalry, to-
wards Harrisburg on the road to Tupelo. Forrest (as ascertain-
ed by one of the reconnoitering parties) in force and strongly
intrenched across the Okolona road covering that station and
Coonowah: two regiments at Harrisburg. Towards evening of
the 1 2th Smith advanced his pickets, a strong skirmish line and a
show of force to within sight of the enemy's lines, built numer-
ous camp fires and appeared even to his own troops, to be mak-
ing preparations to attack, the next day.

July 1 3th. Soon after midnight the few troops in Forrest's
front were withdrawn with every precaution of seccrecy towards
Pontotoc. The cavalry on Tupelo, followed by the main column
and train, the latter near the middle of the column and covered
on the right flank by a brigade of infantry. The march of 18
miles was a forced one and made without any but the most neces-
sary halts. The nature of the country to the south rendered
flank attacks difficult and in any event they could not be danger-
ous; while the rapidity of the march enabled a small rear guard
of cavalry to repel three attempts to attack from that direction.
Early in the afternoon General Grierson occupied Tupelo and
the train was at once passed forward and parked two miles west
of that place. The infantry and batteries followed and by dark
had taken up and intrenched a strong position and had begun
destroying the railroad.

July 1 4th. Forrest attacked the Federal position with great
vigor, twice during the day and once at night, and so gallantly
that some of his men penetrated the lines and were captured in
rear. The attacks we're easily repulsed with excessive loss.*

Smith having destroyed 10 miles of railroad and having only
one day's rations on hand, took up his return march to Mem-
phis, reaching Lagrange unmolested on the 2iyt. His total loss
was 674, officers and men.

* The Confederate General Bufoid reports 127 officers killed or wounded and three cap-
tured, in his division of probably less than 4,000 men.

Lines of operations. Lines of communications. — Napoleon often
ised these terms interchangably, sometimes in the same sentence.
Since his time the whole subject of lines has been much involved
by writers on strategy because it offers a fertile field for analysis
and for ingenious combinations, some of which may be demon-
strated geometrically on paper. All of these discussions are ex-
ceedingly interesting and are thought by many to be instructs e.
They are open to the objedion that they predispose the student
to apply exact methods to a science which is extremely impatient
of them; but with the warning that they have no direct practical
value whatever, they may be studied with undoubted profit. In
this study the following summary may serve as a guide.

The line of operations of an army is the system of communi-
cations conducting from its base to its objective. It is the gen-
eral direction followed by its columns, and will have therefore as
many good roads and railroads (and, perhaps, water ways) as pos-
sible. These roads will also be lines of retreat, and over them
will be sent supplies of all kinds: they are therefore lines of com-
munication, also.

As an army advances it may be safer or more convenient to
obtain supplies from another quarter and by other roads, either
because the line of advance has been excessively lengthened or
because the direction of the movable objective has changed. For
this reason it has been held that an army may have a line of
operations and a line of communications or supply which are
separate and distinct. For this reason several writers of note
who believe in exact definition, speak of lines of communication
only as the lateral or transversal directions which establish com-
munication between lines of march. Having thus disposed of
them they are enabled to distinguish between lines of operation
and "lines of supply," and to hold that the latter may coincide
with the former, may be partially or wholly independent, or may
disappear altogether, as in cases where an army subsists on the
country entirely or in connection with what supplies can be car-
ried with it.

In practice, however, when an army changes the roads by
which it is supplied it changes the direaioii from which they are
received by a wide angle; for, otherwise, there could be no object
in the change. It will be obliged to cover and guard these new
roads and will use them to all intents and purposes, as part of a
line of operations which has simply changed direftion.

For these reasons the student may safely assume that the terms
Alines of communication '," "lines of operations" "lines of supply," arc

— 126 —

interchangeable, but note in his study of campaigns the few exceptions
which may be met: also take the precaution to ascertain in what
sense they are used by his author or whether he confounds them
and uses them indiscriminately.

