Oblique order
Encyclopedia
The Oblique Order is a military tactic where an attacking army focuses its forces to attack a single enemy flank
. The force commander concentrates the majority of his strength on one flank and uses the remainder to fix the enemy line. This allows a commander with weaker or equal forces to achieve a local superiority in numbers. The commander can then try to defeat the enemy in detail
. It was the most famously used by the armies of Frederick II of Prussia
. Oblique order required disciplined troops able to execute complex maneuvers in varied circumstances.
In the oblique order attack, commander of the army would intentionally weaken one portion of the line to concentrate their troops elsewhere. They would then create an angled or oblique formation, refuse the weakened flank and attack the strongest flank of the enemy with a concentration of force
. Once the critical flank was secure, the commander would wheel their troops 90 degrees to roll up the enemy line and the angled formation would continue to advance. The echelons not involved in the assault served the important function of holding the rival army in check by remaining defensive and threatening, thus offering protection to the attacking echelons by keeping the enemy force occupied. On occasion both commanders would attempt the same tactic (e.g.the Diadochi
trying to replicate Alexander's tactics).
There were some dangers with attempting an oblique order in battle, namely the chance of opening up a fatal gap between the two wings, or that the two forces may completely lose contact. Moreover, the Frederician oblique order called for a long march, either through the night, or in the early hours of the morning of the assault, which meant that the advancing Prussian forces were almost always out of breath by the time they engaged their enemy. Another risky aspect of the oblique order was that it required total determination, as, once it was executed, the assaulting echelons would be deployed with no chance of being recalled.
Proper execution of Frederick’s oblique order involved three main requirements. First, each officer needed to know exactly how to form a battalion from “line to column, maintain its place in the column, and then redeploy either normally, or en echelon for the final attack.” The next two necessities were that the soldiers marched in close formation, and in step. Cadenced marching had not been used since the days of the Roman Empire; however, uncadenced marching, or ‘route step’, required loose marching order to ensure that the soldiers did not bump into each other, and the oblique order could not have been implemented in such unstructured formations. Lastly, for the oblique order to be successful the opposing generals needed to be oblivious to the Frederician technique, as to inhibit a quick response from them, and a confused enemy army equally incapable of a rapid change in their deployment. Frederick’s oblique order was born of the desire to overwhelm a weak point in the enemy line, thus allowing a smaller Prussian force superiority on the battle field; this would then fulfill Frederick’s determination to exert optimum control in battle.
, in Greece, when the Thebans
under Epaminondas
defeated the Sparta
ns by highly enforcing one flank to fifty rows deep, rather than spread forces parsimoniously. Philip of Macedon
while held prisoner at Thebes would have learnt Epaminondas' technique, and his descendants, including Alexander the Great, used its variations in their campaigns. The classical writer Vegetius was the first known to write about the tactic that became the oblique order of battle. Subsequent military commanders in the early modern world again employed such tactics once they rediscovered the writings of antiquity. Raimondo Montecuccoli
, who maintained that the best forces should always be positioned on the flanks with the more powerful wing initiating the attack, was the first of the more modern generals to employ tactics similar to the oblique order of battle, and Frederick II of Prussia was well aware of the texts of Montecuccoli.
Prussian generals under Frederick the Great used the tactic in their own manner. The Prussian attacking army sent a strong advance force of infantry directly towards the enemy. The frontline troops occupied the attention of the enemy and the rest of the troops would maneuver behind it. They could also exploit any locally available obstacle, using hindering terrain or the smoke of cannon and musket fire to mask maneuvers. The Prussian cavalry would be stationed so as to cover the flank of the main body. Frederick even instructed his senior officers that numerical inferiority was indeed an advantage when it came to implementing ‘his oblique order’, as they could merely weaken one wing while reinforcing the other.
The main body of the army would then spread their forces to one side and deploy in an echelon (or the "oblique order"), spreading their firepower and attacking the stronger enemy flank with increasing pressure. The protective cavalry would then exploit any enemy collapse. Frederick first implemented his oblique order at the Battle of Hohenfriedberg
, in 1745, with a subsequent major victory, despite numerical inferiority, at the Battle of Leuthen
in 1757. It was this decade between the Silesian Wars and the Seven Years War that Frederick had his army perfect all the manoeuvres of the oblique order of battle.
The theoretical seeds of Frederick’s oblique order can be seen in two of the Seelowitz Instructions’ (‘Instruction für die Cavalleire’, 17 March, Oeuvres, XXX, 33; ‘Disposition für die sämmtlichen Regimenter Infanterie’, 25 March Oeuvres, XXX, 75) in March of 1742. Members of the German General Staff
maintained that Frederick was only dedicated to the oblique order after the Second Silesian War, with full-hearted application of the tactic in the Seven Years war; however, Otto Herrman disputed the Staff Historians’ insubstantial definitions of oblique order and claimed that Frederick had sought to utilize oblique at Mollwitz and Chotusitz. The most likely and poignant arguments for the advent of Fredrician oblique order came from Rudolf Keibel, who held that Frederick had indeed been implementing it since Hohenfriedberg.
