Professional Documents
Culture Documents
commanders
R. G. GRANT
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CONTENTS
foreword
heroes of the
ancient world
12
14
16
18
24
Ancient Asia
ancient asian generals
64
68
72
royal crusaders
frederick barbarossa
muslim warriors
the iberian reconquista
charlemagne
vikings and normans
26
28
32
34
42
44
46
Asian Conflicts
nomadic warriors
timur
japanese samurai
88
90
94
96
98
104
1450 1700
48
knights and
nomads
ottoman leaders
mogul leaders
500 1450
japanese daimyo
china and korea
byzantine commanders
arab and turkish commanders
the christian west
86
masters of
innovation
74
76
80
84
54
56
58
62
110
112
114
116
118
122
the Early
Gunpowder Era
conquests of the americas
hernn corts
the italian wars
the dutch revolt
spanish sea battles
124
126
128
132
136
138
140
142
144
148
154
156
rulers and
revolutionaries
French Revolutionary
and Napoleonic Wars
generals of the french revolution
napoleon bonaparte
napoleons marshals
napoleons adversaries
duke of wellington
Naval Warfare
18th-century admirals
horatio nelson
194
196
198
204
206
208
212
270
naval commanders
272
modern
commanders
1914 present
214
216
World War I
War in the Americas
rebels in the americas
us commanders 18001850
222
224
british commanders
french commanders
other allied commanders
german commanders
naval commanders of wwi
A World in Turmoil
rebels and revolutionaries
interwar military strongmen
1850 1914
World War II
Europe in the Age of Louis XIV
generals of louis xivs wars
duke of marlborough
royal commanders
18th-Century Warfare
european army commanders
frederick the great
colonial wars
the american revolutionary war
george washington
warfare in asia
162
164
166
170
172
174
176
180
184
186
192
European Wars
the crimean war
nation-building wars
helmuth von moltke the elder
230
232
234
238
242
244
246
250
252
german generals
soviet commanders
allied commanders
bernard montgomery
us army commanders in europe
george s. patton
us commanders in the pacific
air commanders
naval commanders of wwii
280
220
agents
of empire
1660 1850
Naval Warfare
in the Age of Steam
256
258
262
264
268
282
284
288
290
294
296
298
302
304
306
310
314
316
320
322
328
330
334
336
post-war commanders
revolutionary fighters
vo nguyen giap
commanders in the israeli wars
post-cold war commanders
338
340
342
346
348
352
FOREWORD
Military commanders have been a diverse collection of individuals and their job has altered radically over
time through the impact of technological innovation and social and political changes. The men profiled
in this book range from all-conquering warriors to cautious dedicated career soldiers, from the rulers of
kingdoms and empires to ordinary citizens thrust by circumstance into the forefront of war. Some were
men who delighted in combat and slaughter, while others were often sickened by their own trade and
would agree with the Duke of Wellington that next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained.
Military command has always been, in all historical situations, a complex task. It is true that, during
the American Civil War, President Lincoln described General Grant as indispensable simply because
he fights. But this does not mean the conduct of battles is the sole essence of generalship. The military
commander has to look to the morale and training of his soldiers, and see that supplies are provided for
the men, their animals, and their machines. He must gather and sift intelligence before preparing coherent
plans and clearly communicating them to his subordinates. If he is cunning, he will ensure that battle is
only joined when his army has the advantage a general who repeatedly wins close-run victories against
the odds is not doing his job properly. Bold risk-taking fighters, from Alexander the Great through
Richard the Lionheart to George Patton, have always caught the eye, but some of the most successful
commanders have been of an altogether different temperament the intellectual and cultivated Moltke
the Elder, for example, or the cool and diplomatic Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Writing in the 1960s, Israeli general Moshe Dayan expressed nostalgia for the good old days when, at
the approach of battle, the commander got on his white horse, someone blew the trumpet, and off he
charged towards the enemy. Certainly it was possible for Alexander the Great to lead from the front,
charging the enemy at the head of his Companion cavalry. Even a more level-headed commander
of the ancient world, such as Julius Caesar, would have been close enough to the action to shout
encouragement to his fighting men. A location just behind the fighting zone remained the normal
battle position for a commander into the 19th century, when it was still just possible to survey a whole
battlefield with the aid of a telescope. But the increasing size of armies, the growing power and range
of weapons, and new means of communication, such as telephone and radio, imposed remoteness on
the field commander. By the early 20th century the German general, Alfred von Schlieffen, could foresee
a future in which the warlord will be located in the rear, in a house with spacious offices seated in
a comfortable chair, in front of a large desk. He could not have predicted that by 2001 it would be possible
for an American general to command operations in Afghanistan from a headquarters in Florida.
The managerial complexity of modern military command, regretted by General Dayan, has often made it
difficult to identify the individual to be credited as the commander of a particular operation. There was
no doubt whatsoever that Hannibal led the Punic army campaigning in Italy in the third century BCE, or
Nelson the British fleet at Trafalgar in 1805. But at Passchendaele in World War I, Canadian General
Arthur Currie held command under British General Herbert Plumer, who himself was under Field
Marshal Douglas Haig. In selecting entries for this book, an attempt has been made to identify hands-on
commanders of armies and fleets, excluding both those too bureaucratically high-placed for field
command and those too lowly to qualify. Military commanders who were also political leaders the
majority, in fact, up to the 18th century are included, but political leaders who interfered in military
operations, without being military commanders in their own right, are not.
Respect for military commanders as role models has declined in recent times. Heroes such as Alexander
the Great and Julius Caesar, once universally admired, have been the subject of revisionist biographies
focusing on their massacres and lust for power.Yet the men surveyed in this book showed many and varied
human qualities, including moral fortitude, decisiveness, resilience under pressure, physical courage, humane
concern for the welfare of their soldiers, and the ability to shoulder a great burden of responsibility. Our
societies may yet find that, in the future, they need the martial virtues more than they expect.
R. G. Grant
1500
BCE
500
CE
HEROES OF THE
ANCIENT WORLD
10
H E R OE S OF T H E ANC I EN T W ORL D
Macedon, Hannibal, Julius Caesar have provided lessons in strategy and tactics
to be studied and admired through millennia. At a time when no army enjoyed
a technological advantage, the human factor in warfare was paramount. It was
the commanders ability to provide leadership, maintain morale among his troops, and seize
the initiative on the battlefield that determined the narrow margin between defeat and victory.
often aspired to imitate this model. Egyptian orders, but these had to be simple and
prearranged. Devolution of command was
pharaohs had themselves depicted as solo
essential. Generals of the Roman empire
charioteers slaughtering their enemies with
benefited from experienced subordinates
bow or mace. But in practice large armies
at lower levels of command for example,
called for more detached management. The
centurions who could be relied upon
rulers war chariot was more likely
to execute plans faithfully and show
to function as a command
initiative if required.
platform behind the front
line, screened off from
FRESH CHALLENGES
attack by an entourage
Although commanders in the
of elite troops.
ancient world were aware of
The technology
the importance of logistics,
available for command
out of necessity armies often
and control was basic
lived off the land when on
and largely unchanging.
campaign. A commander who
Communication was
waged campaigns over long
by messenger on foot
distances had to overcome the
or horse. The Greek
obstacles presented by poor
author Xenophon noted Sumerian helmet
This helmet dates from c.2600 BCE and
or non-existent road systems.
that a Persian ruler
was found in excavations of the ancient
Some empires, including
generally positioned
Mesopotamian city of Ur (in present-day
Iraq).
