first consideration is a good position, and this nnist be carefully intrenched, provided there is time: but all intrenchments should be entirely hidden from the enemy. This position is not oc- cupied at the beginning, but the troops are first assembled in a preparatory position. The posi- tions available for the artillery usually decide the grouping of the forces, except in covered coun- try, when the infantry line has the preference, ami the artillery finds positions in rear. As the battle advances it takes more and more the character of a truly offensive action. Retreats are difficult, even when voluntary. When night intervenes after the battle, a considerable distance may be placed between the two forces and the units somewhat reorganized. The artillery- usually furnishes the first support against pur- suit, and it is protected by the cavalry, and this leads gradually to the formation of a rear- guard.
Reference should be made to the article Tactics, Military, where will be found an account of the strategy and tactics used in active military operations, including a complete bibliography. That article also discusses the tactics peculiar to the various arms. See Army Organization; Advance-Guard; Attack; Reconnaissance; Coast Defense; Fortification; Outpost, etc.
BATTLE, Trial by, or Wager of. The determination of a controversy by a physical combat, conducted in the presence of judges and according to fixed judicial rules. Although "it prevails among all the races from which Britain derived its Teutonic blood," it was not a legal institution of Anglo-Saxon England, but was introduced into Britain by William the Conqueror. Sir James Fitzjames Stephen has expressed the opinion that "trial by battle was only private war under regulations." This view is rejected by Pollock and Maitland, however, as well as by other writers, who consider it a social process for the discovery of the truth. "What triumphed was not brute force, but the truth. The combatant who was worsted was a convicted perjurer." Such was the theory underlying this form of trial.
It was employed both in criminal and civil controversies, but by Bracton's time it was limit- ed to appeals of felony in criminal cases, and to the writ of right in civil cases. In the former, the combat was between the prosecutor of the felony and the alleged felon, unless one or the other was of unfit age or sex, where his or her place might be taken by a champion. In the civil proceeding by writ of right (the final remedy by a claimant of real property who could not rely on recent possession), either party could appear by champion. This led to the use of pro- fessional pugilists, and to the business of train- ing and keeping such champions for hire. By the time of Edward I., any defendant to whom trial by battle was offered could decline and demand a trial by jury. On the other hand, the defendant, at least in an appeal of felony, re- tained the legal right to compel his prosecutor to do battle, until 1819, when the statute of 59 George III., c. 46. enacted that "all appeals of treason, murder, felony, or other offenses shall cease," and that there should be no wager of battle either in criminal or civil controversies. Attempts had been made during the reigns of James I. and Charles I. to abolish trial by battle,
but without success, and its abolition in 1819 was due to the decision of the Court of King's Bench, in Ashford v. Thornton (reported in 1 Barnewall and Alderson, 405) that the defendant in an appeal of felony, who had demanded trial by battle, was entitled to it as "his lawful mode of trial." In Scotland this mode of trial came to an end late in the Sixteenth Century, and throughout Britain it was practically obsolete from that time. Consult: Stephen, History of the Criminal Law of England (London. 1883); Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law (2d ed. Boston. 1809); Neilson, Trial by Combat (London, 1890).
BAT'TLE. A market-town of Sussex, England, 7 miles northwest of Hastings (Map: England, G 6). Population, 3000. Its name and title to distinction arise from the celebrated Battle Abbey, founded by William the Conqueror to commemorate his victory over Harold, the English King, in 1066. Although generally called the Battle of Hastings (q.v.), the conflict took place on Senlac Hill (now Battle Hill), and the abbey marks the spot where Harold fell. At the Reformation, the abbey was converted into a private residential mansion: it is open to visitors once a week. The "Roll of Battle Abbey" contained a list of the Norman nobles in the suite of the Conqueror. It was formerly deposited in the abbey, and was destroyed in the burning of Cowdray House in 1793. Ten copies exist, but the 'roll' is considered to have been of apocryphal origin. Consult: Walcott, History of Battle Abbey (London, 1867); Hawthorne, English Note-books (Boston, 1870); Duchess of Cleveland, The Roll of Battle Abbey (London, 1889).
BATTLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS, The. In United States history, the name applied to that part of the battle of Chattanooga which resulted in the capture of Lookout Mountain by General Hooker, November 24, 1863. See Chattanooga, Battle of.
BAT'TLE-AXE'. A weapon used in warfare from the most remote antiquity to the present day. Battle-axes of stone or bronze preceded those made of iron or steel. Many different forms of the battle-axe, varying in size, weight, and length of handle, have been, and still are, used. The francisca battle-axe, used by the Franks, often served as a missile. The pole-axe is a battle-axe with a long handle.
BAT'TLE CREEK. A city in Calhoun County, Mich., 121 miles west of Detroit; at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River with Battle Creek, and on the Michigan Central, the Chicago and Grand Trunk, and the Cincinnati Northern railroads (Map: Michigan, H 6). It contains a public-school library (16,500 vols.), which occupies a fine building, and, among other prominent structures, the central school building, the Sanitarium, Y. M. C. A. Building. Post Tavern, Post Building (office), and Post Theatre. There are four parks, one of which is at Goguac Lake, a popular summer resort 1½ miles distant. The city is the headquarters of the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination, which maintains a widely known sanitarium, with a hospital and dormitory, homes for children and the aged. Battle Creek College, and a publishing house, the output of which is extensive. The tabernacle of this denomination has an audito-
