were called Tarentines and some had Bows and Arrows and were called Scythae because the Scythians delighted much in the Bow If you will compare the Antient Grecian and the Modern Armies used not half an age ago in the point of Arms you will not find any considerable Grecian and Modern Arms compared difference To the heavy arm'd Grecian Foot answer our Pike-men when they were and still should be armed with Head-piece Back and Breast Greeves and Taslets except in this that ours want Targets and walk not in Brazen Boots To the light armed or Velites of the Greeks do answer our Bowmen or Harquebusiers when we had them and now our Musquetiers To the Grecian Cataphracti on Horse-back correspond our Gens d'Arms or Cuirassiers armed with Lances when they were in fashion and now with Pistols and Carabines To the light armed Horse-men called Sagittarii or Scythâ— you may compare those whom the French call still Archers armed formerly even since Gun-powder was found out with Bows and Arrows and half Lances and now with Pistols or Carabines To the Tarentines answer generally our Light Horse-men armed Offensively now with Hand-guns and Swords and some of them Defensively with Back Breast and Head-piece but most without any of them CHAP. IV. Of their great Engines and Machines of their Training and Exercising THe Ancients had their Artillery as well as we have These were their Rams Balists and Catapults They had also their Vineae Plutei Moscoli and other Engines whereby they made their approaches to the Walls of besieged Towâ—s I think it strange that some attribute the invention of the moving or ambulatory Tower so much admired by Antiquity to Demetrius the Son of Antigonus for to me it is clear enough that his Fathers Master the Great Alexander had one of them at the Siege of Gaza which was rendred ineffectual by the deep Sand through which it could not be brought so The ambulatory Tower near the Walls as was needful for the Wheels on which it was to move sunk down Neither do I think that Alexander himself was the inventor of it Whether the Trojan Horse whose Belly was stuffed with armed men might be such a Machine as this or whether it had only its existency in the Poets brain is no great matter But because the Romans used all these Warlike Engines at the expugnation and propugnation of Towns I shall refer my Reader concerning them to the fourth Chapter of my Discourses of the Roman Militia where I shall also show him the substance of what Aeneas an Ancient Grecian Tactick saith on that subject Here I shall only observe that as the Grecians were very apt to usurp to themselves the invention of many Arts and Sciences which they stole from others So it will be found that many of these Machines were used in the World before the Grecians were so much known as afterwards they came to be We read in the seventeenth Chapter of the second Book of the Chronicles That Ozias King of Judah by the invention of skilful Masters made and planted on the Towers and corners of the Walls of Jerusalem Engines which shot Arrows Darts and great Stones And these were no other than those Machines the Greeks called Catapults and Balists And this was long before the overthrows and defeats of the Persian Monarchs These Machines not invented by the Grecians made Greece famous in the habitable World Some think Moses invented them and I think they may as well fansie he invented the moving Tower of all which hereafter whereof I spoke but just now But the place alledged for this which is the last verse of the twentieth Chapter of Deuteronomy will not justifie that for it is said there as the Italian Translation hath it Thou shalt cut down those Trees which bear no Fruits and make Bulwarks Bastioni of them against those Cities thou art to besiege And though Lipsius and Tâ—rduzzi think that here are only meant Stakes and Pallisadoes for Ramparts and Sconces yet I may without Heresie believe that the Vineâ— and Plutei of which we read in Latin Histories may be meant in the Text and the Ram also wherewith I suppose Joshua may have battered the Walls of those Cities which he had no authority from the Almighty to beat down with the sound of Rams horns as he did the strong Walls of Jericho The Grecians were very exact in Training and drilling both their Horse and Foot and without question they taught their Souldiers very perfectly to handle and manage all the Arms they were appointed to carry whether those were Javelins Darts Stones Slings Swords Pikes Lances Maces or Bows and Arrows And as careful they were to teach them those motions Grecian words of Exercise and evolutions whereby their Bodies whether small or great changed their present posture into another either by Facings Doublings Countermarches or Wheelings And though the European Nations were forc'd to find out words of Command each in their own language to teach the use and handling of the Pistol Carabine Harquebuss Musquet or any other Fire-gun in regard none of those were known to any of the Autients yet the handling of the Pike is the same in all its postures that the Grecians had And all our European words of Command for the motions and evolutions of Bodies are borrowed from the Greek By Example That which they call'd All one with ours Declina in hastam we call To the Right hand That which with them was Declina in Scutum with us is To the Left hand Because they carried their Pike on their right Shoulder and their Target on the left Their Inflectio in hastam aut Scutum was our Right or Left about Jugare with them is to my sense though I know others think not so to Double Ranks Their Intercalatio was our Doubling of Files Reddere in arrectum is As you were It is needless to give you more since most of our Modern words are the same with theirs and are obvious in most languages Yet here I shall take liberty to speak a little of both their and our Counter-marches that hereafter I need not trouble either my self or my Reader with that point of exercise for which I have so small an esteem They called a Counter-march Evolutio per versum and they had three kinds of it which are yet retained in our Modern Exercises and these were the Macedonian the Lacedaemonian and the Persian which was also called the Choraean The Macedonian is when the Batallion is commanded to take up as much ground in the Van as it possessed before e're he who was Leader faced Macedonian Countermarch to the Rear It is done thus He who is in the Rear marcheth through or between two Files to the Van and then without an alt so many foot beyond the File-leader as the Body at their due distance possesseth all the rest that were in the File before him following him in order as they stood till
A Regiment marshal'd in one Division orders the Colonels Company to draw up on the right hand next to that the Majors thirdly the second Captains fourthly the fourth Captains fifthly the sixth Captains sixthly the seventh Captains seventhly the fifth Captains eighthly the third Captains ninthly the oldest Captain and lastly the Lieutenant-Colonels Company I know some would have the Majors Company to be where I have plac'd the youngest Captains because they think next to the Van and the Reer the middle is the most honourable place But if they take heed they will find it is not so with a middle Company as with a middle man in a file who upon doubling the front by half files becomes a Leader Besides no Company can properly be said to be in the middle of a Regiment unless the Regiment consist of odd Companies which seldom or never is practised for draw up a Regiment of ten Companies in one front the sixth Company which is accounted the middle one or the Company in the middle of the Regiment is not so for it hath five Companies on its right hand and but four on its left Now my reason for Reasons for the manner of it drawing up the Companies in that order whereof I have spoken is this The right hand or the Van is the most honourable place and next to it the left hand or reer Now the honour comes from danger which is for most part expected from the Van or the Reer and hence it will follow that the nearer a Captain and his Company are the danger the more honourable place they have and therefore the nearer they are to the Van and the Reer the more honourable place they have If then the Regiment be attackâ— in the Van where most danger is expected the Majors Company is by much nearer the danger when it is marshal'd next to the Colonels than if it were drawn up about the middle of the Regiment and consequently is in the more honourable place by this same reason the oldest Captain is to be nearest the Lieutenant-Colonel who hath the second place of honour for if the Reer be attackt the Lieutenant Colonel is nearest the danger and next him the first Captain by this same rule of proportion the second Captain is next to the Major it being fit since the first Captain hath the second place of dignity in the Reer that the second Captain have the third place in the Van. And if this rule hold as I hope it will the third Captains Company must be drawn up on the oldest Captains right hand that so he may have the third place from the Reer as the second Captain had the third place from the Van. And to make short I place the fourth Captain in the fourth place from the Van and the fifth Captain in the fourth place from the Reer the sixth Captain in the fifth place from the Van and the seventh and last Captain in the fifth place from the Reer Now because an Enemy is sooner expected in the Van than in the Reer the Van is more honourable than the Reer and therefore I marshal the last Captain in or near the middle of the Regiment where being furthest from danger either in Van or Reer he obtains the place of least dignity for though all places are honourable yet some are more honourable than others I marshal then a Regiment of ten Companies drawn up in one Division thus Order of a Regiment in one Batallion Colonel Major Second Captain Fourth Captain Sixth Captain Seventh Captain Fifth Captain Third Captain First Captain Lieutenant-Colonel The Companies standing in this order the Major will have but little trouble How to put them in one Body to Body them one of two ways First he may command all the Pikes to advance twenty or twenty four paces and there join them then let him cause the Musqueteers of the five Companies on the right to advance to the right hand of the Pikes and the Musqueteers of the five Companies on the left hand to march up to the left hand of the Pikes and so his work is done Secondly if he have no other ground than that he stands on he is to command the Pikemen to march thorough the files of the Musqueteers by the right and left hand till they meet in one Body in the middle the Musqueteers being likewise order'd to march by both hands to their due distances so that this motion is a Chorean Countermarch of files This may be done with much ease and a few words if the Major please but some have the vanity to make themselves and their Soldiers more business than they need by crying this and that riding here and there making work to themselves and sometimes sport to the Beholders If the Major be order'd to marshal the Regiment in two Divisions he may do To marshal a Regiment of ten Companies in two Batallions it thus The Colonels Company being to have the right hand of the first division and the Lieutenant-Colonels of the second Division he ought to place the other Companies according to their Dignities and these are the Majors Company in the Reer of the first Division and the first Captains in the Reer of the second Division the second Captain next to the Colonel in the first Division the third Captain next to the Lieutenant-Colonel in the second Division the fourth Captain on the right hand of the Major in the first Division and the fifth Captain on the right hand of the oldest Captain in the second Division the sixth Captain next to the second Captain in the first Division and the seventh and last Captain next to the third Captain in the second Division The ten Companies of a Regiment then drawn up in two distinct Batallions are in this order Order of ten Companies in two Divisions First Division Second Division Colonel Lieutenant-Colonel Second Captain Third Captain Sixth Captain Seventh Captain Fourth Captain Fifth Captain Major First Captain My reason for this is because the Regiment being now divided into two Bodies or Batallions the two Reers are next in dignity to the two Vans and those that are nearest to the two Reers are next in honour to those who are nearest to the two Vans for this reason I place the sixth Captain just in the middle of the Reasons for that order first Division as furthest from danger of either Van or Reer of that Division having two Companies before him and two behind him or two on each hand of him And I place the last Captains Company in the middle of the second Division as the place of least dignity and that belongs to him all other Captains having the Precedency of him The Pikes of the first and second Divisions are in the middle of their several Batallions and the Musqueteers of the five Companies of each Body equally divided on both hands of the several Bodies of the Pikes which is done in that same way as when the Regiment
he making alt they all take up their several distances behind him till he who is File-leader turn himself about on that same ground he stood on and then all turn likewise so that all the File faceth to the Rear in that same order that before the Counter-march it fac'd to the Van by this means the Body loseth ground in the Rear and therefore our Modern Drillers when they command the Macedonian counter-march they say By the Right or Left hand Countermarch and lose ground in the Rear or gain ground in the Van which is all one thing The Laconian is when the Batallion is commanded to take up as much ground in the Rear as it possess'd before and is done thus The File-leader Lacedemonian turns just where he stands and marcheth as many foot behind the Rear-man as the Body at its due distance should possess all who follow him turn not about till their Leaders go by them and so the Bringer up doth only turn himself without any further motion The Modern word of Command for this is Counter-march to the Right and Left hand and gain ground in the Rear The Persian is when the Batallion keeps the same ground it had but with this difference that the Leader stands where the Bringer up was and the Persian Rear-man where the Leader stood It is done thus The Leader advanceth three steps and then turns and marcheth to the Rear and all who follow him turn not till they come to that place to which he advanced and then they face about and take up the same ground they formerly possest The word of Command for this is Counter-march to the Right or Left hand and keep your ground It is also called the Chorâ—an Counter-march because Oâ— Choraean as the Chorus useth to sing and dance all together so here all the Ranks move at once and keeping that same measure and distance in turning resembles a Dance But indeed all these Counter-marches as most of all evolutions are better and sooner illustrated nay demonstrated by a Body of Souldiers in the Field than they can be either by words or figures on Paper Philip King of Macedon Father of the Great Alexander put down the first of these Counter-marches which was his own Countrey one and with good reason for it hath a show of flying at least of retiring being a Body of sixteen deep as the Macedonian Phalanx was by that Counter-march lost in the Rear where the Enemy is suppos'd to be one hundred and twelve foot of ground one foot being allowed for every Rank to stand on and six All three of small use foot of distance between the Ranks at least it loseth one hundred and six foot And truly I think the hazard were small if all the three several Counter-marches were for ever banish'd out of all Armies except those of our Enemies It is true I never saw any of them used in sight of an Enemy for if they be practis'd then I am confident confusion would follow them which is but too ready to appear in any Army though never so well order'd when it is unexpectedly attack'd by an Enemy in the Rear If the Grecians had been acquainted with our great Guns nay even with our Muskets which kill at a greater distance by far than Darts or Arrows and against which their Defensive Arms would not have been proof they would have found that an Enemy a good way from their Rear would have render'd their best Counter-marches both unfeasible and dangerous All the good I suppose that is intended by a Counter-march is to place the very same men and Ranks with their faces to the Rear in that very same order they were with their faces to the Front And truly if Captains be careful to place their best men in the Front their next best in the Rear and make middle men of the third and rank every man according to his worth and dignity as they should do but too many of them are negligent in this it will be needless to hazard a Counter-march but with much ease and with one word of Command and that is By the Right or Left hand about an Enemy may be fac'd in the Rear without danger of any confusion or disorder I have seen some very punctual Officers and Drill-masters who have taken much pains to teach new beginners all these three sorts of Counter-marches and have made them practise their lessons very exactly yet for all that I could never in my own Judgement have a better opinion of Counter-marches than they say some Physicians have of Cucumbers which they first order to be well corrected and prepar'd with Vinegar Oyl Pepper and I know not what else and then advise to throw them out of doors or over the Windows In exercising Bodies the first care is to make Ranks and Files keep that distance that is allowed by the Prince or General who commands the Army for he may do in that according to his pleasure The Grecian Foot had a three-fold distance the first was of six foot and this Aelian will have to be in exercisings and marches between File and File as well as Rank and Rank but assuredly there was not so good reason for the one as there was for the other in regard all the heavy arm'd Foot cartying long Pikes required six foot in their march between Rank and Rank for the conveniency of their Pikes but there was no need of so much between File and File as Distances of the Foot any man at first view may easily comprehend The second distance was of three foot between Rank and Rank as also between File and File and this was when they were drawn up and stood in Battel with their Pikes order'd and their posture at this distance was called Densatio The third was of one foot and a half between both Files and Ranks and that was when they were either to give or receive a charge and it was call'd Constipatiâ— In that posture having presented their Pikes with their left foot formost their Targets touch'd one another and so their Phalange look'd like a Brazen Wall as Lucius Aemilius the Roman Consul spoke of that wherewith King Persâ—â—s fac'd him at the Battel of Pidna where they fought for the Soveraignty of the Kingdom of Macedon The Grecian Horse were marshall'd in several figures and of their distance I can say nothing nor doth Aelian help me in it at all Of these several figures of Horse Troops I shall speak in the next Chapter but one And Of the Horse then my Reader will perhaps believe with me that the Square Battels probably kept that distance that Troops have done since and that both the Rhombus and the Wedge required a greater distance when they were commanded by a motion either to the Right or Left hand to change the posture or the place wherein they stood and I conceive when either of them was to charge the Horse men were obliged to â—err
Bodies of Foot it is the easiest motion of all the rest and cannot be suddenly done and therefore is dangerous if an enemy be near to take advantage of the disorder of the motion Thirdly If all the three Countermarches Laconian Macedonian and Chorâ—an Third be of very little use and great danger in the Infantry as I have endeavour'd to make appear in one of my Discourses of the Grecian Militia then I suppose it will be easily granted that the use of any of the three is as little and the danger as great in Bodies of Cavalry Fourthly That I conceive Wheeling a more proper motion and more easie Fourth for the Horse than for the Foot it is a motion that hath been much used by Horse in fight for unless in wheeling they are charged in the flank and if so they are ill seconded they are quickly reduced to their first posture but it is not so with the Foot for if the Body be but indifferently great suppose fifteeen hundred men standing at three foot distance in files and six in ranks you must â—irst make them come both ranks and files to their close order before you can wheel your Battel and that requires some time for it is a motion of it self and the greater the Body be the longer time it will have to make that first motion for great Bodies move slowly Next the motion it self of wheeling the Battel is not soon done if well done for if it be not order'd discreetly the Body is immediately in confusion Thirdly when you have wheel'd this Body of fifteen hundred men you must beg yet a Cessation of Arms from your Enemy till you put your Battel in a fighting posture which you cannot do till you reduce them to their first order for at close order your Musqueâ—eers cannot fight and therefore you must cause your Battel to open it is true the ranks will quickly open backward but the files being no less in a Body of fifteen hundred men than two hundred and fifty must have such a time to open though they do it with all the hast imaginable that a resolute Body of Horse will Charge thorough them before you end these three motions But a Body of Horse being in rank and file at that distance at which it is to fight needs no command to close ranks and files before it wheel nor no command to open them after it hath wheel'd being constantly in a posture to receive an enemy And with submission to great Drill masters I should think the motions of Facing and Countermarching of Bodies of Horse whether greater or smaller might be spared in their Exercise because you may face an enemy with a Squadron of Horse either in flank or reer by wheeling either to the right or left hand or by either of the two about a great deal sooner with a great deal of more ease and with a great deal of less danger than you can do by either Facing or Countermarching Fifthly Observe that no man can or will attain to a perfect understanding of Fifth either postures motions or evolutions in the Training particular men or yet Bodies of Horse and Foot by reading the words of command in a Book or Paper or looking upon the figures of them for the Military Art is practical one shall understand what belongs to Drilling and Training more by looking on the real practice of it three days than by the contemplative study of it three years when you see a Countermarch in the Field you will quickly understand what an Evolution it is when you see the figure of it in a Book but you will not so soon know what it signifies when you see the figure before the practice And lastly I avouch it to be the essential duty of a Captain to Exercise his Sixth Troop or company himself whether it be of Foot or Horse nor should it be permitted that his Lieutenant should do it when he is present much less a Serjeant as I have often seen for thereby he Uncaptains himself and changeth places with his Lieutenant And this is too ordinary a Military grievance against which the Earl of Swafford guarded by an express instruction that no Lieutenant should exercise a Company unless the Captain were absent which he might not be without either sickness or that Lords own permission a very just command And by the same reason all Colonels should exercise their Regiments and in their absence their Lieutenant Colonels but when either of them are present the Major ought neither to be commanded nor of himself offer to do it and this is contrary to the opinion of many who will impose so many duties on a Major that they make thereby Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels Cyphers or very insignificant Creatures CHAP. XI Of Compaies Regiments and Brigades of Foot what they have been what they are how they are Marshal'd of all their Officers their Duties and Qualifications I Suppose most Military men acknowledg the Infantry to be the Body of an Army with it the Artillery Munitions and Provisions lodg and so doth he who commands in chief The members of this Body are Regiments or Brigades and the sinews and arteries of these are Companies A Company is a Band of armed men Marshal'd in rank and file a rank and file differ in this that the first consists of men whether on horseback or foot standing in one A Rank and a File front side for side the second of men standing in one row or lane one behind another so they may easily be converted a file into a rank and a rank into a file The number of these ranks and files must be determined by the number of men appointed to be in each Company for which there is no general rule every Prince and State ordering that as they please neither do they restrict themselves constantly to one number but appoint their Companies to be stronger and weaker as the emergency of affairs or the present Ratio Belli seem to require it In former times ever since Gunpowder was invented it has been so likewise for sometimes Companies were more numerous than at other times yet never were the weakest of them of so small a number as generally now they be The first time I remember to have read of a Company of one hundred in the Modern War was in the Civil Wars of France in the Reign of Charles the Ninth about one hundred years since in them I find that the Protestant Foot-Companies Company of one hundred strong were but generally one hundred strong for which I can guess at no reason unless it were that many Gentlemen who were forc'd to take Arms and durst not stay at home might be invested with Charges and Imployments suitable to their qualities yet methinks it had conduced more to the advancement and prosecution of the grand design that Troops and Companies of Gens d'Armes or Curiassiers had been made up of those numbers of Gentlemen a service very
was marshal'd in one Division I know some are of opinion that the Majors Company should be in the Reer Objection against that way of marshalling of the Lieutenant-Colonels Division because the third place of honour in the Regiment belongs to him and the Colonel having the Van of the first Division and the Lieutenant-Colonel of the second the Major should have the Reer of the second Division because it is the Reer of the whole Regiment I should easily subscribe to this if it were not for two reasons First though it be but Answered one Regiment yet being divided it should be lookt on as two distinct Bodies and it is more honourable to have the Reer of the first than of the last Secondly when a Regiment is divided into two parts the Major ought to wait and lodg at the quarter of that Division of the Regiment where the Colonel is because from him he receives his Orders Directions and the Word which he is not oblig'd to carry to the Lieutenant-Colonel if the quarters of the two Divisions be divided as many times they are but the oldest Captain is obliged to come and receive them from the Major at the Colonels Quarter the first Captain in that case officiating as Major for the Lieutenant-Colonels Batallion Now if the Major ought to be where the Colonel is as I think he should then I think the Majors Company should be where himself is The Great Gustavus used another way of marshalling his Regiments and Brigades of Foot which taken altogether was not square of front yet all the four parts or Bodies which composed it were square The manner was this Regiment or Brigade marshal'd a third way Suppose one of his Brigades to be eighteen hundred men as I can assure you he had many weaker whereof twelve hundred were Musqueteers and six hundred were Pikemen the Pikes advanced twenty paces before the two Bodies of Musqueteers who immediately join'd to fill up the void place the Pikemen had possest Then were the Pikes divided into three equal Bodies two hundred to each Batallion the middle Body whereof advanced before the other two so far that its Reer might be about ten paces before the Van of the other two The two Bodies of Pikes that staid behind were order'd to open a little to both hands and then stand still all fronting one way to the Enemy by this means the place which the two hundred Pikes possest in the middle remaining void there were two passages like sally-ports between the Reer of the advanced Body of Pikes and the two Batallions that staid behind out of one whereof on the right hand issued constantly one or two or more hundreds of Musqueteers who before all the three Bodies of Pikes gave incessantly fire on the Enemy and when the word or sign for a Retreat was given they retir'd by the other passage on the left hand back to the great Body of Musqueteers where so many of them as came back unwounded were presently put in rank and file the fire continuing without intermission by Musqueteers who still sallied thorough the passage on the right hand and it is to be observed that the firemen fought thus in small Bodies each of them not above five files of Musqueteers and these for most part but three deep So you may consider that near the third part of the Musqueteers being on service the other two thirds were securely shelter'd behind the three Batallions of Pikemen who were to be compleatly arm'd for the defensive These Pikes had Field pieces with them which fir'd as oft as they could as well as the Musqueteers this continued till the Pikemen came to push of Pike with the Enemy if both parties staid so long as seldom they did and then the Musqueteers were to do what they were order'd to do and the order did depend on emergencies and accidents which as they could not be then seen so no certain rules could be given for them In this order did I see all the Swedish Brigades drawn up for one year after the Kings death but after that time I saw it wear out when Defensive Arms first and then Pikes came Worn out to be neglected and by some vilipended For the March of a Regiment if it can all march in one breast it should The March of a Regiment do so but if not and if the ground permit it let the right hand of Musqueteers march in breast next it the Body of Pikes and after it the left wing of Musqueteers But if none of these can be then as many should march in one petty Division as the way can permit as suppose twelve eight or ten and so soon as you come to open ground you are to march presently in Squadrons or as they are now called Squads or in full Battel that is the Regiment all in one front for by that means your Soldiers are readiest to receive an Enemy they march in a more comely order and straggle far less than when they march few in breast and in a long row The Major appoints Captains Lieutenants and Ensigns to lead Divisions and Serjeants to attend the flanks every one according to their dignities but for my own part I never thought it convenient much less necessary that every small Division of a Regiment should have a Bringer up since he must be as some will have it a Commission'd Officer as well as the Leader of a Division should be For first consider that in a Regiment of one thousand strong there are an hundred sixty and six files and admit that the way will permit eight files to march in breast as that falls not always out by that account you shall have one and twenty Divisions consisting of eight Files apiece multiply twenty one by eight the Product is a hundred and Reasons why every petty Division cannot have a Bringer up sixty eight Files which consists of a thousand and eight men eight more than the number Reckon again how many Commission'd Officers you have in ten Companies besides the three Field-Officers you shall have but twenty nine now of these twenty one must be allow'd to lead the Divisions and by that account you have but nine Officers to bring up so you want thirteen Commission'd Officers for that imployment for Serjeants should neither be permitted to lead or bring up but in case of necessity their duty being to attend the flanks Besides all Commission'd Officers are not always present some frequently being either sick wounded or absent on furloff It will be enough therefore if all these petty Divisions be led by Commission'd Officers which yet cannot be unless you allow some Ensign-bearers to stay from their 〈…〉 ours and by this means you may spare six foot of ground between two Divisions for those who will allow Bringers up allow eighteen foot between two Divisions to wit six foot between the Reer of the first Division and him that brings it up secondly six foot between
of drilling I said that in exercising a Body of Horse whether one Troop or more some allow for order six foot some ten and for open order some allow twelve foot and some twenty others conclude six Distance foot between rank and rank and file and file sufficient but in marching there should be the length of a Horse between rank and rank but so much is not at all needful between files now it seems the Germans allow ten foot for the length of a Horse in marching and exercising as well as in their Castrametation for when Horse are orderly quarter'd in the field ten foot of ground are allowed for a Horse to stand on between his head and his tail But for all this I say six foot are not to be allowed in all motions of exercise as in Wheeling which is the poper motion of the Cavalry you cannot make it till your ranks and files be at close order and in this motion of Wheeling observe that the Wheeling to the left hand being the Bridle hand is more proper than Wheeling to the right Observe also that after your body hath Wheel'd you are to reduce them to their first order by making the ranks open which they must do by advancing and not by stepping back as the foot do The stronger the Troop be it should have the more Corporals who begin now to be qualified with the Title of Brigadeers for it seems not proportionable for a Troop of One Hundred and Twenty to have no more Corporals than a Troop of sixty or seventy yet for most part now all Troops have a like number of Officers and these are the Captain or Ritmaster The Lieutenant the Cornet the Quartermaster three Corporals or Brigadeers two Trumpeters some have three and some four a Saddler and a Smith and some allow a Chirurgion and a Clerk Many Troops have no allowance for the last four though all four Officers of a Troop are very necessary In some places if a Chirurgion be allowed for every Regiment it is thought very fair many Ritmasters entertain a Saddler and a Smith in their Troops allowing them the pay of Troopers and what benefit else they can make by their several Trades But if all who ride in the Troop be Gentlemen they will not permit these two Mechanicks to ride with them yet my opinion is since all who ride now in Troops are not Gentlemen they may without any disparagement suffer a Smith and a Saddler to ride in rank with them being they are profitable members of that little Commonwealth It is I think an oversight that a Clerk is not allow'd for every Company of Horse for a Quarter master hath enough to doth otherwise though he be not bound to officiate for the Clerk to receive the Pay of the Troop and give it out and keep the accounts of it unless you will say that the paying Money to a Troop falls out so seldom that the receiving it will be rather a divertisement than a trouble to the Quartermaster Having spoke to the Duties of a Captain Lieutenant and Ensign-bearer of a Foot Company I have nothing to add to the Duties of a Ritmaster Lieutenant and Cornet but between the Quartermasters of Foot and Horse there is this difference that the first hath no command but the second hath in Quarter-master of Horse other duties there is none But I shall tell the Quatermasters of Horse that they should have skill in Castrametation as much as the Foot Quartermasters have and rather more for the last look only to the regular quartering of Men in the Field the first to the quartering of both Men and Horses A Corporal Corporals of Brigadeers of Horse should have experience for he either assists the Lieutenant in placing and setting the Guards or he doth it himself without his Lieutenant he sets the Sentinels and sees them reliev'd and orders the Patrovils which are Rounds He is to ride in Rank and if the Troop march not in breast but in three several Squadrons then there is a Corporal on the right hand of every Squadron but in absence of higher Officers Corporals lead Divisions so do they those parties which they are to command if there be none to command above them When a Troop is divided into three Squadrons they have not their denominations from the Corporals or Brigadeers but the first is called the Captains Squadron the second the Lieutenants the third the Cornets and if there be a fourth it is called the Quartermasters When a Troop marcheth the March of a Troop Captain leads the first division the Cornet with his Standard the second the Quartermaster leads the third and the Lieutenant brings up yet some will have the eldest Corporal to lead the last division and the Quartermaster to bring up on the Lieutenants left hand for which I see very small reason or rather none at all Some French Troops and ours likewise have besides these Officers whom I have nam'd a Sub-Lieutenant or under Lieutenant who Sub-Lieutenant hath no command in the Lieutenants presence but in his absence he commands over the Cornet the French have likewise a Guidon to whom perhaps may Guidon answer he who in other places is appointed to carry the Standard either in the Cornets absence or when he pleaseth to appoint him to carry it As to the Officers of the Regiment-Staff of the Cavalry they are the same with those of the Foot and their Duties are the same But now methinks I hear a Trumpeter sound a Call Of Trumpets and of Trumpeters I have spoke in my Discourses of the Roman Art of War That which I have now to add is Trumpeters should be skilful to sound all the Trumpeters points of War and in the Fields they should seldom want their Trumpets about them for sudden Alarms And because they are frequently sent to an Enemy they ought to be both witty and discreet and must drink but little that so they may be rather apt to circumvent others than be circumvented they should be cunning and whereever they are sent they should be careful to observe warily the Works Guards and Sentinels of an Enemy and give an account of them at their return to him who sent them One Trumpeter should constantly lodge where the Standard quarters The German Trumpeters assume to themselves a great deal of liberty and have in a manner set up Pretended priviledges of the German Trumpeters a Republick of their own independent of that Discipline by which the Army of which they are members is governed They pretend to have their own Laws whereby they punish crimes very severely especially such faults that any of their number commits against the Articles of War of that Prince whom they serve and endeavour to vindicate themselves from any punishment inflicted by others than those of their own Common-wealth If any Trumpeter be abus'd or disgrac'd whether by his own Ritmaster or any other Officer
