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Tactics   /tˈæktɪks/   Listen
Tactics

noun
1.
The branch of military science dealing with detailed maneuvers to achieve objectives set by strategy.
2.
A plan for attaining a particular goal.  Synonyms: maneuver, manoeuvre, tactic.



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"Tactics" Quotes from Famous Books



... calm immediately, but he left further tactics to Morris' discretion; and when Mr. Marks called at the latter's house that evening Morris showed that he possessed that discretion to a degree hardly equaled by ...
— Potash & Perlmutter - Their Copartnership Ventures and Adventures • Montague Glass

... features and anxious eyes and a possible application of the same principle to his own life, as in the case of Judas. But he wasn't considering himself now. There might come a time when he would have to change his tactics with regard to Aunt Saxon somewhat. She certainly had been a good sport last night. But this wasn't the time to consider that. He had a great deal more important matters to think of now. He had to find out how he could make ...
— The City of Fire • Grace Livingston Hill

... keenest sensibility, exquisite refinement of feeling, perpetual play of restrained outbreaks of affection, which end in smoke. It is very artful too, and very effective. I should even, now that I reflect upon it, have preferred this system of tactics to my own pride, for waging war on members of the other sex, because it offers the advantage sometimes of thoroughly convincing them; but, at the present moment, without utterly condemning myself, I declare it to be superior to the non-complex coquetry of Montalais." And the two ...
— Ten Years Later • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... the lesson which Nelson completed, but which cost the latter his life. According to the reports which Duroc transmitted to me, courage gave momentary hope to the French; but they were at length forced to yield to the superior naval tactics of the enemy. The battle of Trafalgar paralysed our naval force, and banished all hope of any ...
— The Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte • Bourrienne, Constant, and Stewarton

... his thoughts on political tactics. He talked impatiently, all the time absorbed in another subject; and at the first pause he ...
— Our Friend the Charlatan • George Gissing

... should be versed in the order and economy of the steam frigate. They will augment, diffuse, and perpetuate knowledge. When, in process of time, another war shall call for more structures of this kind, men, regularly trained to her tactics, may be dispatched to the several stations where they may be wanted. If, on any such disposition, the Government should desire a good and faithful agent, the Commissioners recommend Captain Obed Smith to notice, as a person ...
— Fulton's "Steam Battery": Blockship and Catamaran • Howard I. Chapelle

... Perplexed by Dyce's tactics, Bedney stood irresolute, with his half-filled pipe slipping from his fingers; and he stared at his wife for a few seconds, hoping that ...
— At the Mercy of Tiberius • August Evans Wilson

... She was depending on a rattlesnake to live up to his share of the contract and rattle in time for her to move. The one characteristic an Irishman admires in a woman, above all others, is courage. Freckles worshiped anew. He changed his tactics. ...
— Freckles • Gene Stratton-Porter

... Such tactics were often employed by Napoleon and other great masters of war; but in every effort where it has been attempted in the present conflict, it ...
— Aeroplanes • J. S. Zerbe***

... upon Bouquet's march in large numbers at first, but when they saw the perfect order and discipline of his army, and the knowledge of their own tactics which he showed in disposing his men, they fell away, and he kept his course unmolested, so that in two weeks he reached a point in the Ohio country which he could now reach in two hours, if he took rail from Pittsburg direct. But the wonder is for what he did then, and not for what ...
— Stories Of Ohio - 1897 • William Dean Howells

... experience who had never previously owned a vessel. He was so appalled at the disaster that he decided to have her sold piecemeal and broken up. We attended the auction on the beach and bought each piece as it came to the hammer. Getting her off was the trouble. We adopted tactics of our own invention. Mousing together the two mastheads with a bight of rope, we put on it a large whoop traveller, and to that fastened our stoutest and longest line. Then first backing down to her on the very top of high water, we went "full ...
— A Labrador Doctor - The Autobiography of Wilfred Thomason Grenfell • Wilfred Thomason Grenfell

... in Captain Bertram's dark eyes joined to the thought which had flown into her heart, made the young girl flush up almost painfully. This sudden blush caused the gallant wooer's heart to beat with rapture, and he instantly changed his tactics and resolved, instead of giving Beatrice a half confidence with regard to his troubles, to take the ...
— The Honorable Miss - A Story of an Old-Fashioned Town • L. T. Meade

... slowly, "I have always considered many of the plots which from time to time become apparent in Sturatzberg of small importance. I have, on the other hand, consistently warned your Majesty of the danger which might at any time manifest itself in a sudden development of the tactics of the brigands in the mountains. Their chief, Vasilici, may be a chief only in name, and it is certain that during the past few months many have joined him who are not brigands in any sense of the word, and who, I conceive, are ...
— Princess Maritza • Percy Brebner

