his Master King Joram and slew him with his own hands and beheaded seventy of his Brethren Pekah a Captain conspir'd against King Pekaliah kill'd him and made himself King Prophane Story will furnish more examples of this kind than are necessary to be rehearsed The Emperour Mauritius was forc'd to see his Wife The Empire and Childrens heads struck off and then receive the same measure himself by his General Phocas who usurped the Empire How Pepin and Hugh Capet both France 〈…〉 Majors of the Palace and Generals of the forces used two Kings of France by disburdening their heads of their two Crowns and clapping them upon their own are stories well enough known to any who hath read the French History The Caliphs of Egypt and Babylon had their Estates and Dignities and some of them their lives taken from them by their Soldans who were their Captain Generals In our own time Ferdinand the Second Emperour of Germany Wallenstein was like to pay dear for making Wallenstein Generalissimo of all his armies for by that power that haughty Captain General went fair to have rooted out that branch of the House of Austria in Germany which hath chain'd the Roman Eagle in that family for some ages and to have made himself King of Bohemia to boot On the other hand a subject would be very wary and cautious to undergo a Subjects would be wary to undertake this great charge charge so burdensome and dangerous as that of the Supreme command of all armies belonging to either Prince or free State for though he hath not been wanting to his Duty yet if in the managing of his charge he have miscarried by chance or misfortune he may make account to pay dearly for it unless he have to do with both a just and a merciful Master And if he be so fortunate to do those exploits which extend the Dominions and add to the honour and benefit As very dangerous of the Prince and State whom he serves he hath done but his Duty and can crave no reward but ex beneplacito nor needs he expect any except from a Gracious Prince nay it is well if he come off without some dishonour or disgrace put upon him if not worse some Princes not loving to look on men who have done them extraordinary services because they may pretend to these extraordinary rewards which they intend not to bestow upon them In bad Some free States unjust to their Generals Requitals free Republicks have shown themselves most unjust to many of their best deserving Captains as Sparta to Agis and Cleomenes Athens to Themistocles Miltiades Cimon Phocion and Pericles Rome to Coriolanus Camillu◠and both the Scipio's Nor have some Princes forborn to stain their honours by being injurious to Captains who have done them the most signal services How basely dealt Tiberius with Germanicus How cruelly did Nero use Corbulo And with what inhumanity did Justinian use the famous Bellisarius who was the supporter Some Monarchs also of his Empire How ungratefully did Ferdinand of Arragon requite Gonsalvo di Corduba the great Captain to whose Valour Conduct and Indefatigable labours he ow'd the Kingdom of Naples So true is that observation of Philip of Comines the greatest services are often requited with the greatest ingratitude Boccalini in one of his Raguagli hath a shrewd hint at this He tells us Boccalini that on a time the news at Parnassus were that Doria was appointed with his Fleet to fall upon Hariaden Barbarossa at a place where he could hardly either fight or get away having made Shipwrack of some of his Fleet Doria sent privately to Barbarossa advertis'd him of his danger and advis'd him to get him out of his way One of Dorias's Captains who was his Kinsman not knowing of this came to him and desir'd him not to lose so fair an opportunity to ruine the Arch-Pyrate Doria perceiving his simplicity drew him aside and told him he was not well seen in the Affairs of the World for said he my fortune is so strictly joyn'd with that of Hariaden that if he be totally routed I perish because I shall be altogether useless for I would have you know said he and learn it of me since you are but a young Captain that Princes use Military men as they do broad Hats and thick hoods which in wet weather they wear to save them from the Rain but cast them away so soon as the Sun shines But if great Captains who have done Princes or States great service be rewarded Presumption of Captains or at least be not ill used they should be aware of another rock and that is presumption upon which they run when they think the glory of those Actions they have done intitles them to a liberty to do what they will For they should remember that good services are but Duties which they owe and which are not to be rewarded but according to the pleasure of the Prince but Crimes are punishable by the Laws of the Land where they live and upon Ruins many of them this shelf many brave Captains have split themselves and suffered Shipwrack So did Pausanias the Famous Spartan King and Alcibiades the Valiant Athenian and so did the Roman Manlius who saved the Capitol from the Gauls so did Biron Duke Paire and Marshal of France under Henry the Great Sir William Stanley under Henry the Seventh of England and the Earl of Essex under Queen Elizabeth The like did the great Captain Wallenstein Duke of Friedland whom I mention'd a little before who stained all his fair actions and eminent services with the black and infamous Crime of Treason Instances against one of those Emperors whom he had served so well and who had given him so great a trust This was likewise Joabs inexcusable fault who presuming on the greatness of his Office rather than that of his services was many times too saucy with his Prince And though Abner deserved a worse death than that he got yet he deserved it not from Joab Davids servant and no doubt it was intolerable presumption in Joab to revenge his Brothers Death on a man with whom his Master had but just now entred into League And though perhaps the same Joab had enough of reason of State on his side for killing Absolom yet it was his duty to have used him as the King bad him for Princes love to be served in their own way and obedience should be the Glory of Subjects This presumption of his moved David to leave him a bloody legacy on his Death bed which Solomon did not scruple by any pretence of devotion to cause to be executed even at the Horns of the Altar where he had taken Sanctuary Nor can Generals excuse their Revolts Treasons or Rebellions by any Affronts or Injuries they can pretend to have received from their Princes And of this Narses was guilty though wronged by the Emperor Justine so was the Duke of
when he came to have a petty army under his own peculiar Command all went well with him and as he was advanced to higher imployments fortune attended him more and more so that he was esteemed to be one of the most successful Generals Queen Christina of Sweden had but observe the change when he came to serve the late King of Sweden in his War against Pole this Koningsmark is pitifully taken at Sea by the Dantzickers and kept Prisoner till the Peace was made It hath indeed been observed of some that they have lost all the Battels that ever they fought as if some inexorable destiny had constantly Some never fortunate attended their persons how brave and accomplisht soever they were They say never Battel was won for Henry the Sixth of England when he was Henry the sixth of England personally present but several were when he was absent There was one of our Earls of Douglas who had the nick-name of Tinefield or Loose-battel a couragious person and well experienced in the managing of the Wars of those One of the Earls of Douglas times and though he wanted no qualification of a good Captain yet lost he all the Battels that ever he fought and this ill fortune attended him when he join'd with Piercy in his Rebellion against Henry the Fourth King of England for that Battel was lost wherein he thought he had kill'd three or four Kings and he himself was taken Prisoner The same rigid fate attended him over to France where fighting at Vernouville against the Duke of Bedford he lost both the Battel and his Life There is another extravagant opinion that it is good for a General to be once beaten that he may thereafter shun those errors which occasion'd his overthrow An odd opinion but the Escapes neglects and Mistakes in the time of Action are so many that if a General did not endeavour to prevent them till by every one of them he lost a Battel Conflict or Rencounter he should never win a Field in his life A great deal better it is saith Monluc for a Captain to be wise by the loss of other men than by his own and by the neglect of others who thereby have shipwrackt themselves to steer his course so that he split not upon that same rock Many there be who fancy the safety of an army to be wrapt up in the safety of him who commands it and therefore will not have him to hazard his perâ—on but a distinction must be allowed here for if the Prince or Monarch be in person at the Medley when he exposeth himself to danger he hazardeth more than his army for he hazards the State and Commonwealth yet many Princes have done it Cyrus the Great Alexander Caesar Henry the Fifth of England and Henry the Fourth of France Charles Gustavus the late King of Sweden all of them successfully and his Majesty now raigning magnanimously aâ— Worcâ—ster But indeed it should not be done by them but in extream necessity But when we speak of any other Generals except Soveraign Princes whatever â—ame they bear I say he who will not have them to hazard their persons robs theâ— Generals should hazard their persons of one of the most essential qualities of their Office and that is Courage If a great Captain be never so prudent never so knowing in the Military Art nâ—ver so vigilant never so industrious if he be not stout all the rest is worth nothing Nor do I mean for all that that he should he rash there is a difference between staring and stark mad He should not hazard his person but where his presence is necessary as when he sees or understands that in time of Battel the enemy is prevailing against such a part of his army thither he should run for his presence may restore the fight as hath been seen a thousand times and it is In several occasions certain that in time of action hardiness is more necessary than prudence Neither is it enough for him in time of Battel to hazard himself but he must do it also in viewing those Forts and Towns which he is to besiege or the ground where he is either to fight or encamp yet he ought to be so well guarded that he may not be surpriz'd by any sudden eruption or the ambush of an enemy as the Roman Consuls Marcellus and Claudius were by one of Hannibals Nor must a Generals courage stop here for where he finds his advantages fears the weakening of his own or the strengthening of his enemies forces he should not only hazard but should dare the enemy to Battel and fight it boldly for occasion is so disdainful and nice that if you do not court her when she offers Fronte capillata est posâ—haâ— occasiâ— calva her self you will hardly ever find her in so good an humour again Let it not be said that a General may be couragious and yet not hazard himself He must shew his courage sometimes yea many times It is good for him to be cautious but he must be adventurous too and if he be not this he may happily preserve what he hath gain'd but cannot probably make any considerable new Conquests and it is upon such a subject that Monluc saith Vn Chef qui craint ne fera rien de bon a Chieftain who fears will never do good But I think I hear some say that a General should hazard his person least of all in Battel because if he fall the rout of the army immediately follows I Generals should hazard themselves â—â— Battel grant it hath sometimes fallen out so but that must not make a general rule for as the safety of an army consists not in the safety of the General so the loss of an army follows not necessarily the loss of a General Many brave Generals and Captains when their armies are irrecoverably routed in the field are forc'd to fly and so preserve themselves to better fortunes so on the other hand many armies have been sav'd and have gain'd the day after their Generals have either fled out of the field or been kill'd in it At a Battel fought with the Imperialists Loss of a General doth not lose an army in the year 1638 Paltsgrave Birkifeld fled with most of his General persons yet his army gain'd the Victory and in our own days the Generals of three armies join'd at that time all in one fled before the Battel was half fought yet the mishap was that the General who fought against them and bravely kept the field lost the honour of the day Titus Livius tells us that the two Decii Father and Son both Consuls in two several Battels which the Romans fought with their neighbours in Italy when they saw their own men began to fly consecrated and devoted themselves and their prevailing enemies to Mother Tellus and all the Infernal spirits with all the Hellish rites of that Heathen action describ'd at length by Livy
