Tactics
Tactics names 6 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Tactics NAVAL after some ineffective attempts at landing
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
NAVAL after some ineffective attempts at landing, returned to Brest. During the Napoleonic wars, the English fleets having more or less complete command of the sea, the strategy of the commanders seems to have resolved itself into blockade of the enemy where possible, or a close observation of his movements with a view to prevent any junction of his scattered forces; and if he ventured to put to sea, into efforts to bring him to action as soon as possible. The line of battle consisted in a fleet of ships being extended in a straight line either ahead or abreast one ship of another, keeping as close together as weather permitted, so that at all times every ship should be ready to sustain and relieve one another. It was directed that each ship in the line should keep within half a cable's length (about 50 fathoms) of one another. It was introduced into the English navy by Sir William Penn. At the battle of the Nile (1798) Nelson doubled on the van of the French line and attacked it on both sides, while the other ships of the line, the whole fleet being at anchor, could afford no assistance; but at Trafalgar, where his brilliant career terminated with a decisive victory, he broke the enemy's line in two places, bearing down on it in two columns. Steam may be said to have revolutionized naval strategy and tactics; whereas the best-laid schemes were often frustrated by foul winds and gales, now the great steam power of battleships and cruisers renders them independent of wind and to a great extent of bad weather. As a set-off, however, to this, the coal endurance of ships and the replenishing of their supplies of fuel become important factors in deciding on their movements. The value of a blockade was demonstrated in the World War (1914-1918). The British were unable to effect a complete blockade of Germany, but it was effective to the extent of so reducing the amount of supplies entering the Empire that the German masses suffered great hardships, and thus were sown the seeds of the subsequent revolution. The first real test of the ironclad as developed by modern naval science was given during the war between Japan and China, in 1894. Each of the contending nations had navies, which, while small, included a couple of the best battleships and cruisers of the world. The only fault with such a test is that the Japanese were so much superior to the Chinese in the skill with which they manœuvred their ships that the battle cannot be taken as a wholly fair test. One thing sufficiently established was the effectiveness of the modern vessel of war and its death- The battle lasted six dealing power. hours. The Japanese lost no ships, while they destroyed seven of the Chinese fleet of 10 and put others to flight. The Japanese loss was 200 men and that of the Chinese six times as great. See CHINA: JAPAN. The Japanese-Chinese War, however, did not settle many of the great problems of marine warfare, and really proved nothing but the superior skill and prowess of the Mikado's Mikado's subjects. Since then have been fought the most remarkable naval battles in history. See MANILA BAY: SANTIAGO DE CUBA: JUTLAND BANK, BATTLE OF: FALKLAND ISLANDS, BATTLE OF: SUBMARINES: NAVY: NAVY, UNITED STATES.
Tactics MILITARY Cressy and Poitiers
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
MILITARY Cressy and Poitiers, but at Bannockburn was ridden down by the Scotch cavalry, because the flanking spearmen had been omitted. Gustavus Adolphus, by employing cartridges, enabled his infantry to fire more quickly than his opponent and so to form on a wider front. The invention of the bayonet, doing away with the necessity for pikemen to protect the musketeers, still further increased the firepower of infantry. The British two-deep line overthrew, by its enveloping fire and charge, the column formation of the French in the Peninsula and of the Russians at the Alma, though in this battle its defects are shown in the confusion caused by moving to the attack over broken ground. In the battles of the Franco-German War of 1870-1871 it was found impossible to advance against the fire of modern breech-loading rifles except by rushes of comparatively thin lines of skirmishers, constantly re-enforced by supports and reserves in rear. The magazine rifle and smokeless powder of to-day still further complicate the problem, presented to the assailant, of how to get to within 500 yards of the enemy without being destroyed. In warfare against savages large numbers, fanatical courage, and rapid movements have to be met by special tactics. Thus the crescent-shaped enveloping at tack of the Zulus and the rapid attacks of the Sudanese Arabs were received by the British in the impenetrable-square formation or by forming "laagers"; opposing a material obstacle to the onslaught of an enemy unprovided with artillery. Thus, too, the Indians of the Western plains were met by a style of fighting resembling their own, and which the American troops also found serviceable in encounters with the Filipinos. Cavalry tactics, apart from the exceptional use of dismounted men, are much the same as in the time of the Byzantine empire. Cavalry fight by shock action on only, and the power of man and horse has not altered. Artillery tactics consist in massing the fire of every gun as soon as possible on important points, and overwhelming the enemy's guns and infantry with projectiles at ranges of 2 miles or more, not shunning closer quarters if the necessity arises. Siege tactics belong to fortification, but follow the same general course as other combined tactics. Thus in defense the guns oblige early deployment and co-operate with the infantry in repelling the advance, while in the attack they destroy the material defenses and keep down the fire of the place so as to enable the assault to be delivered. During the siege mining tactics will be made use of on both sides. The functions of the
Tactics MILITARY enemy comes within striking distance
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
