“ In England the military authorities have long been hampered in the organization of manœuvres by the necessity of carrying them out on very limited portions of government land or on areas lent as a favour by, or hired from, private individuals. There has been no want of recognition by the military authorities of the necessity for, and value of, manœuvres, and the training at the camps of instruction has been supplemented as far as possible by small manœuvres on such portions of country as could be made available. ”

“ The faculty of quartering troops on private individuals to any extent, and the fact of the troops being provided with portable tent equipment, give great latitude to the German leaders in their choice of quarters for troops, and so increase the similitude of manœuvres to war. The Austrian and Italian manœuvres are a close copy of the German, but those of the French present the peculiarity of a certain amount of prearrangement, especially at grand manœuvres, when it is frequently laid down beforehand which side is to be victorious. ”

“ If possible, their position should be selected to conform to the military situation; but if it is found necessary, for reasons of water or food supply, to withdraw troops to positions other than such as they would occupy in real warfare, time should be allowed them on the following day to regain the positions they would otherwise have occupied. It is next to impossible, for various reasons, financial and other, to organize the food supply in manœuvres as it would be in war. ”

“ In England, where in peace it is not possible to billet troops on private individuals, quartering must be replaced by encampments or bivouacs, and the selection of ground for them affords invaluable practice. ”

“ Within the limits of the special idea, the utmost latitude should be left to leaders; but if the orders of one or both sides seem to render a collision unlikely, the director should so modify the special idea as to compel one or other to re-cast his orders in such a way that contact is brought about. ”

“ Sufficient transport cadres cannot be kept up in peace, and consequently recourse must be had to hired transport, which cannot be treated as a military body. Again, food cannot be requisitioned, and local purchase at the time cannot be trusted to; so dépôts of supplies must be formed beforehand in the manœuvres area, which more or less tie the hands of the supply service. ”

“ Therefore it may be laid down as a principle that manœuvres, properly so-called, should be begun with units not smaller than a brigade of infantry on each side, with a due proportion of the other arms attached. It is useful if these can precede the manœuvres of larger bodies, as the training is then progressive and the result more satisfactory. ”

“ Their principal object should be to come to a decision quickly, so as to prevent the occurrence of unreal situations; and by constant intercommunication they must ensure uniformity in their decisions, and so maintain continuity of the action all over the manœuvres battlefield. ”