where ordinarily Clocks do not strike nor Bells ring then the Caporals are to have allowance of Match which they call Passelunt whereby they regulate Passelunts themselves to relieve their Sentinels when six seven eight or nine Inches of it are burnt In Camps and Garrisons Drummers are to beat Taptoo at night and in the morning Revallie This word Zapzu or Taptoo is High and and Low Dutch and Taptoo signifies no more drink to be tapp'd or sold and is not as some fancy to advertize the Guards to place their Night Sentinels but to acquaint Sutlers to sell no more drink and Souldiers to go home to their Lodgings and who is found out of their quarters after it ought to be punish'd It should be â—eat constantly at one hour Summer and Winter and ten a clock at night is a proper time for it But By-Guards as they are call'd and Night Sentinels are to be put to their Night Sentinels and By-guards Posts when day-light is well near spent and this in Winter will be about four and in Summer about ten a Clock at night neither ought the last Night Sentinels to leave their Posts till the Dian or Revallie beat which cannot be done at one constant hour as the Taptoo for in Winter it may be eight and in Summer three or four in the morning and beat it should not till the Captain of the Watch gives order for it and he is not to take up his measures by day-light Dian Travaille or Revallie but by the clearness darkness or mistiness of the morning the Night Sentinels being to continue on their duty till they can discover all the Fields about them When by order of the Colonel or Captain of the Watch the Dian is beaten at the Head Watch all the Drummers of the rest of the Guards ought immediately to beat and then the Night Watches and Sentinels come to their several Guards It is then also that the Souldiers who have been in their quarters or huts all night and either Towns-men or Countrey people who are ordered to work at the Fortification either of Town or Camp are to go to their work and therefore this beating of the Drum in the morning I think is more properly called Travaille than Revallie CHAP. XXII Of things previous to a Battel of a Battel it self and of things after a Battel OF all Martial Acts to fight a Battel well and gain the Victory is of the highest importance and makes the Prince or his General most renown'd It is this and neither Retreats nor taking Towns though both these shew the qualifications of an excellent Captain that crowns them with Laurel By the winning of Battels sometimes one sometimes more Kingdoms are gain'd by one party and lost by another Let us then take a view of those things that should be adverted to before so great a hazard be made Most men are of opinion that he who hath the conduct of an Army should never Generals should not be forcâ—d to fight if they can chuse suffer himself to be forc'd to fight I say so too if he can help it and what is the meaning of this but that his Intelligence should be so good that if he intend not to fight he should either quickly get himself out of the way or strongly entrench his Army in a place where he cannot want provisions But when he hath done either of the two he may be forc'd to fight for who can save his Army without fighting if his Enemy storms his Retrenchment or in his Retreat pursues him fiercely and powerfully To force an Enemy to fight To force an Enemy to Battel succeeds sometimes well hath a doubtful event for many times it succeeds well as it did with Alexander at Arbela against Darius with Scipio against Hannibal at Zama with his Brother against Antiochus in Asia with Charles the Fifth against the King of France at Pavia and Gustavus his Army against Wallenstein at Lutsen Yet peruse History you will find that many more have lost than ever gain'd by it take a few instances Edward the Black Prince was forc'd to fight at Poiâ—tiers so was Henry the Fifth of England at Agencourt yet both gain'd glorious Victories Harold when he might have protracted the War being Master of all England forc'd William of Normandy to fight and thereby lost both his Crown and his life Edward the Second of England forc'd Robert Bruce Sometimes very ill King of Scotland to fight at Bannockburne but lost the honour of the day and most of his numerous Army Julius Caesar made himself constantly master of his own dyet either by Entrenching or Retiring so that he was never forc'd to fight but when he pleas'd But when he forc'd Pompey he try'd both Fortunes At Dirrhachium he was beaten off with loss and was glad to retire which indeed he did with admirable Prudence and Courage At Pharsalia he brav'd the same Pompey to Battel which so soon as he accepted Caesar got the Victory Yet it seems most agreeable to reason that men should fight well when they are forc'd to fight Despair whetting their Courage and for this reason many Captains take away all means of escape from their own Armies to make them sensible their safety is in their hands and not in their feet and withal they leave an open way for their Enemy to run away and hence is the common Maxime in War That a Bridge of Gold should be made for a Flying A Golden Bridge Enemy Before a Battel it is fit to view an Enemies countenance and try his Courage by frequent Skirmishes and these very oft each Army sending help to their own parties draw on a Battel insensibly Good Intelligence if possible Intelligence should be had of his numbers of Horse Foot and Artillery and in which of these his greatest strength lyes but I will repeat nothing in this place of what I have said in my Discourse of Intelligence In the next place our General should view if he have time and opportunity for it the situation of the Field Situation of the Field where both his own and his Enemies Army are to fight that accordingly he may either lay ambushes or shun them This was one of Hannibal's Master-pieces he should take notice how the Wind blows that accordingly by the The Wind. ordering his Batallions he may take the advantage of it He should cast up his account how the Sun will shine if it be a fair day at such hours when he The Sun conceives the fight will begin that thereby he may oâ—der his affairs If his Intelligence be good within his Enemies Army he should endeavour to stir up jealousies divisions and dissentions in it and in the time of these if his To make an Enemy jealous Friends give him the sign fall upon him After his Army is marshall'd if he have tiâ—e he should ride along the Front of all his Brigades and by short
is that of the Garter instituted by Edward the Third of England under the Patrociny of Saint George as that of the Thistle of Scotland was under Saint Andrew John of Valois King of France instituted the order of the Star under the protection of Saint Owen say the French as one of his Successors Louis the Eleventh instituted that of Saint Michael In the minority of Henry the Sixth of England when the War was hot between that Kingdom and France Philip le Bou Duke of Burgundy instituted the Noble Order of the Golden Fleece under the protection of Saint Andrew The King of Denmark makes Knights of the Elephant and the Duke of Savoy those of the Annunciation Christina Queen of Sueden instituted a new Order of Knighthood which she would have called the Order of the Amaranth which they say never withers and accordingly she appointed the Device to be semper idem The Knights of the Teutonick or Dutch Order those of St. John of Jerusalem called afterwards Hospitallers Knights of the Rhodes and now of Malta as also those of the Sepulchre or Knights Templars were and some yet are very Martial Knights whose renowned Actions are and ever Religious Orders of Knighthood will be on the Records of Fame But there were likewise Religious Orders for they vowed Chastity Poverty and Obedience And from Religion have come most of the Spanish Orders of Knighthood Sanctius the third of that name King of Castile for the more vigorous prosecution of the War against the Infidels instituted the Order of Calatrava in the Kingdom of Toledo The Master of which Order is a person of great Riches and Power His Son Alphonse the Ninth in the time of his dangerons War with the Moors instituted the Order of Saint James which hath since come to that heighth of power that the Master of it is one of the greatest Subjects of Spain But Ferdinand the first Catholick King made himself and his Successors with the help of the Pope Masters of these Orders One of the Kings of Portugal when he had Wars with both the Saracens of Africk and Spain instituted the Order of the Knights of Jesus Christ About the year 1570. the Queen of Navarre caused 12 Jane d'Albret great Medals of Gold to be coined which she distributed among 12 of the most eminent Chieftains of the Reformed Religion as tokens of their fraternity to incite them to Constancy Valour and Perseverance in the Cause against the Roman Catholicks Upon one side of the Medal were these words Assured Peace Entire Victory or Honest Death On the Reverse was the Queens own name with that of her Son the Prince of Bearne who was afterwards Henry the Fourth the Great King of France and Navarre War drains the Treasures of Princes and States so dry that for most part they are not able to pay the Wages and Arrears of those who serve them much less reward them The Roman Oak Olive and Laurel Crowns are out of fashion long ago nor would they signifie any thing but rather be ridiculous unless they were given with all the Wages due to the party who is to be honour'd with one of those Crowns as the Romans were accustomed to do I have observ'd in another place how in many parts of Christendome Officers above the quality of private Captains many times are reduced to beggary to obviate which since Princes and States cannot forbear War or will not live in Peace it would be a great work of Charity in them and would much redound to their Honour Works of Charity and Fame to build some Hospitals and endue them with some small Revenue in which those Commanders who are lame old and poor might get a morsel of Bread which would be an exceeding great relief to those distressed Gentlemen and much encourage younger people to engage in a fresh War for alass though written Testimonies sign'd and seal'd by the Prince or his General may be of good use to young and lusty Gallants who have their Health and some Money in their Purses to look for new Fortunes yet Passes though never so favourable to poor old men are upon the matter nothing else Passes but fair Commissions to beg CHAP. XXVIII The Comparison made by Justus Lipsius of the Ancient and Modern Militia examined IT is one of the Curses that follow'd Adam's fall and I think was inherent in Discontent follows humane nature him before his fall that as he was not so none of his Posterity can be content with his present condition The longing desire we have to enjoy that we want robs us of the content we may have of what we possess Hence it is that old men cry up those customes that were used when they were Boys vilifying the present and magnifying the by-past times Neither is this fastidium or loathing of present things the concomitant of age only for young men who are in their strength are tainted with it Some are displeased with the Government of the State others hugely dissatisfied with that of the Church because none of them are cast in those moulds which they fancy to be better than the present ones and though perhaps they cannot pretend to have seen better in their own times yet they have heard or read of those which they conceive were so absolutely good that nothing can be added to their perfection Others like only of those Governments which have their birth rise growth and perfection in their own giddy brains But to come nearer our purpose few Souldiers are satisfied with their own Countrey Militia for if they have been abroad in the World at their return home they cry up the Arms the Art and the Discipline of Foreigners nor can they find any thing at home can please them And though their occasions have never invited them to take a view of strange places yet their Books afford them matter enough to prefer those Arms those Exercises those Guards those Figures of Battels that Discipline of War they never saw to all those they may daily see Of this disease of Discontent I think Justus Lipsius hath been Justus Lipsius an admirer of the Roman Militia irrecoverably sick and though he did not compile a Military Systeme of his own as Machiavelli did yet I may compare these two in this that both of them were Speculative Souldiers Lipsius is so far disgusted with the Milice of his own time which truly being about eighty or ninety years ago was an excellent one which he might have seen and observ'd better than his Writings shows he did and is so much in love with the old Roman Militia which he never saw but by contemplation that in the comparison he makes of the two in the last Chapter of his Commentary on Polybius he is not asham'd to prefer the Ancient Art of War to the Modern one in all its dimensions As I conceive he was so Rational as to think no man would deny the Modern He compares
