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
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
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
be out-wing'd as assuredly he was it will easily be granted Alexander at Arbela but eight deep that the more ground he took up in Front the less subject he was to that danger And this Curtius confirms when he tells us that the Commanders of the several Bodies had orders given them to extend their Batallions as far in length as without eminent danger they might lest saith the same Author they should be environ'd I conceive then it cannot be doubted but Alexander studying how to make as large a Front as feasibly he might against so numerous an Enemy he made his heavy arm'd Foot Phalange but eight deep as that which suited best with his present affairs and as he had seen other Grecian Captains do before him for by that means he made himself master of twice as much ground as he had when it was marshall'd sixteen in File That he had Reserves is most clear both from Curtius and others for Nicanor follow'd the Phalange with the Argyraspides or Silver Shields and these were heavy armed observe it and Cenos with a Band of men which And had Reserves saith Curtius was appointed note this to be a Relief Then Horestes Lincerta Polycarpon and Philagus all with several Bodies follow'd the Phalanx And that all these were Reserves Aelian himself nor any for him will not be so impudent as to deny But I shall speak more of the marshalling this Army in the Chapter following the next I come now to the third Reason which is pretended for sixteen deep of Third reason for 16 deep the heavy armed Phalange And it is this Though the Pikes of all those Ranks that stand behind the fifth or if you will the sixth be useless in regard they can reach but little or nothing beyond the File leader and you will remember these Ranks are not fewer than ten if not eleven yet being at close order with their Pikes advanc'd they bear forward with the weight and force of their Bodies those five or six Ranks that are before them and so make the Impression the greater and stronger they take all occasion of flight from them and impose a necessity on them to overcome or dye I answer first that this pretended advantage if it was any at all was very oft dear Answered bought Secondly I say five Ranks having their Pikes presented to the Enemy three Ranks behind them might have serv'd sufficiently to bear forward the five before them or if Aelian thought six Ranks might present all their Pikes with advantage then let four Ranks be allowed behind them to bear them forward to the charge and hinder them to fly and this will make in all but ten Ranks and so still six Ranks might have been disposed of either to enlarge the Front or make a Body in the Rear for a Reserve And thirdly I say when Aelian's six formost Ranks were busie in fight the ten behind them who were to bear those six forward were at their closest distance which he calls constipation and so not able to open very suddenly and face about in so good order and so soon as was requisite to receive or beat back the charge of an unexpected Enemy For certainly they must first have open'd backward and then fac'd about both which must have been done by the command of some of their Officers probably the Lieutenant and it is well enough known how confusion and disorder which seldome fails to attend such occasions stops the ears and dulls the judgement of Souldiers that they can neither hear nor understand the words of Command aright I will fetch two instances from History and those I believe will prove all I have said and clear this whole matter pretty well At the Battel of Cynocephalae or Dogs heads fought by Philip the last King Battel of Cinocephalae of Macedon except one against Titus Flaminius a Roman Consul the half of Philips heavy armed Phalange on the right hand bore down all before it and trod over the Legions gaining ground so far that the Macedonian thought the day his own But Flaminius having observ'd that the left Wing of the Phalange could not draw up in any close order because of the unevenness and knottiness of the Mountain whose little hillocks represented the heads of Dogs sent a Tribune with a Legion and some Elephants up the Hill to charge that Left Wing which he smartly doing easily routed it and immediately fell on the Rear of the victorious Right wing and without opposition cut it in pieces Now if the Left Wing of the Phalange which had no convenient ground whereon to draw up had plac'd it self on the top of the Hill at a distance behind the Right Wing as a Reserve the Romans durst never have hazarded to have come between them or if the last ten Ranks of the Right Wing who serv'd for nothing but to bear forward the other six Ranks had fac'd about according to Aelians rule they could not so easily have been broken But the close posture or constipation of these last ten Ranks to bear forward the formost six Ranks made them uncapable to do that quickly which the present necessity required or else the sudden charge of an unlook'd for Enemy did so appal them that they knew not what they were doing nor who commanded or who obeyed which as I have said frequently falls out in such cases So this Phalanx cast in Aelian's Macedonian mould cost King Philip very dear but another modell'd after the same fashion cost his Son Perseus much dearer At Pidna a Town of Macedon King Perseus fought with Lucius Aemilius Battei of Pidna a Roman Consul and the ground for his Phalange being as good as his own heart could wish the Roman Legions were not able to resist its furious charge but gave ground in several places insomuch that the Consul seeing Fortune look with so grim a countenance upon him began to despair of the Victory and to tear his Coat of Arms but being of a ready judgement he quickly espied his advantage for he saw the Phalange open its constipation some small Bodies of it pursuing those who gave ground and others fighting loosely with those of his Romans who made stouter opposition and therefore order'd some of his Legionaries to fall into those void and empty places of the several Phalangarchies and these getting entrance at those intervals came upon the sides of the Macedonian Pike-men and so without much trouble made most of them dye on the place If but a third nay a fourth or fifth part of this Phalange had been standing at a convenient distance in Reserve ready to have charg'd the weary and disorder'd Legions will any man doubt but that in all humane probability Perseus had been Master of the Field But the want of that lost him in the twinkling of an eye his Wife and Children his Kingdom his Riches which he lov'd too well his Honour and at last his Life The Defect then of