... companies that year in Nauvoo. Col. A. P. Rockwood was drillmaster. Brother Rockwood was then a captain, but was afterwards promoted to be colonel of the Host of Israel. I was then fourth corporal of the company. The people were regularly drilled and taught military tactics, so that they would be ready to act when the time came for returning to Jackson County, the land of our inheritance. Most of my wife's relatives came to Nauvoo that year, and ...
— The Mormon Menace - The Confessions of John Doyle Lee, Danite • John Doyle Lee

... well enough versed in the upper space tactics of our modern navy to appreciate the wisdom which had been used in sending the one ship alone on the expedition, and I could well understand the reasonable hope of success which had been promised. I confess I was staggered to know what could be done, however, ...
— The Winged Men of Orcon - A Complete Novelette • David R. Sparks

... Counts of Eu, Guignes, and Tancarville. But the wisdom of the generals was defeated by the impetuosity of the citizens. They saw themselves equal in number to the invaders, and, without reflecting how little numerical superiority avails in war against experience and tactics, they required to be led against the foe. They were so, and were defeated. The conquerors and conquered entered the city pell-mell; and Edward, enraged at the citizens for shooting upon his troops from the windows, issued orders that the inhabitants should ...
— Account of a Tour in Normandy, Vol. II. (of 2) • Dawson Turner

... slow to appreciate the real facts. His knowledge of Indian tactics was exceedingly small, and the utter isolation of his post kept him ignorant. At first he was convinced that it was merely a local disturbance and would end as suddenly as begun. Then, when realization finally came, was already too late to stop the girl. She would be already on her long journey. ...
— Molly McDonald - A Tale of the Old Frontier • Randall Parrish

... essays and articles on a hundred different subjects which she sent to the magazines, but they all came back with politely worded excuses for their rejection. But Shirley kept right on. She knew she wrote well; it must be that her subjects were not suitable. So she adopted new tactics, and persevered until one day came a letter of acceptance from the editor of one of the minor magazines. They would take the article offered—a sketch of college life—and as many more in similar vein as Miss Rossmore could write. This success had been followed by other acceptances ...
— The Lion and The Mouse - A Story Of American Life • Charles Klein

... Hitherto, if we mistake not, they have been led to suppose that the only obstacles in their way are the interested antagonism of the "politicians" and the ignorant apathy of the great mass of the people, and it is because they have found themselves powerless to make head against the tactics of the former class that they intend to confine themselves henceforth to the work of awaking and enlightening the latter. There is always danger, however, when we are expounding our pet theories to a group of silent listeners, of ignoring ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XXVI., December, 1880. • Various

... Europe was made in Italy—the most noted leaders in the attack being Galiani and Maffei. Here and there feeble efforts were made to meet them, but it was felt more and more by thinking churchmen that entirely different tactics ...
— History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom • Andrew Dickson White

... from themselves that as regarded the future succession, which ought not to be contested from any side, the matter had its delicate points. The solution which Henry found shows clearly enough the natural tactics of the old politician. He obtained from the Roman Court a dispensation for the new marriage, which expressly included the case of the first marriage having been consummated. But it almost appears as though he did not fully trust this authorisation. High as the prestige of ...
— A History of England Principally in the Seventeenth Century, Volume I (of 6) • Leopold von Ranke

... minutes more there ceased to be any idea of danger, for the captive was nearly exhausted, and the end was coming; for each dive was shorter in depth as well as time. The whale then tried fresh tactics, rising to the surface and rolling over and beating the water heavily with its tail; but all in vain: it could not rid itself of the deeply plunged harpoon, and lay for ...
— Steve Young • George Manville Fenn

... tactics which the batsman goes in for extra hits at all costs, it may partly be regarded as a very stupid piece of play at the bat to endeavor to make a home run when there is no one on the bases to benefit by it, and for the reason that it subjects ...
— Spalding's Baseball Guide and Official League Book for 1889 • edited by Henry Chadwick

... was settled in the thrill and struggle of that one practice game, and right away Jason showed extraordinary aptitude, for he was quick, fleet, and strong, and the generalship and tactics of the game fascinated him from the start. And when he discovered that the training-table meant a savings-bank for him, he counted his money, gave up the morning papers without hesitation or doubt, and started in ...
— The Heart Of The Hills • John Fox, Jr.

