and serueth for the pikes onely for the Musquettiers cannot be so close in files because they must haue their Armes at liberty that is when euery one is distant from file to file a foote and a halfe and 3 foote from Ranke to Ranke And this last distance is thus commanded Close your selues throughly But it is not to be taught the Souldiers for that when necessitie shall require it they will close themselues but too much of their owne accord without command To begin therefore to doe the exercises the Company is set in the first distance to wit of 6 foote in file and ranke and thus is said These are the generall words of Command which are often to be vsed Stand right in your files Stand right in your rankes Silence To the right hand As you were To the left hand As you were To the right hand about To the left hand as you were To the left hand about To the right hand as you were You must note that when they are commanded to be as they were they must returne thither from whence they parted and if they turned to the right hand they must returne to the left and so in countermarch The headpiece The forepart The headpiece close The backe the right gantlet The left vambrace The left cuishe The brest The backe the gard the left â—â—â—â—let The Armour of the Pikman The Gorget The Brest The Tales The Hedpiece The Back The Pike To the right double your rankes Rankes as you were To the left hand double your rankes Rankes as you were To the right hand double your files Files as you were To the left hand double your files Files as you were With halfe files to the right hand double your Rankes Halfe files as you were With halfe files to the left hand double your Rankes Halfe files as you were Files to the right hand countermarch Files to the left hand countermarch To the right hand or left at discretion as you were Rankes to the right hand countermarch Rankes to the left hand countermarch To the right or left hand as you were Close your Files to 3 foote distance Close your Rankes to 3 foote distance Vnderstand that in Closing from the outsides to the middle the Soldier is â—stand in his distance of 3 foote in file and not closer To the right hand wheele To the left hand wheele Open your Rankes backwards in your double distance to wit at 12 foote and this for a single Company Rankes as you were sc. at the first In opening Rankes or Files you must keepe them closed vntill the second Ranke or File beginning from the outsides haue taken their distances and so shall the rest remaine close vntill euery Ranke or File haue taken their distanceâ— in order Open your files to wit to the first distance of 6 foote If you will command to close files to the right hand or left hand the outmost file standeth still and the rest close to that file For the Pike with a firme stand Advance your Pikes Order your Pikes Slope your Pikes Charge your Pikes Order your Pikes Traile your Pikes Cheeeke your Pikes More for the Pikes first with a firme stand and then marching Charge your Pikes Slope your Pikes To the right hand charge your Pikes Slope your Pikes To the left hand charge your Pikes Slope your Pikes Charge your Pikes to the Reare Slope your Pikes Order your Pikes This must be obserued charging your Pikes with a firme stand to set the right foote behind and charging the Pikes marching to set the left foote before For the Musquet THe Postures in his Excellencies Booke are to be obserued but in exercisinâ— you must onely vse these three termes of direction Make ready Present Giue fire Your Musquettiers must obserue in all their motions to turne to the right hand and that they carry the mouth of their peeces high aswell when they are shouldred as in pruning and also when they hold their pannes garded and come vp to giue fire In advancing towards an Enemy when they doe not skirmish loose and disbanded they must giue fire by Rankes after this manner Two Rankes must alwaies make ready together and aduance ten paces forward before the body at which distance a Sergeant or when the body is great some other officer must stand to whom the Musquettiers are to come vp before they present and giue fire first the firstranke And whilest the first giues fire the second Ranke keepe their Musquets close to their Rests and their pannes garded and assoone as the first are fallen away the second presently present and giue fire and fall after them Now assoone as the first two Rankes doe moue from their places in the front The two Rankes next them must vnshoulder their Musquets and make ready so as they may aduance forward ten paces as before assoone as euer the two first rankes are fallen away and are to doe in all points as the former And all the other Rankes through the whole diuision must doe the same by twoes one after another A manner there is to giue fire retyring from an Enemy which is performed after this sorâ—t As the Troope marcheth the hindermost ranke of all keeping still with the Troope is to make ready and being ready the souldiers in that ranke turne altogether to the right hand and giue fire marching presently away a good round pace to the front and there place themselues in ranke together iust before the front As soone as the first ranke turne to giue fire the ranke next makes ready and doth as the former and so the rest We giue fire by the flanks thus The vppermost file next the Enemy must be commanded to make ready keeping still along with the body till such time as they be ready and then they turne to the right or left hand according to the sight of their enemies either vpon the right or left flanke and giue fire altogether When they haue discharged they stirre not but keepe their ground and charge their Peeces againe in the same place they stand Now as soone as the foresaid file doth turne to giue fire the vttermost next it makes ready alwaies keeping along with the Troope till the Bringer-vp be past a little beyond the Leader of that file that gaue fire last and then the whole file must turne and giue fire and doe in all points as the first did and so the rest one after the other A Sergeant or if the Troope be great some other better qualified Officer must stand at the head of the first file and assoone as the second file hath giuen fire and hath charged he is to lead forward the first file vp to the second file and so to the rest one after another till he hath gathered vp againe the whole wing and then he is to ioyne them againe in equall front with the pikes Last of all the Troope or whole wing of Musquettiers makes ready altogether and
