The Looking Glass of the Holy War, Chapter 32
CHAP. XXXII. The Exerciſing of Forces in the Field.
NOw I come from oppugnation and defence of places, to ſpeake of exerciſing forces in the field, the ordering and ioyning of battle, the lawfull uſe of victorie; and the behaviour required in the conquerour and conquered. As the neerer things come to their Center, they move the faster; and the nigher the Sun approcheth the Zenith, it is the hotter: ſo this, the laſt part of my ſubiect, being the chiefeſt part, & higheſt point of all the warlike motions, it requireth the ſpeciall workmanſhip, & that of ſuch a workman as is highly guifted with wit and experience. Haniball could not but laugh at a ſtoicke, diſputing by arguments, that onelyonly a wiſe mā ſhould be a commander, not knowing that uſe, and experience muſt concurre to the making of a militarie man: Stobeus Serm. 52.ſo if my affection to the buſineſſe, ſhould not gaine excuſe; in place of approbation, I ſhould move laughing, and inſteede of a plaudite, I ſhould gaine an apage: but hauing experience that men of Armes, are generous, euē in affecting them that louelove Armes; I proceed to touch, though not to ſound, the depth of thoſe things. And if my ſkill were to my affection, yet could I not direct in every particular: becauſe neceſſitie offereth many inconveniences in war, which the wiſeſt and experteſt Commander cannot avoid: for the which notwithſtanding there is a good generall rule, to correct that by art and counſell which of its owne nature is adverſe.The hearts of ſouldiours should be knit together by the bond of louelove. Lib. 2. cap. 21. Caritas inter milites comilitio augeſſt.
To this rule, for the better directing of all the particular paſſages, let me add or perfix the counſell of Vegetius; that the hearts of ſouldiers ſhould be knit together by the bond of love; yea, they ſhould be compacted and united together, not onelyonly in order, but alſo in affection: ſo they all ſhould be but one body or one ſoule in divers bodyes: where an Army thriveth; a… Tryphonius the lawyer obſerveth, not onelyonly knowledge & familiaritie, but alſo louelove increaſeth in the fellowſhip of war.
The Army being thus bound together, as head and body, in their ſeverall places and functions, ready to ſerve one another, Two Speciall thingsthere be two things which the leader eſpecially muſt ſet before his eyes; namely, laying hold of preſent occaſion and celeritie of diſpatch: The former as I ſhewed is the ſoule of the action, and the latter is the quick paſſage of the animall ſpirits, Lay hold on occaſion.effecting the functions of the ſoule. Life once loſt cannot be recovered: occaſion once past cannot be recalled. Lucius Portius Cato, ſpeaking of Catelin, taketh this (as he ſheweth) for a rule approved on by all, that in all our affaires, opportunite is to be ſerved, and nothing more to be avoided the… neglect of occaſion. Stobeus Serm. 52.Ageſilaus being demanded what were the rareſt ornaments of a commander; ſummed them in theſe three particulars, Valor, Counſell, and laying hold on occaſion. That proverbe of Veſpatians courtiers taking their beſt opportunitie to petition him, is an excellent motto for a commander, know thy time. foreign. Avidius rapiendum, quod cito praetervolat.A man in this ſence muſt be a time-ſerver as, one injoyneth us, ſerve time. A man, as Eraſmus ſaith, muſt ſnatch at that which fleeth away. Scipio the great Cunctator, did call it the part of a ſluggard to pretermit occaſion. The neglect of this loſt Pompey his greatneſſe. Firſt, not to diſpute whether he did well or no in quitting Rome, at Ceſars approching; I am ſure he loſt his way, when he went to Greece, to caſt himſelfe upon inexpert and weake forces, degenerate from the uſe of Armes. Had he rather gone into Spaine, of whoſe warlike and ſtrenuous ſouldiers of proofe, (when with Q Metellus he warred againſt Sertorius) he had experience; without queſtion, he had made his part good againſt Ceſar: for which I hauehave this ground, that Ceſar in his laſt fight in Spaine with Pompey the elder, was put to ſuch a deſperate pinch, that he was in parle of offering violence to himſelfe. What would he hauehave done if Pompey himſelfe had been there, eſpecially in the beginning, when Ceſar was neyther of any great power, nor authoritie in the place? This errour of Pompey made way for many others: for his campe in Greece began to grow effeminate; lazie, full of ryot, and neglect of all good occaſions; and that out of the abundance of good things euilly abuſed; inſomuch that it was liker the camp of Darius, or Sardanapalus, then of the ancient Romanes, ſuch as Camillus, Fabritius, &c. But the neglect following is moſt palpably of all without excuſe; neyther thinke I, if Pompey were alive, that he would deny it, namely, in the battel of Dyrrachium, wherein he overthrew & routed Ceſar; but he neglected to follow the victory, which when Ceſar, perceived he ſaid of Pompey, Negavil eum ſcire vincere. Semper nocuit de ferre paratis.that he knew not how to overcome. You may ſee then in this inſtance and others of the like nature, the ſaying of Lucanus made good.