of 10000 men making square Battels and therefore their 10000 men were drawn up a 100 in rank and a 100 in file and a 100 times a 100 makes 10000. And so their Batallion was square of men and might have been also of ground if they allow'd no greater Intervals of ranks than of files which hardly they could do being they were all offensively arm'd with Pikes both long and strong But our Author saith that Cyrus was glad of this wishing Croesus's whole army had been marshal'd a thousand deep for then he had sooner destroy'd it as I have told you in the second Chapter of my Discourses of the Grecian Art of War Yet Xenophon tells us that these Aegyptians fought best of any of Croesus his army yea so long till they had fair quarter given them And withal he informs us that Cyrus his own army his Foot I suppose he means were marshal'd 24 deep and that was eight more than the depth of the Macedonian Phalanx CHAP. XVII Of the Modern way of Embatteling and Marshalling Armies AS all Armies are marshal'd according to the pleasure of those who command them so their pleasure often is and ever should be over ruled by the circumstances of time the posture of the enemy they have to do with the Weather the Sun the Wind and the ground on which they are to fight if the General find by his foreparties or Vancouriers that his enemy is before him drawn up in Battel ready to receive him he will do himself an injury to march forward for it is not to be fancied that his adversary will be so courteous as to permit him to marshal his army but will take his advantage and fall upon him before he can draw up his Van especially if his march have been thorough any close or strait Country and in such a condition as that a Generals A General should have a ready wit own ready wit and resolution must serve him for Counsellors for there will be no time given him to call a Council of War But we speak now of Embatteling Armies when Generals have half the choice of the ground The manner was in many places and still is in some to marshal Armies in three distinct Bodies one behind another the first was called the Vanguard the second the Battel the third the Reer-guard But several times every one Armies marshall'd in three distinct Bodies of those consisted of three Bodies likewise these were two wings of Horse and one Body of Foot and when they march'd these three great Bodies were called the Van Battel and Reer Their proper Title was to be called so when they marched for many times when they drew up in order of Battels it was in one Breast and then the Horse were divided in two wings and the Foot made the Battel This was done when the ground was very spacious and to prevent surrounding otherwise Armies seldom fight but in two Battels if not in three But as I said time ground the power of an enemy minister occasions to a Commander of an Army to alter the ordinary custom and frame a new method of his own to serve him for that opportunity I shall give you one instance and that of a mighty army marshal'd as few before it have been and I believe none since It was that which Charles the fifth and his Brother King Ferdinand had at Vienna when they lookt for Sultan Soliman the ground was very spacious and though their numbers were very great yet those of the Turk were How the mighty Army of the Emperour Charâ—es the Fifth was marshal'd at Vienna very much beyond them and they fear'd to be out-wing'd by his numerous Horse The order of their Battel was to be this if they had fought They had sixty thousand arm'd with Pikes Halberts Partisans and other long Staves these were divided in three great Batallions each of twenty thousand on the right hand stood one of them on the left hand the second and the third in the middle There were about six or seven thousand Harquebusiers on foot to attend each of these great Batallions of Pikes who were to have several little Intervals thorough which these Harquebusiers were to salley and fire incessantly before the grand Batallions till they should be necessitated to retire through these same Intervals to the Reer and then the Pikes were immediately to close and fill up those void places These three great Batallions separated one from another made two great Intervals in each of which stood fifteen thousand Horse Here then you see upon the matter one of the bravest Armies of Christians that ever was marshal'd in one front without reserve only some thousands of men were order'd to guard the Baggage and Munitions scarce read of before or since Here you see the Pikemen make the Wings whereas both before and since they made the Body Here you see the Firemen marshal'd behind and ordain'd to fally from their station and do their service in the Van and then to retire to their place according to the custom of the ancient Grâ—cian and Roman Velites and not marshal'd on the wings of the Pikes And here you see the Horse who before that time and since made the wings of an army make now the Body of it strongly flanked with Pikes this being the inversion of former Ordinances of War was then thought necessary to prevent the surrounding and the impetuosity of the Turks numerous Cavalry Armies for most part now are marshal'd in two distinct Bodies the Vanguard and the Arreer-guard which are commonly called Battel and Reserve But it is not only difficult but purely impossible for any the most experienced General to set down any one certain rule or order whereby he may constantly Battel and Reserve keep one manner of marshalling or one form of Battel as it is called forma aciei though he could be assur'd that his Regiments or Brigades of both Horse and Foot should constantly continue of one strength since the place situation Houses Villages Castles Hills Valleys rising heights hollow grounds Waters Woods Bushes Trees and Marshes do occasion such alterations as make the form or mould of an Army cast in one place change so much as you shall not know the face of it on another piece of ground perhaps not above one or two hours march from the former And in this as I said before the General is to act his part and take such advantages as he may and readily possess himself of such places which being in the enemies power might do him prejudice One of his great cares in Embatteling would be to secure both his Flanks of an Army to be well secur'd in â—attel flanks which are called the right and left hand of his Army with some River Brook Ditch Dike or Retrenchment if these cannot be so readily got then he may do it with the Waggons or Baggage of his Army for in time of-Battel it is almost impossible for a Batallion or
hinder either Prince or State to appoint the depth of their Batallions to be twelve ten eight or six deep as they think fit though by some of them the Bodies cannot be subdivided till they come to one File or one Rank for it was never seen nor do I fansie it can be imagin'd that ever such an emergency of War will fall out that can move a General unless he be to File his Army along a very narrow Bridge or a very narrow way to marshal all his Foot either in one Rank or one File So I conceive the first reason is no reason at all A second Reason is In time of Action an Enemy may charge the Second reason for 16 deep Rear to rencounter whom the Dimaritâ— or Middle-men are commanded with the Half-Files that follow them to face about but without countermarch and sustain the charge By the way observe that in such an occasion the Bringer up or Rear-man hath the command of the Half-File and consequently of the Dimarite or Middle-man himself to whom Aelian gave it before But to the reason it self I give two answers First a Reserve which Aelians Phalange admits not would prevent that danger Secondly I say if they were but twelve in File nay but ten in File they might withstand Answered the charge of an Enemy in both Van and Rear as well as being sixteen deep which I make appear out of Aelian himself thus The Grecian Pikes were all eighteen Foot long except the Macedonians which were twenty one We shall speak of the longest Next Aelian allows one foot and a half of distance between Ranks when they fought which distance he or his Interpreter calls Constipatio Thirdly the same Author allows three foot of the Pikes length for his hands who presents it These grounds being laid which are the Authors own I say that only four Ranks of the Grecian Pikes and five of the Macedonian could do an Enemy any hurt and but hardly so either because between five Ranks there are four distances and for those you are to allow six foot at Aelians account of closest distance next you are by his rule likewise to allow fifteen foot of the Pikes of the fifth Rank to be abated from their length which fifteen being added to six make one and twenty for three foot of the Pikes length of the first Rank being allowed for their hands who hold them you must of necessity grant the like proportion for the rest And so the Macedonian Sarissa did not much advance its point from the fifth Rank beyond the first Rank and therefore the rest behind these five Ranks seem useless But an Enemy attacks the Rear to oppose whom let five Ranks face about and present for if five be sufficient to resist the shock in the Van certainly five may do the same in the Rear And if you will consider it well you will think the points of the Pikes of five Ranks sufficient to give or receive a charge if all the Files be â—err'd together as the Grecians were and as all should be that no interval be given an Enemy to enter between them If then ten Ranks were enough to resist an Enemy in Front and Rear I presume the other six might have been dispos'd of two ways first they might have been bestow'd on the Front and so have extended it to a far greater length which would have brought more hands to fight and not only sav'd the Phalange from being out-wing'd but have put it in a capacity to out-wing the Enemy Secondly these six Ranks might very advantagiously have compos'd a Body apart in the Rear and that should have been a Reserve and then no danger of an Enemy to have troubled the Battel behind But I am afraid you may think I am making up a Grecian Militia of my own unknown to the famous Warriours of that renowned Nation I shall tell you truly and ingenuously my quarrel is only with Aelian because he hath not told us so much as he knew and so much as he was oblig'd to tell us which in this particular is that I am now to tell you and it consists in two things one that Phalanges were not always sixteen deep and secondly that they wanted not always Reserves To prove both be pleased to take the following Instances At Deâ—â—s when the Athenians fought with the Thebans and other Boeotians the Phalanges were all of them eight dâ—â—p and all Phalanges eight deep of them had Reserves At Leuctra Epaminondas his Foot Batallions were all marshall'd in eight Ranks At Siracusa when the Athenian General Niciaâ— was to fight he plac'd his Auxiliaries in the two Wings his Athenians he divided into two great Bodies the half whereof he marshall'd in the Battel between the two Wings the other half he plac'd behind at a distance with And had Reserves command to succour either the Wings or the Battel as they saw them or any of them stand in need of their help and this was a perfect Reserve And observe that his Wings Battel and Reserve were all marshall'd eight deep Take Thucydides a noble Historian and a good Captain for my Author But you will say these were not Macedonian Phalanges true but they were Grecian ones though and the Commanders of them without all peradventure did well enough foresee in what danger their Phalanges of eight deep might be by a sudden charge of an Enemy in the Rear which no question they would have oppos'd by making the last four Ranks face about if their Reserves serv'd not their turn neither could the fourth Rank extend its Pikes being three foot shorter than the Macedonian ones much beyond the first Rank But to take the Objection more fully let us come nearer and view the Great Alexanders Army at Arbela and we shall see he was not at all limited by Aelians rules of a Macedonian Phalange though by it they say he conquer'd the Persian Monarchy Sir Walter Raleigh saith right that in this place Alexander drew up his Forces so that they fac'd to Van Rear and both Flanks but this is not to be understood so that he made his heavy armed Phalange front four several ways for then it should have been immovable and only apt to resist but not to advance which had been both against the intentions of that brave Prince and his actions of that day for he charg'd the Persian Batallions both with his Horse and Foot But the meaning must be that he order'd some Horse and Foot at a distance from his main Battel to face to the Rear for preventing any misfortune there and the like he did on both his Flanks but all these when his main Battel mov'd fac'd to the Van and advanced with it and when it stood they took up their former distances and fac'd as they were appointed And all this was done lest his Army small in comparison of that with Darius should be surrounded If the Army he was afraid to
and thirteen Riders as thus First one behind him three behind them five behind them seven then nine then eleven then thirteen and in the eighth Rank place fifteen from that Rank your number decreaseth for next to fifteen you are to place thirteen behind them eleven then nine then seven then five then three and lastly one This is also a Thessalian Rhombus of Horse a Figure whereof Aelian bestows upon us This Troop I conceive being at open order for it was very requisite it should be so could upon an occasion front any way without wheeling to the Right or Left hand by a half turn of their Horses and to the Rear by two half turns and immediately thereafter serr together either to give or receive the charge This Figure of the Rhombus is call'd by some the Diamond but if so the Diamond which it resembles must be a four-corner'd one Observe here that Aelians number of Horse represented in his Figure of the Simple Rhombus amounts but to forty nine and this I attribute to his neglect for he told us it should consist of sixty four The Wedge Battel which the Latines called Cuneus or Rostrum was a Body The second is the Wedge of men either on Foot or Horse-back drawn up with a sharp point and encreasing in its bigness till it came to that greatness which the maker of it design'd for it and so represented a Wedge from which it hath its denomination or it is like a Dagger sharp at the point growing broader till it come to the haft I told you that Philip of Macedon invented it choosing a Wedge to be the fittest pattern whereby to model his Macedonian Troops by placing his choicest Men and Horses both for strength of body and courage of mind in the formost Ranks the rest behind them serving to bear them forcibly forward Take the description of it thus First one then three then five then seven then nine then eleven then thirteen and lastly fifteen These added together make up Aelian's Macedonian Troop of sixty four Horse-men But in his description of it he oversees himself twice first in A twofold mistake his words for he saith the Wedge is just the half of the number of the great Rhombus but that consists as I just now told you of one hundred and thirteen and the Wedge is of sixty four much more than the half of one hundred and thirteen Next in his Figure which presents us only with thirty six Horse-men twenty eight fewer than King Philips Troop But if you would take a Wedge out of the Rhombus you may do it easily by causing that Rank wherein are fifteen Horse-men with all the Ranks that are before it to stand and all that are behind it to remove and then you have a perfect Macedonian Wedge Troop consisting of sixty four Riders But the manner of embatteling in form of a Wedge was not appropriated Wedge Battels of Foot only to the Cavalry The Infantry both of Grecians and Romans and several other Nations used it in many occasions Epaminondas that famous Theban at the Battel of Mantinea seeing the Lacedaemonians stand stoutly to it after he had routed their Confederates the Athenians chose out a parcel of his gallantest Foot cast them in a Wedge and broke so forcibly in upon their Batallion that he pierc'd it and after brave resistance forc'd them to quit the Field but this prov'd his last action for in it he receiv'd so many mortal wounds that he dyed of them before the next day I shall speak more of this Wedge Battel in my discourses of the Roman Militia Neither it nor the Rhombus have been heard of in the World in many ages since those antient times It is probable the Great Alexander permitted his Thessalians to make use of the Rhombus at Arbela because almost half of their Great Rhombus might face to the Rear and so prevent surrounding by Darius his numerous forces It is also like that his Macedonian Horse might have kept the form of a Wedge both at Issus and Arbela And I find that his great Captains who after his death shar'd his vast Conquests among themselves used it frequently But I believe likewise that both he and they and other Grecians and Asians too made use of the Square Battel The Square form of embattelling was most commonly used by the Grecians The third is the Square in marshalling their Infantry and most of them us'd it in ordering their Cavalry I speak not of an equilateral Square but an oblong one such as we use in our modern Wars Yet I do not deny but the Antients several times used equilateral Square forms of their Batallions as when they made their Ranks and Files consist of equal numbers of men and this we call a Battel Square of men or sometimes Square of ground when the Front was of no greater extent of ground than the Flank but of these I shall speak hereafter when I come to discourse of the Square Root Not only many of the Grecians but the Persians and Sicilians used the Square Horse Battel and many great Preferr'd to the other two Captains preferr'd it to both the Rhombus and the Wedge first because by it the Troops could march with more celerity and convenience and next they could bring more hands to fight at one time As for Example in a Wedge Troop of sixty four the first Rank consists but of one the second of three the third of five and the fourth of seven In these four Ranks there are but sixteen Riders Oppose a Square Battell'd Troop of sixty and marshal it in an oblong fifteen in Rank and four in File you may see that the sixteen Riders in the four first Ranks of the Wedge must fight with all the sixty of the Square Troop this is a very great odds and as much may be said of the Rhombus But Aelian doth not at all tell us how deep the Grecian Square Battels of Horse were This was a great neglect for thereby we might have known how many of Aelian speakâ— nothing of the deepness of Horse Files the Ranks could have reach'd an Enemy with their Lances and whether the rest behind serv'd only to bear forward those before as the ten last Ranks of Pikes did to the six formost Yet as far as I can conjecture by some of his Figures he seems to insinuate that his Countrey-men order'd their Horse to be half as many in File as they were in Rank His Figure of that Phalanx which he calls Quadrata of fifty Horse hath ten in Rank and five in File This manner of Battel whether it be of Horse or Foot is called by the Square Root men a Doubled Batallion of the fashion of which and how it is done I shall shew you in its proper place But I dare not believe that all Grecian Troops were marshall'd so neither indeed doth Aelian aver it I know not then why I may not imagine
a Grecian Troop of Horse consisting of sixty four to be marshall'd three deep as most of our Modern Troops now are and so there should have been in it twenty one Files for 21 multiplied by three produceth sixty three and he who shall make the sixty fourth shall be the Trumpeter with whom we could not meet before in Aelian's enumeration of the Officers of a Troop What distances were kept between Ranks or Files between several Troops or yet between greater Bodies of the Horse Aelian tells us not Yet writing of the right ordering of Batallions I think he was obliged to speak of Distances for who can marshal an Army unless those be condescended Nor of Distances on I conceive that assuredly the Rhombus was oblig'd to keep a great Distance both between its Ranks and its Files otherwise it could not turn to either Right or Left hand or to the Rear without Wheeling and this if I mistake not was one of the advantages the Thessalians proposed to themselves by that form of Horse Battel But when either it or the Wedge was to charge they were oblig'd to serr together as close as they could otherwise they could not pierce so home as was expected by those who cast them in those moulds It is probable that the Square Bodies of the Grecian Horse were exercis'd did march and fight at those distances used now in our Modern Militia Our Author makes the number of the Cavalry in a Macedonian Army to be half the number of their Velites or light armed Foot I told you those were eight thousand one hundred ninety two therefore the Horse must be four thousand ninety six The smaller Bodies of which he composeth this Cavalry are shortly these Sixty four Horse-men made a Denominations of the several Bodies of the Horâ—e Troop and were called an Elarchy its Commander Elarchas our Ritmaster Two Troops made an Epilarchy of one hundred twenty eight Horse-men its Commander Epilarchas for whom we have no Officer unless a Major and I find no such man among the Macedonians Four Troops made a Talentinarchy of two hundred fifty six Horse its Commander Talentinarchâ— is represented by our Lieutenant Colonel Two Talentinarchies made one Hipparchy of five hundred and twelve Horse he was called Hipparcha our Colonel Two Hipparchies made an Ephipparchy its Commander Ephipparchâ— had under him one thousand twenty four Riders our Brigadieer may resemble him Two Ephipparchies made a Telos which consisted of two thousand forty eight Horse its Commander was called Telarcha whom if you please our Major General of Horse shall represent Two Telarchies made up an Epitagma and this consisted of four thousand one hundred ninety six Horse-men which compos'd the whole Phalange of the Macedonian Cavalry its Commander was called Epitagmarcha for him our Modern Militia furnisheth us with a Lieutenant General or if you will a General of the Horse Now though our Author hath given us the exact number of both the smaller and greater Bodies of the Macedonian Cavalry Inexcusable omission yet he hath not at all told us how many of them were heavy armed and how many light armed for which he is inexcusably to blame CHAP. VIII Of the Great Macedonian Phalanx of its number and how marshall'd with some Observations on both APhalanx signifieth a number of men great or small Train'd and Instructed The signification of Phalanx in Military Duties and order'd in Ranks and Files By this Definition any Foot Company or Horse Troop is a Phalanx as well as an Army and a whole Army is a Phalanx as well as a particular Company or Troop It is true in Authors the word Phalanx is ordinarily taken for the great Body of sixteen thousand three hundred eighty four heavy armed Foot which formerly I have out of Aelian described to you of which I shall tell you thus much more that he saith it had two Horns for so the Translator renders the word Kâ—ras and those were the Right and Left hand Horn which we either simply call the Right or Left hand or the Right and Left Wing But indeed I wonder why Aelian divides the whole Phalange of Foot into two Horns Right and Left and why so many of our Commanders in the Modern Wars imitate him in dividing a whole Body into the Right or Left Wing never considering that naturally and really there is a Body between two Wings and the same error is committed in dividing a whole Batallion of armed men into two Flanks very ordinarily done by some Drill-masters And here no doubt Aelian forgot himself for the Phalange of the heavy armed Foot was divided as I â—old you before into four lesser Phalanges or Phalangarchies two whereof made the two Wings which he calls Horns and the other two compos'd the Body These four Phalangarchies made three Intervals how great we know not out of Phalangarchies which before the fight issued the light armed and if they prevail'd they pursued their Victory being followed by the Phalange but if they were beaten as for most part they were they retired to the Rear the same way they came and then the four Phalangarchies closed together to give or receive the charge according as they were ordered by their Superiours But now I am to speak of the whole Macedonian Army which was called The great Macedonian Phalanx of both Horse and Foot the Great Phalanx consisting of heavy and light armed Foot and Horse not reckoning their Chariots and Elephants Their heavy armed Foot were sixteen thousand three hundred eighty four the Velites were eight thousand one hundred ninety two the Horse four thousand ninety six Add all these together you will find the Macedonian great Phalanx to consist of twenty eight thousand six hundred seventy two Combatants A Story goes that either the Great Alexander or Julius Câ—sar or both should have said That they desired no more than thirty thousand men to conquer the whole World Certainly if either of them or both said so they meant that that number should still be kept compleat and full for though they should have been constantly Victorious and never have lost one man in Battel or Skirmish yet sickness and toyl would have made all that number to have moulder'd away before they could have march'd over the tenth part of the then habitable World But I do not at all believe that either of them said so for true Histories if there be any truth in Histories assure us that both of them had Armies which far exceeded that number At Arbelâ— Alexander had more than double the number of a Macedonian Army and yet Aelians numbers did noâ— always hold at that same time when he fear'd to be surrounded I suppose he wish'd his forces to be more numerous than they were Neither do I believe that his Father Philip who was the framer of the Phalanx did keep himself precisely within that number for at Cherâ—nea where he routed the Confederated Greeks he exceeded
it far His Son Alexander when he cross'd the Hellespont to invade the Persian Monarchy had thirty two thousand Foot and five In the Macedonian Armies thousand Horse above eight thousand more men than in Aelian's Macedonian Phalange At Issus he was stronger and at Arbela he had forty thousand Foot and seven thousand Horse all Grecians besides very many Asians whom he had subdued So we see that Aelians numbers of Horse or Foot did not hold even in the Macedonian Armies Much less will his rule hold in other Grecian Phalanges who drew up their heavy armed Foot but eight deep and so by our Authors method their light armed but four deep for if you allow their heavy armed Phalange to be one thousand twenty four Files these multiplied by eight which is the number of the File that Batallion consisted of eight thousand one hundred ninety two men Their Velites being half of that number they were four thousand ninety six Give the half of that number to their Cavalry they must have been two thousand forty eight And thus by Aelians rule their whole Phalange Nor in the other Grecian Phalanges of both heavy and light armed Foot and Horse should have amounted to neither more nor less than fourteen thousand three hundred thirty six Combatants But they neither observ'd that number nor his rule in the division of that number At Delos the Thebans and Boeotians had an Army consisting of seven thousand heavy armed Foot ten thousand light armed and one thousand Horse If they had been rul'd by Aelian they should have had more than ten thousand heavy armed five thousand and odd Velites and all the rest should have been Horse in this Pâ—â—lange of theirs When the Athenians sent Alcibiades and Nicias to Sicily they did not dream of any such exact numbers At Mantinea Epaminâ—â—das his Army consisted of thirty thousand Foot and three thousand Horse a number exceeding the great Macedonian Phalange by four thousand three hundred twenty eight men The Armies of the Lacedâ—monians and Athenians that fought against him in that last Battel of his were twenty two thousand Foot and Horse and these were more by seven thousand six hundred sixty four than a Grecian Phalange should have been by Aelians method at four deep the light and eight deep the heavy armed and yet came short six thousand six hundred seventy two of the number of the great Macedonian Phalange By this we see our Authors numbers of Phalanges did not always hold and it is a very great question to me if ever they did exactly hold at all I have already told you how he marshals his Phalange of heavy armed Foot without Reserve I have shown you that was not always done and I have demonstrated and instanc'd the inconveniencies of it when it was done Let us now see where he placeth his Cavalry in time of action To this he saith it was marshall'd according to the Generals pleasure sometimes on the Flanks of the heavy armed Foot sometimes before them and sometimes behind them That they were drawn up according to the Generals pleasure he needed not tell us that was not the question but it was where the Generals pleasure was to place them For marshalling the Horse on the Flanks of the Foot there is reason enough for it it was and still is a common practice To marshal them when they are to fight before the Foot is not in Where Aelian marshall'd the Cavalry my opinion advisedly done some to skirmish doth well but if all the Horse fight in the Van of the Foot and be beaten they may readily rout their own Infantry without the Enemies help for something like that I have seen practis'd And though the Macedonian Foot Phalange had as I said before three Intervals through which the Horse might perhaps if worsted have retir'd in good order and drawn up in the Rear of the Foot yet their Flight or Retreat would have infinitely discourag'd the Infantry which was presently to enter into action nor do I think such a manner of fight hath been oft practis'd To draw up the Horse behind the Foot would be in my judgement yet of less use but Aelian in his Figure of the whole Phalanx marshals the heavy armed Foot formost next them the Velites and the Cavalry behind both If he did not intend the Horse should fight in that place why did he marshal them there and if he conceiv'd they might fight there why did he not tell us how they could do it It is true it may be imagin'd the Velites might bestow their Arrows and Stones cast out of Slings upon an Enemy over the heads of the heavy arm'd Phalange but what hurt Horsemen heavily armed could do an Enemy over the heads of both heavy and light arm'd Foot drawn up in two distinct Bodies one behind the other is not so easie to fansie And with permission of Aelian I doubt it can hardly be made appear that any General before his time whether Macedonian Grecian or Barbarian ever drew up an Army in that fashion if they had ground to do it otherwise Cyrus plac'd his Foot in the Battel and his Horse in the Ordinarily Horse fought in the Wings Wings when he fought with the Assyrians saith Xenophon The Grecians at Delos Leuctra and Syracusa put their Horse in the Wings mixed with light armed Foot their heavy armed Phalange in the middle and some of their Velites skirmishing before it with Reserves behind Alexander used that same custome in all his Battels though at Issus the Streights of the Mountains would not suffer him to put his Army in that order he had design'd till he acquir'd a more spatious ground At Arbela where he totally overthrew Darius he marshall'd his Army nothing after Aelians pattern but so that you may almost say that our Modern Generals draw up their Armies now in imitation of him and according to the Copy he cast them there For his Right Wing consisted of Horse mix'd with light armed Foot the Right hand whereof was commanded by Clitus and the Left by Philotas His Left Wing was likewise Horse mix'd with Velites on the Right hand whereof stood Meleager and on the Left Philip with his Thessalian Cavalry Between these two Wings was ranged his Phalange of heavy arm'd Foot some Velites skirmishing before it and behind all these both Phalanae and Wings were those Reserves under Horestes Lincerta Polycarpon and Philagus whereof I formerly told you The altering a Phalange from one form posture or site to another gave Several forms of a Phalange gave it several denominations occasion to the Grecians to give it some new denomination though it was still that same Phalange it was before the motion or evolution made the alteration which perhaps hath given a rice to Aelian to present us with so many several Figures in his Treatise nor would they be hard to be understood if they were illustrated by either smaller or greater
