In
War, a
meeting engagement is a
battle fought when two opposing armies meet each other on the move. Usually something like this would only result in a small
skirmish, but occasionally escalates to a full
battle. An example of the latter is the
Battle of Gettysburg during the
American Civil War.
Meeting Engagement's are not normally planned by the
Generals of the armies and therefore are somewhat out of their control.
In many ways the goal, of a General is to get his army into as best a possible position to fight the enemy. His most important decisions tend to come before the first bullet flies. Once the fighting starts he has much less control. In a meeting engagement the General does not even have control over the starting positions. Meeting engagements often occur while the opposing Generals are trying to complete a plan, and may completely wreck it.