the first ranke without advancing giues fire in the place they stand in and speedily as may be yet orderly falls away all the rankes doing the same successiuely one after another Thus much of the armes and exercise of the foote The horse ensue The order and discipline holden in Horse-troopes or in the Cavalry THE Caualry hath for his Cheife the Generall the Lieutenant Generall and the Comissary generall To the Cavalry there is a Quarter-master generall and a Prouost generall belonging the Iustice resorteth to the Councell generall of warre of the Army The Cavalry is of two sorts Har quebusiers and Curassiers The first haue for defensiue armes the Curace pistoll proofe and a light head-peece For offensiue the Carbine of 3 foote 3 inches length and the bore of 20 bullets in the pound and Pistolls like vnto the Curassiers The Curassiers haue for defensiue Armes a compleat armour the Curace pistoll proofe For offen siue two pistolls hauing the barrell of 26 inches in length and the bore of 36 bullets in the pound See the figure of Armes For the order in Regiments the 40 Companies entertained by the States doe make eleuen Regiments The Regiment of the Generall hath alwaies the Vantgard the others alternatiuely and by turnes and he that hath it this day the next day after hath the Reare the rest following in the same sort Those which command the Regiments are called Coronells The Regiments are compounded of 3 or 4 Companies of 3 at the least and the Coronells Company marcheth alwaies on the left wing of the Regiment The Captaines receiue orders from their Coronells as these from the Commissary Generall All the Companies are diuided in 3 equall parts which are called Squadrons and distributed to the three chiefe officers Captaine Cornett and Lieutenant hauing each of them adioyned an old Souldier which they doe know to bee of more desert called a Corporall Marching in the field euery Officer marcheth at the head of his Squadron the Lieutenant excepted which marcheth behind with the Quartermaster and the third Corporall at the head of the Lieutenants Squadron The Companies are diuided by files and rankes the file 5 deepe and no more how strong soeuer the Company be They obserue that in marching in battaile they must be close together and to doe the Motions there must be 6 foote distance from one Horseman to another The Companies being in battaile there must be 25 paces distance left between euery Company and 50 betwixt euery Regiment at the least The exercise of Armes for the Cavalry To open the Squadron you must first open the rankes and after the files To close the Squadron you must first close the files and after the rankes There be two sorts of distances betwixt the files the one close and the other open In the Close there must be no distance or intervalls betwixt the files to the open there must be 6 foote betwixt euery file Likewise there must be two sorts of distances betwixt the rankes the Close which must be without intervall or streete and the Open which must be six foote distance In a march it must be vnderstood that the rankes must neuer be more opened then the open distance of 6 foote And to the end that the Troope may march in good order and obserue well their distance betwixt the rankes without that the last may be forced to runne or goe to fast there must be heed taken that so soone as the first rankes begin to march all the Troope and the Reare also at one time march The words of Command are Open your Rankes Open your files Stand right in your rankes Stand right in your files To the right hand As you were So the left hand As you were To the right hand about To the left hand as you were To the left hand about To the right hand as you were Files to the right hand countermarch Files to the left hand countermarch To the right or left hand as you were Rankes to the right hand countermarch Rankes to the left hand countermarch Close your files Close your rankes To the right hand wheele To the left hand wheele Faults escaped in the Booke PAg. 2. in the margent beneath for Spartionem read Spartianus Pag. 9 lin 20. for was were lin 31. for Bircanna Bircenna and in the marg lin 40. for Dipnoseph Dipnosoph pag. 10. lin 26. in marg for Adrian Arrian p. 14. l. 11. in marg for Dipnoseph Dipnosoph p. 15 l. 18. for Marsilians Massilians p 17. l. 47. for pluimes Plumes p. 18. l 49 for conceited by conceitedly p. 20. l. 45. for Thureo Thureoi lin 48. dele full p. 22. l. for Those These l. 11. for Ochanes Ochane l. 32. dele Then p. 23. l. 12. for Divarates Divarates p. 27. l. for immitation imitation p. 2â— l. 11. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 17. dele That p. 29. l. 4. for quiety quietly l. 25. slinges slingers p. 30. l. 35. in marg Analast Analact p. 31. l. 13. put in it p. 32. l 29. 33. for bellys bellies p. 33. l. 35. 38. 41. for Sotridas Soteridas p 34 l. 3. for forceble forcible l 19. Popana Popana 29. vnfailable vnfailible l. 42 dele once for all p. 35. l. 42. reduct reduce p 36. l. 40. in marg de bett de bell p. 39. l. 17. strok strooke p. 44. l. 12. in marg Enometis Enomâ—tis 24. Enomotarches Enomotarches 31. 33. Prucestes Peucestes lin 47. after Patricius a full point p. 49. l. 27. Bathera Batheia 40 liptismos leptismos p. 50 l. 14. after supported a full point 34. easily easily p. 53 l. 6. Prataxis Protaxis pag. 55. l. 35. for hauing giuing pag. 56. l. 18. sure safe lin 32 37. Ansetaus Ansetaus 41. Then They. 46. a full point after through p. 57. l. 31. betwixt the and examples put former p. 58. l. 2. Pharnabarus Pharnabazus l. 18. after Mâ—nomachy a full point 37. the â—hem 48. after number a full point p 59. l. 6. speedely speedily 36. motion motions 39. 40. your you 41. after forme a full point p 60 l. 16. fiâ—th fifth 18. after may be set the figure 2. 28. after sort dele as and for 2 read 4. p. 61. l. 18. never neither p. 62. l. 23. after Lydians a full point p. 63. l. 15. for 500 5000. lin 22. for 800 8000. p 66. l. 26. for 500 400. lin 25. read when it is greatest in Xenophon hath no more then 100. pag. 68. l. 35. besides to preterâ—it p. 70. l. 40. fight read marching p. 72. l. 1. after Sunne set read and. l. 37. for of p. 75. l. 19. 27. Lochagie Lochagi l. 32. Pempedarches Pempadarchs p. 78. l. 2. 4. of on p. 79. l. 11. for fourth third p. 80. l. 29. insert after an Army that c. â—oreth disorderly lin 47 after 21. insert foote pag. 82. lin Target Targets lin 30. for 6130. read 6144. pag 84. l. 14. Philopomen Philopoemen p. 87. l. 36. Quintus Quintius
