Word to the Caporal who knowing him presently calls out his whole Guard in Arms that the Governour may see them all present this is a duty which the Governour owes among many others But I shall have a fitter opportunity to speak of him in my Discourse of Towns and Forts The third question Third is Whether this Colonel Governour or Captain of the Watch may ride his Great Round or if he be oblig'd to walk on Foot It being granted he may ride as all Rounds in ancient times did the fourth question will be Fourth Whether he should receive the Word on Horse-back or if he should alight and either give it or take it I think if he be permitted to ride I know no reason but he may either receive or give the Word on Horse-back The fifth question is Whether the Grand Round be obliged likewise to go the last Round Fifth which ordinarily is called the Morning Round and if he do â— whether he should likewise receive the Word Inded I have seen it in some places refus'd and in some practis'd in my judgement there is no shew of reason why the Caporal should give the Word to any Round but the Head Round though the General go it in person for the receiving the Word by the Grand Round from the Caporals is to know that they have the Word so right that they cannot be cheated with another Word by any of the Petty Rounds there is neither necessity or conveniency to demand it again from them and least of all for the Morning Round to seek it for that is the last Round after which it is no matter whether the Caporal have the Word right or not Indeed it is my opinion that he who commands the Watch in chief should go more Rounds than the Grand one and especially the Morning Round for then is the danger of an Enemies infall most to be suspected but the receiving the Word once from the Caporals is enough in Conscience and I think too much But the Caporal is still obliged to call all his Guard to their Arms whenever he sees him who commands the Watch in chief let him go as many Rounds as he pleaseth Our Rounders propose a sixth question Whether he who commands a particular Si 〈…〉 Corps de guard either in Camp or Garrison be he Captain or Lieutenant be obliged to give the Word to the Grand Round or if it be enough that the Caporals do it To which I answer that the Caporals having the Word right is most necessary because it is he who receives all the Petty Rounds and the Word from them But if the Grand Round demand it from all the Officers be they what they will upon all the several Posts they are obliged to give it to him but this is seldome practis'd When the Caporal hears the Caporals duty to the Grand Round Sentinel who stands at the Court of Guard bid the Round stand and calls him to come out he should immediately issue with his Sword drawn and two Musketeers with cock'd Matches attending him The Caporal is bound to ask What Round and if it be answer'd The Great Round then the Caporal calls out all the Officers and Souldiers to their Arms and letting the point of his Sword fall either gives the Great Round the Word or takes it from him according to the custome of the place and after that he waits on him till he be past all the Sentinels on the Walls that belong to that Corps de guard Petty or common Rounds where Guards are strong are frequently gone Common Rounds by Lieutenants Ensigns and Sergeants yea and by Captains where all the Watches are commanded by a Colonel or a Lieutenant Colonel But for most part Reformadoes Appointes and Gentlemen of the Company do that duty as I said before nor do they go these Petty Rounds when they please themselves but when they are directed to do it by their superiours At their return they inform those who sent them how vigilant or negligent they found Sentinels and Guards They are obliged at every Corps de guard to give the Caporal the Word which if they do not right he who commands that Guard may disarm them and detain them Prisoners and the two Musketeers who ordinarily convoy them till he acquaint the Captain of the Watch with the whole matter There is a question when a Round and Counter-round meet Question concerning them on the Wall which of the two shall give the Word to the other Some say that he who challengeth first should receive it others aver that the inferiour should give it to the superiour ard so say I if they know one another as a Gentleman of a Company to a Sergeant a Sergeant to an Ensign and he to a Lieutenant but they add that equals should pass by other without giving it at all but this may prove dangerous and truly I think the best way to take away contests of that nature is to send no Counter-round at all but make all the Rounds go one way Neither do I think the sending many Rounds the Too many Rounds useless and hurtful safest way to keep good Watch for Sentinels as experience daily shews are more careful to take notice of Rounds who are their Friends than of Enemies who are without the Walls especially when they are sure to be complain'd of and punish'd for neglecting to challenge the Rounds but may easily shun to be question'd for not challenging an Enemy who surprizes them I have known Watches and Guards kept in better order by a few Rounds and the Officers who were upon Guard their frequent visiting their own Sentinels than when the Ramparts and Parapets of both Camps and Garrisons did loudly echo with challenging Who is there and answering Round and then the reply of either Round go by or Round stand and for that very same reason which I gave you but just now There go likewise Rounds from the Head Watch through the Streets of Camps and Garrisons and these are called Patrovils they are sent to see Patrovils that no abuses thefts robberies clamours squabbles or Riots be committed and if they find any such they are not to connive at the doers of them as too many of them do but are to bring them to the Head Watch till they be examin'd next day and for this reason I would not have fewer Musketeers Carabiners or Fire-locks sent out with a Patrovil than eight or ten because three or four may be beat back to their Guard by some that are very insolent with whom no authority will prevail but that which is armed and indeed authority is not at all terrible but when she appears in Arms for Vâ—na sine viribus ira If Garrisons be kept in Towns Forts or Castles where Clocks are the Sentinel may be reliev'd as the hour strikes and so save Match but if in the Fields or Leaguers where no publick Clocks are or in besieged Towns