Neglect of time doth ever hurt the cauſe.
As occaſion thus doth animate the buſineſſe; VſUs… celerity.ſo celerity in performance is the energetical power of life in military performances. In rebus bellicis celeritas amplius ſolet prodeſſe quā virtusQuckneſſe (as Vegetius ſaith) is often mo… helpfull then valour it ſelfe. That golden ſaying of Caeſar, ſhould in capitall letters, alwaies be in the eyes of grea… Commanders, That whatſoever he had effected, celerity h… done it.
Another thing to be thought on in the leading of Forces, How to quit themſelues in a ſtrayt.is how to quit themſelues, when they are brought into a ſtrayt, and ſo invironed with the enemy, that there is no way to paſſe without hazard; then and there is the ſpeciall uſe of ſome cunning ſtratagem. Examples of ſuch we hauehave many of good note in Frontine; and none more wittie then that of Hanibal againſt Fabius, A witty Stratagemalthough none more common: Where Hanibal was brought to ſuch a ſtrayt that he could quit himſelfe no way, but through the narrow paſſages that Fabius kept: Lib. 1. c. 5.He tyed bundles of combuſtible matter between the Hornes of Oxen; and ſet them on fire. The Romans ſent out by Fabius, could not tell at firſt what … make of it; for they thought it had been ſome prodigiou… thing: but conceiving what it was, they told the Generall▪ who fearing it to be ſome ſlight, to draw them out, kep… cloſe in their Camp; ſo that Hanibal, with all his Forces, paſt without oppoſition. This was indeed a witty one, but yet a coſtly one: for the pattern, out of which he had it, co… his father Amilcar his life. The Dukes of Spain, again… whom he warred, yoked up Oxen in Waines, loaden with wood, which the Army droue before them, as they came toward the enemy: who counted it a fooliſh toy, but eve… in the joyning battle, they fired the wood, and droue the Oxen and Waines ſo fired upon the enemy, whoſe force… were broken, and Army quite diſordered: ſo that the Spaniſh, Appian Alexandrin. de Bello Hiſpan.following the advantage, ſlew Amilcar, and many o… his Army. Out of this Stratagem, no doubt, did Haniba… pick the other.
The next thing following, advantagious to fight, The taking and keeping of a fit place.is the opportunity of place, which as they are to take, ſo they are to take heed they looſe it not by circumvention, as ſome hauehave done to their own undoing. Praeter virtutem locus quoque adjuvat. Vt arma librata ponderibus figantur lib. 7. Qui adverſus nitatur clivo, duplex ſubit & cum hoſte, & cum loco certamen. lib. 3. c. 13. Pugnandū ſaepe non quia tu velis, ſed quia hostes iubēt.Beſides ſtrength and valour (ſaith Livi) the place helps much; He giveth a reaſon, that Armes being uſed with advantage from aboue, may fix their blowes with their own waight. Vegetius hath the ſame poſition, whereof he giveth this reaſon; He that goeth against the height hath a double enemy to deale with; namely, both the adverſary and the ground. This aduantage was well looked to by Marcus Curius againſt Pirrhus, and by Pompey againſt Mithridates; Lucullus againſt Tigranes; Caeſar againſt Pharnaces; and Hanibal againſt Marcellus; all theſe, by advantage of place defeated their enemies. But as I ſaid of Encamping; ſo I ſay of the place for fight: It is not alwaies in the Commanders power to make choyce; for ſometimes in March they are charged by the enemy, and then being forced to fight, not becauſe they would, but becauſe it pleaſeth the adverſary: they muſt take the place as it falleth out: but if the place be incommodious, they muſt labour by all means to gain a better, detracting fight all that they can, till they obtain it. Publius Decius, Tribune of the ſouldiers, obtained leaue of the Con…ſul Cornelius, being to figh with the Samnites, that with ſome few forces he might adventure the taking of an Hill that was nigh hand by; which he did indeed, to their own gain, and the enemies loſſe. The ſole diſadvantage of the place loſt the Earle of Anguiſe the field againſt Edward the firſt.
