store of Brimstone Salt-petre and Salt-petre-men and to have Powder-Mills in all your Chief Towns In the beginning of a Defensive War if you meet with a powerful Enemy and foresee that the War is likely to last long then it will be wisdom in you to entertain some Forein Nation But you must be careful to entertain none of those Nations who serve in your Enemies Army unless they be such as are of a contrary Religion to your Enemy to the end that you may spare your own Nation as much as may be Provided always you have mony to pay them punctually otherwise they may prove dangerous to you And I would wish you by no means to keep them longer than you have mony to pay them for if you do you will find they will prove more your Enemies than your Friends Likewise you must be careful to entertain no more Strangers than you are well able to Master and that you Garrison them not in any of your Sea-Towns or Forts or where your Chief Magazines are And in what Towns you do Garrison your Strangers in the Winter where you place one Company of Strangers in a Garrison you ought to place two of your own Nation It is a very dangerous thing to entertain a Forein Friend to gain your own Country but there is no danger in entertaining a Forein Friend to help to keep your Country so long as you have mony to pay them You may with good Fortresses and a good Army so tye up your Enemy in hindring him from Victuals and by intrenching always so near him that you may now and then fall upon some of his Quarters and so hinder him from making any Siege of importance And when a Conquerour advanceth not forward he recoileth But here you must note that such places as you fortifie are to be well fortified well manned and well provided of all necessaries and that you do not fortifie any place which will require many men for the Defence of it in a Siege If you be assailed by a Power altogether disproportionable to your Forces and are in this case forced to leave some part of your Country to the Enemy then you ought to burn all the Victual which you cannot contain wiehin your Fortresses and also all the Towns and Villages which you cannot guard For it is better to preserve your self in a ruined Country than to keep it for your Enemy It is a Maxim That no publick good can be without some prejudice to some particular men So a Prince cannot dis-entangle himself from a perilous Enterprise if he will please every man and the greatest and most usual faults which we commit in matters of State and War proceed from suffering our selves to be carried away with this complacency whereof we repent when there is no remedy left A Kingdom or State though they have received many overthrows should never cowardly yield themselves up to be Slaves to their Enemies but endeavour to look Fortune again in the face and to be ready to overcome or lose more gloriously or get honourable terms of Agreement Because by yielding they can hope for nothing but the saving of their lives and it will be in their Enemies hands to deprive them of that at their pleasures and Peace is more grievous to men in subjection than the War is to them that enjoy their liberties and they are hopeful in their Arms who have no other hope but in their Arms. A just Cause is good defence against a strong Enemy CHAP. V. Some Observations for those that undertake a VVar. A Sovereign Prince is more capable to make great and ready Conquests than a Commonwealth and especially if he goeth in person into the Field For never any Prince hath founded a great Empire but by making War in person nor hath lost any but when he made War by his Lieutenants Those that undertake a War ought to make their Levies according to the War which they undertake carefully foreseeing that they undertake no Offensive War but such as they be able to go through with their Purses and their Honours And if their Purses will bear it to make their Wars great and short It is an excellent property of a good and wise Prince to use War as he doth Physick carefully unwillingly and seasonably either to prevent approaching dangers or to correct a present mischief or to recover a former loss He that declineth Physick till he is accosted with the danger or weakened with the Disease is bold too long and wise too late That Peace is too precise that limiteth the justness of a War to a Sword drawn or a Blow given The next thing they who undertake a War ought to observe is Secresie and Expedition in their designs It is a perilous weakness in a State to be slow of resolution in the time of War such Affairs attend not time Let the wise Statesman therefore abhor delays and resolve rather what to do than what to say Slow deliberations are symptoms either of faint Spirits or weak Forces or false Hearts In War more than any other profession the command ought to be single For though you have many Armies in the Field yet ought you to appoint one General to have the absolute command over the rest of your Generals And there ought to be a special care in making choice of an able General For an able General will make choice of good Officers and such as are fit for VVar but a General that is not experienced in the Wars if he meet with good Commanders it is by hazard This advantage also you will find by having an experienced and well reputed man to your General that the Officers and Souldiers of your Army will fight with much the more resolution and confidence of Victory and your Enemy will fight with the less resolution and hopes of Victory For good Officers will make good Souldiers and good Souldiers are as necessary to a VVar as good store of Gold And therefore those that undertake a VVar must not always measure their Power by their Treasure but they must put the goodness of their Souldiers in the balance with their Treasure Before you undertake a VVar cast an impartial eye upon the Cause If it be just prepare your Army and let them all know they fight for God This addeth fire to the Spirit of a Souldier to be assured that he shall either prosper in a fair VVar or perish in a just Cause You must be most vigilant and careful to have all your Magazines doubly provided that if any disaster befal your Armies you may soon supply them again He that would be in VVar victorious must be in Peace laborious You must likewise be very punctual in sending supplies of Mony Men and all other necessaries to your Army For the want of any one supply many times coming too late proveth the loss of the whole design and in no profession the loss of time proveth so dangerous as in Martial Affairs You must
Foot a Quarter-Master General of the Horse an Engineer General a Scout-Master General a Waggon-Master-General Captains both of Horse and Foot and Corporals of the Field The Marshal of the Field receiveth Orders from the General the Major-General of the Horse and the Major-General of the Foot receive their Orders from the Marshal of the Field the Serjeant-Majors of the Brigades from their Serjeant-Major-General the Serjeant-Majors of Regiments from the Serjeant-Major of their Brigade the Quarter-Masters of Horse-Troops and the Serjeants of Foot Companies receive their Orders from the Serjeant-Majors of their Regiments the Quarter-Masters of Horse-Troops and Serjeants of Foot Companies give the word and such Orders as they do receive from the Serjeant-Majors of their Regiment to all the Officers of their Companies the Quarter-Master of the Artillery and the Quarter-Master of the Victuals receive their Orders from the Marshal of the Field the Marshal of the Field speaking with the Serjeant-Major-General of the Horse and the Serjeant-Major General of the Foot the Quarter-Master of the Artillery and the Quarter-Master of the Victuals so giveth Orders to all the Army All Orders and Commands ought to be given in Writing if there be time for the same Thus much more I do think fit to add in this place That my opinion is each Troop of Horse ought to be an hundred in strength besides Officers and each Troop ought to have two Quarter-Masters Each Foot Company in my opinion should be an hundred and fifty strong besides Officers and each Company ought to have six Serjeants Each Regiment of Horse in my opinion ought to be eight hundred in strength besides Officers and so many Regiments of Horse as there is in an Army so many Troops of Dragooners there ought to be of an hundred and fifty in strength besides Officers and each Troop of Dragooners ought to have six Serjeants Each Regiment of Foot ought to be a thousand five hundred in strength besides Officers Each Regiment of Dragooners must be in strength according unto the number of the Regiments of Horse that there is in an Army CHAP. X. Some Observations shewing how necessary it is to have Souldiers well Disciplined and well Exercised before they are brought to Fight IT cannot be denied but Warlike Discipline and good Fortune were the raisers of the Roman Empire And it is not length of life or number of years that teacheth the Art of War but continual Discipline and Meditation of Arms till a man hath with care and diligence imployed his study and labour therein For upon the Foundation of Practice is grounded the Frame of sound and perfect skill Plutarch speaketh this of the Victory which the Thebans had against the Lacedemonians the Thebans till that day had no reputation for Valour but afterward by exercise and use of Arms under Epaminondas and Pelopidas became the bravest Souldiers in Greece Not unlike was the saying of Pyrrhus to his Muster-Master Choose you said he good Bodies and I will make them good Souldiers This sheweth how necessary Discipline and Exercise is for the making of good Souldiers CHAP. XI Some Observations concerning a Train of Artillery and him that Commandeth it THE General of the Ordnance ought to be a man generally experienced in all parts of Martial Discipline especially in all parts of the Mathematicks and in Gunnery It is a place of great Honour and much Trouble and requireth much experience and a great deal of care and foresight for executing the place well The General of the Ordnance ought to choose an able man to be a Lieutenant of the Ordnance and to take care that the chief Engineer be an able man and also the inferiour Engineers The Master Gunner ought to be a very able man and the inferiour Gunners very good The General of the Ordnance must likewise foresee that there be a skilful Fire-work-Master and that he be not only skilful but valiant and able to put his skill in execution Likewise there ought to be provided good Battery-Masters and works Basis's To setd own every particular thing and the Officers that belong to a Train of Artillery would require the labour of writing a Book by it self Wherefore I will but touch on some particular things and places and leave the rest to the care of the General of the Ordnance to make choice of such Officers as a Train of Artillery requireth and he will have need of and to provide for every thing in particular according unto the designs that he shall take in hand The General of the Ordnance ought to give special Order to his Master-Gunner that such Guns as he maketh choice of for his Train be diligently tried by him whether they be true boared or whether they have their full Metal and that all the Field-Pieces that are made choice of for the Train be ten or twelve Foot long The which you will find to be of great advantage in fighting a Battel with your Enemy whose Field-pieces are not so long All your Pieces of Battery ought to have Block-Carriages besides their other Carriages and to each Piece of Battery two thick planks three inches thick and sixteen or eighteen inches broad and fourteen foot in length The which planks may be easily carried upon your spare Carriages and these planks will be always ready at hand and save planking of your Batteries You ought to have the powder for your Cannon to be made up into Carthrages for all your Cannon and this way you will find less dangerous and much quicker for service than the charging of them with Ladles The Waggons that carry your Powder ought to be planked with thin planks on the sides and over at top Then you may have Locks set on them and keep them locked by which means a Rogue will not be able easily to fire your Powder upon a March. It were very fit the Lieutenant of the Ordnance the Commissary of the Victuals and the Master of the Fireworks should have Companies of Fire-locks or Snapances of an hundred and fifty apiece the which Companies will serve to guard the Train upon a March and at night in their Quarters and free the Army from that Duty and be very serviceable upon divers other occasions Cannon is a great clog to an Army upon a March but an Army which hath none can do no great Service and therefore in these times the Artillery is an essential part of an Army It is very fit a General of the Ordnance should have belonging to his Train some certain number of Boats or Punts with Carriages to carry them on for to make a Bridge over unpassable Rivers CHAP. XII Some Observations and Preparations to be observed by a General in Field-Service also concerning Intelligences and Spies AS soon as a General can get Provisions for his Horse it will be most advantageous for him to have all things in a readiness to take the Field For if he take the Field before his Enemy he preventeth the Enemy of his Designs