Two Hipparchies 6 an Ephipparchy of 1024 horse Two Ephipparchies 7 a Telos of 2048 horse Two Telos make 8 an Epitagma of 4096 horse Notes HItherto of squares and Rhombes vsuall horse battailes amongst the Graecians Now followeth the horse battaile of the Macedonians of which P Aelian hath thus afterward This forme of horse battaile is called a wedge by Tacticks and it was invented by Philip King of Macedonia who placed his best men before that by them the weaker might be held in and inabled to the charge As in a speare or sword the point whereof by reason of sharpnes quickly piercing maketh way for and letteth in the middle blunt yron I haue spoken somewhat of the wedge in the two last Chapters Aelian in this Chapter sheweth the number and manner of framing it and how many troupes ought to attend the Phalange and vnder what offices and degrees 1 Let the first troupe be of 64 men The number of the wedge ought to be 64 horse You make it beginning as the Rhombe that ranked but filed not with a ranke of 15 horse Then must you proceed toward the front with an other ranke of 13 the middle man filing with the middle man of the first ranke and the rest with the rest And so you are to continue abating still two in euery following ranke till at last you come to one who is the Commander of the Troupe and standeth in the point of the front 2 He shall carry the Cornet The place of the Cornet is not right set downe in the figure He there standeth on the right hand of the middle man of the second ranke where as he should stand on the left And you must not account the second ranke to be the ranke next to the Commander in the front but as Aelian doth that was secondly placed after the first consisting of 15 which was in the Reare So that the Cornet is to stand in the next ranke to the Reare But here is nothing said concerning the distances that ought to be betwixt horse and horse Of the distances betweene foote and foote he hath spoken in the 11 Chap But of the distances betwixt horse I finde nothing but generall words That which wanteth in Aelian I will supply out of other Authors We must vnderstand then that two kinde of distances were obserued amongst horsemen one for marching an other for fight In marching there ought to be 6 foote betwixt horse and horse Aelian hath before giuen this distance to the foote And that horse held it likewise appeareth by Polybius Who reprehending Calisthenes for carelesnesse in describing the battaile betwixt Alexander and Darius at Issos specially taxeth this That he placed thirty thousand horse and thirty thousand mercenaries in foureteene furlongs of length whereas the place was not capeable of halfe the horse His words haue this sense The order of horse when they are prepared for fight is for the most part 8 in depth And there is a distance to be left in front betwixt euery troupe to giue liberty to wheele and double-wheele So that one furlong will conteine 800 horse and 10 furlongs 8000 4 furlongs 3200 And eleuen thousand and two hundred Horse will fill the space of 14 furlongs in length The words seeme at first somewhat obscure being well weighed they will be cleare enough Polybius saith that these 800 horse were ordered 8 in depth and that they tooke vp a furlong of ground in length There must be therefore of them a hundred files For a hundred files of 8 horse a peece will arise to 800 horse Compare then these 100 files the length of the battaile to the length of a furlong And seing a furlong conteineth 400 Cubits or six hundred foote euery file shall haue 4 cubits or 6 foote space betwixt them And so the distance betwixt file and file in a march will be 4 Cubits or 6 foote The other distance of three foote appeareth in Leo whose words stand thus Put the case that the battaile is of 600 horse in length and 500 in depth seing that euery horse in length of the battaile possesseth three foote in breadth the number of feete will amount to 1800 And seing againe that euery horse in depth possesseth 8 foote there will arise hereof 4000 feete so that in the foure-sided figure out of the length of 1800 and the depth of 4000 feete arise 720 Myriades of square feete And the Perimeter alone of the outward foure sides conteineth 11600 feete And because 6 feete make a fathome and a 100 fathoms make a furlong and 7 furlongs and a halfe make a mile the whole Perimeter of 11600 feete will come to two mile and a halfe and neare a 10th part In this distance therefore according to the closest order or shutting the thirty thousand horse are conteined But if they stand not so close you must alter your account according to the thinnesse and out of the greatnesse of place coniecture of the multitude of the people So Leo. Which place albeit it seeme to require a large interpretation because many things worth the noting offer themselues in it yet for this time I will onely insist vpon that which I first propounded that is the distance of three foote betwixt horse and horse when they goe to charge for that is the meaning of Leo when he speaketh of the closest order which distance is expresly here set downe And the matter will yet seeme more cleare if we adde the words of Leo in the Paragraph next but one to this which are these The oldest Tacticks in ordering of foote Battailes giue euery man at the first distance foure Cubits when the battaile is closed two Cubits when serred and shut one Cubit Out of which proportion a Scout may exactly discouer by the quantitie of the place the number not onely of horse but of foote also These oldest Tacticks that Leo mentioneth agree with Aelian as wee haue seene But where the foote haue three distances the horse are to haue but two The open order of six foote they ought to haue and likewise that of three foote nearerer they cannot come together because of the bredth of their horse and because they are to haue roome sufficient for the weilding of their weapons All the Troupes are to be in number 64 A Troupe consists of 64 men and to the Phalange belong 64 Troupes as the Phalange conteineth 64 Ensignes or Syntagma's of armed foote To which Ensignes the 64 Troupes of horse are proportioned Their place is according to Aelian after the light-armed not one troupe after or behind an other but one beside an other in one front and that front in a right line which stretcheth out as long as the Phalange of armed it selfe Now the files of the armed being 1024 in number and the number of the horse in the last ranke which conteineth the length of the Horse-battaile and should answer the number of files but 960 we must seeke out a proportion to
