are or pass for strangers are Colonels Lieutenant-Colonels the first Captains who are commonly Majors Lieutenants Cornets and Quarter-masters The Officers of the Gend'armes Are Lieutenants of the Gend'armes and Sub-lieutenants in the Kings Gend'armes Ensigns Guidons Quartermasters first and second Brigadeer They never fight but with the General and are not sent out on parties I mean they are not employed to beat the rode The Officers of the Light-horse of Ordinance Are Lieutenants Cornets Quartermasters first and second Brigadeer The particular Officers Are the Master de Camp the first Captain commanding the Regiment the Captains the Master de Camp 's Lieutenant Major the Lieutenant Cornets the Aid-major Quarter-Masters first and second Cavalier or Trooper We have besides in our Cavalrie the Kings Musketeers who attend his Majesty when they are commanded In the Cavalrie then we may observe six sorts of Horsemen 1. To wit the Kings Gend'armes 2. The Guards du Corps 3. The Light-Horse of the Kings Guard 4. The Kings Musketeers 5. The Cuirasseers 6. The Dragoons When two three or more Troopers as necessities require are sent out to scout on the avenues or to any place to discover the Enemy they are called the Vedette as in Foot the Sentinel Of the Exercise of Horse It is certain the Horse may perform the same motions as the Foot do whether it be by Caracols or by facing about and other words of Command which shall be shewed hereafter How a Squadron is to be formed Double the Cavalrie on the left Wing by three Ranks successively which is the usual depth of Squadrons and when they draw off to march they are to file off by files beginning at the right Wing or otherwayes the Squadron being formed they are to begin to march by one of the wings without breaking the Squadron and by Caracol the Squadron will be formed The Horse fight in a large Front three and sometimes four in depth according as the Army is strong in Cavalrie and sometime five or six deep c. and that is it which we call a Squadron The Horse march commonly Troop by Troop according to their Regiment and every Troop marches in two files if they march in body of a squadron they make a large Front and have their depth as is beforesaid Two Troops are sometimes squadroned together the one marching on the rear of the other and sometimes both a breast they are each of them to march in one file and the first has the right and the other the left hand but before the Command be given they must dress their files and ranks that is straighten their files and even their ranks as hath been shewed in the Exercise of the Foot To close the Files The right wing file stand Close your files to the right To the left as ye were The left wing file stand To the left by files close the squadron To the right as ye were The right and left-wing file stand By half ranks close your files to the right and â—â—ft The Command may be given thus Cleave the Squadron by closing your files All these Motions are performed in Marching To close the Ranks File leaders stand By ranks close the squadron to the front On the front as ye were Or thus Open your ranks on the front to your first distances To double the Ranks By half files to the right double your ranks to the front File-leaders advance your ranks Half files take your ground The same Command is made to the left The first half-file stand By half-file leader on the left wing double your ranks to the front To reduce them again the Command must be given Right-wing half-rank advance your ranks Half file-leaders take your ground The first half-file stand By half file-leaders on the right and left wings double your ranks to the front caracolling to the right and left The last half-file stand The first half file by Caracol to the right and left on the wings double your ranks to the reare By half-file leader in the centre double your ranks to the front At this word of Command the first half file must open the half rank to the right and left The first half file by caracol to the right and left double your ranks to the reare To the front as ye were For obeying of this word of Command the last half file must open the half rank to the right and left It is to be observed that the Horse turn neither to the right nor left about to reduce themselves as they were nor to close their ranks to the rear A Fight of Foote against Foote Of Counter-marches Here the Command is to be given is it is done to the Foot but it is most necessary for Cavalrie to gain ground on the front How Conversion is to be performed Before we speak of Conversions we must distinguish between wheeling by conversion and wheeling by â—aracol wheeling by conversion is performed by the front of the squadron so that it is the rank and not the file which makes the motion Of wheeling by Caracol Wheeling by Caracol is made by â—he depth of the squadron and it is the file that makes the motion by Passades which is a serpentine moving on a ground some this and some thaâ— way Of the volte-face or facing about To face about one must turn to the right or left about as shall appear by the following words of Command The motions of Conversion and Caracol are performed by wheeling making a circle or part of one so that the only difference between them is that wheeling by