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The Art of War written by Baron Henri de Jomini

B >> Baron Henri de Jomini >> The Art of War




Without adhering strictly to what is called the system of a war of
positions, an army may often find it proper to await the enemy at a
favorable point, strong by nature and selected beforehand for the
purpose of there fighting a defensive battle. Such a position may be
taken up when the object is to cover an important objective point, such
as a capital, large depots, or a decisive strategic point which controls
the surrounding country, or, finally, to cover a siege.

There are two kinds of positions,--the _strategic_, which has been
discussed in Article XX., and the _tactical_. The latter, again, are
subdivided. In the first place, there are intrenched positions occupied
to await the enemy under cover of works more or less connected,--in a
word, intrenched camps. Their relations to strategic operations have
been treated in Article XXVII., and their attack and defense are
discussed in Article XXXV. Secondly, we have positions naturally strong,
where armies encamp for the purpose of gaining a few days' time. Third
and last are open positions, chosen in advance to fight on the
defensive. The characteristics to be sought in these positions vary
according to the object in view: it is, however, a matter of importance
not to be carried away by the mistaken idea, which prevails too
extensively, of giving the preference to positions that are very steep
and difficult of access,--quite suitable places, probably, for temporary
camps, but not always the best for battle-grounds. A position of this
kind, to be really strong, must be not only steep and difficult of
access, but should be adapted to the end had in view in occupying it,
should offer as many advantages as possible for the kind of troops
forming the principal strength of the army, and, finally, the obstacles
presented by its features should be more disadvantageous for the enemy
than for the assailed. For example, it is certain that Massena, in
taking the strong position of the Albis, would have made a great error
if his chief strength had been in cavalry and artillery; whilst it was
exactly what was wanted for his excellent infantry. For the same reason,
Wellington, whose whole dependence was in the fire of his troops, made a
good choice of position at Waterloo, where all the avenues of approach
were well swept by his guns. The position of the Albis was, moreover,
rather a strategic position, that of Waterloo being simply a
battle-ground.

The rules to be generally observed in selecting tactical positions are
the following:--

1. To have the communications to the front such as to make it
easier to fall upon the enemy at a favorable moment than for him to
approach the line of battle.

2. To give the artillery all its effect in the defense.

3. To have the ground suitable for concealing the movements of
troops between the wings, that they may be massed upon any point
deemed the proper one.

4. To be able to have a good view of the enemy's movements.

5. To have an unobstructed line of retreat.

6. To have the flanks well protected, either by natural or
artificial obstacles, so as to render impossible an attack upon
their extremities, and to oblige the enemy to attack the center, or
at least some point of the front.

This is a difficult condition to fulfill; for, if an army rests on
a river, or a mountain, or an impenetrable forest, and the smallest
reverse happens to it, a great disaster may be the result of the
broken line being forced back upon the very obstacles which seemed
to afford perfect protection. This danger--about which there can be
no doubt--gives rise to the thought that points admitting an easy
defense are better on a battle-field than insurmountable
obstacles.[23]

7. Sometimes a want of proper support for the flanks is remedied by
throwing a crotchet to the rear. This is dangerous; because a
crotchet stuck on a line hinders its movements, and the enemy may
cause great loss of life by placing his artillery in the angle of
the two lines prolonged. A strong reserve in close column behind
the wing to be guarded from assault seems better to fulfill the
required condition than the crotchet; but the nature of the ground
must always decide in the choice between the two methods. Full
details on this point are given in the description of the battle of
Prague, (Chapter II. of the Seven Years' War.)


8. We must endeavor in a defensive position not only to cover the
flanks, but it often happens that there are obstacles on other
points of the front, of such a character as to compel an attack
upon the center. Such a position will always be one of the most
advantageous for defense,--as was shown at Malplaquet and Waterloo.
Great obstacles are not essential for this purpose, as the smallest
accident of the ground is sometimes sufficient: thus, the
insignificant rivulet of Papelotte forced Ney to attack
Wellington's center, instead of the left as he had been ordered.

When a defense is made of such a position, care must be taken to
hold ready for movement portions of the wings thus covered, in
order that they may take part in the action instead of remaining
idle spectators of it.

