In EE&L 2 we analyzed Bressonet's conclusions in his Etudes Tactiques. In this issue, we are going to take a look at the Battle of Saalfeld based on the book: Des principes de la guerre, (i.e. The Principles of War) [1] authored by Marshal Foch, the famed supreme commander of the Allied Forces in WWI. This book is a summary of lectures delivered to the French Staff College by Marshal, then Lieutenant-Colonel, Foch back in 1903. Foch, like Bressonet and Colin, was part of the French Staff College and reflects the French military thoughts of his period. Unlike Bressonet's Etudes Tactiques, Marshal Foch was not concerned with minor tactics, but with grand tactics and grand tactical to strategic principles. Hence formations are seldom mentioned in Foch's work. Yet, Marshal Foch's book is a very complete work on the art of war as seen in 1903. I would strongly recommend it to anyone, wargamer or professional soldier, to read it. For our part, we have learned a great deal on conducting a battle by reading the chapter covering Saalfield, we hope you will as well. For our part, we'll be working exclusively with the chapter pertinent to the Battle of Saalfeld as it brings up all the principles involved in deploying and preparing an attack. These principles should be of the utmost interest to any wargamer trying to apply real tactics to wargames. What is most unusual in Foch's account of Saalfeld is that the timing as well as the details of the deployment are given in a very clear manner. All the tactical and grand tactical comments presented in the following article are from Marshal Foch's work. Our comments and conclusions are clearly identified. In addition, Marshal Foch provides us with a multitude of principles concerning the role of the vanguard during a lengthy deployment. Unfortunately, that part of his work is too lengthy and will have to wait to be examined in a future article. More 1806 Battle of Saalfeld Introduction I: Grand Army and Lannes' Movement Prior to Battle II: Initial Situation at Saalfeld III: Events and Intents from the Prussian Side IV: Lannes' Initial Disposition and Deployment V: Preliminary Action on Prussian Side VI: Prussian Attack VII: Lannes' Attack VIII: Combats Around Garnsdorf, Saalfeld, and the Pursuit IX: Conclusions X: Further Conclusions XI: The Battlefield Today Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 6 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Emperor's Headquarters This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com