Folar, Jean Charles de

At 18, he entered the ranks of the Beria Infantry Regiment. He began his fighting field during the war for the Spanish inheritance . He was wounded in the battle of Casano, and then fought under the command of Buffler and Villard , and was again wounded under Malpako . In 1712 he retired.

In 1714 he entered the service of the Knights of Malta , which was threatened by Turkey. Unhappy with the grandmaster, who did not always accept his advice, Folar returned to France and soon decided on the Swedish service, where he remained until the death of Charles XII .

After the death of Charles XII, he finally returned to his homeland, where he died a deep old man.

His talents, straightforwardness and harsh criticism of modern military operations created a mass of enemies for him. He devoted all his free time to service in literature and left some wonderful works.

Folar belong to Op. “Nouvelles dé couverte sur la guerre” (1724) and “Commentaire sur Polybe” (1727-30). The main advantage of his “Commentary on Polybius” is that the text compares the tactics of the Greeks and Romans, and in the comments themselves the tactics ancient and modern. A thorough study of ancient tactics and personal experience, especially the battle of Casano, led to the idea that the deployed battalions were unsuitable as a battle formation, and the advantage of the columns over them, for which he indicated both the form of construction and the mode of action in battle.

Folar consists of one or more (up to 6) battalions, each of 500 people, of which 400 fusiliers and 100 halberds; the purpose of the latter is the cordon of the front, flanks and rear.

Each column, being built in 16-30 rows (depending on the area), is divided in depth into 3 sections and along the front into 2 wings, each of the 5-row divisions. These divisions were necessary for rebuilding.

The grenadiers, as selective troops, were located outside the column, to cover the flanks and as a reserve. The column, breaking the enemy line, was supposed to split in half: one half turned right, the other left and, advancing, completely destroyed the enemy. Folar was a supporter of the mixing in battle of various kinds of weapons. His reasoning about the attack and defense of fortresses by the ancient method deserves attention, and only on the question of artillery does his hobby get ridiculous: he puts it below the ancient throwing machines and warrants to take, in the shortest time, with the help of these machines, the fortress that is protected by his modern artillery.

These ideas of Folar were forgotten due to the later successes of Frederick the Great and his linear tactics; only during the revolutionary wars it was used on the battlefields. Folar was a supporter of the mixing in battle of various kinds of weapons. His reasoning about the attack and defense of fortresses by the method of the ancients deserves attention; only on the issue of artillery, he comes to impossible hobbies, putting it below the ancient throwing machines.

• Encyclopedia of Military and Naval Sciences / Compiled under the general editorship of Lieutenant General G. A. Leer , Honored Professor of the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff . - SPb. : printing house V. Bezobrazova and Co. °. - T. 7.