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
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
shrill and continued without interruption it was interpreted to be a certain sign of Victory but if it was dead cold and unequal often begun and often interrupted it bewray'd fear and discouragement and portended ruine and destruction It was used by all Nations as well as the Romans and the word Baritus whereby Historians express it was borrowed from the Ancient Germans whose cry they say sounded like the pronunciation of that word They cryed no more after they came to the medley else it would have hinder'd them from hearing the Commands of their Officers either by word of mouth or the Trumpet Though the loud noise of Cannon and Musket in our Modern Wars may seem reason enough to suppress this ancient custome of shouting yet it neither ought to be nor yet is it banish'd out of our Armies The Germans French Danes and Swedes in their advance and before they give Fire have their ca ca oâ— And no doubt with an advance a stroâ—t heats and inflames the Blood and helps to encourage The late Usurper and his Armies made but too good use of it These things were previous to a Battel First The Purple Coat of Arms at the Consuls Pavillion Secondly The Exhortation or Harangâ—e Thirdly The Marshalling the Army Fourthly The Word or Teâ—â—â—â—a Fifthly The Classiâ—â—â— And Lastly This Shout or Baritus Of the first five that were ordinarily practis'd Caesar speaks in the Second Book of his Gallick War as necessary for when he was almost surpriz'd by the Nervians he writes thus Caesar saith he of himself had all things to do at once the Standard to be set up that is the Scarlet Coat his Army to marshal his Souldiers to exhort to cause the sign to be given by the Trumpet and to give the Sign this last Sign signifieth the Tessera otherwise the words had been superfluous of which that great man cannot be taxed As to this last Sign which was the Word the Ancients found that same difficulty with which all Armies are still troubled and that was that by the often requiring and giving it the Enemy came to the knowledge of it and then it was useless Lipsâ—â—â— tells us that he reads in Pâ—liâ—â—nus that one Aâ—ues an Arcadian A pretty story Captain being to fall on the Lacedâ—monians in the night time or as we now call it to beat up their quarters instead of a Word he commanded his Army to require no Word at all but to use all those who sought a Word as Enemies so that the demanding the Tessora bewray'd the demander to be a Lacedaemonian who at that time receiv'd a notable overthrow The Roman Consul when Classicum a sign of Battel he was to fall on caus'd the Classicum to sound which was seconded by the nearest and immediately by all the Trumpets Horns and Horn-pipes of the Army And now the Battel begins concerning which an old question is not yet perhaps decided Whether it was better to give or receive the charge The A question whether to give or receive the charge Roman Dictator Cossus as Levy hath it in his sixth Book being to joyn Battel with a powerful Army of the Volscians commanded all his Foot to stand still and fix their Javelines in the ground and so receive the Enemies charge which being violent put them out of breath and then the Legionaries clos'd with them and routed them Great Pompey gave the like order at Pharsalia but not with the like success for he was totally beaten But Machiavelli with Machiavelli's opinion his accustomed confidence to give it no worse name in the fourth Book of his Art of War takes upon him to give the definitive sentence and awards the Victory to him who receives the charge And saith also that most Captains chuse rather to receive than give it yet he instances only one of the Fabii who by receiving the charge of the Sanonites and Gauls was Victorious But we must listen to a greater Captain than any he hath named and himself to boot and that is Julius Caesar who by giving the charge in the Thessalian Plains gain'd the Soveraignty of the Roman Empire and blames Pompey for following the bad advice of Triarius to wait till Caesar charged him His words whereby he seems to void this difference you have in the third Book of his Civil War which are these in English But on the contrary says he I think this was done Caesar's judgement of it by Pompey without any shew of reason meaning his keeping his Souldiers from advancing to the charge because there is saith he I know not what galant vigour and natural inclination to courage born in all men which Captains ought rather to cherish stir up and augment than any way mollifie or restrain Thus far Great Caesar But on the other hand if an Army be drawn up in an advantageous ground suppose a Hill or fenced with Marish River To keep advantages or Rock the quitting of which may prove prejudicial as the loss of all advantages especially in matters of War doth it alters clearly the case and those who have done it either in Ancient or Modern Wars to the irrecoverable loss of their Masters have much mistaken Caesar who never practised it and assuredly those who do it had need of good fortune otherwise they may be sure to be branded in true Histories with either perfidy or inexcusable folly and even in Romances with too much generosity In the time of Battel all both Commanders and Souldiers did their duties by punctually obeying the commands of their Generals though to the certain and inevitable loss of their lives if not they were sure to incur those punishments whereof I shall speak hereafter Nor were they obliged to obey the commands given them before the Battel only but all those orders and signs that were given them in the time of Battel These Vegetius in the fifth Chapter of his third Book calls Signs and divides them into three Signs in time of Battel sorts Vocal Semi-vocal and Dumb. The Vocal were the verbal commands of the Officers especially the Consul and Tribunes The Semi-vocal were the several sounds of Classicums Trumpets and Horns as March Charge Retire The Dumb signs were the Ensigns Standards and Eagles as also the elevation of the Hand of a Colours or a Lance or the shaking of a Spear by a Consul or General But these were agreed on before the fight began and were either given to the whole Army or but to a part of it as when you see such a thing done then you are to do so and so These Dumb signs would not do much good in our Battels where the smoak of Powder would render many of them imperceptible And now the Battel is ended and the Romans are either Victorious or have lost the day If the first they were to pursue the Enemy to his Camp To pursue a Victory or clearly out of the Field and not only so but to follow him
