“Indeed I do not. Now we are speaking of ancient battles, I will mention that of Thermopylæ. Thermopylæ was a narrow defile, leading from Thessaly into some Grecian districts; it was, indeed, looked on as the gate of Greece. Here Leonidas, the Spartan general, with a small band of devoted warriors, repulsed the army of Xerxes, King of Persia, consisting, say some, of three million men. Xerxes was amazed and confounded; but, having been informed of another pass over the mountains, he availed himself of it. Leonidas being attacked in the rear by twenty-four thousand men, and in front by the main body of Persians, could no longer resist his overwhelming adversary, but he and every man with him, scorning to surrender, fought till they died.”
“Battles must be very different now, to what they used to be.”
“They are indeed. Gunpowder has altogether changed military tactics. Strength and courage formerly obtained victories, but now, a knowledge of tactics will often enable a small body of men to overcome a larger one. A battle should never be fought when it can be avoided. It is said to be the last resource of a good general. If skill and stratagem can attain an object, fighting is altogether out of the question. When, however, a battle becomes inevitable, the first thing is to take advantage of the ground, for oftentimes the possession of a hill, a thicket, a village, or of a single building, is of great consequence. If you had been at Waterloo, and seen what efforts were made to possess the house called Hougomont, I should have no occasion to say a word on this point.”
“But why is a hill, or a thicket, or a house, of so much consequence?”
“Because these things not only protect troops, but enable them to annoy their enemies by preventing them from forming, and picking off their officers. It is a great advantage, also, in a battle, to have the wind and sun in your favour; to meet an enemy with the wind and dust against you, and the sun in your eyes, is very trying. The artillery should be distributed with great care, for it forms, in most cases, the principal strength of an army; and the horse and foot should be posted on ground the fittest for their operations.”
“But, how can an army fire cannon without killing their own soldiers, for they must at times be mingled together with the enemy?”
“In such a case the artillery moves its position, and only plays when it can do so on the enemy alone. The battle array generally consists of three lines, the front, the rear, and the reserve. An attacking army is generally divided into three parts, the main body, and the two wings. And the battle array is formed by dividing each of these into three lines, the front, the rear, and the reserve; the artillery is divided along the front of the first line, and the treasure, provision, and baggage, are removed to a safe place before the engagement.”
“Ay! It must be very necessary to take care of them.”
“Prussia has long been a warlike country; for Frederick the Great called forth the military energies of his people. In Prussia, every able-bodied man of the kingdom is required to perform a limited service in the army. At twenty, he enters the regular army for three years, unless favoured by some regulation, which limits the term to one year. From twenty-three to twenty-five he belongs to the war reserve, when he enters the first ban of the landwehr, and continues to his thirty-second year, after which he serves another seven years in the second ban of the landwehr. After the fortieth year, he ranks till the fiftieth in the landsturm, or levée en masse of the whole population.”
“If every one in Prussia is compelled to be a soldier, why, then, Old England for ever!”