by the Vedettes or Court of Guard who hearing the signal may instantly give notice to the Captain and Court of Guard that the Enemies are at hand and by that means he may have time to put himself and men in posture acquaint the Generals with the matter and give the Alarm to the Quarter or the whole Army expecting more certain news In the mean time he shall Command the Quarter-Master with his little Court of Guard to advance to the Posts of the Vedettes or farther if need be that he may view the Enemies and make head against them keeping them in play in some narrow pass to the end all may get on Horseback and put themselves in Arms in the Camp or Quarter The Captain in the mean time shall be with the rest of his Guard on Horseback and in good order not quitting his Post upon any account without the Generals Orders he should stay there until he be attacked by the Enemy against whom he is to make head to stop them and if he can to beat back their charge with the danger of his life and the loss of all his men When a Captain Commands the Cavalrie in a Quarter then he is exempted from mounting the Guard though his Troop be to mount it in turn because many inconveniences might happen if the Captain should be upon the Guard when Orders came from the Generals and that he who was to execute them should not be in the Quarters for the Captain that is on the Guard cannot quit his Post and the Enemy might attack the Quarter upon another side than that of the Court of Guard so that if the Captain who Commanded the Cavalrie were upon the Guard he could not give the necessary Orders in an Alarm of that nature nor in any other accident that might happen but except on that occasion he ought without pretext or excuse mount the Guard as often as his Standard is commanded for that effect If the Captain Command the Cavalrie in a Quarter and have notice of the march of the Enemy and that the quarter be in danger of being attacked he ought to Command all the Horse to mount and draw them up in Battallia without the quarter in some advantagious Post according to the Orders of the Officer General who Commands in the quarter ordering the Troopers to carry with them Forage for their Horses during the time that they are to be in Arms. If that Alarm happen in rainy and tempestuous weather so that the Horse cannot go out and lie in the Fields without great dammage and that the necessitie be not so extream as that they should expose themselves in that manner then the Captain by Orders from the General needs do no more but having caused sound to Boots and Saddle go through all the quarter and send where he cannot go himself Commanding all the Bodies of Horse to keep together in as few Houses and Coverts as they can to the end they may be the more conveniently joined to march out in good order against the Enemy in case of necessitie and in the mean time he shall go the round and send about Officers to keep the men awake He shall send out men towards the Courts of Guard that are without the quarters that he may have exact intelligence of all that happens These are cautions very necessary in a quarter to prevent a surprise Cautions that are to be taken in forceing of a Quarter In all the service of Horse there is no occasion wherein the Captain ought to be so circumspect as in the enterprise of forcing an Enemies Quarter for there is not any from which he can reap greater advantages either for his honour or profit and on the other hand there is no occasion wherein he runs greater risk of ruining his reputation by losing himself and his men and therefore he ought to be a man of much experience good judgment and high resolution otherways he can never well succeed in such enterprises for in War there are none more difficult nor harder to be atchieved And that is the reason that few Captains run the hazard of such undertakings Experience has made always appear that it is more easy to force the Enemies Quarters when they are at a good distance than when they are near because the more the danger is remote the less vigilant are men to avoid it And therefore I say that the most usual cause of a surprise is too much confidence for men are never sooner defeated than when they least apprehend it When a Captain has a design to force a Quarter he ought to be assured of the nature of the Enemies Post with all its circumstances if the avenues be barricado'd or not if the flanks be better barricado'd than the avenues and if there be marshes or other things that hinder an approach in what place is their field of Battel or place of Arms if any River or Brook run through the Quarter or any thing else that divides it but above all things he should be informed by his spies of the number and quality of the Forces that are in the Quarter and of the temper of the Commander if he be a man of experience vigilant and resolute or if he have any contrary qualities to the end that the Captain according to the instructions that he has of these things may take the best measures for accomplishing his design Being well informed of all and having laid down his measures he is to march with all his men in great diligence that he may come up with the Enemies and surprise them a little before day on his march he is to observe the cautions that we have hinted at before that is to say that he is to make sure of good guides and send Out-riders before him until he come near the Quarter he is also to avoid marching by inhabited places or from which he may be discovered or in the night time on the great Rodes but cross the Countrey because some body may discover him or his tract and give speedy notice of it to the Enemy for it often happens that the Enemy having intelligence of the design and march of the contrary party do take so good measures that the Commander of the party with all his men become a prey to those against whom they were marching And therefore the Captain ought to make use of his prudence and consider the inconveniences that may befal him and as he ought to march resolutely and without fear so likewise should he neglect no care and circumspection and therefore he should take the best measures he can to facilitate his retreat by Posting some Horse and Foot Commanded by an Officer in the middle or some part of the way to guard some passage or some advantagious Post When the Captain has laid his design and has all his men mounted if for instance he intend with four hundred Horse to go and attack eight hundred of the Enemies Cavalry and beat
