In critical study of military history there is continual cause for
complaint that after a victorious battle no effective pursuit, with a
few brilliant exceptions, has ever taken place. These complaints are
justified. It must, however, be conceded that a failure of the pursuit
may be traced in most instances to the force of circumstances.
As the day of battle draws to a close and the decision has taken place,
the _victorious attacker_ has generally accomplished a long march to
the battlefield and carried out an exceedingly exhausting attack. The
troops have perhaps all been employed in the battle, down to the last
reserve. Ammunition, food, and water are often lacking. It is therefore
quite natural that the mere physical energy required for a pursuit
is wanting. If, on the other hand, the _defender_ is successful, it
is generally against a superior enemy, or one that is thought to be
superior. With the greatest expenditure of moral and physical force he
has held his own. In the evening of the day of battle, when the attacks
cease, he is still perhaps scarcely conscious of his victory, and still
imagines that the enemy is endeavouring to turn his flank. He awaits
renewed onslaughts, and will be fearful of imperilling his success by
leaving the positions which he has maintained with such difficulty,
in order, on his side, to take up the offensive. It is therefore but
natural that a pursuit should at first remain in abeyance. If, however,
it is not carried out at once, the favourable opportunity is generally
lost forever.
The _beaten defender_, on the other hand, has often still a surplus
of fresh troops. On the day of battle he will generally have had no
exhausting marches to undertake. The battle has not imposed nearly
such heavy physical demands upon him as upon the attacker. He has
also been able to supply himself during the fight much better than
the latter. To these factors of advantage must be added the instinct
of self-preservation of the individual, which continually induces
afresh the desire to escape from the grasp of the enemy. What can be
more natural for the beaten defender after a lost battle than to march
long distances, and thus successfully to evade pursuit, unless it be
immediately undertaken? General von Goeben gave orders on the evening
of the battle of St. Quentin that all troops must march five miles[42]
the next day. But the French had already covered a similar distance
during the night, and were no longer within reach.
The _beaten attacker_ also may, after the battle, no longer have
at his disposal sufficient physical force to carry out a further
immediate march, but, as _before_ the fight he was in superior force,
or considered himself to be so, it will not be necessary for him to
withdraw from the enemy as quickly as a beaten defender. The reason for
this lies in the difficulty which exists for the latter of taking up
the pursuit. The attacker can then utilise the time after the battle
to secure himself in the terrain and to re-form his units. He falls
back on his reserves of supply and ammunition. Unless he has suffered
a destructive defeat, the pursuer will generally find him the next
morning again in a condition to offer some resistance.
The factors of weakness, therefore, which allow but seldom of an
effective pursuit have their origin in the nature of circumstances, and
are exceedingly difficult to cope with.
Energy and activity sufficient to this end are only to be found in
moments of the greatest moral excitement, under the influence of
overpowering personalities, or under special conditions, such, for
example, as resulted after the battle of Waterloo. In the future,
however, we shall generally have to reckon that these factors of
weakness will prevail and the pursuit fail unless it is prepared with
conscious intention in good time, and initiated with energy.
Here will certainly be required careful leading, good tactical
judgment, and rapid decision.
Before all things, it is essential that any reserves still available
should be sent forward in the directions important for pursuit as soon
as it is judged that the battle is won, and that their supply should be
arranged for before the pursuit begins.
I may cite the battle of Woerth as an example. The 4th Cavalry Division
stood at the disposal of the commander. Observation troops were
sufficient in the direction of Hagenau and Zabern. This cavalry mass
was, however, only brought up late in the evening, and arrived on the
field too late to take up the immediate pursuit, although it had long
been realised that a pursuit would become necessary.
The infantry pursuit failed for different reasons. At the end of
the day, when success inclined to the Germans, a fresh Württemberg
brigade arrived upon the battlefield. Hot fighting still raged about
Fröschweiler, in which the whole of the Vth and XIth Corps were
involved. The Crown Prince, with a right appreciation of the situation,
sent forward this brigade in a parallel pursuit against the right wing
of the French in the direction of Reichshofen, where it could have
denied the exit at Zabern to the French. This brigade, however, allowed
itself to be deflected from its objective, and involved in the fighting
round Fröschweiler, the capture of which was no longer of any real
importance from the point of view of the Head Quarters.