Forged
from
gold
sheet,
the
ornate
Assyria, Persia, and Rome, built
himself in the centre of
impressive networks of roads
the line of battle because curving relief mimics hair.
and bridges. From 500 bce to
if he has occasion to
500 ce commanders often faced the further
dispatch any necessary rider along the lines,
challenge of coping with warfare that was
his troops will receive the message in half
asymmetrical that is, fought between
the time. Signals by trumpets or by flags
armies and cultures with sharply different
could deliver additional basic battlefield
11
1500
BCE
500
CE
1500 100 b CE
13
ROM AT LEAST 3,000 years ago western Asia and the eastern
500
CE
Hoplite headgear
The Corinthian helmet, named after the
Greek city-state of Corinth, was worn by
hoplites who valued maximum protection
for head and face more than all-round vision.
BCE
NEW EMPIRES
After defeating the Persians, the Greeks
fell to fighting one another in a series of
wars that chiefly set the naval power of
Athens against the land power of Sparta.
Over time these conflicts fatally weakened
1500
Greek hoplites
Ancient Greek infantry, known as hoplites
(from hoplon, the type of shield they used),
fought in a tight phalanx formation, stabbing
overarm with their spears from behind a wall
of shields. This impenetrable formation left
little scope for variety in battleeld tactics.
14
LEADERS OF THE
ANCIENT EMPIRES
THE RULERS OF THE ANCIENT EMPIRES of
Extending borders
This statue of Ramesses II
was carved at Abu Simbel in
Nubia, a region in which he
campaigned to extend
Egypts southern borders.
RAMESSES II
EGYPTIAN PHARAOH
BORN 1303 BCE
DIED 1213 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS Nubian Campaign,
Syrian Campaigns
KEY BATTLE Kadesh c.1275 BCE
TIGLATHPILESER III
KING OF ASSYRIA
BORN Unknown
DIED 727 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS Wars founding the
Neo-Assyrian Empire
KEY BATTLES Siege of Arpad 743740 BCE,
Siege of Babylon 734 BCE
15
KEY TROOPS
PERSIAN
IMMORTALS
According to the chronicles of later Greek
historians, the Persian Immortals were
elite troops who provided an imperial
bodyguard for Cyrus and his successors.
Although the Persians did not leave records
of their military structure, it was thought
that the Immortals always numbered
10,000 troops if one man died he was
immediately replaced, thus sustaining the
illusion of immortality.
1500
BCE
the Great
KEY BATTLES Issus 333 BCE, Gaugamela
TAKING ON ALEXANDER
CE
PERSIAN KING
BORN Unknown
DIED 330 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS War against Alexander
500
DARIUS III
16
THEMISTOCLES
ATHENIAN COMMANDER
BORN 524 BCE
DIED 459 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS First and Second Greco-
Persian Wars
Voting tablet
An Athenian citizen scrawled Themistocless
name on this piece of pottery, voting for his
exile from the city of Athens.
KEY BATTLE
SALAMIS
CAMPAIGN Greco-Persian War
DATE September 480 BCE
LOCATION Straits of Salamis, Greece
EPAMINONDAS
THEBAN GENERAL
BORN 410 BCE
DIED 362 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS The Theban Wars
KEY BATTLES Leuctra 371 BCE, Mantinea
362 BCE
17
PHILIP II OF MACEDON
KING OF MACEDON
BORN 382 BCE
DIED 336 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS Third Sacred War,
PYRRHUS OF EPIRUS
KING OF EPIRUS AND MILITARY
ADVENTURER
BORN 319 BCE
DIED 272 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS Pyrrhic War
KEY BATTLES Asculum 279 BCE, Beneventum
275 BCE
SEEKING REVENGE
AN IGNOBLE END
CE
War elephant
The Greeks discovered the value of war
elephants through their encounters with
the armies of Persia and northern India.
500
BCE
1500
Worthy leader
Hannibal is said to have described Pyrrhus
of Epirus as second only to Alexander
the Great as a military
commander.
18
TIMELINE
340 BCE Aged 16, Alexander rules
Invasion of India
KEY BATTLES Chaeronea 338 BCE,
A city founded
The building of the Egyptian city of Alexandria,
fancifully depicted here by a Renaissance artist,
was decreed by Alexander in 331 BCE. He founded
16 cities bearing his name, most of them in Asia.
Godlike features
An idealized marble portrait of Alexander
depicts him as the god Apollo. This
Roman copy is based on a Greek original,
dating from around the time of his death.
19
20
ALEXANDER:
LEADER AND LEGEND
21
1500
BCE
500
CE
22
ALEXANDER VS DARIUS
AFTER HIS HUMILIATING DEFEAT at Issus by
Macedonian triumph
A 17th-century painting shows Darius, standing
terried in his chariot, as Alexanders troops
hack their way towards him.
ALEXANDER
ALEXANDER
Evening Alexander
orders his army to equip
for battle and marches
from the camp towards
the enemys position
ALEXANDER TRIUMPHS
DARIUS
TIMELINE
30 SEPT
23
Terried Persians,
among them Darius,
ee the battleeld
Alexander and
the Companions
surge through gap
in Persian line
DARIUS
PARMENION
KEY
Macedonian cavalry
Macedonian infantry
Macedonian camp
Persian cavalry
Persian infantry
Persian chariots
Macedonian
phalanx advances in
oblique formation
Companions
Uncertain: probably
near Arbela in the
Kurdistan region
of northern Iraq
CAMPAIGN Conquest of Persian Empire
DATE 1 October 331 BCE
FORCES Strengths disputed by historians;
Persians: perhaps 95,000, about half cavalry;
Macedonians: perhaps 50,000, including
about 8,000 cavalry
CASUALTIES Persians: up to 50,000 dead;
Macedonians: less than 1,000 dead
ALEXANDER
Persian cavalry
tries to outank
Alexanders right wing
0 km 0.25
0 miles
DARIUS
0.5
0.25
0.5
Mid-morning The
Macedonians march down
into the plain. Alexander leads
from the right, pressing further
to the right as he advances
Alexander prepares
to give chase to Darius,
but pulls back to aid his
centre and left, which
are in difculties
1 OCT
CE
500
BCE
1500
500
BCE
500
CE
ANCIENT ROME
AND ITS ENEMIES
WITH THE ROMANS, THE INCENTIVES TO VALOUR WERE
THEIR HABIT OF VICTORY AND INEXPERIENCE OF DEFEAT,
THEIR CONTINUAL CAMPAIGNS AND PERPETUAL TR AINING,
THE MAGNITUDE OF THEIR EMPIRE.
JOSEPHUS, THE JEWISH WAR, C.75 CE
25
CE
Roman sword
At the height of Romes power in the 1st
and 2nd centuries CE Roman centurions
used short swords like this gladius,
designed for stabbing in close combat.
500
ROMES OPPONENTS
The enemies the Romans encountered when
not fighting one another were varied indeed.