d'Armes and men at Arms from their defensive armour but the light armed are now called Harquebusiers from their offensive weapon the Harquebuss which before the invention of the Musquet and Pistol was a weapon only differing in length common to both the Foot and the Horse and they had both their denomination of Harquebusiers why so called Harquebusiers from it And though none of them now use the Harquebuss and that the Foot-firemen are called Musqueteers from the Musquet yet the light Horse though they use Pistols keep still the old name of Harquebusiers What Arms both for offence and defence both those kinds of Horsemen had formerly and what now they have is formerly told you in several Discourses It hath been of late a custom to arm the light Horsemen with Carrabines Carrabine hung about their shoulders in Leather Bandileers besides their Pistols so that upon the matter whole Troops are so armed with Carrabines that you may call them Carrabineers but it was not so in former times for only a prescrib'd number of them were ordain'd to attend every Troop of Curiassiers and had no Officers of their own the manner of their service was to ride up within such a distance as they were order'd and discharge their Carrabines on the enemy and immediately turn to either hand by a Caragoll and get them behind the Troop and this they were oblig'd to do as oft as they were commanded to it by him who was Captain of the Company of Curiassiers Hence it is that Why so called the Lord Carbousine tells us that Carrabine is a Spanish word deriv'd from Cara which signifies a face and Bino which signifies twofold as one would say double fac'd because the Carrabineer kept his face to his enemy till he had fired his piece and then turn'd his face to his friends when he Caragol'd Seventy or eighty years ago there were no Regiments of Horse properly so In former times there were only Troops but no Regiments of Horse called only Troops or Companies and these sometimes were two hundred strong sometimes one hundred and sometimes not so many and upon occasion of service Troops were join'd together and the command of some of them given for a time by the Prince or State to some person of great quality whom they thought fit for that imployment Sometimes three Troops were join'd together sometimes five or six yet they had not the name of a Regiment nor had he who commanded that Body so composed the title of Colonel The Estates of the Vnited Provinces used this much but now they levy Regiments The furious Wars which began in Christendom in the year of our Lord 1618 whereof in process of time we had a deep share at home reversed many good old customs and constitutions and with other changes introduced Regiments of Horse and not only so but brought in such numbers of them that in many Armies there were near as many Regiments of Horse as of Foot yea Numerous Regiments of Horse I have seen in more Armies than one a greater number of Horse-Regiments than of Foot Insomuch that some years before the Peace of Munster Regiments of Horse were so weak that the Officers of the several Troops being all in the Van did near make a full rank equal in number to any of the three ranks behind them which were composed of Riders or Troopers And because in Battel Officers by their courage give good example this helpt well to make the Regiments and Troops fight well and upon this account I aver that these Regiments consisted rather of four ranks than of three and so were not properly three deep But let us look a little further back yet not beyond the time that Pistols came in request The French Cavalry even in Henry the fourth's time and the beginning of the Reign of Lewis the Just was composed of three kinds these were Gens d'Armes French Cavalry Archers and light Horse How the Gens d'Armes were mounted and arm'd hath been told you and these were used by the ancient Gauls before ever the Roman name was known among them and were called Clupeati These latter Clupeati Gens d'Armes or Curiassiers were all order'd in several Troops but not in Regiments these Troops were all to be composed of Gentlemen by their birth and were not of equal strength they were of two kinds for some were in the Gens d'Armes of two kinds Kings pay some not Those entertain'd by the King were called Des Ordonnances du Roy or of the Kings Establishment Some of them consisted of one hundred Gentlemen some of sixty some of fifty and some of forty according to the quality or merit of the Captain or the pleasure of the Prince The French Troops of Gens d'Armes which were not in the Kings pay were composed of those Gentlemen who were obliged to serve on their own charges three months within the Kingdom of France and forty days without it The French Archers before the time of Gunpowder carried Bows and Arrows Archers and from thence had the name of Archers but at this time of which I speak they had for weapons Pistols Swords Maces or half Lances Those who were called Chevaux Legers or light Horse had much the like Arms but Light Horsemen instead of a Pistol each had a Harquebuss hanging at his Saddle The main difference between these two consisted in this that the Archers composed no several or distinct body of the Cavalry but were to attend the Gens d'Armes for every man of Arms had the allowance of an Archer to wait on him so that how strong soever the Company of the Gens d'Armes was of that same number The difference between an Archer and a light Horseman were the Archers that attended it But the Cavalry Legere or the light Horse were not at all obliged to any such attendance but had a General of their own who marshal'd them who march'd with them and fought with them either as he himself thought good or as he was order'd to do by the Great Constable or one of the Marshals of France And assuredly the Institution of the Archers to attend the men at Arms was excellent for the Curiassiers not being able to Caragol are obliged in their charge to break thorough or be beaten and in any of these cases the Archers were of good use If they were worsted to support them or to pursue the enemy when he was put to flight which the men at Arms could not do because of the weight of their Armour Now all these three Gens d'Armes Archers and light Horsemen How many Horses all three were oblig'd to keep were obliged to keep each of them more Horses than one whereas now our Troopers are obliged to keep no more but one and have allowance of pay little enough for that one I find that in the Wars which the Protestants of France made with their Kings In the