... disappear. As for traps and poisoned meat, they proved equally futile. They were always visited, to be sure, by the pack, at some unexpected and indeterminable moment, but treated always with a contumelious scorn which was doubtless all that such clumsy tactics merited. Meanwhile the ravages went on, and the children were kept close housed at night, and cool-eyed old woodsmen went armed and vigilant along the lonely roads. The French habitant crossed himself, and the Saxon cursed his luck; and no ...
— Kings in Exile • Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts

... theme. If he should attempt to instruct the people in that which they already know, he would fail; but, by making them wise in that which he knows, he has the advantage of the assembly every moment. Napoleon's tactics of marching on the angle of an army, and always presenting a superiority of numbers, is the ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 11, September, 1858 • Various

... to successfully cope with him. If he thought the latter, he should have been with his troops on the side of the river toward the enemy instead of eight miles below on the other side. Thus the most elementary principles of grand tactics and military science, that, in case two armies are endeavoring to concentrate with a view of delivering an attack on a superior force of the enemy, the inferior force nearest the enemy, should be careful ...
— Personal recollections and experiences concerning the Battle of Stone River • Milo S. Hascall

... comes to the earliest London school for poor children, perhaps the Catholics take the lead; for we find that it was part of the tactics of the Jesuits, in the reign of James II., to promote their design of subverting the Protestant religion by infusing their Romish tenets into the minds of the children of the poor by providing schools for them in the Savoy ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 210, November 5, 1853 • Various

... loved honour more than Cynthia Lane. To speak the naked truth, I believe I would have committed forgery, if by doing so I could have won Cynthia for my wife. The one and only way in which I showed any discretion (and that, not from any moral scruple, but purely as a matter of tactics) was in withholding any open ...
— The Record of Nicholas Freydon - An Autobiography • A. J. (Alec John) Dawson

... such a buffet as it glanced off the side of my head as convinced me that a settlement must be speedily arrived at. Rushing in on him, I bore him backwards until he was penned up in the entrance of one of the caverns against the shafts of a wagon. Then suddenly he changed his tactics. Realizing at last that a clumsily-wielded bludgeon is powerless against a stick expertly handled rapier-wise, he dropped his club, and the next moment the moonbeams flashed from the broad blade of a knife. This was quite a different affair. He now stood ...
— The Uttermost Farthing - A Savant's Vendetta • R. Austin Freeman

... His old aggressive manner was all gone. The tactics he would adopt for any other woman were useless with this one. She knew him like a book. She had him completely cowed and miserable. No longer did he regale admiring friends with tales of the late war, and incidentally allow himself ...
— That Girl Montana • Marah Ellis Ryan

... men-of-war, as well as all other ships, were sailing vessels, the tactics of naval combats were very different from what they are now. Each of the commanders of vessels was obliged to think, not only of what his enemy was about, but what the wind was about. A steamer can take ...
— Stories of New Jersey • Frank Richard Stockton

... tactics were resumed, and the toil over the raft went on, but there was still so much to do in the way of bracing and strengthening the rough craft so that it might withstand the fierce currents and concussions they were to ...
— To Win or to Die - A Tale of the Klondike Gold Craze • George Manville Fenn

... the warriors crowd; Late loud in censure, now in praises loud, They laud the tactics, and the skill extol Which gained a bloodless yet a glorious goal. Alone and lonely in the path of right Full many a brave soul walks. When gods requite And crown his actions as their worth demands, Among admiring throngs ...
— Custer, and Other Poems. • Ella Wheeler Wilcox

... cry from his master was the signal for his change of tactics, and with loud, yelping, fox-like barking he ...
— Three Boys in the Wild North Land • Egerton Ryerson Young

... building, mounting guard over that iron-studded door. It was a dreary and monotonous day, long to be remembered by both of them, and when the hour of sunset drew nigh, and their vigil remained unrewarded, they began to doubt the wisdom of their tactics. The street was but little frequented; there was not the slightest chance of their presence ...
— Brood of the Witch-Queen • Sax Rohmer

... Kingdom should have been revered at Home, and admired Abroad; when Religion formed, Erudition nurtured, Philosophy strengthened, History preserved, Rhetorick adorned, Musick softened, and Poesy refined, the National Wisdom and Accomplishments; to all which was added, a thorough Knowledge of Tactics, and great Skill and Agility in all the athletick Arts, and ...
— An Essay on the Antient and Modern State of Ireland • Henry Brooke

... flags, without officers, without uniforms. They crawled on their bellies and carried logs as shields. They knew and cared nothing for military tactics and their strategy was that of the wild Indian. They fought to kill and they took no prisoners. It seems that a Virginia mountain girl had been wronged by a German officer ...
— The Conquest of America - A Romance of Disaster and Victory • Cleveland Moffett

... signal victory the Mongol Emperor was indebted to himself, to the genius of the moment, and the discipline of thirty years. He had improved the tactics, without violating the manners, of his nation, whose force still consisted in the missile weapons and rapid evolutions of a numerous cavalry. From a single troop to a great army, the mode of attack was the same; a foremost line first advanced ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07 • Various

... But in tactics jokes may be mistakes. That shot revealed the enemy's position. Within ten minutes our gunners had snipt the barbed wire fences along the railway, had dashed their guns across, and were dragging them up that low rocky ridge—say, 300ft. to 400ft. high—which had now so suddenly become our front ...
— Ladysmith - The Diary of a Siege • H. W. Nevinson