Conversion is made by the front of the squadron and the Caracol by the depth or flank of it as may be seen by the following Commands The words of Command Mind me to the right by conversion At this word of command the right leg is to be closed to the Horse and the knee to touch the right hand mans The same command is made to the â—ft thus Close the left wing Close the left leg Words of Command By half ranks and by conversion divide the squadron into two Troops And to reduce the squadron this word of command is to be given Mind me by Conversion the squadron into one Troop Or otherwayes thus Mind me the left wing advance by conversion The words of Command for wheeling by Caracol Mind me the right wing to the left by Caracol face about to the rear The Caracol may be performed by half ranks but it is to be observed that they who command the half rank make use of the word of command above-mentioned The word of Command By quarter-ranks and by Caracol divide the squadron into four Troops To reduce them again Quarter Ranks mind me the squadron into one Troop To Command the Volte-face or to face about To the right about is taken for facing about as in the subsequent words of Command The words of Command Face about to the right Face to the right By conversion face about to the right By
caracol face about to the right By half file face about to the right and left To draw up in Haye By half ranks to the right and left draw up in hay to the front To reduce them again By Caracol to the right and left as ye were By half rank and by Caracol to the right and left draw up in hay to the rear To the front as we were By half rank to the right and left draw up in hay By Caracol to the right and left as ye were By Caracol to the right draw up in hay By Caracol to the left as we were How Horse are to fire Horse must fire by ranks and by files and are to detach by Caracol gaining the hand if possibly they can that is to say using their endeavours to have the enemy on the right hand They should detach at a trot then put on to a gallop and having discharged return to their bringers up It is to be observed likewise that they should detach by the right wing wheeling by Caracol to the left and by that means they will have the Enemy on the right hand The rank may fire by the front and draw off by caracolling to the right and left They may be made to fire by ranks by conversion and alwayes fall back to the bringers up of the squadron Horse may fire by files but in that case the squadron ought to be six or eight in depth making the right wing-file detach by caracolling to the left and having discharged fall back again by the same order to the place from whence they advanced So that Horse may fire in the same manner as Foot How to fight in a retreat To fight in a retreat some small parties backed by greater bodies are sent off and if it be thought convenient that they should discharge then these small parties shall make use of the orders of drawing up in Hay each party firing at the same time and retreating by the help and assistance of the other small parties who ought to second them till afterward obeying the same orders again they come to the assistance of those that seconded them How to make Horse file off On the right wing file off by ranks On the left wing form the squadron File off by ranks on the left wing Form the squadron on the right File off by three files On the left wing form the squadron I think it more convenient to file off by files than by ranks since that three files make a squadron which one rank does not CHAP. II. How Horse are to fight against Horse HE that commands the Squadron must know who they are he is to fight to wit if they be Gend'arms Light-horse Dragoons or Musketeers because the two former of these are to be attacked by the left wing and the others by the right H. A Fight of Horse against Horse We have told you that in fighting â—gainst Dragoons and other Musketeers they must be Attacked on the â—â—ght wing which is a considerable â—dvantage being taken seasonably â—or it is getting the hand of those against whom we fight How Horse are to fight against Foot When Cavalrie has a design to Atâ—ack a Battallion of Foot before â—hey come within Musket-shot the Cavalrie must have received their Orders sending off some out-riders who ought to advance streight against â—he Plotons or small Skirmishing boâ—ies receiving their fire and vigourâ—usly to force them in disorder to reâ—reat towards the Pikes o r towards â—he Center of the Battallion and at â—hat time the Squadron should adâ—ance by depth Caracolling and Enâ—aging the Battallion by one of the Angles charging the Pikes and â—assing sidewayes by them and not advancing streight towards them otherwayes out of every Troop there may be three or four detached in a File which ought to advance at a gallop and so soon as they come within Musket-shot charge the Plotons and afterward by Caracol pass by the Front and wings obliging the Battallion to charge to the Horse at the same time the Squadron ought to follow Charging on the angle oâ— the Battallion setting on the Pikes by the flank and in that manner the Battallion is to be broken It is to be observed that Horse should alwayes have their files closed and not their ranks Foot may likewise be