at of a battle; on a ready
possession of which its ultimate success depends. These requisites are
unquestionably manifold, and grow out of the diversity of situations and
the chance medley of events that produce their necessity."

"A general to be in perfect possession of them, must on the day of
battle be divested of every thought, and be inaccessible to every
feeling, but what immediately regards the business of the day; he must
reconnoitre with the promptitude of a skilful geographer, whose eye
collects instantaneously all the relative portions of locality, and
feels his ground as it were by instinct; and in the disposition of his
troops he must discover a perfect knowledge of his profession, and make
all his arrangements with accuracy and dispatch. His order of battle
must be simple and unconfused, and the execution of his plan be as quick
as if it merely consisted in uttering some few words of command; as,
_the first line will attack! the second will support it! or, such a
battalion will advance and support the line._"

"The general officers who act under such a general must be ignorant of
their business indeed, if, upon the receipt of these orders, they should
be deficient in the immediate means of answering them, by a prompt and
ready co-operation. So that the general has only to issue out directions
according to the growth of circumstances, and to rest satisfied that
every division will act in conformity to his intentions; but if, on the
contrary, he should so far forget his situation as to become a
drill-sergeant in the heat of action, he must find himself in the case
of the fly in the fable, which perched upon a wheel, and foolishly
imagined that the motion of the carriage was influenced by its
situation. A general, therefore, ought on the day of battle to be
thoroughly master of himself, and to have both his mind and his eye
riveted to the immediate scene of action. He will by these means be
enabled to see every thing; his judgment will be unembarrassed, and he
will instantly discover all the vulnerable points of the enemy. The
instant a favorable opening offers, by which the contest may be decided,
it becomes his duty to head the nearest body of troops, and, without any
regard to personal safety, to advance against the enemy's line. [By a
ready conception of this sort, joined to a great courage, General
Dessaix determined the issue of the battle of Marengo.] It is, however,
impossible for any man to lay dow