ELi5: In ancient wars, how did the commanders know if they are winning a war while they were in the chaos of the war?
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Do you mean a war or a battle ?
They often didn’t know for some time:
There’s a famous, not so ancient, exemple at the battle of Marengo, during the Italian wars between Revolutionary France and the empire of Austria
Due to shoddy recon, Bonaparte’s army made camp next to the Austrian army without detecting it. Bonaparte sent away detachments to try to locate the Austrians, leaving the camp weaker.
At dawn, the Austrians of general von Melas crossed the river and launched a surprised attack. The French outposts did not immediatly rout and managed to delay the advance some time. Still, by noon, the outnumbered French were retreating everywhere while the Austrians were preparing to pursuit.
***Seeing that he had won,*** Von Melas left the battlefield to this subordinates and sent messages of victory to Rome and Vienna.
But one of the scouting detachments that Bonaparte sent away earlier, led by General Desaix, heard the battles and had marched back towards the sound of the guns.
Desaix said to Bonaparte “Sir, this battle is lost, but there’s time to win another one” and led a charge in the flanks of the pursuing Austrians column.
The surprised Austrians routed and the retreating French turned and counterattacked.**Later that day, Von Melas got a message that his army was destroyed with 50% casualties** and nothing stood between the French army and Milan.The Austrians signed an armistice soon after and evacuated Northern Italy.
for the anecdote: The false news about Napoleon’s defeat, followed by the reveal of his victory is an important part of the story in the opera “Tosca”.
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