fought in the following order making a double Squadron and when they approach within Musket-shot the squadron iâ— to be divided by half ranks into fouâ— Troops and by Caracol to the right and left the two first should pass oâ— the front and on one of the wings the third ought to Charge streight on the angle or according as occasion requires Attack the Pikes side-wayes whether it be on the front or flank and then the fourth Troop should make good what the third could not It is to be observed that so soon as the Horse are within ten paces of the Battallion they ought to fire and at the same time draw their swords How Foot are to fight against Foot If a Regiment of Foot marching in an Enemies Country find a Regiment of the Enemies in an advantagious Post which hinders their march the Regiment that is to pass must use endeavours to draw the Enemy to an Engagement making as if they intended to retreat that they may allure them out of their Post and having drawn them out into a convenient ground they are to face about to the right and march towards the Enemy in order of Battel and advancing two steps shall let flie their Pistols and return to their ranks then all the Musketeers shall fire three ranks together at the same time drawing their Swords and presenting the Pikes and all the Companies being engaged pell-mell should fight tilâ— the one be overcome and ask Quarters The figure A clearly represents the way of fighting How Squadrons are to be detached and formed at the same time The Horse are to Caracol to the right and left and open the half rank then form the Squadron fifty in Front By Caracols to the right and left open your half Ranks and form the Squadron fifty a breast fronting about to the Rear How Squadrons are to be formed They are to double on the left Wing by three Ranks and on the same Front with the first There are two things to be observed when the Squadron is formed and that the Front is to be changed into any other place whatsoever to do it by Caracols or to do it by Conversion by half-ranks or Quarter-ranks if by Conversion but if by Caracol it is done in a whole body Two Troops that can Squadron themselves together to form their Squadrons in the order of a march if they march in the same Front the first should take the right and the other the left hand and in that order march If they desire to form the Squadron the Troop on the right hand should advance about twenty paces and reduce themselves to three in depth That which holds the left in its
place shall do the same and then ought to double on the left of the Troop which hath advanced and in the same Front that the Squadron may be formed by two Troops but if the one march in the Rear of the other by the same orders the Captains severally shall reduce their Troops into three in depth and thereafter the last ought to double to the left and in the same Front with the first that the Squadron may be composed of two Troops A Regulation made by the late King Lewis XIII concerning the disputes that arose among the Officers of the Army in the year 1635. We shall in the first place declare what is to be done betwixt the French Officers and the strangers It is a thing past all doubt that a Master deâ— Camp of Horse ought to Command a stranger Colonel provided the Colonel and Master de Camp be one and the same thing The Colonel shall command all the French Captains and the French Captains shall command the Lieutenant-Colonels of strangers as likewise all the French Captains who Command not a body of men and if a stranger Lieutenant be with a French Corner the Lieurenant shall command him but a stranger Cornet shall command a French Quarter-master and wheresoever French and strangers are together the French have the right hand but if the Captain be a stranger he shall take the right hand of the French Lieutenant though his Troop be on the left Wing of the Squadron As to the disputes that happen between the Horse and Foot for the Command in the Field and in Quarters that are not walled which are called places of Approach the Horse ought to Command there but in all places that are inclosed with walls having Gates that lock and draw-bridges and are invironed with Ditches in such places it belongs to the Foot to Command The Master de Camp of Cavalrie in places that are open shall Command the Colonels of Foot but the Colonel of Foot ought to Command the Master de Camp of Horse in Towns and Walled places Now the Charge of Master de Camp of Horse being above that of a Captain if he be in a walled place where the Foot have no Officers above Captains the Master de Camp of Horse should Command the Captains and in all open Quarters the Captain of Horse should Command Lieutenant Colonels and Captains of Foot and the Captains of Foot should Command the Lieutenants of Horse and in close places where there are none but Lieutenants of Foot and a Captain of Horse the Captain must Command because the Captains have their Commissions from the King and not the Lieutenants and in open places the Lieutenant should Command the Cornets of Horse and in walled places the Lieutenant is to Command the Ensign and the Cornet the Serjeants so that the one has no advantage of the other it is but only ambition for the persons who discharge these Offices are rather