Bodies in the Field as they are by him in Paper When the Phalanx presented their Pikes by half Files to Front and Rear the Greeks called it in that posture Amphistomus When the General commanded the Wings of the Phalange to advance and the Body to make a Bow or Crescent and in that posture to receive the charge of a Wedge Battel then it was called Antistomus And when by facing either by the Right or Left hand about the Rear was made the Front then the Phalange was called Peristomus And so of others needless to rehearse It may be I mistake in the Greek names as having indeed but very little knowledge in that Language CHAP. IX Of the Grecian March Baggage Encamping Guards and of their Paean ALL these belong to the Art of War of any Nation and none will doubt but the Grecians had set rules and orders for them all and every one of them which they did not alter but according to the circumstances of things and emergency of affairs on which depend most of Military actions Aelian gives us little light or indeed none at all in any of these particulars Most of them forgot by Aelian but leaves us to glean what we can out of History and thereon to build our own conjectures It had been convenient for us to have known the manner of their marching where or how the Horse the heavy and light armed and how far every day all of them were obliged to march as also whether the Chiliarchies which were Regiments of Foot and the Hipparchies which were Regiments of March Horse changed day about or if they march'd constantly in one place according to their Antiquity or Precedency For there is no doubt but their Ephipparchies which were Brigades of Horse and their Myriarchies which were Brigades of Foot might have chang'd Van and Rear every day by turns as easily as our Brigades do But since we are left by our leader Aelian in the dark I shall be of the opinion that being there were by Aelians account four Ephipparchies in the Cavalry and four Phalangarchies in the Phalange of the heavy armed Foot they chang'd day about and each of them had the Van every fourth day as also I think it was most consentaneous to Reason that there being four Chiliarchies in every Phalangarchy and four Talentinarchies in every Ephipparchy they likewise daily changed so that every Talentinarchy had the Van in the Ephipparchy every fourth day as every Chiliarchy had in the Phalangarchy I shall likewise believe that the Cavalry march'd either before behind or on the Flanks of the Foot Phalange according to the Enemies motions and so did the light armed Foot By these conjectures I do not offer to impose on any mans belief but leave him that liberty that I have taken to guess as probably as he can How far the heavy armed Phalange was bound to march in one day as I can assert nothing so I may only guess that they could be bound to march but twenty or five and twenty miles as the Roman Legionaries were and therefore I can hardly believe Polianus who saith Philip made his Phalange march in one day three hundred Stadia or Furlongs which make thirty seven Italian miles and a half you will think this the more incredible when you hear immediately what Baggage they carried Concerning the Baggage of a Grecian Army our Author gives us this account first that it was necessary to appoint a judicious and active person to have the conduct of it he saith well Next he tells us that sometimes the Baggage march'd in the Van of the Army and so I think it should if the Baggage Enemy were in the Rear Sometimes saith he it march'd in the Rear when the Army advanc'd towards an Enemy and good reason it should be so Sometimes saith he it march'd in the middle of the Army and there may be strong enough Reasons for that too But sometimes he saith it was order'd to march in the Flanks of the Army and so it might provided it had good Guards on the Flanks of it And lastly he avers the Grecians sent their Baggage sometimes before their Army when they were to enter iuto a declared Enemies Countrey And here I profess I do not at all understand the mystery of this Stratagem of War But I wish Aelian had clear'd us in this whether the Souldiers or Companies of Horse or Foot had Waggons Carts Beasts of Carriage Drudges and Slaves allow'd them to carry their Meat and Drink and Fardles or if they were obliged to carry all themselves for in my next Essay of the Roman Militia I shall let you see a Legionary carry three Magazines on his Head Back and Shoulders the first of Arms Stakes or Pallisadoes the second of Meat and Clothes and the third of Utensils for a Kitchin If of all these three the Greek was only obliged to carry his Arms he had a great advantage of the Roman in all marches and expeditions Yet I suppose my Reader may hazard with me to believe that before Philip of Macedons time the Grecian Souldiers carried no other burthens than their Arms but had The Grecian Souldiers carry'd no Baggage either Carriage-Beasts or Drudges allow'd them for carrying their Victuals and other necessaries and this conjecture I ground upon what I have read in Thucydides who tells us that at Syracusa after the unfortunate Athenians had lost their Navy in which were all or most of their provisions and that they were to march away by Land from the Siege of that potent City to seek new fortunes their Souldiers were necessitated to carry their meat themselves because saith the Historian they had mostly lost their Slaves and Drudges who were accustom'd to carry it and some few whose Slaves had stay'd still with them durst not trust them with so precious a thing as meat then was lest in that sad disaster they should run away with it and so starve them If then their Slaves ran away from Till Philip of Macedons time them then Slaves were allow'd them And it seems King Philip abrogated this custome for he caus'd all his Foot Souldiers to carry their Meat and Baggage themselves allowing only one Soujat to carry a Hand-mill for the use of ten Souldiers and a Drudge to every Horse-man this caus'd the other Grecians to call the Philippians Jumenta Philippi Philips Beasts of Carriage But for all that I have not Faith enough to believe Frontinus who saith that the same Philip caus'd his Foot to carry at one time Triginta dierum farinam meal for thirty days And if his Son Alexander kept up that custome as it is like he did then his Phalangites needed not to have yielded to the Roman Legionaries for heavy burthens in both long and wearisome marches which you will easily grant to be true if you will consider the indefatigable expeditions of that magnanimous King through Persia and India It seems Aelian hath not
certainly the Romans had their Military Exercises the whole time of the Reigns of their seven Kings Secondly I say as Swimming is fit to be learned by all young men especially Souldiers so I think an Army is in a desperate condition when the men who compose it are put to swim for their safety from a pursuing Enemy for by that shift hardly will the tenth man escape nor needs a retiring Army fear much hurt from an Enemy who cannot overtake it but by Swimming over Lakes and Rivers But our Author proceeds and tells us that an Army must be taught to march in Rank and File that an Enemy may take no advantage by finding it in disorder The Romans had two kinds of a March the Ambulatory Two kinds of March and the Cursory By the first they were if so required to march twenty Italian miles in five hours and by the second twenty five in four hours with their full Arms Baggage and Burthens Thirdly He informs us that the Foot Souldier was Train'd at a Stake or Pallisado of Wood six foot long Exercises of the Foot fixed fast in the ground he had a Target of Oâ—â—ers and a Club or Battoon of Wood both of them double the weight of the Shield and Sword he was to make use of in earnest With these he was taught to strike aâ— the Pale or Stake as if it had been an Enemy to make sents and foynâ— at several parts of it as if it had had Head Body Legs and Arms but more especially the Roman Souldier was taught to thrust and stab with hiâ— Sword for they found that by that manner of fence they had the advantage of those Enemies who used â—lashing and cutting Swords And at the same stake they were to cast their Pilâ— or Javelines But at other marks namely Sheaves of Corn or Grass the Velites were taught to shoot and cast their missile Weapons whether these were Stones or Lead out of Slings and Baâ—â—oon-Slings Arrows out of Bows or Darts out of their Hands Fourthly The Foot were taught at these Exercises to carry burthens of sixty pound that being habituated they might thereafter more easily carry their own Arms Provisions Baggage or what else they were commanded to bear Fifthly The Horse men were taught to mount Wooden Horses in the Fields if it Of the Horse was Summer but in Winter in Houses made purposely for that use and thereafter to mount living Horses at first without Arms but after they were expert they were to get on Horse back with full Arms either at the Right or Left side of the Horse and as you will find hereafter without Stirrups and with drawn Swords or Maces in their hands Thrice a month saith Vegetius by the constitutions of Augustus and Adrian the Veteran Armies were to be Exercised and to march ten miles out of their Camp and back again that day And he saith that Souldiers were taught to run leap Ditches and to make Ditches and Ramparts This is the substance of all that Vegâ—tius delivers to us in those mention'd eleven Chapters of his First Book Now in the twenty third Chapter of his Second Book he troubles himself and his Reader with the repetition of most of this only he adds that the young Souldiers or Tyrones were Exercised twice a day morning and evening the Veterans once a day and this was done without intermission So it seems what he speaks here is meant of Training particular Souldiers or Companies once or twice a day and what he said before was of Exercising the whole Army once a month Thus far and no further we have the help of Vegetius in the matter of Training drilling or Exercising Before I inform you further of the several kinds of the Roman Exercises I Burthens must see what Burthens the Roman Souldiers were obliged to carry in their Marches whether those were Ambulatory or Cursory And first I believe that the weight of sixty pound which Vegetius saith they were bound to carry was meant only of their Arms Defensive and Offensive And I suppose you may be of my opinion if you consider their heavy Head Back and Breast-pieces their Greeves Taslets Target and an Iron Boot a Javeline or two and a Sword and it may be a Dagger too And if these weighed sixty pound what shall we say of their Fardles their Provisions the Stakes and Pallisadoes they were bound to carry and of some utensils to make ready their meat and these perhaps were carried alternatively by those that belong'd to one Contubernium for if I conjecture right Beasts of Carriage were only allowed for carrying their Tents and Hand-mills Quintiâ—â— Cincinnatus being chosen Dictator to lead an Army against the Aequiaâ—s caus'd every Legionary of his Army besides his Arms and Baggage to carry five Exceedingly heavy days meat and twelve Pallisadoes It is true his march was but short the Territory of Rome being then of no great extent And yet you will think the Romans have been but at that time raw Boys if you observe what follows Scipio Africanus the Younger who destroy'd Carthage caus'd every one of his Foot Souldiers to carry provisions for thirty days and seven Stakes wherewith to Pallisado his Camp Câ—sar saith that Afranius Poâ—pâ—ys Legat in Spain caus'd his Souldiers to carry meat for twenty five days besides Stakes The Famous Consul Marius intending a Reformation of the Roman Discipline in his time corrupted thereby to make himself more able to overcome the Cimbrians and Teutones who had invaded the Roman Empire with a Deluge of men made his Souldiers march with such excessive Burthens as if they had been Asses and thereby got them the name of Marius his Mules Muli Mâ—riâ—nâ— To march at a running pace or trot twenty five miles in four hours so heavily loaded is truly admirable and if you will consider what I have said in the Ninth Chapter of the Grecian Militia what Burthens Philip's Macedonians carried and how far they marched and observe what I say here of the Romans you cannot but be ready to suspend your belief And such marches under such heavy burthens not being now practis'd I shall not blame you to think them well near incredible as Louis dâ— Montgomery seem'd to do when Louis de Montgomery he saith in his French Militia that such Souldiers not being now to be found any where he thinks according to Pythagoras his Transmigration they were converted into the Mules and Asses of Aâ—vâ—rgne And indeed our Modern Armies whose heavy arm'd are scarce so well arm'd for Defence as the Roman Velites were do not march twenty Italian miles in one day but with a very great loss in the Rear whereas the Romans march'd further in five hours Marches almost incredible which was practis'd by Câ—sar when he march'd after and overtook the Eduans who had deserted them He march'd with all his Cavalry and four Legions of his Foot It is true his Souldiers carried no Baggage with them
Principes came back to their assistance but by this argument they needed not have been so many as six hundred because both the Hastati and Principes came back to their assistance and by this Reason the Principes should have been but six hundred because the Hastati came back to their help before they were obliged to fight But his second Reason speaks And why better sense which is That the Consul who ordinarily stood near the Triarii came with the Evocati of the Romans and the Extraordinarii of the Socii or Allies and joyn'd with the Triarii What these Extraordinarii were shall be told you in my Discourse of the Allies and what the Evocati were I shall tell you just now If you will believe Lipsius the Evocati were only of the Roman Nation but Evocati what I think I am obliged rather to believe Caesar who saith he had his Evocatâ— out of Gaule and at that time of his Civil War the Gauls were either Enemies or Auxiliaries at best Those of the Evocatâ— who were Romans were such as had serv'd out their time and by the Laws of their Militia were not bound to follow the War yet upon the Intreaty or Letters of the Consul Pro-Consul or General came without constraint to wait upon him or them in that expedition Some of them sery'd on Horse some on Foot and were put in Troops and Companies and had their Officers and Pay but were exempted from all manner of Military duties except fighting and attending on him who commanded in chief A great many of them went with Scipio to Africk three thousand of them went to Macedon with Titus Flaminius two thousand went with Pompey against Caesar And Augustus in one expedition had ten thousand of them Besides these Evocati there were Volunteers Roman Volunteers who having serv'd out their time were not ordinary Souldiers and not being call'd out by the Consul were not properly Evocati neither had they any pay but went to the War meerly of their own motion and free-will either to do their Countrey service or to acquire Riches or Honour to themselves and families or for all these three respects together Now there were besides all these Foot which I have mention'd some of Proletarâ—i what the poorer sort called Proletarii and Capite censi that were not admitted by Servius Tullius King of Rome to be enrolled for the War but were left to serve at Sea which at that time was esteem'd dishonourable in comparison of the Land service Yet in time of danger they were bound to take Arms which were given them out of the publick Magazines for the defence of the Walls of the City But in process of time they came to be enrolled in Legions particularly with Marius against the Tâ—utâ—nâ—s and the Cimbrians Livius in his eighth Book writing of that War which the Romans had with Rorarii and Accensi the Latines mentions Rorarii and Accensi in two several Bodies and he places them behind the Triarii they were call'd from the Rear according as the Consul or General had use for them They were the light armed Foot and had those names till the Romans besieged Capua in Hannibal's time then and there it seems they got the name of Velites and that they kept They were called Accensi because they were the meanest in the Cense and Rorarii à rore from Dew because in skirmishing they scatter'd themselves as Dew doth on Grass I shall tell you more of them in my Discourses of a Roman Legion Each of these three Classes of the heavy armed Foot was divided into Centuries Two Centuries made a Maniple three Maniples made a Cohort and ten Cohorts made up a Legion A Roman Legion was of greater or lesser Legion number according to the pleasure of the King Senate People or Emperour who was invested with the Soveraignty or as the exigency of the present condition of affairs seem'd to require Romulus ordain'd it to consist of three thousand men one thousand of each Tribe whereof there were but three in his time though afterward they came to be thirty five Whether the Kings who succeeded Romulus kept the Legion at three thousand Foot I know not but after Monarchy was banish'd the City Legions came to be four thousand strong sometimes five thousand and twice if I mistake not six thousand and two hundred Let us now speak of the several Bodies of a Legion and first of a Century A Centuriate and Centurion At the first constitution I doubt not but a Centuriate consisted of one hundred men and its Commander was called Centurion both the words being deriv'd from Centum a hundred But thereafter that band of men called a Centuriate in Legions of four thousand or four thousand two hundred which was most ordinary came to consist but of sixty men in the two Classes of the Hastati and Principes and but of thirty in the third Class of the Triarii In the Class of the Hastati there were twenty Centuriates at sixty men each of them and those were twelve hundred Just as many Centuriates and of that same number for the Principes made twelve hundred more In the Class of the Triarii there were likewise twenty Centuriates but each of these consisted but of thirty men which made six hundred in all three thousand heavy armed The other thousand or twelve hundred were Velites But though each of those Bands were but sixty or thirty strong yet they and their principal Commander kept their ancient denomâ—nations of Centuriate and Centurion There were sixty Centuriates in a Legion though Vegetius speaks of but fifty five which shall hereafter be examin'd The Centurion was chosen by the Tribune as I formerly told you and he had liberty to chuse his own Sub-Centurion A Sub-Centurion whose station was in the Rear and was indeed nothing but ouâ— Bringer up Polybius his Interpreter calls the Centurions Ordinum Dâ—ctores Leaders of Files or of Centuriates if Ordo be taken for a Centuriate as perhaps it was the Sub-Centurion he calls Agminis Coactorem and that is directly our Rear-man This will not make a Centurion and Sub-Centurion to be our Captain and Lieutenant as some would have them to be and if you will be pleas'd to consider that a Roman Centurion commanded but sixty some of them but thirty men and was himself no otherwise arm'd than the rest of the Centuriate only distinguished by his Crest and that he stood in Rank and File with the rest either on the Right or Left hand of the Front of the Maniple I suppose you will think with me that the Roman Centurions for the matter of either Power or Honour were no other than our Corporals Centurions our Corporals and their Sub-Centurions such as Lancespesats especially where Foot Companies are as in our own time they were in several places of Europe three hundred strong and consequently every Corporalship sixty men The Centurions badge was a
Branch Rod or Twig of a Vine wherewith he had power to beat or whip those of his Centuriate as they deserv'd It is not half an age since a Corporal used to carry a Musket-rest in his hand wherewith he might beat those of his Corporalship according to their Misdemeanors Neither will the matter of Profit or Pay make any difference between them the Roman Centurion having but double allowance of either Wages Proviant or Donatives of what the common Souldier had and so have our Corporals in all or most of our Modern Armies Polybius informs us that the Centurion might nominate his Sub-Centurion that in case he should dye in Battel the other should succed him and by this it should seem that so long as the Centurion liv'd the Sub-Centurion had no command at all But we do not Sub-Centurion his rise at all read of Sub-Centurion till before that great Battel was fought between the Romans and the Latines that a Roman Centurion who was of a weak Body knowing he was to encounter with a Latine Centurion who was strong desir'd to have one joyn'd to him as his helper or Sub-Centurion to assist him as Livy at great length relates the story in his eighth Book and this it may be gave the rise to that despicable Office of a Sub-Centurion who is called an Option by Vegetius a word I do not remember to have read in any other Author except once in Polybius The Tribunes very often used their Centurions as we do our Marshals and Proforces of Companies and worse in causing them to lead the Malefactors out of the Camp and there either see them put to death or do it themselves After Julius Caesar had usurp'd the State his Centurions sometimes Hang-men Successors the Emperours used their Centurions directly as their Hang-men in causing them to put to death with their own hands such as they in their Arbitrary Government had ordain'd to dye So one of them with his own hand kill'd the Empress Mâ—ssalina not by the Emperour Claudius his command but by the direction of his freed Bond-slave Narcissus Another of them assisted at the horrid murther of the Empress Agrippina after he had basely struck her over the head with a Battoon Every Centuriate had a Banner or Colours and the Ensign-bearer was chosen by the Centurion nor can I find that this Ensign-bearer was any distinct Officer but only some one of the common Souldiers whom for his Courage and Strength the Centurion entrusted with the Ensign for his Command was none at all and his profit as little being no otherwise paid than as other Souldiers were only he was a step nearer preferment than they Two Centuriates made a Maniple so called from a wisp or handful of Hay tyed A Maniple to a long Pole which perhaps was the first Ensign that ever Romulus carried The Maniple had no particular Commander the oldest Centurion commanded the Right hand Centuriate and the youngest the Left hand one The Maniple had two Ensigns one for each Centuriate And this Lipsius convinc'd by History acknowledgeth in the first Dialogue of his fourth Book of his Commentary on Polybius yet in the third Dialogue of that same Book he seems to allow but one Ensign to the Maniple But he doth worse for in the third Dialogue of his second Book speaking of that passage in Livy's eighth Book where he makes three Ensigns to be in one Maniple made up of Triarii Rorarii and Accensi Lipsius saith it might be so for saith he there may be Colours where there is no Commander whereof the Rorarii and Accensi had none This is strange Doctrine Colours without Commanders But observe more that notwithstanding the Authority of Livius Polybius and Vegetius who give an Ensign to every Centuriate Lipsius in the eighth Dialogue of his second Book declares his opinion to be that a Maniple consisting of two Centuriates had but one Ensign In what Roman Authors he Lipsius will allow but one Ensign for a Maniple His Reasons examined and answered First hath read this I know not but I am confident he saw neither of the two practis'd in his own Countrey during the whole Wars between the King of Spain and the Estates of the Netherlands which began a little before he began to write But it is fit we hear and answer the Reasons wherewith he endeavours to confirm his opinion First He cites Varro who mentions but one Signum or Banner in one Maniple It is answer'd That Varro in that place intended not to inform us whether there were two Ensigns or one in the Maniple that not being the subject or matter of his discourse and therefore when he spoke of one he did not deny but there might be two Secondly Second saith Lipsius Since there was but one Eagle in the Legion there should be but one Banner in the Maniple Truly he might as well have said but one Banner in the Cohort the Analogy would have held as well if not better It was the Romans plreasure to have but one Eagle in every Legion and one Colours in every Centuriate and the question is de re gestâ of the thing done and not of the causes and reasons of the deed it self Thirdly he saith Polybius speaks of Third two Signiferi or Ensign-bearers but not of two Ensigns Neither doth that which Lipsius adds help him that he thinks the one Ensign-bearer was to relieve the other when he was wearied To the first part of this Reason I say it is of no force for when Polybius said there were two Ensign-bearers he said in these words There were likewise two Ensignes For if Lipsius should say In one Brigade there are two Colonels would not any man infer That there were two Regiments in that Brigade To the second part That the one Ensign-bearer serv'd to relieve and ease the other it is but a conjecture of Lipsius and he guesseth not always right For why should there be two Ensign-bearers for one Ensign since there was but one Eagle bearer for one Eagle which was much heavier and of more consequence than an ordinary banner Fourthly he tells us that when Casar beat Pompey at Pharsalia â—ourth he took nine Eagles that is saith he one for every Legion but he took only one hundred and eighty Ensigns now saith Lipsius if there had been two Colours in every Maniple he should have taken five hundred and forty of them I wonder why so grave a Man as Lipsius would propose so ridiculous an argument for first Casar got not all Pompey's Eagles for himself writes that Pompey had one hundred and ten Cohorts these made up eleven complete Legions but Casar got but nine Eagles and so he wanted the two belonging to the other two Legions and if he had got all the Ensigns that belonged to those nine Eagles reckoning two Ensigns to every Maniple he had got no fewer than five hundred and forty or yet according to
of any part of it but all of them and every one of them had the command of the whole Legion but to shun both confusion and contention they commanded about a month by turns for Polybius in his fifth Book informs us that two Tribunes had the command for one month alternatively his meaning certainly was two Tribunes in a Consular Army in which there were two Legions of Romans besides Allies and Military Tribunes that is still one Tribune for every Legion and so the Tribunes had their turns if it be true what Polybius supposes that the Army staid in the Field but six Months and ordinarily they staid no longer and sometimes not so long yet we find that sometimes they staid abroad all the Winter over the first practice whereof was at the Siege of Vâ—ii and then no doubt the Tribunes took their turns of command as they did in the Summer time Here now you see we have six Tribunes in a Legion and but one Tribune in a Legion The other five had that same respect service and obedience paid them with him who commanded and sate in the Council of War with the Consul as well as he The power and authority of the Tribunes was great enough they judged of all causes Civil Criminal and Military but the last appeal was reserved for the Consul or General They might impose pecuniary mulcta and fines and Their Power punish by defalcation of Pay or Proviant and by whipping likewise yea Polybius says they might pass a sentence of Death others say not without the Council They received the Tessera or Watchword from the Consul whereof I shall give you a more perfect account in another place They went Their Duties before to see the Camp measured out according to the form of the Roman Castrametation whereof hereafter But where these Tribunes had their Stations in the time of Battel for sure the other five were not idle then neither Polybius nor Vegetius tells us one Their station in Battel word Doubtless they are to blame for concealing that and many other considerable points of the Roman art of War And here again I am forced to engage with Lipsius who very frankly offers his conjecture which is this That all the six Tribunes stood beside or near the Consul and that was saith he beside the Eagle on the right hand of the Triarii but if he had remembred of some things that no question he knew he would not have vented this opinion of his For first the Consul could not be beside two Eagles and Lipsius erres in his conjecture therefore the Tribunes of both Legions could not be beside him Secondly The Consul as all History witnesseth was so far from being constantly at the Eagle that he was but very seldom beside any of the Eagles except when he was to lead the Triarii up to the assistance of the other two Classes and many times he did this by a sign and not in Person Thirdly it had been great shame for a knot of Colonels to have stood all of them beside the Triarii when the other two Batallions of Hastati and Principes were at hot work with an Enemy Now the reason which Lipsius gives for this guess of his is as extravagant as the conjecture it self and I pray you hear it Because saith he the Tribunes in the Roman Camp quarter'd all very near the Praetorium or And in the reason of it Consuls Pavilion and therefore that in time of Battel they should all be beside or near the Consul is an Inference not worthy the youngest Novitiate in Logick for if this reason were valid then all the Horsemen should have been embattell'd in the rear beside the Triarii because in the Camp they quarter'd all beside them as you shall hear afterwards But since guessing is in fashion why may not I guess too yes by Lipsius his permission I think I may I shall lose but little My conjecture then shall be grounded on two undeniable truths the first is that the Tribunes had the command of the The Authors conjecture Horse as well as of the Foot The second that the Roman Horse were almost constantly marshall'd in one Wing and for the most part in the right Wing the left one being ordain'd for the Cavalry of the Allies add a third truth to the other two that the Horse had no Officers to command them but Decurions and these were Independent one of another Let us then allow one of the six Tribunes to command the Horse In the next place let us order two experimented Tribunes to stay with the Triarii and the other two to command the Principes and the sixth with my consent shall fight with the Hastati If this conjecture of mine please the Reader as little as that of Lipsius pleaseth me I shall not break my heart for the matter for I have met with greater disappointments As to any other Officer of the Infantry in the old Roman Militia I find none Vegetius tells us in the seventh Chapter of his second Book of some mean Office bearers who perhaps in his time had some small allowance of pay more than ordinary But in Polybius's time and before it they were nothing but Gregarii Milites common Souldiers and we are now speaking of the ancient constitutions of the Roman Militia But with Vegetius I shall speak a word of these meaner Office-beaters Tesserarii who received the word from the Tesserarii what Metatores what Mensores what Clerks Tribunes Metatores went before with the Tribune to measure out the Camp Mensores who in the Field gave the Souldiers ground for their Huts and Tents and their several Lodgings in Towns and Villages as our Quartermasters and Fouriers do Librarii were petty Clerks and Scriveners who kept the accounts of Pay proviant and donatives all these in ancient times were appointed and chosen by the Centurions remaining still common Souldiers and changed at their pleasure In that same Chapter Vegetius speaks of Ordinarii Qui in pralio primos ordines ducunt who in Battel saith he led the first orders But here to me he is very obscure for Ordines may signifie Estates Ordinares what which is not meant in this place Ordines signifies Centuriates and so Casaubon in his translation of Polybius useth it and Ordines is very often taken for both Ranks and Files If Vegetius had used Ordines here for Centuriates then assuredly he would have said the Ordinarii were the Principes or of them for according to his account the Principes made the first Batallion and so were Primi ordines that is the first Centuriates But if by Ordines he meant Ranks as all along he seems to do then his Primi ordines or first ranks were nothing but File-leaders whereof indeed the Centurion himself was one and the Dignity he had was that he marched and fought either on the right or left hand of his own Centuriate as when two were joyned
Troops Let us see how Polybius will help us in all or in any of these In his sixth Book he says In old times two hundred Horse were assign'd for every Legion and these were elected after the Foot were levied but in his Election of the Horsemen own time and long before it three hundred Horse were appointed for every Legion and were elected before the Foot and elected they were not by the Consuls or Tribunes as the Foot were but by the Censor This is all Polybius saith of their election Out of History we find that the Roman Horse-men were all of the Equestral Dignity that is Gentlemen yet in ancient times they serv'd on Horses bought at the publick charges and when any of them committed gross faults their Horses were taken from them which was justly accounted an ignominy Thereafter when they came to serve on their own Horses yet on the publick wages there was a lustration or muster of them when the Censors pleas'd but ordinarily it was once in five years of all those of that Rank who were able both for their Persons and their Purses to serve on Horse-back and then they rode in State on the best Horses and in the best equipage they were able to procure and past by the place where the Censors sate as Judges All those who could be accus'd of no Misdemeanour rode on without interruption but such as the Censors could charge with enormous crimes were stopp'd and commanded to sell their Horses which was no small disgrace to them And this Muster or Show was called Transvectio Transvectio Of the Duties of their Horse-men their Guards and Watches and of their Pay Polybius speaks not much I shall say something of each of them in their proper places He speaks a little of the Distance between Troops of which I shall treat in my Discourse of Intervals The same Polybius avers That the three hundred Horse levied or elected First difference between Polybius and Vegetius for each Legion were divided into ten Troops every one whereof consisted of thirty Riders which made up compleatly three hundred Horse Here Polybius and Vegetius differ the last allowing thirty two Horse-men to a Troop and the first but thirty for certainly in Companies of so small a number two made a considerable difference Out of these thirty Riders says Polybius three Prafecti were chosen by whom he tells not but lets us suppose by the Consul or some of the Tribunes He on the Right Hand had the command of the Troop In his absence he on the Left Hand had it and he not being present the third did officiate These three chose three others to be Agminis or Turmae Coactores for so Casaubon renders it in Latin The first Elected Praefectus was called Turmae Ductor the Leader of the Troop the other two were called Decuriones and I suppose one of them carried the Vexillum or Banner though Polybius tells us nothing of it And yet it should not have been omitted since every Troop had a Standard Now by this reckoning of Polybius so weak a Troop was but a Caporalship and he who commanded it but a Caporal The two other Decurions but Leaders of Files and the three Agminis Coactores but Bringers up For we do not find that any one of them was supernumerary but the contrary that all of them were members of the Troop and elected out of the number of the thirty so that without those six Polybius his Turmae were but twenty four strong Nor shall you find that any greater Pay was allowed to any of these six than to the other four and twenty And this difference is also to be observed between Polybius and Vegetius that the first speaks of three Decurions and as many Sub-Decurions the last only of one Decurion Nor Second difference indeed do I find at all any warrant in History for Vegetius his thirty two Riders since all agree that for most part three hundred Horse were levied with each Legion and these three hundred divided into ten Turmas which made thirty for each Troop But we shall examine how he disposeth of these two supernumery Riders when we come to speak of his Legion How deep or how many in File these Troops were none of our Tacticks Deepness of the Roman Horse not told us directly write no more than they do of the depth or the heighth of the Foot An inexcusable oversight For without the knowledge of that we can neither know nor guess what ground a Maniple Cohort Troop or Legion could or might take up Vegetius gives us some ground to conjecture that in his opinion the Foot were eleven in File For in the last Chapter of his second Book as I observed before he saith for every Carrobalist Mules were appointed to draw it and to manage and have a care of it a Contubernium of Soldiers that is saith he eleven men This will not positively make eleven in File yet it gives a strong presumption that Vegetius thought so which if he did and that it was so indeed all Masters of the Military Art have taken up their measures wrong in appointing Foot Files to be of even and equal numbers as sixteen twelve ten eight and six As to the Roman Horse some may have mistaken Polybius who think he insinuates they were marshall'd eight in File For who will consider right what he writes will find that in that place he spoke not at all of the Roman Cavalry The passage is in the twelfth Book of his History where he puts himself to much trouble to demonstrate the vanity and absurdity of Polybius against Calisthenes Calisthenes his Relation of that great Battel fought in Cilicia between Darius and Alexander where that Historian saith that the Persian King marched with thirty thousand Horse in Battel and called up his mercenaries to him who were as many All this in a ground not above fourteen Stadia or Furlongs in Latitude which makes but one Italian mile and three quarters As also that Alexander marched in Battel with his whole Foot forty Stadia five Italian miles in an uneven woody and broken ground The impossibility of both which Polybius as an experienced Captain undertakes to demonstrate And this he could not do unless he had first considered how deep the Horse were marshall'd otherwise he could not know of what Longitude the front of thirty thousand Horsemen would be whether they would require more ground than the fourteen Furlongs allowed by Calisthenes as no doubt they did And therefore he agrees on eight deep his words are these In just Battels saith he the Horse Battalion is so ordered for most part that its deepness consisted of eight Riders Now first he saith for most part Vt plurimum not always for indeed I doubt not but he knew well enough it was not always so Secondly he speaks there of Persian and Gracian Armies and what he says of the deepness of their Horse Squadrons
