Excerpt from Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, Vol. 28 The importance of and the necessity for maneuvers result from a fact that is in reality a universal principle, namely, the tendency of the world to adhere to the mere forms and to lose sight of the spirit of ideas and things. So it was with drill: this tendency caused commanders to take the forms of barrack-square drill into the field, leaving its spirit behind, and the result was disaster. Thus arose the idea of making the drill more like actual field work, and this idea has gradually crystallized into the present so-called maneuvers, now recognized the world over as the highest means of training a navy or an army, in time of peace, for the work required of it in time of war. The Navy and the Coast Artillery have this point in common, namely, their training of years may come into play but for a few brief moments, and this is far more true of the Coast Artillery than of the Navy, especially on a long coast line like our own, Where, in View of the present short duration of wars, a portion only can come into play at all. It is evident, however, that for the very reason that their active service may be but for so short an interval of time, it is absolutely necessary that they be fully prepared, otherwise the time and energy spent on their training will have been wasted. No element of training, therefore, should be omitted, certainly not the highest element, maneuvers. The Navy can have maneuvers of fleet against fleet, or of fleet against forts, or finally combined operations involving the convoy and landings of large forces; but the Coast Artillery can be best taught and tested by being opposed to the attack of a fleet, as was the case in the maneuvers under consideration. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.