In the 3rd century bce the Carthaginians, based
in north Africa, challenged the rising Roman
Republic in the Punic Wars, a conflict that began
as a contest for control of Sicily and ended as
a fight to the death between two civilizations.
Extending its power next into the eastern
Mediterranean, Rome proved its superiority
to the states that had succeeded to Alexanders
empire, but was often beaten by the armies of
western Asia Parthians and Sassanids which
depended chiefly on mounted warriors. In
western Europe Celtic and Germanic tribes
put up stiff resistance to Rome, inflicting the
occasional severe defeat. Mounting incursions
by migrating Goths,Vandals, and the fierce Huns
eventually put the western Roman empire
under impossible strain.
BCE
Fighting on horseback
Defeats at the hands of Hannibals cavalry led
Rome to strengthen its own mounted troops.
By the 2nd century BCE its cavalry force was
made up of a mixture of wealthier Roman
citizens (equites, or knights), contingents
from Romes allies, and mercenaries.
1500
26
COMMANDERS OF
THE PUNIC WARS
IN THE 2ND CENTURY BCE the Roman
HAMILCAR BARCA
CARTHAGINIAN GENERAL
BORN c.270 BCE
DIED 228 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS First Punic War,
Mercenary War
KEY BATTLES Siege of Drepanum 244241 BCE,
FABIUS CUNCTATOR
ROMAN CONSUL AND DICTATOR
BORN c.280 BCE
DIED 203 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS Second Punic War
KEY BATTLE Tarentum 209 BCE
27
SCIPIO AFRICANUS
ROMAN GENERAL
BORN 236 BCE
DIED 183 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS Second Punic War
KEY BATTLES Ilipa 206 BCE, Zama 202 BCE
ZAMA
CAMPAIGN Second Punic War
DATE 202 BCE
LOCATION northern Tunisia
VICTORY AT ZAMA
CE
500
BCE
1500
Scipios demise
Although one of the greatest Roman
military commanders, Scipio Africanus
was poorly rewarded for his services
to the empire, forced into retirement in
Campania by his political enemies after
accusations of corruption.
KEY BATTLE
28
HANNIBAL
CARTHAGINIAN GENERAL
BORN 247 BCE
DIED 182 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS Second Punic War
KEY BATTLES Cannae 216 BCE, Zama 202 BCE
INVADING ITALY
HANNIBALS ARMY
Hannibals force in Italy was an amalgam
of mercenaries from Carthages north
African allies or tributary states and from
Spain. Each group had its speciality, whether
sturdy Libyan foot soldiers, nimble Numidian
horsemen armed with javelin and spear,
slingshot skirmishers from the Balearic
Islands, or Spanish hill tribesmen with
distinctive short swords. This multicultural
array was united by a common allegiance to
its charismatic general, who was supported
by a number of lieutenants drawn from
the Carthaginian aristocracy, including
Hannibals own relatives.
Punic armour
This gold Carthaginian breastplate,
dating from around the time of Hannibal,
would have been worn by a senior
commander for ceremonial display.
29
TIMELINE
237
HANNIBAL
BUST FOUND
AT CAPUA
203
202
195
190
182
CE
Hannibal seizes
the city of
Tarentum,
although a
Roman garrison
holds out in
its citadel.
500
FRUITLESS VICTORY
212 BCE
BCE
a catastrophic defeat at
Cannae (2 August), but
Hannibal chooses not
to march on Rome,
instead establishing
himself at Capua.
1500
30
HANNIBAL AT
CANNAE
LOCATION
Carthaginian invasion
of Italy, during the
Second Punic Wars (218201 BCE)
DATE 2 August 216 BCE
FORCES Carthaginians c.56,000;
Romans c.86,000
CASUALTIES Carthaginians c.6,0008,000
killed; Romans c.48,000 killed, c.20,000
taken prisoner
0 km
Audus
0 miles
PAULUS
The cavalry
of the Roman
allies is driven
from the eld
Carthaginian infantry
advances to close the trap
around the Romans
MARHABAL
HASDRUBAL
HANNIBAL
us
Aud
Hannibals infantry
Hannibals cavalry
Hannibals camp
Roman infantry
Roman cavalry
Roman camp
1
0.5
VARRO
KEY
0.5
Cannae
Hannibals infantry
adopts a crescent formation,
drawing the Roman infantry
into the centre
In the centre
Hannibal orders his
infantry to execute
a controlled retreat
31
1500
BCE
500
CE
32
MARIUS
ROMAN GENERAL
BORN 157 BCE
DIED 87 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS Jugurthine War, War against
POMPEY
ROMAN GENERAL
BORN 106 BCE
DIED 48 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS Spartacuss War, Third
Pharsalus 48 BCE
of the great
weight of
their packs.
In the Social
War (9188 bce)
against Romes
rebellious Italian
allies, Marius was
eclipsed by the rising
star Sulla. At the wars
Disciplinarian
Marius brought rigour
to the Roman army and
campaigned relentlessly
in defence of Rome.
Presentation to Caesar
After Pompey was assassinated in
Egypt in 48 BCE, the perpetrators
presented his severed head and his
seal to Julius Caesar (shown here
wearing Egyptian dress). In
response Caesar had the
assassins executed.
33
AUGUSTUS
ROMAN EMPEROR
BORN 23 September 63 BCE
DIED 19 August 14 CE
KEY CONFLICTS Roman Civil Wars
KEY BATTLES Philippi 42 BCE, Actium 31 BCE
A NEW TITLE
A SUPERIOR FLEET
KEY BATTLE
ACTIUM
CAMPAIGN Roman Civil War
DATE 2 September 31 BCE
LOCATION Ionian Sea, off Western Greece
CE
Actium 31 BCE
500
BCE
AGRIPPA
1500
34
R OME FR OM R EP U BL IC TO EM PI RE
Glorious Caesar
This 18th-century neoclassical statue of
Caesar reects his status at that time as an
inspiration to European kings and generals.
He is crowned with a laurel wreath, symbol
of military triumph.
JULIUS CAESAR
ROMAN GENERAL AND DICTATOR
BORN 13 July 100 BCE
DIED 15 March 44 BCE
KEY CONFLICTS Gallic Wars, Roman Civil War
KEY BATTLES Alesia 52 BCE, Pharsalus 48 BCE,
KEY BATTLE
PHARSALUS
CAMPAIGN Roman Civil War
DATE 9 August 48 BCE
LOCATION Thessaly, Greece
35
TIMELINE
80 BCE Serving with the Roman army in
46
45
44
CE
54
500
BCE
1500
protected by a
large fleet. It was an
intelligent move that forced Caesar
to take an outrageous risk to recover
the momentum of his campaign. In
January 48 BCE he ferried part of his
army across to Macedonia. He could
not rely on supplying or reinforcing
his men by sea against an enemy
with naval superiority. Pinned down
by six months of attritional warfare
outside the port of Dyrrachium,
Caesars legions were weakened by
intermittent fighting, food shortages,
and disease. In July Caesar succeeded
in disengaging
to march off into
northern Greece, but
his situation looked
desperate. Instead of
maintaining a policy
of attrition, however, Pompey
allowed himself to be tempted into a
decisive pitched battle at Pharsalus in
Thessaly, where Caesars superior
generalship carried the day. Even
Pompeys subsequent death in
Egypt did not bring an end to
either the civil war or Caesar's
campaigning. Caesar fought in
Egypt to aid Queen Cleopatra,
who became his mistress, in her
struggle to take the throne. He
crushed Pharnaces, king of Pontus,
at the battle of Zela, which gave rise
to his famous boast: Veni,Vidi,Vici
(I came, I saw, I conquered). In the
north African expedition against the
Pompeians in 46 BCE, a desperate
struggle to establish an army on land
ended in triumph at the battle of
Thapsus. Caesar regarded his final
victory over Pompeys son at Munda
in Spain in 45 BCE as possibly the
hardest-won of his career.