Right Wing of the Batallion so the fifth is to stand on the Left hand These five Cohorts make up the first Acies or Batallion Our Author proceeds and tells us The sixth Cohort The second Batallion consists of five hundred fifty five Foot and sixty six Horse in it must be those of the younger years he means the Hastati because the sixth Cohort hath its station behind the Eagle and the Ensigns The seventh Cohort hath in it five hundred fifty five Foot and sixty six Horse The eighth hath as many but they must be couragious men because they keep the middle of the second Batallion The ninth consists of five hundred fifty five Foot and sixty Horse And so doth the tenth but the Souldiers must be good Warriours because they stand on the Left hand of the second Batallion Now you see the first Batallion consists of three thousand three hundred twenty five Foot and three hundred ninety six Horse And the second Batallion of two thousand seven hundred seventy five Foot and three hundred and thirty Horse Add these together the aggregate will be six thousand one hundred Foot and seven hundred twenty six Horse And so the Legion is compleatly divided into these two Batallions without Reserve for a third Body which I pray you observe And he avers there should not be a lesser number mark it of armed men in every Legion a greater sometimes hath been And for a Corollary to this division of a Legion he saith in the eighth Chapter of that same Book that there were in every Legion fifty five Centurions If any man be not satisfied with what he hath said already he may read him in the fifteenth Chapter of that same Book and there he shall be sure to hear him speak that same language with very little difference Our Author says By the example of one Legion he will declare how the The same thing over again Field should be marshall'd when a Battel is to be fought The Horse saith he are to be plac'd in the Wings let us remember this The Body of the Foot saith he begins to be order'd on the Right hand where the first Cohort is plac'd To this is joyn'n the second Cohort the third stands in the middle of the Batallion To it joyns the fourth and the fifth stands on the Left hand All says he that fought in this first Batallion were called Principes and there he describes their Offensive and Defensive Arms needless here to be spoken of The second Battel says he was of the Hastati arm'd as the Principes After these were the light armed with Plumbatae Swords Bows and Arrows Slingers there were likewise who cast Stones out of Slings and Batton-slings also Darters who he saith shot Arrows out of Manubalists and Arcubalists Thereafter he tells us forgetting what he said but seven or eight lines before that the second Batallion O Memory where art thou consisted of Hastati And saith he not remembring he had told us the same words in the sixth Chapter In the second Batallion on the Right hand was plac'd the sixth Cohort to which was joyn'd the seventh The eighth kept the middle Battel accompanied with the ninth and the tenth Cohort kept constantly the Left hand of the second Batallion And so our Author ends that Chapter Thus we have twice in two several Chapters the description of a full Legion divided into ten Cohorts and these ten marshall'd in two Batallions or Classes of the Principes and Hastati without any mention Triarâ—i forgot of the Triarii or leaving room for them But in the sixteenth Chapter of that same Book as if some body had awaken'd him out of his dream he says after all these Batallions the Triarii were placed arm'd with Cataphracts Head-pieces Swords Daggers Semispathis two Darts and Lead-Bullets Weapons given to that Class by none but himself These Triarii says he kneeling on one knee rested till the first Battel At length remembred chancing to be beaten they might renew the fight If any man think he hath done well to remember the Triarii at last who were the Romans greatest strength I shall be content he enjoy his opinion provided he let me keep mine which is that he needed not now have mention'd them at all since he hath already marshall'd his Legion all the ten Cohorts of it and all the full number of six thousand one hundred Foot compleatly without them whereof I shall tell you more in the next Chapter In the seventeenth Chapter of his second Book he informs us that in the beginning Velites of the fight the Principes and Hastati stood still and mov'd not and the Triarii kneel'd or sate for he speaks of both postures till the light armed had skirmished and were beat in to the Legionaries and after the Victory the heavy arm'd kept their ground and stood like a Wall leaving the pursuit of the routed Enemy to the Horse and the Velites But I cannot find in my heart to part with Vegetius till I see how he will Legion once more marshall'd yet be pleased to dispose of the Triarii And I find him in the fourteenth Chapter of his third Book begin de novo to marshal the Foot as if he had never spoke one word of it before It is saith he the Law of embattelling to place the old and experienced Souldiers in the first order here he confounds Ordo and Acies and these were called Principes In the second were the Hastati and then he speaks of Distances between the Orders whereof I shall tell you in my discourse of Intervals The third Order or Body was of the swiftest Velites as Darters and the youngest Archers The fourth was of the youngest Archers Good Lord again youngest Archers and these saith he who Strange repetitions were called Lanciers and were also called Martiobarboli and were Lead-casters If these beat the Enemy saith he they pursued him too but if they were beaten they were receiv'd by the first and second Batallion suppose of heavy armed You see how Vegetius loves to refresh his Readers memory Well then the third and fourth Batallions fought before the first and second or any of them came to the shock In the fifth Batallion our Author places Carrobalists Slingers and Batton-Slingers But I must propose a question or two by the way First Did the third and fourth Batallions both which as you see Two questions he makes to consist of the Velites after they had fought with and were repelled by an Enemy retire only to the Rear of the Hastati or to the Rear of the Army I suppose the last though Vegetius through inadvertency saith only to the Rear of the two first Batallions for if so they â—ad undoubtedly obstructed very much the advance of the Triarii or the Retreat of both Principes and Hastati my next Query is why Vegetius doth not appoint the Slingers and Batton slingers to skirmish in the Van as well as
is the ancient customs we require of him for it is these he promised to us But if we take in all these three Bodies of light armed Foot which he so frequently mentions in the number of the Legion as Rolybius doth the Velites in his Legion and proportion 400 light arm'd for every 1000 heavy arm'd as the same Polybius doth then Vegetius his Legion shall exceed 8500 of which we read in no story Now if all these Instances I have given out of Livius and in another place shall give out of Polybius be true then Vegetius his assertion that a Legion should have no fewer than 6100 heavy arm'd Foot can have no truth at all in it and that also which he subjoins in that same sixth Chapter of his Second Book must be false Secondly I cannot believe him that either every Troop consisted of 32 Horse Second Error or that 726 Riders belong'd to every Legion If I trust either the one or the other I must give the lye to two more ancient Writers than himself that is Polybius and Livius The last whereof in his Seventh Book saith four Legions were elected and for every one of them 300 Horse In the dangerous War against Hannibal no more but 300 Horse for a Legion Livy in his Ninth Book speaks but of 300 Horse for every Legion in the War with the Samnites In the great battel of Cannae they were but 300 as that Historian witnesseth in his 22 Book In his 29 Book he saith Scipio had no more in Africk but 300 Horse for every Legion the Foot whereof were 6200. And his brother Lucius Scipio had no more in Asia but 300 for every Legion of 5400 Foot Neither had the Consul Aemilius more Horse for a Legion in Macedon than 300 though the Foot were 6000. Once I read in Livy it is in his 40 Book and if I remember right it was against the Ligurians that 400 Horse were ordained for each Legion otherwise according to Livius the number was constantly 300. Polybius all along in his History allots no more Horse to a Legion but 300 except once and I pray you observe it it is in his Second Book where he saith the Senate sent two Legions to Sicily each consisting of 4000 Foot and 200 Horse and as this is the least number I read of so that of Livy's 400 Horse against the Ligurians is the greatest number of Horse for one Legion In the Wars against both the Gauls and Carthaginians Polybius gives but 300 Horse to every Legion In the dividing his 726 Riders Vegetius errs twice first for allowing 22 Turms or Troops to the Cavalry Ten being the ordinary number next for allowing 32 Riders to each Troop whereas there were but 30 Both which assertions of mine are grounded on History and are likewise taken out of Polybius his Sixth Book as I have made it appear in my Discourse of the Roman Cavalry Besides our Authors error in calculo may be charged on him as a Peccadillo for though we should admit 22 Troops in every Legion and thirty two Riders in every Troop the number will not amount to 726 for multiply 32 by 22 the aggregate will be but 704. But in steps Steuechius and lends Vegetius his hand and says the Decurions must be added who being 22 in number one for every Troop makes Vegetius his number 726 compleat But this shall not help him for Decurions Standard-bearers Trumpeters or Horn-winders if Troops had any of the last were all of the number of the 30 and none of them Supernumeraries as I have made it appear out of Polybius in my Discourse of Cavalries and therefore they must be of the number of the 32 likewise And if I should permit Steuechius to make the Decurions supernumeraries he will be obliged to give me leave to reckon the Cornets and Trumpeters not to be of the number of the 32 and these being 44 in number would increase the horse of every Legion to 770 and if he please he may reckon the Turmae Coactores or Bringers up who by Polybius his account were three for every Turme and consequently 66 in 22 Troops and then an addition being made of all we shall find the aggregate of the Horse for Vegetius his Legion to be 836. The third complaint I make is that Vegetius Marshals two Troops of Horse Third Error with every Cohort and four Troops with the first Cohort Observe that here it is not the question whether this way of Marshalling be good or not nor is it the question whether it be not good that Foot Horse should be near one another when they fight but the question is whether the ancient Romans used this way or not or if this be the right way of ordering or Marshalling an old Legion which Vegetius promised to give us I aver it is not and I know no old Author will contradict my assertion It will be lost labour to instance these Battels described by ancient Historians who mention nothing like this manner of Embattelling In my Discourses of both Infantry and Cavalry I have shown how Horsemen have fought on foot how they have fought with horses unbridled and how Foot and Horse have been mingled together in Skirmishes and Battels but I read not in any Author of this method of Marshalling that Vegetius speaks of nay the current of History evinceth the contrary for most part the Horse were drawn up in the wings and the Foot in the Battel So it was at Cannae where the Consul Aemilius fought on the right hand with the Roman Cavalry and Terentius Varo on the left with the Horse of the Allies The like was done at the Battel of Metaurus against Asdrubal In the two Battels which Scipio fought in Africk the very same was practised Sometimes all the Horse were Marshalled in one of the wings as Caesar drew up all his in the right wing of the army and Pompey most of his Cavalry on the left hand of his army at that great Battel of Pharsalia where these two brave Romans fought for no less wager than the Empire of the World At Vzita the same Caesar being to offer Battel to Scipio Pompey's Father-in-law drew up all his Horsemen on the left-wing of his army and mixed Foot with them Polybius in his 14 Book informs us that the Great Scipio being to fight against Syphax Marshalled his Roman Horse in one wing and his Auxiliaries in the other And which is very observable against Vegetius he says in that same place that in doing so Romana Militia consuetudinem simpliciter servavit He simply and purely observed the custom of the Roman Militia Nor will it be one full step out of my way to tell you that I think Horse do not at all belong to a Legion it being as I suppose wholly composed of Foot Horse belonged not properly to Legious for though most Historians tell us that when Legions were levied Horse were also raised and punctually for every
thirty men yet still the denominations of Century and Centurio remained as before But never was a Centurio heard of that commanded more men than one hundred except in Vegetius his Legion in the first Cohort whereof consisting of 110â— men every Centurion commanded 184 men if there were but six Centuriats in that Cohort as is to be supposed for if you divide 1105 by six the Quotient will be 184 with the fraction of one but till Vegetius his number of 55 Centurions be made more clear to us than yet it is we may safely believe with Polybius that in one Legion though not so strong as that of Vegetius there were no fewer than sixty Centurions to which Titus Livius doth give his consent in his Eighth Book as the place is amended and corrected by Lipsius according to the true and genuine sense of the Author Sixthly to my sense it is undeniable since the Roman Militia was reformed Sixth Error and indeed almost instituted by Tullus Hostilius that there were ten Cohorts in every Legion even when it consisted but of 3000 three Centuries at that time making a Cohort and afterwards three Maniples every one whereof was composed of two Centuriats If the Centuries consisted of full hundreds then each Maniple contained two hundred and consequently the Cohort consisted of six hundred And so we may suppose Scipio and Aemilius their Cohorts to have been when their Legions were six thousand a 〈…〉 e. And this Cohort of 600 men is the strongest we read of for in my Discourse oâ— â—oman Infantery I have distinguisht the Pretorian Cohorts from the Legionary ones But a Cohort of 1105 men as Vegetius will have his first Cohort to be is not to pass muster and as little warrant he had to make every one of his other nine Cohorts to consist of 555 heavy armed Sure he might with more ease to himself have given to his right-hand Cohort 700 men and to every one of the other nine 600 and this had compleated his â—egion of 6100 and by the bargain he had kept sixty Centurions in it by giving to the six Centurions of the first Cohort 116 or 117 men a piece and to every Centurion of the other nine Cohorts 100. Or if he had made his Legion compleatly 6000 and no more he might have given equally to every Centurion of sixty one hundred men and this had been the fairest and impartialest dealing But how the whimsie of his fractions of fives flew in his head I cannot tell unless to trouble both himself and his Reader But seventhly Room room cry the Triarii they can have no longer patience Seventh Error either to kneel or sit they are all on foot Conclamant arma they expect neither Principes nor Hastati to retire to them but advance in full arms threatning they will be members of the Legion and the principal members too and in the Legion they will be though it were over Vegetius his belly They are very angry that in the sixth and 15 Chapters of his Second Book he should have muster'd a compleat Legion without them their clamour is so loud that to pacifie them Vegetius in the 14 Chapter of his Third Book assigns them place behind three bodies of light armed and ordains them to be the sixth Batallion and to give them some ease after the wrong he had done them he allows them to sit whereas before he had order'd them to kneel sometimes on one sometimes on both knees But indeed they have no reason to be satisfied with such favours since he hath wholly exterminated them out of the Legion in both his descriptions of it for he divides the whole Legion and all the ten Cohorts of it and every man of these ten Cohorts into two Acies or Batallions in the first whereof he placeth the Principes consisting of five Cohorts in which are 3325 men In the second he rangeth the Hastati in five Cohorts in which he musters 2775 men which make compleatly up his full number of 6100 heavy armed So you see in both these places there is no room left nor mention made of the Triarii And though in his Third Book he appoints them to be in the Reer yet the Legion being made up of the Principes and Hastati without them it must follow that in Vegetius his account the Triarii were no Legionaries Besides all this they accuse him of either theft or robbery because in the beginning of the 6th Chapter of his Second Book he hath either stoln or violently taken from them the Eagle and given it to the first Cohort of the Principes for they aver that it being the prime Ensign of the Legion was recommended to their care and the keeping of it to their Primipilus or first Centurion How Vegetius will answer to all these accusations I know not but those who will defend him had best do it out of his own Books for I have consulted his Commentator Steuechius and find he pleads nothing at all for him nay nor seems not to take notice that he stands in need of his help for Commenting on that same Chapter I last spoke of all he tells us is that there was but one Eagle in a Steuechius taxed Legion wherewith he saith he thought fit to acquaint Novitiates a great secret and that there were many Ensigns and is pleased to give us the figures of those Images Vegetius speaks of this is all And indeed to tell it once for all Steuechius is large and prolix enough to explain things where no difficulty appears but where matters are debatable I find in him nothing but a profound silence I shall not need to tell my Reader how Vegetius repeats things over and over Vegetius his Tautalogies again nor how his Tautologies are obvious Vsque ad nauseam nor yet what brave men experienced Soldiers and expert Warriors he will have to be placed in the Cohorts that stand on the right and left hands and in the middle of both his Batallions of which he composeth his Legion But I dare presume to say that if any of the ancient Roman Dictators or Consuls who Triumphed gloriously over their enemies had liv'd in the Emperour Valentinians time they would rather have chused to have submitted the fortune of their battels to the doubtful Die of War once more than to have Marshall'd their Legions after Vegetius his Model CHAP. XIII Of a Roman Legion Marshall'd according to Polybius I Speak so often of Polybius that I think it will not be amiss to tell you what he was His Father Licortas was a famous Citizen of Megalopolis who by his Valour and Vertue came to be the Supreme Magistrate whom they call'd Praetor of all the Achaeans This Praetor by his charge presided in their Councils and was their Chieftain in their Wars Licortas succeeded to the renowned Captain Philopaemon who was cruelly forced by the Messenians after he was their Prisoner to drink a full draught of deadly Poison
he speaks there of Macedonian and Persian Warriours and is confuting Calisthenes his History of the Battel of Issus between Alexander and Daâ—ius as I noted before Achilles Terduzzi imagines the Roman Foot to have been twelve in File but that was to make good his conjecture of the quantity of ground a Consular Army took up whereof I may chance to speak hereafter But the common opinion carries me along with it that both the Roman Horse and Foot ordinarily were Roman Horse and Foot teâ— deep marshall'd ten in File but upon emergencies Generals might alter it though I confess the strong reason for it to me seems very weak which is that the Leader of the Horse was called Decurio and he of the File of Foot Decâ—nus for this last is appropriated to other Offices and the first by Aelian's Translator is given to the Leader of a Macedonian File which consisted of sixteen But this supposition as probable we must make the basis or ground on which to build our most probable conjectures of the Intervals of several Bodies and Classes in which both our Authors give us small assistance yet I shall give you all I can pick out of them or others on that Subject When Polybius in his twelfth Book told us that for most part Horse-men were ranged eight deep meaning I think the Persian Horse he subjoins that there must be an Interval between several Troops but what that Interval was he forgot to tell us It is pity he who knew things so well should needlessly have kept them up from us as secrets the reason he gives for an Interval between two Troops doth not weigh much because saith he they Intervals between Troops must have ground for conversion that is to face to either Right or Left hand or by any of them to the Rear If any of these be needful whole Squadrons of four six or eight Troops joyn'd together may do it as easily and conveniently as single Troops which consist of three or four Files at most But conversions on that same ground are seldome necessary never convenient But being left to guess how many foot of Interval Troops ten deep Conjectured required one from another I conjecture eight Foot which I ground on that the same Polybius saith in that same twelfth Book which is that a Stadium or Furlong contain'd eight hundred Horse drawn up in Battel Then I say First a Stadium is the eighth part of an Italian mile one hundred twenty five paces six hundred twenty five Foot Secondly eight hundred Horse being at our Authors rate eight in File are one hundred in Front Thirdly For every Horse-man to stand on Horse back and room to handle his Arms I allow with others four foot of ground and so for one hundred Horses four hundred Foot Fourthly According to Polybius and I suppose the Out of Polybius Roman rule the eight hundred Horse must be divided into several Troops and in each of them but thirty Riders so there will be twenty â—â—x compleat Troops and twenty Horse-men for the twenty seventh Troop Fifthly Twenty seven Troops require twenty six Intervals Now allow with Polybius a Stadiâ—m for eight hundred Horse-men that is for one hundred in Front and for these hundred allow with me four hundred Foot for the Horsemen to stand on you will have of six hundred twenty five foot of ground for your twenty six Intervals two hundred and seventeen foot and that will be eight foot and near one half for every Interval So my opinion is if I understand Polybius right that the Interval between two single Troops was about eight foot But let us fancy the Roman Horse to have been ten in File and so every Troop only three in Front for so I probably think they were and let uâ— remember that in every Consular Army there were twenty Roman Troops and forty of the Allies in all sixty Fancy those sixty Troops drawn up in one Field upon one of the Wings of the Army as several times all the Cavalry was marshall'd on one Wing they must have fifty nine Intervals Next remember that sixty Troops at thirty in a Troop were compos'd of eighteen hundred Too many Intervals Riders these drawn up ten in File made one hundred and eighty Leadders allow to every one of these four foot that will amount to seven hundred and twenty foot then for fifty nine Intervals which according to Polybius sixty Troops must have you are to allow four hundred seventy two foot at eight foot for each Interval I suppose still that which I can scarcely believe of so many Intervals but add four hundred seventy two foot to seven hundred and twenty the aggregate will be eleven hundred ninety two foot How these sixty Troops marshall'd so thin so few in Front with so many Intervals could stand out the brisk and furious charge of a numerous and couragious Enemy is beyond my fancy unless they have been interlin'd with well-armed Foot As to the Distances between Bodies of Foot Polybius in the twelâ—th Book Overâ—ight in Polybius so often cited allows expresly six foot between Files but he is to be understood in that place of the Macedonian Phalanx confâ—ting the impertinent relation of Calisthenes but he speaks not there or elsewhere oâ— distance between Roman Files And yet here is an inadvertency in that great man as we shall see another immediately in Vegetius of the same nature Polybius allows six thousand foot of ground for the Front or Longitude of sixteen thousand men sixteen deep and so we have one thousand Files between every one of the Files he allowâ— six foot of distance so the distances do compleatly take up his six thousand Foot and so no ground is allow'd to stand on to which if he had adverted he would have allow'd one foot to each man whereon to stand and consequently seven thousand foot for one thousand Files in Front But I shall not question the six foot of distance between Files being I have told you in the Grecian Militia that much was necessary for their Pike-men between Ranks on their march though not between Files and that in standing in Battel they used Densatio three foot of distance and in fight Constipaâ—â—â— one foot and a half Vegetius is more inexcusable than Polybius for he allows for the Ranks one foot Two in Vegetius of ground to stand on in these words Singuli Bellatâ—res stantes singulos obtinent pedes Every Combatant says he takes up one foot of ground But that he allows none for them to stand on when he speaks of Files I prove thus In the fourteenth Chapter of his third Book he allows three foot of distance between Files and in the next place saith that ten thousand men marshall'd The first in distance of Files six deep made a Front of sixteen hundred sixty six and so it doth with a fraction only of four hitherto he is very right but concludes very
Alarm place were lodged the Extraordinaries Extraordinaries of both the Cavalry and Infantry of the Allies for the quarters of their Horse eighty foot in breadth and a hundred sixty seven in length were allowed and for their Fooâ— two hundred foot in length and seventy in breadth Within the Extraordinaries of the Horse was the Market-place which they called Forum Without the Foot of the Extraordinaries and next them was the place of arms or the Alarm-place and this was of one equal breadth in all Alarm-place the four quarters of the Camp to wit two hundred Foot kept yet in our Modern Castrametations Next to this place of arms was the Rampart and that Port which was called Pâ—rta Prâ—tâ—riana the Prâ—tâ—rian Port. Now though the Prâ—torian Port. Roman Consul by this account was not in the middle of his Army as Xenophon would have all Generals to be yet Lipsius thinks it enough that he was in medio Ducum in the middle of his Captains I know not why this was enough but let us see how Behind the Prâ—tor â—â—n on the right hand of it were the Tents of the six Tribunes of the first Roman Legion and upon their right hand the Tents of the six Praefecti of the Allies on the left hand of the Praetorium at some distance behind it were the Tents of the six Roman Tribunes of the second Legion and Tribunes and Praesecti on their left hand the six Praefecti of the second Legion of the Allies were quartered The Sieur de Preissac and his Translator Captain Crusâ— in their delineation of the Roman Camp place the Tents of all the twelve Tribunes and twelve Praefecti as Lipsius doth in his first figure which himself found subject to censure and therefore helpt it in the next Page In the first he makes the left hand Tribune of the first Legion and the right hand Tribune of the second Roman Legion to place their Tents close behind the Praetorium and by that means they took away the mutual prospect of the Consul from his Legions who were quartered behind him and of the Legions from the Consuls Pavilion which was pitcht before them This Preissac did also but Lipsâ—â—â— helped and mended his by â—eaving the Praetorium visible to all quarters and this Preissuck was bound to do likewise but he did it not Besides this error Preissack allows a hundred and fifty foot-square for every Tribunes Tent whereas Polybius allows but fifty and allows enough when he doth so this I conceive to be the Printers fault whereof I thought fit to acquaint the Siâ—â— de Preissacks Reader So you see that the twelve Tents of the Roman Tribunes and the twelve Tents of the Praefecti of the Allies took up twelve hundred foot of ground square fifty foot square being allowed to each of them Observe here that Polybius tells us not at all where or in what place of the Camp the Allies Prâ—fecti lodged and this gives just cause to Lipsius to complain of his carelesness in this point which Lipsâ—â—â— himself hath very well supply'd in quartering them where they should be that is in the front of their Legions as the Roman Tribunes were placed by Polybiâ—â— in the front of theirs as I have told you and in imitation of Lipsâ—â—s Prâ—issâ—ck and Tâ—rduzzi quarter them just so This is all I have to say concerning the Castrametation of the Superior or upper part of the Roman Camp And so I come to the lower one Below the Tents of the Tribunes there was a Street which traversed the Inferior part of the Camp whole breadth of the Camp and divided the superior part of it from that inferior one which I am now to describe This Street was a hundred foot broad and was called Via Principalis the principal Street whether it had that name because Via Principalis it was near the Consuls Pavilion the Tribunes Tents and the Eagles or because if the Camp was of any long continuance they erected their Altars in that Street is no great matter This Street was intersected by another which did run the whole length of the Camp from the Decuman Port to the Praetorian one This Lane divided the right hand Roman Legion from the left hand one and consequently had on each side of it the half of the Consular Army On the right side of it were quartered the Horse and Foot belonging to the first Roman Legion and on the right hand of that Legion the first Legion of the Allies in this following order Nearest to the Street was quartered the Cavalry belonging to the first Legion Quarters for the Roman Horse of the first Legion all in one Row or Street call it as you please for Polybius his Interpreter useth both Striga and Vicus a Row and a Street This Row was divided into ten several quarters each of which was to contain and lodge a Troop consisting of thirty Riders with their Horses Arms and Baggage Every one of these ten Quarters was a hundred foot square and consequently the whole Row was a thousand foot long and a hundred foot broad If you please to multiply a hundred by a hundred you will find the product ten thousand Foot and so much ground had every Troop of thirty Horse allowed to it And that I may tell it you once for all every Maniple of the Principes and Hastati had as much but not the Triarii as you will see anon On the right hand of the Horse were quartered the Triarii who being but half the number of the Hastati and Principes Triaril to wit six hundred they had but fifty foot of ground in breadth but in length as much as the Horse to wit a thousand foot divided equally into ten parts to every one of which parts was assign'd a Maniple consisting of sixty men Multiply a hundred by fifty for every Maniple of the Triâ—â—ii had a hundred foot in length and fifty foot in breadth the product in five thousand foot and so much ground of superficial measure had every Maniple of the Triarii They were obliged to have a care of the Horses belonging to the Cavalry to feed them and see that in the night they strayed not to the disturbance of the Camp and so you may think the Horsemen needed the fewer Grooms Next the Triarii was a Street fifty foot broad on the right hand of it was a Row of Tents in which lodged the Principes who were twelve hundred in number divided Princiâ—eâ— into ten Maniples each censisting of a hundred and twenty men to every Maniple was allowed as much ground as to a Troop of Horse to wit a 100 foot square so to all the ten Maniples a thousand foot in length and a hundred in breadth On their right hand quartered the Hastati all in one Row twelve Hastati of the first Roman Legion quartered hundred in number likewise and had an equal allowance of ground The Hastati were
divided by a Street fifty foot broad from the Allies who constantly quartered on their right hand You will remember that in my Discourse of the Allies I told you that the third part of their Horse and fifth part of their Foot were taken out to wait on the Consul and were called Extraordinaries whom accordingly I have quartered in the upper part of the Camp near the Consul Their Horse at first were six hundred for every Legion whereof two hundred being lodged in the upper part we have but four hundred to quarter in the lower part of the Camp These being by one third stronger than the Roman Cavalry had of ground a Horse of the Allies first Legion lodged third more in breadth allowed but alike length the quarter then for the Horse of the first Legion of the Allies was a thousand foot in length and 13â—½ foot in breadth which contained them well enough this quarter was equally divided into ten parts for ten Troops each consisting of forty Riders Upon the right hand of these Horse were quartered the Foot of the Allies first Legion remember every one of their Legions at their first coming forth was three thousand heavy armed as the Romans were but the fifth part of that number to wit six hundred being taken away by the Consul and lodged besides him we have now but two thousand four hundred to quarter for whom as much ground was allowed as to both the Principes and Hastati as to the breadth so they had a thousand foot in length and two hundred in breadth multiply the one by the And their Foot all in one Row other the product is two hundred thousand foot which superficial measure of ground contain'd them well enough I must tell you of an oversight I have observed in my Lord Preissack's Roman Castrametation which is that he allows to the Allies Foot as much ground as I have done now but no more ground to their Horse than to the Roman Cavalry which was not fair being the one was stronger by one third than the other It is of little or no consequence to us to know nor is it worth our curiosity whether the Allies quarter'd their Foot by Maniples or by Cohorts concerning which Lipsius to me seems to be very needlesly solicitous Upon the right hand of the Allies Foot was the alarm-place constantly two hundred foot broad and next to it was the Rampart We are in the next place to quarter the second Roman Legion and the second Legion of the Allies which is soon done by allowing to every part and member of them the like quantity of ground for length and breadth as we did to those of the two Legions on the right hand as thus On the left hand of that Street which I told you run from the Decuman to the Prâ—tâ—rian Port and intersecteth The other two Legions quartered the Via principalis were the ten Troops of Horse belonging to the second Roman Legion lodged all in a Row next them the Triarii upon their left hand a Street fifty foot broad on the left hand of which lodged the Principes next them the Hastati on their left hand another Street of fifty foot broad upon the left hand whereof were quarter'd the Horse of the Allies and on the left hand of them their Foot on whose left hand was the Alarm-place and next to it the Rampart and Ditch And now we have our whole Consular Army very formally quarter'd in a Camp of an aequilateral square figure as Lipsâ—â—â— du Prâ—issack and Terduzâ—â— The figure of the Roman Camp will needs have it to be though hereafter upon strict examination we shall find it not to be exactly so And what needs the whole be so where all the parts neither are or can be aequilateral In the upper part of the Camp the Prâ—toâ—â—â—â— and the Tribunes quarters with those of the Prafecti of the Allies were â—quilateral square but so were not the quarters allotted to the Questor Legates Evocati or Extraordinarii In the lower part of the Camp the quatters ordain'd for the several Troops of Horse and for the Maniples of the Roman Hastati and Principes were aequilateral but so were neither the quarters of the Triarii nor of the Allies Horse and Foot In the next place before I go further I shall tell you that in this Camp there were four Ports these were the Praetorian Decuman and the right hand principal Port and the left hand principal Port. The two first were at the two ends of the Camp and the other two at the two sides The first had its name because it was nearest the Praetorium and out of it the Consul marched The Decuman serv'd for bringing in provisions and â—odder for taking Beasts out to Four Ports in the Roman Camp water as also out of it were carried the Soldiers that were ordain'd to be punished from whence some think it hath the name Decumana from the Decimating Soldiers alike guilty and punishing the tenth But we read in Livies thirty fourth Book that the Gauls assaulted Consul Sempronius his Camp and enter'd it at the Port Quâ—storia and committed great slaughter till they were beat out We read also oâ— a Port called Quintana which some think was all one with that called Quâ—storia and had this name from the Questor or Treasurer who lodged neer it and the other from the Street Quintana near which that Port was but the Questors quarters being afterward remov'd to the superior part of the Camp to be near the Consul that Port was shut up Observe next that in the Roman Camp there were eight Streets five whereof went in the length of the Camp from the one end of it to the other and were Eight Streets in the Roman Camp called Viâ— Directâ— or direct and straight Streets the other three traverst or crost the Camp in the breadth of it and were called Viâ— transversâ— or cross Streets Of the five direct Streets one divided the length of the Camp equally into two halves and on each side of it as I told you lay the half of the Consular Army Encamped Between the Triarii and Principes of the first Roman Legion was the second direct Five direct ones Street between the Roman Hastati of the first Legion and the Allies first Legion was the third direct Street Between the Triarii and Principes of the second Roman Legion was the fourth direct Street and between the Roman Hastati of the second Legion and the Allies second Legion was the fifth direct Street All these five Streets were each of them fifty foot broad But all five of them Three â—raverse Streets either never had names or have lost them The three cross Streets traversed the latitude of the Camp The one of them was in the upper part of the Camp and divided the Praetorium from the quarters of the Extraordinaries and was of one hundred foot broad and hath lost its name The second cross
