450 



BATTLE. 



Kheims. He displayed his gratitude to this riiy, in 

 which in- received his education, hy the <xle /// Ciri- 

 tatem Ilemensciu, 1739, which was much admired. 

 In l~i>(\ he was invited to Paris, where ho taught 

 rhetoric in the colleges of Lisicux ami Navarre. lie 

 was afterwards appointed ]>rof'sM>r of Latin and 

 Greek pliilosophy at the royal college. In 17.> 1, he 

 became a member of the academy of inscriptions, 

 iiml, in ITCil, of the French academy. His constitu- 

 tion, naturally strung, sank under his exertions, and 

 he died, July 14, 1780. His eulogy was pronounced 

 by M. Delilie, then director of this society. It. left 

 a large number of valuable works. He has done 

 much service to literature and the fine arts, by intro- 

 ducing unity and system into the numerous canons of 

 taste, which liad gained a standing among the French 

 by the example of many eminent men, particularly 

 in regard to poetry, ami must be. regarded as a va- 

 luable writer on testfietics, notwithstanding the higher 

 point of view from which this science is now con- 

 sidered. Some of his most valuable works are Les 

 Beaux-Arts reduitt d vn meme Principe, Paris, 1747 ; 

 and Cours dc Belles-Lettres ou Principes tie la Lit- 

 teraturt, Paris, 1774, and several times afterwards. 

 These works liave l>een translated into many other 

 languages. See Philosophy. 



BATTLE. The object of a wnr may be obtained in 

 two different ways : either one party forces the ene- 

 my, by skilful maiianivres, marches, demonstrations, 

 the occupation of advantageous positions, &c.,to quit 

 the field (which belongs to the province of strategy) ; 

 or the hostile masses approach each other (by design 

 or by chance), so that a battle becomes necessary to 

 determine which shall keep the field. The rules for 

 insuring a successful issue, whether they respect the 

 preparations for the conflict, or the direction of the 

 forces when actually engaged, belong to tactics, in 

 the narrower sense of the word. Strategy also shows 

 the causes which bring armies together, and produce 

 battles without any agreement between the parties. 

 It belongs not to this article to explain this point. It 

 may be sufficient to say, in general, that armies, in 

 their marches (and consequently in their meeting), 

 are chiefly determined by the course of the mountains 

 and rivers of a country. In ancient times and the 

 middle ages, the battle-ground was often chosen by 

 agreement, and then the battle was a mere trial of 

 strength, a duel en gros', but, in our time, such 

 trifling is done away. War is now carried on for the 

 real or pretended interest of a nation, or a ruler who 

 thinks or pretends that his interest is that of tin- 

 nation. Wars are not undertaken for the purpose of 

 fighting, and battles are merely the consequence of 

 pursuing the purpose of the war. They arise from 

 one party's striving to prevent the other from gaining 

 his object. Every means, therefore, of winning the 

 battle is resorted to, and an agreement can hardly be 

 thought of. In this respect, a land battle is entirely 

 different from a naval battle. The former is intended 

 merely to remove an obstacle in the way of gaining 

 the object of the war ; the destruction of the enemy, 

 therefore, is not the first thing sought for. The 

 views of one party can often be earned into effect 

 with very little effusion of blood ; and if a general 

 can obtain the same end by manoeuvring as by a 

 battle, he certainly prefers the former. But the 

 object of a naval engagement is, almost always, the 

 destruction of the enemy ; those cases only excepted, 

 in which a fleet intends to bring supplies or reinforce- 

 ments to a blockaded port, and is obliged to fight to 

 accomplish its purpose. 



As the armies of the ancients were not so well 

 organized as those of the modems, and the comba- 

 tants fought very little at a distance, after the battle 

 had begun, manoeuvres were much more difficult, and 



troops, when actually engaged, were almost entirely 

 Ix-yond the control of the general. With them 

 therefore, the battle depended almost wholly upon 

 the previous arrangements, and the valour of tht 

 troops. Not so in modern times. The finest com- 

 binations, the most ingenious mana-nvres, are ren- 

 dered possible by the better organization of the armies, 

 which thus, generally at least, remain under thecontrol 

 of the general. The battle of the ancients was the 

 rude beginning of an art now much dcvclop<d. It is 

 the skillof the general, rather than the courage ol 

 the soldier, that now determine* the event of a battle. 

 There is, probably, no situation, which requires the 

 simultaneous exertion of all the powers of the mind 

 more than that of a general at the decisive moment 

 of a battle. While the soldier can yield himself en- 

 tirely to the impulse of his courage, the general must 

 coolly calculate the most various combinations ; while 

 the soldier retreats, the general must endeavour to 

 turn the tide of battle by his ardour or his genius. 

 Daring courage, undaunted firmness, the most active 

 and ingenious invention, cool calculation, and tho- 

 rough self-possession, amid scenes of tremendous agi- 

 tation, and under the consciousness that the fate ot a 

 whole nation may depend on him alone in the trying 

 moment, these are the qualities which a good gene- 

 ral cannot dispense with for a moment. If it is the 

 character of genius to conceive great ideas instanta- 

 neously, military genius is, in this respect, the greatest. 

 Great generals have therefore, been, in all ages, the 

 objects of admiration ; and as a great artist may be 

 no example, in a moral point of view, although we 

 admire the genius displayed in his productions, so we 

 cannot but bestow the same kind of admiration on the 

 high intellectual gifts of a great general. Few si- 

 tuations, therefore, enable a man to acquire higher 

 glory, than that of a great commander in a good 

 cause. If troops meet accidentally, and are thus ob- 

 liged to fight, it is called a rencontre. Further, bat- 

 tles are distinguished into offensive and defensive. Of 

 course, a battle which is offensive for one side is de- 

 fensive for the other. 



Tactitians divide a battle into three periods that 

 of the disposition, that of the combat, and the decisive 

 moment. The general examines the strength, recon- 

 noitres the position, and endeavours to learu the in- 

 tention of the enemy. If the enemy conceals his plan 

 and position, skirmishes and partial assaults are often 

 advisable, in order to disturb him, to obtain a view of 

 his movements, to induce him to advance, or with the 

 view of making prisoners, who may be questioned, 

 &c. Since the general cannot direct all these opera- 

 tions in person, officers of the staff assist him ; single 

 scouts or small bodies are sent out, and spies are em- 

 ployed. Any person or thing (ministers, peasants, 

 shepherds, maps, &c.), which can afford information 

 of the enemy, or the ground on which the battle is 

 likely to take place, is made use of for obtaining in 

 telligence, by force or otherwise. According to the. 

 knowledge thus acquired, and the state of the troops, 

 the plan of the battle, or the disposition, is made ; 

 and here military genius has an opportunity to display 

 itself. There is an immense difference between the 

 quick, clear, and ingenious disposition of a great ge- 

 neral, which shows the leading features of the plan 

 to every commander under him, and provides for all 

 cases, favourable or unfavourable, with a few distinct 

 touches, without depriving the different commanders 

 of freedom of action, and the slow, indistinct, minute, 

 and, after all, inaccurate dispositions of a feeble com- 

 mander. Napoleon's dispositions are real master- 

 pieces. Like a great artist, he delineates, with a few 

 strokes, the whole character of the battle ; and as 

 the disciples of Raphael assisted in the painting of his 

 pictures, but necessarily worked in the great style of 