to be considered than any difference that is between the Charges and therefore they ought to make a right choice There is also a regulation between the Serjeants of Battel and the Masters de Camp of Cavalrie and Colonels of Foot who pretend not to be obliged to obey the Serjeant of Battel but seeing it is true that he Commands in absence of the Mareschals de Camp his Charge is above the other Officers There happen many times some contests between the Captains of the Gend'arms and the Master de Camp of Horse The Captains of the Gend'arms and the Master de Camp of Horse meeting together the Captain of the Gend'arms is to Command the Master de Camp the Master de Camp the Lieutenant of the Gend'arms the Lieutenant of the Gend'arms the Captain of the Light Horse the Captain the Ensign of the Gend'arms the Ensign the Lieutenant of the Light-Horse the Lieutenant of the Light-Horse the Guidon of the Gend'arms the Guidon of the Gend'arms the Cornet of the Light-Horse the Cornet of the Light-Horse the Quarter-masters of the Gend'arms and the Quarter-master of the Gend'arms the Quarter-master of the Light-horse There hath been heretofore great dispute between the Masters de Camp of Foot and the Captains of the Guards which dispute was thus decided by the King That the Masters de Camp of Picardie Piedmont Champagne Navarre and Normandie should command the Captains of the Guards and the Captains of the Guards all other Masters de Camp and that the other Masters de Camp should Command all Lieutenant Colonels and the Captains of the old Regiments should Command the Lieutenant Colonels of other Regiments and that the Lieutenants of the Guards should obey the Captains of the old Regiments All these regulations were made to prevent the disorders that might happen amongst Officers the King hath very well provided against them and by his sage conduct obliges the Officers to discharge their duties and to have no other passion but of doing good service and for that end his Majesty gives them an example making the Troops of his Houshold do their exercises frequently he hath made injunctions to all the Officers of his Armies to see his forces well exercised and made dextrous in handling of their Arms to wit the Pikes to manage their Pikes aright whether by themselves or in Battallions the Musketeers to use their Muskets skillfully by giving quick fire It is a thing very necessary that a Musketeer know to hit a mark to the end that on occasion he may be able to fire to purpose Musketteers may be taught to shoot well in Garisons especially the Officers giving some reward to those that shoot best at a mark that encourages and obliges them to shoot well which makes a Musketeer very considerable on several occasions and especially in fighting against Horse How Foot are to Fight against Horse If Foot march in Battallia in an Enemies Country and some Body of the Enemies Horse be discovered then shall the Foot make a Batrallion with four strong Plotons or parties for skirmish and double ranks of Pikes to resist the Horse whilst three ranks of Musketeers shall prepare to give their Vollee at the first Pistol-shot which is ten or twelve paces from the Foot then if the Pikes with swords in hand pursue them vigorously without doubt the Squadron will be put into great disorder and all by the means of good Musketeers who have had the right art of pitching on their men and have made as many fall as they have fired shot being thereto taught by their good discipline so ought all the Officers study to be capable of their Charges and by that means the Commanders may make good use of their Troops in what place soever the Army be and especially when the Enemies are in a condition to fight Horse are very necessary in an Army on them depends the good success of all enterprises by them an Army becomes master of the field if it be stronger in Cavalrie than the Enemy by them the Forces and
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
to buy rotten and spoil'd Corn which might be destructive to the Souldiers as also in the entertaining of honest and faithful Bakers such as can resist the temptations which might be made to them by the Enemies money The Commissary ought to know the weight that a Bushel of good Wheat should weigh and by consequent all the other measures that are in use In the first place he ought to know what weight of bread so much Wheat will yield and how many men that Bread is sufficient to feed in a day and then how much Wine or Water according to the usual proportion is sufficient for the same number of men and what weight it weighs These things should be known to the Commissary General and his Clarks that they may take their measures to prepare the necessary Provisions for the Body of an Army during a Campagn How an Army made up of Horse and Foot is to be Encamped To Camp an Army aright it must be always put into two lines with a Body of reserve provided the ground be fit for it so disposing them that between the two lines there be two hundred paces distance All the Squadrons of Horse of each line are to possess thirty five paces of ground a piece and there must be as much void betwixt them that a Squadron may march by the intervals when there is occasion of fighting The Batallions of Foot who Camp