actors and this they do either upon hear say registring the fables of vain and ignorant Solâ—â—ers who either have been or pretend to have been in the action for truths or write according to their own apprehensions of things which many times are so pitifully weak that their extravagancies put knowing Readers on the rack and force them to cast their Books away from them And indeed I have read the descriptions of some Battels in Books writ by no mean Authors wherein both Armies were Marshal'd in such order that I could not fancy it could be done by any except Aâ—adis de Gaul or the Knight of the Sun Let us except from these of Modern Historians Paolo Giovio d'Avita and the other unknown Author of the History of the Civil Wars of France Philip Noble Hisâ—orians de Comines Cardinal Bentivoglio Strada John Peâ—it Edward Philips his late History of England Chemnitius his History of the Swedish Expedition Theatrum Europâ—um these two last written in high Dutch and Di Sirâ— who hath written the History of these times very Voluminously in Italian These having either been Actors themselves or having got their relations from those Emperours Kings Princes or Generals who manag'd the Wars have given us Histories well worth the reading To these we may add Guicciardinâ— though for his prolixity he be used very scurrilously by Bocâ—alini who tells us that in Guicciardini taxed by Boccalini Parnassâ—â— a Laconian who had exprest his thoughts in three words which he might have done in two was order'd for his punishment to read Guicciardini The poor fellow beg'd rather to be fley'd alive than be tortur'd with reading an Historian who in the relation of the War between the Florâ—ntines and Pisans made longer discourses of the taking a Pigeon house than he needed to have made of the best fortified Castle Yet thus much most if not all Historians agree on when they speak of Armies they mention Van Battel and Reer which shews that the Roman method of Marshalling their Armies in three Bodies one behind another was observed by most Nations till of later years some Masters of the Military Art for some good reasons thought it convenient to reduce them to two It is pity so few since Vegetius his time have shewn themselves Tacticks that We have but few Tacticks is to teach us the Art of War used in their own time for so we should have known the Military Customs of several Nations and of several ages I have heard tâ—â—t Gonsalvo di Corduba who by his gallant Conduct recover'd the Kingdom of Naples from the French for the House of Arragon wrote in Spanish Traâ—â—ado de re Militari if it be extant it must be well worth the perusal as the work of one who by his great actions had acquir'd to himself the Title of Iâ— Gran Capitanâ— It Gran Capitano the â—reat Captain In the last year of the Reign of Henry the Fourth of France about sixty years ago Louis de Mâ—mgomery Lord of Carbâ—â—sâ—â— wrote a little Book De â—â— Louis de Mâ—â—gomery Milice Francoise of the French Militia it shows him to have been very much a Soldier but the marrow of that piece lyeth in his descriptions of some Artificial Fire-works the knowledg whereof lyes not in every mans way nor is it Preissac necessary for every Soldier though it add to his perfection The Siâ—â—r de Prâ—issaâ— wrote a little Treatise in French of Military Questions and Resolves very well Englished by Mr. Cruso an understanding Captain who I suppose wrote Captain Crusâ— Bockler himself in English a Book of Cavalry well worth the reading Bockler a German Engineer hath not many years ago written in his own language a piece wherein he gives us a pretty good account of the Military Customs of his own Country in his own time which may be from the year 1630 till the year 1664 or thereabout Lieutenant Colonel Elton his Compleat Body of the Military Lieutenant Colonel Elton Art with the Supplement added to it by Captain Rud without which it is not a Compleat Body is a piece well worth the perusal There are certainly others who have writ of this Subject whom I have neither seen nor read Some again there are who instead of informing us what method or ordinances of War Princes and States used in their time the want whereof I so much lament give us Models of their own framing either in whole or in part for Princes and States only to mould new Militia's my part I think any new mould of a Militia or the reformation of an old one is the work of a Prince or State who are able to bring together persons experienc'd in all kind of Military affairs to give their advices out of which the Prince or State may frame such Constitutions as are thought most conducible to carry on a War and then by their authority impose a necessity of obedience to those Constitutions and therefore they should not be the work of any private person Brancatiâ— an Italian peremptorily condemns the use of the Pike and in imitation of him Mr. Lâ—ptoâ— an English man writes a Book wherein he endeavours to prove the uselesness of that ancient weapon but I shall meet with his arguments in another place Machiavelli goes a greater length and presents the world with a Milice of Machiavelli his Books of War his own the birth of his own brain a hodg podg of some of the Ancient and some of the Modern Militia with a mixture of many of his own inventions In his Books of that Subject he fathers most of his notions on Fabritio Colâ—â—â—â— an excellent Captain who no doubt if ever he had seen them had rejected them as spurious Some of his mistakes I have touch'd in my Discourses of the Roman Art of War I shall only in this place trouble my Reader with two or three Animadversions that will shew his skill in Martial affairs In his fourth Book he makes it one of his Maxims that all good Captains should rather receive than give the charge of this I spoke in the Nineteenth First observation of them Chapter of my Essays of the Roman Art of War here I shall tell you the reason he gives for his opinion The first fury saith he is easily sustained by firm and experienc'd Soldiers and then it vanisheth in smoke But I ask first what if they who are charged be neither firm nor experienced for all Armies are not composed of Veterans next I ask what if they be both firm and experienc'd and yet do not sustain the charge in thosew two cases the first charge vanisheth not in smoke Pompey his Soldiers were firm and experienc'd yet did not sustain Câ—sarâ— Charge at Pharsalia but of this I spoke enough in another place In that same Fourth Book this Author shews us how an enemy may be surrounded in time of Battel and I pray you observe the Lesson he gives
trees and the Stakes the shrubs Gustavus Adolphus was the first Swedish King that used them and it is said he invented them in his Wars in Liefland against the Polonians who far overpowered him in Horse I believe he used them first there but the invention of them is of a far older date than the Swedes would have them to be for Henry the Fifth King of England the night before the Battel of Agencourt fearing to be born down by the French Kings numerous Used by Henry the Fifth at Agen-court Cavalry caused each of his Bowmen to provide one of these Stakes whereof the Vines there afforded him plenty and being made sharp at both ends though they were not pointed with Iron they did his business well enough and contributed not a little to the gaining of that Victory which gave him so great footing in France To this kind of defensive Arms may be reduced that invention of Rangon in Rangons frame of Defence the French Army in the Reign of Francis the first which was a great frame of Timber that could be taken in pieces and carried on Carts and easily join'd together whereby Batallions were barricado'd and serv'd but to little purpose As also that frame which as I have heard from some Commanders the Great Duke of Muscovia useth with which the Russians are so well acquainted Muscovian Barricado that they can very suddenly piece it together and shroud themselves within it from the charge of Horse and as nimbly take it down and march away with it In my last Chapter of the Grecian Militia I spoke of the French defensive French Defensive Arms. Arms both for their Horse and Foot in the Reign of Henry the Second far different from those that are used now The Turk useth defensive Arms but neither so good or so many as other Turks Nations do The Persian Curiassiers are arm'd all over their Bodies men and horse and Persian this perhaps helps them to over-master the Turk in Cavalry Their Head-pieces are deckt with fair and large Plumes of Feathers and their Targets which they likewise use are gilded they have likewise light Horsemen who carry Head pieces and Corslets When the Mamalucks had the Soveraignty of Egypt Syria and Palestine the Mamalucks better sort of them for all were Horsemen were arm'd for the Defensive from head to foot man and horse the second sort carried large Targets wherewith they defended their Bodies in the shock but before they came to it they threw these Targets over their backs till they made use of their Bows and Arrows The Abyssens or Aethiopians one hundred and forty years ago arm'd their Abyssens Horsemen with Coats of Male which cover'd their whole bodies to their knees Morâ—ions for their heads and in their hands round Targets In the days of Charles the Fifth the Bohemians had great Targets or Shields Bohemians wherewith they cover'd their whole bodies Before that time and since too the Hungarians Walachians and Transylvanians used Head pieces Corslets and Hungarians Targets Since Gunpowder the Englishmen at Arms or Curiassiers were armed at all English pieces their light Horsemen with Morrions Jacks and Sleeves of Male. So were our Scots who used also Steel-caps or Bonnets Scottish John Petyâ— in his History of the Netherlands tells us that in the year 1599 when the Estates of the Vnited Provinces were making vast preparations for the prosecution Hollanders of the War against Spain and to that purpose were levying both Foot and Horse they made an Ordnance for the Arms that both their Horsemen and Footmen should carry of the Defensive he gives us this account The Reuters or Horsemen suppose Curiassiers were to have a Head-piece a Gorget a Breast and a Back two Poldrons a Gantlet for his left hand belly and thigh and Knee-pieces and Culots which saith he were pieces of Armour to defend the reins The Carabiners were to have a Head-piece a Gorget a Back and a Breast The Pikemen Head-pieces Gorgets Backs and Breasts The Musketeers Head-pieces What Offensive Arms or Weapons all these Nations used I am to tell you just now CHAP. IV. Of Offensive Arms or Weapons used by the Cavalry of several Nations THat there is no new thing under the Sun and that what is hath been may admit of a favourable Interpretation for time was when neither Pistol nor Carrabine were known in the world neither did Antiquity know Gunpowder which is the Mother of them both and many other Engines of fire