- To intercept a corps and prevent its junction with the main body of the enemy, or to facilitate the approach of your own reinforcements.
- To observe and hold in position a large portion of the opposing army, while a blow is struck at the remainder.
- To carry off a considerable convoy of provisions or munitions, on receiving which depended the continuance of a siege or the success of any strategic enterprise, or to protect the march of a convoy of your own.
- To make a demonstration to draw the enemy in a direction where you wish him to go, in order to facilitate the execution of an enterprise in another direction.
- To mask, or even to invest, one or more fortified places for a certain time, with a view either to attack or to keep the garrison shut up