310 



SOLDIER. 



march carried in arms, 

 camp utensils, pali- 

 sades, provisions ibr 

 nineteen to twenty 

 days, &c., a burthen of 

 at least ninety pounds ; 

 hence double what the 

 soldier now carries. 

 Vegetius compares an 

 array carrying 1000 

 palisades to a moving 

 fortress. The physical 

 strength of the soldier 

 was exercised inces- 

 santly. The recruits 

 wore trained in Rome 

 by carrying and march- 

 ing in the burning sun. 

 In the camp the sol- 

 diers worked on roads 

 and bridges, aqueducts, &c., whereby the legions 

 were made to diffuse Roman civilization. The 

 Roman soldier was the best builder of walls ever 

 known. The battle was begun by the velites. 

 When they had retreated to the wings of each le- 

 gion, or into the intervals, the hastati threw their 

 spears when about twelve or fifteen feet distant 

 from the enemy, and then rushed on, sword in hand. 

 If they were repulsed, the principes advanced, and 

 the former again arranged themselves in order. If ; 

 the principes wavered, then the compact mass of 

 triarii pressed forward having till then rested on 

 one knee, protected by their shields. If the enemy 

 now gave way, the velites and cavalry assailed him, 

 and made the rout complete. This threefold line 

 of battle and threefold conflict gave the Roman 

 legions an advantage over the Macedonian phalanx, 

 (q. v.) The Roman soldier always remained in the 

 camp, even in peace (castra stativa') ; he was always 

 occupied, and subject to very strict discipline. 

 This kept him strong ; and there were fewer sick 

 men to encumber the march than at present. To- 

 wards the end of the republic, the armies were much 

 increased in number by foreigners and slaves ; but 

 their moral power decreased. Augustus was at the 

 head of forty-nine legions and 19,000 horse ; to 

 which must be added 10,000 pretorians and the 

 provincial troops. With the discipline, the art of 

 war declined. 



II. In the time of Honorius and Valentinian, the 

 legions could no longer resist the irregular attacks 

 of the Huns, Goths, Vandals, Burgundians and 

 Franks, whose power consisted wholly in their 

 numbers, physical strength and impetuous courage. 

 Charlemagne gave to his armies an organization 

 which made them superior to their brave but undis- 

 ciplined enemies ; but the chronicles do not afford 

 us any particulars on this point. In the eleventh 

 and twelfth centuries, the armies consisted of feudal 

 militia, viz. vassals, who served under the banner 

 of their feudal lords for three months or ninety 

 days. For this period, every one provided himself 

 with necessaries, and, on its expiration, went home, 

 whether the war was at an end or not. The men 

 at arms (horsemen in armour) were the strength of 

 the French army; the rest consisted of infantry, 

 badly armed and exercised, mostly bondsmen. 

 When the arts revived in Italy, the art of war also 

 attracted its share of attention, and was improved ; 

 but the wars were carried on by mercenaries, com- 

 manded by the condottieri, already mentioned. 

 These troops, eager only for pay and booty, had 



no desire for each other's destruction; and this 

 circumstance gave rise to stratagems and artificial 

 movements, und thus, singularly enough, led to the 

 invention of modern tactic-s. Choice of positions, 

 marches, and counter-marches, artificial attacks of 

 fortresses, surprises, and avoidance of disadvan- 

 tageous engagements, distinguish the wars of tlie 

 famous du Guesclin, under Charles V., king of 

 France (1364 80). The bands of mercenaries 

 whom he commanded, amounting to 30,000 men, 

 were real scourges of the country when not occu- 

 pied in war. After this came the struggles of the 

 Swiss for their liberty. Their strength was in 

 infantry. In order to withstand the men at arms, 

 they gave to their infantry the helmet and cuirass, 

 halberd and sword. The victories of these pike- 

 men attracted the attention of all military nations. 

 Louis XI. of France took 6000 of them into his 

 service; and in the Italian wars of Charles VIIL, 

 the Swiss infantry, 20,000 men strong, were the 

 terror of the enemy, but were ready to desert the 

 standard of their employer whenever their pay was 

 delayed. At an earlier period, similar troops of 

 pike-men had been in use in Germany, Spain, and 

 France. Charles VII. of France, in particular, had 

 instituted fifteen " compagnies d'ordonnance " (in 

 1444), the first standing army, and " francs 

 archers" (in 1449), 16,000 infantry, and'. 9000 

 horse. Louis XI. increased the army to 29,000 

 infantry and 19,000 cavalry. This subsequently 

 rendered a new arrangement necessary. Francis I. 

 divided the infantry into seven legions, each of 

 6000 men; but regiments of from 2000 to 3000 

 men soon took their place. These, at a later 

 period, were again divided into battalions of from 

 600 to 700 men, for the sake of manoeuvring with 

 greater ease. The sharp-shooters were light troops, 

 and fought like the velites of the Romans ; behind 

 them the close lines of pike-men advanced to 

 battle. 



III. Since the sixteenth century, the use of fire- 

 arms (rifles, muskets, and cannons) lias made a new 

 epoch in tactics. The famous Spanish general Pes- 

 cara was victorious at Pavia, in 1525, over the 

 French cavalry by means of fire-arms. But it was 

 long before the use of the heavy ordinance was 

 skilfully combined with that of the lance-. This 

 was first attempted by Puysegur, in the beginning 

 of the reign of Louis XIV. The superiority of 

 artillery over every other species of arms was now 

 decided ; yet the use of lances and pikes continued 

 to the end of the seventeenth century. At this 

 time, light cavalry substituted the carbine for the 

 lance; but the defensive arms helmet, cuirass, 

 &c. were laid aside too soon. After the match- 

 locks were changed for flint-locks, the musketry 

 was placed in the first line, and the depth of the 

 order of battle gradually diminished. Armies had, 

 till then, been drawn up in lines six or eight men 

 deep. 



IV. This diminution took place chiefly after the 

 introduction of the bayonet, invented, in 1670, at 

 Bayonne. Moreover, the difference between heavy 

 and light infantry now ceased entirely, as all were 

 armed in the same way, much to the detriment of 

 the means of attack. The armies were burdened 

 with a heavy park of artillery and much baggage, 

 which greatly impeded their movements, and the 

 disadvantage of the deep order of battle was not 

 yet fully appreciated. But, even at this period, 

 the infantry were placed in the centre, and the 

 cavalry on the wings and in the reserve. (Marsui 