36
R OME FR OM R EP U BL IC TO EM PI RE
CAESAR:
DARING TACTICIAN
He inspired an incredible
loyalty and affection in
his troops.
HEROES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
37
the battle
of the Sabis in which Caesar routed
the Belgian Nervii tribe on the
banks of the River Sambre in 57 BCE.
While making camp, the legions
were surprised and nearly overrun
by tribal warriors attacking out of
the forest. Caesar and his legion
commanders rallied their men to
CE
500
BCE
1500
38
BCE
Proud surrender
According to Plutarch, the defeated
Vercingetorix emerged from Alesia on
horseback, wearing his most splendid armour
and with his horse richly caparisoned. Julius
Caesar accepted the surrender of the Gauls
while seated in front of his camp.
JULIUS CAESAR
CAESAR
SURPRISE ASSAULT
52 BCE
VERCINGETORIX
TIMELINE
Vercingetorix executes a
collective decision to remove
women, children, and the
elderly from the town
29 SEPT
30 SEPT1 OCT
39
Ra
bu
Vercingetorix leads
assault from inside the
fortications
Cavalry
Gallic army
retreats in confusion,
pursued by the
Romans. Many are
killed in the rout
Near Dijon,
east-central France
CAMPAIGN Julius
Caesars Gallic Wars
t in
CAESAR
Cavalry
Command
camp
VERCINGETORIX
Ose
Alesia
Cavalry
ll
Ga
ic
Cavalry
ef
er
Os
li
re
ain
nne
Bre
m
ar
KEY
Roman siegeworks
Roman fort/watchtower
Roman camp
Gallic forces
Gallic fortications
Roman troops
complete second set of
fortications to counter
the Gallic relief force
Caesar builds
fortications
around hilltop
town of Alesia
0 km
VERCINGETORIX
efforts, however, and he prepared his
men for an assault on the Roman
fortifications by making ladders and
grappling hooks. But the besieged
Gauls had no effective means of
communicating with their relief
force commanders. When warriors
outside the fortifications mounted
a night attack,Vercingetorixs men
inside the siege lines were as taken
by surprise as the Romans.
0 miles
SHARED LIBERTY.
VERCINGETORIX, QUOTED IN BOOK VII OF CAESARS COMMENTARIES ON THE GALLIC WARS, C.50 BCE
2 OCT
CE
500
BCE
1500
Emperor in action
Trajans Column was built in 113 CE to
celebrate the emperors conquest of Dacia.
Sculpted scenes show Trajan leading troops
and supervising legionaries and auxiliaries.
42
TITUS
ROMAN GENERAL AND EMPEROR
BORN 30 December 39 CE
DIED 13 September 81 CE
KEY CONFLICTS Roman Civil War,
Jewish Revolt
TRAJAN
ROMAN EMPEROR
BORN 18 September 53 CE
DIED 8 August 117 CE
KEY CONFLICTS Dacian Wars,
Parthian Campaign
KEY BATTLES Sarmizegetusa 106 CE,
Ctesiphon 116 CE
Enemy weapon
Trajans enemies would have favoured
double-edged, ring-pommelled daggers
like this Sarmatian weapon. The
wooden scabbard has oxidized, but
the decorative gold mountings and
semi-precious stones have survived.
43
JULIAN
ROMAN EMPEROR
BORN c.332
DIED 26 June 363
KEY CONFLICTS Defence of the Rhine,
Invasion of Persia
KEY BATTLES Argentoratum 357,
Ctesiphon 363
Pagan ruler
Emperor Julian is known as the Apostate
because during his short reign he sought to
de-Christianize the Roman empire, reversing
Emperor Constantines religious policy.
STILICHO
ROMAN GENERAL
BORN c.358
DIED 22 August 408
KEY CONFLICTS Roman Civil War, Roman-
Visigothic War
KEY BATTLES Frigidus 394, Pollentia 402
CE
500
BCE
1500
44
TRIBAL WARRIORS
THE INHABITANTS OF NORTH-WESTERN
VERCINGETORIX
A COSTLY ERROR
Gallic metalwork
Found at the site of the ancient Gallic town
of Alesia, this bronze helmet might have been
worn by one of Vercingetorixs warriors. The
Gauls were expert at metalworking.
ARMINIUS
GERMANIC TRIBAL CHIEF
BORN c.18 BCE
DIED 21 CE
KEY CONFLICTS Roman-Germanic War
KEY BATTLES Teutoburg Forest 9 CE,
River Weser 16 CE
45
BOUDICCA
CELTIC TRIBAL LEADER
BORN Unknown
DIED c.61 CE
KEY CONFLICTS Revolt of the Iceni
KEY BATTLES Camulodunum (Colchester)
CHLONS
CAMPAIGN Hunnic invasions
DATE 451 CE
LOCATION Northeastern France
500
BCE
CE
Papal triumph
According to Christian legend, Attilas
Hunnic hordes were turned back at the
River Mincius in northern Italy by Pope
Leo I armed only with the Cross.
KEY BATTLE
1500
350
BCE
400
CE
ANCIENT ASIA
THERE WERE IN HIS ARMY HEROES BEARING ARMOUR, WITH
DIVERSE BANNERS AND CHARIOTS AND THE CREATURES OF
THE EARTH FELT OPPRESSED AND THE EARTH TREMBLED
UNDER THE TREAD OF HIS TROOPS.
THE MAHABHARATA EPIC, DESCRIBING THE ARMY OF SALYA, KING OF MADRA, 400 BCE 200 CE
47
ancient Asia: the nomadic tribes of the steppe were the worlds
most accomplished warriors on horseback, while the settled
civilizations China, northern India, and Iran at times
500
CE
CAVALRY EMPIRES
As the centre of military power from the
time of the Achaemenid Persian empire,
Iran was heavily influenced by the
central Asian nomadic tradition of
warfare. Its armies tended to rely on
cavalry armed primarily with bows
serving as their shock troops.
The Parthian Arsacid dynasty ruled
Iran for more than four centuries from
247 bce. It extended its rule over a vast
area that included Mesopotamia and
parts of central Asia. The Parthians
were constantly at war, subduing
various vassal states and resisting the
pressure of infantry-based Roman
armies along their western borders
with considerable success. The
Sasanians displaced them in 224 ce.
Fighting Rome and its successor,
Byzantium, in the west and
campaigning deep into central Asia,
the Sasanians ruled until 651 when
the rise of Islam ushered in a new
era in western and central Asia.