to most of his Conquests I much wonder why Steuechius will reckon stoning to be a Roman punishment for we find nothing of it so far as I know in History He tells us as he saith out of Florus he might have said out of Livius too that Posthumius a Roman General was kill'd with stones by his own Soldiers But that which was done by a Mutinous Army to their Commander in chief is not to be reckoned a punishment authorized by Law for he confesseth it was done in a Mutiny Seditione facta I have spoken of this Mutiny in another place What punishments were legally inflicted on the Roman Officers and Soldiers Roman punishments we are left to glean out of History for Polybius speaks but of few and Vegetius of none that I remember except in the Fourteenth Chapter of his first Book where he saith the Tirones who either did not willingly learn their Exercises or made no great proficiency in them were fed with Barley instead of Wheat But we find that manner of punishment imposed on the Veterans as well as the Novitiates and for other faults Livy in his Thirty seventh Book says that some Companies who had lost their Colours were appointed to be fed with Feeding with Barley Barley Polybius tells us that the Tribunes had power to Fine to take Pledges and to whip with Rods and a Centurion had power to whip with Vines for a twig of a Vine was his Badg whereby he was known Tacitus says that one Lucilius a Centurion was nick nam'd Cadâ— alterâ—â— because when he had broke Whipping with Vines and Birches one twig on the back of a Soldier he called for a second and a third Observe by the way that a Soldier might not resist his Centurion when he was chastising him for if he but held the Rod he was cashiered and if he broke it he died for it and this will prove what I asserted in another place that the Roman Centurions were sometimes Hangmen yet in these days they were looked upon as such no more than Beâ—ajaâ— Solomons Captain General was thought a Hangman for killing his Predecessor Joaâ— Adonijah and Shimei with his own hand at his great Masters command Scipio the Numantine caused every Soldier to be whipt severely that went ever so little out of his rank or fell behind if he was a Roman Soldier he was whipt with Vineâ— if one of the Allies with Birches The Tribunes says Polybius for neglect of Guards had power to punish with death but he adds not without the Councel but there is no doubt the Consul had power without advice or counsel of any whatsoever to put any under his command to death either for crimes forbidden by the Laws Constitutions and Customs of their former Discipline or for transgressing any Beheading their own Sons new Commands or Edicts As Maâ—lius struck the head from his own Son for Combating with one of the Latines contrary to a late order and for some such emergent transgression some think Posthumius did as much to his Son as I told you before Caius Matienus for deserting his Army in Spain was first cruelly whipped with Rods and then sold for a slave in open Market for a piece of money not worth an English Groat Desertion of a Post was death but the punishment I last spoke of was worse than death By their Law it was death to leave their Officers or Colours in the Field to lose Arms or go from their Guards to commit theft to bear false Crimes punisht alike by death witness or commit any one crime how small so ever three several times yet this was not always yea but seldom put in execution Some Cohorts that were chaced into their Camp by the Tuscans and with loss of their Colours did not die for it but were ordered only to lye without the Camp without shelter of either Hut or Tent till they recovered their reputation Those that fled from Cannae were ordered by the Senate to be carried to Sicily and to remain there till the end of the Punick War though most of them had served out their time At Canusium Marcellus ordered those Maniples that had lost their Ensigns to be fed with Barley instead of Wheat and the Centurions to have their swords taken from them and turned out of the Camp Sodomy was a capital crime when publickly known A young Soldier not only Sodomy a capital crime refused to suffer one of his Tribunes to abuse him but in defending himself from force killed the Tribune and was acquitted by the Consul The manner of death inflicted by the Romans on Criminals was ordinarily twofold Beheading Beheading after severe whipping Battoning oâ— Fustuarium and Battoning both very cruel as they made them for heads were seldom struck off but after a severe scourging with Rods. Battoning or the Fustuarium is thus described by Polybius in his Sixth Book The party who was to suffer was brought publickly he tells us not to what place of the Camp and then the Tribune touched him with his Battoon immediately after he having liberty to run as at our â—atloupe he was cudgel'd and fell'd to death by the Soldiers in any place of the Camp he fortun'd to come and if he had the luck to escape he was nothing the better for it home he durst not go none of his friends or acquaintances durst harbour him and it was lawful for any man to kill him Sometimes the Delinquents were punisht after death as much as man could punish Punishment after death for we read of some who after they had been cruelly whipped and their heads cut off had burial denied them yea their friends were forbid to mourn for them But though I confess that for giving terrour horrid crimes deserve horrid punishments yet I think the consideration of humane frailty should teach man to be shie in inflicting inhumane pains on the living and be very sparing to meddle with the dead for Savire in manes is an assured token of a monstrously cruel nature Several transgressions were punished by diminishing the offenders wages by Lesser punishments making them march with the Baggage winter in the field both out of Town and Camp to dig Ditches more than their Companions did to stand a whole day before the Generals Pavilion and sometimes with turfs on their heads and as I observed before it was no small punishment for a Horseman to have his Horse taken from him and be made to serve on foot and this was called Militiae mutatio After the Emperours had invested themselves with the Soveraignty of Rome many of them inflicted punishments not pro ratione delicti or according to the quality of the crime but according to their own boundless power more to satisfie their cruel and inhumane natures than to give Justice its due course Among none of the most unjust you may reckon this that the Emperour Alexander who did well deserve the Sirname that was
