On The Moral Element In Fighting. By Marshal Bugeaud

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Engels selected passages from Marshal Bugeaud's book Aperçus sur quelques détails de la guerre (Paris, 1832), translated them into English, and supplied them with a short introduction. The work was published in The Volunteer Journal without any indication of the compiler or author of the introduction. Engels' authorship is clear from his reference to this publication in the article "Waldersee on the French Army" published later (see this volume, pp. 508-17). On Marshal Bugeaud as a military leader and politician see Marx's article "Bugeaud" (this volume, pp. 211-14). p. 469

[The Volunteer Journal, for Lancashire and Cheshire, No. 23, February 9, 1861]

The following lines are translated from the instructions which the then Colonel Bugeaud, of the 56th French regiment, wrote down for his officers. It is, without any exception, the best thing the Marshal has ever written. It lays down, with a masculine energy unsurpassed in the military literature of any country, and with a clearness such as only long experience in war can give, those principles of infantry-fighting which even now are invariably acted upon by the French; and which, so far, have given them the victory over armies which, from long habits of peace, appear to have trusted more to scientific tactics than to arousing all the moral energies of the soldiers. These principles are not new, nor are they in any way exclusively French; but they are here grouped well together, and expressed in fine manly language. They do not in any way supersede the science of tactics, but they form a very necessary complement to it; and they are, besides, most of them so self-evident, and require so little military science to be understood, that they will be perfectly intelligible to the majority of the volunteers.

Gentlemen,—The art of engaging a body of troops has a powerful influence on the issue of a combat; by it, good dispositions are crowned with success, and defective ones deprived of their worst consequences. There is between troops of highly developed moral faculties, energetically conducted, penetrated with the real principles of fighting, and troops constituted and instructed as most European troops are, the same difference which exists between adults and children. That is a truth of which I have been convinced by twenty engagements. You will recognise it like myself, I hope, and you will assist me, with all the means in your power, to raise the 56th to that high elevation of both soul and instruction that no imperial or royal guards in the world could resist us for five minutes on ground equally fair to both parties.

Most of you, gentlemen, have seen engagements of infantry which amounted merely to a timid exchange of fire, at very long range, by troops placed parallel to each other.

Either party appeared to expect victory from chance, or from the fright which its bullets might cause to their opponents. Millions of cartridges were fired away without any other results but killed and wounded on either side, until some circumstance or other, mostly independent of the troops engaged, determined the retreat of one of the two lines. Men who have thus exhausted their fire and seen their ranks decimated, are but little disposed to new efforts, and easily put to flight by fresh troops, acting upon better principles.

That is not the way of fighting of solidly instructed infantry. We shall now try to establish those principles which must give us an immense superiority over all infantries of Europe.

These principles, gentlemen, are not mere bookworm speculations; experience has made me adopt them ever since the commencement of the Peninsular war, in 1808, and they have always ensured success to me, against the Spaniards, the English, and the Austrians. I hope you will adopt them, because they are in harmony with what you must have yourselves observed in the engagements where you were present; you will do your best to penetrate your subordinates with them; and when these principles are in the very soul of the whole regiment, from the drummers to the colonel, the 56th may consider itself invincible; it may be defeated by the re-union of several arms acting at once against it, but never by infantry alone, though that infantry should far outnumber its strength.

Fighting has its moral and its physical part. The first appears to me the most essential; but let us begin by treating of the second.

To fire at long range is the type of bad infantry; good infantry saves its fire. It is because this fire constitutes its greatest strength that an infantry should not throw it away, and should be taught to aim with the greatest accuracy. If the moment for firing has not arrived, keep yourself out of range, or hide your troops. When that moment arrives, march on to meet your enemy with an energy and coolness that permit you to execute anything. If your opponent, against all probability, should stand firm and allow you to come very near him without firing himself, then you give the first volley, and take good care that your men always load two bullets to a round. I have owed, more than once, success to the use of the two bullets. In the heat of action I might forget to order it, but you will think of it; I attach great importance to this. With that cool determination, and with this fire of two bullets to the round, you will seldom have to fire a second volley, whether in attacking a position or in repelling a body of troops charging you.

Whoever knows a little about war, will know that it cannot be otherwise. If you arrive close upon your enemy with loaded arms, when they have exhausted their fire, how could they resist? Their moral courage is terror-struck by the fear of a volley at close quarters, which cannot but be terrible, and they will give way.