up their Quarters he is to dispose his men in this manner Being come near the Quarter he shall divide them into six Squadrons of sixty Troopers a piece and shall divide the fourty remaining into two Plotons or small parties of twenty a piece under good Commanders and shall give to each of them one or two Trumpeters to the end that when he shall set upon the place by which he hath proposed to himself to enter the Quarter these little bodies with their Trumpets may give the Alarm on all hands some on the right and some on the left and at the places which are strongest and best guarded by that great noise to perswade the Enemies that the Assailants are very numerous and stronger than they and by that means to put them into confusion and hinder them from escapeing or drawing out that they may rally and put themselves in defence And therefore he shall prohibit these little Bodies to enter the Quarter commanding the one to keep on the avenues the others to ride always round the Quarter with prohibition to make Prisoners of any that would come out to save themselves or to rally but on the contrary they are to be ordered to kill all without quarters until they receive new Orders The Captain having so disposed his men an hour before day in the order that we have said and having Commanded them all to put white Paper in their Hats that they may know one another he shall order the little bodies to march without makeing of noise towards the flanks of the quarters and in the mean time he shall march with the six other Squadrons each according to their ranks in good order with great silence and without Out-riders that he may not be so soon perceived nor heard by the Vedettes and so soon as he is discovered he ought instantly without the least hesitation or pause make the first Squadron fall in and beat back the Vedettes with great diligence the other five following close behind and in good order and all if it be possible should be in with the Court of Guard as soon as the Vedettes that they may desperately fall on surprize and force the Court of Guard and enter all together into the quarter and when the Captain is entered with his six Squadrons he shall cause one of them seize the place of arms and in the mean while without losing of time shall cause the other five to advance as far as the extremities of the quarter and to all the sides of it with order to kill and destroy all they meet with and prohibition to make any other Prisoners but the Commander of the quarter if they find him that the Enemies may not mount on Horseback and rally to put themselves in defence and that is to be continued so long till the Captain be absolutely Master of the quarter and that he shall find the Enemies no more in a condition to draw out nor to gather together to make resistance and then he shall make as many of his men as he thinks convenient to alight that they may enter into the Houses make Prisoners take Horses set on fire and force the Houses that are refused to be opened and where the Enemy would make resistance and in the mean he shall keep a body of men moving up and down through the quarter because part of the Enemy may perhaps rally together in some places and all this while the other little bodies shall keep still without the quarter exactly obeying their orders and by this means the Captain may render himself Master of the quarter force the Enemies and bring off a considerable booty When the Army leaves the Field to go into Winter Quarters the King sends as many of the Cavalry as is requisite into the frontier places there to lie in Garison during the Winter by reason of the great advantages that arise therefrom for by that means the Countrey about is preserved the Enemies not daring to make courses and inroads to waste and pillage it without running great risk of being lost By that means the Cavalry have occasion to keep themselves in exercise having daily opportunity of seeing the Enemy making frequent Courses into their Countrey and subsisting at their cost so that the places are in far greater security against the Enemies attempts than if there were no Horse in them There is nothing truer than that the General of the Army during the next Campagn finds a great deal of difference betwixt the Horse that have had their Winter Quarters on the Frontiers and who have kept themselves in Warlike exercise and those that have spent the Winter in idleness and in Quarters remote from an Enemies Countrey When a Captain of Horse is in Garison in a frontier place and that there are other Troops in Garison with his own all which he commands yet he cannot go out with the Cavalrie nor part of them without giving notice to the Governour of the place and receiving his approbation as likewise the Governour cannot dispose of them without acquainting the Captain who Commands them and without his permission But if the Captain be in Garison in any