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
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
Foot without any Horse though I confess not so well but that it can be so without Foot is a pure Speculation why should then Officers of Horse be so overweening as to pretend to a Superiority over Commanders of Foot of equal quality with themselves since they themselves may with less hurt and less inconvenience be spared out of an Army than those of the Infantry Nor do I see with what right an Officer of Horse can pretend to the command of an Officer of Dragoons of the like quality for that Dragoons are reckon'd to belong to the Cavalry though their service be on foot will only entitle the General or Lieutenant-General or Major General of the Horse to command over them but not a Ritmaster to give Orders to a Captain of Dragoons unless he can shew an elder Patent Yet when I serv'd in Germany this Emperours Father order'd a Colonel-General over all his Dragoons but whether he was Independent from the Commander in chief of the Horse I cannot so well tell And if in the field the Commanders of Horse ought not to assume this Superiority much less ought they to do it in Garrisons Towns Castles or yet in Barricaded Villages for these do resemble fortified places On the other hand notwithstanding the opinion of some who understand well enough I think it would be of very hard digestion for an Officer of Horse though within a Fort or walled Town to receive Orders from a Foot-officer of a lower quality than himself Suppose a Colonel of Horse to be under the command of a Lieutenant-Colonel of Foot or a Major of Horse under a Captain of Foot For though there be no Subordination between them yet when an Officer of a higher quality is commanded by one of an inferior degree it brings superior charges in disrespect and disesteem which would carefully be avoided Koningsmark who became a famous General in the German War when he was Colonel of Horse came to lye with some of his Troops in Osnabrug where Lieutenant Colonel Lumsdaine commanded in absence of his Brother Sir James Koningsmark pretended to that Command protesting that if Sir James who was a Colonel had been there he would willingly have submitted to his Command but that either himself or any other Colonel should receive Orders from a Lieutenant-Colonel was a thing he neither could nor would understand A temperament was found out by those who mediated between them and the expedient was that the Lieutenant-Colonel should keep the Keys and exercise all other functions of a Governour except the giving the Word which the Colonel of Horse should give week about this sav'd the Lieutenant-Colonels interest and the Colonels reputation The Great Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden order'd that where two or more Colonels of Horse or Foot were in the Field or Quarter together without any General Officer to command above them the Colonel who had the eldest Commission should command in chief whether he serv'd to Horse or to Foot and so it was to be understood of all other Officers under a Colonel And whereas it might fall out that many several Colonels might have received their Patents all in one day or that otherwise their antiquity might be debateable in that case it was order'd that they should cast lots which is an excellent way for the wisest of men hath leâ—t it on record in the best of Books That the lot causeth contention to cease and parteth between the mighty Now why should any Soldier or why should any General nay why should any Prince be ashamed to follow the rule or example of so famous a King or so renowned a Captain as Great Gustavus was known to have been Having spoken so much to the first question I suppose I need speak but little to the second which you may remember I subdivided into two parts the first was Whether an Officer of Horse may command an Officer of Foot though of a superiour quality as suppose a Lieutenant of Horse command a Captain of Foot a Quartermaster of a Troop of Horse to command a Lieutenant of Foot a Captain of Horse to command a Major of Foot and that only by virtue of their serving on horseback But if it be true what I have asserted and endeavoured to prove that no Officers what ever their service be Horse or Foot of equal quality can with reason pretend to the command of one another then it will assuredly follow that an Inferour can far less pretend to any such authority over a Superiour But there seems to be a greater difficulty in the second question which is Whether an Officer of a King Prince or Generals Guards either of Horse or Foot ought to command over not only his equals in another Regiment or Troop but even over those who in quality are above him As whether a Lieutenant of these Guards may not or should not command over any Captain of another Regiment or a Captain of those Guards over any Major of the Army And truly as the question is stated and so ordinarily it is stated I must answer negatively And yet shall go as great a length with these Officers of Guards as I conceive true Military Discipline and method of War will permit me and perhaps further I say then that a Generals guard either of Horse or Foot much more that of a King or absolute Prince in a march should constantly have the Vaunt of all other Regiments Companies or Troops of the Army both for their honour and that they may be in time at the Head quarter to officiate and do duty I say next that all Officers belonging to these guards have the priority and precedency not only of Door and Table but even in all Courts and Councils of War before any other Officers in the Army of their own rank and quality but not of others of a higher charge nay more though it be a received maxim both in the Civil and Military Law that Par in parem non habet potestatem One equal hath no power over his equal yet I hold when Officers of guards are by some emergency or other or by command to march or quarter with Officers of other Regiments of equal quality the Officer of the guards should have the command over the other Suppose these be either Captains Lieutenauts Majors Lieutenant Colonels or Colonels further than this I cannot go till I get more light than the high demands of some hath yet afforded me Nor can I fancy any reason for this pretence of superiority but the will and pleasure of the Prince his General or his Privy Council and indeed that must neither be contradicted nor controul'd yet I conceive the inconveniences of such an unusual command may be represented to the Prince his General and his Council and I suppose they will be loth to give or to leave any occasions of heart burnings animosities debates or discontents How strange and odd will it be to see a young and raw Captain of the guards who