It has always been insisted that the most advantageous direc-
tion of the lines of operations is that which permits an army to
threaten the communications of the enemy without compromis-
ing its own. Much of this advantage seems to consist in the facl
that under the circumstances the enemy is probably unprepared
and will, in addition, commit a series of blunders as did the Aus-
trians against Napoleon. In 1870 the French were prevented
from retreating, before the first battle, towards Paris to Chalons,
and concentrating there, by fear of public opinion at the Capital.

Napoleon said of lines of operations: "An army marching to
the conquest of a country has its two wings protected by neutral
territory or large natural obstacles, such as great rivers and large
mountain chains; or it has only one of them so protected; or
neither of them. In the first case, it has only to watch what
takes place in its front; in the second it should support itself
upon the prote<51ed wing; and in the third it should hold its dif-
ferent corps supported upon the center, and never separate them;
for if it is difficult to succeed with two unsupported flanks, this
difficulty doubles when there are four flanks; trebles if there are
six, and quadruples if there are eight: that is to say, if the army
is divided -into two, three, or four different parts. An army's
line of operations, in the first instance, may support itself upon
the left or the right, indifferently; in the second, it should rest
upon the prote6led wing; in the third, it should be perpendicular
to the marching front at the middle point. In every case, it is
necessary to have strong places or fortified positions upon the
line of operations, at intervals of five or six marches, where sup-
plies of all kinds may be brought together and convoys organ-
ized. These places become centers of movement, new startling
points whereby the line of operations may be shortened."

In addition to the principles already mentioned Derrecagaix
enunciates the following:

"Simple and interior lines of operations are always to be pre-
ferred," and he adds:

"The preceeding theories, all of which are the result of experi-
ence, should not, however, lead us to forget that the events of
war, the nature of the countries traversed, the national spirit of
the peoples, and finally the capacity and energy of the leaders,
which so powerfully influence the results of a campaign, will

— I27 —

never be submitted to fixed maxims nor to preconceived rules."

"War will always be a passionate and bloody drama, not a
mathematical operation."

Supply of armies in the field. — This is intimately connected with
the subject of wagon transportation, because in nearly all cases
wagons must be used in whole or in part. The problem ceases
to be difficult in proportion as railroads and water transport can
be used, and during the War of Secession it was often immeasur-
ably lightened in this way. Where an advancing army can be
followed up by a line of railroad the task presents, theoretically,
no difficulties whatever: practically, however, it is usually
hampered by the necessity for guarding the line of road against
hostile raids throughout the greater part of its length. From
May ist to November izth, 1864, General Serman's army of
105,000 soldiers, 30,000 employes, and 35,000 horses, was sup-
plied by a single line of railroad 473 miles long. Trains ran
about ten miles per hour, ten cars each, of which four groups
of four trains each, were despatched daily — 160 cars of ten tons.
General Sherman himself says: "To have delivered regularly
that amount of food and forage by ordinary wagons would have
required 36,800 six mule wagons, allowing each wagon to have
hauled two tons twenty miles each day — a simple impossibility."
* * * "Therefore I reiterate that the Atlanta Campaign was
an impossibility without these railroads."

"If any attempt be made to establish a rule by which to deter-
mine the force required t'o guard an extended line of railroad
communications in a hostile country, the exceptions will be more
numerous than the cases to which the rule will apply. If an
army advances leaving any considerable force of the enemy in
.the rear, it will be simply impossible to secure efficient protection
to communications: for however numerous may be the force de-
tailed for protection, it will always be possible for an enemy to
concentrate a superior force upon a given point and effect a
temporary break. The reliance in such cases must be in the
rapidity of reconstruction. In this we were far in advance of the
enemy. ' "General Sherman had such confidence in its efficiency
that he would advanca with a feeling of assurance that if his
communications were broken they would be established before
any serious suffering could result therefrom. Our rule was,
where we could not get the material that we wanted, to take such
as we could get. Trees, buildings and fences usually furnished
sufficient material. We could not prevent communications from