which regard I preferre the Target of Aelian before that of Leo Aelians reaching vp to the height of the necke from the middle of the thigh Leos carying a handfull more in bredth which in the circumference groweth to a good proportion of weight and greatnesse 4 No shorter than 8 Cubits That is 12 foote Short pikes against long haue a great disadvantage With the long pike a man is able to strike and kill his enemy before himselfe can be touched or come in danger of a shorter the pike keeping the enemy out so farre as the length is The experience of the battaile of Sorano sheweth it where Vitellozzo Vitelli discomfited the Almaines onely with the advantage of pikes an arme longer than theirs Against long pikes this policie was vsed by Cleonymus the Lacedemonian King as Polienus tells Cleonymus besieging Aedessa and hauing ouerthrowne the wall of the City the pikemen of the City sailed out whose pikes were each 16 cubits in length Cleonymus closed his Phalange in depth and commanded the file-leaders to lay away their pikes and when the pikemen of the enemy came to charge to seaze vpon their pikes with both hands and hold them fast and the followers to passe thorough by the file-leaders sides and maintaine the fight The file-leaders laid hold on the pikes and the enemy stroue to recouer them out of their hands In the meane time the followers passing thorough the ranke of file leaders to the front slew the enemies pikemen and got the victorie This was Cleonymus deuice against long pikes which notwithstanding derogates nothing from the length of pikes more than from shortnes For the same policie might haue prevailed as well against short pikes as long each assoone as the enemies haue seized vpon them growing to be of no vse But that the longer pike is to be preferred before the shorter I haue shewed before by reason and the reformation of armes made by Iphicrates amongst the Athenians and by Philopomen amongst the Achaians will be warrant enough so to hold In the length notwithstanding ought to be a reasonable consideration that it exceede not the measure of his strength that shall beare the pike The worth that the File-leaders and next followers should be of CHAP. XIII THE File-leaders as the Commanders of files of the Phalange are to be the choice and flower of the Army and to excell the rest as well in stature as in experience and martiall skâ—ll For this Ranke knitteth and bindeth in the Phalange and of all other yeeldeth greatest vse For as a sword taking to the edge as a weight and sway the swelling yron towards the backe exhibiteth thereby more violence in piercing so in a Phalange the Ranke of File-leaders is the edge it selfe and the multitude of after-commers is the swelling and sway and increase of weight Consideration must be had likewise of those that follow in the second Ranke For their Pikes reach ioyntly ouer the front and being next in place they are alwaies ready for vse And the File-leader falling or being wounded the next follower stepping to the front in his place holdeth together and preserueth the tenor of that Ranke vnbroken Furthermore we are to order the third and the rest of the Rankes according to reason and as the valour of our souldiers shall require THis Chapter sheweth how the Souldiers are to be ordered in euery File whereof because I haue before spoken sufficiently in my Notes to the fifth Chapter and the words of this Chapter carry no difficultie or obscuritie with them I will forbeare to treat any further Of the strength of the Macedonian Phalange and length of the Souldiers Pikes CHAP. XIIII THE 1 Macedonian Phalange hath of enemies beene thought vnresistible by reason of 2 the manner of embattailing For the Souldier with his Armes standeth in close order or shutting when he is ready for fight 3 occupying two Cubits of ground And the length of his Pike is sixteene Cubits according to the first institution but in truth it ought to be foureteene Cubits whereof the 4 space betwixt the hands in charging taketh vp two Cubits the other twelue lye out from the front of the Battaile Those in the second Ranke that stand next to the Leaders loosing foure Cubits in the Phalange haue their Pikes reaching ouer the first Ranke ten Cubits Those of the third Ranke eight Cubits of the fourth Ranke six cubits of the fift 4 cubits of the sixt 2 Cubits 5 The Pikes of the other behind cannot attaine to the first Ranke And seeing fiue or six pikes are charged ouer the first Ranke they present a fearefull sight to the enemy and double the strength of the souldier standing fortified as it were with fiue or six Pikes and seconded with a maine force at his backe as the figure sheweth Moreouer they that are placed after the sixt Ranke albeit they push not with their pikes yet thrusting on with the weight of their bodies r'enforce the strength and power of the Phalange and leaue no hope for the File-leaders to flie or shift away Some would haue the hinder pikes longer then the formost that they of the third and fourth Rankes might beare out the heads of their pikes equally with the first 6 The Superordinary Lieutenant of euery Syntagma must be a man of vnderstanding ouerseeing the souldiers of his command that they file and ranke and if for feare or other occasion any forsake their ground he is to compell them againe to their places and in Closing to put them when neede requireth as neare vp together as they should stand For it is a great strength and assurance to the Phalange to haue some principall Commander not onely in front but also in the Reare of the Battaile for the causes before mentioned Notes THE strength of the Macedonian Phalange which consisted principally in the protension and charging of pikes and knitting together of Targets is here set downe The whole Chapter seemeth to haue beene taken out of Polybius who handleth the same argument and almost with the same words but that Aelian and he differ about the number of Cubits which the Pikes take vp reaching ouer the front of the Phalange 1 The Macedonian Phalange hath beene thought to be vnresistible The strength of the Macedonian Phalange appeareth no way better than by the conquests it hath made King Philip was the inventer of it and by that invention raised the kingdome of Macedonia from the poorest to the powerfullest and greatest kingdome of Europe and that I may vse the words of Diodorus Siculus finding the Crowne at his comming to it in bondage to the Illyrians made it afterward Lady of many great Nations and Cities and purchased to himselfe to be declared Generall of Greece And first ouerthrowing the Illyrians Pâ—onians Thracians and Scythians afterward let vpon the kingdome oâ— Persia to breake it after he had enfranchised the 〈◊〉 Cities of Asia And albeit death intercepted him yet he left such