A Doubled Batallion men as the file doth The way to marshal it is this The men you have to order their number being known double on paper for you will I suppose find that more easie than to double their number really in the field Then extract the square-root of that double number and that must be the number of men for your rank and the half of that must be the number of men for your file As by example you are to marshal 3200 men the number of ancient Regiments in a Doubled Batallion double them and say you have 6400 extract the square root of 6400 you will find it to be 80 for 80 multiplied by 80 produceth 6400 and so you must marshal your 3200 men 80 in rank and 40 being the half of 80 your file must consist of 40 men for multiply 80 by 40 the Product is 3200. Take an example of a number that is not square and let your men be 2500 double these and so they are 5000 look for the squarefoot of 5000 you will not find it exactly because it is not a square number and therefore you are to take the nearest and that will be 71 for 71 multiplied in it self produceth 5041 and that is 41 more than the double number of your men let therefore your rank be of 71 men the half whereof should be the number of your file this you cannot do exactly because 71 is an odd number you must therefore take 35 and that is the half of 70 and so make your file to consist of 35 men and you will be near right for 71 being multiplied by 35 produceth 2485 which wants but 15 of your number of 2500. We read that the Spaniards used these Batallions in the times of old but now they do not A Batallion of a large front is that in which there are many more men in the rank than in file These Batallions may be form'd easily and they are those Batallions of a large front which are now universally used but the square root men will needs give us a rule for it which is of a harder digestion than the practice of the thing it self Yet I shall tell you what it is you shall divide your whole men by that number of which you intend your front shall consist and the Quotient of that Division shall be the number of your file as by example you are to marshal a 1000 men and you intend they shall be 50 in rank divide the 1000 by 50 the Quotient is 20 and so your 1000 men shall be 50 in rank and 20 in file But if you intend to have a 100 in front you divide a 1000 by a 100 and the Quotient will be 10 and so your Batallion hath a 100 in front and 10 in file for a 100 multiplied by 10 produceth a 1000. We may safely conclude 10000 men may be marshal'd in this form of Batallion with the half of this Arithmetick and is daily practised For at this time all Bodies of Foot drawn up either ten or six deep and Bodies of Horse three deep are Batallions of large fronts and are marshal'd very well by those who neither know or ever did hear of a square-root But let me add to these Theoretical marshallings of a Batallion square both of men and ground let the number of your men be what it will And thus Make first as many men in file as in rank and then you have a Battallion square of men In the next place allow no more distance between your ranks than you do between your files and then your Batallion is square of ground likewise As for example you are to draw up 2500 men extract the root of that number A Batallion square of men and square of ground likewise you will find it to be 50 for 50 multiplied in it self produceth 2500 and therefore your rank must consist of 50 men and your file of 50 men and consequently you have a Batallion square of men then allow as you must do for every Combatant one foot to stand on by that means every rank possesseth 50 foot and every file 50 foot Allow 49 Intervals in the rank for more there are not and for every Interval three foot amounts to 147 foot and allow no more but three foot for every Interval in the file you have likewise 147 foot for the Intervals of files now add 147 to 50 which the fighting men stand on the aggregate will be 197 and so many foot of ground doth every rank possess and so much doth every file possess and consequently your Batallion of 2500 is square of ground as well as of men Would you know how much ground this Batallion so marshal'd possesseth in all multiply 197 by 197 and you will find the Product to be 38809 foot which will be near eight Italian miles But I hear Objection you cry out that six foot are always allow'd for an Interval between ranks But I answer you negatively not always for so many Foot are but allowed in Answered a march because the length of a Pike requires that distance when it is shoulder'd but standing in Battel ready to give or receive the Charge with Pikes either order'd or advanced three foot are sufficient for the Pikemen as well as for the Musqueteers and when they Charge one foot and a half of distance between ranks of Pikemen is enough If you will then make use of this Batallion of mine let it be with Pikes advanced but if you be pleas'd to follow my advice you shall never make use of it at all But all these forms of Battels fram'd by the square-root except the Batallion of a large front which is more easily fram'd without it than by it are of Most of all these useless much trouble and little use they are these which bring fewest hands to fight and renders them apt to be surrounded and so are all Batallions that have deep files Next by that manner of Embatteling you must constantly alter the forms and figures of your Battel according as the numbers of your men increase or decrease and in them there is a daily change Captain Cruso who Englished Du Preissacs Military Resolves in a Marginal Note calls Embatteling by the square-root an impertinent curiosity and to what purpose saith he the square-root since now all Europe marshals their foot ten deep except the Swede for he wrote near forty years ago And to that same sense at this time I say to what purpose the square root since now all Europe marshals their foot six deep and their Horse three deep except the Hollander But I shall bring you a greater authority against deep files and square-root Battels Xenophon tells us when Cyrus fought with Croesus for the Kingdom of Lidia Croesus his army was marshal'd both Horse and Foot thirty deep except his Mercenary Aegyptians who were ten thousand who would not says he abandon their Country custom in Aegyptians square Batallion