If you perceive you have more Pikemen in your Army than your Enemy or if your Pikemen be better armed with Defensive Arms or with longer Pikes and that you have no advantage of him in your Artillery nor the Enemy in the ground upon which you are to advance then make what orderly hast you can continually skirmishing with your Enemy with the Van-guard of your Foot to bring your men to push of Pike with your Enemy When you have done that you must give order to the Officers in Chief that Command the Battel of your Army that they be careful to advance so with the Battel to front with the Van-guard of the Enemy some little while before your men come to push of Pike that at that time you may bring as many men to fight as you can The disadvantages that may happen to the Foot in a day of Battel are these The greatest is to be beaten by the Horse either on the one flank or both flanks and therefore the Foot Officers ought to imbattel their Foot so that they may be able to shelter their Musqueteers by their Pikes from the charge of any Horse The way how it may be done is shewed plainly in the three next Battels Another disadvantage is to be out-flanked by your Enemies Foot to prevent which your Chief Officers that command on the flanks of the Foot ought to have Order that as soon as they perceive they are or shall be out-flanked upon one or both the flanks they should draw up the Reer-guard of their Foot unto one or both flanks of the Van-guard of their Foot as they shall see cause Another disadvantage that the Foot may have is to be out-shot by the Enemies Artillery In case it falleth out so then when you once come within shot of your Enemies Artillery your Horse ought to have order to advance as orderly and speedily as they may until they come to encounter with the Enemies Horse If you fight with Foot amongst your Horse your Horse and your Foot must advance together Likewise you must advance with your Foot and Artillery as orderly and speedily as may be until you come within shot of your Enemy with your Artillery without shooting either with your Cannon or Musquets If you understand that your Enemy hath more Pikemen in his Army than you have or his Pikemen better armed with Defensive Arms or their Pikes to be longer than yours then ought you to avoid as much as you can the bringing of your Souldiers to push of Pike In case the Musqueteers in the Van guard of your Foot do come to want Powder or your Divisions of Foot in the Van-guard of your Army have lost so many men that they need relief from their reserves in the Battel then let the Officers in the Van-guard of the Foot have special command not to retreat with the Van-guard of Foot by no means but to advance skirmishing easily towards the Enemy until their reserves be marched by them Then let their Officers Command them to stand and see that their Bandaliers be furnished with Powder and Bullet and set them in order with as much expedition as may be and then let them march up within an hundred and fifty paces of the Reer-guard of Foot and to be in a readiness to second them upon any occasion A General ought to give particular Orders to all the Officers in Chief of his Army before the Battel begins in writing if he have time that the Officers in Chief may know how to Command their Souldiers to make use of all the advantages that he conceiveth may happen unto them in a day of Battel that upon any neglect of his Officers for not making use of any such opportunities the excuse of not having Order for the same may be taken away Likewise it should be written in their Orders how they ought to prevent any disadvantages that a General conceiveth may befal them The which will not only prevent excuses but according to the old saying He that is forewarned is fore-armed Set upon your Enemy when he is affrighted and distracted for there is nothing then to be expected of your Enemy but despair and confusion A General must be careful to give a very strict Order to his Officers and Souldiers that not a man of them offer to Pillage before the Field be clear of the Enemy and that such Officers as do suffer their Souldiers to Pillage before the Field be clear of the Enemy shall suffer for the same as the Souldiers for Pillaging Before the Battel begins you ought to give out a Field-word both to your Officers and Souldiers and besides your word that your Souldiers and Officers may the better be able to know one the other being mixt with the Enemy they ought to wear something or other about them to be known from the Enemy After the winning of a Battel a General should follow his Victory with all the expedition that he may either by keeping his Enemy from gathering an head again or presently falling upon some Countries or Towns where he thinks he may do his Enemy the most hurt For the yieldings after a Victory if well prosecuted are better than the Victory it self because when people are in suspence and great fear and confusion as it happeneth in sudden things it is a singular time to obtain Victories or some honourable composition The fruit of Victory consisteth in the well using of it which whosoever doth not incurreth an infamy so much the greater than not to know how to overcome by how much it is a greater fault to be deceived by the things that are in a mans power than by those that depend upon fortune Likewise a General is to take care for recruiting of his Army upon all occasions but especially after a Battel Although those things which are here before set down seem easie to understand and very easie to practise yet are they so often neglected by Commanders in Chief either in neglecting to make use of advantages or not giving out punctual Orders before a Battel for the aforesaid things or through the neglect of such as should put their directions in execution that one or more of the aforesaid neglects are always the loss of Battels And the loss of two or three Battels proveth the loss of Countries and Kingdoms He that desireth either that a City defend it self obstinately or that an Army in the Field fight it out resolutely must try his Wits to make an impression in the breasts of them that are to fight that such a necessity lieth upon them And it much helpeth an Army towards the winning of a Battel to make them confident that in any case they cannot doubt of Victory The things that give them this confidence are that they be well armed and well ordered For when Valour is accompanied with good Order and good Discipline it makes good use of the fury in such manner and at such times that no difficulty abateth it nor
Alarms or wronged Religion beateth her zealous Marches go on and prosper CHAP. III. Some Observations of an Offensive VVar and Conquering of Countries AN Offensive War will keep you from Civil War at home and make you feared of your Enemies and beloved of your Friends and keepeth your Gentry and Commons from laziness and all sorts of Luxury But here you must note to entertain a Forein War is not good to be observed but by such Kingdoms and States that are able to go thorough with their Designs they undertake Because as a Foreign War is necessary for Rich and Potent Kingdoms and States so it is hurtful to Petty Kingdoms and States for being too weak to gain by it they will in the end but lose their design their Honours and Monies and impoverish themselves and increase their Enemies It is not for Kings and States to undertake a troublesome and dangerous War upon an humour or any other slender motion but diligently weighing the circumstances thereof and measuring the peril and hazard with the good consequents to inform their Judgments of the Action and so try whether the Benefit would answer their Labour They ought likewise to be well informed of the greatness and riches of the Countrey the quality and strength of the People their use of War and the opportunity of their Havens And he that maketh an Offensive War must so proceed therewith that he be sure to keep what he getteth and to enrich not impoverish his own Countrey For he that doth increase his Dominions and yet groweth not in Strength must needs go to wrack Now those grow not strong who grow poor in the Wars although they prove Victorious because their Conquests do cost them more than they get by them This errour many run into by not knowing how to limit their hopes and so grounded on their own vast conceits without weighing their strength they are utterly ruined For Conquests not having Power answerable to their Greatness invite new Conquerours to the ruine of the old That Prince who putteth himself upon an Offensive War ought to be Master of his Enemy in Shiping Purse and Men or at least in Shipping and Purse or else he must see some Garboils in the State which he assaileth And he ought to be called thither by a party otherwise it would be a rash Enterprise If you make any attempt upon any Forein Countrey the first thing you ought to do is to take some Sea Town that hath a convenient Harbour and that lieth nearest the greatest City in that Countrey in which you make your War This Town you ought to secure and harbour very well with good works and take care that it be very well Victualled before you advance further into the Countrey with your Army So this Town will serve to keep your Provisions for your Magazines and being well provided of Victual will serve upon occasion to make good your retreat For having once gotten possession of a Sea Town and having well Fortified and Victualled the same you have one foot on Land and the other on Sea Having fortified a place for your Magazine and your Retreat advance with your Army unto the chief City in the Countrey By which means you will soon force your Enemy to Battel and if you win the Battel and follow your Victory close you may gain the chief City of the Countrey either by Composition or Assault if it be not Fortified or before your Enemy be able to relieve it you may be able to starve it But in case you do not prevail to be Master of the chief City either by Composition or Assault then ought you strongly to intrench two thousand Foot and five hundred Horse in a Quarter and so Fortifying one Quarter after another with your Army until you have intrenched so many several Quarters as you think may be sufficient to keep the City from Provisions And then if you think fit you may run Lines from one Quarter to another And having strongly Intrenched that part of your Army that is quartered about the City draw the rest of your Army into a Body and intrench them in some place near the Town where you think it most convenient to meet with any Enemy that may come to the relief of it You ought likewise to use the best means you can for intelligence and continually to send out Parties of Horse several ways that when any Enemy approacheth near you you may be in a readiness to fight with him If you come to be Master of the Chief City of a Kingdom or Country I account that Kingdom or Country more then half won The surest way to keep that Country you Conquer in Obedience to you will be to oppress them as little as may be especially at first either in their Purses Consciences or Laws He that obtaineth a Kingdom with the Rupture of his Faith hath gained the Glory of a Conquest but lost the Honour of a Conquerour But you ought to disarm them and take Pledges of them for their Obedience the which must be kept in your own Country You ought also to employ in your Garrisons all the Gun-Smiths and all the Salt-petre-men that you find in the Country you have Conquered and to take into your hands all the Powder and Brimstone you find and destroy all the Powder-Mills that are out of your own Garrisons When it shall happen that you are to Conquer a Country that doth afford Covert and Protection to an Enemy who is more malicious than valorous and through the fastness of the place refuseth to shew himself unless it be upon advantages the War doubtless is likely to prove tedious and the Victory less Honourable In such cases there is no other way than so to harrass and waste the Country that the Enemy may be famished out of his Holds and brought to subjection by scarcity and necessity which is a means so powerful as well to supplant the greatest strengths as to meet with Subterfuges and Delays that of it self it subdueth all opposition and needeth no other help for atchieving of Victory It is much better for a Prince to invade an Enemy in his own Country than to attend him at home in his own Kingdom if so be that he hath competent Forces to give him hopes of doing good upon his Enemy For the seat of War is always miserable CHAP. IV. Some Observations upon a Defensive VVar. THE best way to prevent any attempts of any Foreign Enemy is to be able and ready to resist their Designs and the best way to do that is to have a good Rich Publick Treasure before-hand and your people continually well trained up in Martial Discipline When you foresee that an Enemy is resolved to set upon your Country to conquer it and if your Enemy be so much Master of you at Sea that you fear the shutting up of your Havens by his Shipping then ought you to provide your Magazines extraordinarily well with Ammunition Arms and Salt and great