MILITARY enemy comes within striking distance, and the latter science is therefore sometimes defined as the strategy of the battlefield. Modern writers use different terms for the various branches of tactical science; grand tactics and manœuvre tactics, for the marshaling of large masses (30,000 and upward) of men on the battlefield; minor tactics, for the conduct of small bodies, such as advanced and rear guards, outposts, patrols, etc.; fighting tactics, for the combat whatever the numbers of the force; fire tactics, for the best use of guns and rifles, the massing of their fire, and the selection of the target; and the special tactics of cavalry, artillery, or infantry, combined tactics, siege tactics, and and mining mi tactics. In Judges xx. we read of a favorite and dangerous manœuvre, the Israelites feigning to retreat before the Benjamites, so as to draw them on till their flanks and rear were exposed to the "liers in wait." Hannibal at Cannæ and William the Conqueror at Hastings were among the many successful imitators of these tactics. Others, like the Duke of Burgundy in 1476 at Granson, lost their armies through attempting it with unsteady troops. Frederick the Great owed his victory at Mollwitz to the rapid fire and steady discipline of his men, and the former was chiefly due to the introduction of iron ramrods. His later battles give us good examples of manœuvre tac- Leuthen trians, immovable in their chosen position, with his advanced guard, while his main body under cover of some hills and foggy weather marched in open column of companies round their flank, wheeled into line and rolled up their army. At Waterloo Napoleon showed an example of combined tactics on a large scale. By cavalry charges he obliged the British infantry to form squares, which then became targets for his massed artillery. When under stress of this "hard pounding" they opened out into line, a renewed charge of cavalry obliged them to take the denser formation again. At Gravelotte the German armies (some 240,000 men) showed an unparalleled instance of grand tactics by marching to their positions across country in seven large masses, each consisting of one complete army corps. Fighting tactics must depend chiefly on the arms in use. The mail-clad horsemen of the 15th century never succeeded in defeating the solid phalanx of pikemen opposed to them by the Swiss Confederation till the employment of artillery prevented the latter retaining such massive formation. a The English archer, protected in front by palisades and on the flanks by spearmen, destroyed the chivalry of France at
Tactics NAVAL, the art of manœuvring ships and fleets for the purpose of battle
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
NAVAL, the art of manœuvring ships and fleets for the purpose of battle. Naval strategy, on the other hand, is the science of combining and employing fleets or single ships in order to carry out defined operations at sea or against an enemy's coast, for obtaining command of the sea or certain portions of it. Though fleets had existed and battles at sea been fought from the earliest periods, it was not till toward the close of the 16th century, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, that naval war began to assume definite form. War at sea at this time does not appear to have been carried on by any definite plan, and consisted principally, if we except the attempt of the Great Armada, of raids on the enemy's commerce and coast towns. Perhaps the first organized attempt to obtain command of the sea as a distinct aim of the operations carried on are to be found in the three wars between the Dutch and English of 1652, 1665, and 1672. Both parties made desperate attempts to destroy the trade of the other, but in the second war Holland, considering the command of the sea the more important object, temporarily gave up her commerce, Dutch merchant ships being forbidden to put to sea. The net result of the three wars was to leave the honors pretty evenly divided between the two combatants. Several efforts were made by the French, between 1690 and their crushing defeat at Trafalgar, to obtain the command of the sea in order to effect the invasion of of England. The first of these attempts, affording one of the best examples of the value of a thorough grasp of strategical principles s, was foiled , by the Earl of Torrington. An experienced seaman and profound strategist, the earl was forced against his better aga judgment, by direct orders from the queen and council, to attack the vastly superior forces under Tourville, and accordingly he gave battle (June 30, 1690) off Beachy Head. He was defeated, but skillfully drew off and fell back under the shelter of the Gunfleet Shoals at the mouth of the Thames. Here, though "beaten, inferior, and shut up behind sandbanks," yet from the strategic position it now held this fleet still remained such a "power in observation" as to paralyze the action of the victorious and superior force; and the French admiral,
Tactics NAVAL cavalry are first to try to drive off
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
NAVAL cavalry are first to try to drive off the enemy's cavalry and effect reconnoissances on both sides; then on the attacker's side to complete the investment, and afterward secure the besieging troops against surprise. For instruction of tactics in the World War, see WAR, and related articles.
Tactics MILITARY, the science which enables one of two opposing
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
MILITARY, the science which enables one of two opposing bodies of troops to be stronger than the other at every crisis of an engagement. STRATEGY (q. v.), which has precisely the same objects, merges into tactics as the
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's wrote in 1921 that "cavalry fight by shock action only, and the power of man and horse has not altered" — within a generation horse cavalry had all but vanished from European armies, replaced by tanks and motor transport, and the tactical problem of crossing the last 500 yards was answered by armour, close air support and radio-coordinated combined arms. At sea, the line of battle the entry traces from Penn to Jutland was finished by naval aviation: Taranto in 1940, Pearl Harbor in 1941, and Midway in 1942, where the opposing fleets never sighted each other. Since then guided missiles, nuclear weapons, radar and satellite reconnaissance, precision-guided bombs and armed drones have each rewritten the calculations again, while the blockade the entry praises has largely given way to sanctions and submarine interdiction. The entry's confident chapter on "warfare against savages" — Zulu crescents met by the British square — is now read as a period document; the same ground is covered today under counter-insurgency doctrine, and read very differently.
Written for this edition, 2026.