Frontier Town where there is no Governour but that the Magistrates keep the Keys and give the word which happens but seldom though it may happen Then may the Captain dispose absolutely of the Horse without acquainting the Magistrates of the Town or asking their consent and approbation Of the duties of the Horse in a frontier place A Captain being in Garison in a Frontier place ought to keep continually two Troopers in the Governours Court of Guard or in the Court of Guard of the place of Arms who are to be relieved from time to time that these Troopers may be always ready to give him notice so soon as they have any news of the Enemy and of the least Alarm and to bring to him also the Governours Orders with all expedition Moreover the Captain shall appoint daily twenty or five and twenty Troopers for a guard in the place of Arms or near the Gate that looks to the avenues of the Enemies to the end that being always ready to mount on Horseback they may sally out in diligence in case the Enemy does appear or that they send a small body as far as the Gates of the place to make Prisoners or to carry away bootie or cattel which the Enemies do commonly to oblige all the Horse to sally out upon them and to engage them to pursue them in hopes of great booty or rewards from the Prisoners whom they might retake and by that means to draw them into some ambush But if these Troopers of the Guard sally out in time and with diligence they will be sufficient to hinder the Enemies design though they should even come in great number because these twenty five sallying out upon them with diligence under a good Leader may amuse and keep them in play and give leisure to all the Horse that
are in the place to mount and come out that will give time also to all that are abroad to retire and carry off their Cattel And if the place may be surprised by Scalade or otherways the Captain shall appoint the same Court of Guard or part of them to keep all night long without the Gate that looks to the Enemy yet so as they be posted under covert of the half Moon or barrier which covers the Gate commanding them to Scout all night to the right and left two and two or four and four according as it shall be necessary and successively one after another by all the avenues by which the Enemy may come to surprise the place which will be hard to be done if these Troopers do their duty It will be also requisite that these Troopers before any come out of the place go and view the neighbourhood about the place to a quarter of a Leagues distance or more and see if there be no ambush of the Enemy and they be not posted in some place to carry away all that is to come out or enter into the place by such care and diligence the Horse will secure the place from all kinds of surprise Of the duty of a Captain being in Garison in a Frontier Town during the Campagn When it is time to begin the Campagn and when the King sends Orders for the marching of the Troops to their Rendezvous to make up the body of an Army there is always left in the Frontier places a sufficient number of Horse to guard the Gonvoys and those that are to go and come daily from the Army and likewise to be a curb to the Enemies that are in the neighbouring Frontier Garisons If the Captain who remains in Garison in a Frontier place during the Campagn perceive that the Enemy has a neighbouring Frontier Garison stronger in Horse than his own he is to make use of ambushes and courses and to keep the Enemy in fear If in the first courses that he shall make he cause assemble the Troops of the Auxiliary Cavalry of other neighbouring Garisons that are of his party to such a competent number as may fight the Enemies Garison in case they come out upon him and for that end if he shall assign to these Auxiliary Troops a place of rendezvous on the rode with such requisite circumstances as may prevent the mistaking of the place and shall join them with his men at the hour prefixed that so he may effectuate his design without inconvenience If I say he come out two or three times in that manner there is great probability that afterward he may hazard out with his Garison alone for the Enemy's being terrified by his first courses will not easily come out against him believing that he may have the same Forces with him still And if the Captain remain in Garison and have notice given him by faithful spies that the Enemies are to lay an ambush on some great rode to fall upon the Convoys or those of his party that are going to join the Army or are coming from thence and that he be not commanded out for a Guard in that case he may go out in the night time and lay himself in ambush on the way by which the Enemies are to go to put themselves in their usual place of ambush The Captain knowing the Map of the Country may chuse an advantagious Post on the way if he have good guides that know it for in all Rodes there are places which must of necessity be passed over as some narrow passages or between two woods distant from one another two hundred paces or otherways between a Wood and a Village and other such like The Captain should set forth seasonably that he may come in good time to the Post where he is resolved to expect the Enemy and enjoin his Guides not to lead him by places inhabited for the reasons mentioned before and being come to the Post that he intends to possess expecting until the Enemy pass if it be near a Wood he is to have it viewed before he draw near and being assured that there is no body there then he is to approach with his men and shall place his Squadrons at a just distance from one another along the side of the Wood without entering into it facing to the way that the Enemy is to take He