... Art of Making Enemies" is a bit of sharpshooter sniping at the man who was brave enough to come to the rescue of Turner, and who afterward proved his humanity by adopting the tactics of the enemy, working the literary stinkpot ...
— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 6 - Subtitle: Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent Artists • Elbert Hubbard

... object only, I think the former would be the most proper: but if we look forward to the very probable event of war with those pirates, an important object would be obtained by Captain Jones's becoming acquainted with their ports, force, tactics, &c. Let me know your opinion on this. I have never mentioned it to either, but I suppose either might be induced to go. Present me affectionately to the ladies and Colonel Smith, and be assured of the sincerity with which ...
— Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson - Volume I • Thomas Jefferson

... passes smoothly forward to the nearest point of safety. And this sort of prestidigitation, juggling the dangerous topic out of sight until it can be reintroduced with safety in an altered shape, is a piece of tactics among the ...
— Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson • Robert Louis Stevenson

... These apparent marks of confidence were very inconsistent with the agitated state of her mind. "These people want no sovereigns," said she. "We shall fall before their treacherous though well-planned tactics; they are demolishing ...
— Memoirs Of The Court Of Marie Antoinette, Queen Of France, Complete • Madame Campan

... isn't only the fact of the attacks themselves miscarrying, but it's the knowledge on the other side of exactly how best to meet that attack. It's the exact knowledge they have as to our dispositions, our most secret and sudden change of tactics. We've suffered enough, Ambrose, in this country from civil spies—the Government are to blame for that. But there are plenty of people who go blustering about, declaring that two of our Cabinet Ministers ought to be hung, who'd turn ...
— The Kingdom of the Blind • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... Wells would scarce be spacious enough for my establishment. You see, sir, that while I respect your emotion, I am myself conducted by experience. And besides, Mr. Fenwick, is not love a warfare? has it not rules? have not our fair antagonists their tactics, their weapons, their place of arms? and is there not a touch of - pardon me the word! of silliness in one who, having fought, and having vanquished, sounds a parley, and capitulates to his own prisoner? Had the lady chosen, had the fortune of war been other, 'tis like she had been ...
— The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson

... daylight the bear changed his tactics, lying down directly under the tree, still eying his prey with his small, beady, expectant eyes, as though measuring the time that his victim could ...
— Mischievous Maid Faynie • Laura Jean Libbey

... Importance. Truth to tell it was of more importance than our High Command at first estimated. The Bolshevik strategists were always aware of its value and never permitted themselves to be neglectful of it. Trotsky knew that the strategy and tactics of the winter campaign would make good use of the Kodish road. Indeed it was seen in the fall by General Poole that a Red column from Plesetskaya up the Kodish road was a wedge between the railroad forces and the river forces, always ...
— The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki - Campaigning in North Russia 1918-1919 • Joel R. Moore

... They were wise men who, for all futurity, connected with certain dates the outstanding events of the sacred history, the memory of great saints, confessors and martyrs. Probably we of the Nonconformist pulpits might here learn a lesson in homiletic tactics from our friends of the Roman and Anglican churches. There should only be one subject for Good Friday; one for Easter morn; one for Christmastide; one for the hour wherein the old year dies. It is not merely ...
— The Message and the Man: - Some Essentials of Effective Preaching • J. Dodd Jackson

... carried wounded, on his shoulders, from the field of battle. Angelo distinguished himself on these occasions, not only as a servant and faithful friend, but also as an intrepid warrior, as an experienced officer, especially in tactics, although he never had military rank. The field marshall Lascy, who esteemed him highly, gave, before a group of officers, a most creditable eulogy upon his bravery, presented him with a splendid Turkish sabre, and offered him the command ...
— The Journal of Negro History, Volume 4, 1919 • Various

... who could say how long Anstey would stay, or what embarrassments might arise from my efforts to escape? By all of which it may be perceived that my disease had reached a very advanced stage, and that I was unequal to those tactics of concealment that are ...
— The Red Thumb Mark • R. Austin Freeman

... slowly. The man stopped and looked in at the windows of many of the stores, and close behind him every time stood Hugh; he was at a loss to account for this behavior on the part of the man he was following, as his dilatory tactics were in sharp contrast to the way ...
— Bob Cook and the German Spy • Tomlinson, Paul Greene

... polo became one of close formations and fierce scrimmages. These, at first, were disorderly scuffles, where weight and brute strength reigned supreme, but little by little strict rules were formulated to eliminate rough tactics, and then science became an ...
— Swimming Scientifically Taught - A Practical Manual for Young and Old • Frank Eugen Dalton and Louis C. Dalton

... to choose between two generals, both great in the art of war— Conde and Turenne; I have no doubt that they will be opposed to each other soon—that will be the better for you, as you will learn tactics ...
— The Children of the New Forest • Captain Marryat

... exhibition of pure patriotism. In his historical reference, Bismarck, in this instance, was in error. In no sense was "the people" to be credited with the great Prussian victory of 1813; it came about largely through military tactics, training and general preparedness, in which "the people" had no part except ...
— Blood and Iron - Origin of German Empire As Revealed by Character of Its - Founder, Bismarck • John Hubert Greusel

