Guibert was Frances foremost military theorist in the eighteenth century. He wrote two great treatises, but the second is often ignored in favor of the first, the General Essay on Tactics. That second treatise, the Defense of the System of Modern War, is presented here for the first time in English, with extensive annotations by the translator. In it, Guibert explores the beginnings of operational-level warfare, laying the groundwork for Napoleon and his successors.
Acknowledgments
On the Translation and Sourcing
Introduction
Jonathan Abel
Avant-Propos
book 1
First Part
1 [ The] System of Mesnil-Durand, Originally Drawn from that of Folard. Who
Folard Was. Exposition of his System
2 [ The] System of Mesnil Durand Enunciated in his Diverse Works. [ The] Form
by Which I Propose to Analyze It
3 [ The] System of Mesnil-Durand as It Is in His First Work, Titled Projet
dun ordre franēais
4 [ The] System of Mesnil-Durand Accommodated to Our Constitution and Named
[ the] French Order
5 New Variations of the French Order. [ The] Proofs Made at Metz. [ The]
System of Mesnil-Durand as It Was Executed at the Camp of Vaussieux.
Examination of this System in All the Aspects of Its Detail
SECOND Part: Examination of the System of Mesnil-Durand in Its Fundamental
Aspects and in Those of the Different Arms
1 The System of Mesnil-Durand: is it Favorable to the Genius and the
Character of the Nation?
2 The Deep Order, and Particularly the Species of Deep Order Proposed by
Mesnil-Durand: May It or Must It be the Primitive and Habitual Order, in
Preference to the Deployed Order?
3 The Column Considered in Two Aspects: One, as Means of March and Maneuver,
and Two, as Attack Disposition. It May Only Ever be the Momentary and
Accidental Order
4 Examination of the System of Mesnil-Durand Relative to Cavalry
5 Examination of the System of Mesnil-Durand Relative to Artillery
book 2
THIRD Part: Examination of the System of Mesnil-Durand Relative to Strategy,
or the Tactics of Armies
1 If One Would Adopt the System of Mesnil-Durand, Would It then Follow that
One Would be Able, as He Announces, to Re-Serry Positions, Camps, and Orders
of Battle?
2 May Current Castrametation Change Form and Consequently Permit the
Shortening of Positions?
3 Relationship of Positions to Subsistence. May One, Relative to Subsistence,
Adopt the System of Shortening Positions?
4 Other Great Obstacles to the Re-Serrying of Positions and Orders of Battle
Drawn from the Nature of Operations and from the Circumstances to Which
Armies are Subjected
5 System of Mesnil-Durand Considered in Relation to Marches and March Orders
6 Examination of the System of Mesnil-Durand Relative to Grand Maneuvers and
to Army Movements
7 [ The] System of Mesnil-Durand Considered in Relation to Orders of Battle
and to Battles
FOURTH Part: Résumé
1 The System of Mesnil-Durand Is Not Admissible in Any Respect. It Is a
Matter of Holding to the One that Exists and Only Consolidating Our
Constitution and Perfecting Ourselves in Modern Tactics
2 [ The] Current System of War Examined in Relation to Politics and to the
Administration. It Would be Impossible and Even Disadvantageous to Change It
Appendix A: Diagram V: Vaussieux and Its Environs
Appendix B: The French Army in the Eighteenth Century
Appendix C: Glossary of Terms
Bibliography
Index
Jonathan Abel, Ph.D. (2014), Military History Center at the University of North Texas, is Associate Professor of Military History at the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. He is the author of several publications on Guibert.