BCE
1500
48
BIOGRAPHY
SUNTZU
The Art of War is the most famous ancient
treatise on strategy and tactics. It may have
been written by Sun-tzu around the 5th
century BCE, during Chinas Warring States
Period. Nothing is known of Sun-tzus life,
but his writings suggest a personal
knowledge of command in war. His precepts
call for a subtle indirect strategy designed
to break the enemys resistance without
ghting. He advises that the correct use
of deception, espionage, and disinformation
will allow an army to avoid strength and
strike weakness. Further, a commander
should be serene and inscrutable, not
only exercising leadership through his moral
and spiritual qualities, but also through
more practical skills, such as ensuring that
his soldiers are well cared for and are
appropriately rewarded for their efforts.
49
A NCIENT A SIA
SHAPUR II
CE
EXCELLENT MORALE
500
ASHOKA
BCE
1500
CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA
500 1450
KNIGHTS
AND NOMADS
52
K N IG H TS AN D NOM ADS
HE WARRIOR ETHOS, THE BELIEF THAT WARFARE was the rightful occupation
and military adventures, from the crusades of Christian Europe waged by knights to the
conquests of nomadic Mongol horsemen, gave scope to the energies of gifted leaders.
The trebuchet
This medieval siege
engine was used for
slinging projectiles
at, or over, enemy castle
walls. Weighing as much
as 140kg (350lb), it
wrought much havoc.
53
K NIGHTS A ND NOM A DS
500 1450
CAMPAIGNS OF CONQUEST
Campaigning involved leading troops across
unmapped landscapes into encounters with
enemies whose position and strength were
mostly unknown.Yet great feats of conquest
were achieved and campaigns of some
complexity sustained over long distances.
The explosion of Arab armies across Asia
and north Africa and into southern Europe
in the 7th and 8th centuries, inspired by the
new militant faith of Islam, was a remarkable
exercise in the reshaping of the world by
military means. The crusades that sent bodies
500 1095
55
Precious weapon
For the Vikings, a sword was a mark of status as
well as a much-prized weapon. This example from
1000 CE in York, England, has a rounded pommel
and double-edged blade attached to a crossguard.
500 1450
Anglo-Saxon warrior
This decorative panel shows a horseman
wielding a spear and trampling an enemy
underfoot. It appears on a replica of a
helmet found at the Sutton Hoo ship-burial
site in eastern England. This rare and nely
wrought piece dates from the 7th century.
56
BYZANTINE COMMANDERS
WITH ITS CAPITAL AT CONSTANTINOPLE,
BELISARIUS
BYZANTINE GENERAL
BORN c.500
DIED 565
KEY CONFLICTS Byzantine-Sasanian Wars,
JUSTINIAN
Ruling the Byzantine empire from 527,
Justinian aspired to recover imperial control
of the western Mediterranean, including
Italy and Rome itself. Despite the efforts of
his generals Belisarius and Narses, this goal
was beyond his resources and his empire
was in decline by the time of his death in
565. Justinian is also remembered for his
code of laws, which are the basis of civil law
in many modern legal systems.
Blind Belisarius
An 18th-century depiction
of the Byzantine general
reects the legend that
Belisarius was blinded
and poor in old age.
57
EA R LY MIDDLE A GES
NARSES
BYZANTINE GENERAL
BORN 478
DIED 573
KEY CONFLICTS Gothic War
KEY BATTLES Taginae 552, Vesuvius 553,
Volturnus 554
HERACLIUS
BYZANTINE EMPEROR
BORN c.575
DIED 11 February 641
KEY CONFLICTS Byzantine-Persian Wars,
Byzantine-Arab Wars
KEY BATTLES Nineveh 627, Yarmuk 636
500 1450
Ivory warriors
A Byzantine army sets off on campaign in this
6th-century relief. Its foot soldiers carry spears
and shields, its horsemen lances.
58
Yarmuk 636
59
EA R LY MIDDLE A GES
MAHMUD OF GHAZNI
TURKISH SULTAN
BORN 2 November 971
DIED 30 April 1030
KEY CONFLICTS Campaigns in Central Asia
and India
KEY BATTLES Peshawar 1001
Turkish warriors
Mahmud of Ghazni and his followers were
Turks, steppe nomads who had originated in
central Asia and moved south into Afghanistan.
Fighting on horseback with lance and bow,
they were fast-moving and ruthless.
KEY BATTLE
MANZIKERT
CAMPAIGN Byzantine-Seljuk Wars
DATE 26 August 1071
LOCATION Manzikert (Malazgirt), eastern Anatolia
500 1450
ALP ARSLAN
62
CHARLES MARTEL
FRANKISH MAYOR OF THE PALACE
BORN c.688
DIED 22 October 741
KEY CONFLICTS Frankish civil wars, war
KEY BATTLE
POITIERS
CAMPAIGN Frankish-Muslim War
DATE 25 October 732
LOCATION North of Poiters, France
63
EA R LY MIDDLE A GES
OTTO I
FRANKISH KING AND EMPEROR
BORN 23 November 912
DIED 7 May 973
KEY CONFLICTS Magyar invasions
KEY BATTLE Lechfeld 955
difficult. He could
not match Danish
sea power, so the
south coast was
open to attack by
their longships. On
land his army, the fyrd,
was a part-time force
assembled by regional lords
at the kings command. This
meant the Danish army
could advance deep into
Wessex before Alfreds forces
could gather. Even so, in 876,
a Danish invasion was resisted.
The Danes seized Wareham and
Exeter, but each time were
evicted after Alfred arrived and
besieged them. Meanwhile, their
navy was scattered by a storm. The
respite proved brief, however.
Striking in the dead of winter, in
January 878, the Danish King
Guthrum surprised Alfred at his royal
camp at Chippenham. With only his
personal followers to defend him,
Alfred was lucky to escape with his
WINNING CHANCE
Imperial crown
This crown, shown with later embellishments,
was made for the coronation of Otto I as
emperor, a ceremony conducted by Pope
John XII on 2 February 962.
500 1450
64
T H E CH R I S T I AN W ES T
CHARLEMAGNE
FRANKISH KING AND EMPEROR
BORN 2 April 742
DIED 28 January 814
KEY CONFLICTS Campaigns against the
KEY TROOPS
FRANKISH CAVALRY
Charlemagnes cavalry were his principal
troops. Retainers of the Frankish nobles, the
armoured horsemen were obliged to turn up
ready for military service when required by
the king. Equipped with a lance, sword, and
shield, they fought mounted, relying on
stirrups and a high-backed saddle to
maintain a stable seat in combat.
65
EA R LY MIDDLE A GES
TIMELINE
768 On the death of his father, Pepin the
CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE
500 1450
Frankish weapon
The Carolingian Franks were renowned
for the high quality of their swords. A
double-edged longsword like this one
would deliver a powerful blow.
Ambush at Roncesvalles
The attack on Charlemagnes rearguard in
the Pyrenees in 778 became the stuff of
legend from the 12th century, and was
depicted as such. The hero was Roland of
Brittany, shown here in golden armour.
68
OLAF TRYGGVASON
VIKING KING
BORN c.963
DIED 1000
KEY CONFLICTS Viking Invasions of England,
baptized a
Christian and
promised to stop
raiding England
in return for a
hefty bribe in gold
and other valuables.
Bolstered with wealth
and a prestigious faith,
Olav now turned his
attention to Norway.