and there attended the Consuls further pleasure Yet if you look on any Figure of a Legion you shall ordinarily see the Velites drawn up in three distinct Bodies behind the three several Batallions of the Legionaries which might have been done when they were marshall'd before the Fight began but for the reason I have spoke of could not be after they had fought and retir'd They fought a la disbandad How they fought keeping no Rank or File nor had they peculiar Officers as the Grecian light armed Foot had Several fansie nay positively affirm they were to obey the commands of the Centurions of those heavy arm'd Maniples behind whom they were order'd to stand when the Army was marshall'd It is not pity that neither Polybius nor Vegetius would clear us of these doubts considerable enough since they concern so considerable a member of the Ancient Roman Armies And since Lipsius Terduzzi and the Lord Preissaâ— magisterially take By whom Commanded upon them to marshal them in three distinct Bodies and to be commanded by the Centurions that stood in the Van of the Maniples of these Legionaries drawn up before them is it fair dealing in them not to tell us who commanded these Velites when they were skirmishing and fighting in the Van of the Hastati and when all the Centurions of the heavy armed were obliged to stay behind and attend their charges in their several Maniples and Cohorts The Body of the heavy armed Infantry was compos'd of three several Classes those were the Hastati the Principes and the Triarii The first Class was of the Hastati who were as I told you before the Hastati youngest in the election and for most part Novitiates I find no difference of their Arms from those of the Principes and what those were I have told you in the third Chapter to which henceforward I constantly remit you as to the matter of Arms. But I conceive they had their name of Hastati ab Hastâ that is a Spear which probably they have carried in the Reigns of some of their Kings and though afterward they came to change their Weapon yet they still retain'd their name These Hastati made the first Batallion whatever Vegetius say to the contrary as shall be sufficiently demonstrated when I come to examine his Legion The second Class was of the Principes Principes who were the strongest and lustiest men and had most of them serv'd formerly and were in the strength of their age and had their denomination peradventure because they were the principal men for strength and vigour these made the second Batallion of the Legion The third Class was of the Triarii Lipsius thinks they were called so quasi Tertiarii because they made the third Triarii Batallion I think the Etymology is far fought but it is fit I admit it because I cannot give a better Yet it is certain that their more ancient name was Pilani and their whole Body or Squadron was called Pilus no doubt Called Pilan from Pilum the Javeline and if so then it is more than probable that in older times neither the Hastati nor the Principes carried Javelines because both of them in History are called Antepilani In Polybius his time the Triarii carried no Javeline at all and yet even then they kept their old name of Pilani All the difference of Arms that I find between them and the other two Classes both before and in Polybius's time is that the Triarii carried a short Spear which they call'd Hastile of nine foot long and I have told you in the Carried short Spears third Chapter that the Pilum or Javeline by Polybius his own description was near seven foot long Why these short Spears were given them instead of Javelines Authors tell us not Lipsius makes a conjecture which in my opinion is a very sorry one He saith the Triarii being plac'd in the Rear of the other two Batallions their Javelines could have done them no service against an Enemy at so great a distance What a pitiful Reason is this For the Triarii were not bound to fight with either Javeline short Spear or any other Weapon till either the Principes and Hastati retir'd to them or that they themselves were brought up to the Van and in any of these two cases Javelines would have serv'd them to as good purpose as they did the two Batallions marshall'd before them And if these short Spears serv'd the Triarii better when they came to fight than the Javelines then they should likewise have serv'd the other two Classes better than the Javeline and so the Pilum or Javeline should have been laid aside as useless And therefore I think Lipsius here hath not hit the mark To me it would rather seem that in a Why they carried not Javelines medley when perchance an Enemy vigorously pursued the Principes the Triarii could not without wronging their Friends who were retiring cast their Javelines with so much advantage as they could manage these short Spears In the Countrey now called Lombardy then Gallia Cisulyiâ—â— the Roman Consuls Furius and Flaminius met with a numerous Army of the Cisalpine Gauls these carried terrible long and heavy Swords to avoid the fury whereof the Romans thought it fit to take the short Spears from the Triarii and give them to the Hastati that either with them they might keep the Enemy at a distance or while the Gauls were slashing at those short Spears and that their Swords for their weight not very manageable were at the ground the Hastati with their short Swords might get within them and this succeeding as it was projected gain'd the Romans the Victory as Polybius in his Second Book tells us I would he had told us too whether these Hastati made use both of their own Javelines and the short Spears of the Triarii which is not improbable or if they exchang'd Weapons for that day But here give me leave to ask Polybius Vegetius Lâ—psius Terduzzi and all others Observation who tenaciously prefer the Roman Arms to all others of the World Whether a long Grecian Spear of eighteen foot would not have done better service against the Gauls than either a Javeline or a short Spear Or if a Macâ—donian Phalange strongly arm'd carrying Pikes of one and twenty foot long would have much valued or feared the long and heavy Swords of these Cisalpine Barbarians These Triarii were the eldest and most experimented of the Roman Foot and therefore were kept for the last Reserve not at all fighting if the other two Bodies beat the Enemy but if those were beaten or order'd to retire as sometimes they were then they arose and made a fresh and furious onset and if that prevail'd not the safety of the Army depended either on their Flight or on a fair and orderly Retreat Hence in desperate cases they us'd to say Vsque ad Triariâ—s perventum est History tells us that while
