The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-01-25
Military, History and Tactics.

tOrians and the yet existing records we
find that Egypt, in the time Of her chief
hero, Sesostris, had an army Of over 400,
600 men. They do not appear TO have
used cavalry, but to have relied upon in.
fantry and charioteers. AT later periods
cavalry were introduced. Their armor
consisted Ofshields, breast plates, or coats.
of.arms and helmets. In their attacks on
Notifications, they used battering-ramS,
scaling ladders and, movable towers
Among their weapons were spears, swords
daggers and bows The war chariot held
two men, one to drive and act us shield,
and the other to fight The earliest cav.
airy used no saddle or bride. In Persia,
cavalry prevailed in numbers but ten
thousand were defeated by the Greek ill.,
faRtry at Marathan armed with pixies.
These first records we possess in regard
to military tactics are those Of the Greeks
Among them nearly every man was a
soldier, and obliged to see service and &C.
auire skill and hardihOod. The celebrated
phalanx was Of different depths, from
eight to twenty five feet. Their great oh
iect was 10 keep the phalanx unbroken,
and have it act as a unit. The cavalry
and light troops were at either wing Of
the phalanx. Their ev0lutions do not
appear to have been varied, or 10 bave got
beyond the parallel front attack. Great
stress was laid on the gymnastic training
Of the soldiers. The best soldier was the
best dancer-or he that could throw him
self jptO the most attitudes rapidly to tbs
sound Of music. The Spartan phalanx
was considered the tirmeSt in receiving
attacks. Only foot and a. half interviewed
between the lines, which were eight feet
deep. The King and his cortege were in
the centre The highest honor was to
march before the King to battle. The
acknowledgements, with his ThebanS,
ut the battle of Leuctra, broke the Spartan
pha!anx by huringa column against it
This was Napoleon's great forte-to break
line by an overwhelming force The
renowned Macedonian phalanx was about
eighteen thousand men strong. The
buckler Of these terrible troops was Of
oblong shape, and their pixies twenty-four
feet long. They also wore helmets and
swords. The great length OF the pixies
enabled those of the sixth line Of men in
depth to project over the front rank
Tmr Mare6unIan piraianx was-madc more
or less deep, according to the impetus or
resistance required. The soldiers stood
so close that no one could turn. The OBJ.
lection to the phalanx was its inmoblity
on ground not level. 1t was invincibe
against the Persians, but was overmatched
by the Romans.
These last named troops became con-
querors through their superior tactics,
aided by tine severest bodily discipline to
acquire strength and endurance. A deli
cate or weak Roman soldier was imposSi-
BILE. The attention now awakening to
gymnastic culture indicates a decline in
bodily stamina, and the need of reform.
Every Roman who was not of the deSpised
working, mechanical or sedentary class,
had to become physically powerful in or
der to become a soldier. Their marches
tested his strength, protracted as they
were, at the rate of four miles an hour
and each soldier carrying from forty to
sixty pounds weight The Roman wore
a short sword-the modern Bowie knife
is of the same class. though smaller-and
carried a spear six feet long, and large
shield. The head was covered with
brass helmet. The superior quickness Of
their evolutions enabled them to avoid
the rush of elephants under PyrrhuS, and
overcome the heavily-mOving phalanX.-
1t is remarkable that with the phalanX
there was no reserve-that overcome, all
was lost. Not so with the Romans
They had paymasters and commiSsariatS,
as with US. The Emperor Augustus com
pleted the standing IRoman army. lie
had twenty-five legions the legion was
composed Of G,l0O infantry and 726 cav
airy. By degrees, arch luxury crept in,
and the Romans ceased to be irresistible.
Upon the fall of the Roman Empire, mil
itary science decayed. Society was re-
solved into barons, vassals of some prince
or king, and their armed serfS, crude and
brutal in warfare With chivalry came
complete suits of armor, which indicates
very discreet regard for bodily safety
on the part Of their owners. So panoplicd,
the knights could securely attack the mis-,
cradle kinds.
The curiosity of the warfare Of the
middle ages was, that the light, rapid
movements were executed by the infantry,
and the cumbersome cavalry did the heavy
business. The English long bow, identi-
fled with the glories of Crcssy, Poicters
and Agincourt, cast an arrow with deadly
effect to the distance of two hundred
yards, and held its rank as formidable
weapon even after the introduction of fire
arms.
The immense influence of Sarasenic
literature, arts and arms in the civilization
Of Europe, is egregiously overlooked in
the empirical dissertations on European
progress. To the SaracenS we owe our
knowledge of Greek philosophy and civ
ilization, transplanted from Constantine.
Pile. The best college in Europe was at
Cordova before the year 600. TO them,
Europe is indebted for gunpowder-the
secret having been derived from the Chi.
nese. When this agent was introduced
there was much ingenuity displayed in
using it for small and great arms Re.
markable as our rifles and cannonS are
now, we must remember the genius il
required to evolve the first radical idea of
firearms. The wars of GustavuS Adolphus
and Frederick the Great advanced i'm.
menScly the art of war and the ingenuity
Of tactics. The wars of the French Rev.
olution and of Napoleon We're marked by
great rapidity of movement and utter dis,
regard of human life. When a general
has determined to carry point, no matter
at what cost to his men, looking to re.
serves and fresh conscriptions for support,
he possesses great element of SUCCESS
only the terrible day of reckoning, when
a nation shall be drained of its blood and
unable to resist the invader, must come.
Such was NapoleOn's history before and
after the hundred days.
a New SUBSTANCE IN TIE ARA sci
entific writer says that the theory of Mr..
Clemson, head of the Agricultural Depart
ment of the Patent Office. of LIVING mr..