Herbert H. Sargent

“ Bonaparte will lead it over the Great St. Bernard Pass across the Alps, descend [Pg 30] like an avalanche into the valley of the Po, cut the communications of the Austrians, and defeat them in the hard-fought battle of Marengo. He will emulate the deeds of Hannibal. He will lead forty thousand soldiers across the highest mountains of Europe, surmount every obstacle in his pathway, overthrow every force sent to oppose his progress, and by a single march and a single battle reconquer northern Italy. ”

“ The whole theatre of war was an open book to him. He saw just where the battle should be fought in order to produce the greatest results. Though the Austrians in this campaign numbered nearly a quarter-million of men, and stretched from the Gulf of Genoa to the Main River, yet Bonaparte was able, while still at Paris, to picture in his mind the whole strategical situation, and to indicate Stokach in Germany and the Stradella Pass in Italy, as being the two most important points within this immense theatre of operations. ”

“ The French, too, fought like demons. Their victory at Montebello had encouraged them; and now, having sought and found their enemy, they expected to be again triumphant. With determination they resisted the onsets of Melas. Before the furious attacks of superior numbers, in the face of cannon, sabre, and steel, they stood to their work like men. But all their efforts were unavailing. Against so fierce an attack Victor could not long hold his position. He was compelled to fall back to Marengo, where he again made a desperate effort to stop the advance of the Austrians. ”

“ His skill in strategy consisted in so directing his columns that when needed they could be quickly assembled on the battle-field. His skill in war consisted in the fact that he nearly always brought greater numbers against his enemy on the day of battle, even when he was outnumbered within the theatre of operations. On the battle-field, too, when it was impossible to outnumber his adversary, his quick eye discerned the vital point, the key of the position, so to speak; and there, neglecting the less important points, he massed his troops and overwhelmed his enemy. ”

“ It was necessary to the success of Bonaparte that he should conceal as much as possible his own purposes, in order to be able to surprise his adversary. In war it is always wise to lead the enemy to believe that an attack will be made in a different direction from that intended. "In whatever way strategy is employed," says Colonel Maurice, "surprise and concealment are essential to success. On this account it will continually happen, in selecting a line of operations or a scheme of campaign, that the most important point of all is to carry out just what an enemy does not expect. ”

“ His glance must penetrate the enemy's line, his vision sweep the whole theatre of operations.
As an army increases in size, so, likewise, the difficulties of commanding it increase. To manœuvre one hundred and ninety thousand soldiers, so as to obtain from them a fighting power proportionate to their numbers, requires the genius of a great captain. ”

“ Occupying a triangle in the heart of northern Italy, the French corps and divisions supported one another. In a few hours Bonaparte could concentrate nearly the whole of his army on the Po, on the Ticino, or on the Adda. In this position he held complete possession of the Austrian communications, and had his own with Switzerland strongly guarded. In this position he could concentrate quickly, and fight with nearly every advantage in his favor.
"Napoleon has told us," says Colonel Hart, "that the whole art of war—the secret of success—consists in being strongest at the decisive point." ”

“ At the battle of Marengo, Bonaparte was surprised. Having but a small cavalry force under his immediate command, he held it in reserve in rear of his infantry in order that it might, in case of battle, be used against the Austrian cavalry, which greatly outnumbered his own. Had he ordered it to the front to seek the Austrians and to screen the movements of Victor and Lannes, doubtless he would not have remained completely [Pg 208] in the dark as to the position and intention of his enemy. It has been said that "Cavalry are the eyes of an army." ”

“ It is always so with the great masters of war. "While the distant spectator," says Hamley, "imagines a general to be intent only on striking or parrying a blow, he probably directs a hundred glances, a hundred anxious thoughts, to the communications in his rear, for one that he bestows on his adversary's front." ”

“ He must often decide momentous questions on the spur of the moment, basing his decisions on unreliable information obtained mostly from reports and rumors. "Speak to me of a general who has made no mistakes in war," says Turenne, "and you speak of one who has seldom made war." "In the profession of war," says Napoleon, "the game is always to the one who makes the fewest mistakes."
If Bonaparte had withdrawn all his forces to the south side of the Po, Melas might have made his escape by way of Pavia and Milan, but even then Bonaparte would have won northern Italy without a battle. ”

“ In the open country, therefore, a defeat would, at the most, be but a temporary check, for he could fall back, cross the Po, unite his defeated troops with the French forces on the north side of the river, and be ready in a short time to fight another battle. On the other hand, since the communications of the Austrians were already in possession of the French, the defeat of Melas must result in the capture or destruction of his army, and in the loss of northern Italy. It follows, therefore, that in the plain of Marengo Bonaparte could gain much more by a victory than he could lose by a defeat. ”

“ The army of Liguria was exposed to destruction in order to gain the time which should render the others victorious. Such is the hard necessity of war, which passes over the heads of these to strike the heads of those; obliging those to die that these may live and conquer. ”