or part of an army march with any security unless some be sent before to discover The want of these made the Roman army under Flaminius become a prey to Hannibal at the Lake Thrasimenes where the Consul lost his life I am not so vain as to give any new rules for Intelligence all I pretend to in this place is to demonstrate that no Intelligence can be so exactly good but it may prove wrong nor can any be sent for Intelligence be they never so witty and expert but they may mistake Neither is No trust to an enemies Intelligence there any Intelligence more to be doubted or misbelieved than that which comes from an enemy Sabinus one of Caesars Legates trusted what Ambiorix a petty King of the Gauls in publick hostility with him reported this cost the lives of a Legion and five Cohorts of Romans besides that of the Legate himself Cicero another Legate not giving trust to the same Ambiorix sav'd himself and his Legion till Caesar came and reliev'd him out of eminent danger There be other ways of publick Intelligence by shots of Cannon or Musquets Other ways of publick Intelligence from Hills Mountains Towers or Trees as also by Beacons with smoke by day and fire by night I confess in some cases there can be no better way found out yet these may readily prove uncertain as many times they have done for your Centinels and Guards may make these shots and signs upon misapprehensions and so disturb you with false alarms or an enemy may have surpriz'd your Guards and Centinels and by giving you no sign or false signs ruin you Intelligence may also be given publickly from the Steeples and Towers of besieged places and from Mountains without by either Cannon or fire by signs and Counter-signs yet all of them may be misunderstood miscarried or betray'd But more of this in my Discourse of Besieged Cities Towns and Castles Private Intelligence is got by word or by writing either from those who Private Intelligence by word or by writ dwell and converse with your enemy or those you send among your enemies disguised as their friends To corrupt a Secretary of a Prince or a General is a good way for Intelligence and to do this he who commands an army must spare no Gold and therefore a Parsimonious General will have but bad private Intelligence or rather none at all Governours of Forts and Officers to whom Posts are intrusted either in Garrison or Field must be tried how they may be corrupted This is an excellent way for Intelligence and makes the destruction of an enemy easie and it ought to be attempted essay'd and prosecuted with all earnestness prudence and secrecy One will do wisely to seem to give full credit to the Proposals Intelligence and promises of these Traytors but he must not always do it for in this the rule will hold exactly Disce diffidere learn to distrust How many Generals and other great persons have been cheated by such seeming Traytors History and daily practice bear witness In the Proves often false time of the Civil Wars of France in Charles the Ninth's reign a Protestant Officer within Orleance agreed with much secrecy to deliver one of the Ports to the enemy who besieg'd the Town and accordingly some hundreds were admitted within the City who were all Massacred and a number of great Guns and Musquets were fir'd on those who were following after the Portculleys were let down and the Drawbridg was pluckt up Sir Philip Sidney was little better used with his Intelligence out of Alost Such an entertainment was prepar'd for five or six thousand Spaniards to whom Breda should have been deliver'd in the night-time when the Prince of Parma govern'd if I remember right but when they came near the Town they grew jealous and so return'd with little loss In the next place Generals ought to have a wary eye over their Secretaries I believe few of them trust them with all their secrets nor is it fit they should And what trust can you give him who is willing to betray his Master to whom A Traytors Intelligence to be distrusted he hath sworn fidelity should you not be afraid that he will rather betray you to whom he hath sworn none Yet this way of Intelligence hath in all ages been tried and hath very often prov'd successful and therefore it must be still practised and something must be hazarded for all cannot be made cocksure Wallenstein as was afterward well known really intended to have betrayed the Emperour his Master and all his armies but the Duke of Weymar and other Swedish Generals durst not trust him till they got assurances and before he could give these he was dispatched to another world Wherefore I say something must be adventur'd but let it be done with all imaginable care and circumspection that if your Intelligence fail you the loss may not be considerable Written Intelligence is very dangerous both for the person that carries it Written Intelligence dangerous for him who sends it and for him who receives it If the bearer of it be taken he will no doubt be put to exquisite tortures till he tell from whom he brought it and be hang'd when he hath told it this brings the sender or writer in danger of his life and the intercepting this written Intelligence divulgeth some of his secrets to whom it is sent and so puts him to new resolutions for though the advices he sent be written in Cyphers yet the art of finding keys for Cyphers So are Cyphers is now common and though a Cypher be not unlockt yet he to whom it is directed will rationally conclude it was unlockt and therefore will find it needful to fall upon new resolves Other manners of writing with illegible Ink are Yet both to be used soon found out with fire and water But notwithstanding all this there is a necessity of writing many times and it must take its hazard Private Intelligence by word of mouth is certainly the surest way if any way of Intelligence can be sure provided the persons imployed be witty sober vigilant and faithful The first three qualifications may be known by conversation Spies but the last only by frequent trial and yet he may be faithful to you in many things who may cheat you to purpose at the last blow These be the Intelligencers whether men or women who are properly called Spies upon whose Intelligence no prudent General Governour or good Officer will build resolutions till it be confirm'd by several hands and even then it will be needful Not always to be trusted to walk with circumspection We find in the life of Caesar writ both by himself and others that he made it his great work to get Intelligence of his enemies posture doings and designs and that the wonderful celerity he used in all his expeditions was the product of his Intelligence yet did he never trust any