Metabole For Metabole is the conuersion of euery mans face particularly to the place which was behinde his backe And the same that Metabole is in ech seuerall Souldier the same is Perispasmos or wheeling about in the whole battaile There are 4 two kinds of Metabole the one from the enemie the other to the enemie Metabole is defined to be a changing of euery mans face in particular from the front to the reare or contrariwise Turning about from the enemie is when the Souldier turneth his face twice towards the Pike To the enemy when hee turneth twice towards the Target Notes FOure kinde of Motions are set downe by Aelian whereby vpon any occasion the battaile may be somewhat changed Turning of faces countermarch wheeling and doubling whereof the first may be vsed in what order soeuer your battaile standeth the second onely in open order the third â—n close order only the fourth either in close or open order Clisis or turning of faces whereof this Chapter intreateth albeit it may bee brought in also in open Order Yet is it not don for the most part but in close order and then especially when none of the other motions haue place The Graecians alwaies coueted to bring their file Leaders that is their best men to fight In open Order they chose to countermarch In close Order hauing place to wheele their battaile about and so turne the face of it against the enemy If they could doe neither of these they came to the last remedy which was turning of faces of euery particular man in the battaile 1 Clisis or turning of faces This motion is of lesse paines then any other but of no lesse importance or necessitie In the rest the Phalange changeth the place or the forme In this it holdeth both and yet is ready for any attempt of the enemy Onely euery Souldier in particular turneth his countenance to the right or left hand as he is commanded To turne his face to the Pike is to turne to the right hand because that hand bore the pike to turne to the Target is to turne to the left hand because the Macedonians caried their targets on their left shoulder For the vse of this turning of Faces Aelian saith It hath place when the enemie sheweth himselfe in flanke 2 To incompasse our wings Clisis is no more then bearing faces to the right or left hand that is to our wings When then we finde our enemies to incompasse our right wing wee turne our faces and weapons that way to receiue him to the left when he commeth to charge vs on that side If on both sides then turne wee the faces of our Phalange halfe to the right halfe to the left hand which is the Antistomus Phalange whereof Aelian speaketh hereafter Briefely there is almost none of the marching Phalanges which are afterward discribed but it hath neede of this motion Besides if vpon any occasion the Phalange be to moue from any of the flanks you are only to command Turning of faces to that flanke and then to lead on I will giue an example or two Alexander at Arbela hauing imbattailed his armie to fight with Darius had intelligence that Darius had strowed the ground betwixt the two armies with Calthropes He commanded therefore the right wing which himselfe led to turne faces to the right hand and follow him to the end to go round about and auoide the places that were sowed with Calthropes Darius marching against him to the left hand disioyned his troupes of horse and Alexander taking the aduantage and giuing in quickly betwixt the spaces put Darius to flight If Alexander had marched on with the right front he had fallen vpon the Calthropes To auoide them be vsed the benefit of this motion and turning faces to the right hand he led on vntill hee had passed the danger and then turning againe to the first posture went to charge and defeated the enemie An other example is in Polybius who describing the battaile betwixt Machanidas the Lacedemonian Tyrant and Philopoemen the Achaean Generall telleth that Machanidas hauing in the left wing put the Achaean mercenaries to flight followed hard the chase Philopoemen as long as there was hope indeuoured by all meanes to stay his men when he saw them vtterly defeated hee hasted to the right wing and perceiuing the enemie busie in chase and the place voide where the fight had beene commanding the first Merarchies to turne their faces to the right hand hee led them on with high speede not yet breaking the order of their imbattailing And quickly seazing vpon the forsaken ground hee both cut betwixt them that gaue chase and home and withall got the aduantage of the vpper ground against the left wing of the armed Whereby hee obteined the victory If Philopoemen had in this action vsed wheeling of his battaile which onely was the other motion which would haue serued his turne besides the troublesomenesse of the winding about he should haue beene forced to haue vsed two wheelings and so failed of the câ—lerity which was at that time requisite Faces were turned in a trice and he made himselfe Master of the ground hee desired before hee could haue wheeled once his battaile 3 Two turnings of the Souldiers face Clisis or turning faces to the right or left hand consisteth of one turning and moueth no further then the side If the motion be to the reare it hath two turnings and is called Metabole which is defined to bee a changing of euery mans face in particular from the front to the reare or contrariwise And as wheeling of the whole body carieth about the fronts of the battaile to the reare So doth Metabole turne the face of euery particular Souldier and maketh him looke from the front to the reare The word properly signifieth a change which happeneth herein when the souldiers are changed from the front to the reare or contrariwise The vse of Metabole is principally to resist the enemy that giues on vpon the reare So Pyrrhus being entred the Citie Argos with a few and ouerpressed with multitude retired by little and little and defended himselfe often turning his and his souldiers faces against the enemy So the armie of Cyrus the elder retiring from the walles of Babylon often turned about their faces to the left hand and waited their enemie who were reported to be on foote and ready to come and charge them And if the enemy assault both the front and reare it hath beene the manner to continue halfe the souldiers in each file with their faces to the front and command the other halfe to turne their faces to the reare against the enemie behind And this forme is called Phalanx Amphistomos discribed by Aelian cap. 38. And sometimes it is vsed to speed our march and preuent the enemie as was said before of Clisis Agesilaus made an incursion into the Territory of the Thebans and finding a Trench and Ramper cast vp by the Thebanes for
