by frequent inspections, that the matériel of all the arms of the service is in good order: horses, carriages, caissons, teams, harness, shoes, &c. should be carefully examined and any deficiencies supplied. Bridge-trains, engineer-tool trains, matériel of artillery, siege-trains if they are to move, ambulances,—in a word, every thing which conies under the head of matériel,—should be carefully examined and placed in good order.
If the campaign is to be opened in the neighborhood of great rivers, gun-boats and flying bridges should be prepared, and all the small craft should be collected at the points and at the bank where they will probably be used. Intelligent officers should examine the most favorable points both for embarkations and for landings,—preferring those localities which present the greatest chances of success for a primary establishment on the opposite bank.
The staff officers will prepare all the itineraries that will be necessary for the movement of the several corps of the army to the proper points of assemblage, making every effort to give such direction to the marches that the enemy shall be unable to learn from them any thing relative to the projected enterprise.
If the war is to be offensive, the staff officers arrange with the chief engineer officers what fortifications shall be erected near the base of operations, when têtes de ponts or intrenched camps are to be constructed there. If the war is defensive, these works will be built between the first line of defense and the second base.
- An essential branch of logistics is certainly that which relates to making arrangements of marches and attacks, which are fixed by the general and notice of them given to the proper persons by the chiefs of staff. The next most important qualification of a general, after that of knowing how to form good plans,