what condition his Enemies Army is in and he ought to have in every Frontier Town of his Enemy some correspondence with some Town-dweller or Souldier of the Garrison that by them he may understand from time to time what condition his Enemies Garrisons are in And if the Enemy draweth any Forces to an head at any of his Frontier Towns let the aforesaid people give the Governour of your next Garrisons notice of it You ought to know that Intelligence is the most powerful means to undertake brave Designs and to avoid great Ruines and it is the chiefest Foundation upon which all Generals do ground their Actions A General that Commandeth an Army and seeth that for want of Mony he cannot keep them long together is unwise if he ventureth not his Fortune before his Army falleth asunder For by delaying he certainly loseth whereas hazarding he might overcome Another thing there is yet much to be accounted of which is that a man ought even in his losing seek to gain Glory by being overcome by force than by any other inconvenience The principal Heads of War for Field-Service are the Art of Marching Incamping Imbatteling and to know the ways how to procure good Intelligence and providently and skilfully to get Provisions fit for his Army and his Designs and not to ground his foundations upon vain imagination In matter of War the motions ought to be quick where the least moment of time oft carrieth the whole business It is necessary in War oftentimes to change Counsels according to the variety of the accidents In execution of Designs of War good judgment ought to ground them and diligent expedition put them into Act on For the least fault or stay that a man commiteth may give leasure and occasion for the Enemy to provide that all the plots and counsels how good soever shall serve to no purpose CHAP. XIII What strength Divisions of Horse ought to be from four thousand to ten thousand when they are to March in an Army and when they are to Fight a Battel or if Foot be to Fight on the Flanks of each Division of Horse or when they come to be Embattelled to Fight on the Flanks of an Army That small Divisions both of Horse and Foot are much better than great Divisions for Service either in Campagnia or within Enclosures because they are not so apt to fall into Disorder and are much more ready to be commanded upon all occasions AN Army which is imbattelled in small Divisions of Horse and Foot is not so easily routed as that Army which is imbattelled in great Divisions And small Divisions are much more ready than great Divisions for besides seconding one another and wheeling upon all occasions they will likewise out-front an Army which is imbattelled in great Divisions The which is one of the greatest advantages that can be taken in the imbattelling of an Army Also small Divisions of Horse and Foot are much readier for Service where you cannot imbattel them according to the rules of Art by the nature of the place or within inclosures or where the brevity of the time will not give you leave To conclude an Army that is imbattelled in small Divisions is much more troublesome for an Enemy to deal withal than an Army that is imbattelled in great Divisions It is most convenient and ready to have your Divisions of Horse and Foot to March at the same strength or some ten or twelve men more in a Division than you intend to fight them in a Battel by this means your Army will be much readier and sooner imbattelled upon all occasions If you fight your Horse in a day of Battel on the Flanks of your Body of Foot which is the usual way of placing the Horse and if you intend to Skirmish in the day of Battel with a small Division of Foot on each flank of each Division of Horse which I hold to be the best and strongest way of imbattelling your wings of Horse provide always that your Musqueteers in each Division of Foot that are to Skirmish on the flanks of each Division of Horse in a Day of Battel be so ordered that they may be sheltred by Pikes from the Force of the Enemies Horse And in what order the two Divisions of Foot shall fight in a Day of Battel on the flanks of each Division of Horse so as to have the Musqueteers sheltered by the Pikes from the force of the Enemies Horse shall be demonstrated unto you in the following figures If your strength of Horse be four thousand and if they be to fight on the flanks of a Body of Foot and each division of Horse to have a division of Foot fighting on each flank then each Division of Horse ought to be forty in front and three deep and so the strength of each Division of Horse will be an hundred and twenty If your strength of Horse be five thousand then each Division of Horse ought to be an hundred and fifty strong fifty in front and three deep If your strength of Horse be six thousand or ten thousand then ought you to have an hundred and eighty in a Division sixty in front and three deep And of this strength as is aforesaid ought your Divisions of Horse to be If you intend to fight Foot on the flanks of each Division of Horse in a Battel the Divisions of Foot that shall fight on each flank of each Division of Horse shall be in strength twelve files of Pikes and twelve files of Musqueteers which in all make a Body or a Division of an hundred forty four men And on the flanks of each Division of Horse when you come to imbattel them to fight you must place a Division of Foot of an hundred forty four men half Pikes and half Musqueteers The order how the Divisions of Horse and Foot shall march together when they come near an Enemy and how they shall imbattel and skirmish shall be demonstrated in the following Figures The Divisions of Foot before spoken of will serve to fight on the flanks of any Division of Horse of what strength you please to have them In the first place for your better understanding of this new way of Discipline the which I am well assured you will find very serviceable and advantageous against an Enemy if you make use of it I will demonstrate unto you in the following Figure in what order a Division of Horse and two Divisions of Foot shall stand ready to march to be imbattelled when occasion shall serve The which order must be observed by all the rest of the Divisions By this means you may understand how all the rest of the Divisions of Horse and Foot that are to fight on the flanks of an Army in a day of Battel may be ordered for a march and to be in readiness to be imbattelled when an Army cometh near the Enemy These Figures following lettered with A B C D E F G shew you the order of the
your Army to discover and search for Ambushments and parties of the Enemy which will be always apt to attend upon an Army for booties When you come to march with your Army through any Woody Country then you ought to have loose Wings of Musqueteers to march on the flanks of your Army some Musquet-shot off from the Body of your Foot to keep small or great parties from firing on your main Body And in such places you ought to have a special care that your Baggage be well guarded on the flanks and that your Scout-Master and Spies do bring you intelligence daily It is most necessary when you march to make an halt once in a day for the ease of your Souldiers and relief and ease of your Carriage-Horses in some convenient place where is both Horse-meat and water It is very fit you give orders to your Pioners to make you three ways on each side of your Carriage way that is six ways besides your Carriage-way or as many as conveniently the ground and places through which you are to march with your Army will give way So by this means the one half of your Army may march on one side of your Carriages and the other half on the other side of your Carriages By marching in this order your train will be the shorter and a less guard will serve to guard the reer of your Waggons by reason the main body of your Army will be so near the reer of your Waggons And also your Army will march much the nearer together whereby you will the sooner draw them into order to fight upon any occasion Likewise you will be able to march safer and farther in a day than you can when your Army marcheth but in one or two ways If it fall out so that you must be constrained to march with your Army and Baggage in one High-way or over one Bridge the Conductor that hath the Conducting of the Van-guard of your Train ought to know upon such an occasion what Regiment his Train of Artillery is to follow and that he have a special care not to march into any narrow passage before those Troops he is to follow If you have any occasion to send out any parties to provide Provisions for your Army against night you ought to give order unto those Officers to keep their Souldiers from stragling for such oversights do many times bring great inconvenncies to an Army Therefore Officers ought not at any time to suffer their Souldiers to straggle nor slacken the severity of Military Discipline though they believe themselves far from an Enemy and in great security For Souldiers are commonly least secure when they think themselves most secure Security is commonly the fore-runner of misery In marching with an Army to fight with your Enemy you ought to carry with you as much Bread Cheese or Cattel and Salt as you may conveniently for it is impossible that Souldiers should find Bread to be bought every where And if it be possible to be done with safety lie with your Army between your Enemy and his Provisions being better furnished with Provisions than your Enemy For lying near your Enemy with safety and without fighting will in the end surely discourage your Enemies Souldiers by their necessities or force them to fight upon disadvantages or at last put them to a retreat And then the Victory is more then half won if any of these things happen unto your Enemy An Army may be divided into four parts namely the Cavalry the Infantry the Artillery and the Victuals If you March with Cannon and suffer an Enemy to approach too near you without intrenching it is impossible for you to avoid fighting or losing your Cannon Therefore a General ought to know how to make use of it at his advantage and avoid the inconveniences of it by his foresight either by intrenching or retreating in time if he hath no mind to hazard a Battel There is nothing that bringeth so much disorder to an Army upon the March as the Baggage And therefore it is highly necessary to reduce it to the smallest proportion that may be and the Waggon-Master-General ought to make a review of it every morning when the Army marcheth for otherwise it will daily increase Your Marshal-General ought not to suffer many Women or Boys to March with an Army whereby Sickness and Famine get into the Army If your Army be of any great strength then may you march with it in two parts each part about two or three miles distant from the other if you have no Enemy near you that is able to affront you And if you can march in this order with safety you will march much the farther in a day and your Souldiers will be much better provided for at night If you are to march with an Army into a Country where you think the Inhabitants will flie before you then ought you to carry Hand-mills and Baking-pans along with you that each Company upon occasion may be able to grind their own Corn and provide themselves Bread It is very fit and necessary if you have any occasion to pass over any Rivers that are not fordable in your march to carry with you Boats or Punts to make a Bridge of It is most necessary likewise to carry with you Caltrops into the Field the which are very convenient at times to be thrown in places as either into Fords or narrow passages where Horses are to pass to spoil them and they are of especial use in a night upon a Retreat to be thrown into narrow passages or by day into dirty or watry passages Those Caltrops that are made for Fords must be made somewhat more weighty than those that are made for other passages that the water may not be able to carry them away CHAP. XVII Some Observations for the Quartering of an Army at Night upon a March and for the setting out of their Guards to secure their Quarters YOU ought to give a strict charge to the Quarter-Master-General of the Foot to have a special care if it be possible to Quarter your Infantry upon a march and your Train of Artillery in places that are naturally or casually well fortified as with inclosures or in places compassed with Rivers or Moors and where there may be Provisions for your Carriage-Horses or where Provisions may conveniently be brought in by the Country-people for them This way of Quartering your Army must be carefully observed if any Enemy of strength be near you that may be able to do you any affront upon any of your Quarters If any Enemy of strength be near you you ought to Quarter your Army as near together as possibly you can but by all means if it be possible avoid Quartering your Infantry in the Campagnia The time of lodging an Army is a dangerous time to be assaulted in because the Army is then tired and every man desirous to be lodged hastneth to the quarter in disorder which is a thing hard