have been an eye-witness of the contrary but I ever said and still think that when an Enemy is near a Retreat is much more proper to be begun in the Night than in the day The timely and orderly breaking up and retiring of Armies from the Sieges of Towns hath saved many of them whereof it will be more proper to speak in the next Chapter when I discourse of the Sieges of Towns and Fortified places The manner of Retreats whether they be made by day or by night useth The manner of a Retreat to be this 1. The whole Train of Artillery except some Field-pieces which should stay in the Rear with the Generals Coaches Chancery and principal Secretary are sent away with a strong Convoy of Foot and some Horse then all the sick and wounded men next to them the Baggage of the whole Army next to it a party of Horse behind whom comes the whole Brigades of Foot and after them the Cavalry and in the Rear of it all the Dragoons with as many commanded Musketeers out of the several Foot-Regiments as the Commander in chief thinks fitting and as many of them mounted on Horses as can be and behind them a select party of Horse and Foot for present service which are to be relieved by turns by those who are before them one Party still facing the Enemy till the Party that was behind them be past This is to be observed if the whole Army march one way but if it can divide and go several wayes the expedition will be the greater the time and place being named the last whereof should be a Pass or fortified place by the General where all shall meet so that he who is first shall stay for the rest unless some command be given afterward to the contrary The same order in retiring is to be kept by several grand Divisions or Wings of the Army as if it marched in one Body But the truth is the Baggage of an Army makes so long a train that it retards Waggons and Carts rather to be left behind in the highways than to be burnt in a close Countrey the Retreat exceedingly especially where there are enclosures and hedges and thefore I wonder that in all Retreats order is not given to leave all Waggons and Carts behind for in a close Country that will be a great deal more advantagious than to burn them and every man should take his best and most precious things out of them leaving all trash and luggage of small value in them which will likewise retard the pursuing Enemy and these goods the officers should cast upon one Horse or two at the most and upon the rest of the Baggage-Horses either sick men should be mounted or Musketeers for service and this should be seen done by the Colonels themselves under pain of Iâ—famy and no less do they deserve who will prefer a little paultry stuff to either the welfare of the whole Army or the safety and preservation of any one sick or wounded member of it yet this is not done so oft as occasion requires it should be which gross oversight can be imputed to none so much and indeed I think to none else but to the General In all Retreats great care should be taken that none get leave to fall behind to prevent which not only all the Superiour and Inferiour Officers of Regiments should do their duties but the General Marshals should severely execute their power against Delinquents and here if at any time it is lawful to shoot those who will not keep Rank and File I told you that some light Field-pieces should be left in the Rear for there they may be serviceable and the loss is not great if they be taken for if he who commands the Army see he cannot with any probability â—ace about and fight nor can retire in that order that I have spoke of being hardly pursued by a powerful and prevalent Enemy he should rather bury or if he cannot do that break and spring his great Ordnance Ordnance to be broke or sprung in sudden Retreats than lose his Army by a hopeless hazarding it to preserve his Artillery and rather leave his Foot to fight for good quarters than lose both it and his Cavalry for the rule never fails That it is better to save some than lose all yet all means should be try'd before either Infantry or Artillery be deserted I have heard that the staying two or three hours for a Mortar which was a great one and bemired in deep and dirty way occasion'd the loss of Prince Palatine and Lieutenant General King 's little Armies in their Retreat from Lemgaw to Vlotho When a party of either Horse or Foot or of both perceives they are neither able to fight nor retire in a Body it hath been and may be practis'd to disband the party he who leads it bidding every man that belongs to it to go what way he pleaseth or shall find most safe or convenient for him and to meet at such a place as he then names so soon as possibly they can That famous Retreat which the two Felt-Marshals Banier and Leslie made in the year 1637. from Turgaw in Saxony made a great noise in the World It was indeed a noble action and the matter was shortly this Banier had besieged Banier and Leslie s Retreat from Tâ—rgaw Leipsick which kept out gallantly against him he makes some breaches and prepares to storm it in that very time come Letters from Leslie shewing that he was forc'd to retire from the River Saal and march towards him Count Gots with an Imperial Army being much too strong for him Banier immediately gave over the storm and the Siege too sends away his Artillery Baggage and Foot and follows with his Cavalry and joyns Leslie at Turgaw this Town they fortifie and bring in a world of provisions both for Man and Horse and resolve to make it the seat of War against all the Imperial and Saxish Armies joyn'd together at that time to the number of fourscore thousand fighting men under the command of Count Gallas for the destruction of the Swede whereof the two Swedish Felt-Marshals had good enough Intelligence yet persisted in their resolution till the Imperialists were come very near them and then they began to cast up another account and found they had lost by their stay there a third of their Forces and therefore though a little too late they resolve to march to Pomerania and so broke up and got over the River of Oder at Landsberg in spite of all opposition and maugre all the Enemies they had about them joyn'd with Felt-Marshal Wrangle without loss of either Infantry or Cavalry A very gallant and memorable action yet it cannot be denied but they should have begun their Retreat sooner and so have sav'd that third part of their Army which they lost Next year Banier made Gallas retire with a quicker pace than he had made when Gallas
