he withdrew them to Brunn, to take part in the event which was to decide the issue of the campaign, and a great and decisive victory was the result of his wise maneuvers. Operations of this kind, so far from being in opposition to the principles of the art of war, are necessary to facilitate their application.
It readily appears from what goes before that precise rules cannot be laid down for these operations, so varied in character, the success of which depends on so many minute details. Generals should run the risk of making detachments only after careful consideration and observation of all the surrounding circumstances. The only reasonable rules on the subject are these: send out as few detachments as possible, and recall thorn immediately when their duty is performed. The inconveniences necessarily attending them may be made as few as practicable, by giving judicious and carefully-prepared instructions to their commanders: herein lies the great talent of a good chief of staff.
One of the means of avoiding the disastrous results to which detachments sometimes lead is to neglect none of the precautions prescribed by tactics for increasing the strength of any force by posting it in good positions; but it is generally imprudent to engage in a serious conflict with too large a body of troops. In such cases ease and rapidity of motion will be most likely to insure safety. It seldom happens that it is right for a detachment to resolve to conquer or die in the position it has taken, whether voluntarily or by order.
It is certain that in all possible cases the rules of tactics and of field-fortification must be applied by detachments as well as by the army itself.
Since we have included in the number of useful cases of detachments those intended for coups de main, it is proper to mention a few examples of this kind to enable the reader to judge for himself. We may call to mind that one which was executed by the Russians toward the end of 1828