The Sword is a weapon that is never out of fashion used in all ages and by The Sword all Nations of the world though the difference be that some Horsemen use long and some short Swords But this should not be left to the choice of the Horsemen for the length of their Swords should be limited to them by the Prince or State they serve Few tell us whether the Swords of the Horsemen they write of were for cutting or for thrusting or for both as the Roman Swords were The Persians Turks Russians Polonians and Hungarians for most part wear Scimiters and Shables which being crooked serve only for shearing and not at all for stabbing Monluc in the first Book of his first Tome says that in the Reign of Francis the first about a hundred and forty years ago the French Gens d'Arms carried broad Swords which were so well edged that they could cut through Sleeves and Caps of Male. The Scots and English used constantly broad Swords for if we believe some of the English Histories a Rapier is so new a Weapon in England that it is not yet above one hundred years old In the time of the late Troubles in England long Rapiers were used for a while and then laid aside The German Horsemen use Swords fit both to slash and thrust John Petyâ— in that place mention'd in the last Chapter says The Estates of Holland order'd their Horsemen to carry short Swords according to such a length appointed for that purpose It were to be wish'd that if Horsemen be obliged by their capitulation to furnish themselves with Swords that their Officers would see them provided of better than ordinarily most of them carry which are such as may be well enough resisted by either a good Felt or a Buff-coat A Mace is an ancient weapon for a Horseman neither was it out of use long The Mace after the invention of Hand-guns for we read of them frequently used by most Nations an hundred years ago And certainly in a Medley they may be more serviceable than Swords for when they were guided by a strong arm we find the party struck with them was either fell'd from his horse or having his Head-piece beat close to his head was made reel in his Saddle with his blood running plentifully out of his nose The Lance was the Horsemans weapon wherewith he charged neither do I The Lance. find that any Nation wanted
it long after the invention of the Pistol Whether the Lance be laid aside as useless in Germany England Scotland France Denmark and Sweden by the command of several Princes or only worn out by time I know not but that it is not used in these places is certain enough And truly I wonder why it should not now rather be used when the nakedness of mens breasts without defensive Arms renders them more obnoxious to the stroke or push of a Lance than in former times when few or no Horsemen were to be seen without a Corslet I shall not doubt but there be strong reasons though I know them not why our European Generals for most part have abandon'd the use of the Lance yet it will not be deny'd but it hath been a serviceable weapon heretofore even since Gun-powder and all manner of Guns were found out I shall The Lance made useless by many Nations give but one instance at that memorable Battel of Dreux fought about an hundred years ago the Prince of Conde and Admiral Chastillon who conducted the Protestant Army by the reiterated Charges of their men of Arms with Lances after strong opposition broke the great Batallion of the Switzers which was composed of Pikemen and was thought Invincible and kill'd on the place seventeen of their Captains After the death of the Marshal St. Andre and the taking of the great Constable Montmorancy two of the French Kings Generals the Prince of Conde was likewise made Prisoner by the Royal party and the Admiral forced out of the field by the Duke of Guise and his Cavalry The Admiral rallies and that night proposed to his German Reuters who had each of them a Case of Pistols and many of them Carrabines to march back and fall on the Duke of Guise then both weary and secure But though that German Body of Horse was whole and intire yet did the Commanders of it A very remarkable passage remonstrate to the Admiral that it was impossible for them to break the French Batallion of Foot which had kept the Field with the Duke and I pray you observe the reason they gave for it Because said they we have no Lances which are only proper for that for the French men at Arms who had with Lances broke the Switzers were then dissipated or over-wearied and all their Lances broken If this be true it would seem that the manner of the Milice then and the Milice now are very different though both Modern A Cavalry then arm'd with Lances acknowledged to be able to break an arm'd Batallion of Foot whereof it gave a perfect demonstration and a Cavalry then arm'd offensively with Carrabine Pistol and Sword and not without defensive Arms declares it self uncapable for it And now the Carrabiners or Harquebusiers are thought only proper for Rencounters and the Lanciers are laid aside as useless But the Lance meets with better usage from other Nations even to this hour Hungarians use the Lance. And the Aâ—yssens As also the Persians The Polonians and Hungarians use it and so doth the Turk The Abyssens on horseback use strong Lances pointed at both ends and great Maces of Iron The Persians accounted the best Horsemen in the world carry Lances very strong they are pointed at both ends they carry them in the middle and manage them with great strength and dexterity Giovio tells us that at Scyrus a Persian Arms excellent great City of Mesopotamia the Persians had many Shops wherein the best Arms of the World were to be sold and that not far from it at Charmaum were Swords and Points of Lances made of so well temper'd Steel that our European Corslets and Head-pieces could hardly resist the stroke of the first and push of the other and that all Arms either for man or horse whether offensive or defensive were of Steel and Iron well boil'd with the juice of certain herbs only known to the forgers which made them so excellent He adds that these Arms are bought by the Turks at excessive rates but truly I think it was no good policy to suffer them to be sold at any rate to so dangerous an enemy and so malignant a neighbour but perhaps no inhibition would serve the turn for Auri sacra fames hearkens to no Law John Petyt tells us in the foremention'd place that the General Estates of the The Hollander rejects the Lance. United Provinces in the year 1599 forbad their Cavalry to make use any more of the Lance but I find in Bentivoglio the use of it was retain'd in the Spanish Armies by Archduke Albert and Marquis Spinola in the year 1612 after the Truce with the Hollanders But the States commanded their Horsemen to wear Coats above their Armour these Coats according to the quality of him or them who wore them were fine rich and glistering and are ordinarily called Coats of Arms. The Grecians call'd them Ephaestries and the Romans Chlamides But now since few men are armed for the Defensive few need Coats of Arms. The Ancients made use of Bow and Arrow on horseback and so in later Archers on Horseback times have the Walacbians and Transylvanians and so did the French till the practice of Hand guns made them useless and yet with them Horsemen arm'd with Pistols are still called Archers An hundred years ago the French Archers who attended the Gens d'Armes carried in their hand a half Lance and one Pistol at their Saddle and a Sword French Arms. at their side the Arms of the light Horsemen differ'd little from these The Harquebusiers had Swords at their sides and Harquebusses at their Saddles the Barrels whereof were three foot long About seventy years ago the Estates of Holland order'd these Horse-men whom they called Carabiners to carry Hollanders Arms for Horse each of them a Piece three foot long and their other Horse-men Pistols at their Saddles the Barrels whereof were two foot long Generally now all Horse-men whether Câ—â—rassiers or Harquebusiers carry Swords at their sides and a case of Pistols at their Saddles and these are mostly all their Offensive Weapons except that some carry Carabines some whereof have Barrels of four foot long but ordinarily only three The Pistol was invented first by Camillo Vitelli an Italian when Ferdinand of The Pistol when invented Arragon reign'd in Spain Charles the Eighth and Lewis the Twelfth in France Henry the Eighth in England and James the Fifth in Scotland not above one hundred and fifty years ago and consequently more than two hundred years after the German Monk had found out Gun-powder The Harquebuss is of an older date The bore of the Pistol long ago was made for twenty It s â—ore Bullets in one pound of Lead but it being found that the Ball enter'd not easily generally they cast one pound of Lead in four and twenty Pistol-ball The half of the weight of powder serves if it be good if not they take two
all that attended the Baggage of his Army to mount upon Mules and Sumpter-Horses and hide themselves in some near Hills and Woods and in the time of fight to make a show as if they would cut off the Gauls pass to their Camp which the Muleteers doing upon a sign from the Dictator the Gauls immediately fled Such a Stratagein did King Robert Bruce happily use against Edward the Second of England in the Battel nâ—ar Sterling But Not always the like being practis'd by the French at Agencourt against Henry the Fifth King of England had an issue contrary to the thing intended It hath been always and ever will be a rule of War Thaâ— no man offer to plunder or look for booty till the Enemy be totally routed and chac'd No plunder till an Enemy be totally routed out of the Field but for most part it is ill observed When Parmenio at Arbela sent word to his Master Alexander that the Perstans were fallen on the Baggage which was but slenderly guarded it was well answer'd of that great Prince Let saith he the Enemy be master of all the goods that belong to my Army so I over master him for then I shall recover my own and get his to boot The not observing this rule lost the Christians the Victory against the Turk at Agria At the Battel of Janquo in Bohemia in the year 1644. if I mistake Instanceâ— not the Imperialists were well near masters of the Field in so far that several Brigades of the Swedes had run away and very many of their Officers were taken Prisoners but they fell too soon to the plunder of the Swedish Waggons which Torstensone Christina's Felt-Marshal did not offer to rescue though his own Lady was taken with them but took the advantage of the Enemies disorder and with fresh and couragious Troops pluck'd the Victory out of his hand beat them out of the Field recover'd his Lady all his Prisoners and Baggage and made himself master of all the Imperial Coaches and Waggons took numbers of Prisoners and among them him who commanded in chief the Count of Hatsfeld I know not how the proposition of some will relish with our great Captains that some lusty strong men should be arm'd with Head-pieces and Corslet and long and large Targets all Musket-proof and a Rank of these serr'd together order'd to march before every Batallion of Pikes and so protect them from shot till they be within two Pikes length of the Enemy that they can make use of their own Weapons But whether this be approv'd or not I think it would be of no great charge to the Prince or State who manageth the War to order every Pike man to have at his girdle a Pistol with a Barrel two foot long whereof the three first Ranks may make use before they present their Pikes and the other three fire over the heads of those who are before them in the time they are charging Now the Battel is done and if it fall out that it hath been so well fought Things to be done after the Battel that none of the Armies can boast of Victory but that both have left the place of Combate as it were by mutual consent or that they are parted by night then either both prepare to fight next day or the one finding those wants of which the other hath no knowledge takes the advantage of darkness and retires to some place of security where he may provide for his hurt men be furnish'd with what he wants recruit his Forces and so give a stop to his Enemies further progress and this no doubt is a tacite acknowledgement that he yields the honour of the day to him who keeps the Field But this was never