themselues of the weight of their Targets Where Diodore hath en ortho tò dorati menein to continue their Pikes vpright Polienus hath protinomenous ta dorata ortha holding before them their Pikes vpright But both haue pikes vpright and Diodorus his Continue hath relation to the Posture they were in which Chabrias would not haue them to alter Polienus his hold before to that they were commanded to doe In ordering of Pikes at this day I haue shewed that the Souldiers hold them vpright the but end set on the ground before and somewhat wide of their right foote Aemilius Probus reciting this historie peruerteth the Stratagem Hee saith that Chabrias forbad the Phalange to giue backe and taught his Souldiers to receiue the enemies charge kneeling with one knee the other set against the Target and with the Pike abased Wherein hee quite dissenteth from Diodore and Polien Diodore saith the command was to keepe their array Polienus not to runne forward but quietly to stand still Probus not to giue backe Probus saith they should kneele with one knee and rest against the Target with the other Diodore that they should hold their Targets sunke to their knees Polienus that they should carry their Targets before at their knees Probus that they should abase and charge their Pikes Diodore that they should continue and order them vpright Polien that they should hold their Pikes vpright So that Diodore and Polien agree and expound one another Aemilius Probus bringing in a new historie dissenteth as I said from the other two especially in making that to be a forme of fight prescribed by Chabrias a simple forme to receiue the charge vpon their knees which was a contempt to shew how little especially in that strength of ground he regarded Agesilaus which contempt also made Agesilaus retire not doubting but it proceeded from a great assurance of the enemy Therfore as I said I take these words ep ' orthon apodounai not only to appertaine to the aspect of the Souldier but also and that much rather to the erection and ordering of Pikes Of Countermarches and the diuers kindes thereof with the manner how they are to be made CHAP. XXVIII THere are two sorts of Countermarches one by file the other by ranke each of these againe is diuided into three kindes The first called the Macedonian The second the Lacedemonian The third the Choraean which is also the Persian and the Cretan 1 The Macedonian is that which leauing the ground it first had taketh in liew thereof the ground which was before the front of the Phalange and turneth the aspect of the Souldier backeward where before it was forward 2 The Lacedemonian is that which leauing likewise the ground it first had taketh in steed thereof the ground which was behinde the Reare of the Phalange and turneth also the face of the Souldier the contrary way 3 The Persian is the Cretan and Choraean This keepeth the same ground of the Phalange euery souldier taking another place for that he had the file-Leader the place of Bringer-vp and so the rest in order and turneth also the face of the Souldier the contrary way 4 Countermarches by ranke are made when a man would transferre the winges into the place of the Sections and the Sections into the place of the wings to the end to strengthen the middest of the battaile Likewise the right hand parts into the left hand parts and the left hand parts into the right hand parts They that feare to countermarch the Phalange in grosse the enemy being at hand doe it by Syntagmaes I will now set downe in what manner countermarches ought to be made The Macedonian countermarch by file is said to be when the file-leader turneth about his face and all the rest with the Bringer-vp go against him on the right or left hand and passing on to the ground before the front of the Phalange place themselues in order one after an other according as the file-Leader himselfe hath turned his face Therefore it maketh shew to the enemy appearing in the Reare of running away Or it is when the file-Leader turneth about his face and the rest passing by him on the right or left hand place themselues orderly one behinde another But the Lacedemonian is when the Bringer-vp turneth his face about and all the rest turning also their faces and proceeding forward together with their file-Leader order themselues proportionably in the ground which was behinde the Reare of the Phalange Wherefore to the enemy appearing behinde it makes a semblance of falling on Againe the Lacedemonian is when the file-Leader turning his face about to the Pike or Target transferreth the whole file to another place equall to the first and the rest following stand as before behinde him Or else when the Bringer-vp turneth his face about and hee that stood next before him passing by on the right or left hand is placed againe next before him and the rest following are placed one before another in their former order till the file-Leader be the first The Choraean is when the file-Leader turning about toward the Pike or Target precedeth the file and the rest follow till the file-Leader haue the place of the Bringer-vp and the Bringer-vp the place of the file-Leader And these are the Countermarches by file In the same manner are Countermarches made by ranke in case a man would countermarch by ranke For euery ranke Countermarching either keepeth the same ground or changeth the right hand place or else the left hand place of the battaile one of which must needes fall out and neuer faileth Notes THe two former motions are performed one in close Order the other in all Orders Epistrophe when the battaile is shut so close that as Aelian saith a man can turne his face neither the one way nor the other Clisis in open Order Order and close Order The two ◠following motions Countermarch and Doubling one is done in open Order the other for the most part in open order too and yet sometimes in Order and close order as we shall see in due place This Chapter handleth Countermarches the next Doublings Countermarch is a motion whereby euery souldier marching after other changeth his front for the reare or one flancke for the other For there are two kindes of Countermarches one by file and the other by ranke And each of these is againe diuided into three the first called the Macedonian the second the Lacedemonian the third the Choraean or Cretan A Countermarch by file is when euery souldier followeth his Leader of the same file By ranke when euery souldier followeth his sideman of the same ranke in the Countermarch 1 The Macedonian Countermarch In this Countermarch the purpose of the Commander is to turne the front of his battaile against the enemy that sheweth himselfe in the Reare and withall to take the ground that lyeth before the front of the Phalange It is called the Macedonian Countermarch saith Aelian because
