POST, a station, particularly a military station.—Any place where persons are set or placed upon particular occasions may be termed a post; but the word in this view is now chiefly restricted to military operations, and means any place or situation where soldiers are stationed. Thus the detachments established in front of the army are termed the out-posts, the stations on the wings of the army are said to be the posts of honour, as being the most conspicuous and most exposed. But in the operations of a campaign, a post properly signifies any spot of ground capable of lodging soldiers, or any situation, whether fortified or not, where a body of men may make a stand
Post. stand and engage the enemy to advantage. The great advantages of good posts, in carrying on war, as well as the mode of securing them, are only learned by experience. Barbarous nations disdain the choice of posts, or at least are contented with such as immediately fall in their way; they trust solely or chiefly to strength and courage: and hence the fate of a kingdom may be decided by the event of a battle. But enlightened and experienced officers make the choice of posts a principal object of attention. The use of them is chiefly felt in a defensive war against an invading enemy; as by carrying on a war of posts in a country where this can be done to advantage, the most formidable army may be so harassed and reduced, that all its enterprises may be rendered abortive. Indeed in modern times this is so well understood, that pitched battles have become much more rare than formerly, manoeuvring and securing of posts being considered as the most essential objects in the conduct of a campaign; a change in the art of war much to the advantage of humanity; skill, conduct, and prudence, having thus obtained the ascendancy over brutal courage and mere bodily strength. In the choice of a post, the general rules to be attended to are, that it be convenient for sending out parties to reconnoitre, surprise, or intercept the enemy; that if possible it have some natural defence, as a wood, a river, or a morass, in front or flank, or at least that it be difficult of access and susceptible of speedy fortification; that it be so situated as to preserve a communication with the main army, and have covered places in the rear to favour a retreat; that it command a view of all the approaches to it, so that the enemy cannot advance unperceived and rest concealed, while the detachment stationed in the post are forced to remain under arms; that it be not commanded by any neighbouring heights; and that it be proportioned in extent to the number of men who are to occupy and defend it. It is not to be expected that all these advantages will often be found united; but those posts ought to be selected which offer the greatest number of them. See WAR.