— 128—

being broken, but they were restored with great celerity."*

The number of men per mile for guarding a line of communi-
cation is exceedingly variable — depending on the topography of
the country and the disposition of the inhabitants. According
to the Germans about 1,000 men are required for each stretch of
a day's march — say 15 miles. At this rate an army 60 miles
from its base would require 4,000. Assume one line for each
corps of 40,000 and the proportion of the army necessary to guard
its own communications is one-tenth, (doubling the length one-
fifth, trippling one-third, &c.) But General Sheridan, who speaks
from personel observation, considered the German lines very in-
effectively protected and he- claimed that with comparatively
small forces of American cavalry he could have kept them broken,
i. e., he could have rendered the German advance impossible or
hampered it so seriously as to necessitate entire change of plans.
He criticised the French mounted troops severely for not doing
this.

In the Atlanta Campaign Sherman's main base was Louisville,
Kentucky. Supplies for the Depot (Magazine) at Nashville were
mainly received 183 miles by rail from there — aided by river com-
munication where the heigh th of the water permitted. South of
Nashville communication was by railroad alone. Taking his
line at 480 miles and the number ot troops engaged in guarding
it we have roughly about 1,500 per fifteen miles. For reasons
already indicated these were very unevenly distributed — north of
Chattanooga about 550 — south about 3.500 per fifteen miles.
Portions of the road easy to destroy and hard to reconstruct were
guarded by blockhouses with garrisons of from twenty men to a
company — capable of protracted defence: most important rail-
way stations were intrenched camps — the whole patrolled con-
stantly by a tireless cavalry. Nashville, Chattanooga and Alla-
toona were fortified garrisons provisioned as contingent bases:
"To supply 100.000 men in the field, with a single track, the pro-
portion of rolling stock should be 0.25 engines and six freight
cars per mile of road."

According to General Sherman no army depending entirely on
wagons can operate more than 100 miles from its base because
the teams going and coming consume the contents of the wag-
ons.

This statement has been put in analytical form as follows:
"One six-mule wagon will carry supplies for 500 men for one
day."

« Haupt.

— 129—

< 'Since it must return to refill, if the troops are one day's
march from their base it will supply only 250 men: it follows that
if the troops are two days march from their base four wagons are
required for 500 men — or 800 wagons for 100,000 men. But with
100,000 men there would be about 16,000 cavalry and artillery
horses, and these require 800 additional wagons, with about 5000
animals: the wagons consume pra6tically one day at the base in
loading, and additional animals require additional wagons for
forage, &c. Figuring on this basis we can find that an army of
100,000 men a little over 100 miles from its base would require
about 10,000 wagons drawn by about 65,000 animals. This would
be a train over 100 miles long, under favorable conditions."*

As the wagons, therefore, excepting within very narrow limits,
cannot return to the base of supplies to refill, it is necessary to
keep these limits narrow, as the army advances by moving up the
base — or in other words by establishing secondary bases, or tran-
sition stations, utilizing railroad and water supply, as far in the
direction -of. the advance as possible, and establishing depots and
magazines strongly placed and guarded, at such points as may
be available. These magazines and depots are:

1. Principal: at the base of operations.

2. Secondary: on the line of operations.

3. Provisional: in the immediate neighborhood of the troops,
with supplies for a few days only.

May 4th, 1864. The Army of the Potomac, 150,000 strong,
left Brandy Station, (Rappahannock River near Culpepper.)
Base had been at Alexandria — 50 miles by rail. It was to cut
loose from base, carrying rations for about sixteen days, or until
new base could be established."

"Soldiers carried three days rations in knapsacks: in haver-
sacks three days hard bread, coffee, sugar and salt. Supply
trains carried ten days rations of these articles and one day's
ration of salt pork. Thirteen days meat ration was driven on
the hoof."