will be or the way narrower as for most part it chanceth to be you may see I say how many miles may be between your Front and your Reer And indeed though the Train of Artillery by the sticking of great Guns and Pot-pieces in deep dirty or clay ground give no retardment to the march as frequently it doth or that an Army meet with no extraordinary encumbrances as happily it may yet it will be no marvel to see the Van at the head quarter before the Reer-guard be march'd out of their last nights Leaguer though the march be fourteen or fifteen English miles long and therefore there is good reason to allow as little distance or Interval between several bodies or batallions as may be and to A close march the best and securest divide an Army into two three or more bodies and march several ways to make the greater expedition when it may be done safely and without danger of an enemy and if he be in your Reer and that you intend not to fight dividing so you keep good order facilitates your Retreat The two Princes of Orange Maurice and Henry both of them excellent Captains order'd that in a march when one Regiment was divided into two great Partitions there should be no more but fifty foot of distance between them and only eighty foot between one Regiment and another These Princes caused their Armies to march according to ancient custom in three great Bodies Van guard Battel and Reer-guard and those they called Tercias or Tersos a Spanish word which signifies Thirds and so the Spaniards called their Regiments of old and for any thing I know they do so still These Tersos of the Princes of Orange were indeed grand Brigades and these had Maâ—â—rs who were call'd Majors of the Brigades besides Majors of Regiments And in a march the Princes allowed no greater distance between these great bodies but an hundred or a hundred and twenty foot at most And herein they did not quadrate with the opinion of some of our modern Captains who will have as great a distance between Brigades as the longitude of a Brigade is which we may suppose to be very many times a thousand foot though sometimes less and consequently if there be ten such Brigades of Foot the very nine Intervals between the ten Brigades takes up nine thousand foot near two Italian miles and therefore if the way be not very broad there will be several miles between the Van and the Reer of the Infantry but the reasons brought by those that are of this judgment may be demonstrated to be but weak by a visible practice When an Army is to go over a Pass a Water or a Bridg the whole To march over a Pass or a Strait Bodies of it should be order'd to march very close losing something of their ordinary distances that one Brigade or Batallion being past another may immediately follow without intermission Captain Rud the late Kings Engineer a very worthy person says at the passing a strait an Army should make an halt and draw up in battel and then pass over so many in breast as the place will permit and when they are all over draw up again before And not lose time they march For the last part I shall agree with him for no sooner should any Forlorn-hope Troop Company or Regiment be over a Pass but they should draw up in Battel till some others be over and if there be not ground enough they should advance by little and little till they find a more spacious field where they may draw up in breast and expect the rest or if he mean that every particular Regiment or Brigade should draw on that side of the strait which it is to pass till the Reer of that Regiment or Brigade come up and then begin their march over I shall yet agree with him but for a Van of an Army to stay till the Reer come up before it begin to pass a strait is a great loss of time which in the march of an Army is very precious for in an Army but of an indifferent strength that halt shall be the space of at least four hours and this furnisheth an opportunity to an enemy to oppose the passage or wait his advantages on the other side of the strait with more force policy and deliberation CHAP. XX. Of Quartering Encamping and Modern Castrametation Of the Quarter-master General and of the Quarter-master of the General Staff THE day is far spent and the Army hath march'd far Quarter must be made somewhere and it must be either in Towns Villages or the fields If the Army be dispersed in several Villages or Hamlets it is done that it may To Quarter in Villages be refreshed for some short time and when there is no danger of an enemy If it be to lodg for one night and an enemy is near then both Horse and Foot stand in the field all night with strong Guards Forlorn-hopes Rounds and Patrovilles If an enemy be not near ordinarily the Head quarter is in some little Town or Village and the Cavalry quarter'd round about in Hamlets the Infantry is encamped close by the Head-quarter and if it be but to stay a night or two it doth not usually Entrench but as the old Grecians did Encamps on some place something fortified by nature as on a hill or some defensible ascent or where a river may be on one hand and a marsh on the other and where the place iâ— defective they must help it with Spade and Mattock if danger is apprehended Or if the Foot must lodg in a Champagn their Waggons To Quarter in the Field drawn about them will be an excellent good shelter against sudden Infalls and this the Germans call a Wagonburg that is a Fortification of Waggons and it is better than the Roman Fossa Tumultuaria in ancient times Where ever this Night-leaguer chanceth to be he who commands in chief must be careful to chuse such a place as wants for neither wood water nor foderage An Alarm-place should be appointed for the Horse in case their Quarters happen to be beat up in the night as also a place of Rendezvouz at which the whole Army is to meet next day if it be all in one Body and at such an hour as the General shall appoint The Encamping of an Army for some considerable time requires an orderly To Encamp and fortifie for a long time Castrametation and Fortification and though it be not very ordinary yet it hath been and may be occasion'd by several accidents and emergements such as these When an enemy comes unexpectedly whose strength and designs are not known when a Prince or his General thinks it not fit to hazard a Battel Reasons for it when he would preserve the Country behind him whether it belong to the Prince himself or to his friends or that he hath won it from his enemy When the Pestilence or other
