The arte of vvarre Beeing the onely rare booke of myllitarie profession: drawne out of all our late and forraine seruices, by William Garrard Gentleman, who serued the King of Spayne in his warres fourteene yeeres, and died anno. Domini. 1587. Which may be called, the true steppes of warre, the perfect path of knowledge, and the playne plot of warlike exercised: as the reader heereof shall plainly see expressed. Corrected and finished by Captaine Hichcock. Anno. 1591.

The order of imbattelling before the fight.

THe Oration being made by the Generall, and prayers fini∣shed to the immortal God, it is requisite that thou haue care to bring forth thy army to y^e field with bright & shining armour, which easily may be done, by giuing charge in time to the Cap∣taines, and so to the officers, that their burgonets, 〈◊〉〈◊〉, calée∣uers, halberds, swords, & euerie other péece of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 be made cleane & bright, forasmuch as the cleannes and brightnes of the weapons, maketh the armie séeme terrible, and putteth feare & trauel in y^e minds of the enimies. Then cal forth thy bands, the

which béeing set in araie, the Generall béeing expert, hauing seene the preparation of the enimies, giueth in charge to the Sergeant maior and the principall Corporalles to accommo∣date and ordaine his Souldiers in battaile according to the ar∣mie, the men, and the manners of them. And if the enimie bee more puissent of Horsmen: thou hauing the commoditie, choose thée straight and difficult places, or at the foote of mountaines and where the horse cannot easilie serue. If in footemen he ex∣céedeth, then it is requisite to get the hilles and places of ad∣uantage, as the Sunne and winde, &c. and that with diligence to choose such fit places, which either be néere Rockes or Riuers: and aboue all things, where thou maist put in araie thy bat∣tailes, and by the qualitie of thy place be able to let thy enimies, that they neither compasse thée about nor inclose thée, the which requires not onely the counsaile and prudence of a wise Cap∣taine, but the counsaile of the most expert in the Campe: be∣cause oftentimes an Armie hapneth vpon such places. And not∣withstanding the Captaine is ignorant how to choose such situa∣tion of ground as is best for him, but of those that are present it is good to choose the best, and to foresée which may be most profitable, is surely a signe of a wise Captaine: Caius Sulpitius, to feare his enimies got a great manie of Mules and other beasts vnprofitable for the warres, causing a great number of sackes to be gotten, which were so ordered vpon the backes of the beasts as they séemed men at armes, giuing in charge whiles hee was a fighting they should appeare vpon a hill, whereby grew his victorie against the Frenchmen. The Spa∣niards to ouercome Amilcar, set in the fronts of their battels, Cartes full of Towe, drawne with Oxen, that béeing ready for the encounter, they set it on fire, causing the Oxen vehemently to thrust forwards into the armie of the enimie, deuiding the same. Thy number small, and the fields large and open, it is good to make ditches, the which being filled with boughes, and slightly couered with earth, leauing voide spaces for thy horse and shot to procure skirmish, the which being of the enimie en∣countered may faine a running awaie, and béeing prosecuted by the enemie, shall bee ouerthrowne in the ditches, where they are easilie slaine, manie such notable deuises by wise Captaines hath béene practised, the which vpon the suddaine

put in vse, will greatly profit. Thy Battels being made and set in order, it is requisite that thou leaue the warde within the trenches of the Campe for the defence of thy lodgings, mu∣nition, and carriages, least the enimie vnderstanding the place to be left voide, sende his Souldiers to take the Campe, and so to spoile all: vpon occasion some Captaines will de∣stroie their owne lodgings, or els passe riuers, or leaue behinde them hils and déepe places, to the ende that the Souldiers stan∣ding constantly, may ouercome the aduersarie and obtaine the victorie, or otherwise altogether to perish, for that if they should thinke to saue themselues by running away, they shall sée by all manner of meanes taken from the possibilitie to escape.

Nowe béeing come to ioyne battaile with thy enimie, cause thy Souldiers somewhat before, to flourishe oft their naked Swordes and Halberds against the Sunne, for that the gli∣stering of the weapons, and their shining pointes, through the brightnesse nowe of the one and nowe of the other, a∣gainst the resplendant Beames of the Sunne, dooth shew a certaine horrible terrour of warre, the which will strike a dread and feare into the mindes of the enemies. Like∣wise it is sometimes requisite that thy battailes goe for∣wardes with rumours and showtings, sometimes running with violence, forasmuch as the semblaunce of such thinges with the noise of Trumpets, Drummes, and great Ordi∣nance, woonderfully troubleth and feareth the heartes of the aduersaries: also it is great wisedome in a Captaine, not with desire to bée drawne to bée the first to giue the on∣set, but to staie thée néere thy trench till thou hast viewed thy selfe and the Rendies of the enemies: that is, howe ma∣nie battailes, howe they are placed, of what condition, and where they are disposed to fight, for after this manner thou maist more commodiouslie sée to thine affaires: considering which of thine thou hast to sette against those of thy eni∣mies, and in what manner thy men are to bée ordeined and placed, dooing in like sort to a good Physition, the which con∣sidering first the infirmitie, and knowing the cause, commeth afterwards to giue remedie, therefore ordeine thy men so as may turne most vtilitie to thy businesse.