fight wherefore you ought always to have half your Horsemen to watch on horse-back one half of the night and the other the other half of the night and when the one half of your Horsemen watcheth the other half of your Horsemen must be saddled and the Officers and Horsemen be in their cloaths Your innermost Horse-quarters which lie safer than your outermost Horse-quarters when the one half of your Horsemen watcheth the other half may be unsaddled but your Officers and Horsemen must not lie out of their Cloaths And the Officers in each quarter ought to have order upon any alarm that as soon as they are drawn in Arms they should make all the haste they can to assist their Camerades that are assaulted in their quarters and that an Officer in Chief in each quarter go two or three Rounds in a night And this order of watching ought to be observed in your Horse-quarters if you lie within twenty miles of any Garrison of your Enemy that is able to affront any of your quarters The General of an Army ought always upon a March to give out two words at night the one for a Watch-word and the other for a Field-word The Officers ought to receive both but the Souldiers only the Field-word the which ought not to be given to the Souldiers unless there be an Alarm Towns and Villages that lie in a Champaign Country are most fit for Horse-quarters the Towns and Villages that lie in an inclosed Country are most fit for Foot-quarters CHAP. XVIII Some certain Observations to be kept in the fighting of Battels and some Directions for the Imbattelling of an Army WE may observe two especial ends which the great Commanders of the World have ever striven to atchieve Victory and Over mastering their Enemies The latter by cunning and wisely carrying of a matter before it come to trial by blows the former by forceable means and fighting a Battel the one proceeding from Wisdom and the better faculties of the soul the other depending upon the strength and abilities of the body The latter end is principally to be embraced as the safest course in these uncertain and casual events For that which resteth upon corporal strength and maketh execution the way to a conclusion is full of hazard and little certainty And yet of all the actions of War the most glorious and most important is to know how to give Battel For the art of imbattelling an Army hath always been esteemed the chiefest point of skill in a General for skill and practice do more towards the Victory than multitude seeing the gaining of one or two Battels acquireth or subverteth whole Empires Kingdoms or Countrys And therefore a General of an Army ought to know all the advantages which may be taken in a day of Battel and how to prepare against disadvantages which may happen Concerning both which I will here give you my opinion Advantages bring hope of Victory and hope conceiveth such spirits as usually follow when the thing which is hoped for is effected whereby the courage becometh hardy and resolute in Victory and where the Souldiers fear no overthrow they are more than half Conquerours So on the other side disadvantages and danger breed fear and fear so checketh valour and controuleth the spirits that Vertue and Honour give place to distrust and yield up their interest to such directors as can afford nothing but diffidence and irresolutions It is most necessary for a General in the first place to approve his Cause and settle an opinion of right in the minds of his Officers and Souldiers the which can be no way better done than by the Chaplains of an Army Also a General ought to speak to the Colonels of his Army to encourage their Officers with a desire to fight with the Enemy and all the Officers to do the like to their Souldiers And the better to raise the common Souldiers spirits let their Officers tell them that their General doth promise them if they will fight courageously with their Enemy and do get the day that they shall have besides the Pillage of the Field twelve-pence apiece to drink to refresh their spirits when the business is done The which I am confident will make the common men fight better than the best Oration in the world It is very fit a General should use his best endeavour to understand the strength of his Enemies Horse and Foot and how they are armed both with Offensive and Defensive Arms and what proportion of Pikes they have to their Musqueteers Also he must endeavour to know by name and place the Chief Officers of his Enemies Army and their abilities in Martial Affairs by the which means he may guess where the Chief Commanders do command in a day of Battel So he may easily know how to place his Army best for his own advantage This if carefully observed will be of very great use You ought to know that novelties and unexpected adventures are very successful in Battels and in all Martial designs A General must be careful never to hazard a Battel with his Enemy when he findeth him imbattelled in a ground of advantage although he do out-number him much with men The safest way then will be to fight with him by Famine For although a Generals Fortune should be generally subject to his will yet by his wisdom he should rather follow Reason than Fortune in such cases A General ought to be careful when an Enemy approacheth near him to send out some two or three knowing Officers with a good strong party of Horse and Dragooners to make good the Horsemens retreat upon occasion whereby to discover the Enemies strength and order of his March and that they take notice of what advantages may be taken of the ground which lieth between them And the party that is sent ought to have order if it be possible to take some stragglers that the General may the better understand the strength and condition of his Enemies Army If you intend to give Battel you must have regard to these principal things that follow You must never suffer your self to be forced to fight against your will and never to fight your Souldiers when their spirits are either dismayed or cast down If you resolve to fight with your Enemy then you ought to choose a place for the Battel fit for the quality and number of your Souldiers For if you fear to be inclosed by a great number you ought to shelter your flanks or at least one of them by the nature of the place as by a River Wood or some other thing equivalent If you be weak in your Cavalry you must avoid the Plains or fight with Foot amongst your Horse as is shewed in the three next Battels If you be strong in Horse you must avoid strait passages or inclosed places You ought to know that directions are the life of Action and the sinews and strength of Martial Discipline and therefore you must give punctual orders
follow the routed wing of the Enemies Horse should be commanded to be sub-divided into small sub-divisions when they are to follow the execution about fifteen Horsemen in a Division and the other two Divisions of Horse ought to follow after in order and keeping their men together without being sub-divided that they may make good the Retreat of the other Division of Horse which is upon the execution of those Horse of the Enemy which are fled And all the three Divisions of Horse ought to have order not to follow the Enemy above a mile and then to return to the Army again with all the expedition that they may And all your other Horse that have put the Enemies wing of Horse to flight ought to charge the Enemies Foot with as much speed as they can Having spoken of some advantages that may be taken by the Horse on the flanks of an Army in a day of Battel the which are the chiefest advantages in winning of a Battel and how they are to prepare against disadvantages that may happen I will now speak something concerning some advantages and some disadvantages that may happen in Foot Service in a day of Battel And first of the advantages that may be taken by Foot in a day of Battel the greatest advantage that can be made use of is by ordering the Musqueteers so that they may be able readily to skirmish with Foot and to be suddenly put in order upon any occasion to be sheltered by the Pikes from the Enemies Horse Each Division of Foot that fight in the Body of your Army if you intend to use this kind of Discipline which is set down in this Book ought to be in strength two hundred eighty eight men half Pikes and half Musqueteers And each Division of Foot that is to fight amongst your Horse ought to be an hundred forty four men in strength half Pikes and half Musqueteers The way how to order these Divisions of Foot in a day of Battel is shewn you in these three following Battels By this way of ordering your Foot the success of a Battel will not wholly rely upon the success of the Horse as it doth now adays as we do order our Infantry Your Foot being ordered this way as is before spoken of the success of a Battel will lie more upon the success of the Foot then upon the Horse And I account them being thus ordered as is here set down and as you shall see them in these three following Battels a more firm body to trust to for Victory than the Horse The Horse likewise by fighting of Foot among them become a firmer Body than by fighting Horse alone And such as shall make trial of this way of imbattelling their Troops shall find it very advantageous unto them in fighting a Battel and no hinderance at all but a great furtherance to the Horse-Service If your Field-pieces be of ten or twelve foot in length and having their full metal and if you meet with an Enemy whose Field-pieces are not so long you will find that you have by it a great advantage of your Enemy The advantage is this when you come with your Army and Artillery within shot of your Enemies Body of Foot your Artillery being placed in the Van-guard of your Army command your Army to stand and your Cannoneers to play with your Artillery upon the Enemy If your Enemies Field-pieces be no longer than are usually carried into the Field you will be able to shoot upon your Enemies Body of Foot a quarter of a mile before your Enemies Artillery will be able to shoot at your Body of Foot with any certainty The which will prove a great advantage to those that shall make use of it to be able to out-shoot your Enemy a quarter of a mile with your Artillery and your Enemy to recover that disadvantage must be constrained to march a quarter of a mile in Battalia with his Army before he can bring his Artillery to shoot to any purpose at your Army the which will prove if you have good Cannoneers a great dis-heartening if not a total overthrow to your Enemy All the Musqueteers that march in the Van-guard of an Army in a day of Battel ought to have two pair of Bandaliers furnished with Powder and Bullet and in case you have no Bandaliers let there be provided for each Musqueteer in the Van-guard of the Army twelve Carthrages which they ought to carry in their right-hand pockets and twelve Bullets apiece in their pockets besides and each company to carry with them for the re-furnishing their Musqueteers upon occasion a Powder-bag full of Powder Thus ought the Musqueteers in the Van-guard of an Army to be furnished All the rest of the Musqueteers ought to have their Bandaliers furnished with Powder and Bullet and each Musqueteer ought to have twelve Bullets apiece in their Pockets and each company must carry with them a Powder-bag full of Powder It is very fit likewise that you have in each Company six good Fouling-pieces of such a length as a Souldier may well be able to take aim and to shoot off at ease twelve of them being placed in a day of Battel when you bring a Division of Foot to skirmish with an Enemy on the flanks of a Division of Foot six Fowling-pieces on the one flank of a Division of Foot and six on the other flank as you shall see them placed in these three Battels following Those Souldiers that carry the Fowling-pieces ought to have command when they come within distance of Shot of that Division of the Enemy that they are to encounter with that they shoot not at any but at the Officers of that Division Likewise you ought to have on the flanks of each Division of Pikes a Souldier with Hand-Granadoes that if you bring your men to push of Pike they are to fire the Granadoes and to throw them in amongst the Enemies Pikemen which will prove a great advantage if they be boldly and well thrown Unto every Division of Foot in the Battail of your Army you ought to have two Divisions of Horse of forty in a Division ten in front and four deep on each flank of each Division of Foot in the Battail of your Army as you shall see them in these three following Battels These Divisions of Horse will be always in a readiness to charge the Enemies Foot at all times when the General shall think fit If you out-flank your Enemies Foot with your Foot either on the one flank or both the flanks let so many of your Divisions of Foot as do out-flank your Enemies Foot be drawn up on the Enemies flank and give fire on them And the Officers in Chief that Command on the flanks of the Van-guard of the Foot ought to have particular Orders for the same in case any such thing should happen and likewise they are to have a special Order for the keeping of their true distances in their advance towards an Enemy