... course, some few who did venture to voice their belief in it, but they were in most cases speedily silenced. A Methodist minister was sent to jail because he was said to have been enticing laborers to go north and work for a New York firm, which would give employment to fifty of his people. The tactics adopted by influential persons who favored the movement, therefore, were of necessity covert ...
— Negro Migration during the War • Emmett J. Scott

... Fearing that my face would indicate too clearly that I was not deceived by her change of tactics, I shielded it from the fire by the screen, close to the chair in which I sat, and made effort to wait politely, if not with inward patience, for what I would discover if I only gave her time. Something had happened I did not understand. I ...
— People Like That • Kate Langley Bosher

... writing of this drawing, made by him from a sketch which he made at the Front, says: "Throughout the war, the enemy has displayed considerable skill in locating and shelling any buildings selected for occupation by our Staff. Various methods of countering these tactics have been devised. On at least one occasion, headquarters was established in a subterranean apartment, which was not merely bomb-proof, but a comfortable retreat from the weather. Here, by lamplight, plans were worked out; ...
— The Illustrated War News, Number 21, Dec. 30, 1914 • Various

... brief and simple story of the labor movement in the United States in a single comprehensive volume of moderate size for the busy citizen. It undertakes to emphasize the nature and significance of the labor movement and the rise of trade unions. There follows a discussion of the old tactics of labor, its first political experience, and its final return to direct industrial action. Some attention is given to the industrial panics, political utopias, trade unionism, politics, schemes, and plans, which have engaged the ...
— The Journal of Negro History, Volume 6, 1921 • Various

... with the English army to the Crimea, a precedent which it has followed up since in China, India, Italy, America, and Schleswig-Holstein. But this was not the first occasion that reporters had accompanied our armies, for Canning despatched reporters with the troops sent to Portugal in 1826. The tactics of The Times are very generally misunderstood and misrepresented. Whatever objections cavillers and opponents may urge, and with truth too—for the course taken by The Times is not to be praised on all occasions—it ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 2, August, 1864 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... Richmond and needed re-enforcements for a decisive battle with General Lee's army, the Confederates used the most admirable tactics for the purpose of alarming the authorities at Washington and compelling them to withhold help from the Army of the Potomac. Stonewall Jackson came thundering down the Shenandoah Valley with a force which the exaggeration of the day placed far beyond his real numbers. ...
— Twenty Years of Congress, Vol. 1 (of 2) • James Gillespie Blaine

... sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin, When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at, And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat", When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery, When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery- - In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy, You'll say a better Major-General has never sat ...
— The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan - The 14 Gilbert And Sullivan Plays • William Schwenk Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan

... little girl only laughed good humoredly, and said: "Jimmy and I belong to the Seventh Regiment, and drill in the last fashion. Don't you want to come and learn the Lefferts Tactics?" ...
— Neighbor Nelly Socks - Being the Sixth and Last Book of the Series • Sarah L. Barrow

... concern. In reference to this system of obtaining encores, Mr. Parke cautiously observes: "Without presuming to insinuate that it was surreptitiously introduced into our English theatres, I may be permitted to observe, after forty years' experience in theatrical tactics, that it would not be difficult, through a judicious distribution of determined forcers in various parts of a theatre, with Herculean hands and stentorian voices, to achieve that enviable distinction." Possibly the reader, bearing in mind certain ...
— A Book of the Play - Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character • Dutton Cook

... or Principles. Sometimes a speaker who finds himself unable to attack the truth of a proposition, or the arguments cited to support it, changes his tactics from the subject-matter to the opponent himself and delivers an attack upon his character, principles, or former beliefs and statements. This is called the argumentum ad hominem. In no sense is it really argument; ...
— Public Speaking • Clarence Stratton

... Phil varied his tactics by coming to dinner early, just touching Una's hand as she was going into the dining-room, and murmuring in a small voice, "I've been thinking so much of the helpful things you said ...
— The Job - An American Novel • Sinclair Lewis

... give them credit for being a brave military nation. I must confess that I have found more liberality in the French with regard to rendering the merit due to the English troops, than in any other country, and I remember a work which came out in Berlin upon military movements, tactics, etc., and in a parenthesis was this sentence, "It is well known that the English, though excellent sailors, are inferior as troops to those of the other European powers." I should have thought that the Prussians who have fought with us would have known better of what metal English soldiers ...
— How to Enjoy Paris in 1842 • F. Herve

... and beast, and will not hurry himself to get out of the way of either. Walking through the summer fields at twilight, I have come near stepping upon him, and was much the more disturbed of the two. When attacked in the open field he confounds the plans of his enemies by the unheard-of tactics of exposing his rear rather than his front. "Come if you dare," he says, and his attitude makes even the farm-dog pause. After a few encounters of this kind, and if you entertain the usual hostility towards him, your mode of attack will speedily ...
— In the Catskills • John Burroughs