The ſecond branch of this point, The keeping of a fit place.concerneth the keeping of a fit place already taken. The wiſe enemy perceiving the odds of the place, will detract fight by all means and labour to ſhift his adverſary from his place, and then giuegive him battle. All the cunning in this kind that I hauehave read, affoordeth not a fitter inſtance then that of Hanibal againſt Fulvius, the Roman Generall; who being ſeated for fight very commodiouſly, was more negligent in watching, and raſh in skirmiſhing then he ſhould hauehave been. Hanibal perceiving his humour in the very dark of the dawning, preſenteth a Perdiu to the Watch, who giving an alarum, Fulvius with his forces breaketh out, whereupon Hanibal, by the moſt of his forces laid in ambuſh, interceps the place, chargeth them on their backs, and ſlew 8000 of the braveſt ſouldiers that Rome affoorded. Not unlike to this, was that Stratagem of the Engliſh againſt the Scottiſh, at the Field of Floudon: King Iames was counſelled by his Nobles, to ſeat himſelfe beyond the river of Til; where, by the opportunity of the bankes, and of the river unpaſſable (but at one bridge) they might ſaue themſelues, and hauehave the enemy at their mercy: for planting their Ordinance toward the bridge, they might let ſome of the Engliſh forces paſſe, as though they neglected the bridge, and therafter cut the bridge with the Ordinance, when they would, and ſo divide their enemies forces, which they might eaſily foile without danger to themſelues: but this counſell could not finde place with a man haſtening to deſtruction: yet counſell, or common ſenſe, ſo farre prevailed with him, as to fortifie himſelfe in the next fitteſt place namely, on a hill, at the foot of a great hill, called Zevist; the place was no where pervious, but by a ſtrayt and narrow paſſage, which they did fortifie on either ſide with their Munition; & they ſtood no leſſe then need of this advantage, for they were far fewer in number then the Engliſh; who underſtanding by their Spyes, that there was no comming at them in that place, without eminent danger, they remoue their Camp, making ſhew as though they went toward Barwick, or otherwiſe into Scotland, to quit the dammage they had ſuſtained; which the King fearing eſpecially, quits the place, ſets fire in the ſhiels, and ſuch things as they could not carry: the ſmoke deprived them of the ſight of the Engliſh, who fet a compaſſe about and croſſed Till, with all their Ordinance, comming on the backs of the Scots, whom they found in an equall plain called Floudon: Thus the Scots drawn out of their ſtrength, having their Ordinance to tranſplace, at the very incounter with two Battalions, either of them conſiſting of as many as all their Forces, they were forced to fight at all diſadvantages; where in a hot and bloudy fight (as moſt hath been heard of,) they held it out till night overtook them. Great was the loſſe on both ſides, and for number equall: but the Scottiſh loſſe exceeded in quality of perſon; for they loſt as Royall a King, and illuſtrious Nobilty as any Europe could affoord: and all, as you ſee, upon neglect of good counſell, and want of taking heed.
Neither would I hauehave any ſo to preſume of opportunity of place, as without valour and vigilancy it could ſecure them: for the enemy may adventure beyond all reaſon and expectation, and ſo ſurpriſe them in the ſame wheron they doe preſume. Pharnaces charged Caeſar ſo hotly and unexpectedly againſt the ſteep of a Hill; that had not their inexpugnable valour quit them, they had loſt both the place and themſelues. Thus being placed, they are to inure their raweſt ſouldiers under ſome good Leaders to light ſkirmiſhes; as the Romans inured their Gally-men firſt to uſe their oares by rowing on the ſands. Further, in keeping place for the annoyance of the enemy, men muſt take heed of falſe fears ſuggeſted by the enemy. So was Fabius hood-wincked by Hanibal. Ne terror & error tranſferant.It is good for a Generall to hauehave a Lyons eye for his Symboll, with this inſcription; Let not fear nor errour tranſport you.