shall always keep his men on Horseback in good order and in the mean time place some Out-Vedettes with order that if they see or hear the Enemy coming to retire without being discovered and without noise to their Squadrons haveing first given him an account of what they have heard or seen and with orders also on the other hand that if they be surprised by the Enemies Scouts they advance some steps towards them to view them and having fired upon them fly with all speed and in their flight to pass beyond and fourscore or a hundred paces wide of the Ambuscade that the Enemies Scouts may pursue them who will not fail to follow their Scouts close without perceiving the Ambuscade by reason of the darkness of the night Then the Captain may charge them in the flank as they pass by him or in the rear when they are passed according as he shall judge convenient It is not enough to place Out-Vedettes he must be careful likewise to send off Scouts well mounted with order to halt now and then and even sometimes to alight and lay their ear to the ground to hearken if they hear the march of men giving them also the same order that he gave to the Vedettes if they meet with the Enemies Out-riders and to fly as the Vedettes having made a shew of viewing them and having fired upon them and to pass by the Ambuscade at the forementioned distance that so they may draw the Enemy after them on the same rode and if the Scouts can view the Enemy without being discovered they are to be ordered to return with all speed and without noise that they may give the Captain an account of what they have seen and heard and to the end there happen no inconvenience when the Scouts are upon their return and pass by the Vedettes the Captain shall give both a night-signal whereby the Vedettes may at a distance know that they are the Scouts who are returning back If the Captain Post himself at the entry or coming out of some narrow passage he may use the same circumspection in a manner it is of importance also that if the Captain upon his march or when he is come to his Post hear an extraordinary noise in some Village he detach four or six Troopers whom he knows to be discreet ordering them without noise to go round the Village if it be small to see if they can find any tract of the Enemy and to hearken if they can hear them and when they shall have gone round the Village without knowing the cause of the noise that
has been heard two or three of them to alight giving the rest their Horses to hold and enter softly into the Village that they may hearken if the Enemies by chance or otherways be there to refresh themselves and in all haste bring him back news of what they have seen or heard if the Village be great it will be enough to send some Troopers to the entry of it ordering them to go in with the circumspection abovesaid As to spies the Captain ought to know if they be persons of wit good judgment and faithful for otherways he ought not to trust in them There is nothing of greater importance in an Army than to be able to dive into the designs of the Enemy and to know their Posts their goings and comings for by that means many troublesome rancounters are avoided many surprises both made and prevented and likewise many ways found to do them prejudice For that effect it is necessary to have good and faithful spies whom the Captain should gain by money and rewards that by interest he may engage and win them to expose themselves to all kind of dangers and do what seems even impossible to learn the enterprises of the Enemies and without delay to come and give notice of all The Captain ought to chuse the most dextrous of those whom he knows to have the best conduct and most of fidelity and judgment to employ them as good and faithful spies who dextrously pretending to be weary of his service should go to the Enemy and so order matters that they might be listed amongst the Horse because that being made Troopers they may have better opportunities of giving intelligence whether they be in the Field or Garison But it is likewise necessary to have some in divers Regiments and in divers of the Enemies Garisons who are not acquainted together with whom the Captain should be in terms and condescend on the place whither they should carry their Letters of intelligence as to leave them at the root of some tree or at a certain cross or under some great stone or other places that are remarkable and easy to be found These Spies should be obliged themselves to bring the intelligence of great consequence as the Enemies designs of surprising some place or forcing a Quarter and other like enterprises The Captain may likewise make use of some Souldier disguised into the habit of a Peasant or into some other fashion who speaking the language of the Countrey or of the Enemies may under some pretext go to their Camp or Quarter to view their Posts with all the circumstances and to get information of the actions of the Enemy that he may be able to give notice of the same He may likewise employ Peasants because they are free to go every where being but little suspected and less observed by the Enemies especially in conquered Countreys where they have the liberty to enter into the Enemies Camp and all their places and to travel by night so that they may easily bring news and give good intelligence but above all things he ought to have Spies who insinuate themselves or have access into the quarters of general persons and of the Governours of places that he may more easily have thereby knowledge of the Enemies designs He may also make use of double Spies but they must be such as are very affectionate and faithful to him who that they may gain credit and obtain access