The fact cannot be concealed, however, that all these means are but
palliatives; and the best thing for an army standing on the defensive is
to _know_ how to take the offensive at a proper time, and _to take it_.
Among the conditions to be satisfied by a defensive position has been
mentioned that of enabling an easy and safe retreat; and this brings us
to an examination of a question presented by the battle of Waterloo.
Would an army with its rear resting upon a forest, and with a good road
behind the center and each wing, have its retreat compromised, as
Napoleon imagined, if it should lose the battle? My own opinion is that
such a position would be more favorable for a retreat than an entirely
open field; for a beaten army could not cross a plain without exposure
to very great danger. Undoubtedly, if the retreat becomes a rout, a
portion of the artillery left in battery in front of the forest would,
in all probability, be lost; but the infantry and cavalry and a great
part of the artillery could retire just as readily as across a plain.
There is, indeed, no better cover for an orderly retreat than a
forest,--this statement being made upon the supposition that there are
at least two good roads behind the line, that proper measures for
retreat have been taken before the enemy has had an opportunity to press
too closely, and, finally, that the enemy is not permitted by a flank
movement to be before the retreating army at the outlet of the forest,
as was the case at Hohenlinden. The retreat would be the more secure if,
as at Waterloo, the forest formed a concave line behind the center; for
this re-entering would become a place of arms to receive the troops and
give them time to pass off in succession on the main roads.

When discussing strategic operations, mention was made of the varying
chances which the two systems, the _defensive_ and the _offensive_, give
rise to; and it was seen that especially in strategy the army taking the
initiative has the great advantage of bringing up its troops and
striking a blow where it may deem best, whilst the army which acts upon
the defensive and awaits an attack is anticipated in every direction, is
often taken unawares, and is always obliged to regulate its movements by
those of the enemy. We have also seen that in tactics these advantages
are not so marked, because in this case the operations occupy a smaller
extent of ground, and the party taking the initiative cannot conceal his
movements from the enemy, who, instantly observing, may at once
counteract them by the aid of a good reserve. Moreover, the party
advancing upon the enemy has against him all the disadvantages arising
from accidents of ground that he must pass before reaching the hostile
line; and, however flat a country it may be, there are always
inequalities of the surface, such as small ravines, thickets, hedges,
farm-houses, villages, &c., which must either be taken possession of or
be passed by. To these natural obstacles may also be added the enemy's
batteries to be carried, and the disorder which always prevails to a
greater or less extent in a body of men exposed to a continued fire
either of musketry or artillery. Viewing the matter in the light of
these facts, all must agree that in tactical operations the advantages
resulting from taking the initiative are balanced by the disadvantages.

However undoubted these truths may be, there is another, still more
manifest, which has been demonstrated by the greatest events of history.
Every army which maintains a strictly defensive attitude must, if
attacked, be at last driven from its position; whilst by profiting by
all the advantages of the defensive system, and holding itself ready to
take the offensive when occasion offers, it may hope for the greatest
success. A general who stands motionless to receive his enemy, keeping
strictly on the defensive, may fight ever so bravely, but he must give
way when properly attacked. It is not so, however, with a general who
indeed waits to receive his enemy, but with the determination to fall
upon him offensively at the proper moment, to wrest from him and
transfer to his own troops the moral effect always produced by an onward
movement when coupled with the certainty of throwing the main strength
into the action at the most important point,--a thing altogether
impossible when keeping strictly on the defensive. In fact, a general
who occupies a well-chosen position, where his movements are free, has
the advantage of observing the enemy's approach; his forces, previously
arranged in a suitable manner upon the position, aided by batteries
placed so as to produce the greatest effect, may make the enemy pay very
dearly for his advance over the space separating the two armies; and
when the assailant, after suffering severely, finds himself strongly
assailed at the moment when the victory seemed to be in his hands, the
advantage will, in all probability, be his no longer, for the moral
effect of such a counter-attack upon the part of an adversary supposed
to be beaten is certainly enough to stagger the boldest troops.

A general may, therefore, employ in his battles with equal success
either the offensive or defensive system; but it is indispensable,--1st,
that, so far from limiting himself to a passive defense, he should know
how to take the offensive at favorable moments; 2d, that his
_coup-d'oeil_ be certain and his coolness undoubted; 3d, that he be able
to rely surely upon his troops; 4th, that, in retaking the offensive, he
should by no means neglect to apply the general principle which would
have regulated his order of battle had he done so in the beginning; 5th,
that he strike his blows upon decisive points. These truths are
demonstrated by Napoleon's course at Rivoli and Austerlitz, as well as
by Wellington's at Talavera, at Salamanca, and at Waterloo.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 22: It is from no desire to make innovations that I have
modified old terms or made new. In the development of a science, it is
wrong for the same word to designate two very different things; and, if
we continue to apply the term _order of battle_ to the disposition of
troops in line, it must be improper to designate certain important
maneuvers by the terms _oblique order of battle_, _concave order of
battle_, and it becomes necessary to use instead the terms _oblique
system of battle_, &c.

I prefer the method of designation I have adopted. The _order of battle_
on paper may take the name _plan of organization_, and the ordinary
formation of troops upon the ground will then be called _line of
battle_.]