In 995 he overthrew
the Norwegian ruler,
Haaken, Jarl of Lade,
Olav the warrior
The king of Norway is depicted as
a warrior in simple leather battle
dress with wooden shield and iron
helmet in this 19th-century statue
by Hans Michelsen.
CANUTE CNUT
VIKING KING
BORN c.985
DIED 12 November 1035
KEY CONFLICT Invasion of England
KEY BATTLES Ashingdon 1016, Helgea 1026
69
EA R LY MIDDLE A GES
ROBERT GUISCARD
NORMAN WARRIOR
BORN c.1015
DIED 1085
KEY CONFLICTS Byzantine-Norman Wars,
Conquest of Sicily
KEY BATTLES Civitate 1053,
Dyrrhachium 1087
Norman warrior
As betted a Norman
commander, William the
Conqueror was reputed
to be a ne horseman
and a dauntless ghter
in face-to-face combat.
Channel crossing
A medieval artist shows Williams army
crossing to England in 1066. A seaborne
invasion was very much in the tradition of
the Normans Viking ancestors.
500 1450
70
V I K I NG S AN D NOR M AN S
WILLIAM AT
HASTINGS
LOCATION
North of Hastings,
southeast England
CAMPAIGN Norman
invasion of England
DATE 14 October 1066
FORCES Normans: c.7,000 infantry and
0 m 100
0 yds 100
200
200
nd
on
In the early
morning Harold takes
up defensive position
at the top of the hill
Lo
HAROLD
S enlac
Repeated Norman
attacks are repelled by the
Anglo-Saxon shield wall
Hi ll
Feigned Norman
retreats draw some
Anglo-Saxon troops
into breaking their line
ch
WILLIAM
KEY
Norman archers
Norman infantry
Norman cavalry
Anglo-Saxon forces
eto
Br
ns
Fren
Norm
ans
71
500 1450
Bayeux Tapestry
Depicting the Norman invasion and the
battle of Hastings, the Bayeux Tapestry
accurately represents the Anglo-Saxons
on foot behind their shield wall and the
charging Norman knights on horseback.
1095 1300
ER A OF THE CRUSADES
HE IS TRULY A FEARLESS KNIGHT AND SECURE ON EVERY SIDE,
FOR HIS SOUL IS PROTECTED BY THE ARMOUR OF FAITH JUST
AS HIS BODY IS PROTECTED BY ARMOUR OF STEEL. HE IS THUS
DOUBLY ARMED AND NEED FEAR NEITHER DEMONS NOR MEN.
NOT THAT HE FEARS DEATH NO, HE DESIRES IT.
BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX WRITING OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR, EARLY 12TH CENTURY
73
500 1450
74
ROYAL CRUSADERS
THE FIRST CRUSADE WAS LED by nobles
Jaffa 1192
Crusader sword
A sword was part of the standard weaponry
of a crusader knight, along with a lance,
dagger, and mace. This heavy broad blade
could hack through the light armour worn
by most Muslim warriors.
Royal conict
Richards battle with Philip II Augustus (left) at
Gisors, northern France, was depicted after the
event as a symbolic duel between knights.
Tribute to a king
A 19th-century statue of
Richard stands outside
Londons Houses of
Parliament, a reminder
of his reputation as a
dauntless warrior king.
75
E R A OF T H E C R U S A DE S
PHILIP II AUGUSTUS
FRENCH KING
BORN 21 August 1165
DIED 14 July 1223
KEY CONFLICTS Third Crusade,
War of Bouvines
KEY BATTLES Siege of Acre 1291,
Bouvines 1214
LOUIS IX
FRENCH KING
BORN 25 April 1214
DIED 25 August 1270
KEY CONFLICTS Seventh Crusade,
Eighth Crusade
KEY BATTLES Damietta 1249, Mansurah 1250,
Tunis 1270
500 1450
76
R OYA L CR U S ADERS
TIMELINE
May 1147 As Duke of Swabia, Frederick
sets out with his uncle, King Conrad III of
Germany, on the Second Crusade.
25 October 1147 Marching through
Anatolia, the German crusader army is
surprised and decimated by the Seljuk Turks
at the battle of Dorylaeum.
SIEGE OF DAMASCUS
FREDERICK BARBAROSSA
GERMAN KING AND EMPEROR
BORN 1122
DIED 10 June 1190
KEY CONFLICTS Second Crusade, Wars of
Sleeping hero
Frederick drowned in 1190,
but legend says he is not
dead. Instead he sleeps
beneath Kyffhuser
Mountain in
Germany and
will awake
one day to
lead again.
KEY BATTLE
LEGNANO
CAMPAIGN War with the Lombard League
DATE 29 May 1176
LOCATION 30km (18 miles) from Milan, northern Italy
E R A OF T H E C R U S A DE S
Restoring order
This 19th-century statue of Frederick stands
in Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Though
a ruthless campaigner, at home he strove to
bring peace to the disparate German states
with many concessions to inuential and
powerful nobles.
77
Barbarossas submission
In 1177 Frederick had to make peace with
Pope Alexander III. This 16th-century
painting elevates the event into an
elaborate public display of homage.
80
MUSLIM WARRIORS
EUROPEAN CRUSADERS WERE able to carve
SALADIN
AYYUBID SULTAN OF EGYPT AND SYRIA
BORN c.1138
DIED 4 March 1193
KEY CONFLICTS Ayyubid-Crusader Wars,
Ayyubid-Zengid Wars
KEY BATTLES Montgisard 1177, Jacobs Ford
Islamic hero
This monument to Saladin
stands in front of the
citadel in Damascus,
Syria, a city that he
ruled from 1174.
81
E R A OF T H E C R U S A DE S
KEY BATTLE
BAIBARS
HATTIN
CAMPAIGN Ayyubid-Crusader Wars
DATE 4 July 1187
LOCATION Near Lake Tiberias, Palestine
Mameluke-Mongol Wars
KEY BATTLES Al-Mansurah 1250, Ain Jalut
500 1450
82
RICHARD VS SALADIN
slow stages, stopping to allow the supply ships that
accompanied his army offshore to keep up. The Muslim
commander, Saladin, who had also been camped at Acre,
followed the crusaders on higher ground inland, harassing
them with skirmishing raids, all the while looking for the
right opportunity to launch a decisive attack.
Fearless leader
Richard is shown in a heroic charge
in this 19th-century illustration of the
battle of Arsuf, trampling the enemy
beneath the hooves of his horse.
RICHARD
1191: 7 SEPT
SALADIN
TIMELINE
83
E R A OF T H E C R U S A DE S
LOCATION
Mediterranean Sea
Arsuf
Templars
Muslim
skirmishers launch
constant attacks
on crusaders as
they march
KEY
Muslims: unknown
RICHARD
Hospitallers
SALADIN
Crusader cavalry
Crusader infantry/
crossbowmen
Crusader eet
Crusader baggage train
Muslim cavalry
Muslim infantry/skirmishers
Hospitaller
knights break
ranks and charge
Mounted archers
harass crusaders
from a distance
0 km
0.5
0 miles
SALADIN
1
0.5
BATTLE COMMENCES
LOSS OF PRESTIGE
2 OCT
Saladin succeeds in
rallying his eeing troops
and mounts a spirited
counterattack
500 1450
84
EL CID
CASTILIAN MILITARY LEADER
BORN c.1040
DIED 1099
KEY CONFLICT Reconquista
KEY BATTLES Graus 1063, Morella 1084,
Fearsome weapon
El Cid is supposed to have fought the
Almoravids with this sword, which
became associated with the dauntless
nature of the man himself. It is currently a
trophy of the Burgos Museum, Castile.