laid in ballance by any prudent Captain with the preservation of his Army the loss whereof may lose the Prince his Master more than such a Punctilio of Honour which at a more fortunate Rencounter may quickly be recover'd But if both resolve to try their fortunes next day then both prepare for it the wounded are sent away Ammunition is given out and those who are sound are refresh'd and encourag'd This falls out but seldome though sometimes it hath happen'd The Victory is pronounc'd to be his Badge of Victory who remains master of the ground where both fought and in ancient times he acknowledg'd himself to be vanquish'd who desired liberty to bury his dead Bernard Duke of Saxon Weymar having besieged Reinfeld and two Imperial Armies coming to raise the Siege he fought both till night parted the fray but with this difference that the Imperialists got between him and the besieged Town and so succour'd it upon which the Duke retired and left his Enemy the badges of Victory but with a resolution to return and throw the Dye of War once more as he did as you shall hear anon When an entire Victory is obtain'd he who hath lost the day should not lose What a Vanquish'd General should do his Courage too but ought to gather up his Shipwrack rally his dispers'd and broken Troops get new recruits dissemble his losses encourage his party and draw to a head again these are things practis'd by all intelligent Generals withal he should with all convenient diligence send a Trumpeter to the Victorious General to demand a list of his Prisoners which when he hath got he should make all the haste he can to get them ransom'd or exchang'd and this is a duty he owes to Prudence Honour and Conscience On the other hand he who hath gain'd the Victory may lose himself if he be What a Victorious General should do secure for a resolute enemy may soon take him napping As that same Duke of Weymar did the Imperial Army that had beaten him for having got together the rest of his Forces that were not with him at his late overthrow he return'd and gave Battel to the Imperialists who dream'd of no such thing and obtain'd so compleat a Victory over them that he made all the general persons his Prisoners who were led into Paris in triumph Duc de Savelli an Italian was one of them who escap'd afterward out of Prison but the deep contemplation of the sudden change of fortune in his Military imployments mov'd him to make an exchange of his Helmet with a Cardinals Cap. It is for that that he who commands a Victorious Army should not in sloth pass away his time but improve his Victory to the greatest advantage of his Master and not be guilty of that whereof one of the greatest Captains among the Ancients Hannibal was taxed that he knew not how to use Victory whereof two others one before him and another after him could never be accused and those were the Great Alexander and the Great Julius Caesar CHAP. XXIII Of Retreats TO Retire after a Battel or a brisk Rencounter leads me to speak of Retreats Next the sighting well and winning of a Battel the three great
every one what the eternal hath ordain'd for them Nor did Polybius know what was reveal'd to Nebuchadnezzar in that dream which Daniel interpreted to him that the Persians Daniel Ch. 2. should subdue the Assyrians the Grecians should ruine the Persians and the Romans should put a period to the Macedonian Monarchy There was no stop to be made to the current of the Victories of the Romans whom the Almighty had pre-ordain'd to become Masters of the World That there is such an All-ruling Providence was not unknown to the wiser Heathens though they being in a mist did not see with so clear eyes as we who are illuminated by the brighter rays of Gods own word and for all that I think few Divines can express in fewer words the omnipotency and unbounded power of the most high than a Pagan Poet did when he wrote Sic ait immensa est finemque potentia coeli Ovid's Met. Non habet quicquid superi voluere peractum est Heav'ns power hath no limits hence we see All done infallibly what Gods decree If Polybius had liv'd in our days he might have seen the hand of Heaven distributing Victory to speak with reverence and submission to the Almighties pleasure more partially than he either heard it was awarded in the Hannibalian or saw it given in the third Punick War of the first whereof he writes when he falls upon this discourse with us He might have seen men of one Nation arm'd alike following one and the same method of War and for any thing I know of equal Courage both parties inflam'd the one with Loyal zeal the other with rebellious rage acting their parts very highly on the bloody stage of War he might have seen I say the best of Soveraign Kings King Charles the First lose his Crown and Life and have his head chopp'd off with an Ax when the worst of Subjects and greatest of Rebels had his deck'd with Bays Or if Polybius had liv'd but one age longer than he did he might have seen the Roman Legions which he so much commends cutting one anothers Throats all Countrey-men all men of equal Courage and Conduct arm'd alike using one and the same Art and Discipline of War embruing their hands in one anothers blood and those who fought for the State and Liberty of their Countrey overthrown kill'd murther'd and massacred and their Enemies almost ador'd for their success in a bad cause and he might have either seen or heard of Pompeys Head ignominiously struck off and Caesars crown'd Caesar and Pompey with Laurels And if Polybius had been an eye-witness of the prodigious success Gustavus Adolphus the Great King of Sweden had in Germany in the year 1630. when he invaded the Roman Empire and how he took Cities Forts and Castles more Emperour Ferdinand the Second for their number and more considerable for their Strength Beauty and Riches in the space of six months and made a greater progress in his Conquests in less than two years time than Hannibal did in Italy the whole eighteen years he stay'd in it If I say he had seen this he had never attributed Victory to the goodness of Arms the cunning of the Art or exactness of the Discipline of War for he would have seen the Emperour Ferdinand the Seconds Generals wise And his Generals couragious experienced vigilant as well and as much as either the King himself or any of his great Captains Besides both Wallenstein Duke of Friedland and Count Tili had that which Polybius himself requires in a General that was they were fortunate Their great Victories over the Kings of Bohemia and Denmark Bethlem Gabor the Duke of Brunswick the Marquesses of Baden and Durlach and the famous Earl of Mansfield being yet fresh in memory And if Polybius had seen any disparity of Arms or Armour or of Horses either for their number or their goodness in this German War he had seen the Emperours Armies have the odds by much neither was the difference of the manner of their War or Ratio Belli so considerable as to cast the Scales so far as that Martial King did in so short a time Nor was Hannibals discent into Italy with few more than twenty thousand men more hazardous than the Kings landing in Germany with eight or ten thousand at most was justly thought to be What was it then would Polybius have said that carried Victory whose wings Ferdinands Generals and Armies thought they had clipp'd over to the Sweed what else but the hand of the Almighty who when that Emperour was very fair to have reduced Germany to an absolute Monarchy said to him and the whole house of Austria Non plus ultra Go no further Titus Livius had read without all question this comparison of Polybius Another comparison of Titus Livius whereof I have spoken enough and it may be hath taken from it a hint to start another question which is this If the great Alexander after his return from India and his subduing so many Nations in little more than ten years time had made a step over to Italy what the issue of the War between him Voided by himself and the Romans would have been And gives his Sentence that infallibly his Countrey men would have beaten that Great Conquerour Paola Paruta a Paruta not satisfied with Livius Noble Venetian and a Procurator of St. Mark refutes Livius his arguments and concludes that the Macedonian would have over-master'd the Romans But in steps a third an Author of no small reputation the renown'd Sir Walter Raleigh Nor Sir Walter Raleigh who will give the prize to neither Macedonian nor Roman but to his own English It will not be denied but the English Nation did admirable feats in France which was indeed the Stage on which Caesar acted his most martial exploits under Edward the Third King of England and his Son the Black Prince as also under Henry the Fifth while he liv'd and after his death under his Valiant Brothers But Paruta refutes Livius yet I have seen none that opposeth Sir Walter and I am sure I shall not because I am not so much beholding to the Grecians and Romans as to the English But those who are curious to read the reasons of all the three may find those of Livy in his ninth Book of his first Decad those of Paruta in the second Chapter of his Political Discourses and those of Raleigh in the first Chapter of the fifth Book of the first part of his History of the World But to return to Livy's question I shall tell my opinion and that is lawful Strong presumptions against Livius his opinion enough for me to do and it is this Since Hannibal as Polybius confesseth carried not much above twenty thousand men over the Alps of all that great Army that he brought out of Spain and with them durst invade the Roman Seignories in Italy it self when Rome was Mistress of Sicily and
Sardinia and of the Sea too when Hannibal I say notwithstanding the Roman power and all the obstructions that Hanno and his party made against him within Carthage durst fight and did beat the Romans so often that if he had pursued one of his Victories he had gone fair to have set up his Trophies in the Capitol When with such a stock Hannibal could do so great things I think in all humane probability Alexander who was master of the best and richest places of the World who was an absolute Soveraign Monarch and so not liable or accountable to a Senate not in fear or jealousie of any Competitor a great and an experienced Warriour of an Invincible Courage Master of prodigious Forces both at Sea and Land his power almost boundless and yet his Ambition more unlimited than his Power If he I say had enter'd Italy and invaded the Roman State then but in its Infancy and shouldering for more room with its neighbour Cities he had made it submit to his uncontrollable pleasure or drown'd the very Roman name in the pit of eternal Oblivion PALLAS ARMATA Military Essays OF THE MODERN ART of WAR BOOK III. CHAP. I. Of the Modern Militia in General HE who will rightly shape or form that monstrous Beast that War the wild Boar of the Forrest Bellua that wild Boar of the Forest that plucketh up all Vineyards by the roots War must begin saith Themistocles with the Belly meaning Provisions and Victuals must be prepared to maintain the Armies of those Princes and States who wage War And because meat in an orderly way costs money they say money is the sinews of War yet we have seen and known Armies rais'd and maintain'd with little or no money prepared by those who levied them but some exceptions take not away an universal rule How the ancient Nations as well Grecians Romans as others shap'd this Beast of War how they composed his members and how they entertain'd and fed him both for their own defence and to offend others I have shew'd to my Reader in my former Discourses as far at least as by conjectures rationally grounded on the authority of approved Authors besides Aelian Aeneas Polybius and Vegetius it was possible for me to reach But coming now to speak of the Modern Art of War I find my self more embarrassed than in the delineation of the rest for besides the differences of the manner of War used by several Nations which perhaps might all be digested in one form with some exceptions not very essential I know not of what date age years or Centuries of Modern Militia of an uncertain date years I shall make the Modern Militia If I shall date its Birth from the time the Roman Art of War began to be corrupted I should perhaps make it too old for Vegetius complains that the substance of that was well near spent and no