In the attack of an entrenched camp, the troops most be made acquainted with the obstacles which they have to encounter in each attack, and be supplied with the means of surmounting them. As many of these ob stacles as possible should be previously removed by the artillery. The troops which are destined to form the attacks then march in open columns to the points of at tack, and endeavour to avail themselves of all the ad vantages of the ground, to avoid the enemy's fire. The troops destined to support the attacks follow at a mode rate distance in front. The columns should not be too strong, nor consist of more than two battalions. It. were better to make several attacks than to form too deep columns. To arrive in front of the entrenchment—to spring into the ditches and climb up, must be the work of a moment. While the foremost are thus engaged, those following them must, if necessary, keep the breast-work clear by means of their fire. As soon as a part have surmounted the breast-work, the rest must immediately follow, place themselves on the top of the breast-work, drive of every thing with their fire, and even turn the enemy's cannon against himself. Under cover of this fire, the workmen clear the entrances in the neighbourhood, or make new ones, if necessary, to admit the troops. If cavalry are employed, (which is always the case when the ground will admit of it,) they charge such of the enemy as attempt to make a stand, as soon as a few squadrons are formed. If infantry, they always endeavour to gain more and more ground, and to drive off the enemy with their fire, until he leaves the entrenchment entirely, when the different at tacks can unite and form line. In all attacks, it is of advantage to conceal from the enemy the true points at which they are to be made ; and for this purpose all pos sible feints and stratagems should be employed that are consistent with the attainment of our main object.
The party acting on the defensive must first take care that his flanks be secure, and his front strong and well covered. He should then endeavour to discover the point or points against which the enemy's attack is di rected ; and when he perceives that a reinforced attack is intended, he must strengthen that point in such a man ner as the nature of the ground, and of the troops em ployed by the enemy, require. All the artillery that can be brought to bear upon them must play upon the ene my's columns, and particularly endeavour to harass them while deploying. II the enemy make the attack with infantry, he must be opposed by a strong fire along the whole way to the attack, which, when properly executed, should compel him to turn to the right about. If with cavalry, they must either be charged by our own horse, or opposed by infantry ; and, in the latter case, we should endeavour to manage matters so, that the caval ry, while in full charge, shall present the flank to a corps of infantry posted near them, whose fire may easily bring them into disorder. Otherwise, infantry must await such an attack without firing, until the enemy come within twenty paces, when a well-timed general charge will certainly drive hack the cavalry. Our own sus taining cavalry must then break through the intervals, and convert the disorder occasioned by the fire of the infantry into a complete flight. if the enemy, while
marching to the attack, should give us an opportunity of attacking him in flank, it should by no means be ne glected ; for in this way an attack can frequently be effectually and decisively repulsed. But, in such a case, we must take good care nut to expose our own flank.
When we have beaten back a part of the assailants, we must not pursue them too keenly, but only endea vour to prevent the beaten troops from forming again, which may be done by means of light horse, or detached troops. If the enemy, on the other hand, has penetrat ed any part of our line, the troops appointed to sustain it must immediately come up, and endeavour to profit by the confusion which is occasioned even by a success ful attack. The beaten troops must hasten to form again, and attack the enemy. if we can fall upon his flanks, we shall the more certainly force hint to retire. It is very easy to apply these general rules to the par ticular cases.
Before leaving this subject, it may be proper to ex plain mot e minutely than we have hitherto done, the mechanism of the different orders of battle ; a perfect knowledge of which is of the very first importance in military science.
All the seven orders of battle which tactical writers, since the days of Vegetius, have described, may be re duced to these two—the parallel and the oblique. The order is said to be parallel, when our front is developed in a direction parallel to that of the enemy, and can en gage along its whole extent. This is the most simple and natural disposition, and must have been generally adopted in the infancy of military science. As know ledge increased, armies superior in numbers would en deavour to avail themselves of their superiority by turn ing the enemy's flanks ; hence the disposition in form of a crescent, which is still practised in the Turkish and Asiatic armies. On the other hand, skilful generals, at the head of inferior armies, would endeavour to discover the means of compensating the disadvantage of inferior numbers by a more perfect system of tactics. They would perceive that, by presenting a front parallel to a superior enemy, they exposed themselves to be sur rounded and beaten; and they would consequently be led to adopt some other disposition, sonic science of movements, by means of which they could bring a part of their forces to bear upon some point of the enemy's line, while the rest were kept back out of the reach of the enemy. Hence the oblique order of battle ; the ad vantages of which were at length found to be so great, that it was generally adopted by all armies, whether su perior or inferior in numbers, to the utter exclusion of the parallel formation. The advantages of the oblique order are, that since its introduction war has become a science of judicious combinations, instead of a game of chance ; and that, as it does not admit of a general en gagement along the whole line, the result of battles de pends upon the ability of the commanders more than upon the quantity of blood that is shed. This order of battle was well known, and very celebrated among the ancients; but the King of Prussia was the first com mander, in modern times, who executed it upon scien tific principles, and adapted it to modern tactics.