Then give your volley, enter into their ranks, and make prisoners, which is better than killing; while you kill one man with the bayonet, you might have taken six prisoners. These struggles cost the conqueror but little; you lose a few men in advancing, but as soon as you have closed upon and upset your enemy, you don’t lose a man. This system of tactics, gentlemen, will guarantee to you the victory, and if the whole army were penetrated with them, it would conquer, no matter how bad the general dispositions might be. These dispositions are not within our province; but when we are told the point where we are to strike, we must strike so as to crush everything before us. That was the tactics of Duguay-Trouin, and this mode of fighting contributed more than all his other talents towards forcing his brilliant reputation. He arrived close upon the enemy’s vessel with all his guns loaded, and his men laid down on deck; as soon as he touched his opponent, his men sprang up, and swept the hostile decks by a superior fire, which made boarding an easy matter.

[The Volunteer Journal, for Lancashire and Cheshire, No. 24, February 16, 1861]

Besides the above-mentioned, we must employ still other means, for we ought to have as many odds as possible in our favour. A good use of skirmishers will be a powerful auxiliary; their actions must always precede that of the masses, be it for attack or for defence. When you attack, they will find out such accidents of ground as the eye could not reconnoitre from a distance; they will throw upon the enemy’s ranks a shower of bullets which will disturb them, and prevent them from aiming with precision upon the line which advances without firing. They will have to be directed as much as possible towards those points where the decisive combat will not take place. If, however, they should be required to act in front of the attacking line, they will finally withdraw towards its flanks, in order not to impede its action, and then attempt to gain the flanks of the enemy, in order to demoralise him and to make prisoners, or else they will retire by the intervals of the battalions, or lay down flat on the ground, in order to let the line pass over them.

The fire of skirmishers should no more be thrown away than that of lines. It is not a question of merely exchanging bullets: these bullets should contribute towards success. To this effect, a moment before the attack of the line, the skirmishers will be shown the positions they will have to occupy, before they commence firing; and as soon as they have commenced firing, the line will advance to the attack. You will feel that if the skirmishers were left to themselves for any length of time very near the enemy’s forces, they would be driven back, and the end in view would not be attained; you would have to reinforce them in order to repel the enemy’s skirmishers, who had driven them in, and that would be a serious inconvenience. It is, then, of the highest importance never to engage skirmishers but apropos; and the proper moment will almost invariably be that of the attack. In case the enemy incommodes us before that moment by his skirmishers, we shall drive them in by sudden and short, but rough, attacks. You will be sure of making them give way if, instead of opposing to them a parallel line of skirmishers, as is generally done, you out-flank and turn them; or if you pierce their line by a company running at them in a cluster. This is the consequence of a moral effect, which I try to explain to myself in this way: —

Skirmishers cannot have that moral force, that sense of cohesion, which results from the contact of elbow to elbow, and from the unity of command. Every skirmisher, to a certain degree, commands himself, and consults his own forces only. He sees a numerous cluster of men running at him; he is too weak to resist; he gives way. His neighbours, right and left, do the same; and are followed again by their neighbours, who run from unconscious imitation, or because they fear to be cut off; they rally farther to the rear, in order to recommence firing.

Our charging company will not return this fire; it will either retire again, or take shelter behind some accident of ground. Nothing is so stupid, so damaging, as these everlasting engagements of skirmishers, which lead to nothing at all; you use up your men and your ammunition, without advancing matters, and often, at the decisive moment, you lack the means which you have thus squandered. I insist upon this because waste of ammunition is the greatest fault of our infantry, as well as of all others. Many times, after half-an-hour’s firing, and before anything is decided, you have everywhere the cry that cartridges are running short; men leave the ranks to get some, and that often is the cause of defeat. Sixty rounds per man should suffice for the greatest battle. In 1815, the 14th of the line, then commanded by Colonel Bugeaud, was under fire in the Alps for eight hours, and kept one-third of its cartridges. The enemy fired all the eight hours long, but the 14th never replied but by single volleys, and that only when the Austrians, who attacked us, were dose to its position. The volley was invariably, and at once, followed by a charge with the bayonet, which settled that attack, without further skirmishing and stray firing. Both parties returned to their previous positions, which were very near each other; the Austrians continued to fire, but the 14th abstained until again attacked.

This example has also for its object to make you appreciate the true principles of fighting when defending a position, viz., always to attack, yourself, at the last decisive moment; but here, as much as when you are attacking, there is another extremely effective means to determine the victory, and that is, to avoid, as much as ever possible, parallel fighting, which equalises advantages in a certain manner, and cannot be decided in our favour except by moral superiority, and our better-fed fire of two bullets to each round. We shall, therefore, at the decisive moment, try to envelop the flanks of the enemy. When on the defensive, in broken ground, this is easy enough. As soon as the enemy’s attack is well developed, we send a portion of our reserves, in column, towards the flanks of the position, and at the decisive moment these troops show themselves, advance, and deploy, so as to take the enemy in flank; we detach skirmishers towards his rear, and as soon as each battalion or wing has deployed, it charges at once, so as not to give the enemy the time to ward off the attack. Charged at the same time both in front and flank, he ought to be quickly defeated.