number When the front hath twise as many files as it had before this is Doubling in number or in men or in persons For the persons or men make the number in the files And the files carrying an euen depth of men and being doubled double the number of the front or length Aelian speaketh but of one kinde of doubling namely of number and that must be done in open order as I said before For the files of 16 standing in open order if you command the Middlemen as we terme them at this day they were called in the Macedoman files the third Enomotarchs to double their ranks These middle men with the hinder halfe file march vp to the front so doubling the front in number leaue yet the same measure of length The figure sheweth how it is done Yet are there two other waies when the Phalange standeth in close order both which double the number and place One is when the Middlemen diuide themselues and one halfe with their followers turning their faces march out of the right flanke The other of the left flanke of the Phalange And then turning their faces againe sleeue vp and ioyne themselues in an euen line with the File leaders in front The other when all the Middle turne their faces one way and march out with their followers beyond one flanke right or left and turning faces againe sleeue vp to the front and stand euen with the File-leaders One of these is done when we desire to enlarge both the wings of the Phalange the other when but one wing Of these two last waies I haue set downe no figure because I finde them not expressed in Aelian Cleandridas the Lacedemonian vsed yet an other kinde not spoken of by Aelian Polienus telleth the story thus Cleandridas making warre vpon the Thurians hauing halfe as many men againe as they conceiuing if they had intelligence hereof they would hardly bee brought to fight imbattailing his Phalange stretched it out in depth The Lucans therefore contemning the small number drew out their forces in length with intent to ouer-front the enemy which Cleandridas perceiuing commanded the followers to march vp and ranke with their Leaders and by that meanes increased the length of his Phalange and ouer-fronted the enemy who being incompassed and assailed with missiue weapons on all hands perished intirely excepting a few that saued themselues by shamefull flight The words seeme obscure to a man not acquainted with the Tacticks There are two kinde of soldiers saith Aelian in a file Leaders and followers All the Leaders are the odde of the file as the first the 3. the 5 the 7 and so forth the followers are the euen as the 2 4 6 8. Those that are in the same ranke are called side-men Now saith Polien Cleandridas willed the followers to step forward and to ranke and become side-men with their Leaders that is he willed the euen files to double their ranks with the odde and so extenuated the depth but increased the length of his Phalange by which art he ouerfronted inclosed the enemy on all sides This way then to double ranks or the length of the battaile is to insert the euen ranks man by man into the odde All the Doublings that haue beene rehearsed were Doublings either in number alone or else both in number and place For doubling of place alone nothing is said in Aelian The Insertion I recited supplyeth this defect saying the place is doubled with 124 files onely by commanding halfe to turne to the Pike halfe to the Target till the Phalange be stretched to a convenient length as from 5 furlongs to ten which is as much to say in few words as to open the Phalange Or to bring it from order to open order For so the front possesseth double ground to that it had before 4 The vse of Doubling the length is Two causes are assigned for the doubling of the length One to ouerwing the enemy the other to auoide ouerwinging our selues Cleandridas in the example aboue performed both For he both disappointed the Lucans that sought to incompasse him and besides incompassed and inclosed them The narrower the front is it is the more in danger of ouer-fronting being drawne out in length it is freer from enclosing because a greater compasse must be fetched before it can be inclosed Yet are we to take heed that in doubling of the front we giue it not so much length that it faile in depth The want of length or depth is alike dangerous and giueth advantage to the enemy I haue touched before and quoted Leo glancing onely at his words Now I will set them downe as they lye When the thicknes or depth of the Phalange saith he is gathered vp and made more thinne it behoueth not so to lengthen it that it become altogether weake and without depth For it will so come to passe that the enemy shall easily cut it in peeces and make a passage thorough it and not onely seeke to incompasse it before but passing thorough the middest bee found behinde and there indamage it And this it behooueth a Generall not onely to take heede hee suffer not himselfe but also indeuour to put vpon his enemy Hitherto are the words of Leo shewing the disadvantage of a battaile too much thinned by doubling the length But Leo elsewhere aâ—deth an other cause of doubling namely to make shew a faire sight of the Armie For the more ground it taketh in front the more will the number appeare and the bravery of euery man in particular discouered Further Antigonus vsed also this doubling for a policâ—e to beguile his enemy Polien reporteth the fact thus Antigonus incamped against Eumenes with an armie inferior in number And when messengers were sent often from one to an other Antigonus at the receit of a messenger of the enemy commanded one of his souldiers to come running in as it were out of breath and all to be-sullied with dust and to bring newes that his Confederates were come Antigonus hearing the newes leaped for ioy and sent away the messenger The next day he led his Armie out of his trench doubling the length of his front When the enemy heard of their messenger the newes that was brought to Antigonus concerning his Confederates and saw the length of his battaile doubled they imagined that the depth was answerable to the front And therefore they dislodged being afraid to ioyne with him 5 There are that mislike Countermarches and Aelians doublings of number are dangerous the enemy being ready to charge Because the files of the Battaile must be kept in open Order â—ill the motions be ended which posture is not fit to receiue the charge of the enemy as we saw out of the eleuenth Chapter The other two doublings are done in close order whereof I made mention a little before The one diuiding the middle men in halfe anâ— sleeuing them vp by the battaile on both sides The other