contagious Diseases rageth so in Towns and Villages that he dares not hazard to quarter his Army in them When he supposeth he may destroy his enemy by temporizing as Fabius Maximus who used to subdue his enemy more with hunger than the sword Or as Salust says The greatest commendation of a General is to gain the victory without blood Or when ratio belli and sometimes ratio status makes him stay for more of his own forces or those of his friends and allies This oblig'd the Great Gustavus to fortifie his Leaguers and his Armies within them at Verben and at Nuremburg Or lastly when he is to besiege a Town Fort or Castle which he conceives will not very soon render and may rationally expect succours and relief Being then there are so many and may be more reasons for a fortified Louis de Montgomerie's disapprobation answered Leagure I cannot agree with Louis de Montgomerie who will only allow of Entrenched Camps in two cases when an Army is near a considerable enemy and when other lodging cannot be had And he alledgeth that the Roman Camps and their Hiberna and some of our fortified Leaguers would be only good in Arabia the Desert but not in a Country where Towns Villages and Incorporations may be had But besides the reasons I have given for Entrenched Camps I shall say to Montgomerie that it is not improbable but many of these places where the Romans kept both their Winter and Summer Quarters were then as Desert as Arabia is now and in our time it is ordinary to take in Villages Hamlets and Castles within the circuit of a fortified Camp or if a fortified Town be either behind or on the flank of a Camp it adds infinitely to the strength and conveniences of it provided there be no contagion or infectious diseases within thaâ— Town But let us suppose that which often falls out that a Leaguer is to be planted in an open field where no Town or Village is and then let us see how an Army can be conveniently quarter'd in it that it be so capacious as to contain all is ordain'd to be within it and next that there be no part or place of it redundant or useless in regard it must be fortified and the smaller circumference a fortification is of the more tenible and defensible it is and the fewer men will maintain it But before a Prince or his General form his Camp he should be observant of such considerations as these which follow First if he can chuse Some Considerations necessary before Entrenching a Camp he should not Encamp in low grounds for these are unwholsome of themselves and will quickly be made worse Next if he Encamp on a hill it should be such a one as hath a river or water running by the foot of it and such a water whose stream cannot be diverted by the enemy for a river or deep running water doth not only serve the necessities of the Camp but defends some side or part of it Thirdly he should be sure that his enemy have no fortified place or Garrison on the side or flank of his Camp much less behind it which may cut off the passes and avenues whereby his Provisions should come Fourthly he should Encamp in such a place where his Horse may not want fodder and where abundance of Hay Straw or growing Corn may be had both to feed the Beasts and for the Soldiers to cover their Huts with and to lye upon Fifthly if Woods be not near him he should lay down a way how wood may be brought to him abundantly for fire to the Guards for dressing meat for baking and washing for the use of the Artillery for Pallisado's Batteries Platforms and Bridges But observe that if a great and thick Wood be contiguous as much of it as lyeth within seven or eight hundred foot of the Camp should be cut down and two or three Sconces or Redoubts built where the Trees stood for preventing ambushes or sudden eruptions of an enemy And after the Camp is planted and entrenched the Commander in chief would order Magazines for Provisions strong Convoys both of Horse and Foot for bringing all manner of Victuals Provisions and Munitions to his Camp from these places where he hath appointed Magazines to be kept as also he should appoint Guards to Convoy the empty Carts Waggons and Horses back again and cause his Souldiers to use the Country people kindly and well and not suffer them to be outraged any manner of way that thereby they may be encouraged to return the oftner The defence of the Camp consists in two things the first is its fortification Defence of a Camp the draught whereof is the work of the Engineer by enclosing it within and without the Ditch with Bulwarks Curtains Redoubts Sconces half moons and Tenailles all which go under the General name of Trenches which word is only proper for the Fortification of a Leaguer and but borrowed for the Approaches to besieged places The second Defence of the Leaguer consists in its Guards and of these I shall speak in the next Chapter The subject of this is the orderly disposing and giving a due proportion of ground to every Regiment Troop and Company of Horse and Foot whereon to pitch their Tents or What Castrametation is build their Huts to the Generals Tents to all the General Officers to the Train of Artillery for the Proviant-master and Proviant to the Waggon-master and Waggons and finally to all that belong to the Army from the highest to the lowest and this is called Castrametation a Latin word which signifieth the Measuring the Camp for the ground must be proportionably given out by an equal measure and the doing it is the proper work of the Quarter-master General This Officer knowing the Generals pleasure is to give the several Regiments A Quartermaster General and Brigades their Towns Villages and Hamlets for their Quarters nor must any of them offer to take any other than those that are assign'd to them by him and therefore when the Army is to be quarter'd though but for one night the Regiment Quarter-masters of the whole Army are bound to wait upon him and receive his directions and if they be to Encamp in such a Leaguer as that we now speak of it is he who measures out to every Regiment its proportion of ground as shall be presently declared It is he likewise who hath the inspection of the old Fortifications and the directing new ones and for this reason the Engineers are properly under him but he is to see the working and finishing of these Fortifications He hath frequently a Lieutenant or Dâ—puty under His Office and Duties him His Office is very honourable for by it he sits in all Courts and Councils of War He should be an understanding person and a good Mathematician The oldest Colonel of the Swedish Army used to be General Quarter-master but that custom is worn out
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