to the Quarters of general persons may give them sometimes true intelligence of the marches of those of the contrary party but only in matters of small consequence and at such a time as the Enemy can make no advantage of them The Captain ought also to be upon his Guard against the double Spies of the Enemy And therefore if he intend to march out against his Enemies upon the report that hath been made to him and upon the intelligence that some Spies of whom he is not assured hath brought him he ought to detain the Spies under pretence of shewing them kindness and recompensing them and in the mean time he shall give order to his servants to treat these Spies kindly but withal to have a care that they make not their escape nevertheless the Spies must not have occasion given them to think they are distrusted to the end that if their intelligence be true he may largely recompense them at his return and so oblige them to persist in giving him faithful advices and these Spies being well rewarded will not only rest satisfied but will also for the future expose themselves to every thing being allured by the profit which may likewise draw in others upon hopes of the like rewards If the Captain be advertised by Spies of whose fidelity he is not fully assured that the Enemies are abroad or that he hath some fair opportunity offered him He will do well before he march out of his Garison or Quarter to send out three or four Pietons or Footmen towards the quarter and place designed to him by the Spies who knowing the Countrey shall go an hour before him to some narrow pass or some certain place that he shall tell them wherein he may suspect that the Enemies wait for him in ambush lest that the Spies may have given him false intelligence This circumspection is especially to be taken in a close and covered Country wherein he may be surprised before he can discover the Enemies at a distance and in such places also where the ways are narrow and where his men cannot march but by Files because in such a case if the Pietons have wit they cannot be lost nor be taken by the Enemy and the Captain shall appoint them a place where they may meet him to inform him of what they have learnt When he is upon a march against the Enemy he ought likewise to Command his Troops to have a care of their Arms and to keep them in a condition of doing service These are the principal Maximes that a gallant Captain ought to observe in his charge of Horse let us now proceed to the duties of the Serjeant Major CHAP. V. Of the charge of a Serjeant Major THE charge of Serjeant-Major ought to be possessed by an old Officer of Foot a man of middle age of virtue and good example and most affectionate to the service of the King consummated in the experience of War and especially in the conduct of infantry The Major is a Demi-Governour and though of himself he hath no Command over the Troops yet it is his duty to watch over all that concerns his Majesties Interests He carries about the Governours Orders and all the Officers are obliged to receive and obey them as if they had been given by the Governour himself for he is as it were the Kings Proctor General in the matter of War and in that his Office is gentile and of importance but of great fatigue If he be Major of a Town or Citadel he ought every Morning
halt he is to go and view the Posts of the Vedettes having the Quarter-Master and the Vedettes that he is to place with him and causing the Quarter-Master observe their Posts to the end he may go relieve and visit them during the night The Captain shall inform himself by the other Captain who is to dismount the Guard of the Orders which he must observe and of what he is to do inquiring exactly into all things and whilst he goes to Post the Vedettes the Lieutenant of the Guard ought to remain on Horseback at the head of the Squadron which is drawn up in Battallia expecting the return of the Captain and Quarter-Master The Captain when he places the Vedettes should inform them how they ought to carry themselves that they should never leave their Posts nor alight from Horseback to have always the Carabin or Pistol in hand to let none whosoever come near them either from the Quarters or from without and in a word to let none pass without making them stand and giving notice to the Court of Guard The Captain should place two Vedettes in one important Post to the end that the one may with diligence come and give notice to the Court of Guard when they have made any to stand or have seen or heard men and that the other in the mean time keep close to his Post and for that effect the Captain ought to command the Vedettes that in case they hear or see men at a distance the one should draw off from the other some twenty or thirty paces towards the Court of Guard to the end that if the Vedette that shall abide at his Post should not stop these men and that on the contrary he should be by them beaten from his Post the other may have time to come at full speed and give notice to the Court of Guard discharging his Carabin or Pistol by the way to make himself be heard and to give the Alarm The Captain should not only recommend all these things to the Vedettes but likewise that they should take heed if in the night time they discover any fire or by day smoke or dust raised by the marching of Horse if they hear Dogs bark more than usually and if they hear the report of Fire-arms and give notice of it to the Court of Guard to the end the Commander may send out Scouts to that side to learn intelligence of what the Vedettes have seen or heard If the Vedettes be far separated that they may possess the avenues there must be a small Court of Guard consisting of twenty