sleeuing them vpon one side which you will may be vsed without danger as well when the enemy is neare as when the fight is in as much as they disturbe not the battaile but advance fresh aides against the enemy on the flanks of it 6 By inserting the second file There are two manner of doublings of the depth or of files one in number the other in place In number when one file is inserted into another the Leader or first man of the second file standing behind the Leader of the first the second behind the second the third behind the third and so forth of the rest Or when the euen files countermarch and their Leaders place themselues behind the Bringers-vp of the odde their files following them or which commeth all to one the files being whole they diuide themselues into two parts in the front and halfe countermarch and place themselues in the Reare of the other file to file albeit the two last are Doublings both in number and place and not in place alone The true Doubling of the place alone is not Aelian The Insertion whereof I spake remedieth this defect also There it is said that when 16 men that is a file are so extended that they possesse as much length as 32 should doe that is as 2 files it is doubling of place which is nothing else but changing of the Souldiers order into open order For in their order they haue 48 foote in depth in their open order 96 foote in depth In this Doubling of depth we must take heed that we make not the front of our Armie to narrow lest we giue oportunitie to the enemy to incircle and incompasse it Polybius noteth this a great faulâ— in Marcus Atilius Regulus at such time as he fought with the Carthaginians and was taken prisoner His words haue this effect k The Romans seing the enemy order his battaile marched out against him fuâ—l of courage Being notwithstanding somewhat appalled at and foreseing the Elephants violence in comming on they set their Darters before and placed many maniples of Armed behind one after an other and diuided the Horse halfe into one wing halfe into the other Then making the whole battaile shorter but deeper then they were wont they prouided well against the Elephants but not against the Horse that farre exceeded theirs in number Being now come to hands the Roman horse ouerpressed with multitude of the Carthaginians quickly fled from either wing But the foote of the left wing partly auoyding the Elephants partly contemning the Mercenaries fell on and charged the right wing of the Carthaginians and putting it to flight followed hard and gaue chase euen to the trench But of those that were placed against the Elephants the first sinking vnder the violence of the beasts perished being ouerturned and troden to death by heapes The body of the battaile remained a while vnbroken by reason of the depth of them that were after placed But when the Reare of all incompassed by the horse was forced to turne about and fight with them and the other that had by force made way thorough the middest of the Elephants and were now behind their backs came vp to the fresh Phalange of the Carthaginians standing in good order they were by them slaine Thus fortune being contrary on all sides the Romans for the most part were troden to death by the excessiue might of the beasts and the rest died with the darts of the horsemen in the place where they fought The error of Attilius Regulus was in ordering his battaile too deepe by meanes whereof it was easily incompassed and distressed by the Carthaginian horse Appian likewise blameth Antiochus for ordering his Phalange 32 men in depth where the Macedonian Phalange ought to but 16 deepe shewing that by that ouersight it was incompassed by the Romans and ouerthrowne I haue touched the historie in my notes before Many other examples might be alledged but these two are sufficient for our purpose The words of Command in doubling of the length by number Middle men double your Rankes to the right or left hand By this Command the middle men with their halfe files march vp to the front in the spaces betwixt the files and stand euen with the File-leaders and the rest euen with the rest of the Ranks Doubling of the length in place Stand in your open order One halfe openeth their files to the right hand the other to the left and stand six foote one from another Doubling of the depth in number Double your files to the right or left hand The euen files fall into the spaces of the odde files Double your files by countermarch to the right or left hand The euen files countermarch and fall behind the reare of the odde and place themsâ—lues lineally after them obseruing their first distances Diuide your files and double them by countermarch to the right or left hand Halfe the files diuide themselues from the other halfe and countermarch out behind the Reare then turne their faces towards the place behind the Reare of the standing files which remoued not then march on and place themselues orderly behind them file to file then turne their faces as at first Doubling the depth in place Ranks open behind to your open order The broad-fronted Phalange the deep Phalange or Herse and the vneuen-fronted Phalange CHAP. XXX PLagiophalanx or the broad-fronted Phalange is that which hath the length much exceeding the depth Orthiophalanx or the deep Phalange commonly called the Herse is that which procedeth by wing hauing the depth much exceeding the length In generall speach euery thing is called Paramekes which hath length more then the depth and that which hath the depth more then the length Orthion and so likewise a Phalange The Phalange Loxe or vneuen fronted is that which putteth forth one of the wings which is thought fittest toward the enemy and with it beginning the fight holdeth off the other in a convenient distance till oportunitie bee to advance Of Parembole Protaxis Epitaxis Prostaxis Eutaxis Hypotaxis CHAP. XXXI PArembole or insertion is when placing souldiers before we take off the hindmost and ranke them within the distances of the first Protaxis or fore-fronting is when we place the light-armed before the front of the armed and make them fore-standers as the File-leaders are When we place the light-armed behind it is called Epitaxis as it were an after-placing Prostaxis or adioyning is when to both flanks of the battaile or to one flanke some part of the hindmost is added the front of them that are added lying euen with the front of the battaile such addition is called Prostaxis Entaxis or Insition is when it seemeth good to set the light-armed within the spaces of the files of the Phalange man to man Hypotaxis or Double-winging is when you bestow the light-armed vnder the wings of the Phalange placing them in an embowed forme so that the whole figure resembleth a