THE
ART OF WAR
BY
BARON DE JOMINI,
GENERAL AND AID-DE-CAMP OF THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.
A New Edition, with Appendices and Maps.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
BY
Capt. G.H. MENDELL,
CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, U.S. ARMY,
AND
Lieut. W.P. CRAIGHILL,
CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U.S. ARMY.
Originally published in 1862
PREFACE.
In the execution of any undertaking there are extremes on either hand
which are alike to be avoided. The rule holds in a special manner in
making a translation. There is, on the one side, the extreme of too
rigid adherence, word for word and line for line, to the original, and
on the other is the danger of using too free a pen. In either case the
sense of the author may not be truly given. It is not always easy to
preserve a proper mean between these extremes. The translators of
Jomini's Summary of the Principles of the Art of War have endeavored to
render their author into plain English, without mutilating or adding to
his ideas, attempting no display and making no criticisms.
To persons accustomed to read for instruction in military matters, it is
not necessary to say a word with reference to the merits of Jomini. To
those not thus accustomed heretofore, but who are becoming more
interested in such subjects, (and this class must include the great mass
of the American public,) it is sufficient to say, and it may be said
with entire truth, that General Jomini is admitted by all competent
judges to be one of the ablest military critics and historians of this
or any other day.
The translation now presented to the people has been made with the
earnest hope and the sincere expectation of its proving useful. As the
existence of a large, well-instructed standing army is deemed
incompatible with our institutions, it becomes the more important that
military information be as extensively diffused as possible among the
people. If by the present work the translators shall find they have
contributed, even in an inconsiderable degree, to this important object,
they will be amply repaid for the care and labor expended upon it.
To those persons to whom the study of the art of war is a new one, it is
recommended to begin at the article "Strategy," Chapter III., from that
point to read to the end of the Second Appendix, and then to return to
Chapters I. and II. It should be borne in mind that this subject, to be
appreciated, must be studied, map in hand: this remark is especially
true of strategy. An acquaintance with the campaigns of Napoleon I. is
quite important, as they are constantly referred to by Jomini and by all
other recent writers on the military art.
U.S. Military Academy,
West Point, N.Y.
January, 1862.
CONTENTS.
TRANSLATORS' PREFACE.
DEFINITIONS OF THE BRANCHES OF THE ART OF WAR.
CHAPTER I. THE RELATION OF DIPLOMACY TO WAR.
ART. I.--Offensive Wars to Recover Rights.
ART. II.--Wars which are Politically Defensive, and Offensive in a
Military View.
ART. III.--Wars of Expediency.
ART. IV.--Wars with or without Allies.
ART. V.--Wars of Intervention.
ART. VI.--Wars of Invasion, through a Desire of Conquest or for other
Causes.
ART. VII.--Wars of Opinion.
ART. VIII.--National Wars.
ART. IX.--Civil and Religious Wars.
ART. X.--Double Wars, and the Danger of Undertaking Two at the Same Time.