The kinds of military leaders

I have said that, after considering the good faith pledged by the highest authorities, I must treat of that which subordinate officials pledge to one another, or to others. Either the subordinate officials are next to the highest authority, such as have properly been called generals;…or they are officers of lower rank.

Whether an agreement made by military leaders is binding on the supreme authority

In dealing with the promises of military leaders, the subject must be viewed under two aspects; for the question is raised whether such promises impose a binding obligation on the supreme authority, or only on the leaders themselves. The first point should be settled in accordance with the principle which I have elsewhere stated, that an obligation is imposed on us…by the person whom we have chosen as agent to execute our wishes, whether our wishes have been stated in express terms or are inferred from the nature of the responsibility. For the one who grants a power grants the means necessary for the exercise of that power, so far as he possesses them.…In two ways, therefore, subordinate authorities will be able to bind the supreme authority by their actions: either by doing that which is thought on probable grounds to lie within their field of duty; or [alternatively by acting] even outside their field of duty, in accordance with a special responsibility, known to the public, or to those whose interest in the matter is at stake.