ever quaileth the courage Because those good orders re-inforce the Spirit and the Fury both being still maintained by the hope of overcoming which never faileth while good Orders and good Discipline hold firm You ought not to despise and think too meanly of your Enemy for that will not only beget negligence in your own Army but care and diligence in your Enemies Army And it is most sure the valour of a few may surmount the number of many and if you be broken by your Enemy that you despise you double your own disgrace by your rash and indiscreet arrogance But to speak of chances and to touch some particularities thereby to shew evidently the weakness of mans wit and power and the casualty of warlike attempts let a man consider by how many accidents the mightiest Armies are many times dispersed and dissipated and the greatest Enterprises overthrown As sometimes by the death of one man sometimes by the dissention of Officers or Souldiers sometimes by tempests or unseasonable weather sometimes again by Plagues or Diseases in the Camp otherwhiles by sudden Fears that fall upon the Souldiers without cause sometimes as Guicciardine noteth by a Commandment either not well understood or ill executed by a little temerity of disorder by some vain word or speech of the meanest Souldier and lastly saith he by infinite changes which happen at unawares unpossible to be foreseen and prevented by the wit or counsel of any man Which sheweth that no humane wit is able of it self sufficiently to govern an Army and that God reserveth to himself the success of Battels and disposeth of Victories at his pleasure CHAP. XIX Some certain Observations concerning the Retreat of an Army TO know how to make an honourable Retreat is one of the principal points of Military Art and worthiest the knowledge of a General to be able upon occasion to make a safe and sure Retreat For those that can do nothing else can easily put themselves into a War but to return home again in safety is that which concerneth the honour of a Leader When a General intendeth to retreat with his Army he must be careful that if it be possible his Retreat be not through any places but such as his Pioners may be able to make him where three or four may march in breast besides the way for the Carriages For there is no greater danger of receiving a Defeat than when a Retreat is made at a narrow passage But if you be forced to make a Retreat through a narrow passage there is no better way to prevent danger than to raise some Works near this passage in the most advantageous places you can find If you retreat in the night with your Army and have pass'd any narrow passage with your Troops it were very good for you to give command that some Caltraps be thrown into those narrow passages to spoil your Enemies Horse if they follow your Troops and if you retreat in the day-time with your Army the aforesaid Caltraps will be very useful to be thrown into dirty and watry passages A Retreat in view of the Enemy is the most dangerous action that can be undertaken by any Commander And therefore it is held in the opinion of most Commanders better to retreat in the night than in the day because it is very dangerous to pursue an Army in the night and if he that retreateth be careful to lay his ambushes well he may sooner do a mischief to his Enemy than his Enemy to him Likewise it is better to retreat with part of an Army than with the whole and it is best to march as far at first as possibly you may to the end you might have some advantage of space before the Enemy that followeth you for so the Enemy durst not follow you with small Troops and with great Forces they will never be able to reach you besides the scarcity and want of Victuals that they will find by following you will much discourage them Some Commanders now adays whose skill reacheth not so far as to know the ABC in the Art Military that is to say the use of their Arms they think it a blemish to their Honours to make a private Retreat in the night But this is that that I will say of such Gallants Presumption and Ignorance are two bad Counsellors in War CHAP. XX. Some Observations concerning the stopping of an Army upon Passages either over Rivers or difficult and mountainous places IN the first place I will speak something of stopping the passage of an Army upon a River if your Army be to pass a River that is not passable but upon two or three places without making a Bridge I conceive this to be the best way Upon the chiefest passage over the River there you ought to attend your Enemy with all your Forces if you may find there sufficient provisions for your Army to subsist And upon the other two Fords or passable places if they may be commanded each of them by one Sconce I think it convenient then for you to give order for the raising of two Sconces and to see them well furnished with Cannon Men Ammunition and Victuals But here you must note if your Enemy do bring with him Punts or Boats for to make a Bridge or if he be able to procure Boats out of the Country for the aforesaid purpose then I conceive the raising of the Sconces is a needless labour Therefore then the best way will be to march with your whole Army on the one side of the River as your Enemy marcheth on the other if the Country in your March be able to afford you Provisions for your Army and so to fight with your Enemy as he passeth the River or after your Enemy hath possessed the River if you think you have Forces sufficient to encounter him I hold it a most dangerous and un-Souldier-like action for any Commander to divide his Forces for the keeping of passages against an Army whether it be upon a River or any other strait and difficult passages for you ought not to put all your Fortune in danger and not all your Forces To do so is a manifest folly He is never thought a good Gamester that would hazard his whole rest upon less than the strength of his whole Game My reasons for it are these If your Enemy forceth one of those passages that you endeavour to keep or find out some other passage that is not guarded you will find much trouble and pains before you can draw your Forces together And very likely the Enemy may prevent you from doing it either by forcing you to fight before your Forces are come to you or by keeping you from joyning your Forces together again And when it cometh to pass that your Forces must leave the passage which they are to guard or lose it by some occasion there is a fear and terror stricken into the hearts of the people and Souldiers which trusted in that place that
and valiant and that expedition and secresie crowneth all warlike exploits with Success and Glory and that the opportunity of time is the Mother of all worthy Exploits In the course of War a General shall meet with some occasions wherein he is not only to contend with Men but with Chances and Things which are to be overcome with less difficulty than an Enemy and are more dangerous as Hunger Discontents and Labour Things well and happily atchieved do get the Commander great good-will from the Souldier and things ill carried as much hatred Wherefore a General should always prefer courses of security before those of hazzard and trust Fortune no farther than necessity constraineth him Caesar thought it not best to tempt the waywardness of Fortune when by other means he might obtain his desires and a wise General should always rather follow Reason than Fortune War is not capable of a second Error one fault being enough to ruine an Army And therefore a General ought to be careful even of possibilities accounting always that which may happen to be as certain as any thing which he doth most expect A Generals Counsels should not pass approbation through his own judgment alone neither should they be communicated to more than is needful neither are they to be hastned forwards with passion but ought oft to be maturated with staid deliberation Likewise he is to take special care that no humorous respect do hinder that resolution which true judgment approveth For oftentimes it falleth out that either particular profit delightful pleasures desire of revenge or some other unseasonable affection doth so intangle them in their proceedings as they never attain to the main drift of the action and this is called Stumbling by the way A General must be careful not to measure the humour of his poor needy and undisciplined Souldiers by the garb of his own ambitious thoughts and so lay such projects of difficulty as were very unsuitable in the particularity of occurrences to that which his Souldiers were fit to execute Neither should he be so prodigal of his Souldiers Blood as though men were made only to fill Ditches and to be the woful executioners of his rashness Of all Victories a General should think that best which is least stained with Blood It is requisite in a General to mingle love with the severity of his Discipline They that cannot be induced to serve for love will never be forced to love for fear Because love openeth the heart fear shutteth it that encourageth this compelleth And Victory meeteth encouragement but flieth compulsion If thou art called to the Dignity of a Commander dignifie thy place by thy Commands and that thou mayest be the more perfect in Commanding others practise upon thy self A Chief Commander ought to know that that Command is best and most sure when the Souldier rejoyceth in his Obedience What Souldiers earn with the hazard of their lives if not enjoyed prophesieth an overthrow to the next Battel A General shall rule much if Reason rule him A General ought to use his best endeavours to buy good success with extraordinary labour For Industry commandeth Fortune saith Caesar. And there is no doubt but diligence and laboursome industry by circumspect and heedful carriage seldom fail either by hap or cunning to make good that part wherein the main point of the matter dependeth And where the Lions skin will not serve his turn there let him take part of the Foxes to piece it out It is a dangerous thing for a General to make himself chief in perswading a Prince or State to any weighty and important resolution so that the counsel thereof be wholly imputed to him which belongs to many For inasmuch as men judge of things by their events of all the evils that rise thereupon the blame will be wholly laid upon him as Author and if good come of it he is commended for it but the reward cometh much short of the loss which is hazarded The Sultan Selimus termed the great Turk having made preparation as some report for the Conquest of Syria and Egypt was encouraged by one of his Bashaws who was then upon the Confines of Persia to undertake rather an Expedition against the Sophy By whose counsel the Sultan was perswaded and went to that enterprize with an exceeding great Army But coming into a very vast Country where a great part of it is desert and very few Rivers and finding there those