tactics and stratagems of war.—captain bentley and captain baines.—the defiance.—scaling the rock.—the stratagem of the boat.—battle of actium.—duke of saxe weimar.—breaking the line.—the prussian general.—ibrahim pasha.—the old dervise.—war terms.—actions.—attacks.—attempts.—battles.—blockades.—bombardments.—descents.—defeats.—engagements.—expeditions.—invasions.—sea-fights.—storms.—sieges.—surprises.—skirmishes.—repulses.—explosions.—three-fingered jack.
“we will now, boys, enter a little into the tactics and stratagems of war. nothing like being 169fair and above-board in the common transactions of life; but in war, he who can take a prisoner instead of taking his life does a good thing; and he who by tactics or stratagems can compel an army to lay down their arms, instead of covering the ground with slain, does better.”
“ay! you must please to make everything as plain to us as you can.”
“i will! i will! as no nation is justified in going to war when peaceable means can be resorted to with success, so no general ought to destroy human life while he can accomplish his ends by stratagem. the difference between the tactics of war and the stratagems of war is this. tactics are superior arrangements made by knowledge and genius to overcome an enemy, while stratagems are feints, made to deceive him. tactics are, therefore, of the most importance, for they will always be called into play, while stratagems can only be occasionally resorted to. a good player at chess, or draughts, will beat an opponent by his superior skill or tactics, without once resorting to a stratagem, while an indifferent player will sometimes win a game by resorting to the stratagem of giving his adversary one piece, and capturing two in return.”
“o yes! it is very plain that there is a great difference between stratagems and tactics.”
“when i was a schoolboy, the whole school, in play-hours, was divided into two parties, with a 170captain at the head of each, and many a brave encounter took place in our mimic battles. one of our captains, named baines, was famous for stratagems, and by the aid of these he was frequently successful, though his opponent, captain bentley, was greatly his superior in strength and activity. on one occasion, baines separated himself from his party, withdrawing himself on the left flank, crying out, ‘o that i had an enemy that dared to meet me hand to hand!’ bentley, knowing himself to be more than a match for his opponent, instantly followed him, when, on a signal given by baines, two of his strongest soldiers ran to support him, while the rest flung themselves between bentley’s troops and their commander, to prevent any assistance being given. the consequence followed, that bentley was soon a prisoner, with his hands tied behind his back, and baines, with little exertion, obtained a complete victory.”
“that was a famous stratagem! how could bentley be so foolish as to follow him?”
“on another occasion, baines took possession alone of a rock, so steep on all sides that it could only be scaled by the aid of a ladder; from the top of this rock he pelted his opponents; when bentley, too proud, to be driven away by baines alone, mounted the ladder to dislodge him. no sooner, however, had he gained the summit of the rock than baines, who had let himself down on the opposite side with a rope, 171appeared at the bottom, and threw down the ladder, so that captain bentley, from the top of the rock which he had no means of descending, had the mortification to see his little army discomfited for the want of a commander.”
“capital! capital! baines was too much for bentley.”
“it was after these stratagems that he practised a third. bentley was very fond of addressing his party from a little boat that was moored by the side of the broad brook. one day, as he was standing in the boat addressing his troops, and telling them that in the hour of danger he would always be found at their head, the boat imperceptibly glided from the bank towards the middle of the stream. bentley perceiving the boat to be unmoored, turned round, when he saw the weakest of baines’s soldiers, half hid among the opposite bushes, pulling at a rope, which had been fastened beforehand to the boat. by this stratagem bentley was kept in the middle of his brook till the whole of his army was discomfited, baines repeatedly crying out, ‘in the hour of danger you will find me at your head!’”
“famous! famous! that baines would have made a good general!”
“a knowledge of tactics is indispensable to a general and to an admiral; remembrance too, of the common details and evolutions should be kept up, otherwise officers, though their tactics may be 172good, may make arrangements and give orders, difficult to be executed. the prussian tactics were, to concentrate power and to attack the chief points of an enemy in succession, whereas french tactics attack all points, with divided forces, at one and the same time.”
“why, the one is just the contrary to the other.”
