NAVITACTICS. 513 



break the line, of the enemy, by an oblique attack ; when the rear- 

 ward portion of his ships, separated from the rest, may be captured 

 with comparative ease, while the others are too far distant to aid 

 them. This method was practised by Rodney, in the West Indies ; 

 and also by Nelson, in the battles of the Nile, and Trafalgar : its 

 excellence, therefore, may be considered as fully established. 



Note to page 503. The formation by threes is that prescribed in 

 Herries' Cavalry Tactics ; but the formation now adopted in the 

 United States service is by fours: four men of the front rank wheel- 

 ing as one, and being followed by four men of the rear rank ; thus 

 forming a column of four men abreast, to march by a flank. 



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