For example, King Frederick the Great of Prussia in his "Military Instruction from the Late King of Prussia to His Generals" devotes special attention to the military coup d'œil, defining it as: [T]he perfection of that art to learn at one just and determined view the benefits and disadvantages of a country where posts are to be placed and how to act upon the annoyance of the enemy.
[3]Napoleon remarked upon it:There is a gift of being able to see at a glance the possibilities offered by the terrain...One can call it the coup d'œil militaire and it is inborn in great generals.
[4]As did Folard and Liddell Hart: The coup d'œil is a gift of God and cannot be acquired; but if professional knowledge does not perfect it, one can only see things imperfectly and in a fog, which is not enough in these matters where it is important to have a clear eye...To look over a battlefield, to take in at the first instance the advantages and disadvantages is the great quality of a general.
[5]A vital faculty of generalship is the power of grasping instantly the picture of the ground and the situation, of relating one to the other, and the local to the general.
[6]The coup d'œil remains important for officers in modern armies for the positioning of infantry, tanks, artillery, and other resources.