of the first could not excuse the foul breach of the second The famous Bernard Duke of Weymar had almost done in passion such a disavowable act The case was this Brisac being reduc'd to the utmost extremity the Noble Duke though he knew all their wants gave Major General Reinach honourable conditions But after the Garrison was marcâ—'d out he came to know that of thirty of his Souldiers who were Prisoners within the City eight dyed for hunger which the other twenty two did eat and then were starv'd to death for want of meat This so enraged the Duke that he resolv'd to put that Monster of a Governour and the four hundred Souldiers or rather Skeletons that came out with him to the edge of the Sword and here you may be sure unjust Revenge put on the mask of Lex Talionis This disavowable action of the Governour of Brisac should be a Caveat to all Goververnours not to bring many Prisoners into besieged places for those reasons I mention'd in my Discourse of Sieges But if the Duke had done as he intended he had been as guilty of perfidy as Reinach was of inhumanity And therefore the Great Commanders of his Army represented to him the ugly face of fedifragy in its lively colours which did fully divert him from an action unworthy of so brave and so renown'd a Prince Treaties should be made Promises given and Capitulations sign'd without Articles should not be ambiguous equivocation or mental reservation they should be clear sincere and candid without ambiguity for if any of that be made use of it will be so far from excusing breach of Faith that it will make it look with the uglier face as when something is foysted into an Article which may carry a double meaning â—he Victor makes himself Interpreter of the genuine sense and if he be wicked under pretence of the breach of one branch of an Article he assumes to himself power to break all I have given some Instances of the practice of this among the Heathen nor hath the light of the Gospel deterr'd men of later times from actions of so base an alloy In the year 1633. Great Gloggaw in Two unworthy actions Silesia yields to Wallenstein who sign'd Articles for them to march to the next Suedish Army but without the Town a quarrel is pick'd for the breach of an Article the Garrison surrounded and forc'd to declare for the Emperour And if you will peruse Ireton's Treaty with the Town of Limerick in Ireland 1651. you will find it of the same stamp or worse after he was master of the place under pretext of some breach of the Garrison he broke all agreements and hang'd the Mayor and several others to bear him company But after such sad stories of the bad observation of Capitulations let me refresh you with the relation of a merry but a true Treaty which was very punctually observ'd When Spinola had retir'd himself from the Lower Palatinate A pretty story and yet a true one to Brabant he left Don Corduba to finish the War in that distressed Countrey This Spanish General march'd to a little Town called Ogerheim out of which all the Inhabitants had fled for fear except twenty four these discharged some Falconets upon the Spanish Fore-Troops and thereafter unâ— over the Walls where they were lowest only the Town-Shepherd who was called Hans Warsch for he deserves to have his name recorded stay'd A Trumpeter is sent to summon the place the Spaniards not knowing its solitary condition with whom Hans capitulated That himself and his Family should enjoy their Lives Goods and free liberty of their Religion to which the Trumpeter readily condescended and then Hans opened one of the Ports This Agreement was ratified and faithfully kept by Don Corduba A Prisoner of War may be examined and both hired and threaten'd to tell all A Souldier no Spy he knows but if he will not he should rather be cherish'd than punish'd for a Souldier is not to be used as a Spy the last you may put to the Rack but not the first with any Justice yet the contrary hath been practised In the Civil Wars of France I find that a Souldier after he had got quarter was tortur'd by pouring in Water at his mouth till his belly grew as great as an Ox head and yet dyed without revealing any thing he knew A Captain Inhumanity who had escap'd out of Sancerre and was looking for assistance to that hunger-starved Town was taken and tormented with the blows of Cudgels on the Belly till he told all he knew or all they would have him to tell and then they hang'd him for his pains The fear of bad quarter of hard and cruel usage of the breach of Treaties Fear of bad quarter and Articles hath made many resolve to take no quarter at all and to chuse to dye fighting Whether these be accessory to their own death whether this be not self desertion or whether it be diffidence of the Almighties power shall not be the subject of this Discourse But I shall say that Self-preservation is a Law imprinted in the hearts of all men by Nature and when with Honour and Reputation a Souldier either of high or low degree may have fair quarter he both may and should accept of it both to preserve himself for his masters service and his own future fortune and that without the least aspersion of Cowardise That which is commonly reported of the Emperours Crabats and the King of Sweden's Finlanders that none of them would either give or take quarter is a meer speculation for I have known them both give and take it very contentedly Philopaemon may stand as a Beacon to all Souldiers whether they be Pagans Philopaemon Infidels or Christians not to presume or yet be confident never to be Prisoners Of a mean Gentleman he came by his valour and conduct to be Praetor and General of the Achaans seven or eight times Dining one day with some of his Friends he heard them much commend one of his acquaintance for an excellent good Souldier How can he said Philopaemon be a good Souldier who deliver'd once himself Prisoner But this great Captain who had now arriv'd with much Honour to the age of seventy years did not foresee his fate which the very next day while he made good the Retreat of some Achâ—an Gentlemen from the Messenians deliver'd him Prisoner to his mortal Enemies who having brought him to Messene cast him into a deep Prison and not long after presented him with a Cup of deadly Poyson which after he was assur'd of the safety of his Friend Licortas he cheerfully drank off and immediately gave up the Ghost CHAP. XXVII Of our Modern Military Punishments and of Rewards THe Law is a Dumb Judge and a Judge is a Speaking Law In vain it is to make Laws unless Judges look to their execution for that is the life of the Law I have spoke in