85
E R A OF T H E C R U S A DE S
AFONSO HENRIQUES
KING OF PORTUGAL
BORN 25 July 1109
DIED 6 December 1185
KEY CONFLICT Reconquista
KEY BATTLES Ourique 1139,
500 1450
Family tree
This tapestry represents the line of descent of
the Portuguese royal family from 1179, when
it was founded by Afonso Henriques.
ALFONSO VIII
KING OF CASTILE AND TOLEDO
BORN 11 November 1155
DIED 5 October 1214
KEY CONFLICT Reconquista
KEY BATTLES Alarcos 1195,
1200 1405
ASIAN CONFLICTS
THOSE WHO WERE ADEPT AND BR AVE I HAVE MADE MILITARY
COMMANDERS. THOSE WHO WERE QUICK AND NIMBLE I HAVE
MADE HERDERS OF HORSES. THOSE WHO WERE NOT ADEPT I
HAVE GIVEN A SMALL WHIP AND SENT TO BE SHEPHERDS.
GENGHIS KHAN ON HIS ORGANIZATION OF DISPARATE NOMADIC TRIBESMEN, TRADITIONAL MONGOL SOURCES, C.1206
87
Asia, China, and India, the vast expanses of central Asia were
inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples, given to
raiding and banditry. Whether Mongols, Turks, or Tatars,
under the right leadership these fierce and hardy warriors proved the most
successful fighting men of medieval times. In the early 13th century Genghis
Khan laid the foundations for the worlds largest land empire; almost two
centuries later Timur the Lame was victorious from India to the Aegean.
STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE
Mongol and Tatar successes owed much to the
quality of their leadership. Their commanders
did not lead from the front. Rather they directed
operations from a vantage point overlooking the
500 1450
Mounted warriors
Mongol horsemen outclassed most of
their diverse enemies, including some who
deployed war elephants. The Mongols
were always open to innovation and
adopted military skills from other cultures.
88
NOMADIC WARRIORS
THE TWO GREATEST LEADERS of the
GHENGIS KHAN
MONGOL KHAN
BORN c.1162
DIED 1227
KEY CONFLICTS Conquest of the Tangut
ALLCONQUERING KHAN
MONGOL
HORSEMEN
Every Mongol tribesman was a horseman
and a warrior. On their small, hardy mounts,
these nomadic tent-dwellers sustained
campaigns over thousands of kilometres
without a supply train. Their weapon was
the composite bow, which they used in
disciplined manoeuvres learned through
collective hunting of game. The indifference
of these warriors to the suffering or death
of their enemies was absolute.
Monument to power
A modern statue of Genghis Khan depicts
the founder of the Mongol empire as a truly
imposing gure. As leader of the steppe
tribes, he adopted his famous name, which
means, appropriately, supreme ruler.
89
A SIAN CONFLICTS
SBEDEI
MONGOL GENERAL
BORN c.1176
DIED 1248
KEY CONFLICTS Invasion of Khwarezmian
MOVING WEST
500 1450
KUBLAI KHAN
MONGOL KHAN AND CHINESE EMPEROR
BORN 23 September 1215
DIED 18 February 1294
KEY CONFLICTS Conquest of Song China,
Mongol emperor
Kublai Khan ruled China as the founding
emperor of the Yuan dynasty. The Mongol
dynasty lasted for less than a century, and
was replaced by the Ming in 1368.
90
TIMELINE
1362 Fighting at the head of a small band
of followers in tribal warfare, Timur is wounded
in a skirmish and made lame for life.
1366 Timur takes control of the city of
Samarkand as a subordinate ally of Husayn,
emir of Balkh.
1370 Timur defeats Husayn and captures
Balkh in northern Afghanistan, establishing
himself in Husayns place as a signicant
regional ruler.
1386 Provoked by the incursions of
TIMUR
TURCO-MONGOL CONQUEROR
BORN 8 April 1336
DIED 18 February 1405
KEY CONFLICTS Tokhtamysh-Timur War,
Ottoman-Timurid War
KEY BATTLES Kandurcha 1391, River Terek
THE MOST
GREAT WARRIOR
LORD TIMUR,
CONQUEROR
ASIAN CONQUEST
Sophisticated ruler
Timur is here depicted in 1774
with the spear, sword, bow, and
shield of the steppe warrior. He
had an astute, chess-players
mind and kept written
records of his campaigns.
OF THE EARTH.
INSCRIPTION ON TIMURS TOMB,
SAMARKAND, C.1405
91
A SIAN CONFLICTS
DELHI
CAMPAIGN Timurs invasion of India
DATE December 1398
LOCATION Delhi, northern India
500 1450
KEY BATTLE
92
TIMUR: WARRIOR
AND TYRANT
from a serious
physical disability, Timur was one of
the most successful military leaders
in history. Paralysed down his right
side as a result of an early wound, he
could ride a horse but was only able
to stumble short distances on foot,
otherwise needing to be carried.
Equally surprising is that his most
spectacular triumphs occurred when
he was in his sixties.
Yet despite this, Timur campaigned
in person at the head of his steppe
horsemen, enduring the hardships of
travel in all weathers across the vast
expanses of Asia. His forays took him
north into the Golden Horde and
DESPITE SUFFERING
y cleverly feigning
flight, the hordes of
Timur opened up a path
for the army of the sultan
and permitted them
to get well inside their
lines. Then they closed
in and bore down upon
the sultans troops as though they
were enclosed within a wall.
93
A SIAN CONFLICTS
He is one who is
favoured by Allah
Arab historian Ibn Khaldun met Timur
during the siege of Damascus, later describing
the conquerors generous treatment of him.
500 1450
Loyal followers
This 17th-century Mogul painting shows
Timur during celebrations at Kan-i-Gil near
Samarkand. Despite his erce reputation, he
inspired great admiration among his men.
94
JAPANESE SAMURAI
MEDIEVAL SAMURAI were elite armoured
MINAMOTO YOSHIIE
JAPANESE SAMURAI
BORN 1041
DIED 1108
KEY CONFLICTS Early Nine Years War,
Kanezawa 108689
TAIRA TOMOMORI
JAPANESE SAMURAI
BORN 1152
DIED 1185
KEY CONFLICTS Gempei Wars
KEY BATTLES Uji 1180, Mizushima 1183,
95
A SIAN CONFLICTS
MINAMOTO YOSHITSUNE
JAPANESE SAMURAI
BORN 1159
DIED 1189
KEY CONFLICTS Gempei Wars
KEY BATTLES Ichinotani 1184, Yashima 1184,
BIOGRAPHY
MINAMOTO
YORITOMO
Minamoto Yoritomo, the elder brother of
Minamoto Yoshitsune, lacked military talent
but was cunning and ruthless. Defeated by
the Taira at the battle of Ishibashiyama in
1180, he left the rest of the ghting to his
brothers. Once Yoshitsune had destroyed
his rivals both Taira and Minamoto
Yoritomo took power himself. And to secure
his position, Yoritomo had his younger
brother hounded to his death. Yoritomo
became Japans rst shogun in 1192,
ruling until his death seven years later.