“to go back to the days of rome. at the battle of actium, augustus, finding himself inferior to mark anthony in the number of his ships, had the sagacity to draw up his line of battle along the entrance of the gulph of ambracia, and thereby to make up for his deficiency. this naval man?uvre, as well as that of getting to windward of the enemy, in order to bear down upon him with more certainty and effect, exists to the present day.”
“augustus acted wisely, for many of mark anthony’s ships had not room to fight.”
“in ancient times ships had sharp prows, with which they ran one against another. the battle was then carried on by boarding, but now cannon-shot decides almost every action. ships now fight broadside to broadside; and whenever a vessel can take another at such a disadvantage as to sweep her decks from stem to stern, this is called ‘raking her fore and aft.’”
“ay! gunpowder has made a great difference in that respect.”
173“the duke of saxe weimar, at the siege of brissack, practised a stratagem with success. the imperialists had a strong post on a hill. the duke ordered the drums and trumpets of the different corps to be stationed in a neighbouring wood. when these began to play, the imperialists, thinking they were about to be attacked in that quarter, left the strong position they occupied on the hill, which was instantly taken possession of by the duke.”
“the duke was too cunning for them a great deal.”
“the dutch, the spanish, and the french, have all had their day on the ocean; but they are not likely to have it again at present.”
“john clark, esq. a fellow of the society of scottish antiquaries, introduced a new kind of naval tactics, since proved to be eminently successful. before his tactics were introduced british ships were almost always victorious in battles between single ships, while in conflicts of whole fleets they seldom obtained an advantage. their intrepidity and desire to engage, led them to attack from windward, which enabled their enemies, formed ready for them to leeward, to disable them, as they came into action, by injuring their masts and rigging, from following them when they chose to retire. thus, fleet after fleet escaped, because british tars could not come into close action. mr. clark’s system found 174a remedy for this evil—by breaking the line. his principle is, to exert the chief force against the weakest or most vulnerable part of the enemy’s line. admiral rodney first broke through the french fleet on this principle, when its rear was driven to leeward in confusion and torn to pieces by a raking fire. do you not understand, boys, that if an admiral, by cutting off one half of an enemy’s fleet, can bring the whole of his ships to bear on that part, he may, perhaps, obtain a victory before the other half of the enemy’s fleet can join the battle.”
“o yes, that is very clear. no wonder that admirals should wish to break the enemy’s line.”
“lords howe and vincent, duncan, and nelson, have all followed out this principle with great success. tactics are quite as necessary in the army as in the navy. frederick the great once gave much encouragement to a stranger who undertook to introduce some new and important tactics into his army. but general de zeithen, seeing through the hollowness of the stranger’s pretensions, laid an ambuscade for him in a sham fight, took him prisoner, and brought him in bound, on horseback; which circumstance opened the eyes of frederick to the empty pretensions of his new favourite.”
“well done, general de zeithen! his tactics were better than those of the would-be general.”
175“when ibrahim pasha, the son of mehemet ali, was at damascus, in syria, with an army of forty thousand men, an old dervise arrived there, and hastened to give his staff to ibrahim. in this staff the old dervise had safely carried a scrap of paper from mehemet ali, containing these words—‘acre has been taken—return to egypt.’ a council was called, and the european advisers of ibrahim strongly urged him to retire, in one body, by the shortest road coastward, with baggage and provisions, as he would then be able to set every attack at defiance. ibrahim unaccountably neglected this proposal, and following out his own mistaken plan, broke up his army into six divisions, giving fourteen days’ provisions to each, and sent them on to be harassed and distressed by the turks and mountaineers, who hung upon them during the whole of their march. ibrahim paid dear for his error in dividing his troops. it took him thirty-nine days to reach gaza, during which time he twice marched round the dead sea, having mistaken his road, pursued by his enemies, who allowed him no respite, and compelled his troops to prolong their existence by eating herbs. it is said, that even in the retreat of buonaparte from moscow greater hardships were not endured than in that of ibrahim pasha from syria.”
“how foolish, to divide his army.”
176“it was foolish, and no doubt he thought so, long before he arrived at gaza. the more you hear or read of tactics, the clearer you will see that the better they are understood the more likely is an army to be successful. it is generally agreed that there are some principles which should always be strictly attended to in the formation of all military bodies.
