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Military Lessons of the Civil War

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, warfare continues to require a great deal of human energy. Technology and industry, as they have developed, have added layers of national competition above the battlefield, not just in terms of air space, but also with respect to weapons, intelligence, energy, communications and information systems.

The Nine Principles as presented in "On War" by Carl von Clausewitz remain an essential part of any war. In this book, Mark Vogl examines each of these principles as they applied to Civil War battles.

OBJECTIVE

UNITY OF COMMAND

OFFENSE

SIMPLICITY

MASS

MANEUVER

ECONOMY OF FORCE

SURPRISE

SECURITY

From the Introduction...

Nine Principles, generally easy to remember, sometimes hard to apply, need always be present for any planner for any operation.

Most of us were too lazy or overcome with other work to take time to read all of Clauswitz. His writing style did not invite lengthy reading unless a nap was in order.

Putting the Nine Principles in this context allows anyone to relate them to the examples. Simple research avails you to a quick understanding of what happened in each battle and the principle becomes obvious. It is sort of like finding the hidden number in a color blind chart.

History shows that applying all nine simultaneously is difficult and there are countless examples of failures of these principles; generally there are not many examples of successes. I would suggest that most of us, in the heat of things, do not pull out a chart and think if I issue an order will it violate one of the nine. And integrating all nine simultaneous after the commencement of an operation can be quite difficult as the enemy, if they are worth their salt, will attempt to disrupt one or all of them.

These are planning principles - with the emphasis on understanding the mission so artfully stated in the text. These Principles do not succeed on their own; initiative, imagination, training, operational tempo, leadership are other ingredients to success -- Witness Fightin' Joe Hooker at Chancellorsville, the British at Caen. In both instances, the senior leaders seemingly forgot to get out and move their forces forward. The defending Germans considered neither the British nor the Americans as fit soldiers. The Confederates danced about the battlefield like one of Hooker's hookers.

General Cota on the beaches at Normandy motivated his charges aptly pointing out that remaining on the beach was equal to a death certificate. He provided immediate Unity of Command cajoling soldiers with by example - follow me; Objective (get up there and knock out that machine gun) and initiative; Offensive operations (don't stay here - you'll die), employing Simplicity - soldier shoot here, and you, soldier, over there, shoot that way; Massing the scattered troops, Economically - putting small groups together; and Surprise - the soldiers got up and fought against a well-entrenched enemy, outflanking them in many instances. Did Cota go through the checklist of nine - not likely as he was exercising what he knew best - leadership.

Today's American forces are small. What worked in our other wars, overwhelming ground forces, is no longer viable. Our heavy reliance on technology is fantastic but we are forced to ensure greater individual soldier survivability. And yet, preoccupation with the preservation of the fighting force, minimally damaged, can limit operations. Keeping the principles integrated in the training of leaders is very important. We cannot be stifled by fear of loss but need to be motivated with solid training and leadership. Training, as evidenced in Iraq, keeps the Nine at the forefront of planning and understanding the operation.

In the late 1990s, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) proposed adding two more principles. The Chief of Doctrine may have been the impetus to kill any alteration, and frankly, a good deed was done. As General Gordon Sullivan says, "Not all ideas are good ideas. Simplicity counts."

Evo Riguzzi, Major General (Retired)
United States Army

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Introduction

Definitions

Chapter 2 OBJECTIVE

Chapter 3 UNITY OF COMMAND

Chapter 4 OFFENSE

Chapter 5 SIMPLICITY

Chapter 6 MASS

Chapter 7 MANEUVER

Chapter 8 ECONOMY OF FORCE

Chapter 9 SURPRISE