more but a shadow of it left long before his time which mov'd the Emperour Valentinian to command him to compose a Systeme of the ancient Roman Constitutions of War which had been needless if they had been then in vigor and how Vegetius hath acquitted himself of that undertaking I have already told you But if I should date the age of the Modern Art of War from the time that Gunpowder was invented I might perhaps hit right enough at its age because no doubt Gunpowder made a great alteration on the whole face and body of War But I am sure I have but few or rather no helps to write the Series of its History either from the decay of the Roman Militia or from the time that Gunpowder was heard to make so loud and so fearful a noise in the World Though we are told that the ancient Roman customs of War were worn out The Militia of several ages forgot of use yet none tell us when either they were restor'd or yet what others were brought in their room Neither do we find that those who wrote Histories after the decadency of the Roman Empire give us light in it or yet what kind of Militia was used by those Nations who had the confidence with their sharp swords to cut out to themselves very large portions of the great bulk of that almost Universal Monarchy From History we know that the Goths the Vandals the As that of the Goths Vandals and Huns. Huns and the Longobards invaded the Empire and fought many successful Battels with some Roman Emperours and their Lieutenants and that they conquer'd Kingdoms by feats of War and got them confirm'd to them by articles of peace But what order these Nations kept in Modelling their Armies what Discipline to preserve them how they arm'd them what art they us'd in Embatelling fighting or taking Towns none of the Roman Writers that I know of hath either told us or given us ground to conjecture except a few things of one of the Theodoricks King of the Goths And from those Nations who were Barbarians who it may be knew not what it was to read or write we are not in reason to expect any significant account As little do we know what manner of Militia was used in France Germany Batavia and England when they first emancipated themselves from the subjection That of the ancient Germans and Batavians of the Roman Empire The Victories the Saracens had in all the three known parts of the World the whole power of the Emperours of Greece in the East with almost innumerable Armies from the West to recover the Holy Land from those Saracens long before the name of a Turk was heard of not being That of the Saracens able to keep Jerusalem long from them demonstrate that they were well arm'd well train'd and had a Discipline of War and that a very exquisite one but what it was we are yet to seek for any thing we find in History and yet those Expeditions are very famous and stand authentically recorded We read that Charles Martel Major of the Palace in France made War with the That of Charles Martel Pepin and Charles the Great Saracens and in one Battel which he fought in Provence laid one hundred thousand of them in the dust His Son Pepin made a successful War against the Lombards in Italy at the instance of Pope Zachary so did his Son Charles the Great against both them the Pagan Saxons in Germany and the Moors in Spain but how the Armies of either the one party or the other were arm'd model'd marshall'd or Embattel'd is wrapt up in the abyss of dark oblivion What shall we say since Fire-guns alter'd many of the ancient customs of War and by piecemeal hath obtained the pre-eminence over almost all offensive weapons and challenges the Prerogative even before and over the Sword the Lance and the Pike much more over the Bow the Arrow Dart Javelin and Sling and yet from History we are no more acquainted with the manner of War since they came in use
were of necessity to be all Gentlemen a custom worn clear out most of German Troops being now composed of Einspanneers without Gentlemen unless it be the Officers and not all of them neither The Commission of array in England is an excellent order by which an Army In England Royal may be brought together either for defence or invasion in a very short time The ancient custom of Levy in Scotland as we are told was to command all between sixteen and sixty years of age to appear in every Shire and you need In Scotland not doubt but out of these an Election was made of such a number as the Kings Lieutenants thought â—it But in latter times a far better and more expedient way was found out and that was to impose the raising such a number of Horse and Foot on every Shire proportionably according to the true valuation of the Estates of the Heritors and Proprietaries Assuredly a way very orderly methodical and just provided it never be made use of in an unjust cause The Kings of Sweden have constantly standing forces within the Kingdom to In Sweden prevent both Invasions and Insurrections they consist of Regiments and Troops which have their denominations from the Provinces where they are raised and where they reside they have their Officers and Colours and are appointed at several times to meet muster and exercise but are not in pay only some small thing is given to the Captain and the Ensign who ordinarily are their Drill-masters and upon that account get wages But these Troops and Regiments are sometimes carried out of Sweden to foreign Wars and that in great numbers and others appointed to be raised in their rooms As in the time of Charles the Ninth they were carried to Liefland against both Pole and Muscovy in the time of Gustavus Adolphus and his Daughter Queen Christina to Livonia Prussia and Germany and more lately by Charles Gustavus to Prussia Livonia Pole Germany and Denmark The Kings of Denmark have their Countrey Militia for defence of the Kingdome In Denmark but are neither so orderly nor so numerous as those of Sweden neither do they take them so frequently to foreign expeditions as of old they did when by their mighty Armies they invaded many places of Germany Scotland and England and made an entire conquest of Normandy But these were like the inundations of the Huns Lombards Goths and Vandals which two last both the Sweedes and Danes pretend to be their Ancestors on the Roman Empire The like of such an Election or Levy hath been in former times used in In Spain Spain and may be yet But when we consider that it hath been often drain'd of men in the days of Philip the Second for the maintenance of his Wars in Italy and the Low Countreys but more especially for his Plantations in America which began in his Father Charles the Fifth's time and continued during the Reigns of Philip the Third and the Fourth we must conclude that all the Spanish Levies made within that Kingdome neither were nor could be voluntary The French Levies of old were all made of the Natives the Cavalry consisting of the Nobility and in the number and strength of a Cavalry France surpassed any other European Nation Charles the Seventh took the assistance of Scottish Foot who joyn'd with his own in his long Wars with England In France But his Son Lewis the Eleventh beside the Scots made use of the Switzers who had at that time acquir'd the reputation of a stout and warlike people not only in maintaining their liberties against the house of Austria but in a bloody War against Charles the Warlike Duke of Burgundy whom they defeated in three great Battels in the last whereof they kill'd himself if he be not yet on his Pilgrimage to Jerusalem These Switzers were so much the more highly esteem'd of by Lewis because they had routed and undone his capital Enemy of them his Infantry was mostly compos'd and he appointed some thousands of them to guard his person as his Father had appointed the Scots to guard his but Lewis kept the Scots likewise and it was well for him that he did so for they defended his life valiantly at the Siege of Liege when the Inhabitants by a desperate Sally had pierced through the Burgundian Army even to his lodging as Philip of Comines relates the story Not only while he liv'd but in the reigns of his Son Charles the Eight and of his successor Lewis the Twelfth did the French Infantry consist of Switzers but Francis the first having had some bloody-trials of the Infidelity of these Mercenary Soldiers put on a resolution to stand thereafter on his own legs and not on those of strangers In order to which in the year 1534 in imitation of the Romans he appointed to be levied and enrolled seven Legions of French Foot French Legions six thousand each which made up a gallant Infantry of two and forty thousand men how these were arm'd shall be told you in its own place This Ordinance fell out to be made in the days of Marshal Monluc who seems in his Commentaries rather to disapprove than approve of it but gives not his reasons I suppose these Legions were kept up in the reigns of this Francis who was the instituter of them and of his Son Henry the Second But if I have observed right they began to wear out in the reigns of his Grand-children Charles the Ninth and Henry the Third who in the time of their Civil Wars made use again of the Switzers as also of Germans and so did likewise the Protestants take the assistance of both Horse and Foot of the German Nation as you may find them ordinarily design'd in the French Histories under the name of Reuters and Landâ—sknechts the first in the German Language signifying Riders or Horsemen the second Country fellows For as I told you the Germans composed their Cavalry of Gentlemen and their Infantry except the Officers of Peasants In the Seventeen Provinces both before they became all subject to the Dukes of Burgundy when they were under several Dukes and Earls and after the Levy In the Low-Countries of their Foot was imposed on the Commons to be made of the sixth fourth or tenth man according to the danger of the Country or for most part the pleasure of the Prince The Cavalry was made up of the Nobility according to their several qualities and abilities and they were obliged to keep such a number of serviceable Horses and Arms in the time of peace on their own charges having for that some exemptions and priviledges of no great consideration and in time of War they were paid with some small wages appointed at the first forming their Militia Which Cavalry saith Bentivoglio used to be of a high repute and estimation but now saith he not being composed of the Noblest as formerly it was but of common and ignoble persons it
the one or other is the head of the Army Now as I said before where the greatest trust is there is the greatest honour and consequently the Infantry are more honourable than the Cavalry These things were well enough known to the Grecians and Macedonians he that commanded the whole Phalanx that is the whole Army stayed with the heavy armed Foot so did all the Artillery and Ammunition of the Army And certainly they had Detachments as well as we have and the Suntagmatarch of a Foot Phalanx had under his command two hundred and fifty six men with Colours and suitable Officers how would the merry Greeks have laughed if this Suntagmatarch whom our Captains sixty years ago in many places when Companies were three hundred strong did represent had been required to submit himself to the command of an Elarchos who was Captain of sixty four Horse and represented our Ritmasters now adays for sometimes the Grecian Troop of Horse was one hundred In the Roman Art of War a Legion was commanded by Tribunes by turns or as we call it from the French by toures he whose six month it was to command had ordinarily four thousand two hundred sometimes five thousand and sometimes six thousand Foot under his command the Horse ordained to attend this Legion were but adjectitious and were seldom above three hundred sometimes not so many The denomination of any Officer is à majori parte from the greater part and therefore the Tribune was a Colonel of Foot and yet commanded these three hundred Horse as absolutely as he did any Centuriate in the Legion Hence it is that with reason I aver that in the Roman Discipline the Horse were constantly commanded by Officers of Foot and peruse all the Roman Histories you shall not find that ever any Officer of Horse pretended to the command of any of the Foot With the Roman Infantry were intrusted their Balists Catupults their Battering Rams their Ambulatory Towns their