Flank

“ The flank of a position should, therefore, be the object of particular attention. If the force detailed for an outflanking movement actually succeeds in placing itself [140] in prolongation of the enemy’s line, before he can change position, or while he is in the act of changing position, a surprise will have been effected, and if the opportunity is utilised with due vigour, an immediate and overwhelming success should be the result. ”

“ Under ordinary circumstances, a flank march is always more or less a hazardous undertaking. [Pg 193] When a commander makes this movement and is attacked in route, he must form front to a flank, [10] and fight with his battle-line parallel to his communications, while the enemy can fight with his front perpendicular to his communications. ”

“ The Flanks are the most vulnerable points of an army, for an attack upon these points subjects the defenders to enfilade fire, and is delivered by troops arrayed in attack formation against an enemy that is not in a position to repel the attack. The consequences of a successful Flank Attack are so far-reaching that every effort will be made by a commander to bring about such a consummation in order that he may sever his adversary's communications, bring him to the end of his resources, and deprive him of the means of replenishing them. ”

“ The flank chosen for attack will be that which affords the best opportunities for converging fire from the supporting artillery, which gives the best line of advance for the infantry, and where success will have the most decisive results, the last depending mainly on the extent to which the enemy's line of retreat is threatened. ”

“ The first battalion, division or company of every column which conducts is called the head or leading flank of that column. All the writhings and turnings to which it must unavoidably be subject, are followed by every other part of the body, and such head becomes a flank, right or left, when formed into line. The commander must therefore be on whichever flank directs the operations of the line, and by which he proposes to attack, or to counteract the attempts of the enemy.
Flank in fortification, in general, is any part of a work that defends another work, along the outside of its parapet. ”

“ Flank′er, a fortification which commands the flank of an assailing force.—v.t. (obs.) to defend by flankers: to attack sideways.—Flank company, the company on the right or left when a battalion is in line; Flank files, the soldiers marching on the extreme right and left of a company, &c. ”

“ Field-Works.—An embankment of earth excavated from a ditch surrounding a town or a fort.
Flank.—The right or left side of a body of men, or place. When it is said that the enemy by a flank march outflanked our right wing, it is understood that he put himself on our right hand. When two armies stand face to face the right flank of one is opposite the left flank of the other.
File.—Two soldiers,—a front rank and a rear rank man.
Fuse.—A slow-burning composition in shells, set on fire by the flash of the cannon. The length of the fuse is proportioned to the intended range of the shells. ”

“ Place two lines of fifty men facing each other in the open without officers, and some fellow with initiative on the right or the left end will instinctively give the word and lead a rush for cover somewhere on the flank which will permit an enfilade of the enemy's ranks. Practically all of the great battles of the world have been won by turning an enemy's flank, which compelled him to retreat if it did not result in rout or capture. ”

“ Hence the great advantages of a double flank thus concealed weigh so very much with us, and convince us so entirely of their usefulness, that we affirm no place to be well fortified without the orillon, and that the straight flank is fit for nothing but field works. ”

“ Away to our left, and consequently on our flank, a new line appears, rapidly advancing out of the woods a half-mile away, and there must be some quick and sharp work done now, boys, or, between the old foes in front and the new ones on our flank, we shall be annihilated. ”

“ That other madness is called flank madness114, for they be so sore and tucked up by the middle of the flanks as though they never ate meat, and pant in their flanks with much pain, and will not eat, but stoop low with the head and always look downwards, and when they go they take up their feet high and go rolling as a drunken man. ”

“ When one flank of a battalion or line is to occupy the spot where the other one stands, its most expeditious movement to arrive at it, will be along the prolongation of the line. If the flanks are to exchange places with each other, the countermarch on the centre, or on a flank, is the best method by which that exchange can be effected. The single battalion may do it by files, if its ground be confined, but a line must do it by countermarch of divisions in open column. ”

“ We have only allotted to this prominent conception, in the world of ordinary military theory, a special chapter in dictionary fashion, that it may the more easily be found; for we do not believe that anything independent in itself is denoted by the term.
Every position which is to be held, even if the enemy passes by it, is a flank position; for from the moment that he does so it can have no other efficacy but that which it exercises on the enemy’s strategic flank. ”

“ Who does not feel that an attack in flank or rear, which at the commencement of the battle, when the forces are concentrated and prepared for such an event would be of little importance, gains quite another weight in the last moment of the combat. ”

“ The weakness of most defensive positions lies in the danger of a sudden attack being directed against a flank. The assailant will endeavor to avoid making an attack against the front of a position prepared for defense, when such an attack has small chances of succeeding, and seek the decision by attacking a flank, where conditions are, to a certain extent at least, equalized. The danger of a flank attack increases with the length of the defensive line. ”

“ Our business was to make a counter-march to the right, and, guided by the noise of the cannonade, to come down upon the enemy’s flank in the thickest of the engagement. As we advanced, we found ourselves in a kind of marshy plain, planted with willows, and so thick that it was often difficult for three men to march abreast. ”

“ The best scheme would be to flank the enemy’s enveloping force by posting an echelon in a suitable position, or to bring about a decision by employing the reserve offensively. However, for carrying out these measures, more time is required than for merely refusing a flank. Time may be gained by making an extensive reconnaissance on the flanks with strong detachments, and by occupying supporting points lying on the flanks, which the enemy would have to take before he could think of attacking the main position. ”