The same means may be employed when we are attacking. Two small columns would march behind the two flanks of the deployed line, and, when arrived near enough to the enemy, would form in line, too, so as to prolong it and form a sort of crescent, overlapping and embracing his line; or, if you have not troops enough for that purpose, the flank battalions of the advancing line might wheel into open column while on the march, gain the flanks of the enemy, re-form line, and charge, the intervals left by them being filled up by skirmishers. This movement appears to me very well adapted for the purpose, and very practicable, if the commander of the battalion knows well how to judge his distance, so as to commence it neither too soon nor too late. Of course, if darkness or broken ground permit you to gain, unseen, the flanks of your enemy, that is to be taken advantage of in preference.

When retreating, be particularly sparing of your ammunition. While you defend yourself by firing, you lose ground—you do not get any nearer to your destination. There are even occasions when you will have to run in order to get out of your opponent’s reach. This is often the only means of escaping destruction. How many bodies of troops have been annihilated for having made a slow and measured retreat, which was falsely called methodical? The only sensible method is to do everything to attain your end: on a retreat, this end is to get quickly out of reach of your opponent, because circumstances do not any longer permit you to fight; but your end can never be to involve yourselves, through a misunderstood feeling of honour, into a struggle which cannot but be disastrous, and from which you often will find it impossible again to disentangle yourselves. In this case, flight is the only methodical course of proceeding. There is an example of it from the history of one of our greatest modern captains.

During Marshal Masséna’s retreat from Portugal, Marshal Ney was ordered to keep back the English with the rear-guard, in order to give the baggage-train time to pass a defile. He performed this task with his usual energy; but the English army receiving reinforcement after reinforcement, the position was no longer tenable. On leaving it he would have to descend into a narrow valley, and to re-ascend another hill-side beyond it; during this time his troops would have remained under the fire of the enemy, who, of course, would at once have occupied the abandoned position. The marshal thought that a slow retreat would subject him to great losses; he therefore ordered the colours of the battalions, the orderlies of the staff, Sec, to mark out on the hill to the rear a new line to be traced by officers of the staff. No sooner was this done than he sent his battalions, at a run, across the valley to fill up this line, which was thus re-formed as if by enchantment. Without this admirable precaution we should have lost many men, and probably the affair would have ended in our being routed. At the same time, it is evident that this manoeuvre is inapplicable wherever you have to fear any cavalry; in such a case, you will have to get on as quick as you can, all the while maintaining a respectable order in your ranks.

I have often heard it said by pretended tacticians that a retreat ought to be made at slow time; this principle has always appeared to me false. No doubt there are occasions when a portion of the army will have to stop the enemy, in order to give the remainder time to get out of the way; but, then, you will not have to march at slow time, you will have to fight, and very often to advance and charge, in order to restore the moral courage of your men, and to diminish that of the enemy. But when that portion of the army has performed its part, when the end is gained, when the growing accumulation of the enemy’s forces render it impossible to that portion to fight on, then it will soon have to retire as quick as circumstances will permit.

We shall, therefore, learn to run away methodically, though in disorder, and to reform our ranks promptly; to form in line at the double, on one of the flanks of the enemy, in inverted or correct order; and always to aim with the utmost precision.

[The Volunteer Journal, for Lancashire and Cheshire, No. 26, March 2, 1861]

Moral force has always appeared to me to be superior to physical force. You prepare this moral force by elevating the soul of the soldier, by imparting to him a love of glory, a feeling for the honour of his regiment, and especially in developing that patriotism, the germ of which lies in every man’s breast. With men thus trained, you can with ease perform great things, if you have known how to gain their confidence. To obtain that, you will have to fulfil towards them all your duties, to make them your friends, to talk often with them on war and warfare, and to prove to them that you are capable of leading them well. Under fire, you will have to give to them a brilliant example of courage and coolness.

