Military Greats: Great Generals (2)

Above: Maurits van Nassau

Here is the second ten:

Subotai (c. 1172-1245)
Edward I (1239-1307)
Edward III (1312-1377)
Tamerlane (1336-1405)
Mohammed II (1432-1481)
Gonsalvo de Córdoba (1453-1515)
Babur (1483-1530)
Maurice of Nassau (1567-1625)
Akbar (1542-1605)
Gustav II Adolf (1594-1632)

Military Greats: Great Generals (1)

Above: Genghis Khan and Three of His Four Sons (BNF)

Many years ago, my colleagues and I put together lists of military greats in several categories, e.g., great generals, great land battles, great developments in military technology, etc. We eventually had 14 such lists, varying in length from 15-60 entries. I recently rediscovered my copy of the draft lists (all save one), so I thought I'd present some of them here, starting with the first 10 of the 50 great (land warfare) generals. The list is chronological from earliest times to more recent. Please note: The list is of greats, not "the 50 greatest."

Alexander III the Great (356-323 B.C.)
Hannibal Barca (247-183B.C.)
Scipio Africanus (c. 236-184 B.C.)
Marius, Gaius (157-86 B.C.)
Sulla, Lucius Cornelius (138-78 B.C.)
Caesar, Gaius Julius (100-44 B.C.)
Belisarius (c. 505-565)
Heraclius (c. 575-641)
Khalid ibn al-Walid (592-642)
Genghis Khan (1162-1227)

Contents of Turenne et l'Art Militaire

Among the contributions, I most appreciated Humbert's on Turenne in Italy and Foerster's on Turenne and Montecuccoli. There is quite a lot here, though, and if you're interested in the military epoch and comfortable with the language, you may wish to make the effort to obtain the book.

Zusmarshausen, May 17, 1648

Above: A portion of an engraving depicting the fighting at Zusmarshausen, a sharp rear-guard action on May 17, 1648, that was the last relatively large engagement between field armies in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War. Source: Above: A portion of an engraving depicting the fighting at Zusmarshausen, a sharp rear-guard action on May 17, 1648, that was the last relatively large engagement between field armies in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War. Source: 

Above: A portion of an engraving depicting the fighting at Zusmarshausen, a sharp rear-guard action on May 17, 1648, that was the last relatively large engagement between field armies in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War. Source:

Above: A portion of an engraving depicting the fighting in the sharp rear-guard action at Zusmarshausen, the last relatively large engagement between field armies in Germany during the final phase of the Thirty Years' War. Source:
 

Osten, Carl Henricus de, and Cornelius von dem Busch. Schleunige oder geschwinde Action vnd Treffen, so zwischen der Kayserl. Armee vnter dem Command. des Herrn Gen. vnd Feldmars. Graff Holtzapfell, vnd gegentheils Schwed. vnter dem Command. des Herrn Gen. vnd Feldmars. Wrangels Exell. den 7. May 1648 fürgangen. Theatrum Europaeum, Oder Außführliche Und Warhafftige Beschreibung Aller Und Jeder Denckwürdiger Geschichten, so Sich Hin Und Wieder in Der Welt, Fürnemblich Aber in Europa Und Teutschlanden, Sowol Im Religion- Als Prophan-Wesen, Vom Jahr Christi ... Biß Auff Das Jahr ... Exclus. ... Sich Zugetragen. - Beschrieben Durch Ioannem Philippum Abelinum. [Frankfurt am Main]: [Merian’s Erben], 1700. 

Zusmarshausen was a victory of the Franco-Swedes, commanded by Turenne and Wrangel, over the Imperialists and Bavarians, commanded by Melander and Gronsfeld. The cooperation of Turenne, a Frenchman, and Wrangel, a Swede, is the subject of one of the essays in Turenne et l'art militaire, described in my last post. That essay: Gyllenstierna, Col. E. “Henri de Turenne et Charles Gustave Wrangel: Stratégie et tactique pendant les dernières années de la Guerre de Trente Ans,” written by a Swedish military historian, largely minimizes the very real differences between the two. The late Will Guthrie, in the second volume of his history, provides in my opinion a better, more critical account (of course he was not addressing a colloquium in Paris). But then, victory tends to smooth differences. Moreover, Guthrie's account focuses largely on the battle and stresses by contrast the poisonous relationship of Melander and Gronsfeld, good soldiers who were no match for their gifted adversaries.

Turenne

Colloque international sur Turenne et l'art militaire, and Fernand Louis Gambiez. Actes du Colloque international sur Turenne et l'art militaire: tenu à Paris, École militaire, Amphithéâtre des Vallières, les 2 et 3 octobre 1975. [Paris]: Les Belles lettres, 1978.

Napoleon famously said: “The principles of warfare are those which guided the great captains whose high deeds history has transmitted to us—Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, Eugene of Savoy, Frederick the Great….The history of their eighty-three campaigns would constitute a complete treatise on the art of war; the principles that must be followed in defensive and offensive warfare would flow from it as from a common source.”

My current reading includes this scarce volume, which is a collection of essays delivered in Paris by eminent military scholars to mark the 300th anniversary of the death in battle at Sasbach, Germany, of the great marshal-general. Although like all such collective works the quality of the many contributions vary, there is much here that I've found useful, new (to me), even provocative. And, I am not unfamiliar with the literature on Turenne, which is rather extensive. But, this is the first opportunity that I've had to read this volume, and I'll share my observations in coming posts.

Blue & Gray's Port Republic Issue

The latest issue of Blue & Gray magazine arrived recently. The focus of this issue is apparent from a glance at the cover (above). The principal author and guide to the sites covered is Gary L. Ecelbarger, who (to my mind at least) is the reigning expert on "Stonewall" Jackson's Shenandoah Valley campaign of spring 1862.

Seventh Tennessee Cavalry

Young, John Preston. The Seventh Tennessee Cavalry (Confederate): A History. Dayton, Ohio: Press of Morningside Bookshop, 1976. 

This is a facsimile reprint of the original printing by M. E. Church, Nashville, Tenn., 1890. It is a fairly straightforward narrative history of the service one of Forrest’s regiments (Forrest himself enlisted as a private in Company D of the regiment on June 14, 1861.). This history is chiefly interesting for its accounts of Brice’s Cross Roads and Tupelo, plus the fighting in Hood’s disastrous Franklin and Nashville campaign. There is, besides, a detailed roll, pp. 152-227.