Since the Austrians had been taught valuable lessons in the Wars for Silesia, Frederician tactics were, as Frederick knew from his informants, a subject of discussion in the Viennese cabinet, where Francis I Holy Roman Emperor remarked that ‘Old Fritz’ preferred a one-winged-attack style of warfare that burdened his troops heavily. Then, in 1760, official documents obtained in the capture of Major-General Gzetttritz offered direct insight to the Frederick’s oblique tactics, meaning that Frederick could henceforth be engaged with a well-informed army capable of countering his tactics. Furthermore, the Prussian forces, being heavily fatigued by the time they reached their target, lacked the ability to repel a well-situated enemy, such as at Kunersdorf, or an enemy that made a sudden about-turn, such as at the Battle of Zorndorf
or the Battle of Torgau
.
Flanking maneuver
In military tactics, a flanking maneuver, also called a flank attack, is an attack on the sides of an opposing force. If a flanking maneuver succeeds, the opposing force would be surrounded from two or more directions, which significantly reduces the maneuverability of the outflanked force and its...
. The force commander concentrates the majority of his strength on one flank and uses the remainder to fix the enemy line. This allows a commander with weaker or equal forces to achieve a local superiority in numbers. The commander can then try to defeat the enemy in detail
Defeat in detail
Defeat in detail is a military phrase referring to the tactic of bringing a large portion of one's own force to bear on small enemy units in sequence, rather than engaging the bulk of the enemy force all at once...
. It was the most famously used by the armies of Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
. Oblique order required disciplined troops able to execute complex maneuvers in varied circumstances.
In the oblique order attack, commander of the army would intentionally weaken one portion of the line to concentrate their troops elsewhere. They would then create an angled or oblique formation, refuse the weakened flank and attack the strongest flank of the enemy with a concentration of force
Force concentration
Force concentration is the practice of concentrating a military force, so as to bring to bear such overwhelming force against a portion of an enemy force that the disparity between the two forces alone acts as a force multiplier, in favour of the concentrated forces.-Mass of decision:Force...
. Once the critical flank was secure, the commander would wheel their troops 90 degrees to roll up the enemy line and the angled formation would continue to advance. The echelons not involved in the assault served the important function of holding the rival army in check by remaining defensive and threatening, thus offering protection to the attacking echelons by keeping the enemy force occupied. On occasion both commanders would attempt the same tactic (e.g.the Diadochi
Diadochi
The Diadochi were the rival generals, family and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for the control of Alexander's empire after his death in 323 BC...
trying to replicate Alexander's tactics).
There were some dangers with attempting an oblique order in battle, namely the chance of opening up a fatal gap between the two wings, or that the two forces may completely lose contact. Moreover, the Frederician oblique order called for a long march, either through the night, or in the early hours of the morning of the assault, which meant that the advancing Prussian forces were almost always out of breath by the time they engaged their enemy. Another risky aspect of the oblique order was that it required total determination, as, once it was executed, the assaulting echelons would be deployed with no chance of being recalled.
Proper execution of Frederick’s oblique order involved three main requirements. First, each officer needed to know exactly how to form a battalion from “line to column, maintain its place in the column, and then redeploy either normally, or en echelon for the final attack.” The next two necessities were that the soldiers marched in close formation, and in step. Cadenced marching had not been used since the days of the Roman Empire; however, uncadenced marching, or ‘route step’, required loose marching order to ensure that the soldiers did not bump into each other, and the oblique order could not have been implemented in such unstructured formations. Lastly, for the oblique order to be successful the opposing generals needed to be oblivious to the Frederician technique, as to inhibit a quick response from them, and a confused enemy army equally incapable of a rapid change in their deployment. Frederick’s oblique order was born of the desire to overwhelm a weak point in the enemy line, thus allowing a smaller Prussian force superiority on the battle field; this would then fulfill Frederick’s determination to exert optimum control in battle.
History
The first recorded use of a tactic similar to the oblique order was at the Battle of LeuctraBattle of Leuctra
The Battle of Leuctra was a battle fought on July 6, 371 BC, between the Boeotians led by Thebans and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post-Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the neighbourhood of Leuctra, a village in Boeotia in the territory of Thespiae...
