To repeat. Strategy is the art of making war upon the map, and comprehends the whole theater of operations. Grand Tactics is the art of posting troops upon the battle-field according to the accidents of the ground, of bringing them into action, and the art of fighting upon the ground, in contradistinction to planning upon a map. Its operations may extend over a field of ten or twelve miles in extent. Logistics comprises the means and arrangements which work out the plans of strategy and tactics. Strategy decides where to act; logistics brings the troops to this point; grand tactics decides the manner of execution and the employment of the troops.
It is true that many battles have been decided by strategic movements, and have been, indeed, but a succession of them; but this only occurs in the exceptional case of a dispersed army: for the general case of pitched battles the above definition holds good.
Grand Tactics, in addition to acts of local execution, relates to the following objects:—
- The choice of positions and defensive lines of battle.
- The offensive in a defensive battle.
- The different orders of battle, or the grand maneuvers proper for the attack of the enemy's line.
- The collision of two armies on the march, or unexpected battles.
- Surprises of armies in the open field.
- The arrangements for leading troops into battle.
- The attack of positions and intrenched camps.
- Coups de main.