... that not many of them are minded to do anything of the kind, but I feel very sure that women are 'kept in their place' over there. So, as they've been hectored themselves, they've taken up hectoring tactics in retaliation. They demand a share in the government and the lawmaking. They want to have a say about the schools and the courts of justice. If men were fighting for some new form of liberty, we should think them heroic. Why should ...
— The Precipice • Elia Wilkinson Peattie

... seven or eight of the natives hors de combat, I could not guess, but the natives had, apparently with one accord, and as though at a preconcerted signal, suddenly abandoned the fight, and were now fleeing in all directions, while the ape, perhaps taken by surprise at the quick-change tactics, or possibly dazed by the severe blows that he had received, stood staring about him, as though undecided what to do next. But only for a moment, for just then the boat, with good way on, grounded and slid well up on the ...
— The Strange Adventures of Eric Blackburn • Harry Collingwood

... got to be. . . . Things had gone on from bad to worse until I felt that we had reached the end of our rope on the plan of operations we had been pursuing; that we had about played our last card and must change our tactics or lose the game. I now determined upon the adoption of the ...
— Lincoln • Nathaniel Wright Stephenson

... this story," concluded the President, "in order to illustrate the result of the tactics of some of the Union generals who would be sadly 'missed' by themselves, if no one else, if they ever got ...
— Lincoln's Yarns and Stories • Alexander K. McClure

... weather-gage and to deliver a concentrated attack on the rear of the enemy. He took his flagship, the Queen Charlotte (100), through the French line, and was followed by two others. Villaret manoeuvred skilfully, but three of his ships were badly damaged. The result of Howe's admirable tactics during these two days was that four French ships were forced to leave the fleet, and another had to be towed by a consort, and that he won the windward position and so was enabled to force an action. On the 30th there was a thick fog, ...
— The Political History of England - Vol. X. • William Hunt

... waging battle; and, as is necessarily the case in such warfare, more depends on the exertion of individual combatants than on the scientific combinations of masses. But the Zulu tribe have, since the time of Dhaka, the great inventor of military tactics, carried on war in a manner ...
— History of the Negro Race in America From 1619 to 1880. Vol 1 - Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens • George W. Williams

... all, and combined a cool head with a dauntless heart; he loved a battle for its own sake, and was never so much at his ease as when under fire; he was a first-class marksman, and as good a horseman as was to be found on the border. In his campaigns against the Indians he adopted the tactics of his foes, and grafted on them some important improvements of his own. Much of his success was due to his adroit use of scouts or spies. He always chose for these the best woodsmen of the district, men who could endure as much, see as much, and pass through the woods as silently, as the ...
— The Winning of the West, Volume Two - From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1777-1783 • Theodore Roosevelt

... one man, his advance covered by a hot fire from the others, would stoop and run forward to a previously selected place, then a second, third, and so on, each beginning to shoot from the new position, as he got to it. These tactics might successfully be repeated until the last barrier of trees, not more than twenty yards from us, was gained. But now a fellow showed himself a moment too long and I thought I dropped him, because a howl of rage went up ...
— Wings of the Wind • Credo Harris

... Allang, almost out of his mind with fear and indecision, either kept a sullen silence or abused them violently for daring to come with empty hands: they departed very much frightened; only old Doramin kept his countrymen together and pursued his tactics inflexibly. Enthroned in a big chair behind the improvised stockade, he issued his orders in a deep veiled rumble, unmoved, like a deaf ...
— Lord Jim • Joseph Conrad

... waiting. All morning they waited silently and patiently, and now the fatal noon was hardly an hour away and not a Falin nor a Tolliver had been seen. Every Falin had been disarmed of his Winchester as he came in, and as yet no Tolliver had entered the town, for wily old Judd had learned of Hale's tactics and had stayed outside the town for his own keen purpose. As the minutes passed, Hale was beginning to wonder whether, after all, old Judd had come to believe that the odds against him were too great, and had told the truth when he set afoot the rumour that the law should have ...
— The Trail of the Lonesome Pine • John Fox, Jr.

