INTERCOURSE BETWEEN BELLIGERENT ARMIES
[Sidenote: Flags of Truce.]
Hostile armies are in frequent intercourse with one another. This
takes place so long as it is practised openly, that is to say, with
the permission of the commanders on both sides, by means of bearers of
flags of truce. In this class are included those who have to conduct
the official intercourse between the belligerent armies or divisions
thereof, and who appear as authorized envoys of one army to the other,
in order to conduct negotiations and to transmit communications. As to
the treatment of bearers of flags of truce there exist regular usages
of war, an intimate acquaintance with which is of the highest practical
importance. This knowledge is not merely indispensable for the higher
officers, but also for all inferior officers, and to a certain extent
for the private in the ranks.
Since a certain degree of intercourse between the two belligerents is
unavoidable, and indeed desirable, the assurance of this intercourse
is in the interests of both parties; it has held good as a custom from
the earliest times, and even among uncivilized people, whereby these
envoys and their assistants (trumpeter, drummer, interpreter, and
orderly) are to be regarded as inviolable; a custom which proceeds on
the presumption that these persons, although drawn from the ranks of
the combatants, are no longer, during the performance of these duties,
to be regarded as active belligerents. They must, therefore, neither
be shot nor captured; on the contrary, everything must be done to
assure the performance of their task and to permit their return on its
conclusion.
But it is a fundamental condition of this procedure:
1. That the envoy be quite distinguishable as such by means of
universally recognized and well-known marks; distinguishable
both by sight and by hearing (flags of truce, white flags, or,
if need be, white pocket-handkerchiefs) and signals (horns or
bugles).
2. That the envoy behave peaceably, and
3. That he does not abuse his position in order to commit any
unlawful act.
Of course any contravention of the last two conditions puts an end
to his inviolability; it may justify his immediate capture, and, in
extreme cases (espionage, hatching of plots), his condemnation by
military law. Should the envoy abuse his mission for purposes of
observation, whereby the army he is visiting is imperiled, then also
he may be detained, but not longer than is necessary. In all cases of
this kind it is recommended that prompt and detailed information be
furnished to the head of the other army.
It is the right of every army:
1. To accept, or to refuse such envoys. An envoy who is not
received must immediately rejoin his own army; he must not, of
course, be shot at on his way.
2. To declare that it will not during a fixed period entertain any
envoys. Should any appear in spite of this declaration; they
cannot claim to be inviolable.
3. To determine in what forms and under what precautions envoys
shall be received. The envoys have to submit to any commands
even though entailing personal inconvenience such as
blindfolding or going out of their way on coming or returning,
and such like.
[Sidenote: The Etiquette of Flags of Truce.]
The observance of certain forms in the reception of envoys is of the
greatest importance, as a parley may serve as a cloak for obtaining
information or for the temporary interruption of hostilities and the
like. Such a danger is particularly likely to occur if the combatants
have been facing one another, as in the case of a war of positions,
for a long time without any particular result. These forms are also
important because their non-observance, as experience shows, gives
rise to recrimination and charges of violation of the usages of war.
The following may, therefore, be put forward as the chief rules for the
behavior of an envoy and as the forms to be observed in his reception.
[Sidenote: The Envoy.]
1. The envoy (who is usually selected as being a man skilled in
languages and the rules, and is mounted on horseback) makes for
the enemy’s outpost or their nearest detachment, furnished with
the necessary authorization, in the company of a trumpeter and
a flag-bearer on horseback. If the distance between the two
outposts of the respective lines is very small, then the envoy
may go on foot in the company of a bugler or a drummer.
[Sidenote: His approach.]
2. When he is near enough to the enemy’s outposts or their lines
to be seen and heard, he has the trumpet or bugle blown and
the white flag unfurled by the bearer. The bearer will seek to
attract the attention of the enemy’s outposts or detachments
whom he has approached, by waving the flag to and fro.
From this moment the envoy and his company are inviolable, in
virtue of a general usage of war. The appearance of a flag of
truce in the middle of a fight, however, binds no one to cease
fire. Only the envoy and his companions are not to be shot at.
[Sidenote: The challenge--“Wer da?”]
3. The envoy now advances with his escort at a slow walk to the
nearest posted officer. He must obey the challenge of the
enemy’s outposts and patrol.
[Sidenote: His reception.]
4. Since it is not befitting to receive an envoy at just that
place which he prefers, he has to be ready to be referred to a
particular place of admission. He must keep close to the way
prescribed for him. It is advisable for the enemy whenever this
is possible to give the envoy an escort on the way.
[Sidenote: He dismounts.]
5. On arriving at the place indicated, the envoy dismounts along
with his attendants; leaves them at a moderate distance behind
him, and proceeds on foot to the officer on duty, or highest in
command, at that place, in order to make his wishes known.
[Sidenote: Let his Yea be Yea, and his Nay, Nay.]
6. Intercourse with the enemy’s officer must be courteously
conducted. The envoy has always to bear in mind the discharge
of his mission, to study the greatest circumspection in his
conversations, neither to attempt to sound the enemy or to
allow himself to be sounded.... The best thing is to refuse to
enter into any conversation on military matters beforehand.
[Sidenote: The duty of his Interlocutor.]
7. For less important affairs the officer at the place of
admission will possess the necessary instructions, in order
either to discharge them himself, or to promise their discharge
in a fixed period. But in most cases the decision of a superior
will have to be taken; in this case the envoy has to wait until
the latter arrives.
8. If the envoy has a commission to deal personally with the
Commander-in-Chief or a high officer, or if the officer on duty
at the place of admission considers it desirable for any reason
to send the envoy back, then, if it be necessary, the eyes
of the envoy may be blindfolded; to take away his weapons is
hardly necessary. If the officer at the place of admission is
in any doubt what attitude to adopt towards the requests of the
envoy, he will for the time being detain him at his post, and
send an intimation to his immediate superior in case the affair
appears to him of particular importance, and at the same time
to the particular officer to whom the envoy is or should be
sent.
[Sidenote: The impatient Envoy.]
9. If an envoy will not wait, he may be permitted, according to
circumstances, to return to his own army if the observation
made by him or any communications received can no longer do any
harm.
From the foregoing it follows that intercourse with the envoys of an
enemy presupposes detailed instructions and a certain intelligence on
the part of the officers and men if it is to proceed peaceably. But
before all things it must be made clear to the men that the intentional
wounding or killing of an envoy is a serious violation of international
law, and that even an unfortunate accident which leads to such a
violation may have the most disagreeable consequences.
[Sidenote: The French again.]
A despatch of Bismarck’s of January 9th, 1871, demonstrates by express
mention of their names, that twenty-one German envoys were shot by
French soldiers while engaged on their mission. Ignorance and defective
teaching of the troops may have been the principal reason for this
none too excusable behavior. In many cases transgressions on the part
of the rawer elements of the army may have occurred, as has been many
times offered as an excuse in higher quarters. Nevertheless, this state
of affairs makes clear the necessity of detailed instruction and a
sharp supervision of the troops by the officers.