or twenty five Troopers less or more placed according to the strength of the Forces betwixt the Vedettes and the great Court of Guard nearer or farther according as the Vedettes are posted at distance as it happens frequently they are that they may possess the avenues of several cross ways or the pass of some River Bridge or narrow passage or else of some eminence or height at the foot of which the Vedette is usually placed and that little Court of Guard is to be commanded by the Quarter-Master who should relieve the Vedettes at the end of every two hours and now and then visit them He is likewise to go with his men or part of them and examine those whom the Vedettes have made to stand making only him to advance who has the word and to tell it him in his ear holding the point of his Sword to his Breast who hath advanced to give the word and from whom he is to take it that he may know if they be Friends or Foes and so stop or let them pass When the Vedettes shall give notice to the Quarter-Master he shall instantly send off a Trooper to acquaint the Captain that the Vedettes have made some to stand and that he is going to examine them to the end that the Captain may have time to cause his men Horse and to put themselves in condition not to be surprised by their Enemies He should send out Scouts to a great distance to beat the Country on all hands and the ways by which the Enemies may come He is to take so great a care because all the Quarter or the whole Army confides in him and therefore he should trust no body but himself seeing there is so great a confidence reposed on him and his Guard that obliges him to all imaginable care in the discharge of his duty for the Enemies coming in great number might beat back the Vedettes surprife and overthrow the little Court of Guard and enter the Quarter or Camp if it happened that the avenues of it were not cut or barricado'd and guarded by some considerable Guard of Foot for if the Enemies met with no other Forces than the Vedettes the little and great Guard of Horse they might make themselves Masters of the Quarter or Camp surprised or afleep for want of timely Alarm given and leisure to take Arms that they might make head against the Enemies As to the manner of sending out these Scouts The Captain is to detach the best mounted and boldest Troopers of his Guard to go out a scouting giving them a word or fignal by which they may know one another when they chance to meet and he is to command them to divide themselves one by one or two by two according to the divers ways and avenues some to the right and some to the left marching always with great silence and stopping and making halt now and then that they may hearken if they can hear the marching of men and to advance a league more or less according as it may be expedient for the security of the Guard by all the avenues by which the Enemies may approach and he is to order them that if any of them find or hear the Enemies that if it be possible they should without being discovered know their number as near as they can and without losing of time return at full speed to give notice to the Court of Guard and Captain that he may with all diligence cause his men to mount and being in readiness in his Court of Guard send immediately notice of the matter to the Generals He is moreover to order his Scouts that if they be at so great distance when they discover the Enemies that they cannot in a long time return to the Court of Guard or that the Enemies march with so much diligence that they may come in as soon as themselves or a little after they should draw aside out of the Enemies way and with all expedition set fire to some House from whence the Vedettes and Court of Guard might see the Fire and even the Enemies for they would not fail to make a halt that they might send and know the reason of that fire and that if they can find no opportunity to make fire soon enough they should propose to themselves to come to some place where their firing and clashing of arms may be seen or heard
interlining if the infantry who have fired have suffered any check the Cavalrie which is at hand may maintain them and give them time to rally The most honourable Post of all is the Van-guard next the main body claims the honour but we must except the Regiment of Guards and the Kings Gend'arms because both are in service and are always put in the second line There is in every line also the honourable Post the old Bodies according to the Order of their Seniority have always the right Wing and the second in seniority is placed on the left and so from rank to rank so that the middle of the line is the lowest Post in honour If we consider the number of men who as we have said compose the Batallions which at most consist of a thousand men apiece and the number of Troopers that make up a Squadron which is at most of two hundred it is evident that though there be but very few Cavalrie in an Army yet the number of Squadrons is double yea and triple the number of Batallions so that for every Batallion in the middle of each of the three lines there will be two or three Squadrons in the Wings of the same line When an Army is drawn up in Batallia they observe five foot of interval interval between each Trooper and three foot between each foot man which is for the front or distance of one file from another but when they come to the shock the files close and the front is lessened almost one half There are left about an hundred paces between the first line and the second and two hundred between the second and third that the Troops if they be broken may have ground to rally on and if less ground were allotted them it would happen that the Troops of