BAT 



BAT 



evff. If again defeated, the battle was loft : the Romans 

 had no further refourcc. Livy, lib. viii, — Macchiavel, art. 

 di Guer. lib. iii. ch. i. 



Thefc fucceflive retreats are no where mentioned, except in 

 I-ivy as above Hated ; and prejudiced as we are in favour of 

 the military fcience of the Romans, we find it difficult to 

 conceive the practicability of their execution. Livy has, in 

 faft, much miifaken the intention of the difpofition in 

 quincunx of the ancient legion. Its fole detign was to enable 

 the army to form with facility in that order of battle which 

 the fituati on of the ene.my, or nature of the (ground, might 

 render moil applicable. At the moment which preceded 

 the charge, the manipuli of the ftcondliue, marching briUcly 

 up into the intervals of the Ha'.lati, formed a continued 

 front, ten filjsin depth, and equal to that of tl'.e enemy. The 

 Triarii remained as a corps de refcrve. It was thus, as we 

 (hall incontellibly prove in our account of tliofe actions, that 

 the Roman infantry v.'ere arranged at the Trcl':a and at 

 Cann.t. It was thv.s, with fome httle variation, that they 

 fought at Zama. Neither was it unufual with tlieni to dif- 

 pofc their manipuli according to the principles of the column, 

 as in the battle of Tunis, and that b^rtween Scipio and Af- 

 drubnl the fon of G fco, in Spain. Where there was but little 

 to fear from the impetus of the enemy, the intervals of the 

 Hallati v.-ere filled up by the Ve!i' es ; the Principes remain- 

 ing at their pods in a fecond line ; but, oppofcd to the clofe 

 and heavy oider of the Macedonian phalanx, a dircillly differ- 

 ent difpolition was obferved. Tiie manipuli of each line, pre- 

 ferving thtrir intervals, and adling asf.parate corps, haraflcd 

 the enemy by defultory attacks, obliged them to abandon 

 their ur.ited order, in which fituation only they were invin- 

 cible, and penetrating the phalanx in every direftion, obtained 

 an eafy triumph. Guiichardt, Memoires Militaire?, ch. iv. 



As to the Velites, and in later times the archers and fiing- 

 ers, they were not drawn up in this regular manner ; but 

 difpcftd of tither before the front cf the Hallati, or fcat- 

 tered up and down among the void fpaces of the firft line, 

 or finally, placed in two bodies on the wings. Thefe always 

 began the battle, Ikirraifhing in flying parties with the fore- 

 mod troops of the enemy. If they were repulfed, which 

 was iffually the cafe, they leilback to the flanks of the army, 

 or retired through the iiitervals into the rear. When they 

 retreated, the Hailati advanced to the charge. The auxi- 

 liarj' forces generally ccmpofed the two points of the battle, 

 and covered the whole body of the Roman infantry'. As to 

 the cavalr)', it was pofttd on tlie wings, fighting fometimes 

 on foot as well as 0:1 hoi fcback ; and here we find fome rea- 

 fon to arraign the judgment of the Romans, who never 

 allotted aporportion of more than 300 cavalry to each legion 

 whatever might be the nature of that country which was the 

 theatre of the war. They made no diflerence between the 

 plains of Lombardy and the mountains of Liguria ; and in 

 the Alps maintained the fa.mt number of fquadrons, as in the 

 fertile valleys of Apulia. 



But the order of battle in quincunx was in procefs of time 

 abandoned by the Romans. Tiie taftics of Gcfar widely 

 d;ffer from thofe of Scipio and iEmilius Paulus; and tl:e 

 march and order obferved by Mctelhis in his Numidian war 

 againil Jugurtha, tranfm.itced to us by Sallull, arc the lad 

 traces we find in hillory of the difpcfitioa which proved fo 

 fatal to Hannibal, to Philip, and to Perfcns. The mani- 

 p'di with intenals ; the three lines of Hallati, Principes, and 

 Triarii, differing in arms and in numbers, difappear, and a- 

 bout the age of Marius, the legion afTumes a new form, 

 Inltead of tnirty companies, we then find it divided into ten 

 cohorts, equivalent to our battalions, fince they each con- 

 fiitcd of from £vs to fix liundrcd men, drawn up in a finglo 



line, with a depth of eight or fometimes nine in file. The 

 legions ofVefpafian, according to Jofephus, were drawn up 

 fix deep. This laft arrangement continued to be obferved 

 without alteration during the fiourirairgages of Rome ; but 

 as we advance nearer to modern times, we perceive their mi- 

 litary art decline in its perfeftion, in proportion to the 

 decay of their greatnefs. Under Leo and Mauritius it is a* 

 difficult to recognize the taftics, as the empire of the Cxfars. 