[Footnote 23: The park of Hougoumont, the hamlet of La Haye Sainte, and
the rivulet of Papelotte were for Ney more serious obstacles than the
famous position of Elchingen, where he forced a passage of the Danube,
in 1805, upon the ruins of a burnt bridge. It may perhaps be said that
the courage of the defenders in the two cases was not the same; but,
throwing out of consideration this chance, it must be granted that the
difficulties of a position, when properly taken advantage of, need not
be insurmountable in order to render the attack abortive. At Elchingen
the great height and steepness of the banks, rendering the fire almost
ineffectual, were more disadvantageous than useful in the defense.]





ARTICLE XXXI.

Offensive Battles, and Different Orders of Battle.


We understand by offensive battles those which an army fights when
assaulting another in position.[24] An army reduced to the strategic
defensive often takes the offensive by making an attack, and an army
receiving an attack may, during the progress of the battle, take the
offensive and obtain the advantages incident to it. History furnishes
numerous examples of battles of each of these kinds. As defensive
battles have been discussed in the preceding article, and the advantages
of the defensive been pointed out, we will now proceed to the
consideration of offensive movements.

It must be admitted that the assailant generally has a moral advantage
over the assailed, and almost always acts more understandingly than the
latter, who must be more or less in a state of uncertainty.

As soon as it is determined to attack the enemy, some order of attack
must be adopted; and that is what I have thought ought to be called
_order of battle_.

It happens also quite frequently that a battle must be commenced without
a detailed plan, because the position of the enemy is not entirely
known. In either case it should be well understood that there is in
every battle-field a decisive point, the possession of which, more than
of any other, helps to secure the victory, by enabling its holder to
make a proper application of the principles of war: arrangements should
therefore be made for striking the decisive blow upon this point.

The decisive point of a battle-field is determined, as has been already
stated, by the character of the position, the bearing of different
localities upon the strategic object in view, and, finally, by the
arrangement of the contending forces. For example, suppose an enemy's
flank to rest upon high ground from which his whole line might be
attained, the occupation of this height seems most important, tactically
considered; but it may happen that the height in question is very
difficult of access, and situated exactly so as to be of the least
importance, strategically considered. At the battle of Bautzen the left
of the allies rested upon the steep mountains of Bohemia, which province
was at that time rather neutral than hostile: it seemed that, tactically
considered, the slope of these mountains was the decisive point to be
held, when it was just the reverse, because the allies had but one line
of retreat upon Reichenbach and Gorlitz, and the French, by forcing the
right, which was in the plain, would occupy this line of retreat and
throw the allies into the mountains, where they might have lost all
their _materiel_ and a great part of the personnel of their army. This
course was also easier for them on account of the difference in the
features of the ground, led to more important results, and would have
diminished the obstacles in the future.

The following truths may, I think, be deduced from what has been stated:
1. The topographical key of a battle-field is not always the tactical
key; 2. The decisive point of a battle-field is certainly that which
combines strategic with topographical advantages; 3. When the
difficulties of the ground are not too formidable upon the strategic
point of the battle-field, this is generally the most important point;
4. It is nevertheless true that the determination of this point depends
very much upon the arrangement of the contending forces. Thus, in lines
of battle too much extended and divided the center will always be the
proper point of attack; in lines well closed and connected the center is
the strongest point, since, independently of the reserves posted there,
it is easy to support it from the flanks: the decisive point in this
case is therefore one of the extremities of the line. When the numerical
superiority is considerable, an attack may be made simultaneously upon
both extremities, but not when the attacking force is equal or inferior
numerically to the enemy's. It appears, therefore, that all the
combinations of a battle consist in so employing the force in hand as to
obtain the most effective action upon that one of the three points
mentioned which offers the greatest number of chances of success,--a
point very easily determined by applying the analysis just mentioned.

The object of an offensive battle can only be to dislodge the enemy or
to cut his line, unless it is intended by strategic maneuvers to ruin
his army completely. An enemy is dislodged either by overthrowing him at
some point of his line, or by outflanking him so as to take him in flank
and rear, or by using both these methods at once; that is, attacking him
in front while at the same time one wing is enveloped and his line
turned.

To accomplish these different objects, it becomes necessary to make
choice of the most suitable order of battle for the method to be used.

At least twelve orders of battle may be enumerated, viz.: 1. The simple
parallel order; 2. The parallel order with a defensive or offensive
crotchet; 3. The order reinforced upon one or both wings; 4. The order
reinforced in the center; 5. The simple oblique order, or the oblique
reinforced on the attacking wing; 6 and 7. The perpendicular order on
one or both wings; 8. The concave order; 9. The convex order; 10. The
order by echelon on one or both wings; 11. The order by echelon on the
center; 12. The order resulting from a strong combined attack upon the
center and one extremity simultaneously. (See Figs. 5 to 16.)