"If this train loaded with this modified ration and with am-
munition and stores were placed in one line it would have ex-
tended from Washington to Richmond — about 130 miles. Sub-
sistence was packed in each wagon: forty boxes hard bread: or
pork six barrels, coffee four barrels: or sugar ten barrels: salt,
one sack per wagon — displacing a barrel of sugar or coffee."

* Sharpe.

— I3o—

"May 8th. (After the Wilderness), five days rations issued
and empty wagons sent to Fredericksburg to be reloaded."

"May nth. Five days rations issued (i da)^s salt meat.)
Empty wagons sent to Belle-Plain, where a depot for subsistence
had been established, to be reloaded to maximum capacity, in-
cluding three days salt meat."

"May 1 3th. Rations issued to include iQth. Wagons sent to
Belle-Plain."

"May 2oth. Troops moved from Spottsylvania Court House
and crossed N. Anna on 2ist. Trains withdrawn from Fred-
ericksburg, Depot at Belle-Plafn broken up: temporary depot at
Port Royal, thirty miles from army: supply trains packed to
Milford, (fourteen miles.) Troops with four days rations: sup-
ply train with eight."

"May 3ist. Depot removed from Port Royal and established
at White House — where empty trains were sent for supplies."

"June 4th. Three days rations issued — giving five days from
June 5th. On both days, June yth and 9th, two days rations
issued."

"June loth. An order required the men to have always four
days rations, and that six days be kept in division supply train:
surplus wagons to carry fresh vegetables, antiscorbutics, &c."

"During this march the principal base may be considered to
have been the Potomac River, Alexandria, &c., the secondary
bases at Fredericksburg, Belle-Plain, Port Royal, &c., the pro-
visional basis being the main supply train, from which the divis-
ion trains replenished."

"When the army reached the James River and crossed, City
Point became the base of supplies, and the task of supplying the
arm)- during the march ceased — the depot being very near and
accessible."*

Service may be by continuous convoy, alternate relays (wagons
unpacked) or successive relays. Where the Germans drove the
enemy in front of them leaving a thickly settled country with
good roads in their rear, these methods could be systematically
applied. They had per corps — 80 wagons supplying current
rations, 80 in reserve, 400 between these two and the temporary
magazines — 600 to keep the temporary magazines supplied.
Total, i, 1 60.

.Grant had about thirty-five wagons per 1,000 men after cross-
ing the Rapidan,— but he carried ten days full rations in the sup-
ply train, three days beef on the hoof, three days full rations in

* Sharpe.

the haversacks and three days hard bread in the knapsacks. This
would give him a modified supply for about fifteen days. If the
men husband their hard bread (which they should be made to do)
they often get along with very little else, — being satisfied with
the fresh meat found in the country and with coffee, sugar and
salt. After Antietam McClellan had about thirty-two wagons per
1,000 men, but they carried seven days full rations, and eight
days (modified ration.)

Transportation can be reduced and was frequently reduced
during the War of Secession as follows:

i st. By carrying no tents excepting very few for office pur-
poses.

2nd. By driving cattle on the hoof, including many gathered
en route, for the meat ration.

3rd. By. reducing the rest of the ration, excepting hard bread
to about one-half, for short periods.

4th. By using up the supplies in a certain number of wagons
and sending these back as they became empty as long as possible.

5th. By carrying no special supplies for officers and no offic-
er's baggage.

On Roussean's raid no vehicle whatever was taken, excepting
some ambulances. Ammunition, mess-pans and camp kettles
were packed on mules. The men carried in their haversacks fif-
teen days rations of coffee, salt and sugar, five of hard bread
and one of bacon, — no blankets and no extra clothing. (July,
1864.)

The proportion of men to animals, in an army, including the
cavalry horses and spare horses, seems to be about three and one-
half to one.

LOAN DEPT.

J^ran