Battle Studies

In presenting to the American reading public a translation of a volume written by an obscure French colonel, belonging to a defeated army, who fell on the eve of a battle which not alone gave France over to the enemy but disclosed a leadership so inapt as to awaken the suspicion of treason, one is faced by the inevitable interrogation--"Why?"Yet the answer is simple. The value of the book of Ardant du Picq lies precisely in the fact that it contains not alone the unmistakable forecast of the defeat, itself, but a luminous statement of those fundamental principles, the neglect of which led to Gravelotte and Sedan. Show Excerpt TRY REGIMENT PART ONE: ANCIENT BATTLE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I MAN IN PRIMITIVE AND ANCIENT COMBAT II KNOWLEDGE OF MAN MADE ROMAN TACTICS; THE SUCCESSES OF HANNIBAL; THOSE OF CAESAR III ANALYSIS OF THE BATTLE OF CANNAE IV ANALYSIS OF THE BATTLE OF PHARSALUS AND SOME CHARACTERISTIC EXAMPLES V MORALE IN ANCIENT BATTLE VI HOW REAL COMBATANTS ARE OBTAINED AND HOW THE FIGHTING OF TO-DAY REQUIRES THEM TO BE MORE DEPENDABLE THAN IN ANCIENT BATTLE VII PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY AND WHAT IS NECESSARY TO COMPLETE IT PART TWO: MODERN BATTLE I GENERAL DISCUSSION 1. Ancient and Modern Battle 2. Moral Elements in Battle 3. Material and Moral Effect 4. The Theory of Strong Battalions 5. Combat Methods II INFANTRY 1. Masses--Deep Columns 2. Skirmishers--Supports--Reserves--Squares 3. Firing 4. Marches--Camps--Night Attacks III CAVALRY 1. Cavalry a