The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1859-07-02

In the days of Louis the Fourteenth, Vau-
ban commenced his career rs lieutenant OF
infantry Helived to be present at fifty three
sieges, and one hundred and forty well con-
tested actions. lie remodeled more than
three hundred ancient citadels, and built
more than thry fortresses. His is the frs!
great name in modern history of fortifcation,
and his skill was especially remarkable in
the employment of natural aids toward the
strength Of the defences planned by him.
At the siege Of Namur, he was opposed by
the Dutch Engineer Cohorn, whose name is
borne by the mortars he invented.
Marshal SAKE entered the French service
in seventeen twenty-five. lie fought and
won three battles, and he was the enc who
introduced the use Of regular cadence in
marching.
TO return to Frederick the Great. He won
the battle Of Leuthen by use of an ob!ique
order of battle, artfully devised, and, indeed,
practised a year before at Potsdam. The
battle is said to begin a new epoch in military
science, and has caused the theory of the OBJ
lique order to be ascribed to Frederick
Until that time it had been understood i'm
perfect " after that time it was for years
the basis upon which every battle fought in
Germany was formed.
We have to pause next at the name Of
Washington. One Of the chief gains to the
art Of war, secured by the struggle in Amer
lea, was perception Of the use Of rileuen,
who afterwnrd were generally employed
throughout Europe. There, in the mean
time, the ways of Frederick the zGreat were
being copied slavishly, down to the tight
coat and pipe clay of tho soldiers until the
time Of Napoleon, who ovcrset all dull tradi-
ton, and taught with new vigor the value of
swift secret movements working out large
plans. After the affair Of the bridge of Lo-
ii, Napoleon, in going his rounds, aske! IN
Old hungarian officer among the prisoners
how matters went? Not very prosperouslv,
it was owned but said the veteran, g it is
impossible to comprehend anything now
We have to deal with young general who is
sometimes before US, sometimes behind US,
and tLeu saldenly on our hanks. We do
not know how to place ourselves. Such a
manner of making war is intolerable ,and vio-
lates all rules"
Suwarrow was scientific soldier who was
wise in strategy, but who said that his tao
tics were " Advance and strike" Of the
campaigns of Wellington in India We need
tell nothing. His antagonists thrive, only
on their owA system of war. When it was
wished TO draw l!Yder Ali into Il battle. he
said, " HN... | risk my cavalry, which cost ii
thousand rupee. Il horse, against your can
hon ...5 Which cost two renee: 80 will
MH:ch your troops Till your legs become the
sizo Of your LoIics ynu shall not have a
drop Of water or blade Of grass. | will
give YOU battle but i, must be cwhen please =,
not Wh2u you p!ease.'
No mI!tcr when the trucst general leads
the hls. m"n and must be victor. In Illus
tra,ion OF The skill Of Wellington, there is the
well KIN jwn anecdote that at Salamqnca, nf-
ter thirty days. manmuevrelnS Of both tho
French and English armies, he one day sud-
den ' t1rn.'! to his generals and said. ''Now
| have til III wAereupon, the field was
won.
We lay3 al seen by what wise strategy,
revolt WI, 4leIled. even Yesterday, in India
by Drti>, hands, under the guidance of good
British l-a,!;.
Bu. how is it to be henccforwari with
war? la ancient ti,nes,' said NAPOLEON
at s.. Helena, "a general at one hundred
and sixty ortwo hundred yards from the en-
tiLi E"iI 10 tanTEI. CuuIu anu tOHN ciiitbtIN
direct tn movements Of his army. 10 modern
times, general placed at eight hundred or
a thousand wards but in these times We are
to say, Placed three or four miles away] is
in til" midst Of the enemy's batteries and
although 80 much exposed, he is still at such
II distance tnat many movements Of the enc
my must escape his notice. 1t hardly ever
harpeAs thnt he is not obliged to approach
within til range Of small arms. Modern
arms huy" more or les effect according as
tAny H"e wei. placed; battery which com
munds, OF cuh.ndr-, may decide the fate of
Il nation. The fields Of battle are also now
more extensive, which makes it necessary to
study IL -rrater extent Of ground.' The
genera, ol generals ut this day, when the
carrying r,wer and precision Of fire arms
has been multiplied so strangely must indcs d
be MS n Nlrphy among chess -p!ayers-able
to work oHt half a dozen problems with his
back turned 10 the llayers.--iN The leoI