... movements with those of the pursued as accurately and as inexorably as if the two constituted one body, excite feelings of the deepest concern. You mount the fence or rush out of your way to see the issue. The only salvation for the bird is to adopt the tactics of the moth, seeking instantly the cover of some tree, bush or hedge, where its smaller size enables it to move about more rapidly. These pirates are aware of this, and therefore prefer to take their prey by one fell swoop. ...
— Wake-Robin • John Burroughs

... from your Cheniers, Gorsases, Camilles, down to your Marat, down now to your incipient Hebert of the Pere Duchesne; these blow, with fierce weight of argument or quick light banter, for the Rights of man: Durosoys, Royous, Peltiers, Sulleaus, equally with mixed tactics, inclusive, singular to say, of much profane Parody, (See Hist. Parl. vii. 51.) are blowing for Altar and Throne. As for Marat the People's-Friend, his voice is as that of the bullfrog, or bittern by the solitary pools; he, unseen of men, croaks harsh ...
— The French Revolution • Thomas Carlyle

... and then in every impossible place we discovered the inn property cleverly stored away. In the end, we had all the animals hitched up, and the carts themselves full of fodder. Then, by employing the same tactics as before, just outside drivers were discovered and induced to follow us, and now, with a heavy caravan to protect against all comers, we sallied forth. This time we would ...
— Indiscreet Letters From Peking • B. L. Putman Weale

... naval tactics is to maintain formation. Another is to keep moving, at the full speed of the slowest ship, not only to disconcert the enemy's fire, but to obtain and hold the most advantageous position—if possible, ...
— "Where Angels Fear to Tread" and Other Stories of the Sea • Morgan Robertson

... gentleman a wish to be introduced to these doctors, or once prevailed upon him to take them in hand for the purpose of deciding what might be depending upon the result of the investigation; nay, could they even have spurred him on to an exhibition of his tactics, ...
— The English Spy • Bernard Blackmantle

... America, according to Roulin, dogs belonging to a breed that has long been trained to the dangerous chase of the peccary, when taken for the first time into the woods, know the tactics to adopt quite as well as the old dogs, and that without any instruction. Dogs of other races, and unacquainted with the tactics, are killed at once, no matter how strong they may be. The American greyhound, instead of leaping ...
— Life and Habit • Samuel Butler

... studied her with increasing panic. Her tactics baffled him. Until at last he believed he had solved the riddle! She had suddenly waked to the fact, as he had, that she had met her fate. She was drawing back for a moment in fright at the seriousness ...
— The Man in Gray • Thomas Dixon

... of the 'Consternation,'" explained Katherine calmly, little guessing that her words contained a color of truth. "Papa sat next him at the dinner last night, and says he is a jolly old salt and a bachelor. Papa was tremendously taken with him, and they discussed tactics together. Indeed, papa has quite a distinct English accent this morning, and I suspect a little bit of a headache which he tries to conceal ...
— A Rock in the Baltic • Robert Barr

... the President's unfitness to cope with the European masters of diplomacy. Mr. Wilson for years had been playing with European masters of diplomacy as a cat plays with a mouse. To assume that Mr. Wilson was ever deceived by the transparent tactics of Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Clemenceau is to assume the impossible. It would be as easy to conceive of his being tricked and bamboozled by the United ...
— Woodrow Wilson's Administration and Achievements • Frank B. Lord and James William Bryan

... "Were the enemy's tactics offensive?" the king asked. "I should say so!" replied the unsuccessful general. "The blackguard wouldn't come out ...
— The Devil's Dictionary • Ambrose Bierce

... meant to go to sleep, having already slept away half the morning, but the author's tactics in the detective story were so flagrantly unfair, he was so manifestly engaged trying to make trouble for his poor anemic characters instead of trying to solve their perplexities, that presently she tossed the book aside and began dreaming one of her own in which ...
— The Real Adventure • Henry Kitchell Webster

... unavailing. Then Kate saw something happen. The big white man changed his tactics. He desisted quite suddenly from belaboring his victim. He made no attempt to defend himself. He reached out his disengaged hand and added a second grip upon the man's revolver arm. Then, with a terrific ...
— The Law-Breakers • Ridgwell Cullum

... Lethbury felt the hovering sword of destiny. But the blow was suspended. Mr. Budd's chivalry was proof against all his bride's caprices, and his devotion throve on her cruelty. Lethbury feared that he was too faithful, too enduring, and longed to urge him to vary his tactics. Jane presently reappeared with the ring on her finger, and consented to try on the wedding-dress; but her uncertainties, her reactions, were prolonged till the ...
— The Descent of Man and Other Stories • Edith Wharton

... Fair summer. Although the Hull-House squad was organized as the others were with the motto of a clean city, it was very anxious for military drill. This request not only shocked my nonresistant principles, but seemed to afford an opportunity to find a substitute for the military tactics which were used in the boys' brigades everywhere, even in those connected with churches. As the cleaning of the filthy streets and alleys was the ostensible purpose of the Columbian guards, I suggested to the boys that we ...
— Twenty Years At Hull House • Jane Addams

... moderate and modest attitude favourably with her companion's self-confidence. Just at that moment, Hadria's self-confidence was gasping for breath. But her sense of the comic in her companion's tactics survived, and set her off in an apparently inconsequent laugh, which goaded Lady Engleton into retreating further, to an encampment of ...
— The Daughters of Danaus • Mona Caird

... manners is perfectly suited to the tactics of this fellow who has flouted me and insulted an honored guest under my roof this ...
— All-Wool Morrison • Holman Day

