BATTLE BATTLE-PIECE. 



451 



their master, which his first lines gave to the pic- 

 ture, so all the skilful generals under Napoleon 

 laboured for the accomplishment of one great end, 

 sometimes disclosed to them, sometimes concealed in 

 the breast of the commander. To the disposition also 

 belongs the detaching of large bodies which are to 

 co-operate in the battle, but not under the immediate 

 command of the chief. The plan of the battle itself, 

 the position of the troops, &e , is called the order of 

 battle (ordre de bataille). This is either the parallel, 

 or the enclosing (if the enemy cannot develope his 

 forces, or you are strong enough to outflank him), or 

 the oblique. (See Attack).* When each division of 

 troops has taken its position, and received its orders, 

 and the weaker points have been fortified (if time al- 

 lows it), the artillery placed on the most favourable 

 points, all chasms connected by bridges, villages, 

 woods, &c., taken possession of, and all impediments 

 removed as far as possible (which. very often cannot 

 be done, except by fighting), then comes the second 

 period that of the engagement. The combat be- 

 gins, either on several points at a given signal, as is 

 the case when the armies are very large, and a gene- 

 ral attack is intended, as, for instance, at Leipsic, 

 where three fire-balls gave the signal for battle on 

 the side of the allies ; or by skirmishes of the light 

 troops, which is the most common case. The artil- 

 lery endeavours to dismount the batteries of the ene- 

 my, to destroy his columns, and, in general, to break 

 a passage, if possible, for the other troops. The forces, 

 at the present day, are brought into action mostly 

 in columns, and not, as formerly, in long but weak 

 lines. Here the skill of the commanders of battalions 

 is exerted. Upon them rests the principal execution 

 of the actual combat. The plans and orders of a 

 general reach only to a certain point ; the chiefs of 

 battalions must do the great work of the battle. Be- 

 fore the battle, the general places himself upon a 

 point, from which he can see the conflict, and where 

 he can easily receive reports upon a hill, in a wind- 

 mill, c. Sometimes, if there is no such favourable 

 point, a staging is erected. Napoleon stood upon 

 such a one in the battle of Waterloo. A few men 

 are near him, as his body-guard ; others take charge 

 of the plans and maps ; telescopes are indispensable. 

 He often sends one of his aids to take instant com- 

 mand of the nearest body of cavalry, in order to exe- 

 cute an order which must be carried into effect quickly. 

 He receives the reports of the generals under him, 

 and gives new orders ; disposes of the troops not yet 

 in action ; strengthens weak points ; throws his force 

 on the enemy, where he sees them waver ; or changes, 

 if necessary, with a bold and ingenious thought, 

 the whole order of battle. The general now uses 

 every means to bring on the third period of the battle 

 the decisive moment. This cannot always be the 

 result of combinations. It often takes place much 

 sooner than was expected ; it is often protracted by 

 accidents, want of energy on the part of the comman- 

 ders, &c. Sometimes all the operations are drawing 

 to the end, which the general aimed at, when an 

 unforeseen accident suddenly gives a new impulse to 

 the enemy. Victory or defeat depend now upon one 

 moment, one happy idea. Perhaps it is all-important 

 to break, at once, the enemy's centre ; perhaps to 

 concentrate the destructive power of the artillery, 

 ,and, sweeping away some obstacle, to send, as Na- 

 poleon often did, a torrent of cavalry upon a certain 

 point. Any thing which can carry disorder into the 

 ranks of the enemy is of great use. If he begins to 

 waver, or to retreat in order, or to flee in disorder, it 



* On the oblique order of battle, see Melanges I.iii. rflc- 

 tf an comte <le Monlholon ; and Pricis dcs (iuerres de 

 Frederic If. 



is always necessary to follow up the victory with all 

 possible vigour and celerity. This is as important 

 as victory itself. Napoleon was, till the last war in 

 Germany, a master in this particular. There are 

 three maxims as important for the general as they 

 are simple: 1. Know your enemy, his strength 

 and intentions ; 2. make all the operations and ma- 

 nreuvres of the parts coincide, as much as possible, 

 with the great plan of the battle ; 3. pursue victory 

 to the utmost. It is also a maxim, in regard to I at 

 ties, as well as to the conduct of war generally, 

 to make the enemy conform to your plans, and to 

 avoid the necessity of accommodating yourself to 

 his. Stratagems often are of the greatest advantage. 

 After a battle, care must be taken of the wounded. 

 Soldiers are often appointed to take care of their un- 

 fortunate comrades during the battle. It ought to be 

 always done, though it never can do good to any great 

 extent. At night, if cold, fires are lighted, that the 

 wounded may creep to them. Peasants are sent out 

 to bring in the living, and to bury the dead in large 

 pits ; but, if possible, soldiers should always be sent 

 with them, because the peasants, if of the enemy's 

 nation, often plunder half-dead soldiers, and bury 

 them alive. They are generally very rapacious, and 

 think they have a right to indemnify themselves for 

 their severe losses. Several games have been in- 

 vented to explain the manner of conducting war and 

 battles, in which the effect of cannon, &c., is repre- 

 sented by dice ; pieces of lead, differently coloured, 

 represent the different troops. One of the most in- 

 genious contrivances of this kind was invented by Mr 

 von Reisswitz, of Berlin. 



BATTLE-AXE ; a weapon much used in the early 

 part of the middle ages, particularly by the people 

 who fought on foot. It was not uncommon, however, 

 among the knights, who used also the mace, a spe- 

 cies of iron club or hammer. Both are to be seen in 

 the different collections of old arms in Europe. Both 

 these weapons, and another kind, called, in German, 

 Morgenstern (morning star), consisting of a staff, 

 having an iron ball at the end, with cross iron spikes, 

 served to give stunning blows, whose force was felt 

 through the iron armour of the knights. Knights 

 used chiefly the Morgenstern and the mace. The 

 Greeks and Romans did not employ the battle-axe, 

 though it was found among contemporary nations. 

 In fact, the axe is one of the earliest weapons, its use 

 as an instrument of domestic industry, naturally sug- 

 gesting its application for purposes of offence ; but 

 at the same time, it will always be abandoned as soon 

 as the art of fencing, attacking, and guarding is the 

 least cultivated ; because the heavier the blow given 

 with this instrument, the more will it expose the 

 fighter. It is a weapon which affords hardly any 

 guard, and it never would have remained so long in 

 use in the middle ages, had it not been for the iron 

 armour, which protected the body from every thing 

 but heavy blows. In England, Ireland, and Scot- 

 land, the battle-axe was much employed. At the 

 battle of Bannockburn, king Robert Bmce clave r.n 

 English champion down to the chin with one blow 

 of his axe. A blow of equal force was given, by a 

 Suabian knight, in the Levant, in presence of the 

 German emperor. The Lochaber axe remained a 

 formidable implement of destruction in the hands of 

 the Highlanders nearly to the present period, and 

 was used by the old city guard of F.dinburgh. 



BATTLE-PIECE ; a painting which represents a 

 battle, exhibiting large masses of men in action. 

 The armour of the ancients, and the whole array and 

 action of their battles, affords subjects much more 

 favourable to the artist than the straight lines, or 

 condensed columns and the fire-arms of the moderns. 

 A painter of battle-pieces ought to have an accurate 



