ress as far as Linz,--as
Moreau did in 1800.

Thus far we have considered these mountainous districts as only
accessory zones. If we regard them as the principal fields of
operations, the strategic problem seems to be more complicated. The
campaigns of 1799 and 1800 are equally rich in instruction on this
branch of the art. In my account of them I have endeavored to bring out
their teachings by a historical exposition of the events; and I cannot
do better than refer my readers to it.

When we consider the results of the imprudent invasion of Switzerland by
the French Directory, and its fatal influence in doubling the extent of
the theater of operations and making it reach from the Texel to Naples,
we cannot too much applaud the wisdom of France and Austria in the
transactions which had for three centuries guaranteed the neutrality of
Switzerland. Every one will be convinced of this by carefully studying
the interesting campaigns of the Archduke Charles, Suwaroff, and
Massena in 1799, and those of Napoleon and Moreau in 1800. The first is
a model for operations upon an entirely mountainous field; the second is
a model for wars in which the fate of mountainous countries is decided
on the plains.

I will here state some of the deductions which seem to follow from this
study.

When a country whose whole extent is mountainous is the principal
theater of operations, the strategic combinations cannot be entirely
based upon maxims applicable in an open country.

Transversal maneuvers to gain the extremity of the front of operations
of the enemy here become always very difficult, and often impossible. In
such a country a considerable army can be maneuvered only in a small
number of valleys, where the enemy will take care to post advanced
guards of sufficient strength to delay the army long enough to provide
means for defeating the enterprise; and, as the ridges which separate
these valleys will be generally crossed only by paths impracticable for
the passage of an army, transversal marches can only be made by small
bodies of light troops.

The important natural strategic points will be at the junction of the
larger valleys or of the streams in those valleys, and will be few in
number; and, if the defensive army occupy them with the mass of its
forces, the invader will generally be compelled to resort to direct
attacks to dislodge it.

However, if great strategic maneuvers in these cases be more rare and
difficult, it b