difficulties which long since had ruined many Roman Armies was so distressed that he lost most of his Army by Famine and Plague Wherefore however in the War he was vanquisher he caused the Bashaw Author of that counsel to be put to death CHAP. VII Some Observations what is the fittest strength for Armies to be of and what proportion of Horse and Foot Dragooners and Pioners there ought to be in an Army And likewise shewing the proportion of Pikemen and Musqueteers according to the Service that they shall be most imployed upon AN Army of thirty or forty thousand men Trained well Disciplined carefully Conducted and still recruited upon all occasions may destroy an Army four times as great Because great Armies for want of Victuals oftentimes destroy themselves And an Army of thirty or forty thousand may fight with an Army three or four times as big and beat them provided that by the advantage of their ground they avoid being surrounded and the disorder and confusion that commonly is in a great Army will likewise be apt to break them Where your Service lieth in Campagnia the proportion of your Army ought to be two Footmen to one Horseman besides your Dragooners But where the Service of your Army shall be most in Sieges there you ought to have three Footmen unto one Horseman and sometimes four Footmen to one Horseman besides your Dragoons provided your Enemy be not able to over-master you in Horse But for your Body of Foot when your Service shall chiefly consist in the Campagnia then you ought to have as many Pikemen as Musqueteers amongst your Foot besides your Dragooners But where your Service lieth most in Sieges there you ought to have in your Body of Foot besides your Dragoons two Musqueteers to one Pikeman and to every eight hundred Horse you ought to have an hundred and fifty Dragooners And always to an Army of twenty thousand or thirty thousand men you ought to have a thousand Pioners whereof an hundred ought to have horses as a necessary part of the Army upon a March a retreat drawing off Cannon in a Battel and at Sieges I do not mean that these Pioners shall be entertained to make the Souldiers lazy For each Souldier ought to know what belongeth to his labour for his ordinary pay that is to pass upon his Duty punctually and willingly namely to March Watch Fight and intrench himself and to be ready to endure with Obedience and Patience Labour Hunger Cold and Heat CHAP. VIII Some Observations concerning
the Arming of an Army and how each Souldier ought to be Armed ONE of the greatest advantages that I know which can be taken in War by a Chief Commander is to endeavour to have his Army better armed than his Enemies Army both with Offensive Arms and Defensive Arms. Arms are the security of your own Souldiers the terror of the Enemy and the assured ordinary means of Victory And this is certain that the most warlike Nations and most Victorious have always sought to get advantage of their Enemies by advantage of Arms. The end of Arms is either to assault or defend and hence are Arms divided into two kinds Offensive and Defensive Offensive Arms are to do execution upon your Enemy and Defensive Arms raise the Spirits stirre up desire to fight make the Souldier bold and chearful to perils And whereas the Defensive Arms of Horse-men and Pike-men are much slighted by some in these times I would have such to know that Souldiers ought to go into the Field to Conquer and not to be killed And I would have our young Gallants to take notice that men wear not Arms because they are afraid of danger but because they would not fear it And I am confident that one Army well armed with Defensive Arms may very well expect without any great difficulty to win twenty Battels one after another of Armies equal in strength equally conducted and fighting upon equal advantage of ground but not armed with Defensive Arms. So much advantage do I suppose to be between Armies that are armed and Armies that are not armed with Defensive Arms. I will now shew you how Horsemen Footmen and Dragooners ought to be armed with Offensive and Defensive Arms. An Horsemans Offensive Arms are these A Carbine or a Musquet-barrel of the length of a Carbine-barrel well stockt with a Snapance the which I hold to be much better then a Carbine for Service Also a case of Pistols and a good stiff long Tuck and a Belt An Horsemans Defensive Arms are An Head-piece with three small iron Bars to defend the Face Back and Breast all three Pistol-proof a Gauntlet for his left hand or a good long Buff Glove A Girdle of double Buff about eight inches broad which is to be worn under the skirts of his Doublet and to be hooked unto his Doublet and made so that it may be fastned together before If you find Buff to be scarce and dear you may make those Girdles of Buff before spoken of with Bull Hides or good Oxes Hides dressed like Buff. The Furniture that belongeth to an Horsemans Horse is as followeth He ought to have a very good Horse and a good Pad-Saddle made so that it may very well carry a Case of Pistols three good Girts a pair of good Stirrups and Stirrup-leathers with a Crupper and a Fore-Pattern also a good Bitt Rains and Head-stall with a good leathern Halter I have omitted here to speak any thing of the Armour of a good Cuirassier because there are not many Countries that do afford Horses fit for the Service of Cuirassiers But where Horses are to be had fit for that Service there a General ought to have two thousand of them in his Army The Offensive Arms of a Musqueteer are these A Musquet and Rest and a good stiff Tuck not very long a Belt a pair of Bandaliers but you must be careful that the Charges be not made too big which is a great and common fault now adays Also every Musqueteer ought to have a Scourer to make clean his Musquet For he must be very careful in keeping his Musquet clean or else it will be very apt to break upon Service by means of which neglect I have known many Souldiers spoiled The Defensive Arms of a Musqueteer is a good Courage But in case you have more Musqueteers than you have Pikes so many Musqueteers as you have more than Pikemen in your Army ought to have Swine-feathers with heads of rests fastned to them My reason for it is this your Pikemen will be able with ease to shelter from the violence of the Horse so many Musqueteers as they are in number and these Musqueteers which have the Swine-Feathers being imployed by themselves will be able likewise to defend themselves from the Horse with the help of their Swine-Feathers The Offensive Arms of a Pike-man are these A good long Pike of eighteen foot in length with a small Steel head and a good stiff Tuck not very long with a Belt for if you arm your men with Swords half the Swords you have in your Army amongst your common men will upon the first March you make be broken with cutting of Boughs The Defensive Arms of a Pike-man are these An Head-piece with Back and Breast a Buff Girdle of double Buff eight inches broad the which is to be worn under the Skirts of his Doublet instead of Taces The same Buff Girdle is to be hooked up to his Doublet and to be fastned before A good long Buff Glove for the left Hand I am well assured that a Girdle of Buff will be much safer and much more serviceable and easier for a Pike-man to wear than Taces The Offensive Arms of a Dragoon are these A Musquet or a good Snapance to a Musquet Barrel the which I hold much better for Dragoon-Service being upon occasion they may be able to make use of their Snapances on Horseback and upon any Service in the night they may go undiscovered He must have also a Belt to hang his Musquet in with a pair of Bandaliers and a good long Tuck with a Belt And all your Dragoons ought to have Swine-feathers Of a Dragoon Horse and Furniture He ought to have a good ordinary Horse sl Saddle Snaffle Rains Stirrups and Stirrup-Leathers an Halter and two Girts There are some other necessaries that Souldiers ought to be furnished withal the which I do think fit to be spoken of in this place and they are these Each two Foot-Souldiers ought to have a little Hatchet between them for the cutting of Wood for Firing and Wood for Hutting Also each two Dragoons ought to have an Hatchet between them for the aforesaid purpose Each Souldier ought to have a Knap-sack each Company of Foot and Dragoons to have a Powder-Bag CHAP. IX A List of the Chief Officers that belong to an Army and what Strength each Regiment ought to have of Horse Foot and Dragoons A General a Marshal of the Field a Lieutenant General of the Horse a General of the Ordnance or Master of the Ordnance a Serjeant-Major-General of the Horse a Serjeant-Major-General of the Foot Colonels of Brigades both of Horse and Foot the Treasurer of the Army Colonels of Regiments both of Horse and Foot a Lieutenant General of the Ordnance Serjeant Majors of Brigades both of Horse and Foot a Commissary General of the Victuals Lieutenant-Colonels of Regiments of Foot Serjeant-Majors of Regiments both of Horse and Foot a Quarter-Master General of the
Divisions of Foot on the flanks of any one Division of Horse then the Commander of the Division of Horse that is to march between two Divisions of Foot must be in a readiness to Charge the Enemies Horse that hath routed his Foot either with part of his Division of Horse or the whole as he seeth occasion or as he may with convenience That your intention of fighting Foot amongst the Horse may not be discovered by your Enemy who hath not been used to the like Discipline or at least that he may not know the way and order that you intend to fight your Foot in let your Divisions of Foot which are to fight on the flanks of your Horse in a day of Battel as you see them in the two former figures let I say the two Divisions of Foot which belong to each Division of Horse march in the reer of the Divisions of Horse as you see them in the foregoing figure till they come within Musquet-shot of their Enemies Horse then draw up the two Divisions of Foot the one on the one flank of a Division of Horse and the other on the other flank of the same Division of Horse in the same order as you see them in this foregoing figure CHAP. XIV VVhat Strength each Division of Horse ought to be from three thousand to ten thousand to fight on the flanks of a Body of Foot in a day of Battel if you will have no Foot to fight amongst the Horse IF your strength of Horse be three thousand and if they be to fight on the flanks of a Body of Foot in a day of Battel without Foot to fight amongst them then each Division of Horse ought to be thirty in front three deep and ninety in a Division If your strength of Horse be four thousand then the strength of each Division of Horse ought to be an hundred and twenty forty in front and three deep If your strength of Horse be five thousand then each Division of Horse ought to be an hundred and fifty strong fifty in front and three deep If your strength of Horse be six thousand or seven thousand then they ought to be an hundred and eighty in a Division sixty in front and three deep If your strength of Horse be eight thousand nine thousand or ten thousand then ought each Division of Horse to be an hundred in front and three deep and three hundred in a Division Your Divisions of Horse from ninety to an hundred and eighty if you have no Foot to fight amongst your Horse ought to charge their Enemies Horse after this manner Each Division of Horse from ninety to an hundred and eighty in strength ought to be sub-divided into three subdivisions as is here set down and shall be declared unto you by this following figure marked with the letters A B C. The three sub-divisions of Horse marked with the letters A B C are a Division of Horse of ninety sub-divided into three equal sub-divisions being thirty in a Division ten in front and three deep The distance of ground between the subdivision marked with the letter A and the subdivision marked with the letter B is twenty paces three feet to the pace The like distance of ground is between the sub-divisions of Horse marked with the letters B and C the little strokes that stand in the fronts flanks and reer of the three sub-divisions stand for Officers Now when the Van-guard of your Horse cometh within fifty paces of the Enemies Horse let the two sub divisions of Horse marked with the letters A and C advance towards their Enemies Division of Horse upon an easie trot and the Officers of the two Divisions of Horse must be careful that they Charge all together the Division of the Enemies Horse which they meet with And when the two sub-divisions on the right and left hand marked with the letters A and C do advance towards their Enemy to charge them then let the middle sub-division of Horse marked with the letter B