The Bible Battles, Chapter 27
CHAP. XXVII. Of the meanes how to make the baſeſt ſpirits and Cowards in battell to ſtand to it and if they doe flie away, how to make ſome vſe thereof as ſome hauehave wiſely done.
THough never ſo good choice bee made, and meanes vſed, yet ſome will be found faint harted, God and good men in the Bible, tooke no other courſe with them, but diſmiſſion: but if they be reteined, the courſes taken in former times by great Commanders were theſe.
I. To hemme them in, and environ them with the choiſeſt troupes, and ſo perforce to holde them to it.
II. When they begin to ſhrinke back to cut off ſome of the foremoſt for example to terrifie the reſt; … Attilius Liv. 10.by killing the firſt with his owne hand, when his ſouldiers gaue ground, made the reſt to make head againſt the Enemie. The Romane Generall gaue charge to his men, that whomLiv. 2. they perceived Cowards, and to fly, to take them for enemies, and thereafter to deale with them. For indeed a Coward is a betrayer of his fellowes and an incourager of the enemy, to get the victory.
III. To take from them all hopes of helpe, though they ſhould ru… away. And this ſometime did wiſe Commanders though they did not leade knowen or ſuſpected Cowards. As General Vere did ſend away all the ſhips from ſhore at the battle at Newport. William the Conquerour, to make his to fight, and hope of no helpe but victory, landing here in England, he burnt the ſhips that brought them over. So did Tariff the Moore entring into Spaine. Charles Martell when he went to encounter the infinite hoſt of the Saracens, commanded the City of Tours to keepe the gates ſhut, and to open them no more but to the Victorers. The baſeſt ſpirits hauehave beene made thus to ſtand to it: But if feare ſometime ceaſe vponupon better Spirits, as it hath done, then ſome rebuke may make them take heart, or feare of future ſhame; A ſpeech and example of Caeſars valour withall in the laſt battell that ever he fought; which was with Pompeys ſonnes in Spaine, when his ſouldiers began to ſhrinke encouraged them to a new onſet, and ſo got the victory, onelyonly he ſaid but this, Remember that at Munda they had forſaken their Generall. The courage and act of the Cō mander will quicken the ſpirit of ſuch as hauehave not loſt all heart. Iudas Machabeus ſeeing his people fearefull to1 Mach: 16 6. paſſe a brooke to the Enemie, led the way, and then they all followed. Ionathan when his company fled from him, yet ſtanding to it, and ſomething prevailing made the runawayes, to returne and to purſue the Enemies. Lucius Sylla ſeeing the Legion to giuegive to Archelaus the Commander of Mithridates forces, he drew his ſword and made towards the battell; and ſaid to his Souldiers, If any aske you for your Leader you may tell them, that you left him fighting in Bo…ſia: At which words they were ſtrucken with ſhame, and went on to the Service. M. Furius Camillus ſeeing his Army ſlacke to charge the Enemy, pluckt the Enſigne out of the hand of the bearer, and carryeth it himſelfe vponupon the Enemie; which the Souldiers ſeeing with much ſhame ſet forward after him. Thus valiant Leaders hauehave put courage into the hearts of their company; of which ranke with the old and ancient Generals may be reckoned, the renowned …o…ice, the redoubted Vere, and with theſe the never dying Sidney as one calleth them.
Sometime trayterous ſpirits will dare in the face of the Generall to fly to the Enemy: whereof ſome wiſely have made good vſe. When Lucius Lucellus ſaw the Macedonian horſe flying to the Enemy, he preſently cauſed an allarum to be given, and ſo ſent out other after them; by which the enemy ſuppoſed the former to make the onſet, and the followers to bee ready to ſecond them, whereupon the Enemy ſhot at the formoſt, and the Runnawayes ſeeing their courſe welcome before them, and the danger behind, fell in good earneſt to fight with the Enemy, and ſo againſt their intended purpoſe, quit themſelves as it were like honeſt men. So one Damates when he perceiued ſome of his flying to the Enemy, preſently did follow after, and cunningly falleth to commend their forwardnes, that they would firſt charge the Enemy, which made them turne their minds, and to doe otherwiſe then they intended, even to make indeede the firſt onſet vponupon the enemy, cleane contrary to their former purpoſes.
To conclude this, if ſo be yet that feare happen, and that there be great inſufficiencie to fight with the Enemy, one way alſo withall be made to auoyde the ſtroke, then it is beſt, not diſorderly to flye, yet to make a faire retreat, or a ſecret flight as many Roman leaders have done, or openly to flye ſo it be orderly. Abner 2 Sa: 2. 17 …9.after a ſore battle did flye: That compleatly qualified Commander, Generall Norice, made a retreat at Ga…nt. To flye well, as one ſaith, is as praiſeworthy, as to fight well. For nature, reaſon, and religion too, doe concur in this, that in a manifeſt peril! to ſave life by lawfull meanes, is no diſgrace but a duty. And what is deſperate hazard when there is no abſolute neceſſity to compell thereto, but a foolehardneſſe, a fleſhing of a prevailing enemy, a loſſe of ſerviceable men, and diſcredit to the Commander, who cannot but herein hauehave his wiſedome queſtioned.
But put caſe, men cannot poſſibly Quest. flye, neither in any humane reaſon be able to withſtand the Enemy, what ſhould then be done? To anſwer Anſw. hereunto, there muſt be conſidered, the nature of the Enemy; whether true of his word, or falſe, whether mercifull or cruell. Againe, whether the conditions be honourable or baſe, in which reſpect death is better then life; for it may be, they may condition to renounce religion, or ſuch a condition as the Ammonite offered to the1 Sa. 11. … men of Iabeſh, that ſo they might bring not onelyonly baſe ſhame vponupon the parties, but a reproach vponupon the whole nation; Its better to dye then to hearken to ſuch conditionr, or to ſuch as Benhadad propounded to Ahab, 1 King. 20 6.which made him adventure the battle, as alſo did our blacke Prince with the King of France, whom no reaſonable conditions could ſatisfie: moreover it muſt be weighed whether any ſuccor may in conuenient time come, to helpe in ſuch a ſtrait as the men of Iabeſh did; furthermore, whether by adventuring life; yet the enemy may receiue more loſſe by ſelling to them their deaths more deare, then by yeelding and living they may profit-their country. Theſe and ſuch like conſiderations muſt be had before yeelding: but if the enemy be faithfull of his word, and mercifull, the conditions reaſonable, no hope remaining of helpe, and the adventuring to fight it out, in all likelihood to procure little hurt to the Enemy, in reaſon it is better to ſave life, then to loſe it. Very valiant ſpirits have yeelded ſometimes without any diſparagement vntounto them.