Demonstration (military)

{{Short description|Diversionary military manoeuvre}}

In military terminology, a demonstration is an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought, made with the aim of deceiving the enemy.{{Cite book|last=Joint Chiefs of Staff|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g-M-Ey2YcYsC&q=demonstration|title=Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms|date=1987|publisher=DIANE Publishing|isbn=978-1-4289-8045-7|pages=151|language=en}}

An example of a demonstration in the American Civil War was at the Battle of Gettysburg where, on July 2, 1863, General Robert E. Lee ordered Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell to stage a demonstration against Culp's Hill on the Union right flank while Lieutenant General James Longstreet launched the main attack against the Union left flank.

A related diversionary maneuver, the feint, involves actual contact with the enemy, unlike a demonstration.