Bridges and all the Materials whereof these were composed Now these were the Artillery of the Ancients with the Roman Infantry were intrusted the Treasurer and Treasure of the Army all Provisions for Man and Horse their Altars and places of Devotion and though the Troops of Horse had their petty Standards and Vexilla yet the Eagle which was mounted on a long Pole and was the great Ensign of the Legion was constantly intrusted to the keeping of the first Centurion who was a Foot-officer With the Foot the Consul march'd lodg'd and fought All these being intrusted to the Roman Foot and not to the Horse shews that these Conquerours of the World esteemed the Foot-service more honourable than that of Horse for still I say the more trust the more honour It is true the Roman Horsemen were all elected of Gentlemen for so I interpret the Equestris Ordo and therefore I doubt not but they had a Precedency at door and Table before the Legionary Soldiers who were all levied out of the Commons but that gave them no Superiority or command over the Foot which is the thing now pretended to Nor will the Roman Discipline which order'd the Horse to ride the Rounds about the Guards of Foot as you have it in the twenty second Chapter of the Roman Art of War entitle these Horsemen to any Superiority or command over these Guards of Foot no more than a Gentleman who is sent to go a Round with Musqueteers to attend him will evince that he hath the command of these Guards or any Centinel of them both the Ancient and Modern Rounds being only obliged to give an account to those who sent them in what posture they found the Guards and Centinels yea these four Roman Horsemen who were to ride the Rounds were commanded to lye at the door of the Hut or Tent of a Centurion of Foot which I think denoted their subjection to him Thus I think it is clear that with these ancient Romans to whose arms and discipline of War most of the world paid homage the Foot-service was more honourable than that on Horseback To confirm this I hope it will be granted me that where the greatest danger is there is to be expected the greatest honour Now very often the Roman Consuls where they saw the Enemy prevail in Battel they called the Cavalry or a part of it thither but mistake it not it was not to fight on horseback but to make them alight from their Horses and fight on foot with the Legionaries which encouraged the Foot when they saw the Horse could not ride from them And therefore since the danger was greater to fight on foot than on horseback the Romans thought fighting on foot more honourable than fighting on horseback and consequently the Foot-service more honourable than that of Horsemen Julius Caesar the greatest Captain that ever was practised this in the greatest Battel he ever fought which was against the Helvetians now called Switzers To shew good example he alighted first from his horse and then caused all his Cavalry to alight and as himself tells us caused all the horses to be driven away a great way from that place of Battel And so did several of the Roman Consuls before him And I think you need not doubt but the horsemen being on foot were marshal'd by the Tribune as the Foot were and so the Decurions who were Captains of horse received their orders from the Centurions each whereof commanded sixty Footmen whereas the Decurion had but the command of thirty So here we see Officers of Horse commanded by Officers of Foot but never the contrary I find Abâ—er Joaâ— Amasa fight still on foot and so did their Master David King of Israel so did Saul before him and most of the Kings of Judah and Israel after him except some who fought on Chariots to their small advantage but none fought on horseback I believe Absalom fought on foot though after his rebellious Army was routed he mounted on a Mule to carry him away with more haste than good speed Many Kings in the Modern Wars since Gunpowder made a noise have fought on foot Edward the fourth of England fought nine Battels on foot our Kings of Scotland did so frequently And if King James the fourth was kill'd at Flowdon he was slain fighting on foot and all these were Princes who trac'd the path of honour and studied both to shew their own valour and to overcome their enemies which they conceived they did more properly on foot than on horseback Since the best govern'd Kingdoms and States both ancient and modern have given the honour to the Foot and not the Horse by intrusting them with their chief strength their Treasure their Artillery Provisions Ammunitions Towns Castles and fortified places I cannot enough admire what new light the Commanders of Horse of our time have got that can move them to demand a superiority over the Officers of Foot of equal quality with themselves If they say because they can be sooner at an
enemy than the Foot can it will be answered that they can also ride sooner from an enemy than the Foot can go I shall easily grant that three or fourscore years ago the Curiassiers of Germany and Gens d'Armes of France being all Gentlemen might very well have Precedency at door or board of the Foot-Soldiers but could not thereby pretend to any Superiority or command over them But now the case is altered for in Germany Denmark Sweden the Low-Countries and here with us in Scotland and England for most part the horsemen are levied out of the Plebeians as well as the Foot And I believe the Gens d'Armes of France are much fallen from their Primitive Institution most of their Cavalry being composed of the Vulgar except the Ban and Arreerban which consists of Gentlemen that have Estates in lands who by the tenure of their Lands and Inheritance are bound to serve the King on horseback so many days within and so many days without the Kingdom But before I go further I conceive my self obliged to anticipate an objection which both may and will be made by the great Champions of the Cavalry and it is this that many at least some States and Kingdoms have been and some at this day are whose strength consisted and consists in Horse and not in Foot But though I grant them all they seek which yet I will not do they gain nothing unless they make it appear that a War can and may be managed with horse alone and not with any Foot which they will never be able to do First they say that in the days of Yore the greatest strength of France consisted in Horse that Kingdom indeed gloried much in a noble and couragious Cavalry but examine their stories you will find that the most glorious of their Kings Charles the Great his Father Pepin and his Father Charles Martel their famous atchievements in France Saxony Germany Spain and Italy were done with Foot as well as with horse many of their Kings fought on foot and Orlando Nephew to Charles the Great when he had fought well on foot died of thirst and wounds Those of their Kings who made their Cavalry their greatest strength in the field bought it dear when they were so often worsted by the Spaniards Flemings but most of all by the English whose greatest strength consisted in Infantry This made the French Kings beg and hire Foot from Scotland Germany and mostly from the Switzers These last being discontented with Lewis the Twelfth made all France tremble when with a numerous Army in which not one Horseman was to be seen they were like to fall like an Inundation on that Kingdom and were come the length of Dijon in Burgundy and had reach'd Paris without stroke of Sword if the Duke de Tremouille had not amus'd them with a Treaty in which he was forc'd to grant them all they desir'd and for performance gave them what Hostages they required Francis the First perceiving the error of some of his Predecessors in trusting too much to Horses ordered seven Legions of Foot all French to be levied enrolled and paid each consisting of seven thousand men to stand perpetually in time of Peace and Wars and these he call'd and I think very deservedly the sinews and nerves of France Next they will object that the Mamaluks kept their Empire in Egypt and Syria above two hundred years with Horse and without Foot This is a horrible mistake for their Towns and Forts were taken by Foot and defended by Foot without Horse They also lost their Empire by putting too much trust in their Horse for the Great Turk Selim with his Foot and Cannon beat and kill'd Campson Gaurus in the Field and Tomomby at Cairo and so put an end to that Tyrannical Monarchy Thirdly They will instance the Persian who defends his Kingdom without Foot only with Cavalry but this is a mistake for their Towns are defended with Foot and Ismael in the Calderan Plains payed dear for trusting so much to his Horse when he was chac'd away by Selines Foot and Artillery Since that time the Kings of Persia have endeavour'd but without success to get European Officers to Train their Foot and order their Artillery for my part I can as soon dream that the Persian Squadrons of Horse put themselves in Enchanted Castles as that they defended their Towns against Sieges and Assaults of the Turks with Horse and no Foot And I can as soon fancy that the Sophi rode with forty thousand Persians all on Horseback over the Walls of Babylon as that he took it back from the Turk without an Infantry The Hungarians will come next in play but they never managed any of their Wars without Foot though they pay'd as dearly for trusting too much to their Cavalâ—y as ever any did their Army consisting most of Horse being routed by Solimans Foot and Cannon and their King kill'd and most of their Kingdom made a Province the remainder of it falling into the House of Austria's lap hath been these hundred and twenty years well defended by German Foot It will be in vain to bring Pole on the stage for peruse the Histories of that Nation you will find none of their Wars to have been made either offensively or defensively without Foot to imagin that the Polonians conquer'd the half of Prussia from the Knights of the Teutonick Order and took in so many well wall'd Towns without Foot against that warlike fraternity is a meer speculation Nor have they bought the great trust they repose in a numerous and valiant Cavalry at a cheap rate In the year 1621 Pole was sav'd almost by a miracle for assuredly Prince Vladislaus would not have defended his Fathers Kingdom though he had eighty thousand Horse and some thousands of Foot with him against Sultan Osman who invaded it with three hundred thousand Turks the great Body and strength whereof consisted in the Janizaries who mutinying against the Grand Signior forc'd him back to Constantinople But what a risk did Pole run lately in the years 1655 and 1656 and 1657 where Charles Gustavus overcame that Kingdom with an Army of twenty thousand men most of them Foot and observe what a well train'd and order'd Infantry can do Anno 1656 when the rebellious Polonians had returned to their duty and that their King John Casâ—mir in the head of one hundred thousand Horse and a considerable number of Foot and Cannon assisted and flankt with some Trenches and Redoubts was routed and beat out of the Field by the King of Sweden and the Elector of Brandenburgh both whose forces in Horse and Foot did not exceed thirty two thousand If all this be true that I have said as I believe it is then I may conclude that the Foot-service is more necessary more honourable and of greater trust than the Horse one Since I believe I have made it appear that a War in all its parts points and dimensions may be managed with