another place of the Military Punishments and Rewards of the Ancients I have likewise spoke of our Modern Military Laws where observe that most of them threaten Punishment few or none promise Reward the first is due to Transgressors the second is ex beneplacito because all men are bound to do their duty yet Princes and States have rewarded Vertue of late times as well as the Ancients did I shall speak of Punishments and then of Rewards Though Princes and States have their several Laws of War yet all agree Punishment of Capital crimes Treason that Treason against the Prince in betraying either his Forts Forces or Munitions should be punish'd with an ignominious Death but the crime should be throughly examin'd by the Judge Marshal and Court of War whereof I have formerly spoke Mutiny against Command or Superiour Mutiny Officers is punishable by Death If it cannot be compesc'd without force either all or most of the Army are to be call'd together to cut the Mutineers in pieces But if a Mutiny be quieted without blood in doing whereof both Courage and Prudence are requisite then ordinarily the ring-leaders are to dye and the rest are eitheir all pardon'd or all to run the Gatloupe or the tenth man of them is to suffer death which custome is borrow'd from the Ancient Romans If Officers run away from the Mutineers and leave them mutinying the Law of War orders them to dye unless they can make it appear that either they had kill'd some of the Mutineers or had been wounded themselves by them But it is not to be denied that too many of them are more ready to give a rise and beginning to a Mutiny than to put an end to it The Death of a Mutineer should be ignominious and therefore it should be hanging or breaking on a Wheel All crimes that are Capital by the Civil Law Many more are so also by Martial Law as Wilful Murther Robbery Theft Incest Sodomy and others needless to be rehears'd But Martial Law makes many crimes Capital which the Civil and Municipal Law doth not Such are to desert the Colours to Sleep on Sentinel to be drunk on a Watch to draw a Sword or strike at a Superiour many times these are pardon'd and very oft they are punish'd with Death when a General thinks Justice more convenient than Mercy To be absent from a Watch by some Military Laws is Capital but seldome put in execution Yet I find in the Reign of Henry the Second of France that one Granvillâ—n a German Severe Justice Colonel in a Court of War condemn'd an Ensign bearer to be hang'd for playing at Dice in his Lodging when the Company was on Watch and he put the Sentence in execution The crime of Cowardize is by the Law of â—aâ— Cowardise Capital but should be well examin'd by the Auditor and the matter made clear in a Court of War before Sentence be past because it and Treason taints the Blood of the parties To run away in time of service either in the Field or from the Assaults of Towns Forts and Out-works brings Death upon the guilty or that which to generous Spirits is worse than death that is to have their Swords broke over their Heads by the hand of the Hangman and so turn'd out of the Army and this I have known more frequently practis'd than death inflicted but the Instances I could give are too fresh and therefore I shall tell you only of one about a hundred years ago At the Siege of Dinan Gaspar Coligni that famous Admiral of France commanded some Ensign-bearers to run with their Colours to the Assault of the breach they did not go pretending the place was too dangerous for the Kings Colours for they might chance to be taken by the Enemy for which the Admiral caus'd all their Swords to be broke over their Heads by a Hang-man in view An ignominious punishment of his whole Army It will be about two or three and thirty years since Leopold Arch-Duke of Austria and his Lieutenant General Piccolomini caused a Regiment of Horse to be cut in pieces and all the Officers to be hanged in the place where-ever they could be apprehended without any Process or Sentence of a Court of War because it was well known that the whole Regiment had run An exemplary and deserved punishment away in a full body without fighting at the second Battel of Leipsick where the Suedish Felt-marshal Torstenson gain'd the Victory over the Imperialists I have spoke in the last Chapter of the punishment due to those Governours who give over Forts sooner than they need and gave you some instances but now I shall tell you that by some Articles of War the whole Garrison is lyable to punishment which is to be Pioneers to the rest of the Army I dare say A severe Law nothing against the Justice of this Law but I think if the Garrison disobey the Governour and do not march out at his command he pretending the Prince or Generals order for what he does all of it may undergo the censure and punishment of Mutiny But many Laws are made ad terrorem which do but little good I think the Turkish Punishments not imitable by those who profess the name Inhumane punishments of Christ such as are roasting at slow fires flaying quick and gaunching the manner of this last is to throw the condemned person from the top of a Tower or a high Wall the place where he is to fall being all beset with Iron pricks and the wretch is happy if his Head Breast or Belly fall on one of them for thereby he may be soon dispatched but if a Leg Arm or Thigh catch hold he must hang till extremity of pain hunger thirst and the fowls of the air put an end to his miserable life The Muscovites for a Military Punishment can whip to death and that is cruel enough They and other Christians can impale condemned persons on wooden Stakes and Spits which in some extraordinary cases is also practised in Germany and I have heard that Hang-men can so artificially do it that the woful Delinquent will sometimes live three days in unspeakable torture When Mahomet the Great saw a Valley in Valachia beset with these Stakes and Wheels on which some thousands of Men and Women lay executed it is said that he much commended the Vayvod or Prince of that Countrey for a good Justitiary so near did the one of their tempers both barbarous and cruel resemble the other The fairest and justest way of Punishment is by Courts of War if the case do not require a present animadversion And that Court is to judge and give Sentence according to the Military Laws of the Prince or State in whose service the Army is When the Sentence is pronounced the General may either Generals may pardon pardon the offender or delay the execution or alter the manner of his death The most honourable