“first, each regiment, or integral part of an army, must be under the uniform command of one man, interested in its good appearance, efficiency, and success, who must be responsible for his charge, and removeable when not found equal to his duty.
“secondly, its size should not be too great to admit of his personal inspection and superintendence, under all the circumstances of its ordinary situation, so that he may be thoroughly acquainted with every officer, and, generally, with the men.
“thirdly, promotion should be confined, as much as the interests of the service will permit, within each regiment, so that those who share equally in the perils of any duty should also share equally in the advantages resulting therefrom.
“fourthly, this promotion should be at such a rate as to prevent men arriving at commands requiring much energy and exertion, when they are in mind and body too much debilitated for either.”
177“those appear to be very excellent regulations. do soldiers like best to go abroad or to remain at home?”
“there are, no doubt, those who prefer to rest in old england, but many officers feel most at home when abroad, well knowing that the field is the high road to promotion.”
“very likely, uncle! very likely!”
“there are many war terms, the precise meaning of which can hardly be given—having different significations attached to them. thus, an action may be considered to be a battle between the smaller bodies of troops. the attempt of the french to take hougomont, at the battle of waterloo, was an attack; it was an assault to gain a post. the expedition of the spanish armada was an attempt; but, on account of the valour of british seamen, it did not succeed. the fight on the fields of waterloo was a battle; the forces of two armies were engaged. the investment of pampluna by the duke of wellington was a blockade, for the surrounding troops shut up all the avenues to the place, and prevented anything from going in or out. the taking of flushing, in the isle of walcheren, was a bombardment, for the place was subdued by throwing shells into it, and battering it with cannon. buonaparte’s expedition to egypt was a descent; it was a sudden, hostile entrance into a country. the loss sustained by mourad-bey at the battle of the pyramids, was a defeat; it was 178the overthrow of an army. the battle of the nile was an engagement; it was a fight between two fleets. the british troops, sent out to egypt under abercrombie, was an expedition; it was a force sent out on a military enterprise. the taking possession of algiers by the french was an invasion; it was the hostile occupation of a country, with intent to retain it.
“the engagement between the shannon and the chesapeake was a sea-fight; it was a battle between two ships. the taking of seringapatam was a storm; it was accomplished by a sudden and violent assault. the reduction of antwerp was a siege; the place was invested by an army, and approached by covert ways. a surprise is an unexpected assault and capture. a skirmish is an encounter between two smaller bodies of troops in the neighbourhood of their respective armies. a repulse, is the disaster of being beaten back by an enemy. the destruction of the powder-magazine at jean d’acre was an explosion; it was the blowing up of the magazine, though accidentally accomplished.”
“if we can remember one half you have told us, we shall be able to talk like old soldiers. you have been a great deal abroad, uncle, in your time.”
“yes, and among other places, i have served in jamaica, and been in the cave of the famous obi man, called three-fingered jack.”
179“who was three-fingered jack? oh! do tell us?”
“three-fingered jack was a desperate fellow, that lived a lawless life in the woods. he was said to be as strong as three men; his speed was like that of the greyhound, and his courage equal to the most daring adventurer. he pretended to practise obi, or african necromancy; and the simple negroes believed him capable of doing dreadful things. his deeds were so desperate that his name struck terror into the surrounding neighbourhood, and large rewards were offered for his apprehension, in vain. both the civil and military authorities he set at nought, and in spite of them both, continued his depredations.”
“what a terrible fellow! and did they take him at last?”
“you shall hear. sometimes jack suddenly appeared among the negroes when they were assembled before the plantation house, two or three hundred of them together, just as if he had sprung up from the ground, and when he held up his three-fingered hand they would fall prostrate before him. unawed by the overseer or proprietor, he levied his contributions, demanding and receiving what he wanted. at last quashi, a maroon negro, one of the race of coloured men, who for a long time dwelt in the strongholds of the blue mountains, undertook to destroy him.”
180“and did he? it was no easy matter to kill three-fingered jack. did he really kill him?”
“he did; for, taking a nephew to assist him, he hunted him from cover to cover, until, after two or three times grappling with him, he shot jack as he was climbing a hill; severed his head from his body, and obtained a large reward.”
