Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from earliest times to the battle of Ipsus, : with a detailed account of the campaigns of the great Macedonian . him with hostages in proof of their submission. The king ofTaxila, whom Curtius calls Omphis, and a number of nativeprinces came to headquarters in royal state, accompanied byelephants, which they placed at the kings disposal, and bear-ing splendid and unusual presents in token of their readinessto serve him. Alexander informed these princes that he ex-pected to exhaust the summer and autumn months in redu-cing t
Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from earliest times to the battle of Ipsus, : with a detailed account of the campaigns of the great Macedonian . him with hostages in proof of their submission. The king ofTaxila, whom Curtius calls Omphis, and a number of nativeprinces came to headquarters in royal state, accompanied byelephants, which they placed at the kings disposal, and bear-ing splendid and unusual presents in token of their readinessto serve him. Alexander informed these princes that he ex-pected to exhaust the summer and autumn months in redu-cing the country between him and the Indus, to winter on thatriver, and the next year to cross over and chastise the nationsbeyond, enemies of his new associates. As it turned out, the 514 TWO COLUMNS. following winter was consumed in mountain campaigningalong the Cojjlien. He had illy gauged the size of his task inthis alpine region. At Nicea Alexander divided his army into two detached Hephaestion and Perdiccas along the right bankof the Cophen, thiough the land of Gandara, towards Peuce-laotis on the direct road to the Indus, with the three brigades . .,^ . ,. ?-/o (I ^%- The Cophen Campaign. of Gorgias, Clitus (the white one) and Meleager, half theCompanion and all the Greek mercenary cavalry. They hadorders to reduce the towns on the route, and when they reachedthe Indus to make preparations for bridging it. The king ofTaxila and some other chiefs were to be their guides. Thiscorps was to be a flying wing, as it were, of the army of theking, who, taking a more northerly route, proposed to reduceall the strongholds in the mountain passes on the north bankof the Cophen, which region was full of warlike native tribes,marching from pass to pass, and completing his work thor-oughly as he advanced. The two columns would prevent the THE SOUTHERLY COLUMN. 515 tribes north and soutli of the river from combining to assisteach other, and either colmnn could retire upon the other
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade189, booksubjectmilitaryartandscience
