IN TIME OF WAR. 259

' The army that attempts to pass through defiles, or crossbridges in the face of an enemy, ought to be greatly superiorin number.

227. An army in retiring from the camp A towards Q_,is under a necessity of passing through a defile, and the enemyis at no great distance; the defile ought previously to enlargedto render, the march more secure : when that is impracticable,some chosen infantry with a few pieces of cannon should beposted on the sides of it. In cafes of particular danger, astrong entrenchment must be thrown up at the entrance of thedefile, or at least a chain of redoubts at proper distances fromeach other, lined with cannon and musquetry; the army shouldthen retreat by night, and draw up in order of battle afterhaving passed the defiles, to receive the artillery that coveredthe retreat; and the infantry that was left in the intrench-rrient will form the rear guard.

When the army in its retreat must cross a bridge, a de-tachment should be sent forward to throw up an intrench-ment to cover the bridge ; a large body of infantry throwninto the work before sun-set, and cannon planted on everypoint on the other side of the river that flanks the intrench-inent. During the night, the remainder of the army shouldcross the bridge, and draw up on the other side of the riverin order of battle, to receive the corps of infantry that was leftin the intrenchment; and when the whole has passed, thebridge should be broken down. This manœuvre ought neverto be practised but in case of necessity, unless the intrench-ment can be made of a very respectable profile.

CHAP. VI.

Of Battles and general Engagements.

228. .A.N order of battle is the most advantageous dis-position of the battalions, squadrons and artillery, that com-pose an army, relatively to the nature of the ground, thenumber of each species of troops, and the strength and posi-tion of the enemy: hence it is easy to conceive, that the dis-positions and combinations of troops may be infinitely varied;but as it would be foreign to our purpose to enter into a par-

Z 4 ticular