Hostilities
on land being more frequent, and much more frequently written
about, than those by sea, the history of the former as well as
of the latter must be examined. The two classes of warfare have
much in common. The principles of their strategy are identical;
and, as regards some of their main features, so are those of
the tactics followed in each. Consequently the history of land
warfare has its lessons for those who desire to achieve success
in warfare on the sea.
That this has often been lost sight of is largely due to a
misapprehension of the meaning of terms. The two words 'military'
and 'army' have been given, in English, a narrower signification
than they ought, and than they used, to have. Both terms have
been gradually restricted in their use, and made to apply only
to the land service. This has been unfortunate; because records
of occurrences and discussions, capable of imparting much valuable
instruction to naval officers, have been passed over by them
as inapplicable to their own calling. It may have been noticed
that Captain Mahan uses the word 'military' in its right sense
as indicating the members, and the most important class of
operations, of both land- and sea-forces. The French, through
whom the word has come to us from the Latin, use it in the same
sense as Mahan. _Un_militaire_ is a member of either a land
army or a navy. The 'Naval _and_ Military Intelligence' of the
English press is given under the heading 'Nouvelles Militaires'
in the French.
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