follow after easily upon a walking pace And when the Officer in chief that commandeth the middle sub-division of Horse marked with the Letter D seeth the other two sub-divisions of Horses marked with the letters A and C to be mingled with the Enemy then let him command his sub-division of Horse to advance upon a round trot and charge his Enemy The same order must be observed by all the Divisions of Horses that are but ninety in strength when they come to charge an Enemy And the Divisions of Horse from ninety to an hundred and eighty in strength must observe the same order in charging their Enemy as is here set down in this Division of Horse of ninety marked with the letters A B C if no Divisions of Foot be to fight amongst the Horse If you be eight thousand nine thousand or ten thousand strong in Horse then each Division of Horse when you come to fight in Battel ought to be three hundred in strength and each Division of Horse ought to be sub-divided into five equal sub-divisions as you see them in this following figure marked with the letters D E F G H. In these five sub-divisions of Horse marked with the letters D E F G H there are sixty Horses in each sub-division twenty in front and three deep So that the five sub-divisions marked with the letters D E F G H are a Division of Horse of three hundred in strength sub-divided into five equal parts and being at their close order in rank and file And the little small strokes that you see in the flank reer and front stand for Officers The distance of ground that is left between the sub-divisions marked with the letters D and E is twenty paces three feet to the pace And the distance of ground between the sub-divisions of Horse marked with the letters E and F is twenty paces The same distance of ground is between the sub-divisions of Horse marked with the letters F and G and G and H. If you intend to have your Divisions of Horse to be three hundred in strength my opinion is that each Division of Horse ought to be sub-divided into five equal parts as you see them in this figure marked with the letters D E F G H. For these reasons a Division of Horse for three hundred in strength being divided into five equal parts as you see them in this foregoing figure will take up much more ground in front than a Division of Horse that is but three hundred in strength and not sub-divided Now it is one of the chiefest advantages that can be taken in a day of Battel by your Divisions of Horse to out-front your Enemies Divisions of Horse Besides a Division of Horse of three hundred in strength being sub-divided as is before set down will be better commanded and not so subject to fall into a disorder upon any occasion as a Division of Horse of three hundred in strength all in a body Moreover you
Governour ought to have a Powder-mill in his Town and in his Magazine good store of Brimstone and one that is skilful in making of Powder and another that hath skill in making Match and he must be careful to sow at a fit time of the year a competent quantity of Hemp-seed for the making of Match If the Corn-Mills about a Town lie so that the Enemy may be able to spoil and destroy them then the Governour ought to see his Town furnished with Hand-mills He must also have a special care that his Walls be out of danger of scaling the Gates of his Town not subject to be petarred Now the best way to prevent petarring the Ports is to have Draw-bridges and Half-moons without the Ports and Port-cullices at the Ports and Turn-pikes upon the High-ways right against your Half-moons The ways for the Rounds ought to be easie and convenient the Sentinels well set the Guards very exact and the Companies that are to watch should always draw Lots for their Guards And if you suspect any Officers or Souldiers for betraying your Town as in Civil Wars Souldiers are apt to do or when they are ill paid then must you order your Guards after this manner Let your Companies that watch draw Lots for their Guards upon the Parrado place every night when they have drawn Lots for their Guards let those Companies whose Lot falleth to watch at the Ports be ordered after this manner That Company whose Lot falleth to watch at a Port let the one half of that Company watch at the Port that is appointed them by Lot and the other half at one of the Half-moons at one of the other Ports next adjoyning And all the Companies that are to watch at the Ports are to be ordered in the like manner Now here you must note that if a Governour will have his Town secured from sudden Surprises he must have always without the Ports of his Town Half-moons and Turn-pikes upon the High-ways right against the Half-moons and Port-cullices at his Ports The Gentlemen that are to watch at each Port-cullis ought to be four which must be drawn and relieved from the Main-guard These Gentlemen ought to be lock'd up in the place where the Port-cullices stand until they be relieved and the Captain of the Main-guard ought always to keep the Key All the other Companies appointed for the Watch are to watch according unto their Lots All means must be used to hinder Intelligences and Treacheries the Guards doubled always upon Market-days and Fair-days and upon any Alarm those Souldiers that have not the Guard ought to repair with their Arms speedily to their Colours and from thence the Companies are to make all the haste possible to attain to the place that is appointed them to defend upon any Alarm Thus much every Company that hath not the Watch ought to know and have order for the same before-hand If you mistrust the fidelity of the Towns-men you ought to keep a good Main-guard upon the Market-place and small Guards at all the cross-streets and then make it death for any Townsman to come out of his house upon any Alarm And if the Towns-men have any meeting together at any time without the Governours consent they ought to be imprisoned The like must be observed if they are found out of their Houses after nine of the Clock at night Likewise if you mistrust the fidelity of the Towns-men it is very necessary that there be a Work raised against the Rampier of the Town the which must face the Town and command part of it and one of the Ports In this work you ought to build places for to keep your Magazine in And at the entrance of this Work without the Port of the aforesaid Work there ought to be a Draw-bridge and a Port cullis and the Draw-bridge ought never to be down or let down but at relief time The Ports of your Town ought to be shut at Sun-setting and to be opened a little after Sun-rising Before you open your Ports in a morning you ought to send out small Parties to search all the suspicious places about the Town for Ambushes After these parties are returned finding no danger you may open your Ports and set out your Day-Guards for the security of your Cattel and then the Towns-men may drive forth their Cattel You ought likewise to have a Trumpeter to watch continually on the highest Steeple in your Town to give you notice of the approach of any Enemy by day or of any Alarm or Fire by night A Governour of a Town should be careful always to have parties abroad that he may the better secure his own Quarters and trouble the Enemy And especial care must be taken for getting constant intelligence from the next Frontier Towns of his Enemy A Governour of a Town ought to see that he have as many Out-works raised about his Town as is necessary and not more and that all his Out-works be commanded by the Rampier of the Town If the consequence of the Town requireth it and if a Governour may by raising a Sconce or two secure his Town and the relief of it the better it were very fit to do it But he must have a care that the Sconces which he raiseth for the security of the Town be raised in such convenient places that an Enemy when he cometh to Besiege the Town may not be able to plant himself between the Sconces and the Town In the fortifying of a Town if the Governour lay many Elms or Oak-Trees in the Bulwarks which he raiseth about the Town he will find it a good prevention to hinder the Enemy from mining his Bulwarks and likewise it doth strengthen his Bulwarks very much against Batteries If a Governour of a Town hath certain intelligence that he shall be besieged and findeth that he hath not Horse meat sufficient for the Horse that are in the Garrison answerable to the rest of his Provisions in the Town and in case he hath not time to provide more then the Governour ought to send away so many of his Horse as he hath not meat sufficient for to hold out with the rest of his Provisions or such as he supposeth he shall not have occasion to use unto one of the next Towns that belong to his Party Likewise if a Governour of a Town find that he hath more Out-works than his Souldiers are well able to defend it will be safest for him then to slight those Out-works that he thinketh he shall have less occasion to use A Governour must be careful of using his best endeavours and skill valiantly to defend his Out-works For next mans flesh Out-works are the best strength that belongeth to a Town And upon all occasions he must be careful to cut off the Out-works of the Town and the Town as often as the Enemy shall inforce him to it The greatest part of the Cannon of the Town ought to be planted against the Enemies approaches and the
Governour ought to give command that they play upon his Enemies approaches as often as his Ammunition will give leave A Governour should be careful to sally no oftner with strong parties than necessity requireth or the advantages that the Enemy by his carelesness or boldness shall give him occasion At the beginning of every night you ought to make sallies with small parties upon the Enemies Workmen that do then approach and break ground and now and then to sally with a strong Party At the beginning of the night you ought to make some fires so near the Enemies approaches as you can conveniently that you may be able to see by the light of the fire where your Enemies break ground that so you may the better hinder them by shooting at them with the more certainty For which occasion your Town ought to be the better provided of Wood and Pitch-Barrels And there must be care taken to lay some Souldiers with Fowling-pieces or Fire-locks behind little small Breast works not far from the fires to spoil those that may come to put out the fires If a Governour of a Town be sure he hath more Powder than is answerable to the rest of his Provisions the which he ought always to have then may a Governour undermine his Enemies Corps de Guards when they are advanced very near unto his Out-works And always when he springeth a Mine he ought to sally strong on his Enemies Trenches and to command those Officers if it be possible to nail the Enemies Ordnances and for that purpose some Souldiers ought to be appointed to carry fit instruments with them And whensoever you sally strong on your Enemy you must likewise have in a readiness some Spademen to slight such of the Enemies works as your Souldiers shall possess themselves of Also you must have a care to appoint many Souldiers for the throwing in of Hand-Granadoes into your Enemies Corps de Guards the which will be a special means to help your Souldiers for the beating your Enemy out of their Corps de Guards If your Town be fortified with a dry Mote and if your Town be well manned it is much stronger then a wet Mote And as soon as you see upon what parts of the Town your Enemy doth make his approaches then dig a Trench in the bottom of your dry Mote so far as you see your Enemies approaches are in breadth against your Town about eight or ten foot in breadth and so deep until you come either to Water or Rock But if you are fain to dig deep before you find either then make a Gallery under ground under the bottom of your dry Mote so far as your Enemies approaches go For which purpose your Town ought to be furnished with good store of Timber And if you observe the aforesaid directions it will be impossible for your Enemy to run his Galleries to the Rampier of the Town without being discovered and then you may easily prevent him from doing you any hurt either by his Galleries or his Mines If your Town be fortified with a wet Mote then the best and strongest Fortifications that belong to a wet Mote is a false bray of some twenty foot in breadth and when you perceive where your Enemy will make over his Gallery to your Rampier then must you plant two of the best pieces of Cannon that you have in your false Bray just against the mouth of your Enemies Galleries the which two pieces must be sunk so deep that they may play almost level with the water By this means you will be able to do your Enemy the more mischief and secure your Ordnance the