  The first part of Captain Hanguillart's little book "Petit Guide pratique de Guerre pour ma compagnie" has been incorporated in the new manuals of instruction published for the young recruits of the French army by the official military publishing house "Librairie Militaire Berger-Levrault," the editors of the "Annuaire officiel de l'ArmÉe." Its special value comes from the fact that it was written at the front and is wholly based on the orders which Captain Hanguillart drew up for the instruction of his own company and tested repeatedly through actual experience. Thus its very omissions are significant. The text as it stands represents essentials. Its every paragraph is a unit of tried advice. It embodies the practical data that has secured results. It sums up the cautions that have saved lives. In the second part, Captain Hanguillart has merely reproduced the French Infantry Combat principles long published in the official manual for the instruction of platoon leaders. In presenting this little work, no claim is made that it is adequate to the complete instruction of company commanders. Its obvious supplements are such works as: Colonel Paul Azan—The War of Position. The Army War College—Translation of the French Manual for Commanders of Infantry Platoons. Cole and Schoonmaker—Military Instructors Manual. Major J. A. Moss—Manual of Military Training. U. S. A. Infantry Drill Regulations. Captain Hanguillart's book should be carefully compared with these. But because of its peculiar origin it has for the officer a value not possessed by other books on this subject. It gives what a company commander actually found essential. Furthermore, it corresponds to the booklets published in France which are placed in the hands of every recruit. Every officer should have full knowledge The army of democracy should be an intelligent thinking army. Such little books have helped to give the French poilu his famed self-reliance and resourcefulness. It is the hope of the publishers that this translation may help to do the same for his American comrades. The publishers also believe that the book offers just the information needed by civilians to follow intelligently reports of military operations and of life at the front. The editor has felt it his duty in rearranging the loose notes of Captain Hanguillart to respect scrupulously the text, though, at times, the best way to do so was through a free translation. The paragraphs have been numbered and questions and diagrams added to facilitate assimilation. L.J.A.M. Cambridge, Mass. FOOTNOTE: |
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