our first Parents had not rebell'd against their Creator their posterity had enjoy'd an everlasting peace and so such a person as we now speak of had been very unnecessary But I assure my self never man except Adam when he was in the state of perfection was endued with these gifts wherewith some Notional Authors wil have a Captain General to be qualified He must say A Notional description of a Captain General they be pious towards God just towards man and loyal to his Master He must be very affable very wise of a sudden and quick apprehension of a solid judgment and happy memory He must be very severe in his command and yet very merciful He must be liberal and free from all manner of Avarice painful magnanimous and couragious and in one word endued with all the Moral Vertues He ought to be an old Practitioner in the Military Art and well experimented in all its parts and duties Perhaps you may think this enough but Polybius in his Ninth Book requires more for he will have his General to be both an Astrologer and a Geometer If you will tell me where or in what region of the habitable world all these qualifications shall be found in one person Eris mihi magnus Apollo That he who is intrusted with the supreme Command of Royal Armies one or more and with the whole Militia of a State should be an accomplisht person The charge of a Generalissimo is of the highest nature and if it be possible such a one as we have describ'd will not be readily denied since it is a Command of the highest nature the greatest honour and deepest consequence that can be confer'd on any single person of what quality â—r degree soever for he is intrusted not only with the lives of those that are in Arms under his Command but with the defence of the whole Country Towns Forts and Castles with the honour welfare and standing of the Prince and State and with the lives and properties of all their Subjects The loss of his Army or Armies by his negligence inadvertency rashness or cowardice may occasion the loss of all these or make them run a very great hazard by his indiscretion much more by his treachery he may in one moment of time lose the lives and liberties of many thousands make numbers of women widows children fatherless and fathers childless he may lose the honour and beauty of a whole Province yea of a whole Kingdom all which he was bound by his office and charge to preserve The consideration of these things mov'd most of the ancient Kings and Emperours A Prince to manage his Wars in person and those of latter times likewise to manage their Wars and lead their Armies in person Those who laid the foundation of the first four Monarchies did so as in the Assâ—rian Nimrod Belus Ninus and Semiramis and when their posterity did it not their Empire was in the wain and ended with Sardanapalus who hid himself from the sight of men among his women Cyrus led his Armies himself so did some of his Successors but when others of them staid at home and sent their Lieutenants abroad the Persian Monarchy decay'd and became a prey to the Great Alexander who manag'd his Wars in person and so did those great Captains of his who cut out Kingdoms to themselves out of their Masters Conquests but their Successors lost them by sitting idle at home and employing their Generals abroad Many Roman Emperours after Augustus went to their Wars in person whereby they preserv'd their Imperial Dignity but when others imployed their Lieutenants though many of these were excellent men and often victorious the Empire was torn in pieces The Kings of Leon Navarr Castile Portugal and Arragon after the destruction of the Gothish Monarchy in Spain went to the field in person and recover'd Many Instances to prove it those Kingdoms out of the hands of the Saracens When the Kings of France of the Merovingian and Carolomannian race kept within their Palaces and suffer'd the Majors thereof to govern their Armies they lost their Kingdoms and Crowns Our Kings of Scotland and England used mostly to manage their Wars themselves the Emperour Charles the Fifth led his greatest Armies himself and for most part was always victorious for his loss at Algiers occasion'd by the visible hand of Heaven and his forced Retreats from Inspruck and the Siege of Metz were but small blemishes in the beautiful and fair Map of his victorious raign But since his time his Successors the Kings of Spain have sate at home and entrusted their Armies to their Generals and we see that their wide and far stretcht Monarchy has been since that Emperours time in a constant decadency All the Kings and Emperours of the Ottoman race went in person to the Wars till Selimus the second changed that custom and since that time none of them have done actions by their Bashas comparable to those of their Ancestors In our own days the Emperour Ferdinand the Second intrusted the managing his War against Gustavus Adolphus to his Generals Wallenstein Tily and Pappenheim all brave and great Captains yet that Martial King being in person on the head of his Armies prevailed over them all We may perceive the great odds of managing a War by a Prince in his own person and by his Captain General by taking a view of the actions of two Brothers both of them excellent Princes these were the Emperour Charles the Actions of two Brothers compar'd Fifth of whom I but just now spoke and Ferdinand the First King of the Romans Hungaria and Bohemia The first as I have already said led his most considerable Armies himself the second staid constantly at home and sent his Captain Generals to manage his Wars of greatest importance mark the issue Ferdinand lost three Royal Armies each of them composed of a well appointed Cavalry Infantry and Train of Artillery one of them at Esâ—câ—hiâ— under Cazzianer another at Buda under Rocandolf and the third at Pesth under Joachiâ—â— Marquess of Brandenburg all three were wofully and shamefully lost without fighting And if any think that the misfortune of all the three or any one of them could not have been prevented by the Princes own presence I shall answer that undoubtedly it had and my reason is this because that which lost them all was the irresolution of the Generals who durst neither fight nor retire in time as being shie and wary to hazard that which was not their owâ—â— whereas Ferdinand if he had been present would quickly have resolv'd either on the one or the other and consequently would have either retir'd in time and sav'd all his three Armies or have fought and by that means been victorious or would have been beaten with more glory to himself and mischief to his insolent enemy And this is more particularly clear in that Army commanded by Rocandolf who after multitudes of Infidels were already arrived
those who have Articles The first Class we may sub-divide into those who have quarter verbally promis'd them and those who submit to the mercy of the Victor Of all these and each of these I shall say one word in general that though quarter be promis'd by inferiour Officers or Souldiers or that the vanquish'd hoping for mercy yield without any such promise he who commands in chief provided he be on the place may put all those Prisoners to the Sword for quarter given by the Inferiour signifies nothing till it be confirm'd by him who commands on the place and then the Prisoners have quarter That chief Commander may order them all to be kill'd without any imputation of breach of Faith or Justice as not being tyed by any promise his inferiour hath made and this he may do by the Law of War and that is grounded on the law and custome of Nations and if you will believe Cyrus and the Ahtenians it is grounded on the Law of Nature by which Prisoners of War may be used as the Victor pleaseth And Grotius says In Captivos quicquam impune fieri and Captivi Jure Belli occidi possunt What a General may do with Prisoners of War Suppose still that no quarter hath been promis'd by him who commands in chief on the place But though I say a General may do this by the Law of War yet he cannot do it without the imputation of horrible cruelty and inhumanity except in some cases And though Jure Belli they may be kill'd yet without invincible reasons to kill men in cold blood is not the part of a man for they cast up their account that the bitterness of death is past and therefore they should not be put to death unless he who inflicts it can produce as good a warrant for it as he could who hewed the King of the Amalekites in pieces after Saul had given him quarter The Heathen Tacitus could say Trucidare deditos saevum It is cruelty to kill those who submit Yet you will Cruelty to kill Prisoners in cold blood see anon that Christian Prisoners of War have been put to death in cold blood by Christian Princes and Generals without any other Authority for their so doing than what the Law of War gave them But after Quarter is confirmed or granted by the General the question is Whether upon the emergency of three several accidents they may not be put to the Sword The first is if an Enemy rally after a Battle is won and make Whether Prisoners may not be killed after Quarter given them by the General In three cases or offer to make a fierce onset the victorious Army not being so strong to oppose the charge and guard the Prisoners from whom also danger is to be expected This was Henry the fifth of Englands case at Agencourt where for the same reasons 6000 French Prisoners by his order were in an instant put to the Sword Froissard passionately relates to us the sad fate of about one thousand French men who were taken Prisoners and had fair quarter given them by John King of Portugal in a battle that he fought with one of his own name King of Castile the story was briefly this The King of Castile having a just pretence to the Crown of Portugal to which in hatred of the Castillans the Portugueses had advanced a Bastard invades Portugal with a great Army in which were many French Auxiliaries The Portuguese King being reinforced with a considerable number of English Archers resolves to fight The French would needs have the point which was given them with much indignation by the Castillans who lag'd behind them at a very great distance These French valiantly fighting are routed and most of the thousand I spoke of are taken thereafter the Castillans advanced with a resolution to fight the Portuguese seeing he was to fight a new Battle commanded under pain of Death every man to kill his Prisoner which was instantly performed with much pity and compassion and not without the sad tears of those who massacred them The second case is when an Army is retiring and a powerful Enemy fiercely pursuing it will be dangerous to leave your Prisoners behind you and forward you can hardly bring them And the third is When you are reduced to great penury and want of meat whether you had not better kill your Prisoners than let them starve for if you maintain them they insensibly cut your throat by eating your bread All these three cases Grotius comprehends in these words Si Captivorum multitudo oneri aut periculo sit If sayes he the multitude of your Prisoners be dangerous or burthensome in these cases he adviseth rather to dismiss them than kill them I think he speaks like a good Christian but I am afraid that they who lead Armies will think by such mercies they will prove cruel to themselves and treacherous to their Prince and when in any of these cases they are put to death often their numbers occasion their destruction which in other cases the same Gâ—otius would have to be the cause of their safety But the Prince or Generals promise of fair quarter admits â—a salvo for notorious To whom Quarter ought not to be given Thieves Robbers Murtherers such as have deserted their service and run over to the Enemy or have broke their Oath of fidelity ought not to be comprehended in this promise nor can it save them from the stroke of Justice Indeed if they get Articles signed for their lives these Articles should be religiously observed for faith should be kept to the worst of men Neither can the promise of Quarter secure Rebels from that death Rebellion deserves for nothing can save them but the mercy of the Sovereign Prince or State against whom the crime is committed Yet my humble opinion should be That when What to be done with Rebels Rebellion is come to that growth that she is not ashamed to take her mask off and that the success of Rebels hath clothed them with usurped Authority Princes and States should rather suffer Quarter though without Articles to be kept to those of them who are taken Prisoners than provoke them to shed the blood of loyal persons on Scaffolds as hath been done too oft for it is not to be doubted but Rebels will both by their Paper and leaden Bullets vindicate themselves and maintain their Authority to be lawful and roar out these distinctions which yet make our Ears tingle of the Prince his virtual and personal power of his legal and personal capacity Having told you who hath power to give Quarter and having spoken of Prisoners who yield on discretion Prisoners who yield upon promise of Quarter let us speak next of those who submit to the Victors discretion and have no promise of Quarter who certainly may be put to the edge of the Sword without any imputation of breach of Faith or promise yet not without the