order of march to the different orders of battle, is very important, but requires going into such minute detail that I must pass it over nearly in silence, contenting myself with referring my readers to the numerous works specially devoted to this branch of the art of
Before leaving this interesting subject, I think a few examples should be given as illustrations of the great importance of a good system of logistics. One of these examples is the wonderful concentration of the French army in the plains of Gera in 1806; another is the entrance of the army upon the campaign of 1815.
In each of these cases Napoleon possessed the ability to make such arrangements that his columns, starting from points widely separated, were concentrated with wonderful precision upon the decisive point of the zone of operations; and in this way he insured the successful issue of the campaign. The choice of the decisive point was the result of a skillful application of the principles of strategy; and the arrangements for moving the troops give us an example of logistics which originated in his own closet. It has been long claimed that Berthier framed those instructions which were