“ If the filings are to be made from a flank to the front or rear, the whole must keep passaging up to the ground from whence the first file went, before they go off; if to a flank, the horses must be turned as soon as there is room. If the filings are from a flank to march along the front or rear, past the other flank, every file must come off from its own ground as the next gets into file. ”

“ The frontage of an organization whose flanks are secure and which is acting as a part of a larger force, depends upon other troops; considerable extension of front is admissible provided the firing line is constantly maintained at a strength which will enable it to gain a superiority of fire over the enemy. “While an organization which has only one flank protected, is less restricted as regards frontage, it will have to provide for distribution in depth on the exposed flank. ”

“ I have already repeatedly indicated that the most favourable position for the army cavalry is to a flank and in advance of a flank of its own army, and, where possible, of that flank on which, in the battle of offence, the decision will be sought, or, when in defence, the main hostile attack may be expected. ”

“ The swift march of a division or a brigade from reserve to the flank at the critical moment has often turned the fortune of a day. All manoeuvering has this object in view. Superior numbers facilitate the operation, and victory has most often resolved itself into superior numbers pressing a flank and nothing more ”

“ Had the army made a flank march, the enemy must either have retired at once, or have been liable to an attack upon their right flank, when, if beaten, they would have been driven down to the sea-shore under the guns of the ships, and killed or captured, to a man. ”

“ The fire power of the troops in the holding attack must not be exhausted, or the troops themselves defeated by a hostile counter-attack, before the moment of the general advance arrives. They must pay the strictest attention to the course of events on the opponent’s side; if the enemy retires, or shifts parts of his force in order to meet a flank attack, the troops in the holding attack must act with energy. If such signs are not apparent, a frontal advance will, as a rule, be proper only when the pressure of the flank attack makes itself felt on the enemy’s line. ”

“ Should the enemy succeed in getting a footing on our flank with our trenches on top of the hill, it would be bad enough, but it would certainly be far worse if he got a footing on top of the hill, on the flank and rear, with our company on low ground in front. ”

“ If a flank attack is to be made, in which the leading brigade must be protected by an echelon and a reserve ready for any eventuality, the division is concentrated with the brigades in echelon, their regiments abreast. ”

“ The tactical plan of attack against those of the enemy’s corps that are the first to place themselves in position, must always be directed to turn a flank, for the greatest result is always to be expected by separating the corps, and cutting them off. ”

“ Well, now as we had made the flank movement, we had to storm and take the Federal lines, because we had made a flank movement, you see. When one army makes a flank movement it is courtesy on the part of the other army to recognize the flank movement, and to change his base. Why, sir, if you don't recognize a flank movement, you ain't a graduate of West Point. Hood was a graduate of West Point, and so was Sherman. ”

“ If, therefore, there is any possibility of a column on the march being attacked in flank a force must be detached to protect that flank, and if both flanks are exposed to attack both must be similarly protected. ”

“ The map (marked 8) gives an idea of a section of country where two armed bodies meet under conditions that permit one flank to be completely
guarded from attack; these are the left flank of the force 'A', and the right flank of 'B'. Both rest upon a lake or broad river. A steep precipice or deep morass, as at 'H', would serve as well. Suppose our force has advanced from the direction 'C, the enemy down the road from 'E' to 'G'. ”

“ Hence they are liable to do more harm than good, and contribute no way to the defence of the place. M. Vauban only makes them before the curtains, and as such calls them tenailles.
Flanks, in fortification, are, generally speaking, any parts of a work, which defend another work along the outsides of its parapets.
Flank of the bastion, is the part between the face and the curtain; the flank of one bastion serves to defend the ditch before the curtain and face of the opposite bastion. ”

“ He may also send a file perhaps two or three hundred yards to either flank, to move parallel with his advance and prevent his being enfiladed at short range, if the enemy should be tactless enough to avail himself of a chance of meeting the advance by a counter-attack. ”

“ At the second command, the right flank man in the front rank faces to the right in marching and marks time; the other front rank men oblique to the right, place themselves abreast of the pivot, and mark time. ”

“ They have always been held up as very dangerous; but nothing satisfactory has ever been written about them. If by the term flank marches are understood tactical maneuvers made upon the field of battle in [Pg 140] view of the enemy, it is certain that they are very delicate operations, though sometimes successful; but if reference is made to ordinary strategic marches, I see nothing particularly dangerous in them, unless the most common precautions of Logistics be neglected. ”

“ Addressing the Phalanx, he said, pointing to the works on the enemy's flank, 'those works must be taken by the weight of your column; not a shot must be fired. In order to prevent them from firing he had the caps taken from the nipples of their guns. ”

“ Now that the parts of the main body of an army are subdivided again into independent bodies, and those bodies can venture to enter into an engagement with the mass of the enemy’s army, provided the rest of the force of which it is a member is sufficiently near to carry it on and finish it,—now such a flank march is attended with less difficulty even under the eye of the enemy. ”

“ The British marched with extended flanks and a heavy column in the centre, the right flank covered by the sea, the left flank exposed, so that during the approach of the English the left flank of each army was more particularly exposed to the operations of the other. ”

“ In the drill, single ranks are frequently wheeled on a moveable pivot. In which case, both flanks are moveable, and describe concentring circles round a point which is a few paces from what would otherwise be the standing flank; and eyes are all turned towards the outer pivot or flank man, whether he is on the outward flank, or on the flank wheeled to.
Pivot-Flanks, the flanks upon which a line is formed from column. When the right of the battalion is in front, the pivot flanks are on the left of its several companies, platoons, &c. ”