Street divided the upper part of the Camp from the lower one as I told you before and was called Viâ— principalis and was likewise a hundred foot broad The third cross Street intersected the quarters of the Legions right in the middle leaving five Maniples on every side of it as likewise five Troops of Horse from the sides it had its name of Quintana and was fifty foot broad These were the Ports and the Streets of the Roman Camp Be pleased likewise to observe that Polybius in his Sixth Book out of which Shop all this stuff of the Roman Castrametation is brought makes the length of the Camp to be between the Praetorian and the Decuman Port and where these are he calls the two ends of the Camp and the breadth of it he reckons to be from the right hand principal Port to the left hand principal one All this being premised we may now take up the Podisme or foot-measure of the Roman Camp as we have described it And first the length of it from the Praetorian Port two hundred foot are allowed for the place of Arms seventy for the Extraordinary The Longitude of the Camp Foot and eighty for the Extraordinary Horse a hundred for the traverse Street with the unknown name next to that two hundred foot for the Praetorium and fifty for the Tribunes and Prafecti their quarters and this cloâ—etli the superior part of the Camp for the places ordain'd for the Questor Legates Evocati and Forum were on both sides of the Praetorium and so added nothing to the Camps Longitude After this reckon for Via principalis a hundred foot and for the length of the Legions quarters a thousand foot for the Street Quintana fifty foot and for the Alarm-place besides the Decuman Port two hundred foot If you will add these together the aggregate will be two thousand and fifty Foot which is the Longitude of the whole Roman Camp If you will exactly know the breadth of it be pleased to enter the Camp at the principal Port on the right hand and traverse that Street till you come to the left hand Port and at your entrance you shall find two hundred foot for the place of Arms next to that two hundred foot for the Foot of The Latitâ—â—â— of it the Allies first Legion and then 133½ foot for their Horse next to them a Street of fifty foot on the left hand of that a hundred foot for the Hastati and a hundred for the Principes of the first Roman Legion and on their left hand you will see a Street fifty foot broad and besides it the Triarii who possess fifty foot and upon their left hand the ten Troops of Horse belonging to the first Legion who take a hundred foot for the breadth of their quarter then you will see that Street which runs from the Decuman to the Praetorian Port except where the Consuls Pavilion hinders it which is fifty foot broad and upon the left hand of it you may perceive the quarters of the Horse of the second Roman Legion take up a hundred foot in breadth and the Triarii next them fifty foot on whose left hand is a Street fifty foot broad Next to it behold the Principes have a hundred foot and the Hastati a hundred foot then you will perceive a Street fifty foot broad which divides the Hastati from the Allies of their second Legion their Horse you will see take 133½ foot in breadth and on their left hand their Foot have two hundred foot and next them you will come to the Alarm place still two hundred foot broad And when you have traced that place of Arms and are come to the left hand Port which they called Sinistra principalis you may if you please add these numbers together and you will find the aggregate to be two thousand and seventeen foot which is the latitude of the whole Camp You may remember that the length of our Camp was calculated to be two Roman Camp not exactly aequilateral squares thousand and fifty foot and the breadth of it being two thousand and seventeen it is thirty three foot longer than it is broad It is true the odds is not great yet such as makes its figure not to be perfectly aequilateral square which is the figure so much contended for But Terduzzi says that here a rigorous strictness in the measure is not to be look'd to things being done says he in a Martial not a Geometrical field But I am of opinion that no measure should be more strictly observed than that of ground allowed for Encamping for if it be not you shall hardly shun strife and altercation and which is worse disorder and confusion Now let us see if you please how much ground this Consular Camp Superficial measure of the Roman Camp contained or which is all one what was the superficial measure of it This you may do by multiplying the length by the breadth to wit two thousand and fifty by two thousand and seventeen the product will be if I have cast it up right 4134850 divide this number by five to make paces of it the Quotient will be 826970 and this will want only thirty paces of eight hundred and twenty seven Italian miles I wish Polybius had left us a figure of his Camp for if he did it is lost To supply which defect several have attempted to do it Lipsâ—â—s gives us one in his Several figures of the Roman Camp Commentary on Polybius you may see another in Achilles Terduzzâ— his Military Machines the third in the Sieur do Preissacks Military questions these two last for most part borrow theirs from Lipsius for they differ not except in some few things which I have touched in passing A fourth is to be seen in Steuechiuâ— his Commentary on Vegetius and indeed that differs from Lipsius his figure in some material points if I have observed well and they are these First Stouechius allows fifty foot in length for the quarters of the Electi of both Horse and Foot more than Lipsâ—â—s doth Secondly he takes these fifty feet from the Tribunes and quarters them in a parallel line with the Evocâ—â—i Differences between Lipsiâ—â— and Stâ—â—â—câ—ius figures whereas Lipsâ—â—s quarters them behind the Evocati and the Praetoriâ—â— Thirdly he leaves no room for the Prâ—secti of the Allies who were twelve in number and for whom Lipsâ—â—s allow'd six hundred foot square to wit fifty for every one of the twelve and in a parallel line with the Tribunes below the Evocati and next to Via principalis Fourthly Stâ—â—â—chius alters the whole site of the Camp for he makes the Decuman Port to be nearest the Praetorium and the Praetorian one to be furthest from the Consuls Pavilion so by this account that Port which to Lipsius is Principalis dextra is to Steuecâ—hius Principalis finistra and so indeed he calls it in his figure I know not how they shall be reconciled in these
points and especially in the last For upon the one hand I think it agrees with reason that the Praetorian Port should have been nearest the Enemy as out of which the Army was to march in quest of that Enemy and no doubt the Consul would chuse to lodge as near the Enemy as he could and on the head of that Army of his own which faced constantly towards the Enemy since he did not quarter in the middle of his Army And conform to this we find the fronts of Reasons for Lipsius the several quarters of both Horse and Foot that were lodged in the inferiour part of the Camp to face all towards the Praetorium and Via Principalis on the other side whereof were the Tribunes quartered Neither doth it seem reasonable that the Consul and his Tribunes quartered in the Rear of the Camp for so they must have done if they had lodged so far from the Praetorian Port out of which the Army was to march And all this makes for Lipsius his position of the Roman Camp Yet I must tell you that on the other hand I think Steuechius may not only alledge his own Author Vegetius to be for him but Polybius likewise Let us hear them both I shall English them faithfully Vegetius in the twenty third Chapter of his first Book says The Decuman Port is behind the Praetorium out of which the delinquent Souldiers are carried to their punishment Behind the Praetorium that is not far from Reasons for Steuechius it And this insinuates that the aspect of the Praetorium or Consuls Pavilion was towards the furthest end of the Camp where Steuechius will have the Praetorian Port to be For if Vegetius had meant that the further end of the lower part of the Camp was the place where the Decuman Port was he needed not have said it was behind the Praetorium but behind all the quarters of the Legions as Lipsius makes it to be And Polybius in his sixth Book speaking of that nameless street which traverseth the upper region of the Camp hath these words and I pray observe them Over against the Praetorium saith he there is a street which carrieth to the Postern parts of the Camp Here he seems to be very clear for Steuechius if he be not hear him once more He had been speaking of the extraordinary Horse of the Allies and he adds these words Averse from these Horses are quarter'd the Extraordinary Foot of the Allies looking to the back of the Camp Now these Extraordinaries were quarter'd in the upper part of the Camp and not far from the Praetorium and faced to the Rampart which by this place of Polybius was the back of the Camp and consequently the Port nearest it was the Decuman I shall leave it to those who understand Castrametation better than I either do or profess to do to compose the difference But all four Lipsius Du Preissac Terduzzi and Steuechius differ from their Both of them differ in some things from Polybius Master Polybius for he expressly mentions a Forum or Market place and quarters for two Legates to be all in the upper region of the Camp The Forum Lipsius hath not in his Figure though it be mention'd in his Table nor have Preissac or Terduzzi one in theirs a great oversight in all three Steuechius hath indeed the Forum on the Left hand of the Praetorium but for that he exterminates both the Legates out of his Camp to whom the other three are so hospitable as to afford Lodging and yet all four are one way or another inexcusable The Romans allowed Tents both to their Horse men and Foot in every Roman Tents Tent were ten men and those had the name of a Contubernium whereof I spoke before though Vegetius makes it to consist of eleven wherein I believe few joyn with him By this account three Tents serv'd all the Horse-men of one Troop and twelve serv'd a Maniple of Foot of one hundred and twenty Men. I find their Tents were made of Leather for holding out of rain and were carried at the publick charges Terduzzi says they were low and flat and he calls them in his Italian language Trabacche which is Booths or Shelters In this place Lipsius offers to fill up a corner of their Tent with a Vas so he calls it a Vessel or a Tub and indeed it is but the tale of a Tub to say no worse of it wherein he will have the Roman Souldiers to do the work of nature He says it is but his own conjecture and truly it is so poor a one that he might have kept it to himself and the Tub too For who will imagine except Lipsius that the Contubernals did make one of these Vessels at every nights Leaguer or else that they carried it about with them by turns the first very improbable and the second exceedingly ridiculous He might have learn'd of the Jews and all late Castrametators too to have sent them for such an errand a pretty way without the Camp The same Lipsius and to second him Terduzzi are very prolix in the commendation of the regularity form conveniency and order of this Camp of which a man is oblig'd to believe no more than what agreeth with his own reason Among other things the first of them will have us believe that no woman was suffer'd in the Roman Camps And because he foresaw that it Women in Roman Camps might be objected that Scipio the Numantine in his Reformation of Military Discipline discharged the Camp of all Whores from whence it might be inferr'd First That married Women were still kept in the Camp and Secondly That Whores had been permitted to be in it before Scipio's Reformation he boldly avers that the Latine word Scorta in that place is not taken for Whores but for Viri mulierosi Whether the word will admit that interpretation Lipsius extraâ—agant I dare not dispute with Lipsius whom Boccalini stageth in Parnassus confessing that he was nothing but a meer and a pure Grammarian But I cannot understand what he means by his Viri Mulierosi if not those whom we call Sodomites or Buggerers And if so we may infer that these were either allow'd of or conniv'd at before Scipio reform'd that sinful abuse And this perhaps gave occasion to a Poets wish Romanis utinam patuissent castra puellis Since Natures Laws must be obey'd or men will go astray Why do you women then command out of your Camps to stay And if this be Lipsius his meaning then I am sure the ancient Romans who gloried so much in the profession of moral Vertues owe him the lye I suppose he forgot here what a little before he had told us in that same Book out of Tacitus that a lascivious woman was found in carnal act with a Souldier in the principal street which was accounted Holy because their Altars were erected in it neither did the Historian complain that a woman was in the Camp or
trees and the Stakes the shrubs Gustavus Adolphus was the first Swedish King that used them and it is said he invented them in his Wars in Liefland against the Polonians who far overpowered him in Horse I believe he used them first there but the invention of them is of a far older date than the Swedes would have them to be for Henry the Fifth King of England the night before the Battel of Agencourt fearing to be born down by the French Kings numerous Used by Henry the Fifth at Agen-court Cavalry caused each of his Bowmen to provide one of these Stakes whereof the Vines there afforded him plenty and being made sharp at both ends though they were not pointed with Iron they did his business well enough and contributed not a little to the gaining of that Victory which gave him so great footing in France To this kind of defensive Arms may be reduced that invention of Rangon in Rangons frame of Defence the French Army in the Reign of Francis the first which was a great frame of Timber that could be taken in pieces and carried on Carts and easily join'd together whereby Batallions were barricado'd and serv'd but to little purpose As also that frame which as I have heard from some Commanders the Great Duke of Muscovia useth with which the Russians are so well acquainted Muscovian Barricado that they can very suddenly piece it together and shroud themselves within it from the charge of Horse and as nimbly take it down and march away with it In my last Chapter of the Grecian Militia I spoke of the French defensive French Defensive Arms. Arms both for their Horse and Foot in the Reign of Henry the Second far different from those that are used now The Turk useth defensive Arms but neither so good or so many as other Turks Nations do The Persian Curiassiers are arm'd all over their Bodies men and horse and Persian this perhaps helps them to over-master the Turk in Cavalry Their Head-pieces are deckt with fair and large Plumes of Feathers and their Targets which they likewise use are gilded they have likewise light Horsemen who carry Head pieces and Corslets When the Mamalucks had the Soveraignty of Egypt Syria and Palestine the Mamalucks better sort of them for all were Horsemen were arm'd for the Defensive from head to foot man and horse the second sort carried large Targets wherewith they defended their Bodies in the shock but before they came to it they threw these Targets over their backs till they made use of their Bows and Arrows The Abyssens or Aethiopians one hundred and forty years ago arm'd their Abyssens Horsemen with Coats of Male which cover'd their whole bodies to their knees Morâ—ions for their heads and in their hands round Targets In the days of Charles the Fifth the Bohemians had great Targets or Shields Bohemians wherewith they cover'd their whole bodies Before that time and since too the Hungarians Walachians and Transylvanians used Head pieces Corslets and Hungarians Targets Since Gunpowder the Englishmen at Arms or Curiassiers were armed at all English pieces their light Horsemen with Morrions Jacks and Sleeves of Male. So were our Scots who used also Steel-caps or Bonnets Scottish John Petyâ— in his History of the Netherlands tells us that in the year 1599 when the Estates of the Vnited Provinces were making vast preparations for the prosecution Hollanders of the War against Spain and to that purpose were levying both Foot and Horse they made an Ordnance for the Arms that both their Horsemen and Footmen should carry of the Defensive he gives us this account The Reuters or Horsemen suppose Curiassiers were to have a Head-piece a Gorget a Breast and a Back two Poldrons a Gantlet for his left hand belly and thigh and Knee-pieces and Culots which saith he were pieces of Armour to defend the reins The Carabiners were to have a Head-piece a Gorget a Back and a Breast The Pikemen Head-pieces Gorgets Backs and Breasts The Musketeers Head-pieces What Offensive Arms or Weapons all these Nations used I am to tell you just now CHAP. IV. Of Offensive Arms or Weapons used by the Cavalry of several Nations THat there is no new thing under the Sun and that what is hath been may admit of a favourable Interpretation for time was when neither Pistol nor Carrabine were known in the world neither did Antiquity know Gunpowder which is the Mother of them both and many other Engines of fire The Sword is a weapon that is never out of fashion used in all ages and by The Sword all Nations of the world though the difference be that some Horsemen use long and some short Swords But this should not be left to the choice of the Horsemen for the length of their Swords should be limited to them by the Prince or State they serve Few tell us whether the Swords of the Horsemen they write of were for cutting or for thrusting or for both as the Roman Swords were The Persians Turks Russians Polonians and Hungarians for most part wear Scimiters and Shables which being crooked serve only for shearing and not at all for stabbing Monluc in the first Book of his first Tome says that in the Reign of Francis the first about a hundred and forty years ago the French Gens d'Arms carried broad Swords which were so well edged that they could cut through Sleeves and Caps of Male. The Scots and English used constantly broad Swords for if we believe some of the English Histories a Rapier is so new a Weapon in England that it is not yet above one hundred years old In the time of the late Troubles in England long Rapiers were used for a while and then laid aside The German Horsemen use Swords fit both to slash and thrust John Petyâ— in that place mention'd in the last Chapter says The Estates of Holland order'd their Horsemen to carry short Swords according to such a length appointed for that purpose It were to be wish'd that if Horsemen be obliged by their capitulation to furnish themselves with Swords that their Officers would see them provided of better than ordinarily most of them carry which are such as may be well enough resisted by either a good Felt or a Buff-coat A Mace is an ancient weapon for a Horseman neither was it out of use long The Mace after the invention of Hand-guns for we read of them frequently used by most Nations an hundred years ago And certainly in a Medley they may be more serviceable than Swords for when they were guided by a strong arm we find the party struck with them was either fell'd from his horse or having his Head-piece beat close to his head was made reel in his Saddle with his blood running plentifully out of his nose The Lance was the Horsemans weapon wherewith he charged neither do I The Lance. find that any Nation wanted
do likewise Fear indeed occasions confusion and he will still have Pikemen more fearful than other men Besides he will have them to be ill train'd as if they durst not hazard to charge with their Pikes for fear of hurting either their Commanders or their Companions As to the time of night when the enemy may fall on I know not well what he means by it unless it be that he thinks the darkness or horrour of the night should put a Pikeman in greater danger than a Musqueteer and this I would gladly hear him or any other for him demonstrate His fourth argument is that Pikes are unfit and unserviceable for Convoys In answer to this I ask admit it were so is it therefore not useful at all Fourth Argument Next I say he is mistaken for many Convoys have made use of them and many Convoys must make use of Pikes according to the nature of the ground they Answered are to traverse open Heath and Champain Country or as the enemies strength is fancied to be either in Foot or Horse Many great Convoys are composed only of Firelocks or Fusees I hope Master Lupton will not thence infer that Musquets are useless Fifthly he says The Musqueteer is overtoil'd and discourag'd when he sees Fifth Argument he must do the whole duty in Sallies Skirmishes Convoys and Onslachts as he calls them suppose Infalls or Surprisals from all which the Pikeman is exempted In answer to which I ask who exempted him Truly none that I know Answered but Brancatio and Master Lupton who exempts him from all other duties and makes him unnecessary nor can I divine where our Author hath learn'd this Discipline that he offers to teach us I have shewn the Pikeman is necessary for some Convoys in all Sallies he is serviceable sometimes with his Pike or sometimes with a half Pike or a Halbert sometimes a Morning Star and sometimes Hand granado's with all which the Musqueteer many times must do service for in the medley of a Salley his Musquet is often an unnecessary Weapon unless he be within a Parapet As for Surprizals and Anslachts the Pikeman many times may be very useful and more than the Musqueteer unless he change the Lock of his Musquet as I told you in the last Chapter As to Skirmishes it will be easily granted him that neither the heavy armed Footman who should be the Pikeman nor the heavy armed Horseman who is the Curiassier are proper for them These services were performed in ancient times by the Velites and now by Musquets Fusees Fire-locks and light Horsemen the heavy armed standing ready to sustain them and either to give or receive the Charge Nor did I ever hear Musqueteers make any such complaints as these our Author is pleased to charge them with Sixthly he tells us That in Outworks before or besides an enemy the Pikeman Sixth Argument is useless unless it be to stand Centinel for says he the Musqueteers defend the works and while they are furiously giving fire the Pikeman is sitting in the Trenches taking Tabaco or telling Tales For answer I do not remember that ever I heard a Soldier tell such a tale as this of Mr. Luptons but I know not where this man is he is just now in Out-works and immediately in Trenches It seems they are all one with him but because they are not so I must divide his argument into two parts and give an answer Subdivided to both If it be in Trenches or Approaches to a besieged Fort that the Musqueâ—eers are giving fire furiously it must be either at a Sally of the enemy And answered and then sure the Pikeman is neither sitting nor idle or it is when a Battery is a making near the Counterscarp or that the Zap is begun there and then indeed both Cannon and Musqueâ— should fire furiously upon both Curtains and flanks of the Wall that from thence those who work may be as little disturbed as may be and at that time the Pikeman is busie working with a Spade Shovel or Mattock in his hand or is carefully attending to give obedience to what else he is commanded to do perhaps to receive the Sally of an enemy In the next place I come to Mr. Luptons Outworks and he must mean the Pike is useless either when an Outwork is storm'd or when it is defended from a Storm If the first the Pike is more necessary than any Fire-gun after those who carry them come to the ascending or mounting the work and this is obvious to sense If the second when an enemy is coming on to the Storm it is the Musqueteers part to give fire to keep him off and chace him away but the enemy being already at the foot of the work and mounting the Musquet is useless except from flanks and the Pikâ—man then with stones and Hand-granado's doth the service till the enemy be within push of Pike and then sure the Pike is not useless But he says a Pike is too long a weapon for this service To answer which I shall tell you that Outworks whereof Mr. Lupton speaks confusedly are Tenailles Ravelines Half-moons Crown-works and Horn-works and for the defence of these ordinarily there are other weapons than either Pike or Musquet such are Hand-granado's Stones Halberts Partisans Morning Stars two handed and hangmans Swords which are standing ready within the work that when the Pike cannot be made use of the Pikeman and Musqueteer both may make use of them or any of them And if none of these weapons be in the work a Pikeman may very soon make a Half-Pike of his long Pike which is a weapon much commended by Mr. Lupton But there is no necessity for that either for in these Outworks I have spoke of a Pikeman may with much ease stand on the Rampart and griping his Pike either at half or quarter length tumble down an enemy dead or alive from the top of the Parapet and not cut his Pike at all And because our Author may mean Redoubts and Batteries which are made at Sieges for truly I do not well know where to find him I say the Musqueteers standing on the foot banks of these and doing their work the Pikemen may stand in the body of the Redoubt or Battery and kill or throw over any enemy that is on the head of the Parapet As a Corollary to this sixth argument our Author tells us of a Scout that was lost at the Siege of Stoad where the half of the Soldiers were Pikemen to whom he attributes the loss I suppose he means by Scout some Post and why may not I say the other half of the Defendants who were Musketeers occasion'd the loss and not the Pike-men but because I know not what he means I shall grant him all he says and yet aver that the particular oversight of Pike-men will never conclude the Pike universally useless Seventhly he says Pike-men cannot make a Retreat for saith he an
make not their Captains do their duty in so necessary a point of War I have seen in Germany and Denmark Regiments newly raised and some also sent out of Sweden in the time of the long War before the Peace of Munster only exercised and drill'd three or four times and that was enough for them Supine carelesness of Colonels for the whole time they were to serve for a man would have made himself ridiculous if he had spoken of drilling old Soldiers to keep them in mind of their Postures and Motions this would have been lookt on as a disparagement to them for it would have been presupposed that they stood in need of Exerciseing as in truth most of them did It is a pity and sometimes matter of sport to hear men glory that they are old Soldiers who either never have learned Old Soldiers or have forgot what belongs to their profession and so upon the matter prove themselves to be old fools Nay I have seen in these same Wars many new levied Companies Troops and Regiments never Train'd or Exercised at all nay not so much as one lesson given to a Soldier for the handling his Arms. It is true most of those who were levied in my time had serv'd in those Wars which were before my time but all had not and therefore some were raw and unexperienced and the oldest Soldiers of them needed exceedingly to have had their memories refresht This was the condition of five thousand Foot and three Troops of Horse which the City of Dantzick levied and entertain'd in the time of the late Swedish War against Poland from the year 1656 till the year 1660. I have not seen braver men nor better equipp'd in any Militia than these were but in one whole Summer that I was there I never saw one Company or one man of a Company drill'd or exercis'd Since the Estates of the Vnited Provinces made their Peace with the King of Spain their Officers have been negligent enough of this duty which might have been easily observ'd in most of their Garrisons wherein I have been But I suppose their late alarms have made them resume their ancient care and diligence These Military Exercises were so far worn out of use that I knew Count Koningsmark in the year 1655 when he raised some new Regiments for his Master the King of Sweden take some old Officers to be Drill-masters to the Drill-masters new levied Companies which notwithstanding were provided with all the Officers belonging to them and these Drill-masters he entertain'd with Monthly wages which I thought was not done without some blemish to the reputation of all the Officers especially of the Colonels and Captains That part of Training which teacheth the handling Arms is different to wit that which teacheth a Horseman to manage handsomely and readly his Pistol Carbine and Sword whether he be a Curiassier or Harquebusier and that which teacheth a Foot soldier to handle his Musquet and Pike and his Swedes Feather if he have one And as a Horseman is obliged to learn to Saddle and Drilling of Horsemen Bridle his Horse quickly and well to mount and dismount handsomely to ride decently and carry his body well or as it is called to have a good seat in his Saddle and how to use his voice his hand his leg and his spur so he is obliged to teach his Horse to obey him whether it be in trotting galloping running standing stopping turning or wheeling The Horseman ought to be taught how to keep his Pistols and Carbine fixt and bright without rust how to charge them quickly and prime them how to fire them and readily charge again And he must be especially careful not to ride a shie-horse for such a one may not only bring his Rider in danger and disgrace but disorder the whole Troop Exercise and accustoming his Horse to all feats of Horsemanship especially to see fire to stand when a Pistol or Carbine are discharg'd close by him and to hear the Trumpet will by degrees banish shieness from him and therefore frequent Drilling-troops of Horse teacheth both man and horse their duties Troops should in some points be exercised by sound of Trumpet that Horsemen may know the several points of War by their several names as to the Watch to Saddle to Horse to March to Charge to Râ—tire The particular words of command for Drilling a single Horsemâ—â— that is to teach him the right and true use of his Arms whether he be a Curiaâ—â—â—â—r Harquebusier or Carbiner are too tedious to be set down here and indeed needless for they are vulgarly known and so are those for the Arms of the Infantry whether for the Pike or the Musquet To teach either Horsemen or Foot-Soldiers their Motions and Evolutions Motions or Evolutions of Bodies both of Horse and Foot when they are in Bodies greater or smaller is the second part of Training or Drilling The words of command for both Horse and Foot in these Motions are the very same only the Distances are different Three Foot are allowed between files of Foot and that is order six is open order and twelve is open open order or double double distance and these you may make use of in Exercising Marching or Fighting as you think convenient In Marches the length of the Pike requires six foot of distance between ranks Some allow in Distances exercising Bodies of Horse six foot for single distance between ranks and files and twelve for double distance The Germans ordinarily allow ten for the one and twenty for the other All these Motions and Evolutions may be reduced to four kinds these are Facings Doublings Countermarchings and Wheelings I do not intend to trouble either my Reader or my self with the several words of command ordinary Drill-masters have most of them though not all But he who would have those for Horse exactly may find them in the Supplement to the Compleat Body of the Art Military and both for Foot and Horse in the famous Earl of Straffords Instructions for the Discipline of his Army And those for the Foot alone very well done by Sir Thâ—mas Kâ—lliâ— and compleatly indeed by Lieutenant Colonel Elâ—on in his compleat Body of the Art Observations concerning Training of War Yet I shall desire my Reader with me to observe in Exercises of Foot and Horse these few Particulars First That none of the three ordinary ways used for doubling of ranks in First Observation Bodies of Foot can be made use of in exercising Bodies of Horse as now they are Marshalled in most places of Europe that is three deep or three in file nor can it be where they are five in file as in some places they were all odd numbers being improper for doublings either of ranks or files Secondly That the Facing of a great Body of Horse to either right or left Second hand or about by either right or left hand is a difficult work though with
have discharged their shot even in the hottest Piece of service and without the help of Musquet-rests And I suppose it needs be thought no Paradox in me to say that five ranks of Musqueteers can fire one after another without intermission and Five deep the first of the five be ready to fire again before the last have discharged let any Commander try it with expert Firemen he will find it will be done easily enough And that you may see that this is no new conceit of mine I shall tell you that Giovio informs us that at Vienna the twenty thousand Harquebusiers that were in the Christian Army were all marshal'd five deep and so made four thousand files It is without all peradventure that the best Commanders then in Europe were there who would not have permitted this if they had not known that the first rank could have fired and made ready again before all the other four had discharged neither must you impute this to the ignorance of the Historian as being a Churchman for he is so punctual as to write nothing of any Military action but what he had from the relation of the greatest Captains that were upon the place And truly if you will consider all I have said or all that may be said on this subject Reasons for it you may perhaps think with me that both Musqueteers and Pikemen may be marshal'd five deep with no inconvenience at all to the service I think I hear some speculative persons cry out that this is against the rules of all Tacticks who reject odd numbers as unfit for doubling But stay do you exercise for shew only or for use If only for shew I grant you should neither have odd ranks Objections against it nor files but if for use I say that five deep is better than six deep for those very reasons that made six deep better than eight deep and eight better than ten You say you cannot double your ranks at five deep what then I say you need not for I would have your ranks no fewer than five when you are ten Answered deep why double you your ranks is it not to make them five and thereby to enlarge your front and why then may you not be five ranks at first and thereby save your self the labour of doubling And as it is not at all necessary to double your ranks when your Batallion consists of no more but five ranks so I conceive the doubling of ranks not necessary when your Battel is but six deep for three ranks of Pikes is not strong enough either to give or receive a Charge nor are they numerous enough for Musqueteers to fire one rank after another without interruption it not being feasible for the first rank to fire and be ready before the third rank have discharged so that when six ranks are made three it is only for a parting blow for the Musqueteers to fire kneeling stooping and standing Now you may order the first three ranks of five to fire in the same fashion kneeling stooping and standing and you have by the bargain two ranks in reserve till the first three recover and those two ranks may afterward fire the first rank kneeling and the second standing and then all the five ranks have fired and are as ready either with Buts of Musquets or Swords to receive the enemy if he advance as the six ranks doubled in three and in far better order Either then your doubling of ranks is unnecessary in service or five deep at first is as good if not better as ten ranks to be doubled in five or six ranks doubled in three And though five ranks cannot be doubled the inconvenience of that is not so great as the advantages it hath of a large front and bringing many hands to fight and if upon any emergency which will fall out very seldom you conceive your front too large you may quickly help it The Authors private opinion by causing your files to double and then you are ten deep But I shall quickly part with this opinion when I hear a stronger argument against it than that which says that thereby ranks cannot be doubled for the truth is it is my private opinion that there be many superfluous words in Exercise and though I think doubling of ranks and files too sometimes convenient before the near approach of an enemy yet I hope none will deny that both of them are very improper in the time of service But Loquendum cum vulgo is a Golden sentence Well we have our Foot-Company no stronger than one hundred men and Seventeen Files in a Company of one hundred men divided into three parts whereof two are Musqueteers and Pikemen are glad to be admitted to make the third These must be marshal'd six in one file now seventeen times six is more than one hundred and sixteen times six is less than one hundred Add therefore three Corporals to the hundred Soldiers you shall have seventeen compleat files and one man over whom you may appoint to help the Ensign to carry his Colours for a Furer is not allow'd him in all establishments A Company being thus marshal'd in seventeen files eleven must be Musqueteers and six Pikemen to wit on the right hand of the Pikemen six files of Musqueteers and on the left hand five files The Captain is to teach his Soldiers to keep their just distances between file The several kinds of Distances and file end between rank and rank Distances are ordinarily threefold Order open Order and close Order The first of three foot the second of six the third of one foot and a half to which in some case is added open open order which is of twelve foot At Exercisings both ranks and files should stand at open order in Marches the files at order but the ranks at open order because of the Pikes which must have more ground than Musqueteers require and in service both the files and ranks of Musqueteers must be at order that is three foot distance but the Pikemen both in file and rank at close order that is at the distance of one foot and a half I must tell you in this place of a general mistake Mistakes in reckoning Distances and is the very same I accused Vegetius of in the Roman Militia and it is this All say that the files when they stand in Battel should be at order that is at the distance of three foot as indeed they should But if you ask how many foot of ground seventeen files whereof our Company consists possess in front they will immediately answer you fifty and one And here there is a double Distance of Files error first no ground is allowed for the Combatants to stand on for the distance of three foot between files takes up that one and fifty foot or very near it Secondly they make seventeen files to have seventeen distances whereas they have but sixteen This oversight I
