Pitched battle

Pitched battle

A pitched battle is a combat fought on a battlefield expected to be site of engagement by both sides. [p.649, Blackwood's] The location, time and disposition of troops are therefore well known, and either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges, and are sometimes referred to as duels on a larger scale. Pitched battles are noted for lack of the element of surprise, ability to manoeuvre and lack of initiative available to either side. In military theory pitched battles are to be avoided, particularly by those troops that depend on the three above mentioned factors, such as insurgents. [p.78, Oppenheim, Roxburgh]

A pitched battle is not a chance encounter such as a skirmish, or where one side is forced to fight at a time not of their choosing such as happens in a siege. For example the first pitched battle of the English Civil War was fought when the Royalists chose to move off an escarpment to a less advantageous position so that the Parliamentarians would be willing to fight the Battle of Edgehill. In contrast the Battle of Gettysburg, fought during the American Civil War, started by chance as a skirmish, but as both generals chose to reinforce their positions instead of disengaging, they turned what was initially a skirmish into a pitched battle.

Pitched battles were however the preferred method of resolving a military campaign during the Renaissance and until the Franco-Prussian War because of the prevailing thinking that a decisive battle is to be sought as soon as possible. [p.594, Atkinson]

Citations and notes

References

* "Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, v.LXXI, 1852 Jan-Jun", Published by William Blackwood & Sons, 1852
* Oppenheim, Lassa & Roxburgh, Ronald, "International Law: A Treatise", volume I, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2005
* Atkinson, Christopher Thomas, "A History of Germany, 1715-1815", Methuen & co., 1908


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