The manner of ordering of battels lately vsed, I cannot greatly command, for the armie being 20. 30 or 40. thousand, they are de∣uided but into 3. battels, whereby ensueth many perils and dis∣commodities, because the Pike being but fiue yards thrée quar∣ters long, euerie man occupying a yard and halfe a quarter of pike, can occupie but foure or fiue rankes at the most, so that the rest are superfluous and lost: besides, they are easily to bée compassed and to be charged on euerie side: wherefore I haue set downe an order of one of the battels in figure, according to my opinion, the which if it may turne profite to my countrie I would be most glad. The occasion of the prosperous successe of the Romaines, was onely through their good orders, by diuiding their Legions into cohorts, the which were bands of 400. and 50. the 50. were shot, the 400. were armed, their weapons, pikes, swords and targets, the which were placed in quadrant man∣ner, 20. euerie wayes, being 10. battels in front, leauing a cer∣taine space betwéene euerie battell for their retrait vpon occasi∣on vnto the next order, which were but sixe battels, and the rereward foure battels, all in like number, kéeping one bredth, the voward were called Hastatie, their battels thicke and close, the Maineward were called Principie, who had such space be∣twéene their rankes as they might receiue the Hastatie: the rereward were called Triarij, whose spaces betwéene their rankes were such, as they might receiue the Principie and Ha∣statie, on the wings were placed seauen rankes of Pikes of strangers, which did distend in length from the voward to the rereward: through these good orders they became conquerours of many countries. Now because of the diuersitie of the wea∣pons, hauing 20000. footemen, I would deuide them into tenne battels, to euerie one of the battels shall be according to my proportion set downe 1000. shot, 800. pikes, and 200. Billes, the which placed in twofold wise, according to my proportion set downe in figure, will be in bredth 45. and in length 22. and ten ouerplus, the which are to be placed at the discretion of the Ser∣geant Maior, the shot placed in the wings and rereward in ma∣niples for the readier seruice, who must be placed a good distance from thy battel, thy men at armes vpon y^e wings of the shot, thy Lances as two hornes in the front of the battell, the light horse in the fronts of thy Lances, the hargulaters in the fronts of thy

light horse, who with the pistoleters are the first that begins the battel: thy great ordinance to be placed in the fronts of the bat∣tels, or in such conuenient place as may most terrifie the eni∣mie: there would be appointed certaine troupes of Lances, whose guidons would be contrary to the rest, the which the Ger∣maine cals their Forlorne hope, the French Infants perdus, who must at such time and instant as shall be thought good by the General, giue the charge vpon the enimies battels, whatsoeuer shall happen: who are for the same to receiue double pay. The second battell not to be placed in the front with the first battell, as the Romaines did, but in the rereward of the first so far wide and with such distance, as the horsemen and shot a foote giuing the first charge may retire themselues without disturbance to the battels, hauing thy shot placed as in the voward with the lances and shot on horsebacke: the third battell to be placed in the rereward of the second, with like distance with shot and horse: and so to the fourth, fift, and the tenth, in the rereward of the which, if occasion require, thou maist as in the rereward of the battell, place for the defence certaine of thy carriages. Thy battels being thus ordered, thou shalt be sure no wayes to be compassed by the enimies, whereas thou maist easily compasse in him, not ordered in the like manner, and thy battels being but little, yet as strong as the greater, being strongly fortified euerie way with pikes, and when a signe is giuen, your hargo∣lateares, pistolateares and lances, may at the sodaine be with the formost, or readie for any other place of seruice. Also your second battell may ioyne with the first, and the third with the second, and so to strengthen your battels at pleasure, as other∣wise two or thrée of thy battels to giue the charge to one of his battels, and if it should so happen that thy first and second bat∣tels should be ouerthrowne, thy battel placed in this order, thou maist retire thy selfe and leaue of the field, maugre the head of thy enimie, who in prosecuting thée, disorder themselues, as many times happens, may be easily conquered, vsing thy bat∣tels in this order, I hold to be of greatest force and most auail∣able.

THese 4. foresaid battels were taken by M. T. Steward out of his second booke, Captaine Francesco Ferretti della Osseruan∣•…•…a Militare, out of whom he hath likewise borrowed the grea∣test part of his Pathway to Militarie Discipline, wherein he hath followed the steppes of Leonard and Thomas Digges Gen∣tlemen, in their Stratioticos, for the which they merite great commendations, by the benefite our country may reap by their trauels. But neuerthelesse, because I will not attribute that vnto my selfe, which is none of my owne, I haue thought good to deale more directly, and not to reape the fruites of other mens toyles, and therefore in following my determi∣nation in setting downe diuers battels, this battell following I borrow out of M. Digges his Stratioticos.