one line giving ground would break the Troops of the second as being too near them In every line the Batallions are distant from Batallions and the Squadrons from Squadrons to a distance almost equal to their front so that the front of a Squadron extending about two or three hundred foot the interval between two Squadrons shall be two or three hundered foot more or less and the front of a Batallion being between an hundred and seventy or a hundred and eighty foot the interval between two Batallions shall be within a little equal to their front These intervals are left because the Squadrons and Batallions of the second line are placed just behind the intervals of the first and in the same manner the Bodies of the Rear-guard are placed just behind the intervals that are between the bodies of the main Battel to the end that by these intervals both may more easily advance against the Enemy and that if the first line be broken instead of falling back upon the Troops of the second as must needs happen if the bodies of all the lines made but files it might rally behind its own ground and leave the intervals free for the second line to advance and maintain the other that gave ground If the Army on a march have the Enemy on head and that they march in an open and razed Country they keep together in a posture of fighting The Cavalrie are placed upon the Wings but the Gend'arms come behind the second line the Cannon march at the head of the first line next comes the second backed by the Gend'arms on the same front march the provisions baggage and equipage of Artillery and for the security of these equipages the Rear-guard comes after but if they must come to a fight the Rear-guard advances on head of them and leaves only two or three Squadrons on the rear of the baggage and provisions When the Enemy is on head of an Army in a close Country that is divided by cross ways by Lanes and Ditches covered with wood or beset with Hedges the front of each of the three lines must of necessity be contracted and one body must file off after another In such a Country the Horse and great Cannon are but of little use the Cavalrie being unable to fight there and having frequently need of succour Commonly the march begins by one or two Squadrons a Front then a Batallion or two a Front and so successively according as the passages are more or less open The Cannon Provisions and Baggage march only after the Troops of the second line for the Cannon would be so far from doing any good effect if it were on the Front that it would hinder the march of the Troops in case the Enemy were on head and would attack the first line In such kind of marches there are many skirmishing parties mingled amongst the Baggage to secure them against the Enemy who might cut them off by the advantage of the Woods The infantry hath a particular order for the march of the Baggages for the Baggage of the oldest Regiments march first though these old Regiments were even in the third line When there are two or three narrow Passes the Army marches in two or three Pillars to march in Pillars is when the lines instead of making a large Front make a long File so to march in three Pillars is to march in three long Files If an Army march by Pillars one half of the Cannon is placed in the intervals of the Troops of the Vanguard and the other half in the intervals of the main body There are but very few put in the Pillar of the Rear-guard because it is supposed to be weaker than the other Pillars and less able to defend the Artillery When the Enemy is on the flank in a large and open Country the Army marches likewise in three Pillars the first Pillar that sides to the Enemy shall be composed of the Regiments of the Van-guard the Cannon shall march between that first Pillar and the Enemy the second Pillar shall be made up of the Troops of the main Battel and the third of the body of the Rear-guard so that when the Enemy appears making the three Pillars turn to the right or left according as the Enemy shall appear to the right or left all the Army by that motion will be in order of Battallia and the Cannon on the Front Of a Council of War It is to be supposed that he who Commands an Army is a man endowed with all the good qualities that are necessary to the General of an Army The first thing that a General should do when he has received his Orders from the King written and countersigned by his Secretary of War is to endeavour to follow punctually the same orders that he may the better succeed in them and give no advantage to his Enemies who are jealous of his glory He ought have a Journal Book wherein he shall cause to be inserted by his chief Secretary all the Orders Letters and Answers which he shall have received or given that he may be thereby always in a condition to give his Soveraign an account of his duty
of the condition of the Country through which the Army is to march instructing himself by the general and particular Maps of the Country and also by the relation of Peasants He shall then draw up his Troops in Batallia according as he shall judge convenient or as the General hath ordered him If it be to march in a plain and open Country convenient for the Cavalrie Artillery and the Carriages then he may extend the Wings of his Army and march in this manner He shall divide the whole Army into three bodies that in the middle shall be two thirds of all the Foot tanked in gross and by Batallions of two Regiments a piece upon the flanks of that infanterie the greater pieces of Artillery shall be placed accompanied by some Batallion of Foot At the right and left Wing of that middle-line shall be the Cavalrie disposed into Squadrons each Squadron consisting