 The difficulty of afccrtaining the period of thefe fucceflive 

 alterations has deterred thafe authors who have been molt 

 capable from undertaking the office ; and finding it eafier to 

 fuppofe that Livy and Plutarch have furnifhed us with fuffi- 

 cient information on the fubjeft, they have concuiTtd with 

 thofe writers to raiflead and perplex us. Salluft. bell. Jug, 

 — C^far. — Jofeph. dc bell. Jud. — Guifchardt, prel. difc. 



For further obfervations on the difcipline and conftitution 

 of the Roman infantry, fee the article Legion. 



For a long fucceffion of barbarous ages, we find nothing 

 to intereft us in militaiy taftics. Imitating in a rude degree 

 the order of battle pointed out to them by their anceftors, 

 the wellern nations from the fifth to the fifteenth century, 

 fought in large bodies, divided into an indefinite number of 

 lines or wards, in every one of which the ir:fantry, infe- 

 rior in rtrength and in importance of fcrvice, compofed 

 the centre, flanked by the heavy armed cavaliy, who always 

 decided the fate of battles. It is in vain to fcarch for mili- 

 tary fcience in thefe periods, and we lliall therefore pafs them 

 over with all poilible rapidity. 



The introduction of artilleiy and fire arms neceffarily in. 

 trcduced an alteration in this fyflem. The cavalr\' ceafed to 

 be the arbiters of fucccfs, and declined rapidly in their import- 

 ance. The deftruclive effeft of the newly invented engines 

 rendered it im.poflible to avoid m.aking a material change \n 

 the order of the battalions. Their depth %va3 gradually 

 decreafed. The method of engaging in wards was abolifhed, 

 as expofing numbers of troops to be facriticed without occa- 

 fion ; and two lines with a corps de rcferve were in time 

 thought quite fufficient for the purpofe of aftion. The front 

 of the army was proportionally extended, and embraced a 

 greater extent of country. The adN^antages of ground, be- 

 fore judged in comparifon trivial, were now eagerly fought 

 after. Generals bccam.e from necefiity tadicians, and by 

 little and little, continually im.proving, fom.etimes flowly, 

 fometimes with rapidity, the military' art affumed the face it 

 wears in our times ; under the aufpices progreffively of a 

 Guftavus, a Conde, an Eugene, a Marfhal Saxe, and a 

 Frederic the Great, wbofe names will never be forgotten by 

 the lateil potlerity. 



Under the articles Column and Line, to which they of 

 right belong, we Ihall altem.pt to illuftrate and compare the 

 French and Pruffian fyftem.s of the order of battle as now 

 pradliftd by both thefe nations ; and accompany them with 

 inllances fiora among the number which have of late years 

 fallen under our infpeftion. 



Battle, in a Naval lenfe, denotes an engagement be- 

 tween two fleets, fquadrons, or even fingle fliips. See En- 

 gagement. The ancients had divers forms of fea-battles ; 

 as the h.alf-moon, circle, and forceps. In all thefe, not 

 only the 'hips engaged each other, and by their beaks and 

 prows, and Camctimcs their flerns, endeatoured to dafh in 

 pieces, or overfet and fink each other, but the ioldiers alfo 

 annoyed the enemy with darts and flings, and, on their 

 nearer approach, with fwords and fpears, boarding each other 

 by laying bridges between the fliips. 



By way of preparation, they took down their fails, and 

 lowered their mails, and fccured whatever might expofe them 

 to the wind, choofii:g rather to be governed by their oars. 



D Z B.VTTLE, 