You should pay every attention to whatever circumstance may tend to raise the moral courage of your own men and to weaken that of your opponents. It is for this purpose that the 56th will never permit itself to be attacked; it will always, at the decisive moment, take the initiative of the fight, and charge. For the defensive, it will place itself in rear of the line on which it intends the struggle to take place, in order to advance to it at the decisive moment. In such a case you see the power of moral influences; every physical advantage is in favour of a troop posted in a locality strong both by nature and art; and yet, this posted troop will almost invariably be dislodged if it confines itself to a stand-still fight. Morally as well as physically, it may be said that a good defensive must always be carried on offensively. Offensive movements on the flanks and rear of your opponent, tell almost invariably; even if executed by a mere handful of men, they singularly affect the morale of the enemy. For these movements there can be no better manoeuvre than the formation of close columns in rear of the flanks of the charging line, which columns deploy and envelop the enemy as soon as you come to close quarters. And because these manoeuvres are so very telling, you will have to put your own men on their guard against them, by pointing out to them that they themselves may be attacked in this manner, and by showing to them how this will be guarded against. You will also have to tell them that cries of alarm may be raised in the rear, such as—”We are surrounded,” “We are cut off,” &c; you will inform them that the supernumeraries, and besides them, sections of picked men to the rear, have strict orders to bayonet or shoot down any emissaries of the enemy or any bad soldier of our own who should raise such cries; that such hostile detachments as might venture to threaten our flanks and rear, will soon be disposed of by our reserves, and that your own men, for the moment, have nothing to think of but how to conquer that enemy who is straight before them.

By raising the morale of your men, you will further make sure that your ranks will not be thinned by men pretending to look after the wounded. When the fight is over, if we are at hand, we shall take every care of them; but our first task and our first duty is to conquer. The wounded of a victorious army are never abandoned; those of a beaten army are made to undergo a thousand evils. To occupy ourselves with the wounded during battle is therefore false mercy, and generally a mere cloak for cowardice. The officers here again will have to give the example of devotion in repelling, if wounded, any attentions offered to them by soldiers who ought to fight.

At the battle of Austerlitz, a great number of our wounded privates were seen sending back to their battalions their comrades who offered to take them to the dressing places.

One of the best means of maintaining the moral courage of the soldier is the brilliant conduct of the officers, in every phase of an engagement. Is the regiment halted under the fire of artillery? they should walk up and down proudly in front of their men, and keep their spirits up by merry talk or by words of energy. Is it time to rush upon the enemy? they should prepare them for it, repeat to them the principles laid down above on the use of their fire, and recommend them to keep together as much as possible in hand to hand fighting, and to rally promptly at the first signal.

There is one good means to prevent your men from beginning to fire too soon; it is simply this, that the mounted officers march in front of the line. “Soldiers,” the colonel might say, “you will not fire on your officers! I shall not pass to your rear until it will be time to commence firing.” Troops thus led will always be brave, and will rarely be vanquished, because they will rarely find an enemy having their moral firmness and their principles of fighting.

If cavalry presents itself, the soldiers should be reminded of the strength of our square, which renders them invulnerable. As far as I am concerned, I declare to you I heartily wish that at the first engagement at which we may assist, we may be charged by cavalry, so sure am I that this would be jan opportunity of glory for the 56th.

The moral courage of soldiers is never more severely tried than on a retreat. It has often been said that the French are little fitted for this kind of fighting, which would be tantamount to saying that the French are bad soldiers. This is absurd. Numberless facts have proved, during the last forty years, that the French, when well commanded, can make brilliant retreats. The national character has often been accused when the fault ought to have been laid at the door of the generals who make bad dispositions, or were unfit to call forth the moral energy of the troops.

An old proverb says: “Make a sheep of yourself, and you will be shorn.” You must make lions of yourselves on a retreat; and when you will have given three or four hard knocks to an enemy who pursues you too hard, you will be respected. With a little experience of warfare it is easy to have some of those rear-guard successes which tend so much to revive the moral courage of a retreating army, and to make the pursuers excessively timid. On a retreat, you have always the choice of the ground on which to fight; there you mass and group your forces, so as easily to envelop the head of the enemy’s column, which will have become very long during the pursuit. The part to be performed by every one must be well traced beforehand, and the fighting must be quick and dashing. No indecision or hesitation must be shown; the head of the enemy’s column must be crushed, and then you retire quickly, in order not to become engaged with the reinforcements which will be continually arriving.

Gentlemen, I have said enough to make you appreciate the power of moral force. This moral force arises from the confidence an officer knows how to inspire to his subordinates; it is made to grow by acts of tact, of intelligence, and of courage. You will take care to give to your soldiers, in time of peace, a good opinion of what you will be capable of in time of war. You will attain this if you do not confine yourselves to inspections and reviews, or to a mere dreary drill—all matters, no doubt, very useful, but without any influence upon the morale of the soldier. You will reason with your men on our past wars, recount to them the distinguished actions of our brave army, excite in them the wish to emulate them, and, in one word, do everything in order to inspire them with the love of glory.