of two Cornets The rest of the infantery marching in little bodies shall close in between them and the Horse the Baggage and Ammunition of the Army with some Field pieces as we have said in the proper place When an Army marches in a streight Country on a rode way no accidents give it greater umbrage than to be obliged to march through long and narrow passes When the ways lie between Hills the General is to send out Riders to post themselves on the way that they may discover even to the lowest places if the Enemy be not entrenched there observing the nature of the plains and always asking news of the Enemies march If the way be covered with Trees two or three days before the Army come there Carpenters and Pioneers must be sent before with a Guard of Horse to defend them whilst they are cutting down the Trees and enlarging the ways that they make space for the Army to march by Pillars At first there must advance a Squadron of Horse and then a gross body which is to be backed by Foot then the Artillery shall follow mingled with some Batallion of Foot and afterward the rest of the Army which is to be brought up by the rest of the Cavalrie but if the Country be incommodious and that neither Waggons nor Artillery can be brought through it the ways stretching along Mountains little Hills Valleys navigable and un navigable Rivers and other difficult places and that nevertheless there is a necessity of Cannon in such a case the General drawing a little aside out of the way shall cause the Fords and ways to be sounded and tried he shall always send out some to get intelligence of the Enemies and when he is well informed of the ways and that he hath made some of them fit for the passage of Cannon he is to divide his Army into two Bodies and shall make one of them march in file and afterward the Artillery which is to be followed by the second body or Rear-guard If the War be to be carried into the Enemies Country and that there be a necessity of passing through some one of his Provinces whether it be to lay down a Siege or to bring relief to some place that is to be protected then either the Enemy has been already defeated in open Battel or keeps the Field to bring succours into the place besieged or to hinder relief from being brought to the Camp of the Besiegers On all these various occasions whether the Army Camp in the Field or in a Village the General is to have special care that the Commissary General of Provisions and the Treasurers of War behave themselves with the fidelity that their charge requires especially as to the matter of Provisions which ought incessantly be provided either by Victuallers or Convoys If the Enemy hath been beaten and that they are not in condition to make a body of an Army then the General may order his march as has been said before either in an open and plain or in a close and covered Country but if they have rallied again after their rout and of the wrack of their Forces have made up an Army considerable enough to cross the designs of the victorious Army then must he march in a close body and to the end that the Army may be in freedom to pass into all sorts of places being disposed into Pillars the Cavalrie shall march on the flanks on the Front and at the rear of the Pillars the Infantery shall be in the middle and in gross Batallions the Artillery and Baggage on one side all attended by some old Regiments to cover and hinder them from being cut off Of the march of an Army in a close and covered Country An Army passing through a close and covered Country suffers many inconveniencies especially if it be engaged in an Enemies Country for it cannot march in Batallia far less bring up the Artillery the ways being often broken by Woods Rivers and other incommodious places and passages If the Army be obliged to pass through such kind of places the General or Mareschal de Camp is to send before some Ingineers with a party of Horse and some Companies of Foot and Pioneers to fill up the Ditches make Bridges build Boats and in a word to do all that the Ingeniers shall Command them who are to take the best measures they can for facilitating the march of the Army and during the time that these things are a doing the General is to take special care to send out some parties of Horse a scouting that they may learn intelligence of the Enemy and know if they be in the Fields what way they march and in a word all that may conduce to the avoiding of ambushes and surprises That is the time when the General should set his Spies at work to discover the Enemies designs which is an extraordinary advantage in such an enterprise The General by his Scouts shall inform himself of the Enemies Countenance to which he is not slightly to give credit unless confirmed by many and if he know that the Enemies wait not for him at some place or pass he shall advance his Army and go in search of them if his orders be so but if he be informed that the Enemy has a mind to surprise him in some narrow passage or in crossing a River he is to use all circumspection in passing such places that he may preserve his Troops from the surprises of the Enemies In all these various occurrences whether he encamp in the Field or in some Village He is to take most special care that the Commissary General of Provisions and the Treasurers of War act with all the faithfulness that their offices require and particularly as to the matter of Provisions which must be daily supplied as well by Convoys as Victuallers The Commissary General ought to be very careful in the choice of the Corn which he is to gather together into Granaries and Stores by his under Officers who ought to be skilful and faithful that they may have a care not