[Illustration: Fig. 5.[25]

A TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT


____________________________|____________________________ B ]

Each of these orders may be used either by itself or, as has been
stated, in connection with the maneuver of a strong column intended to
turn the enemy's line. In order to a proper appreciation of the merits
of each, it becomes necessary to test each by the application of the
general principles which have been laid down. For example, it is
manifest that the parallel order (Fig. 5) is worst of all, for it
requires no skill to fight one line against another, battalion against
battalion, with equal chances of success on either side: no tactical
skill is needed in such a battle.

There is, however, one important case where this is a suitable order,
which occurs when an army, having taken the initiative in great
strategic operations, shall have succeeded in falling upon the enemy's
communications and cutting off his line of retreat while covering its
own; when the battle takes place between them, that army which has
reached the rear of the other may use the parallel order, for, having
effected the decisive maneuver previous to the battle, all its efforts
should now be directed toward the frustration of the enemy's endeavor to
open a way through for himself. Except for this single case, the
parallel order is the worst of all. I do not mean to say that a battle
cannot be gained while using this order, for one side or the other must
gain the victory if the contest is continued; and the advantage will
then be upon his side who has the best troops, who best knows when to
engage them, who best manages his reserve and is most favored by
fortune.

[Illustration: Fig. 6.

| |
| |
A | |B
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT |
|
______________________|________________________|
B
]

The parallel order with a crotchet upon the flank (Fig. 6) is most
usually adopted in a defensive position. It may be also the result of an
offensive combination; but then the crotchet is to the front, whilst in
the case of defense it is to the rear. The battle of Prague is a very
remarkable example of the danger to which such a crotchet is exposed if
properly attacked.

[Illustration: Fig. 7.
A
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT


____|___
___________________|____________________
B ____|___
]

The parallel order reinforced upon one wing, (Fig. 7,) or upon the
center, (Fig. 8, page 190,) to pierce that of the enemy, is much more
favorable than the two preceding ones, and is also much more in
accordance with the general principles which have been laid down;
although, when the contending forces are about equal, the part of the
line which has been weakened to reinforce the other may have its own
safety compromised if placed in line parallel to the enemy.

[Illustration: Fig. 8.
A
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

________|________
_________________
B _________________
]

[Illustration: Fig. 9.]

The oblique order (Fig. 9) is the best for an inferior force attacking a
superior; for, in addition to the advantage of bringing the main
strength of the forces against a single point of the enemy's line, it
has two others equally important, since the weakened wing is not only
kept back from the attack of the enemy, but performs also the double
duty of holding in position the part of his line not attacked, and of
being at hand as a reserve for the support, if necessary, of the engaged
wing. This order was used by the celebrated Epaminondas at the battles
of Leuctra and Mantinea. The most brilliant example of its use in modern
times was given by Frederick the Great at the battle of Leuthen. (See
Chapter VII. of Treatise on Grand Operations.)

[Illustration: Fig. 10.
C |
\ |
\ |
\|
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT/|
/ |
/ |
/ |
C |
B-|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

]

[Illustration: Fig. 11.

| |
| |
| ___________A______________ |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|-B B-|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
]

The perpendicular order on one or both wings, as seen in Figs. 10 and
11, can only be considered an arrangement to indicate the direction
along which the primary tactical movements might be made in a battle.
Two armies will never long occupy the relative perpendicular positions
indicated in these figures; for if the army B were to take its first
position on a line perpendicular to one or both extremities of the army
A, the latter would at once change the front of a portion of its line;
and even the army B, as soon as it extended itself to or beyond the
extremity of A, must of necessity turn its columns either to the right
or the left, in order to bring them near the enemy's line, and so take
him in reverse, as at C, the result being two oblique lines, as shown in
Fig. 10. The inference is that one division of the assailing army would
take a position perpendicular to the enemy's wing, whilst the remainder
of the army would approach in front for the purpose of annoying him; and
this would always bring us back to one of the oblique orders shown in
Figures 9 and 16.

The attack on both wings, whatever be the form of attack adopted, may be
very advantageous, but it is only admissible when the assailant is very
decidedly superior in numbers; for, if the fundamental principle is to
bring the main strength of the forces upon the decisive point, a weaker
army would violate it in directing a divided attack against a superior
force. This truth will be clearly demonstrated farther on.

[Illustration: Fig. 12.]

The order concave in the center (Fig. 12) has found advocates since the
day when Hannibal by its use gained the battle of Cannae. This order may
indeed be very good when the progress of the battle itself gives rise to
it; that is, when the enemy attacks the center, this retires before him,
and he suffers himself to be enveloped by the wings. But, if this order
is adopted before the battle begins, the enemy, instead of falling on
the center, has only to attack the wings, which present their
extremities and are in precisely the same relative situation as if they
had been assailed in flank. This order would, therefore, be scarcely
ever used except against an enemy who had taken the convex order to
fight a battle, as will be seen farther on.