have observ'd in most Tacticks Lieutenant Colonel Elton is very clear in his definition of a distance which though I told you of it before I shall again give you Distance says he is a place or interval of ground between every rank and rank and every file and file as they stand By this description then three foot of distance being allowed between every file and file there are in seventeen files sixteen distances or intervals which make but forty and eight foot then you are to allow seventeen foot to the Combatants that is one foot for every man to stand on seventeen being added to forty eight make sixty five and so many foot of ground doth a Company possess in front if it consist of seventeen files for the ground of the ranks you are to compute it thus Six ranks take six foot to stand on and thirty foot for five intervals six foot being allow'd for open order in all six and thirty foot which a Distance of Ranks Company Regiment Brigade or Army of Foot constantly possesseth from the toes of the Leaders to the heels of the Bringers up unless you bring the ranks to stand at order which you may frequently do with very good reason and then the five Intervals take up but fifteen foot which being added to the six foot on which the ranks stand make but twenty one foot And when Pikes are to give or receive a Charge you may bring them to close order that is one foot and a half and then the five Intervals take up but 7½ foot these being added to six make 13½ foot Observe that in Exercising this Company of seventeen Files you are to set aside one of the Files because it is odd and so The Colours will hinder the doubling the Files The Colours of the Company are to be on the head of the Pikes neither can they conveniently be between the second and third rank in time of Battel as some would have them to be for you may easily consider what room an Ensign can have with his Colours between ranks when they are at order much less at close order as they should be in the time of Battel It will be fitting before I go further to meet with an objection concerning Objection against my Distances of Files Distances it is this The three foot of distance allowed between Files say they must be reckoned from the Centers that is from the two middle parts of the two File-leaders as from the middle part of the right hand File-leader to the middle part of the File-leader who stands on his left hand I wonder at this notion for hereby two File-leaders take up one foot of ground and so doth the rest of the File and there are but two foot of Interval between the two files and this cannot at all quadrate with the definition of distance for that is an Interval between Files and not betwixt the two middle parts of two mens Bodies And the Authors of Tacticks should have been clearer in their expressions and have said two foot between Files which they knew was too Answered little and have added that every File should have one foot of ground to stand on for what language is this a man shall have half a foot for his right middle part and another half foot for his left middle part for this way of their reckoning of the three foot of distance amounts to just so much and no better language which I conceive is very improper besides by this account the right and left hand Files would have each of them one half foot of ground more than any of the rest of the Files the right hand Filemen hath it by the right middle parts of their bodies and the left hand Filemen by the left middle parts of their Bodies because these two Files on these two hands have no Sidemen which you may easily conceive if you please a little to consider it Let us in the next place see what Officers are appointed to have the command Of Officers of a Company and inspection of this Company and here we may find some difference in the several establishments of Princes and States yet in this we find all agree to have a Captain a Lieutenant an Ensign Serjeants Corporals and Drummers except the Spaniard who rejects the Lieutenant as useless some allow no more Officers than those I have spoken of some allow more to wit a Captain of Armies a Furer a Fourier and a Clerk or Scrivener And besides some allow Lancepesats or Lancpresads as they are commonly called as also Reformado's and Gentlemen of a Company But neither Lancepesats Gentlemen of the Company nor Reformado's are Officers and though Corporals be yet they carry Arms and march in rank and file I shall describe all these and all the Officers of a Foot Company beginning with the Reformado and ending with the Captain Those are called Reformado's or Reformed who have been Officers suppose Reformed Officers Commissionated and those only and are out of charge and bear Arms till they can be prefer'd In some places they are permitted to be without Arms. A Gentleman of the Company is he who is something more than an ordinary Gentleman of a Company Souldier hath a little more pay and doth not stand Centinel In French he is called Appointe and with the Germans he is called Gefreuter They march and watch with Arms they go common Rounds and Patrouills and near an Enemy they are to be the forlorn Centinels whom the French call Perdus Lancespesate is a word deriv'd from the Italian Lance spesata which signifies a broken or spent Lance. He is a Gentleman of no ancient standing in the Militia for he draws his Pedigree from the time of the Wars between Francis the First and his Son Henry the Second Kings of France on the one part and the Emperour Charles the Fifth and his Brother-in-law the Duke of Savoy on the other part in those Wars when a Gentleman of a Troop of Horse in any Skirmish Battel or Rencounter had broke his Lance on his enemy and lost his Horse in the Scuffle he was entertain'd under the name of a Broken-Lance by a Captain of a Foot Company as his Comerade till he was again mounted But as all good orders fall soon from their Primitive Institution so in a short time our Monsieur Lancespesata for so he was called was forc'd to descend from being Lancespesata the Captains Comerade and became the Corporals Companion and assisted him in the Exercise of his Charge and therefore was sometimes called by the French Aide Caporal But when the Caporal grew weary of the Comradeship of his Lancespesata he made him officiate under him and for that had some allowance of pay more than the common Soldier which he enjoys in those places where he is made use of and still keeps the noble Title of Lancespesata though perhaps he was never on Horseback in his life corruptly
very short time consist of able and well exercis'd Soldiers I wish it may be so and I am sure it should be so In former times a Captain march'd in the head of his Company with a Head-piece a Corslet and a Gorge all high Proof and so did the Lieutenant in Captain and Lieutenant in Harness the Reer But you may now travel over many places of Christendâ—m before you see many of those Captains and Lieutenants The difference of the Armour was none but that the Captains Helmet was decored with a Plume of Feathers the Lieutenants not The Feathers you may peradventure yet find but the Headpiece for most part is laid aside The Spanish and French Captains and Lieutenants likewise carry Pikes the With Pikes Spaniards shoulder'd the French comported The Germans Swedes Danes and almost generally all others carry nothing in their hands but Canes but indeed besides that it was not the custom formerly to do so I hope it will not be denied but that in time of action Officers should have some other offensive Weapons in their hands than either Canes or Swords and on a march their servants may carry these whether they be Pikes or Partisans The Marquess of Guast Alphonso Davalo who had the command of several Imperial Armies when his Master Charles the Fifth took a view of his numerous forces at Vienna march'd in the head of the Infantry with a Pike in his hand Marshal Monluc at the Battel of Ceresole carried a Pike because he led a great Batallion of Pikes but on all other occasions he used a Halbert or Partisan as he tells us in several places An Halbert or Partisan of his Commentaries in one whereof speaking of the Halbert he says Il a tousiours aymé de me jouer de ce baston lá I lov'd always says he to play with that batton And assuredly a Partisan or Halbert is a more manageable weapon for an Officer than a Pike The Serjeant is distinguished from the Captain and Lieutenant because he shoulders his Halbert they comport theirs And I suppose it were fit the Captain and Lieutenants Halberts or Partisans should be diversified by several trimmings that the one may be distinguisht from the other The word Captain is a general word for all Commanders as Captains of fifties Captain a general Title of hundreds and of thousands and he who commands over all the forces is called very properly a Captain General but now it is most ordinarily taken for him who commands a private Company or Troop and so passeth current in all Languages that I understand A Company being thus describ'd with all its Officers a Regiment is soon understood A Regiment which I shall define to be a certain number of Companies join'd in one body under one head This definition agrees with all Regiments of whatever strength they be There is not a definite number of Companies ordain'd for each Regiment some consisting of six some eight some twelve and some of twenty but ten is now most ordinary and formerly it was so when Regiments were three thousand strong and each Company three hundred yet I find that in every French Legion which consisted of eighteen Companies there were about three hundred three and thirty men in each Company for every Legion was six thousand strong Nor is this word Regiment one hundred year old nor do A new word I know of what Language it is in the French and Italian Tongues it was called a Legion and so it was in Latin and he who commanded in chief over it was called Colonel and Colonello In Spanish it was called Terzo and its Commander Maistro del Campo In high Dutch it was called Faulein and he who commanded it Oberster which signifies Superior or Supreme But Colonel is now undâ—rstood in all Languages and the word Regiment however barbarous it be in it self hath supprest all other names and titles and is now only used in all European Tongues The Swedes in my time order'd all their new levied Regiments to consist of eight Companies and each Company of one hundred and twenty six men and this made the Regiment to be one thousand and eight men Regiments consisting of ten companies and each company of one hundred men wants but eight of the former number and both of them resemble the Grecian Chiliarchy which contain'd one thousand and twenty four men so that Chiliarcha is a Colonel you may call our Modern Colonel Chiliarcha in Greek more properly than you can call him Tribunus Militum in Latin A Regiment thus composed of ten Companies hath Officers besides those of Companies already describ'd whose charges belong equally to all the ten those are called Officers of the Staff in high Dutch the Etymology of the word I A Regiment-Staff cannot give you these are the Colonel the Lieutenant-Colonel and the Major these three are called likewise Officers of the Field Besides them there belongs to the Staff a Preacher a Chirurgeon a Quarter-master and a Provost Marshal these four are entertain'd in all Regiments by all States and Princes who maintain Armies and some have also a Regiment-Scrivener or Clerk an Auditor and a Hangman The Scrivener receives the Pay according Regiment-Scrivener to the Muster-rolls whereof he is the Keeper and gives it out to the particular Clerks of Companies according to the directions of the Colonel to whom when present the Scrivener is only accountable and in his absence to his Lieutenant-Colonel The Auditor hath that same power in a Regiment that Auditor a General Auditor or Judg-Marshal hath in an Army and what that is I have told you in the ninth Chapter of our Modern Art of War In some places to save expence they make the Quarter-master supply this Scriveners place nor do some Princes allow any Regiment-Auditor though I think him a very necessary Officer for without him our Regiment-Courts of War especially if the business be of any intricacy are very disorderly nor do some allow wages to Regiment-hangmen and where they are wanting capital crimes must be punisht Hangman by Harquebusiers and scourging must be converted into the Gatloupe The Regiment Provost-Marshal hath power to apprehend any Soldier whom he sees Provost-Marshal transgressing the Laws and Articles of War from doing whereof no Officer may hinder him but he hath not power to set any Prisoner at liberty no not those whom himself hath imprison'd He is Gaoler and keeps those who are committed to him either in Irons or without Irons for which he hath a Guard allow'd him He is to present the Prisoners to the Court of War and to desire that Justice may be done on them for the crimes they have committed which he is obliged to specifie and he is to be present at the execution of every sentence and when a Soldier is to run the Gatloupe he is to give him the first lash he is to impose prices on Wine Ale Beer Mead
Captains unless he have a Company himself The Swedes of a long time allowed him no company yet allow'd him the command over Captains but it is now many years ago since they were permitted to have companies hence perhaps it is that when they have no companies they may be called Serjeant-Majors as when they have companies the Germans call them Captain-Majors but the English use frequently the words of Serjeant Major and Serjeant-Major General none of them are used either by German Swede or Dane A Lieutenant-Colonel is that in a Regiment that a Lieutenant is in a company Lieutenant-Colonel and therefore when the Colonel is present the Lieutenant-Colonel hath no command and since in the Colonels absence the other commands the Regiment I think he should be endued with all those qualifications that are required to be in a Colonel and what these are I shall tell you as others have told me with my own sense of them A Colonel say some should be a Gentleman of great experience in Military Colonel Affairs bold and resolute courteous affable liberal judicious and religious But such descriptions of Military Officers seem to proceed from those Philosophers who teach men to conform their lives and actions to the strict and severe rules of Moral vertue for my part I would not only have a Colonel to be pious and religious but his whole Regiment likewise but because this may rather be wisht than expected I say if he be not exemplarily pious he may notwithstanding be a Colonel good enough so he be not a profest Atheist I would have a Colonel to be affable and liberal but though His Qualifications he be both churlish and Parsimonious he may be a Colonel good enough I would have a Colonel to be experienced in most of the points of War yet though he be not and hath seen but little if he be of a ready wit and good judgment he may be a Colonel good enough for Princes and States when they raise Armies think it fit to make choice of Colonels who can levy Regiments for which employment without question men of good birth and quality are most proper But courage an aptitude to learn and proneness to follow advice are qualities very essential and requisite in all men of that charge it is little matter how avaritious a Colonel be so he offer not to meddle with any part of the pay of his Regiment except his own It is the less matter though he be ignorant in some points belonging to his command so he be willing to be advised by those of his Officers who understand them But those who fancy that the Title of Colonels entails a right upon them to command what they please and to pay their Regiments as they like and by their wilful ignorance confound matters of Government and Discipline and introduce and frame Customs in their Regiments which no others use should be chac'd out of all Armies as presumptuous arrogant and impertinent if not worse Having spoken now sufficiently of all the Officers belonging to a Company and Regiment of Foot it will be time to put the several Companies in one Body thereby to make a Regiment but I will first tell the Captains that after they have for some time exercis'd their Companies and thereby known the abilities of their several Soldiers they must be careful to put them in ranks and files according as they find they deserve the properest tallest and strongest men they should arm with Pikes the rest with Musquets Next to the Corporal 's the most deserving should be File-leaders the next place of dignity is the To marshal a Company in ranks and files reer the third is the middle or fourth rank the fourth dignity is the second rank as being next the Van the fifth place of dignity is the fifth rank as that which is next the reer the sixth and last place is the third rank All this is meant where all Companies and Batallions of Foot are marshal'd six deep Next to this the Captain should have regard to the right and left hand files and having drawn up his men as he thinks each of them deserves he is to command his Clerk to write down the names of all that are in Arms just as they stand in files and thereafter when he draws out his Company let him constantly put them in Battel according to that Roll this being done four or five days the Soldiers by custom knowing their places their Leaders and their Sidemen will be able without the help of their Officers to marshal themselves When all the Companies are to be join'd in one Body every Captain should cast his odd men in the reer and it is impossible there can be above five odd men in one Company that the Major may make files and so join them to the Regiment in such places as he thinks fitting There be several ways of drawing up Regiments of Foot and they may vary according to the several opinions of men and yet all of them may be good enough But a Major should not marshal the Regiment according to his own fancy or yet that of his Colonels but according to the known practice of the Prince or State in whose Service he is for Uniformity is required in Military Uniformity in Marshalling Regiments in one Prince his Service Customs as much or rather more than in other things The pleasure of the Prince or of his General in matters which depend on their own judgments ought not to be debated or disputed I will not trouble my Reader with the difference of opinions in marshalling the several Companies according to the Precedency of those to whom they belong whether these be Officers of the Field or private Captains when they are to be join'd in one Body But shall lay down three grounds wherein I suppose all our Modern Commanders agree These are First That the Regiment should be marshal'd in a Square front the Wedg Rhombus and Ring-Battels not being now made use of except for show Secondly That the Pikemen make the Body and the Musqueteers the wings Thirdly That the Colonels Company ought to have constantly the right hand whether the Regiment be drawn up in one two or three divisions When Regiments were two or three thousand strong it was thought fit to marshal them in three Batallions or Divisions and these were called the Colonels the Lieutenant-Colonels and the Majors Divisions but being to speak of a Regiment consisting only of one thousand and composed of ten Companies I shall tell you how I have seen such a one marshal'd both in one and in two Divisions the manner whereof pleaseth me better than any other that I have either seen or read of leaving notwithstanding every man free to his own choice for I offer not to impose The Major of the Regiment having either chused the ground himself or got it assign'd to him by the Major-General if he be to draw up in one Division
Protestant War in France 100 years ago Charles the Ninth and his Brother Henry the Third they managed them at as small an expence as possibly they could yet they obliged every man at Arms to keep three Horses two strong Coursers and one Gelding every Archer and Light-Horse-man two a good Horse and a good Nag And I suppose you will really think it strange how they could keep so many when I tell you what allowance of pay they had Every man of Arms had 45 French Livres in the Month about Three pound fifteen shillings Sterling every Archor and Light-Horse-man had Thirty Livres about Two pound ten shillings A Captain of all three had five Riders pay allow'd him the Lieutenant four the Cornet three and the Quartermaster two very inconsiderable wages but assuredly they had either other shifts or things were at easier rates in France then than they have been since In the times of the Emperours Ferdinand the First Maximilian the Second Rodolph the Second and Matthias I find that the German Establishment was Old German Companies of Horse particularly Curiassiers that no Ritmaster or Captain of Horse should have any Rider in his Troop but Gentlemen and that every Troop of Curiassiers should consist of Three-hundred Riders many whereof were bound to maintan three serviceable Horses and all the rest two at least and every one of these Gentlemen who kept either two or three Horses were to keep a lusty fellow well Hors'd in quality of a servant armed with a long Gun wherewith they rode when commanded before the Troop and fired on the Enemy and immediately retired behind the Troop as I told you the Carabineers did these being equal in number to their Masters made up Three hundred and resembled the French Archers These Dutch Servants had the Emperours pay or that of some German Prince but their Masters received it with their own nor had the Masters power to put away these Servants or the Servants to go from the Masters so long as the War lasted but if any difference arose between them it was voided by the Ritmaster or Marshal of the Army These German Companies of Horse had for Officers a Captain a Lieutenant a Cornet a Quartermaster Their Officers and six Corporals whom they called Ritmasters which is to say File-leaders each whereof had fifty Troops under his command two Trumpeters There was likewise allowed to every Troop a Priest a Clerk a Chirurgion a Dagmaker a Saddler and a Smith All these Curiassiers were armed for offence with two Pistols a Sword and a Lance so long as this last was in fashion so if you will reckon all that belonged to this German Troop both Masters and those who attended them who were all obliged to fight you will find it consisted of six hundred fighting men and of nine hundred Horses at least But since that time I have seen four Regiments in that same Country who were not all of them together so strong In later times Commissions have been given for levying Regiments free Squads and Troops but all Regiments did not nor do not consist of alike Troops and Regiment of those times number of Companies nor all Companies of alike number of Riders nay not under one Prince you shall see a Lieutenant Colonel have four Troops in his Squadron which he calls free because he acknowledgeth no Colonel or other Commander under the Major General and each of these Troops to have fifty or sixty Riders being oblig'd to have no more by their Ritmasters Capitulation You may see in that same Army a Regiment of six Companies each of Seventy men another of eight Troops each of fifty horse so little is an uniformity in equal numbers of Troops or of Horsemen in every Troop regarded or look'd after I saw one Regiment in the Sweedish service I may say one for I saw not such another in any of their Armies in which were according to Capitulation twelve Troops each of them consisting of one hundred Riders effectively but four of the Regiments of that Army were not so strong as that Regiment was alone Troops Squads and Regiments of Horse in our Modern Wars are not cast into Wedges or Rhombs as some of the Ancient ones were at which manner of figures Aelian makes his Grecian Companies to be very dexterous The Square front being now only in use The number of Ranks of either Regiments or Troops whether they be strong or weak are alike in all because the depth of the Battel is determined by the Prince or State to be alike in all and in the matter of this depth there hath been great variance among those who assume to themselves the title of Tacticks who teach the rules of War Many would have the file of Horsemen to be five deep others will not hear of How deep Horse should be marshaled Difference of opinions that because thereby ranks cannot double an objection which I have answer'd already in my discourse of Exercise Others will have six because that admits doubling of ranks but that is rejected because if six deep be enough for the Foot it will be too much for the Horse There be others who would have every Troop of Horse to consist of sixty and four Riders and these being Marshall'd eight deep and eight in front according to the square root make a perfect square of men and Horse and this speculation seems very pretty but I Square Root reserve my answer to it till I speak of the square root it self for the present let it suffice that if six deep be too many for a Cavalry eight deep will be very far out of purpose The late Earl of Strafford as he appointed in his Military Instructions the foot to be eight deep so he order'd his Troops of Horse to be four in File But Universally now for any thing I know unless it be in the Low-Countries the Horse are Marshall'd three deep without Three deep regard to doubling of ranks whereof I have already spoken and assuredly this of all others brings most hands to fight When you have known how deep the Troop is to be drawn up you should cause to be set down in paper in what order you will Marshal your Horsemen whom you ordain to be Leaders and whom Bringers up and whom for the right and left hand files that all your Riders may be placed according to their dignity then it will be an easie matter to draw up your Troop and for the Major to draw up the Regiment for being that all the Horsemen are arm'd alike there is no separation to be made of one part of the Troop from another as there is of separating the Pikemâ—n from the Musqueteers in Foot-Companies the Major giving every Ritmaster his place of dignity according to his antiquity or Commission and those intervals being kept that are appointed the several Troops be they few or many are very soon cast into the mould of a Regiment In my discourse
their Generals and such of them as are approv'd by them should be practised The old Romans indeed kept themselves morosely to their ancient forms whereby they had been exceedingly prosperous and call'd all new Inventions Schematisms But we are not bound to follow them in all their opinions for I am of Lipsius his judgment Valde mihi placent nova novitia istae Inventiuncula These little new Inventions To be practised with much caution saith he please me mightily Lieutenant-Colonel Elton in his Compleat Body of the Art of War hath very many pretty figures of several Bodies of Foot all of them exceeding delightful and fit for show and some of them for use provided Officers and Souldiers be often and thoroughly accustom'd to them before they be practised in sight of an enemy And to this purpose he himself speaks very well towards the end of his Book and with his words I shall close this Chapter The substantial and solid things of War are to be precisely regarded without which an Army though of the most valiant men will be exposed to the greatest dangers and will fall into a most certain ruin Musqueteers on Horseback are called Dragoons in all Languages from the word Dragon because when they are mounted on Horses and riding with burning Matches especially in the night time they resemble fiery Dragons flying in the air but now that in some places Dragooners Musquets are converted into Carabines a change not to be despised if the Carabine can send a Bullet as far as a Musquet I conceive they may rather be called Carabineers than Dragoons In France the Lieutenant of Horse marcheth now on the left hand of the Captain or Ritmaster four or five foot nearer the Troop an Innovation as many other customs are against which I have little to say or rather just nothing An APPENDIX to the former CHAPTER HAving spoken enough of the Officers of both Horse and Foot and of those who are neither and yet both Dragoons it will not be amiss to speak a word or two to some Questions that are started concerning them I shall propose them and speak my thoughts of them for to answer and solve them to the satisfaction of all would be an undertaking purely impossible The first question shall be this which of the two Officers of equal quality both under one Prince or State the one of Horse the other of Foot shall command in chief having no Superior at that time above them supposing those who are to be commanded consist of both Foot and Horse The second Question shall be whether an Officer of an inferiour quality may upon occasion command one of a higher degree As whether a Lieutenant may command a Captain The question is subdivided into two As first whether an Officer of Horse of an inferiour quality may command an Officer of Foot of a higher degree And next whether an Officer of a King Prince State or Generals Guards ought or may have the command above an Officer of a Superiour quality in any other Regiment of the Army Suppose a Lieutenant of the Guards of Foot to command over any Captain of another Regiment of Foot and the like of the Horse there may fall out a thousand emergences and occasions for such encounters and therefore they would be obviated and provided for by necessary and punctual orders As suppose which is very ordinary there be but one general person with a part of an Army and in an Encounter he is kill'd the Colonels under him striving for the Command in chief make themselves a prey to the enemy which fell out but a very few years ago to the Danes when they unfortunately fought against the Swedes in the Isle of Rugen Next suppose a strong party of Foot and Horse commanded by a Colonel who hath under him but one Lieutenant-Colonel and one Major several Ritmasters and Foot-Captains the three Field-officers are kill'd the question is Whether the chief command belongs to the eldest Ritmaster or the eldest Captain or to him of these two who can shew the eldest Commission in that same service If the first of these Questions be well and judiciously handled and discuss'd there will need but a few words to be spoken to the rest The first Question being which of the two Officers of Horse and Foot of equal quality shall have the command there be some who take a broad axe to it and by an equal division would satisfie both parties and say that in the Fields the Officer of Horse and in Towns Castles Garrisons and fortified places the Officer of Foot should have the prime command this Arbitration would seem to give pretty good satisfaction to peaceable men but the ambition of Commanders of Horse challenges the Superiority in all places nor do I think the Officers of Foot should be so modest as to give it them in any place without the express command of the Prince or his General Assuredly this Superiority cannot in reason be challenged by either Foot or Horse unless they conceive their imployment is either more necessary more to be trusted to or more honourable than the other We shall then get some light to decide the controversie when we have examined whether the Cavalry or Infantry of an Army be most necessary or most trusted to and most honourable or all three And first as to the necessity reason and if I have any right reason common sense will evince that Horses are not absolutely necessary in the managing a War but as they say ad bene esse only needful they are for the better managing the War or to say better they are useful and convenient but the Foot are purely and absolutely necessary as without which no War ever was nor no War ever can be managed Consider that the Impugnation and defence of Towns Forts and Castles is one of the most important and most necessary points of War or of the whole Military Art yet these have been may be and for most part are maintained and defended and assaulted and taken by the Foot only without the help of Horsemen and I think they are not Paradoxical who say that Horsemen are so far from being necessary that they are not convenient within besieged places and without at Sieges as little unless an enemy with Succours be expected And in the field a well order'd and couragious well armed Batallion of Foot are not so soon trode down by a Brigade of Horse as some men fancy and when their charge is stoutly stood out I know not what the Horse can do but ride I will not say run away If we look upon the practice of Nations both ancient and modern we shall find all I have said supported and more too And though our young Gallants will be governed by no former customs yet I believe Truth it self hath bid us follow the good old way And therefore let us take a short view how little necessary many Nations have thought Horsemen to be in their