If the affair is practically decided, as was the case at Woerth, the
reserves still in hand should no longer allow themselves to be drawn
towards the various foci of the battle, but must be sent forward by
the Commander-in-Chief with boldness and determination in the now more
decisive directions of the pursuit.
The same reasons and principles hold good for the pursuit by the
cavalry.
The cavalry commander must continually keep his finger on the pulse of
the battle, and not watch only that portion of the great drama which is
being played under his own eyes.
Should the scales of victory incline in favour of his own army, if
he considers that the intervention of his cavalry will no longer be
necessary to complete the victory, he will often be well advised to
renounce his share in the decisive battle, at least by a charge which
would entail heavy loss, and to husband all his force for the pursuit,
and to prepare and make dispositions for it. This consideration is
of especial importance for that portion of the army cavalry which is
concentrated on the flank, as to it must chiefly fall the task of
pursuit.
Great attention should be paid, even during the battle, to nursing
the horses. They should be fed, not from the small reserve of forage
carried on the saddle, but from wagons, which can be easily sent to the
flank of the army, emptied, and used later for the transport of the
wounded. It is of great importance that these measures should be taken
in good time. The forage carried will be needed during the pursuit,
for supplies for the horses cannot be reckoned upon in country where
armies have been on the move. It will even be advisable to take forage
wagons with the pursuing force itself. When the maintenance of physical
strength has thus been cared for, the next step is to push patrols and
squadrons rapidly forward to reconnoitre the outer lines of retreat
of the enemy. While these have been ascertained, the march in pursuit
must be undertaken without hesitation, and continued _even during the
night_. While daylight in any way allows, attempts will naturally be
made to attack the withdrawing enemy in flank, and to carry disorder
into his columns. As soon, however, as darkness falls and puts an
end to the fighting, the march should be continued on parallel lines
throughout the whole night, if possible in constant touch with the
enemy, in order that he may again be attacked at dawn the next morning,
or that his retreat may be barred at defiles or other favourable
places. The trophies of pursuit will rarely fall into the hands of
him who shrinks from spending the night after the battle marching, or
neglects to prepare in every way for such an operation.
Direct frontal pursuit by the cavalry will generally yield but meagre
results against the masses of the modern army and the firearm of the
present day. Only when completely demoralised troops are retreating in
the open, and cannot be reached by fire, will a charge be feasible.
Generally, however, the frontal cavalry pursuit will be soon brought
to a standstill by the hostile occupation of localities, woods and the
like. Frontal pursuit is essentially a matter for the infantry, who
must press the retreating enemy to the utmost. On the other hand, it
is of course the duty of the cavalry to maintain touch with the enemy
under all circumstances. With this object in view it must continue
the frontal pursuit, sometimes even without seeking to draw on a
fight, by day and night. When the strength of the infantry fails,
it is the imperative duty of the cavalry to continue to harass the
foe. In conjunction with the artillery it should be able to inflict
considerable losses on the opponent. In the face of modern conditions,
however, too great results must not be expected from such action.
When the army cavalry undertakes a frontal pursuit, it will be
advisable to divide it by brigades, to which must be allotted the
various roads along which the enemy is retreating. To each column must
be assigned artillery, to enable it to be continually at grips with the
enemy. Cases may also occur where, if the enemy's lines of retreat are
not too close together, it will be possible to penetrate between them,
and thus strike all the terrors of a parallel pursuit to the very heart
of his army. The results that might thus be gained will justify great
risks.
As to the covering of a retreat, I may draw attention to paragraph
518[43] of the new Regulations. All the essentials are here set forth
in compressed form. Under such circumstances the cavalry must never
renounce the offensive, as the maintenance of morale when things are
going badly is imperative. Continual efforts must be made to confront
the enemy, and to attack him whenever possible with the cold steel.
Defensive fire tactics, however, will of course be employed whenever
circumstances demand such action. Thus, when it becomes no longer
possible to show a front to the pursuing cavalry in the open, measures
must be taken to block the routes upon which his parallel pursuit is
operating by barricading roads and occupying important points and
defiles, especially during the night, and thus to secure the retreat
of the army. Detachments to which these duties are confided must be
despatched from the battlefield in good time, so that they may be able,
if possible, to arrange their defensive measures by daylight. The more
obstinately they hold well-chosen points, even at the risk of being cut
off and captured, the better will they have done their duty.