“ That, in spite of such errors, he was successful in cutting the Army of Italy in two and in gaining the crest of the mountains on the east side of Genoa was due to his great superiority in numbers. His attacking force numbered sixty-five thousand men, while Masséna had but thirty-two thousand.
In this connection it is worthy of notice that numbers alone can neutralize and finally overcome any advantage of position or of generalship. Thus mediocrity may triumph over genius. Even a Napoleon cannot conquer in the face of odds sufficiently great. ”

“ In fact, every flank march in the vicinity of an active enemy is dangerous; for a commander who gains a position on the enemy's flank must necessarily expose his own flank to the attacks of the enemy. Even when his flank is protected by a river, he cannot cross it without taking some risks. Had Kray's army been assembled in force near Schaffhausen, [Pg 37] where it could have attacked the French divisions in detail as they crossed the Rhine, Bonaparte would have had much difficulty in carrying out successfully this plan of campaign. ”

“ Whenever the members of a senate, a council, or a congress, attempt to decide military questions, they are sure to err; for, being absent from the theatre of operations, they can neither see clearly the military situation, nor render decisions with promptness in critical times. Besides, their decisions are often halfway measures, neither one thing nor the other; like the laws passed by a bicameral legislature, they are nearly all compromises. In war there must be resolution, boldness, decision; to compromise is to court defeat. ”

“ The beast consumes the grass, and man destroys the beast. We struggle on, contending with one another and with the world, and encountering defeat and death when we meet a stronger power than ourselves. Such is Nature's stern law. It regulates the life of the worm that crawls at our feet, governs the actions of men, and determines the destinies of peoples. The conclusion is therefore reached that until man can rise above this law, the time will not come when there shall be no further need of armies, and when war shall be no more.
No country has ever become great without soldiers. ”

“ The nature of the ground will not allow him to avail himself of his superiority in artillery and cavalry; he can only attack you with his infantry, and yours is infinitely superior to his; and, favored by the nature of the place, it may make up for the deficiency in number. In that broken country, if you manœuvre well, with 30,000 men you may give battle to 60,000. In order to carry 60,000 light-armed troops into Liguria, Melas must have 90,000, which supposes a total army of 120,000 at least. ”

“ At the outset the French corps crossed the river at Strasburg, Brisach, Bâle, and Schaffhausen. Moreau then attempted to unite these corps before proceeding to attack Kray in force. It is always a dangerous operation to attempt a concentration upon some designated place within the enemy's lines; for, as a rule, the enemy can mass his forces there more rapidly than can the commander of an invading army. In fact, many a campaign has failed because the commanding general has attempted to unite his scattered forces at some point within the territory held by the enemy. ”

“ Separated as they were by impassable obstacles, Bonaparte could leave a containing force to hold one in check, while he massed overwhelming numbers to crush the other. Thus by adopting a double line of operations, Austria gave Bonaparte the opportunity of bringing superior numbers against either Austrian army. As the first principle of war is to be stronger than the enemy at the vital point, it is always of the greatest importance that no plan of campaign be adopted which shall, at the very start, allow the enemy to [Pg 46] bring superior numbers upon the battle-field. ”

“ In the history of every great people there is a record of battles fought and battles won. At Lexington, at Bunker Hill, at Gettysburg, men died that a nation might live. Is it any wonder that we should be proud of our profession? ”

“ He feared that, at the critical moment, the commander of the Army of the Rhine might fail to send a corps into Italy. He was well aware that the commander of an army is always reluctant to weaken his forces after operations have begun; and he knew that circumstances might arise which would seem to justify Moreau in refusing to obey the orders of his superior. He therefore insisted that Moreau should sign a stipulation whereby he promised that, after pushing Kray back from Lake Constance, he would detach Lecourbe with twenty or twenty-five thousand men, and order him into Italy. ”

“ Every advancing army must necessarily have a line of operations. If the roads leading from an army to its base are held by the enemy, the army is said to have lost its communications; in other words, to have lost its line of communication with its base of operations. The point that Napoleon intended to make in the discussion is this: Fort Bard being at the time in possession of the Austrians, the French army had no unobstructed line of communication back to its base of operations at Lake Geneva ”

“ Notwithstanding the fact that Napoleon seemed always to take great chances in his military career, and seemed often to stake everything on the fate of a single battle, yet a careful analysis of his campaigns shows that no commander has ever looked with more anxiety to his lines of retreat than did this great master of war. ”

“ In subsequent chapters we shall try to show how Bonaparte carried out some of his strategical conceptions; and how the operations of Masséna at Genoa, and of Moreau in the Black Forest, affected those of Bonaparte in Italy. Before closing the discussion, it will be well to remark that the most perfect strategy is of little value, unless it is ex [Pg 53] ecuted with energy and culminates in victory. The difficulty lies not so much in the conception of great strategical projects, as in the execution of them. Strategy is only a means to an end. It does not win victories ”