that ever he got from either friend or enemy till it was confirm'd to him from others yet I have told you that his Intelligence did fail it is true not so oft as his Legates were abus'd by theirs because he trusted not so easily When Spies are sent he who sends them must let them know none of his own designs Their miserable condition for these they may readily reveal These Spies are in a woful condition for so soon as they are suspected they are immediately search'd and if any Papers be found about them either in their Clothes the soles of their shoos their hair hats sheaths of daggers or swords they are put to torture and then all they know for most part is reveal'd and though no Papers be found with them yet are they tortur'd to tell what perhaps they know not The Roman way to How the Romans found out Spies find out Spies was by a Trumpet or a Cryer to command all to their Huts and Tents and those who were then found wandering abroad were apprehended and examin'd for Spies But I do not remember to have heard or read of a greater mischief that want of Intelligence did to any than to the two famous Carthaginian Brothers Hannibal and Asdrubal for after the last's arrival in Italy Hannibal faceth one Roman army resolving to hinder it to join with another which he knew was sent to hinder his Brother to join with him Asdrubal faceth the other Roman army Two great Captains both Brothers ruin'd for want of Intelligence under Consul Livius and provoketh him to Battel but in vain All the four armies are encamped and fortified each diligently observing the motions of his adversary Yet Claudius Nero the Consul who opposed Hannibal marcheth in the night with six thousand commanded Romans out of his Camp joins with Livius who was at least a hundred miles distant from him without the knowledg of either of the two Brothers Neither had Asdrubal any knowledg of the Conjunction but his own conjecture by the numbers of the Horses that he saw go out to watering and the two Classicums the Badges of two Consuls he retiâ—'d that night but was overtaken next day beaten and kill'd Nor did Hannibal know any thing of the whole matter till Nero was return'd in safety to the Roman Camp and that he caused Asdrubals head to be thrown before one of the Gates of Hannibals at the sight whereof the Gallant Carthaginian wept and said he now saw too well the fortune of Carthage meaning no doubt that the Heavens were not to be any more propitious to that powerful City when such two famous Warriors as himself and his valiant Brother were ruin'd for want of Intelligence For Quos vult perdere hos dementat Jupiter Jove dements whom he intends to destroy But to return to our Spies to put them to death without mercy or to The punishment of Spies very severe use them worse hath been so ancient and still is so universal a practice that to speak any thing against the injustice of it might justly make a man ridiculously singular In ancient times for most part they were tortur'd to death and little better are they used in the Modern War But do not you think the Romans used Spies more mercifully at the Siege of Capua who only cut off their hands and noses and so let them depart in peace Caesar who was merciful enough and made great use of Spies himself caused the hands of two messengers to be cut off who were taken carrying Letters from Corduba to young Pompey and in the same War he apprehended four Spies in his Camp one was a Soldier and three were Slaves the Soldier he beheaded but the Slaves he Crucified So you see Soldiers must be subject to the punishment of Spies if they suffer themselves to be imployed in their office But since Spies are made use of by all Commanders in the Wars by all Generals nay by all Princes why is there a more severe animadversion against them than against Robbers Murderers yea Parricides They are not only allowed made use of and commended but bountifully rewarded by those who imploy them why then is not there some capitulation for them or at least some greater mitigation of their punishment than to deliver them over to the cruelty of a Butcherly Hangman Spies may be lawfully used to whip torture hang spit and quarter them Certainly their Office is lawful otherwise lawful Princes would not make use of them why are they then so horribly punisht for going about their duty Yes assuredly their Office is lawful since Moses by Gods own appointment sent a dozen of them to spy the Land of Canaan one whereof was Caleb who went in and possest his share of it and another of the Twelve was Joshuah who thereafter was Captain General of the Israelitish Army Two Spies were likewise sent to Jericho who ow'd the safety of their lives to the Harlot Rachab and when they lodg'd at such a womans house had they not been sent by Gods own people might not a man have said that Knaves and Whores were well met together But to conclude if Spies escap'd without very severe punishment Camps Armies and all Fortified places would be pester'd with that base though necessary Canaille The English have a General Officer whom they qualifie with the Title of Scoutmaster General I have known none of them abroad but I hear in some Scout-master General places of Italy they have something very like him and that is Il Capitano di Spiani the Captain of the Spies I cannot believe that this Scoutmaster or this Captain hath any thing to do with that Intelligence which I called publick and is got by parties whether of Horse or Foot for the commanding these out and the keeping the Lists of their Turns or Toures belongs properly to the Major Generals and several Majors of Regiments both of the Cavalry and Infantry none whereof I conceive will suffer the Scoutmaster to usurp their Office They must then only have the regulation of the private Intelligence wherein no doubt they may ease the General of the Army very much But being that Spies are properly under their command if this Scoutmaster General or this Capitano di Spiani be taken Prisoner by the enemy whether he may be ransom'd and used as an Officer or hanged as a Spy is a question which because I cannot determine I shall leave it as a Probleme The French have lately constituted a Captain of Guides who perhaps is the Captain of Spies I speak of CHAP. XVI Embatteling by the Square-root examined and rejected THE great Apostle of the Gentiles tells us That the fashion of this world perisheth And truly I admire not at all that Embatteling Bodies of Foot and Horse by the Square-root is worn out of fashion but I admire much that Several kinds of Batallions marshal'd by the Square-root ever it was in fashion I shall not offer