, in Greece, when the Thebans
Thebes, Greece
Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
under Epaminondas
Epaminondas
Epaminondas , or Epameinondas, was a Theban general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a preeminent position in Greek politics...
defeated the Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
ns by highly enforcing one flank to fifty rows deep, rather than spread forces parsimoniously. Philip of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...
while held prisoner at Thebes would have learnt Epaminondas' technique, and his descendants, including Alexander the Great, used its variations in their campaigns. The classical writer Vegetius was the first known to write about the tactic that became the oblique order of battle. Subsequent military commanders in the early modern world again employed such tactics once they rediscovered the writings of antiquity. Raimondo Montecuccoli
Raimondo Montecuccoli
Raimondo, Count of Montecúccoli or Montecucculi was an Italian military general who also served as general for the Austrians, and was also a prince of the Holy Roman Empire and Neapolitan Duke of Melfi....
, who maintained that the best forces should always be positioned on the flanks with the more powerful wing initiating the attack, was the first of the more modern generals to employ tactics similar to the oblique order of battle, and Frederick II of Prussia was well aware of the texts of Montecuccoli.
Prussian generals under Frederick the Great used the tactic in their own manner. The Prussian attacking army sent a strong advance force of infantry directly towards the enemy. The frontline troops occupied the attention of the enemy and the rest of the troops would maneuver behind it. They could also exploit any locally available obstacle, using hindering terrain or the smoke of cannon and musket fire to mask maneuvers. The Prussian cavalry would be stationed so as to cover the flank of the main body. Frederick even instructed his senior officers that numerical inferiority was indeed an advantage when it came to implementing ‘his oblique order’, as they could merely weaken one wing while reinforcing the other.
The main body of the army would then spread their forces to one side and deploy in an echelon (or the "oblique order"), spreading their firepower and attacking the stronger enemy flank with increasing pressure. The protective cavalry would then exploit any enemy collapse. Frederick first implemented his oblique order at the Battle of Hohenfriedberg
Battle of Hohenfriedberg
The Battle of Hohenfriedberg or Hohenfriedeberg, also known as the battle of Striegau, now Dobromierz, was one of the crowning achievements of Frederick the Great...
, in 1745, with a subsequent major victory, despite numerical inferiority, at the Battle of Leuthen
Battle of Leuthen
In the Battle of Leuthen or Lissa, fought on 5 December 1757, Frederick the Great's Prussian army used maneuver and terrain to decisively defeat a much larger Austrian army under Charles of Lorraine, thus ensuring Prussian control of Silesia during the Seven Years' War.- Background :While Frederick...
in 1757. It was this decade between the Silesian Wars and the Seven Years War that Frederick had his army perfect all the manoeuvres of the oblique order of battle.
The theoretical seeds of Frederick’s oblique order can be seen in two of the Seelowitz Instructions’ (‘Instruction für die Cavalleire’, 17 March, Oeuvres, XXX, 33; ‘Disposition für die sämmtlichen Regimenter Infanterie’, 25 March Oeuvres, XXX, 75) in March of 1742. Members of the German General Staff
German General Staff
The German General Staff was an institution whose rise and development gave the German armed forces a decided advantage over its adversaries. The Staff amounted to its best "weapon" for nearly a century and a half....
maintained that Frederick was only dedicated to the oblique order after the Second Silesian War, with full-hearted application of the tactic in the Seven Years war; however, Otto Herrman disputed the Staff Historians’ insubstantial definitions of oblique order and claimed that Frederick had sought to utilize oblique at Mollwitz and Chotusitz. The most likely and poignant arguments for the advent of Fredrician oblique order came from Rudolf Keibel, who held that Frederick had indeed been implementing it since Hohenfriedberg.
Since the Austrians had been taught valuable lessons in the Wars for Silesia, Frederician tactics were, as Frederick knew from his informants, a subject of discussion in the Viennese cabinet, where Francis I Holy Roman Emperor remarked that ‘Old Fritz’ preferred a one-winged-attack style of warfare that burdened his troops heavily. Then, in 1760, official documents obtained in the capture of Major-General Gzetttritz offered direct insight to the Frederick’s oblique tactics, meaning that Frederick could henceforth be engaged with a well-informed army capable of countering his tactics. Furthermore, the Prussian forces, being heavily fatigued by the time they reached their target, lacked the ability to repel a well-situated enemy, such as at Kunersdorf, or an enemy that made a sudden about-turn, such as at the Battle of Zorndorf
Battle of Zorndorf
The Battle of Zorndorf was a battle fought on August 25, 1758 during the Seven Years' War, fought between the forces of the Russians troops under the command of Count William Fermor – and a Prussian army under King Frederick the Great...
or the Battle of Torgau
Battle of Torgau
In the Battle of Torgau on 3 November 1760, King Frederick the Great's Prussian army fought a larger Austrian army under the command of Field Marshal Leopold Josef Graf Daun. The Prussians won a costly victory in one of the bloodiest battles of the Seven Years' War.-Background:In August, Daun...
.