AIDE TO MILITARY INSTRUCTION 1884

This valuable manual, published in 1884, bridges a gap in military theory and practice between the Napoleonic Wars and the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Although its author, a Major in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and a former instructor at Aldershot, modestly describes it as ‘a series of notes strung together for purposes of instruction’ it is far more than that.Prevost examines contemporary military methods and compares different armies, building up a global picture of the military arts in the 1880s. He has practical descriptions (and illustrations) of everything from building a bivouac to digging a latrine. The chapters deal with elementary tactics, living in the field (including building trenches – which would come in useful twenty years later), and the three arms (infantry, cavalry and artillery). The tactical instruction and commentary looks at the infantry in the attack, the use of guards (advance, flanking and rear), together with outposts and march disciplines. The next section of the book deals with a subject familiar to all soldiers in all ages: minor operations, obstacles, demolitions and river crossing.This is an exceptional book which is well illustrated with over 130 drawings and 10 plates, which covering, among much else, the defence of villages and woods, and fortified houses.