BATTLE, a general engagement between the armed forces, naval or military, of enemies. The word is derived from the Fr. bataille, and this, like the Ital. battaglia, and Span. batalla, comes from the popular Lat. battalia. Battalia was used for the array of troops for battle, and hence was applied to the body of troops so arranged, or to a division of an army, whence the use of the word "battalion" (q.v.).
A "pitched battle," loosely used as meaning almost a decisive engagement, is strictly, as the words imply, one that is fought on ground previously selected, French bataille arrangee, opposed to bataille manoeuvree, which is intended but may come off on any ground. In modern English usage the two types are distin guished by the titles "deliberate" and "encounter." With "battle," in its usual meaning of a general engagement of hostile armies, are contrasted "skirmish," a fight between small bodies ("skirmish ing" technically means fighting by troops in extended or irregular order), and "action," a more or less similar engagement between larger bodies of troops. (See also TACTICS and STRATEGY.) A "battle" is essentially a climax in which each army brings to bear all its available forces and resources, and which, therefore, by the greatness of the stake is likely to have a vital influence on the fortunes of the campaign. The term "battle" was loosely applied to many of the prolonged trench-warfare operations of the World War, e.g., Battle of the Somme, but the term was not truly justified, both because the offensive effort was punctuated by long pauses during which both sides could redistribute or relieve the forces engaged—so creating a fresh situation—and because only a small proportion of the available forces were en gaged in any one episode. Certain of these episodes, e.g., the attacks of July 1 and July 14, 1916, had a better claim to be termed "battles"; but if qualified by the time test they are hardly justified by the scale test, owing to the small fraction of the armies which were actually engaged. On the other hand, their nature accords admirably with the terminology which is histori cally used of siege operations. The importance of this exact use of language is that it serves to place the Western front campaign in its true form as a gigantic siege.