ave
modified old terms or made new. In the development of a science, it is
wrong for the same word to designate two very different things; and, if
we continue to apply the term _order of battle_ to the disposition of
troops in line, it must be improper to designate certain important
maneuvers by the terms _oblique order of battle_, _concave order of
battle_, and it becomes necessary to use instead the terms _oblique
system of battle_, &c.

I prefer the method of designation I have adopted. The _order of battle_
on paper may take the name _plan of organization_, and the ordinary
formation of troops upon the ground will then be called _line of
battle_.]

[Footnote 23: The park of Hougoumont, the hamlet of La Haye Sainte, and
the rivulet of Papelotte were for Ney more serious obstacles than the
famous position of Elchingen, where he forced a passage of the Danube,
in 1805, upon the ruins of a burnt bridge. It may perhaps be said that
the courage of the defenders in the two cases was not the same; but,
throwing out of consideration this chance, it must be granted that the
difficulties of a position, when properly taken advantage of, need not
be insurmountable in order to render the attack abortive. At Elchingen
the great height and steepness of the banks, rendering the fire almost
ineffectual, were more disadvantageous than useful in the defense.]

ARTICLE XXXI.

Offensive Battles, and Different Orders of Battle.

We understand by offensive battles those which an army fights when
assaulting another in position.[24] An army reduced to the strategic
defensive often takes the offensive by making an attack, and an army
receiving an attack may, during the progress of the battle, take the
offensive and obtain the advantages incident to it. History furnishes
numerous examples of battles of each of these kinds. As defensive
battles have been discussed in the preceding article, and the advantages
of the defensive been pointed out, we will now proceed to the
consideration of offensive movements.

It must be admitted that the assailant generally has a moral advantage
over the assailed, and almost always acts more understandingly than the
latter, who must be more or less in a state of uncertainty.

As soon as it is determined to attack the enemy, some order of attack
must be adopted; and that is what I have thought ought to be called
_order of battle_.

It happens also quite frequently that a battle must be commence