it with the Modern Art of War Milice to want its imperfections so I suppose none will be so void of Reason as to grant to him that the Roman one was absolutely perfect He hath read it sure in the best of Authors That nothing below the Sun is perfect And I would have it observed that though the Title of the Comparison be Of the Ancient and Modern Militia yet all along in the Comparison it self he mentions only the Roman as if that had been the only Ancient one whereas he knew the Grecian was more Ancient than it the Judaick older than the Grecian and the Aegyptian older than all the three My purpose then being neither to derogate from the excellent worth of the Roman nor to vilipend the Modern Art of War I hope without any offence to the ashes of the Learned Lipsius I may take a view of his Comparison wherein he speaks of all the five essential In five points points of War and in them all gives the preheminence to the Roman let us hear his Reasons The first point is Election or Levy of which he avers very magisterially First in Election or Levy that the Roman was the best and which now saith he cannot be imitated except perhaps in some Republicks and among those he says the Common-wealth of Venice is so far from imitating the Romans that she restrains her Citizens from the Exercise of Arms at Land permitting them only to serve in her Naval Militia In answer to this I think Lipsius deals very rudely with Monarchs himself being a subject of one of them who by his assertion neither have the best way of Levy nor can imitate the best way for he plainly says the Roman Levy is the best and cannot be imitated but by some Republicks and not by all of them neither In the next place I say that though Princes do not bring all their Subjects together in Arms every year and out of them enrol some to be Souldiers as the Romans did yet it may satisfie Lipsius if they do the equivalent and that is to order the matter so that theâ—r Subjects on a Frontier be ready in an instant to withstand an invasion till the Prince with a greater force comes to repel it Or if Princes intend to invade others then by their several Municipal Laws they make in a short time such a Levy as serves their turn witness the Commission of Array in England the raising of all between sixteen and sixty in Scotland out of which an Election is quickly made But Lipsius might have remember'd the seven Legions which were appointed by Francis the First to be perpetually maintain'd and in readiness in France in imitation of the Romans Of which notwithstanding Marshal Monluc writes that France in its Wars found no advantage So little did that great Captain care for imitating the Roman Levy and if it be true that Credendum Artifici in suâ arte we should in a matter that belongs to War sooner trust Monluc perpetually vers'd in Arms than Lipsius mew'd up most part of his life in a Cell And if Lipsius be offended with the beat of Drum and sound of Trumpet for our Modern Levies he should have remember'd that Rome had likewise her sudden and tumultuary Levies And if he mislike that Princes and States should give such trust to so great numbers of Strangers as ordinarily they Levy and keep in Pay he should remember that the Romans trusted their Allies as much if not more and after the name of Allies was obliterated Auxiliaries of strange Nations had the same trust In the days of our Fathers and our own too the Estates of Venice and the Vnited Provinces the Emperour the Kings of France and Spain of Denmark and Sweden have done great feats by the Levies and maintenance of Strangers The second part of the Comparison consists in the Order kept in their Armies Secondly in Order Here he crys out O ille bonus in re Romanâ O how good it was in the Roman Milice But that is not enough he adds See the Centurions the Ensign-bearers and the Options here says he nothing is wanting nothing redounding Yes by your favour Lipsius I have shewn in my Discourses of the Roman Milice there was much wanting But here our Author speaks not one word of or against the Order of the Modern Militia and therefore I need not speak one word for it yet he seems to detract from it by crying up the other so much When he speaks of Officers he seems to say the Romans had enough of them and we too many But if this last be true as perhaps it is I affirm the Romans had too few for to speak of their Foot I know not what to make of their Centurions Sub-Centurions or Options but Caporals Lancespesates and Bringers-up as I told you in another place Nor do I find their Cavalry commanded by any Officers in chief under a Consul or a Legate for the Decurions were not subordinate one to another nor had any of them a greater command than our Corporals or Brigadeers of Horse All these I look on as Defects nor hath Lipsius prov'd the contrary In our Modern Militia there is an order that our Colonels shall be with their Regiments and Brigades and not stand in an heap together as Lipsius makes his Roman Tribunes to be in time of Battel all at the Eagle of the first Legion waiting on the Consul as his Lackies or at best as his Adjutants And this I conceive was another defect in the Roman Militia whereof our Modern one cannot be accused Thirdly He compares the Ancient and Modern Arms and truly I shall easily Thirdly in Arms. grant that Defensive Arms were more used in Lipsius his time than they are now that they were better in more ancient times than in either his time or ours But that will not satisfie him for he will have the Roman Weapons or Defensive Arms to be preferr'd to ours He acknowledgeth the Pike to be an useful Weapon The Pike but not so good as those Arms the Romans had and for this he cites the authority of Polybius of which I can say no more than I have done in my view of that Authors comparison of the Grecian Phalange and the Roman Legion whereof I shall repeat nothing in this place Lipsius says A Bow is a more The Bow useful Engine of War than an Harquebuss I shall not add any thing here to what I have spoke of the neglect of the Bow but though I think well of it I dare not for all that attribute so much to the strength of an Arrow shot by the strongest Arm and most experienc'd Archer that ever liv'd as to a Bullet shot out of a Harquebuss and yet Lipsius attributes full as much and offers to prove it by several instances taken out of Authors I pray have the patience to hear them Plutarch in thâ— life of Crassus says That the