... the most surprised at the happening would be hard to say. The former had not meant to hit so hard and he certainly did not intend to knock the squint-eyed youth down. The latter's fall was due, as much as anything, to his senseless, rushing tactics and to the fact that he slipped on the green grass. The bully was up in a moment, however, but he knew better than to try conclusions with Tom again. Instead he stood out ...
— Tom Swift and his Motor-boat - or, The Rivals of Lake Carlopa • Victor Appleton

... questions, that she rarely failed to secure admiration as a woman of singular penetration. She had the gift of being able to listen with apparent interest to a conversation, throwing in the necessary question here and there. When it was necessary to talk, she could change her tactics and make conversation for the shy, ...
— Grey Town - An Australian Story • Gerald Baldwin

... landlord' system as nothing but a legal and civilised continuation of the barbarous policy of extermination by fire and sword which we have seen pursued so ruthlessly in the seventeenth century. It is still the land-war, conducted according to modern tactics, aiming with deadly effect at the same object, the slow but sure destruction of a nuisance called the 'Celtic race.' This may be a delusion on their part; but it is the deep-rooted conviction of priests and people, and hence the utter inadequacy of any enactment which will ...
— The Land-War In Ireland (1870) - A History For The Times • James Godkin

... his troops advanced to the onset to the cry of "Malo." Both chiefs wore the ermines emblazoned on their armour and their standards; and relatives and friends were ranged in battle array against each other. Following the tactics which had been successful at Cressy and Poitiers, Chandos quietly awaited the impetuous attack of the Franco-Breton army, which was unable to shake their antagonists, who returned the charge. The melee was fearful, but the battle was in favour of the English. Charles performed prodigies ...
— Brittany & Its Byways • Fanny Bury Palliser

... Como, in 23 A.D.; perished in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79; celebrated as naturalist; commanded cavalry in Germany at the age of twenty-three; procurator in Spain under Nero; wrote voluminously on military tactics, history, grammar and natural science; his death due to his efforts to observe more closely the eruption; of all his writings only his "Natural History" ...
— The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume II (of X) - Rome • Various

... abbe was summoned to the convent by a special messenger, and had an interview with the Trappist. To his great surprise, he found that the enemy had changed his tactics. He indignantly refused help of any sort, declaring that his vow of poverty and humility would not allow it; and he strongly blamed his dear host, the prior, for daring to suggest, without his consent, an exchange of things eternal ...
— Mauprat • George Sand

... be glad, Captain Beebee, that they had changed their line of tactics there is nothing ...
— Queechy, Volume I • Elizabeth Wetherell

... gained better ground and adopted new and useful tactics. Before, when the Indians noticed a shot from behind a tree, they would rush forward and tomahawk the unlucky provincial before he could reload. But now two men were placed behind each tree, so that when the whooping ...
— Historic Tales, Vol. 1 (of 15) - The Romance of Reality • Charles Morris

... ought to except mathematics and military tactics," he replied, with a glance at Lady Sellingworth half humorous, half affectionate. "But certainly everything connected with the art of living is ...
— December Love • Robert Hichens

... and, by automatic procedure under Parliament Act, these measures would have been added to Statute Book. On outbreak of war political parties, amid plaudits of the Country, patriotically put aside partisan tactics and presented a united ...
— Punch or the London Charivari, September 9, 1914 • Various

... old bull, having kept up his wild movements for nearly an hour, resolved on a change of tactics. He stood ...
— Camp and Trail - A Story of the Maine Woods • Isabel Hornibrook

... turned to the Exec. "As soon as we've lifted, ask Colonel Harris to call on me in my cabin, Gene. Our Marines had better fresh-up their swordsmanship and cavalry tactics if they're to help our Inad Tuaregs ...
— Blind Man's Lantern • Allen Kim Lang

... von Machtholf was asked how he carried on religious intercourse with individuals, he wrote:—'I know no other tactics than first of all to be heartily satisfied with my God, even if He should favour me with no sensible visible blessing in my vocation. Also to remember that preaching and conversation are not so much my work as the outcome of ...
— To My Younger Brethren - Chapters on Pastoral Life and Work • Handley C. G. Moule

... seems, by rather unfair tactics, to have bought off and pensioned both Hart and Kynaston from the King's Company, and so to have greatly weakened his rivals. Of these two actors some short notice may not be uninteresting. Hart had been a Cavalier captain during the Civil Wars, and was a pupil of Robinson, the actor, ...
— Old and New London - Volume I • Walter Thornbury

... assume toward Irene an attitude which, in a sense, was more intimate than even Dave's could be? He turned these matters over quickly in his mind, and congratulated himself upon the wisdom of his tactics. ...
— The Cow Puncher • Robert J. C. Stead



Words linked to "Tactics" :   military science, plan of action, armed services, tactic, tactical, military, Special Weapons and Tactics team, tactician, military machine, war machine, armed forces



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