commonly in Batallia six men deep have about eighty paces of ground allotted to them more or less according to the scituation of the place Between the Squadrons of Horse and Batallions of Foot of the same line there is usually left a distance of fourty or fifty paces As to the Artillery the Cannons are placed in the first line of the Foot at such places as shall be thought most advantagious The Waggons and Ammunition are to be Camped between the second line and the body of reserve on the right hand and the Provisions on the left or near the Tent of the Commissary General The Officers as well of Horse as Foot Camp at the head of their Squadrons and Batallions The place of Arms and chief Court of Guard are always at the head of the Camp where the Arms Standards and Colours are lodged A General marching in an Enemies Country and having on his march met with a Post which we suppose to be a Bridge before which there are some Courtins Bastions and demy-Bastions flanked by some heights or little Castles he is to take care to view it or to send some Ingeneers to observe if the Bridge be for resistance divided by little draw Bridges or united and entire and at the same time shall detach a small party to try if the River be fordable for in such a case the General may make some Horse pass over carrying Foot behind them and by that means attack the Bridge at both ends But if the Bridge be defended by some eminence whereon Cannon is planted a cross Battery is quickly to be raised in such a manner that the pieces may be out of aim and that those of the height cannot bear against them from which they cannot fire but out of the openings or Gun-holes which look against and defend only that which is opposite to them on the Front from the Battery they must fire constantly until the Embrasures or Gun-holes be broken down and the Enemies Cannon dismounted If the entry of the Bridge be fortified with some Bastions without spending time to attack it by Trenches some Cavalier must in haste be raised to make a breach which must be assaulted with Sword and Pistol that so the Bastion may be carried in a trice That is a vigourous way of attack the truth is the Souldiers are much exposed thereby but it is the surest way for such Posts which by a long delay might consume more men and occasion the loss of opportunity of effectuating the design if it were set upon by Trenches When an Army on a march meets with Villages heights or other like Posts which the Peasants have fortified to defend themselves and to secure their goods in The General shall observe if the Post deserve that the Army should halt or that if proceeding in his march a detachment will be sufficient to reduce these Mutineers to reason If he find it convenient to make a halt the Mareshal de Camp attended by the Ingeneers is to search for the most convenient ground for encamping the Army such as places where are Rivers Waters or Fountains The Quarter-Masters of Horse and the Brigadeers of Foot of the Army shall distribute the ground for the Camping of their Forces according to the Orders of the Quarter-Master-General The Law of War forbids Peasants upon pain of death to shut themselves up within bare Walls without Cannon to give thereby stop to a Royal Army If the General causes them to be summoned to render it is an extraordinary favour shewed them but if he resolve to force them he is to name the Officers who should begin the attack that with their men and those that are to back them they may warmly ply them with fire some furnished with short Arms others with Petards Granadoes Bosses fire Pots and some others shall carry Ladders the first by the help of Mantelets or portable defences shall approach the Gates and apply the Petard whilst others scale the Walls every one making use of Fire-works and continuing the action with vigour until the Post be gained The success is fatal to the Commanders of the Post who are rigourously to be punished for so insolent a piece of rashness In the attacking of places so many different accidents and subjects do occur wherein the General of an Army ought to employ the best of his Judgment and make use of his experience and conduct in War that as we have said in our first part and as may be with good reason averred the most part of the actions of War are no more but continual consequences of occurrences that many times depend more on chance than on the Conduct of a Commander Of the continuance of a Siege It is very difficult to find two Towns of the same scituation and force it is likewise a hard matter to make two Sieges of a like disposition and much more still to determine the continuance thereof for if there be some Towns to which the Besiegers without opening or carrying on of Trenches may the first day of the Siege approach and lodge themselves on the Counterscarps of their Fossé by means of a Rideau or some hollow way sometimes of a River or some ill fortified Suburbs There are likewise other Towns where the ground about is so well ordered that within Cannon shot of their Ramparts or at greater distance from their Out-works there is neither any ruinous place nor hollow way that may facilitate an approach to them To such kind of places there is no coming but by Trenches or by gaining ground piece and piece and