not marshalling the Battel and Reserve in this order at the Battel of Woodstock fought in the Error aâ— Woodstock Battel year 1636 was either the Swedish error or mistake for Banier who commanded the right wing of the Swedish forces being overlaid with numbers had been undoubtedly beaten if the Battel and left wing had not prevail'd so soon as he saw the danger he sent Post after Post to Lieutenant General Vizthumb who commanded the Reserve commanding him to advance instantly to his succour but he made no great haste the Swede having obtain'd the Victory Vizthumb next morning is question'd for his slow advance he justified himself by making it appear that if he had advanc'd immediately those who were running away in Troops would have routed him at least have so disorder'd him that he could have done no service and therefore he stood firm in his first ground till all the runnaways were past him and then march'd up in good order Most of this was known to be true but if Battel and Reserve had been marshal'd in the manner I spoke last of there had been no danger of that whereof Vizthumb was afraid for there had been room enough for him to have advanc'd and for those who fled to have run away But it seems it was order'd otherwise But we shall marshal an Army both ways first with the lesser and next with the greater Intervals and we shall suppose our Army to consist of sixteen thousand Army of 16200 Horse and Foot divided into seven Brigades of Foot and six of Horse Horse and Foot and a few more We shall draw them up in a fair Campaign or Heath which hath very few or no encumbrances of Houses Trees heights or hollow places and the right hand of it shall be fenced with some unfordable water and the left with the Waggons of the Army The Army it self shall consist of seven Brigades of Foot and six of Horse Each Brigade of Foot shall consist of 1800 men in all 12600. The six Brigades of Horse shall consist of 3600 which being divided into six parts gives 600 Horsemen besides Officers to every Brigade in all 16200. In the first way of marshalling I shall allow as I should do one foot of ground for every Foot soldier to stand on and three foot distance between files but because some think this too much have patience and at my second marshalling of the army I shall allow them less though no less belongs to them To every Horseman I allow four foot of ground for himself and the distance between him and his sidemen Some will think it too much but Bockler allows him six this is too much at next marshaling I shall allow him less than four On the right wing of the Van guard or Battel shall stand two Brigades of Horse and on the left wing as many and between the wings the Body shall be Marshal'd in Battel and Reserve with lesser Intervals composed of four Brigades of Foot On the right wing of the Reer-guard or Reserve shall stand one Brigade of Horse and on the left wing another Brigade of Horse and between the two wings the Body shall be composed of three Brigades of Foot The length of the Battel you may compute thus every Brigade of Horse being six hundred and drawn up three deep consists of two hundred Leaders for each of these four foot are allowed that is eight hundred Multiply eight hundred by four which is the number of the Brigades of the Battel the product is 3200. Three Streets or Distances each of eight foot-broad must be allow'd in every Brigade inde twelve Streets in four Brigades these make 96 foot then you have two Intervals on the right hand one between the two Brigades of Horse and another between the Horse and the right hand of the Foot and as many you have on the left hand of the Battel in all four great The Longitude of the Battel computed Intervals each of them of 24 foot for more some will not allow inde 96 foot add 3200 to 96 and both to 96 you will find the aggregate to be 3392. And so much ground doth the four Brigades of Horse possess with their Intervals Each Brigade of Foot consisting of 1800 men being six deep hath 300 Leaders these possess 1200 foot 1200 being multiplied by four which is the number of the Foot-brigades of the Battel produceth 4800. There must be a distance of six foot between the right hand of the Pikemen and the right wing of the Musqueteers and another on the left hand these two Distances take 12 foot and therefore four Brigades require 48 foot Now four Brigades have three Intervals each of 24 foot inde 72. Add then 72 for greater Intervals to 48 allow'd for lesser Distances the aggregate is 120 add 120 to 4800 the aggregate is 4920 so much ground doth four Brigades of Foot possess with their Intervals Be pleased to add 4920 to the 3392 Foot which the four Brigades of Horse possest you will find the aggregate to be 8312 foot which being divided by five to make paces the Quotient is 1662 and two foot so much ground do our four Brigades of foot and four Brigades of Horse take up in front the Intervals between Brigades being allowed to be no greater than 24 foot According to this allowance the Reader may easily calculate the longitude of the three Brigades of Foot and two Brigades of Horse which make the Reer-guard or Reserve if he conceive it worthy of his pains To marshal our Army of 16200 men another way in order to Intervals I shall in the first place allow no more ground to either Foot-soldier or Horseman Marshal'd in Battel and Reserve with greater Intervals for himself and distance from his sidemen but three foot in all But for the great Interval between two Brigades I shall allow as much ground as a Brigade may stand on that the Brigade in the Reserve may possess it when order'd to advance You will remember we agreed that four Brigades of Foot and four of Horse should make the Battel and three Brigades of Foot and two of Horse should make the Reserve which I marshal thus On the right hand of the Battel two Brigades of Horse but between them an Interval of as much ground as one of the Brigades possesseth On the left hand of the second Brigade of Horse an Interval of 24 foot on the left hand whereof four Brigades of Foot marshal'd in one front these four must have three Intervals each of them capable to contain a Brigade of Foot on the left hand of them an Interval of 24 foot and then two Brigades of Horse with such a distance between them as that the two Brigades on the right wing had The Reserve I marshal thus One Brigade of Horse drawn up at a convenient distance directly behind the Interval between the two Brigades of Horse on the right wing of the Battel Then on its
left hand three Brigades of Foot drawn up directly behind the three Intervals appointed to be between the four Brigades in the Battel and on their left hand the second Brigade of Horse drawn up behind the Interval appointed to be between the two Brigades of Horse which makes the left wing of the Battel The Longitude of the Battel marshal'd as I have said you may compute thus Longitude of the Battel computed The two Brigades of Horse on the right wing each consisting of 600 Horse and consequently of 200 Leaders both of them 400 Leaders each whereof hath three foot of ground allow'd him require 1200 foot and the Interval 600 the distance between them and the Foot 24 as much you are to allow to the left wing of the Horse add these together you will find the aggregate to be 3648. Each Brigade of Foot consisting of 1800 men six deep hath 300 Leaders and so the four Brigades have 1200 Leaders each of these hath three foot allow'd him inde 3600 foot so every Brigade hath 900 foot of ground as much must every Interval have now there be three Intervals and three times 900 amounts to 2700. There must be in every Brigade two Intervals each of six foot between the Pikes and Musqueteers so 12 foot in every one and in all the four 48. Add 48 to 2700 and both of them to 3600 the aggregate is 6348. So much ground is requir'd for the Foot of the Battel Add 6348 to 3648 which was allowed to the Horse the aggregate will be 9996 which will want four foot of two Italian miles I shall neither trouble my Reader nor my self to compute the Longitude of the Reserve What I have said of two ways of Marshaling this Army of 16200 Horse and Foot is meant only in order to Intervals for it is most certain an Army may be drawn up in as many several figures and forms as there may be Generals to succeed one another in the command of it Between the Battel and Reserve there should be as great distance of ground as a Brigade of Foot possesseth in its Longitude but if the Army be marshalled in three bodies then the distance between Battel and Reer-guard must be double that distance that is between Van-guard and Battel that there be room for both to rally this was observ'd by two late Princes of Orange Maurice and Henry in drawing up their Armies following therein the practice of the Romans in their Intervals between their Hastati Principes and Triarii CHAP. XVIII Of the Women and Baggage belonging to an Army of the General Waggon-master and of his Duties OUR levied men being arm'd paid exercised disciplin'd divided into Troops Companies Regiments and Brigades with Officers belonging to them and sufficiently proyided with General Officers and a Train of Artillery and at length marshal'd in order of Battel are now ready to march but I am afraid the Baggage will disturb them unless it be put in some order The great number of Coaches Waggons Carts and Horses loaded with baggage the needless numbers of Women and Boys who follow Armies renders a march slow uneasie and troublesome And therefore the Latins gave Baggage justly called Impedimenta baggage the right name of Impedimenta hinderances But because without some baggage an Army cannot subsist it would be his eare who commands in chief to order the matter so that the baggage may be as inconsiderable and small as may be and that it march in such order that every Waggon-man Carter and Baggage-man may know his own place that so they may neither disturb one another nor yet hinder the march of the Army The place where the Baggage should march is appointed according to the knowledg the General hath of his enemy if he be in the Reer the Baggage should be sent before the Army if he be in the Van it should be in the Reer But in these places there should be Baggage should have Convoys of Horse and Foot with it a Convoy of Horse and Foot strong or weak according as occasion seems to require And of Convoys for Baggage I shall say these few things in general In them these Horsemen who are not very well mounted may well enough be employed but no men are to be set there whether of Foot or Horse that are sick lame or wounded for that were to betray both them and the Baggage to an enemy When Convoys are put to fight for defence of their Charge as many times they are for the desire of booty spurs men to desperate attempts they should if conveniently they can cast themselves within the Waggons and Carts drawn up round for that purpose from whence Musqueteers may do notable service and out of which retrenchment the Horse may as they see occasion make handsome Sallies If they cannot get this done they should be sure to put as much of the Baggage or all of it if they may between them and their own Army and themselves between the Baggage and the enemy whether he fall out to be in the Van or in the Reer Sometimes if the danger appear to be both before and behind the Baggage marches in the middle of the Infantry and though some be of the opinion that the Baggage should still follow the Artillery yet that doth not nor cannot hold in all cases and emergencies the marching of both Armies and Baggage many times depending on contingents of which no determinate rule can be given The way to regulate Baggage is to appoint under a severe penalty that no Company Troop or Regiment shall have more Waggons Carts or Baggage horses than such a set number already order'd by the Prince or his General The number of Waggons Carts and Baggage-Horses should be determined which should be as few as may be with full power to the Waggon-master General to make all that is over that number prize with an absolute command to all Colonels to assist him in case of opposition In the former Discourses we have seen that the Grecians and Romans to free themselves as much as was possible of this great Embarras of Baggage loaded their Soldiers like Mules and Asses this perhaps did suit those times better than it would do ours But most of our Modern allowances for Carriages of an Armies Baggage hath been in the other extream I shall instance four The Swedish Kings and their Generals allow ten Waggons to every Troop of Horse and two to every Company of Foot and a Sutlers Waggon to every one of them sometimes two to a Troop of Horse besides the Waggons allowed to Swedish allowance of Waggons the field and Staff-officers of Regiments Let us then suppose that the Cavalry of an Army consists of five thousand Horse and these divided into a hundred Troops and fifty Horse in a Troop were thought fair in the German War These hundred Troops had for themselves a thousand Waggons and a hundred for their Sutlers Model these hundred Troops in
Horse make the Reer-guard behind which at a miles distance follows a strong party of commanded Horse The Baggage may be in the Van or the Reer or May be divided easily into several Bodies if the General appreheâ—d danger in them both it may march immediately after the Train This great Body may be very soon divided into either two or three several ones and may march as many several ways as the General pleaseth But truly with submission to great Commanders I should be of opinion that the Baggage of an Army should never be divided unless the Army it self divides if danger be in the Van let it all stay in the Reer the proper place of Baggage if the enemy be expected in the Reer post away all the Baggage to The proper place of Baggage in a march the Van if in both necessity will force it to be in the middle of the Army But my humble opinion is that without apparent danger it should constantly be in the Reer of the whole Army for the disadvantage is but small that the Brigades or Regiments of the Van have and withal they have but their turns of it that they must wait very long at night till their Baggage come from the Reer It is but small I say if you compare it with the great prejudice the Prince or States service suffers by having the Regiments or Brigades which march in the Reer benighted being hinder'd by the Baggage that is order'd to march before them two three sometimes five hours whereas if that Baggage had not been in their way they might have reach'd their Quarter seasonably enough But there is a worse thing in it than that when upon the unexpected appearance of an enemy in the Van the Brigades that are in the Reer-guard being suddenly call'd up they are not able â—â— advance for the unavoidable Embarras of Baggage that is before them Indeed I think the middle or center of the Infantry a proper place for the great Guns and Train and the Generals Secretaries and Cabinets with his Papers and for most of his and some of the other General Officers Coaches especially if their Ladies be in them and there I think these should constantly march But my judgment is that all other Baggage whatsoever belonging to either Horse or Foot should be in the Reer according to that priority or precedency the Regiments or Brigades have themselves in the march and these should change every day that who is in the Van one day may be in the Reer the next that all may participate equally of the ease or toil of a march Where the sick and wounded should be What is spoke of the place where Baggage should march is to be understood also of the sick and wounded Soldiers who if they cannot be put in some secure or fortified place should be brought forward though Baggage-horses should be borrowed from the owners for that use and in time of danger should be sent as far from it as may be with a good Guard or Convoy When ground will permit the Brigades of an Army whether Horse or Foot to march in one breast or front there is a question what distance or interval should be kept between these Brigades There be some who theoretically argue that the distance between two Brigades both marching in breast but the one behind the other should be of as much ground as a Brigade drawn Distance between Brigades on a march should not be so great as when they are to fight up in front doth possess because say they when one Brigade is drawn up on the right hand of a large field where the whole Army is to be marshal'd the second Brigade which follows cannot draw up in full breast on the left hand of the first unless there be such an Interval between them on their march as that I just now told you of nor can the third draw up on the left hand of the second unless it have that same distance the like is to be said of all the rest To this I answer when an Army is marshal'd in Battel-order that distance is to be kept between Brigades whereof I spoke in the last Chapter and so the second will have the less difficulty to marshal it self on the left hand of the first But that cannot make me allow so much ground between Brigades on a march as I willingly do when they are to fight To the reason produced against it I say to think that a Brigade all in one breast and marching directly behind another though at never so great a distance can draw up in breast on the left The contrary opinion examin'd hand of another without some turning or wheeling is a meer speculation And I say more let a Brigade march in three Squads at as great a distance as you will the second shall not draw up on the left hand of the first without some wheeling And if a smaller body cannot do it much less can a greater And practice will shew the vanity of the other opinion to any who will be at the pains to examine it and observe it in the march of Brigades in the field as I have done oftner than once This opinion then vanisheth unless they who follow it bring a better reason for it which I have not yet heard But be pleased to take notice what an inconvenience and that no small one the observing this rule will bring along with it in a march I speak still when Brigades march all in one front one behind another at that rate there shall be such avast distance between the Van and the Reer that the last Brigade shall not get up though it run which it should not do to the place where it should be marshal'd but in a very long time which you will easily grant to be true if you will with me make this computation We have spoke of eight Brigades of foot in this Chapter to be in our Army each of them shall be no stronger than 1800 men and therefore each of them must be 300 in front allowing four foot to every Leader these 300 Leaders possess in rank 1200 foot of ground as much by this opinion which I combate must be allowed for an Interval between two Brigades marching one after another in breast now in eight Brigades there are seven Intervals seven times 1200 foot make 8400 Every one of the Brigades possess in deepness 36 foot multiply 36 by 8 which is the number of the Brigades the product is 288. Add 288 to 8400 the aggregate is 8688 foot so much distance there is from the Leaders of the first Brigade of Foot to the Bringers-up of the eight and last Take a view of our six Brigades of Horse each whereof shall consist And found inconvenient of no more than 600 being three deep each Brigade hath 200 in front allow but three foot for every Rider the front of each Brigade possesseth 600 foot of ground as much
so the length of a quarter for an 100 horse is 300 and the breadth 70 multiply the one by the other the Product will be 2100 foot which is the superficial measure of that quarter But observe that the Ritmaster quartering in the front takes up with his Hut all the 70 foot the Lieutenant and Cornet behind him share that breadth between them and accommodates likewise the Quarter-master and him who assists the Cornet to carry the Standard whom the Germans call San Junckher the Gentleman of the Standard or Colours Having lodged one Troop it is easie to quarter a Regiment and consequently a whole Cavalry I told you our Regiment of horse should consist of 8 Troops and every Troop of 100 Horsemen if one Troop then require 70 foot in breadth 8 must require 8 times 70 multiply then 70 by 8 the Product is 560. Some allow no more ground to a Colonel of horse than to a Ritmaster there may be reason for it if he quarter on the head of his own Troop as ordinarily For the Colonel and his Staff Colonels did when they had but the temporary command of 3 or 5 Troops but now that he is absolute Colonel of 8 Troops we allow his Captain Lieutenant to quarter on the head of the Troop and we give to the Colonel and his Field and Staff Officers a Street of 70 foot broad and 300 long which I thus divide The Colonel shall have all the 70 in breadth and 40 in length behind him the Street 20 foot broad which traverseth the whole Regiment then there shall be 200 foot in length and still 70 in breadth for all his Field and Staff Officers and for Stables and Waggons In the reer of these that Street which traverseth the reer of all the Horsemens Huts behind that a plot of ground 10 foot long for Saddlers Smiths and Sutlers belonging to the Staff and behind that 10 foot are allowed for Kitchins and fire add thâ—se together they make 300 foot in length and 70 in breadth Now the 8 Troops and the quarter for the Colonel and his Staff being all of equal length and breadth must have 8 Intervals for every one of which must be allowed 20 foot of breadth so for all the eight 160 foot The 8 Troops you remember had for their latitude 560 the Colonel 70 these added make 630 add for the Intervals The latitudeâ— latitude of the whole Quarter 160 the aggregate is 790 for the breadth of a Regiment of Horse of 8 Troops the length 300. If you would know the superficial measure of this quarter for a Regiment of 8 Troops â—â— Horse multiply 790 by 300 and if I have operated right the Product is 237000 foot 47 miles and near one half The Castrametator hath now leisure to measure out ground to the Infantry and he finds the same difficulty as he did in the Cavalry that is the inequality of the Companies in each Regiment and the numbers of men in each Company But having done his business on paper at home he will easily give to each Quarter for the Infantry Regiment Quarter-master his due proportion of ground in the Field But since all along in these Discourses I have spoke of a Foot-regiment consisting of ten Companies and of a Company consisting of a hundred men we shall in this place quarter them according to that number And first we shall lodg a Company according to the pattern whereof the rest shall be soon accommodated In the number of the hundred I comprehend Caporal Lancespesatas Appointes Gentlemen of the Company and common Souldiers Those who shall be quarter'd as Officers are Captain Lieutenant Ensign-bearer two Serjeants Clerk Fourier Furer of the Colours Captain of Arms and two Drummers for these last are almost universally enroll'd with the Officers I know not why The custom was in most places for the Captain Lieutenant and Ensign to lodg all three in the Van or front of the Company and this is continued yet in many places But truly since a Lieutenant will needs be the second Officer of the Company I think he should quarter as he marcheth and that is in the reer Henry of Nassau Prince of Orange alter'd the custom and order'd them all three to pitch their Tents in the reer of the Company at least the Captain for two reasons that the Souldiers might more readily get to their place of Arms and not be hinder'd with the huts or cords of their Officers Tents and next that by their presence in the reer debates and brawls betwixt Souldiers and Sutlâ—rs should either be prevented or quickly voided But let us in this place follow the old way which may soon be alter'd according to emergents or the Generals pleasure and quarter our Foot Company in the Field thus The Captain being in the front shall have for his Tents 40 foot in length and 24 in breadth and observe that 24 foot is all the breadth that is allowed to the whole Company Behind the Captains lodgings on the right hand the Lieutenant hath 10 foot of length and 8 in breadth allow'd him for his quarter and on the left hand the Ensign hath as much Observe that behind the Captains Tents begâ—ns a Street which runs to the reer of the whole Company and divides the Lieutenant and Ensigns quarters and the two rows of Huts For a Company of 100 men equally and this Street is 8 foot broad this Street is a direct one and goes the length of the quarter but there is another which is a traverse Street and goeth through the latitude of the Company and it is 10 foot broad it begins behind the Lieutenant and Ensigns Huts and traverseth the whole breadth of the Regiment when the Companies are join'd together Observe that all the Huts of the Company are 8 foot broad except the Captains and therefore hereafter I shall only speak of the length of the Huts Behind that traverse Street of 10 foot broad in a direct line under the Lieutenant the oldest Serjeant hath his Hut for which are allowed 8 foot in length below him the Fourier hath 6 foot long below whom the Clerk hath likewise 6 foot and below the Clerk the oldest Drummer shall have 5 foot in length Add these together you will find that these four Serjeant Fourier Clerk and Drummer have 25 foot allow'd for their Huts in length and 8 for the breadth as all the Souldiers have Behind the oldest Drummer in that same row are 50 huts for 50 Souldiers for each whereof are allowed three foot and one half Multiply then 50 Allowance of ground for Huts by 3â— and the Product will be 175 add 175 to 25 which the four Officers have the aggregate is 200 and so many foot of ground doth the huts of that row beginning at the traverse Street take up in length Over against the oldest Serjeant in a parallel line and directly under the Ensign is the second Serjeant lodged below him the
Captain of Arms under him the Furer and below the Furer the second Tambour and under him the other fifty huts for the other fifty Soldiers all in one row all these having a proportion of ground allowed equal to the first row on the right hand In the reer of the Souldiers huts there must be a Street 20 foot broad for Waggons and Carts to pass and repass and this Street traverseth the whole breadth of both Company and Regiment as the other of 10 foot doth at the Van of the Inferior Officers huts Next to this traverse Street in the reer there is a place for Waggons and Sutlers 10 foot long and behind that there is another place 10 foot long likewise for fires and dressing meat for there must be no fire among the huts and both these places enjoy the full breadth of the Company which is 24 foot Be pleased then to remember that 40 foot in length are allowed for the Captain 10 for the Lieutenant 10 for the first traverse Street 200 for the rows of under Officers and Souldiers huts 20 for the second traverse Street 10 for Sutlers and 10 for fire add these together the aggregate will be 300 which is the length of the quarter Remember also that 8 foot are allowed for the breadth of all Officers and common Souldiers huts except the Captains Then two rows of huts require 16 foot in breadth between these rows there must be a direct Street running from the back of the Captains Tent to the reer as I told you before and it is 8 foot broad add 8 to 16 makes 24 and so much ground the Captains Length and breadth of a Foot companies quarter Tents possesseth and it is the breadth of the Companies quarter Multiply the length by the breadth that is 300 by 24 the Product is 7200 foot near one Italian mile and a half within the Circumference of this Companies quarter Let us in the next place quarter the Colonel with his Field and Staff Officers which shall be done thus There shall be a place in the middle of the Regiment which shall be 300 foot long and 64 broad on the right hand of this place five Companies shall lodg and on the left hand of it the other five Of this place Quarter for the Staff of a Foot Regiment the whole breadth to wit 64 foot shall be allowed to the Colonels Lodgings and 50 foot in length by which means he shall have all the Tents and Huts of his Captains Lieutenants and Ensigns in a parallel line with his own Beâ—ind the Colonels Lodgings is that Street whereof I spoke before of 10 foot broad which traverseth the breadth of the whole Regiment and in which most Castrametators will have the Colours and Arms to stand but Tents and huts before that Street will make it in my judgment very improper for that use Below that Street there shall be a plot of ground 40 foot in length and 64 broad to be equally divided between the Lieutenant Colonel and Major if they do not quarter besides their Companies and behind them a Street 20 foot broad Below that Street shall be a quarter 50 foot long and 64 broad to be divided among the Minister Quarter-master Auditor Secretary Chirurgeon and Marshal and below them the third Street 20 foot broad Next to that shall be a place 70 foot long and 64 broad for Waggons and Baggage behind that the fourth Street of 20 foot broad which is at the reer of all the Souldiers huts and traverseth the breadth of the whole Regiment Next to that are the two places formerly mention'd for Sutlers and fire one behind the other each 10 foot long and 64 broad If you then remember that the length of the Colonels Lodgings is 50 foot 10 for a Street 40 for the Lieutenant Colonel and Major 20 for a second Street 50 for the Staff-Officers and 20 for a third Street 70 for Waggons 20 for the fourth Street and 20 for Sutlers and fires It 's length and breadth when you add these numbers together the aggregate will be 300 which is the length of this quarter as it is of all other quarters of our Camp the breadth of this particular one being 64 foot as I told you before In the quartering the ten Companies of the Regiment five on the Colonels right hand and five on his left respect would be had to the dignity antiquity and precedency of the Captains my own opinion is they should be quarter'd according to that order wherein they were marshal'd in the field and what that is you may find in the Eleventh Chapter Let us then take a view of the whole breadth of this Regiments quarter for doing whereof we must first consider that the ten Companies make ten distinct Bodies and the quarter for the Colonel and his Staff the eleventh Eleven Bodies must have ten Intervals for every one whereof we shall allow 16 foot that one Waggon may pass by another multiply then 10 by 16 the aggregate is 160 this much is allowed for the ten Intervals every Company hath 24 foot for its Length and breadth of a Regiment of Foot 's quarter breadth inde for 10 Companies 240 foot the Colonel and Staff hath 64 add 160 to 240 and both these to 64 the aggregate is 464 and that is the latitude of a Regiment of Foot 's quarter If you would know the superficial measure of this quarter multiply the length of it which is 300 foot by the breadth of it which is 464 foot the Product will prove to be 139200 foot near â—ts Superficiâ—l measure 28 Italian miles By what hath been said it will be easie to know how any Troop Company or Regiment either of Horse or Foot of what strength soever may be quarter'd as if the Colonels Company be stronger by fifty men than the rest as in some places they be it may have a row of Huts more than others have In the Low Country Wars the Princes of Orange allowed four foot for the length of every Foot-Souldiers Hut but the Germans for most part allow but 3½ whom in this Princes of Orangâ— their allowance for Souldiers huts point I have followed in this Castrametation By the account oâ— four foot long for every Hut a row of Huts for fifty men should have the allowance of 200 foot but in our days Henry Prince of Orangâ— took away 20 of that leaving but 180 and these 20 foot he join'd to the breadth of the traverse Street in the reer of the Huts which before was but 20 but by this addition came to be 40 foot broad that Waggons and Provisions might have more room to go out and in and pass and repass The 300 foot which I have allow'd for the length of every Companies quarter may be abridged or enlarged as the General shall find occasion for it but an uniformity in the length of the whole Camp is both decent and requisite He who
How guards march to the Parade Companies one two or three sometimes out of a Regiment as the duty seems to require these meet at the several Captains Tents or Huts and after the Drums have done beating the Gathering the Captains march with their several Companies in good order to the Parading place of the Regiment or of the whole Army more ordinarily to the last which is either a place appointed peculiarly for it or is the Forum or Market-place near the Generals Lodging or Pavilion Here they are drawn up according to the antiquity or precedency of the Regiments to whom they belong by either the Major General or Adjutant General of the Foot At this Parade should all the Majors of the Foot be as also one Sergeant out of every Company and most of the Captains of the whole Army The Companies being marshall'd in breast the Major or Adjutant General calls the Majors together to whom he imparts the several orders and directions of the General which may and very oft doth vary every night because they depend on emergencies The Majors stand in a ring on How the Orders and Word are given to the Majors both hands of him according to their dignity the first standing on his left hand in whose ear he whispers the Word and he whispers it to him who standeth on his left hand and so successively till the youngest Major deliver it to the Major General If it be returned right to him there is no necessity to send it about the other way as some would have but if the Word be not deliver'd right to him then he gives it to the Major who stands on his right hand and so it is re-deliver'd to him by the Major who stands on his left hand not without a check to him or them by whose inadvertency it was mistaken This word for most part is the name of a Town a Country or a Castle sometimes it is the proper name of a Man and sometimes it is a Sentence as it pleaseth him who gives it who is still he who commands in chief Men may pass any Sentinel without it in the night time but none should pass the Corps de guards that An abuse i◠making it common are on the Fortification unless they give the Word And from the misunderstanding of this many gross abuses are committed as when Servants or other mean persons are sent in the night time either into Camps or Towns concerning affairs very lawful in themselves and have the Word given them that they may pass the Guards which should not be suffer'd for if the business is necessary and will admit of no delay as the sending for a Physician Apothecary Chyrurgion or Minister for sick or wounded persons in such cases addresses should be made to him who commands over the whole Guards who is obliged to send a Caporal or a Gentleman of a Company along with the person that is sent who should see him pass and re-pass without interruption When the Major General imparts his orders to the Majors the Sergeants of the Parade should make a ring at a good distance about them standing with their Halberts order'd and this both to shew with what respect orders should be given and receiv'd as also to hinder any to come near and hearken to what is said or spoken either to the Majors or among themselves After the Majors have done their business with their Major General they Where Orders should be given by the M 〈…〉 in Fo 〈…〉 fied Camps should give both the orders they have received from their superiours and their own to the several Regiments and many think they should do this at their own quarters beside the Colours which I think is formal enough and may well enough be done but my humble opinion is they should do it at the great Parade and therefore I said before that at it there should be a Serjeant of every Company there and the reason I give for my opinion is this that the several Companies that are to be sent from that Parade to divers places of the Fortification there to keep Watch may carry the Word along with them and so not need to wait so long as for the Major first to go home to the quarter of the Regiment and then give out his Orders and send them to the Companies that are on duty in several Posts And to anticipate that objection which I suppose will be made against my opinion that Majors are to give to the Companies All Commissioned Officers should be present at a Parade the orders of the Colonels as well as of the Major Generals I say that at Parades all Colonels all Field and Commissionated Officers should be present for a Parade is the Exchange of Officers neither should any thing excuse their absence but indisposition or being on present duty and this is incumbent for Officers to do where-ever the Parade be whether in Camp or Garrison when the Major gives orders to his Sergeants he doth it in the same manner as the Major General doth to the Majors and should have a ring of Musketeers about him to hinder any to approach or hearken unless they be Commissionated Officers of that Regiment who may be within the ring and may hear but ought not to speak while the Major is discoursing to the Sergeants After Orders and the Watch-word are given every Captain marcheth How the Posts are divided to that Post that is appointed him and that appointment is made two ways either as the Major General pleaseth in sending Companies several nights to several Posts and not constantly to one or it is done by billets the way thus The names of the several Posts being writ in several Papers they are cast into a Hat and are drawn by the Majors who according to the billets they draw send their Captains to their Posts And this indeed is the best way for it saves the Major General from suspicion of partiality and doth a more general good than that for it prevents Treachery whether it be in Camp Garrison Town or Castle After the Watch is set it should not be permitted to any whether he be No Officer or Common Souldier should go from his Guard Officer or Common Souldier from the highest to the lowest to leave his Post unless sickness occasion it neither indeed should an Officer of what quality soever he be by absenting himself give example for Souldiers to desert their Posts those Officers who do it should be exemplarily censur'd yet for most part this piece of Discipline is neglected which too often encourageth an Enemy to make attempts which perhaps otherwise he would forbear Truly it is a shame to hear what excuses I have heard in more places of the World than one and none more ordinary than for an Officer to say I was no longer from my Guard than I was taking my Dinner and Supper at my Lodging If Officers would dine or sup in their Corps de
