Maurice, Prince of Orange-Nassau, and Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, are justly considered as the fa thers of modern military science. Both were men of learning and research, as well as of genius ; and both carefully studied the art of war in the writings of the Greeks and Romans. Their admiration of the ancients, indeed, was perhaps carried to excess, and led them to the servile adoption of principles, which were no longer suited to the times, or to the arms then in use. But there is no doubt, that we are chiefly indebted to them for the revival of military tactics and discipline. They kept up the prejudice in favour of the dense order of battle, and the use of the pike ; • but, on the other hand, they skewed the advantages of the oblique order, and invented the present grand basis of miii:ary operations, —a triangle resting on a chain of magazines ; besides introducing many other minor improvements in the dis cipline and disposition of the troops.
After the death of Gustavus, Bernhard, Duke of Wei mar, Horn, Banner, Torstenshon, Turenne, Montecti culi, and others, fought with success according to the principles of their master ; and the art of war continued in certain respects to improve. This, as Guihert ob serves, was the age of great generals, commanding small armies, and doing great things. Some circum stances, however, still concurred to retard the progress of military science : among which may be reckoned the servile adherence to the ancient tactics, the prejudice in favour of the dense order, and the continued use of the pike, which even the celebrated AIontecuculi used to call the queen of arms.
Towards the end of the seventeenth, and the begin ning of the eighteenth century, great improvements were made in certain branches of military science, while others were almost entirely neglected. Coehorn and Vauban brought the art of attacking fortified places to a state of perfection wholly unknown to the ancients. The art of defence, however, was far from making equal progress. In the mean time, armies became much more numerous ; and the quantity of artillery was prodigi ously increased. Louis XIV. gave the example, which was soon imitated by the rest of Europe. Armies so numerous, and with such immense trains,were less easily supplied and put in motion ; and the duties of a gene ral were more complicated and more difficult. Conde, Luxembourg, Marlborough, Eugene, and a few other generals of transcendent talents, were able to move these masses ; but men of inferior genius sunk under the weight.
Sufficient justice, we think, has never been done to the talents of Marlborough, unquestionably the first commander of his age. The consummate skill which
he displayed in the conduct of large armies ; the cor rectness of his coup-d'xi/ in chusing positions, and dis covering the weak points of the enemy ; his quickness in detecting the faults of his antagonists, and the rapi dity with which he took advantage of them ; above all, the uniform and brilliant success which attended all his enterprizes, attest the pre-eminence of his military ge nius. But neither Marlborough, nor any of the other generals of his time, can be considered as inventors in the art of war. They may have made a more or less skilful use of the princples already established ; but none of them appear to have introduced any thing new, either in the organization of armies, or in military tac tics.
At this period a great schism prevailed in the opi nions of military men with respect to the changes ne cessary to be introduced, in consequence of the use of fire arms. All Europe was divided on the question, whether the dense order of the ancients ought to be re jected, as exposing the troops too much to the destruc tive effects of artillery ? This question was discussed in various writings, without producing any settled con viction. The Chevalier Folard proposed his columns as the fundamental and almost exclusive order for in fanny ; and his opinion gained many partizans. The army, in short, was on the point of resuming the pike, and Forming the phalanx. The war of the Succession, and that of 1733, were conducted upon these unsettled principles ; the battalions forming on a depth of from four to six, and the officers of the old school demanding the resumption of the pike, which Vauban had brought into disuse.
We now approach that period, however, when the science of military tactics assumed a more decided and scientific form. Under Charles XII. the Swedish sol diers were still animated by the same spirit which they had manifested under Gustavus. His infantry, hardy and indefatigable, in a state of discipline as perfect as the Roman legions in their best times, and commanded by excellent generals, who possessed a considerable knowledge of modern manceuvres, performed actions which astonished Europe. But Charles was too limited in respect of his means; and his carrer, however bril liant, was too short, to enable us to'form a perfect esti mate of what he might have been capable of accom plishing under different circumstances ; and he has even left us in doubt regarding the extent of his knowledge, and the powers of his genius.