better from your Enemy For the more security of your Ordnance and Cannoneers from your Enemies Batteries you ought to raise the Traverses close to your Cannons cross your false Bray In desending the Out-works of a Town that is fortified with a wet Mote there must be a special care and resolution shewed For the Out works being once lost you can Sally no more on your Enemy I will conclude with this advice to all Governours that are to defend a besieged Town that they have a special care of these three things The first is that from the beginning to the end of a Siege their care be such that their Garrisons spend no more Victuals daily than necessity requireth The second thing is that they do not vainly waste their Men Ammunition and firing but that they do so order the expence of these things that they may be able to hold out with their Victuals For many Governours do either cowardly or ignorantly make a waste of the aforesaid things that they may give over Towns the sooner to their Enemy and that as they conceive with honour enough whereas their own cowardliness hath brought them to want necessaries for the defence of their Towns more than the pressing Service of their Enemies But if such Governours had their deserts they ought to die for such carelesness and cowardliness The third and last thing is that they carefully defend their Out-works and their Town with all the Skill Judgment and Valour that they and their Garrisons can afford and that they so order their Sallies and the cutting off their Out-works and Towns that their Garrisons and Towns may be able to hold out so long as the Provisions of the Town shall last One thing more I think fit to adde in this place a way to break a Bome or a Bridge that shall be made over a River for hindering Provisions from coming to the Town that is besieged Take a great Ship and let it be made with Mason-work within in the manner of a Vaulted Cave and upon the Hatches lay Mill-stones and other Stones of great weight and within lay many Barrels of Powder in the Vault By means of the danger you will hardly get any man to conduct it therefore you must tye a great Beam at the end of the Ship to make it keep a straight course in the midst of the Stream and when you have a fair wind lay your Train and set it going If the Corn you keep in store for your Garrison be now and then dusted it will keep good in a Garner seven years but if your Corn by chance grow musty then make Bisket of it for then it will make as good Bisket as the best Corn in the world CHAP. XXV Some Observations concerning Fortifications TOuching the Art it self in respect of the matter and the manner it is a member of Architecture but the end is Military For to fortifie is nothing else but to raise Works answerable to necessity and the occurrences of War Neither is it the end of Fortification to make a place impregnable or impossible to be taken for so it were ars artium But to reduce it to a strong defence concerning which Art seeing there are so many Books written I will here set down only thus much in brief of it that in Fortifications you must observe five
be more frequent from their Friends than their Enemies and such great oppressions at such a time upon the Commons which of necessity there must be when a Rich Treasure is not providently provided before-hand will prove very dangerous to any Kingdom or State in a Defensive War Therefore that Kingdom or State that will live securely from an Enemy must have a special care to provide a Rich Publick Treasure before-hand against unusual and extraordinary casualties which are not to be removed but by speedy and effectual Remedies And no expedition can be made to avoid the dangers and ruine of a Kingdom or State either in an Offensive or a Defensive War without a Rich Publick Treasure provided before-hand And it is an easie thing for Governours of a Kingdom or State to raise a Rich Publick Treasure out of the extravagant Expences of the people without giving any discontent at all as having an Excise upon all the Beer Ale and Wine that is sold in all Ale-houses and Taverns in a Kingdom or State and likewise upon all the Tobacco that is brought into a Kingdom or State and upon all kinds of Laces Cards and Dice Now to conclude and speak something how necessary it is for a Kingdom or State to train up their people to the use of Arms. Such Kingdoms where the men are trained up in Academies of vertuous actuality do always keep their Honours at an high price affording at all times men of absolute and compleat carriage both for designment and performance I account a Rich Publick Treasure providently provided before hand and a people well trained in Martial Affairs to be two of the only Pillars next under God that will preserve a Kingdom or State from ruine and danger CHAP. XXX That Reading and Discourse are requisite to make a Souldier perfect in the Art Military how great soever his knowledge may be which long Experience and much practice of Arms hath gained MEN have two ways to come by Wisdom either by their own harms or other mens miscasualties And wise men are wont to say not by chance nor without reason that he who will see what shall be let him consider what hath been For all things in the world at all times have their very counterpane with the times of old But here I would have a prudent Souldier note that it is a matter very dangerous to follow wholly the examples of another if a man in general or in particular have not the same Reason the same Wit and the same Fortune For albeit humane actions seem to be so joyned and coupled together that that which now is present and hath been ought to be again yet notwithstanding the accidents which are so different and diverse that no man whosoever he be except very prudent can always govern himself in matters present by the example of that which is past I take the Office of a Chief Commander to be a subject capable of the greatest wisdom that may be apprehended by natural means being to manage a multitude of disagreeing minds as a fit instrument to execute a design of much consequence and great expectation and to qualifie both their apprehensions and affections according to the accidents which rise in the course of his directions besides the true judgment which he ought to have of such circumstances as are most important to a fortunate end wherein our providence can not have enough either from learning or experience to prevent disadvantages or to take hold of opportunities And therefore that Souldier that is only trained up in the School of Practice and taught his Rudiments under a few years experience which serveth to interpret no other Author but it self nor can prove his Maxims but by his own Authority my opinion is his meer practical knowledge cannot make him a perfect Souldier nor fit to be a General Experience joyned with Reading and Discourse do feast the mind with much variety and choice of matter or entertain it with novelties incident to expeditions and use of Arms. And therefore it is not only Experience and Practice which maketh a Souldier worthy of his name but the knowledge of the manifold accidents which rise from the variety of humane actions is best and most speedily learned by reading History For upon the variety of chances that you shall meet withal in History you meditate on the effects of other mens adventures that their harms may be your warnings and their happy proceedings your fortunate directions in the Art Military These examples which are taken from History are but a plain kind of principles on which the mind worketh to her best advantage and useth reason with such dexterity that of inequalities she concludeth an equality and of dissimilitudes most sweet resemblances and so she worketh her own perfection by Discourse and in time groweth so absolute in knowledge that her sufficiency needeth no further directions It is most requisite likewise for a Commander to look into the diversity of orders for imbattelling and to weigh the nature thereof that he may with knowledge apply them to the quality of any occasion FINIS THE CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTERS CHAP. I. SOme Observations concerning a Souldiers Profession and his Duty Page 1 CHAP. II. Some Observations upon War which is the Profession of a Souldier 3 CHAP. III. Some Observations of an Offensive War and Conquering of Countries 4 CHAP. IV. Some Observations upon a Defensive War 8 CHAP. V. Some Observations for those that undertake a VVar. 11 CHAP. VI. Some Observations and Considerations to be observed and thought on by a General that taketh upon him the Command of an Army 15 CHAP. VII Some Observations what is the fittest strength for Armies to be of and what proportion of Horse and Foot Dragooners and Pioners there ought to be in an Army And likewise shewing the proportion of Pikemen and Musqueteers according to the Service that they shall be most imployed upon 21 CHAP. VIII Some Observations concerning the Arming of an Army and how each Souldier ought to be Armed 23 An Horsemans Offensive Arms. 24 An Horsemans Defensive Arms. ibid. The Furniture that belongeth to an Horsemans Horse 25 The Offensive Arms of a Musqueteer ib. The Defensive Arms of a Musqueteer is a good Courage 26 The Offensive Arms of a Pikeman ib. The Defensive Arms of a Pikeman 27 The Offensive Arms of a Dragoon ib. A Dragoon Horse and Furniture 28 CHAP. IX A List of the Chief Officers that belong to an Army and what strength each Regiment ought to have of Horse Foot and Dragoons 29 CHAP. X. Some Observations shewing how necessary it is to have Souldiers well Disciplined and well Exercised before they are brought to Fight 31 CHAP. XI Some Observations concerning a Train of Artillery and him that commandeth it 32 CHAP. XII Some Observations and Preparations to be observed by a General in Field-Service also concerning Intelligences and Spies 35 CHAP. XIII What strength Divisions of Horse ought to be from four thousand to ten thousand when they are to March in an Army and when they are to Fight a Battel or if Foot be to Fight on the Flanks of each Division of Horse or when they come to be Embattelled to Fight on the Flanks of an Army That small Divisions both of Horse and Foot are much better than great Divisions for Service either in Campagnia or within Enclosures because they are not so apt to fall into Disorder and are much more ready to be commanded upon all occasions 42 CHAP. XIV VVhat Strength each Division of Horse ought to be from three thousand to ten thousand to fight on the flanks of a Body of Foot in a day of Battel if you will have no Foot to fight amongst the Horse 60 CHAP. XV. By the following Figures are declared what Strength each Division of Foot ought to be to Fight a Battel and Encounter with Foot and the order that must be observed for doing the same and how they shall easily and readily be in order to defend themselves against the charge of any Horse 66 CHAP. XVI Some Observations concerning the Marching of an Army 77 CHAP. XVII Some Observations for the Quartering of an Army at Night upon a March and for the setting out of their Guards to secure their Quarters 85 CHAP. XVIII Some certain Observations to be kept in the fighting of Battels and some Directions for the Imbattelling of an Army 92 CHAP. XIX Some certain Observations concerning the Retreat of an Army 111 CHAP. XX. Some Observations concerning the stopping of an Army upon Passages either over Rivers or difficult and mountainous places 113 CHAP. XXI Some certain Observations touching the profitableness of Intrenching and some Directions for the same 115 CHAP. XXII Some certain Observations about the taking of Towns and strong Places 118 CHAP. XXIII Some Directions for the Removing of an Army that is Intrenched before a Town 128 CHAP. XXIV Some Directions and Observations to be observed and followed by a Governour of a Frontier Town for the furnishing of it with necessary Provisions against a Siege and for the defence of it in a Siege 130 CHAP. XXV Some Observations concerning Fortifications 141 CHAP. XXVI Some Observations of Mines 142 CHAP. XXVII Some Observations for the keeping of Conquered Countries 143 CHAP. XXVIII Some Directions for the Preventing of Civil Wars 145 CHAP. XXIX Some Observations shewing how necessary it is for England or any other State or Kingdom providently to prepare a Rich Publick Treasure before-hand either for the Defence of themselves or offending their Enemies And how necessary it is to Train up their people to Martial Affairs 147 CHAP. XXX That Reading and Discourse are requisite to make a Souldier perfect in the Art Military how great soever his knowledge may be which long Experience and much practice of Arms hath gained 149 FINIS