Speeches Couragious looks and gestures and with Promises of noble Rewards Harangues he should enflame the Spirits of his Souldiers with a desire to fight and withal he should assure them that the honour of their Prince and their own safety depends only on their courage and gallant behaviour all hopes of Retreat being taken away But this commendable custome of haranguing Armies by Generals is much worn out in our late Wars and I shrewdly suspect most of those Orations we read are the fine fictions of Historians who are better at that than the describing the manner how Generals marshall'd their Armies If a General be strong in Cavalry he should shun fighting in a strait or close Countrey if his Infantry be numerous he should shun Heaths and Champaigns yet it is but seldome in his power though sometimes it be to chuse either the one or the other He should advise well with the Master of The planting the Ordnance the Ordnance how to plant his Artillery whether on the Flanks in the great Intervals or upon some heighth and ascent whether that be before or behind the Army or if his train be great in all these places this should be done before the beginning of the fight that accordingly Batteries and Beds may be readily made and the Gunners ready to fire when they are commanded Our Army being marshall'd either in one two or three Bodies as our General 's own reason and experience will direct him or the ground permit of which I have spoken in the seventeenth Chapter All these things being done the Word and the Sign should be given and these are quickly carried through the Army by the Major Generals and the Adjutants At suce a time the Word The Word is ordinarily a Sentence for Souldiers are no Grammarians as God with us For God and the King Our trust is in God and Vivat such a Prince and the like The Sign may be a Handkerchief on the Hat or a piece of Linnen The Sign on the right or left arm a twig of a Birch an Elme an Oak or a Sycamore or it may be a Fur or what else the Prince or his General pleaseth The Word and Sign are given both to Officers Common Troopers and Souldiers and sometimes they are alter'd in the time of Battel if there be any ground or Both many times alter'd suspicion that the Enemy hath got them or any of them I remember when the Iâ—perialists had lost the Battel at Oldendorpe in Germany in the year 1633. the Prisoners who were all Roman Catholicks pretended they had been beaten by the just Judgement and Revenge of the Blessed Virgin in regard before the Battel began the Word was Sancta Maria and in the time of the Fight it was changed for the reason I spoke of to Viva Ferdinando Being ready to advance to the Charge the General takes his place having The Battel assign'd before a Station to all his General Officers of the Field Many have reason enough to think that the General himself should stand in the middle of the Infantry of the Battel where he useth to march but that is not constantly practis'd yea and but seldome in our late Wars for many times he A Generals station in time of it who commands in chief takes his station in the right Wing of the Cavalry so did the Great King of Sweden at the first Battel of Leipsick and so he did at Lutsen likewise So did Count Tili at that same Battel at Leipsick and so did Banier at Woodstock I told you formerly in my discourse of marshalling Armies That Charles the Fifth intending to fight Sultan Solyman at Vienna drew up all his Cavalry in the two great Intervals which his three great Batallions of Foot made fifteen thousand Horse were in each of the two Bodies and in that on the right hand stood the Emperour himself and with that on the left his Brother King Ferdinand Nor was nor is this custome of a Generals standing in the right Wing of the Horse or between it and the Infantry a new thing the Roman Consuls using it frequently when two of them joyn'd together Sometimes in our late Wars when the Army was marshall'd in Battel Should be where he pleaseth and Reserve five General persons have commanded in five several places as thus In the Right Wing the Commander in chief in the Body of the Infantry which makes the Battel he who hath the command next to the General in the Left Wing stood the third person in dignity in the Right of the Reserve the fourth and in the Left hand of it the fifth So the Suedish Generals order'd their business at Woodstock where two of their Armies were joyn'd against an Imperial and a Saxish Army Banier the first Felt-Marshal commanded the Right Wing of the Cavalry Leslie the second Felt-Marshal commanded the Battel of the Avant-guard Lieutenant General King the Left Wing of the Horse Lieutenant General Vitsdrun the Right hand of the Reserve and Major General Ruthven the Left But in ancient times a General of an Army chose to stand where he pleas'd and where he thought his presence could be most steadable so Pompey made his station in the Right Wing of his Army at Pharsalia which Caesar observing chose to stand on the Left Wing of his that he might be opposite to his Grand Competitor And I know nothing can tye a General in our times to take a station or no station to himself but as he pleaseth For my own part I think he should tye himself to no particular place but should ride where he sees or hears the greatest danger to be Indeed he ought to appoint particular stations to all his general Field-Officers from which they should not budge upon any pretence whatsoever without express command from the Commander in chief and these places should be given them according to the honour and precedency they enjoy by their several charges As let us suppose he hath under him a Lieutenant General of the whole Army a General and Major General of the Horse and a General and Major General of the Foot he may place his Lieutenant General Stations of the general Field-Officers on the Right Wing of the Avant-guard the General of the Cavalry on the Left and the General of the Foot in the Battel the Major General of the Horse on the Right Wing of the Reserve and the Major General of the Foot on the Left And keep himself free from any one station to ride with his Adjutants and Guards where he thinks his presence is most necessary and shortly to be an Ubiquitary that being restricted to no place he may be every A General an Ubiquitary where If he have more General Field Officers than these just now mention'd he may place three more one on the left hand of the Right Wing the second on the Left hand of the Left Wing and the third on the left
hand of the Battel Before the Battel begin there use to be fore-parties of both Horse and Forlorn Hopes Foot sent out to skirmish these are called Forlorn Hopes and Enfans Perdues Those of the Foot should advance one hundred paces before the Body those of the Horse further But I find at the Battels fought both at Dreux and St. Dennis between the Protestants and Roman Catholicks of France none of those Forlorn Hopes were made use of at all and as few were used at Lutsen where Gustavus Adolphus lost his life When an Enemy is marshalling his Army your Artillery should incessantly To advance on an Enemy play upon him to hinder him all you may to order his affairs and if your Battel be already marshall'd under the shelter of your Ordnance you should advance and take your advantage of him before his Batallions or Squadrons be drawn up but in so good order that the Scene be not changed that by your precipitation you give not him an opportunity to take advantage of you Your advance on an Enemy in what posture soever he be should be with a constant firm and steady pace the Musketeers whether they be on the Flanks or interlin'd with either the Horse or the Pikes firing all the while but when you come within Pistol-shot you should double your pace till your Pikes closely serr'd together charge these whether Horse or Foot whom they find before them It is true the business very oft comes not to push of Pike but it hath and may come oft to it and then Pike-men are very serviceable If a misfortune fall out that a Brigade Regiment or other part of an Army be beat or begin to run and quit the Field this should be conceal'd from the rest of the Army and the Souldiers told that the Enemy in other places is beaten and if they fight but a little the Victory will be instantly theirs I shall not speak here of what advantage a large Front is having done it so often before but if a General perceive that the business may be quickly decided To marshal the Foot in three Rankâ— I think he should double the Front of his Foot and make but three Ranks where formerly they were six and so being able to out-wing his Enemy he may fall on his Flank for at no extraordinary march an Army may be brought to push of Pike before three Ranks of Musketeers have fired successively if they do not begin to fire till they be within distance less than Musket-shot and after they have given their three Volleys then they may give the fourth which will signifie as much if not more than all the three by kneeling stooping and standing whereof I have spoke in the eleventh and twelfth Chapters When any Regiment or Brigade runs or offers to quit the Field the Reserve behind should be order'd immediately to advance and encounter the Victorious Enemy who will hardly be able to withstand that fresh charge for it may be almost received as a Maxime That a Troop Regiment or Brigade A good Rule but not Infallible how strong soever it be which hath fought with and beaten that Body of equal number that stood against it may be easily routed by a Troop Regiment or Brigade that hath not fought though far inferiour in number If any part of an Army get the Victory of those who stand against it he who commands that part ought to send some Troops in pursuit of the routed Enemy and Not to fall on the Flank of an Enemy a great neglect with the rest fall on the Flank of that Batallion which stands next him and yet keeps ground The neglect of this duty lost the famous General Count Tili the Battel of Leipsick for himself being on the Right hand of the Imperial Army beat the Duke of Saxe and his Army out of the Field whom Tili hotly pursuing did not fall on the Left Flank of the Swedish Army left naked Inflanced by the flight of the Saxons But at that same time the King of Sweden who was on the Right hand of his own Army had routed Count Pappenheim who The doing it contributes to the Victory commanded the Left Wing of the Imperialists upon which that martial King did not fail to charge the Flank of the Imperial Battel which was left naked by Pappenheim's Flight and this help'd to procure the Victory to the Sweed As I told you in another place Banier's Right Wing was well near beaten at Woodstock nor did the Reserve come so soon to his succours About that same Instanced time Lieutenant General King had routed the Right Wing of the Imperial Army and with it bore down the Right hand of their Reserve and â—â—ll on the Right Flank of their Battel which yet disputed their ground with Felt-Marshal Leslie who thereupon cast down their Arms and yielded the Victory to the Swedes And the mentioning this Victory puts me in mind to advertize all Officers of Foot not to teach their Musketeers to neglect the use of their Rammers a lesson too often taught and practis'd for at this Bartel I speak of the Imperial Foot were on a Hill up which Leslie advanced with his Infantry but neither his nor the Imperial Musketers made use of Rammers only as the common custome is when they charg'd with Ball they knock'd the Buts of their Muskets at their Right foot by which means most of the Bullets of the Imperial and Saxish Fire-men fell out at the mouths of their Musket when they presented them down the Hill upon the Sweeds whose Bullets could not run that fortune being presented upward And for this reason it was observ'd that few of the Sweedish Foot fell When a Reserve or a part of it advanceth those who fled have a fair opportunity to rally and in a short time to second the Reserve and though To rally rallying at so near a distance is not frequently seen yet it is not banish'd out of the Modern Wars or Armies At Dreux both Armies rallied twice or thrice with various success the Generals of both Armies being both made Prisoners And at Lutsen both Armies rallied often for they fought from morning till night most of the Imperial Cannon being twice taken was as oft retaken Fresh succours in time of Battel discourage an Enemy Some Great Captains have thought it fit in time of Battel to make a show of their Waggon-men Carters and Baggage-men at a distance as if they were succours newly arrived and certainly nothing terrifies an Army more in time of equal sight than an unexpected Enemy as Robert Duke of Normandy's fortunate arrival in the time of Battel between Godfrey of Bouillâ—n and Instance the Saracens in the Holy Land deliver'd the Victory to the Christians But these feigned Musters of Baggage-men and Carriage-horses produce not always False shews sometimes happy the wished effects Sulpitius a Roman Dictator being to fight with the Gauls order'd
of the Governour he should have good Intelligence He should also have a serious consideration of his own Provisions Considerations before a Siege be formed Money Meat and Munitions and many more particulars of which and concerning which no definite or certain rules can be given And before he form or lay down his Siege he ought to weigh and consider well all the advantages and disadvantages that may accrue to him As whether the gaining the Town or Castle he Besiegeth will counterpoize the loss of men and that vast expence of money meat and munitions that must be hazzarded and bestowed in reducing it how long time his own Provisions will be able to hold out whether he be able with probability of success to withstand or fight any Enemy that dare adventure the relief of the Besieged place And that which concerns most both his Masters service and his own honour is to cast up his account so well that if any unexpected accident or adventure fall out such as are the change of Weather inundations of Waters a mighty and unlooked for Succourse a Pestilence or other heavy disease in his Army he may notwithstanding these and in spight of an Enemy raise his Siege and march away to places of safety and consequently make an honourable Retreat with little or no loss of Men for it is not to be thought that an Army marcheth away from a Besieged place with dishonour because ratio Bâ—lli depending on emergencies and accidents changeth as oft as ratio Status and as in this nothing is thought dishonourable that can save the State so in that nothing can be dishonourable that can save the Army I have not the vanity to prescribe or give rules for what should be done at How to begin the Siege Sieges but I prâ—sume I may be permitted to tell Novices for to them only I write what is done and ordinarlly practised at Sieges After a resolution is taken to Besiege a place diligence and expedition should be used that all Passes High-wayes and Avenues be possest by the Cavalry that no entrance to the Fort be permitted and that all Citizens or Souldiers belonging to it be seized on and made Prisoners that intelligence may be got of all affairs within Many Generals at Sieges entrench their Armies and many do not Those At some Sieges Armies are not entrench'd who do not have no apprehension of an Enemy and therefore upon intelligence of the approach of one they must be ready to march either to meet and fight that Enemy or leave both him and the Besâ—eged place for good and all both which I have known practised Those who Entrench their Armies Armies Entrenched at Sieges take the far surer way though the doing it costs a great deal of time and labour The Entrenchment must be made both against those within the Town and against any without who will hazzard to relieve it The Fortifications of the Camp are properly called the Trenches though the word be frequently taken for approaches and in that word are comprehended the lines of Communication which Lines are divided into several parts Field-sconces whole and half Bulwarks Star-works and Redouts None of these should have a Curtain between them above six or seven hundred foot long for the distance of them one from another should be less than a Musket shot They should be built of black Earth if it can be had but if the ground be sandy it must be knit together with Wit hs fascines Straw or growing Corn and without with a Ditch and Pallisado Of the same matter should the Redouts and Batteries in the approaches be built The Star-sconces having their sides 40 or 50 foot long and their points far distant are ordinarily made in hast when time will not permit better to be made If an Army be numerous enough or that there be store of Pioneers with it a General may fortify his Camp and begin his approaches both together and this will save him much time which in such occasions is very precious But if he cannot do both at once he should Entrench himself and then begin those works which are called Approaches running Trenches and by the Dutch Laâ—fgrabon In making these to break Ground without the range of a piece of To approach to a Forâ— Ordnance will be too far and within Musket shot perhaps too near yet many think 8 or 900. foot from the besieged Fort is passable At this place where the approach begins a Sconce should be made and in it a Court of Guard neither were it amiss here to make a Battery and in it to plant some Culverines and twelve pounders to beat down the nearest Parapets of the Fort from whence those who are to work in the approaches may be infested But before I approach any nearer the Fort I must tell you that I admire how Captain Rud the late Kings Engineer hath left it upon Record That the Romans were the first that used the Spade at Sieges and that Julius Captain Rudd's opinion disputed Caesar was the first that besieged Towns by circumvallation Against the first assertion though we should not speak of prophane Authors yet we find it written in the 15. verse of the 20. Chapter of the second book of Samuel That Jacob cast up a Bank saith our Translation against Abel where the Rebel Sheba was Deodati in his Italian translation calls it Bastione a Bulwark Now these could not be done without the help of a Spade or something like it and this action of Joab was done some ages before Romulus Against the second assertion I object the ten years Siege of Vâ—n which was by circumvallation and that was some Centuries of years before Caesar besieged Alexia And we read in holy Writ that Trenches were cast and Towers built against besieged Towns and that was nothing else but circumvallations and those who made them did so little know Caesar that they did not foresee that ever such a man would be in the world as Caesar But to return to our first Sconce or Battery from it a line or if you please A running Trench a running Trench which upon the matter is nothing else but a Ditch must be digged and run either to the right or left hand 3 4 or 500. foot long a little crooked and oblique for doing which Souldiers are appointed with Pickaxes Spades and Shovels one behind another at the distance of 4 or 5. foot the formost digging 3 or 4. foot deep casting the Earth up either to the right or left hand between him and the Fort and so by him who is first and them that come after him the running Trench is made 6 or 8. foot deep and at first 6. Foot broad and thereafter 10 or 12. broad sometimes more if it be necessary to make use of Waggons in the approaches which falls out sometimes At the end of this first Line a Redout is to be made this is a A Redout
made useless by Countermures and Retrenchments but Mines are more imperceptible yet they are dangerous works for them that are in them because of Countermines which when the Mine-master finds he is to divert his course Countermines to the Right or Left hand or sink his Mine deeper and if the Counterminers be under him he had need make haste and take his advantage by piercing holes and chacing them away with scalding Water But take a few general Rules for Mines The entrance should be seven foot high and five foot broad say some four foot and a half high and four broad say others This last and indeed perhaps no Mine is for a fat corpulent man The Mine all along General Rules for Mining must be lin'd on both sides and cover'd above with boards and underpropt for keeping up the Earth The mouth of the Mine should be carefully conceal'd from the besieged Philip King of Macedon who was afterwards beaten by the Roman Consul Flaminius did not ill to cause a great heap of Earth to be laid on the other side of a besieged Town there where his real Mines were and so deluded the besieged The heighth and breadth of the Mine should decrease and grow less by little and little from the entry till it arrive at the place which should be undermined so that the mouth of the Furn should be no wider than to receive the Vessels wherein the Powder is whether these be Barrels or Troughs Some will have this Powder Chamber to be six or seven foot high four or five broad and five or six long others say only four foot and a half high the breadth four or three foot and a half But I think assuredly it should be proportion'd to the quantity of the Powder and the number of the Vessels that are ordain'd to be put into it These Furns should be closely and strongly stopp'd that the Powder get no vent but that which naturally it seeks upwards The train whereby the Powder in the Furn is to be fired The Train should be so well order'd that it be not too long a firing for that disappoints them who are to storm making them apprehensive of danger of they know not what And this occasion'd the death of two French Marshals within these forty years who admiring why the Mine did not spring after they had order'd the train to be fired went into the Mine to know the cause where they both dyed the Mine at their being there working its effect Nor must it fire too soon lest he who fires the train be buried in the ruins of the Mine Besides Countermining What hinders Mines to spring several things hinder the effectual operation of a Mine such are the ill stopping the Powder-Chamber the weakness of the sides occasion'd by Countermines Caves Caverns and hollow grounds as also the failing of the train in its duty by reason of its wetness moisture or some bad contrivance and the placing the Powder too low in the Furn. When a Mine hath sprung if it cast the Wall outwards towards the Besiegers it makes the entrance very difficult for the assailants if the Defendants act their part with Courage and it is just so with a breach after a Battery which Charles the Fifth and his General the Duke of Alva experimented at the memorable Siege of Metz. When large Breaches are made by furious Batteries and that Mines have Assaults operated happily then an universal Assault should be given by the whole besieged Army each part of it being to storm at its assigned Post These Assaults being given resolutely and continued obstinately though the first or second may perhaps be beat off will probably reduce the place And then it will be a noble part of the Victorious General to order fair Fair quarter to be giveâ— quarter to be given or if the besieged have with too much obstinacy and upon weak grounds by holding out too long and by making him spend too much of his time provok'd him to wrath and revenge to make examples of them to others he should order no hurt to be done to women old men and children and in one word to kill none but those who are found in Arms But a promiscuous putting all to the Sword sparing neither sex nor agâ— is too often practis'd for the Pillage the Ancients used after the expugnation of Towns to bring it all to the Treasurers Lodging who sold it and distributed the money as he was appointed by the General sometimes all of it to the Army sometimes a part of it and sometimes none of it The like hath been often practis'd in the Modern Wars but the custome is almost worn out the Plunder belonging to those who can take it which is Capiat qui capere potest and this is truly a very unequal partition for those who stay in Arms upon the Wall or perhaps in the Market-place to make them good against any opposition may arise from hidden Reserves of the Enemy share not so well as those who so soon as they Plunder enter run presently to the Plunder Some Princes and Generals give the Pillage of Towns taken by storm to their Armies for so many hours sometimes for a day for two days or three days It is commonly thought the Prisoners and their ransomes belong to those who took them and so it is commonly practis'd unless they be great Officers and those should be deliver'd to the General yet that General should be so generous as to bestow some handsome Present or gift on those who took them which some do but many do not The Ordnance and all that belong to it all publick Magazines of Provisions Munitions and Arms belong to the Prince or State who manageth the War But if all Assaults be beat off and all the Besiegers have done hath prov'd successless or that the besieging Army is wasted as no doubt it will diminish Beasons to leave a Siege and retire every day or that a numerous and fresh succourse be expected or other unhappy accidents fall out then a wise General will raise his Siege in time and rather march away than be chac'd away and he should go where he may refresh and recruit and be wise by the examples of those otherwise renown'd Princes and Generals who have obstinately continued Sieges to their irreparable Obstinacy in continuing them loseth Armies loss and danger So did Lautrec a great Captain continue the Siege of Naples fighting against a redoubted and couragious Enemy within the City and a contagious disease which rag'd within the bowels of his own Army which occasion'd first the loss of his own life secondly the ignominious rout Instances and destruction of all his Forces and thirdly the utter undoing of the French Interest in that Kingdom to this very hour So Charles the Fifth a fortunate and waâ—like Emperour and his General the Duke of Alva a renowned Captain continued the Siege of Metz which was
not seen Brancatio but Terduzzi his Countrey-man for they were both Italians in his Book of Machines says he hath read him Now if he value neither his opinion nor his reasons I think none should for Tâ—rduzzi himself was so little a friend to the Pike that he writes he would have it broken if he knew what better Weapon to put in its room Out of him I shall give you this short description of Brancatio and his Book His Book describ'd The Title of his Book is this Of the true Art of War whereby any Prince may not only resist another in the Field only with his own forces and with little charge but also overcome any Nation A very gloâ—ious Title I think we need expect small performances from so vain promises This man Himself a great undertaker will prove an Alchimist who promiseth to give us mountains of Gold and hath not a six-pence to buy his own dinner His Preface makes up the fourth part of his Book wherein he tells oftner than once that he studied the Theory of the Military Art fifteen years and practis'd it forty so he hath been no young man when he wrote his Book But he concludes and I pray you mark it that in all these fifteen years he had read no Authors but Casar's Commentaries And thereafter he laughs and scoffs at all those Roman Authors and Histories which mention distinct Maniples in the Roman Legions because he had read no such thing in Câ—sar Not only in this Preface of his but all along in his Book he despiseth the Pike and calls it the enervation the weakening and ruine of War I shall for a while leave Brancatio and return to Mr. Lupton's citations out of this great Italian Tactick that I may answer them And in the first place as it was a reflection on Brancatio Mr. Lupton's citations out of Brancatio first to cite Histories which he had either not read or not understood and next not to be acquainted with the customes of War in his own time so Mr. Lupton's credulity is inexcusable for taking things on Brancatio his report the truth whereof he might have found in Books of which many private Answered Gentlemen are Masters I shall very briefly run through the quotations he cites out of this Italian man of War The King of Portugal says he was ruin'd and overthrown in Africk because First he had Squadrons of Pikes But by his favour he was overthrown because neither his Pike-men nor Harquebusiers were rightly Order'd Train'd nor Commanded Next he says Charles the Eighth of France was the first that brought Pikes Second into Italy Indeed there were Pikes in Italy before France was called France and if that French King brought them first there what lost he by it He travers'd it took and conquer'd the Kingdome of Naples and return'd to France and made his passage good at Fornuovo in spite of all Italy then bandied against him and no doubt his Switzers did him good service and Brancatio knew they were armed with Pikes as to their Offensive Arms. Thirdly he says The Turk these forty years by past reckon them to begin Third at the year 1540 and to continue till 1580 hath been Victorious over the Christians Sempre in Ongaria so writes Mr. Lupton only because great Batallions of Pikes both of the Switzer and High Dutch Nation were oppos'd to the Turkish Troops of Horse well arm'd with Pistol and Harquebuss I answer first Brancatio his assertion is false for the Turk was sometimes beaten in Hungary in the time of these forty years and this Mr. Lupton might have learned by perusing Knolles his History if he could light upon no better Next I say If Pikes could not resist the Turks Cavalry Harqâ—ebusiers on foot of which Brancatio would have all his Infantry to consist would have done it much less But what a ridiculous thing is it to impute the loss of all Battels to one cause since Armies may be undone and overthrown by a thousand several occasions What can either Brancatio or Mr. Lupton say against it if I aver that when ever the Turks were beaten and beaten sometimes they were it was because they had no Pike men to resist the charge of a stout and hardy Cavalry Fourthly he avers That John Frederick Duke of Saxe in Germany and Piter Fourth Strozzi in Tuscany were both beaten because of the multitude of their Pikemen To the first I answer I do not remember that Sleidan gives any such reason for his misfortune neither did ever that Prince fight a just Battel with the Emperour Charles the fifth most of whose Infantry consisted of Pike-men as well as that of the Elector of Saxe did To the second of Strozzi I say he was routed because he made his Retreat in the day time in view of a powerful Enemy contrary to the advice given him by Marshal Monluc Finally he says The Battel of Ceresole gives a good proof of the weakness Fifth of the Pike-mens service and the Battels of Dreux and Moncounter prov'd fatal says he to their Leaders who were despis'd by their Enemies because their Foot consisted most of Pikes Here Mr. Lupton does himself an injury to insert such three ignorant and unadvised citations out of Brancatio which I will clear At Ceresole the famous Alphonso Davalo Marquess of Guast commanded Battel of Cerâ—solâ— the Imperial Army and the Duke of Anguien the French The Imperialists were beaten by the cowardise of a Batallion of their own Horse which fled without fighting which a great Batallion of Imperial Pikes seeing open'd and gave them way the French follow the chace through that same lane they being past the Pikes who were no â—ewer than five thousand closed again and kept their ground Another Imperial Batallion of Pikes some Spaniards some Germans fought with a great Body of Grisons belonging to the French and beat it out of the Field and thereafter fought with the Gascone Batallion of Pikes where both parties stood to it valiantly insomuch that the Duc d'Anguien the French General seeing his Grisons overthrown and his Gascons so shrewdly put to it despair'd of the Victory In this charge of the Imperial Pikes and the Gascons almost all the Leaders fell at the first shock but in the mean time there came a Batallion of Switzer Pikes and charged the Imperial Pikes in the flank and notwithstanding they had to do with two stout and redoubted Enemies one in the Van and another in the Flank yet did they keep their Ranks and the Field too after all the Harquebusiers on foot and all their Cavalry with Guast himself wounded as he was had fled and then and not till then they cast down their Arms and cry'd for Quarter which the Switzers gave them sparingly enough At this Charge was Marshal Monluc on foot in the Head of the Gascons with a Pike in his hand and he it is that gives us this relation Will
any man say that the Imperial Pikemen lost this Battel to the Emperour I suppose none but Brancatio and Master Lupton Moncounter was lost for many reasons too tedious to insert here whereof the great number of Pikes was none And what a madness is it in these two Antipike-men to speak of Dreux for there they who lost the honour of the Battel of Dâ—â—ux day that is the Prince of Conde and the Admiral of France had few or no Pikes at all and succeeded accordingly for the Duke of Guise after a long and doubtful fight Marshal St. Andre being kill'd and the Constable taken routed their Foot with his Cavalry so the having Pikes gain'd the Royalists the honour of the day for the Switzers though with huge loss kept the field and the want of Pikes lost it to the Protestants These are Brancatio his Instances to prove the insufficiency of the Pike and what little reason Mr. Lupton had to make use of them upon the others authority is cleared I hope by my answers which I thought fit to give lest I might have seem'd to have undervalued Mr. Lupton as Terduzzi hath done his Countryman Brancatio who deigns not almost to afford one of his Arguments a reply It rests now that I give an answer to both of them who draw an argument against the Pike because the Turk useth it not but rejecteth it as unserviceable To this first I say that the Turk glories that his Batallions resemble the Macedonian Want of Pikes in the Tuâ—ks Army a defect Phalanges and therefore by this assertion he approves of the Pike which was the Macedonian weapon But I confess it is his vanity to say so for the staff which many of his men carry is rather a Javelin than a Pike But next I aver that the Grand Signiors want of Pikes is a defect in his Militia which no Prince or State is bound to imitate And assuredly if Selimus his Cannon had not terrified the Persian Horses in the Caldâ—ran Plains he would have repented Instanced that he had no Batallions of Pikes to withstand the furious and reiterated Charges of Sophi Ismael and his resolute Cavalry And if the Treason of some Mamaluck Captains had not assisted that same Turk against Campson Gaurus Sultan of Egypt where he was almost born down by the fury of the Mamaluck Horsemen the want of Pikes had lost him his Army and it may be a great part of his Empire But I will let these two Gentlemen see the Turk beaten with Pikemen in Asia two several times Tâ—chel sirnamed Cusâ—lbas or Redhead by Nation a Persian having but very few Horse armed all his Foot who were Turk beaten with Pikemen but Country-people and newly levied with long Pikes One of Bajazets Beglerbegs Basha Taragio meets him at the River Sangar where Techâ—l beat back and broke the Turks Horse with his â—ong Pikes and obtain'd the victory Not long after that Techel meets with Hali Basha at Mount Oliga with whom he fought long and at length by the couragious managing of his long Pikes he forced the Turkish Horse to run out of the field in which skuffle the Basha himself was kilâ—'d I am afraid it hath been pure malice in these two Gentlemen to conceive the Great Actions of the Switzers arm'd with Pikes Charles Duke of Burgundy Beside Milan great Victories obtain'd by the Switzers by no other weapon than the Pike Ignorance it could not be in Brancatio since some of them were the actions of his own time nor in Lupton who might have read them in Modern History They overthrew Charles of Burgundy in three several Battels and he was a very Warlike Prince They marched three miles out of Millain to attack a Martial King Francis the first lodg'd in a well fortified Camp environ'd with a well order'd Infantry a numerous Cavalry and a huge Train of Artillery they stormed his Retrenchment took some of his Cannon fought till night parted them renewed the Battel next morning very bâ—times fought long with doubtful success the event whereof might have prov'd fatal to the French King if the stout Venetian General Alviano had not come upon the Spur with three thousand Horse to the rescue and then the Switzers retir'd in good order back to Milan in spite of both French and Venetians Aâ— Novara they forc'd the French to retire two miles from the Town ten thousand of them follow the next day and fight At Novara with the French two hours and observe it that they were principally resisted by the German Batallions of Pikes who stoutly fighting were kill'd every man of them the Switzers obtain'd an absolute Victory they kill'd many of the French and Gascon Foot in their flight for they did not fight they chaced the French Cavalry out of the field who could not be detain'd by the Duke of Trimoville and Trivultio both of them great Captains these the Switzers for want of Horse could not pursue but they took two and twenty pieces of Artillery with an infinite Booty and so returned to Novara An Action even in the Heroick times almost beyond belief You may read these stories at large both in Guicciardini and Giovio At Meaux on the River Marne the Prince of Condâ— and the Admiral of At Meaux on the River Marne France had well near surpriz'd Charles the Ninth King of France and his Mother Catherine de Medici great were the fears of the Court where there were none to defend it but eight or nine hundred Gentlemen arm'd only with Swords But there arrived in a good time six thousand Switzers who had come from their own Country and they after three hours refreshment couragiously undertook to bring the King and Queen in safety to the Louvre which was ten Leagues distant from thence and performed it in their march they chose the most open and Champain fields presenting their Pikes on all Quarters where ever the enemy offer'd to Charge and came to Paris with the loss only of thirty men who being weary had fallen behind Let now Master Lupton tell us out of Brancatio that Pikemen cannot make way or pursue an enemy that they cannot force a Guard Street or Passage and cannot make an assault or use diligence on a March or do other feats of War All these great and memorable actions were performed by the Switzers arm'd offensively only with Pikes and Swords without Harqâ—ebusses Muskets or any Fire-guns without Cavalry or Artillery which is enough though nothing more could be said to confute both Brancatio and Lupton They both knew that it is a capricious humour to take away a thing that hath been used unless there be reasons given either against the thing it self or the bad use of it and this both of them think they have done how sufficiently let the Reader judg yet they have not done all unless they give us something in the room of the Pike since they have taken it from us And