500 1450
1300 1456
LATE MEDIEVAL
EUROPE
THE KING WENT ALONG THE R ANKS EXHORTING AND
BEGGING THEM TO FIGHT VIGOROUSLY AGAINST THE
FRENCH AND THAT THEY SHOULD REMEMBER THAT
THEY WERE BORN OF THE REALM OF ENGLAND.
JEHAN DE WAVRIN, A FRENCH KNIGHT, RECORDING HENRY VS ADDRESS TO HIS MEN AT AGINCOURT, 1415
97
Clash of knights
The battle fought at Auray in Brittany in
1364, an episode in the Hundred Years War,
was a brutal clash between English and
French armoured knights supporting rival
Breton factions.
ADVANCED ARTILLERY
The evolution of cannon during this period,
from a peripheral novelty into an essential
weapon, gave commanders another element of
change to absorb into their strategy and tactics.
By speeding up siege warfare, cannon opened
up the prospect of an end to strategic deadlock
in the Hundred Years War. They were used
intelligently by the English king, Henry V,
Lethal weapon
The poleaxe was a formidable weapon, wielded two-handed
by a soldier on foot. It had a spike for stabbing, an axe edge
for cutting, and a hammer for crushing blows.
500 1450
98
EDWARD III
KING OF ENGLAND
BORN 13 November 1312
DIED 21 June 1377
KEY CONFLICTS Scottish Independence Wars,
ENGLISH
LONGBOWMEN
The longbow was a simple weapon made
from a single piece of wood, but in the
hands of massed English and Welsh archers
it became a battle-winning technology. An
experienced bowman could shoot between
six and 12 arrows a minute. With several
thousand archers deployed, the effect was
similar to a machine gun. During Edward IIIs
reign thousands of bows were stored in
armouries ready to equip the army on
campaign. The archer himself was an even
more precious resource, for the skill had
to be learned from childhood. The reign of
the longbow on the battleeld lasted from
Halidon Hill in 1333 to Agincourt in 1415.
99
KING OF FRANCE
BORN 16 April 1319
DIED 8 April 1364
KEY CONFLICTS Hundred Years War
KEY BATTLES Poitiers 1356
JOHN OF GAUNT
of the battle, but fell into English
hands and was imprisoned. Jeans
treatment in captivity was an example
of perfect chivalry, however. He was
allowed to roam freely and given
royal privileges. But the failure of
France to raise the vast ransom
demanded for his release meant that
he died in captivity.
ENGLISH DUKE
BORN 6 March 1340
DIED 3 February 1399
KEY CONFLICTS Hundred Years War,
Raid 1373
500 1450
JEAN II
100
East of Poitiers,
central France
CAMPAIGN Hundred
Years War
DATE 19 September 1356
FORCES French c.15,00020,000;
English c.8,000
CASUALTIES French c.2,000 killed, c.2,500
prisoners; English unknown
101
0 km
Po
i
tie
rs
Majority of
the French knights
dismount before
start of the battle
JEAN II
ORLANS
Maupertuis
DAUPHIN
BLACK
PRINCE
KEY
English form up
in defensive position
behind a thick hedge
Wood
of Nouaill
Nouaill
Mo
on
Beauvoir
iss
Successive
French attacks fail
English cavalry
English infantry
English longbowmen
French cavalry
French infantry
Hedge
1
0.5
Mois
s on
0.5
0 miles
500 1450
The battle of Poitiers
This medieval portrayal tries to show the
effectiveness of the English longbowmen
although in reality they would have been
far more numerous and shot at longer range.
102
BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN
BRETON KNIGHT AND CONSTABLE
OF FRANCE
BORN c.1320
DIED 13 July 1380
KEY CONFLICTS Breton Civil War, Castilian
HENRY V
KING OF ENGLAND
BORN Born 16 September 1386
DIED 31 August 1422
KEY CONFLICTS Hundred Years War
KEY BATTLES Agincourt 1415, Siege of Rouen
141819
KEY BATTLE
AGINCOURT
CAMPAIGN Hundred Years War
DATE 25 October 1415
LOCATION Pas-de-Calais, northeast France
103
JOAN OF ARC
FRENCH COMMANDER
BORN c.1412
DIED 30 May 1431
KEY CONFLICTS Hundred Years War
KEY BATTLES Siege of Orlans 1429,
Patay 1429
500 1450
104
NATIONAL HEROES
EUROPEAN CONFLICTS in the later medieval
ALEXANDER NEVSKI
GRAND PRINCE OF NOVGOROD
BORN 30 May 1220
DIED 14 November 1263
KEY CONFLICTS Sweden-Novgorod War,
Northern Crusades
KEY BATTLES The Neva 1240,
Lake Peipus 1242
105
ROBERT BRUCE
KING OF SCOTLAND
BORN 11 July 1274
DIED 7 June 1329
KEY CONFLICTS War of Scottish
JNOS HUNYADI
REGENT OF HUNGARY
BORN c.1400
DIED 11 August 1456
KEY CONFLICTS Ottoman-Hungarian War
KEY BATTLES Varna 1444, Belgrade 1456
Independence
Bannockburn 1314
500 1450
JAN IKA
HUSSITE GENERAL
BORN c.1376
DIED 1424
KEY CONFLICTS Hussite Wars
KEY BATTLES Kutna Hor 1421,
Maleov 1424
1450 1700
MASTERS OF
INNOVATION
108
M A S T E RS OF I N NOVAT ION
ROM AROUND 1450 TO THE LATE 17TH CENTURY the task facing military
more costly. It may have also made it more destructive, but it certainly did not render it more
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
decisive, many conflicts extending over decades until sheer exhaustion ended hostilities.
BATTLEPLANS
In the 16th century the construction of
low-lying star fortresses with walls immune
to shot and themselves defended by artillery
forced besieging armies to resort to lengthy
blockades and elaborate engineering works
such as the digging of trenches and mines.
The conduct of sieges became a supreme
test of generalship and some European wars
109
1450 1700
Inglorious warfare
Albrecht von Wallenstein (centre), a commander of the Thirty
Years War (161848), raised troops at his own expense, recouping
the cost with prot in campaigns that devastated Germany.
1450 1660
111
rulers such as Suleiman the Magnificent and Akbar the Great, the Ottomans
armed forces were far larger than those of any contemporary Christian state.
At their best they combined the Asian nomadic warrior tradition with the
use of gunpowder weapons and efficient organization of men and resources.
WIDENING AMBITIONS
Massacre at Constantinople
Mehmed II and the Ottoman Turks took
Constantinople in 1453 after a siege. The
massacre that followed is depicted on a
16th-century fresco, partially defaced, at
Moldovita Monastery in Romania.
17th century. Its armys combination of musketarmed infantry the janissaries feudal sipahi
cavalry, and state-of-the-art artillery, all serving
with high morale and good discipline, made the
Ottoman army probably the most effective
fighting force of the time.
INDIA AND IRAN
1450 1700
112
OTTOMAN LEADERS
THE SULTANS OF THE OTTOMAN Turkish
MEHMED II
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
OTTOMAN SULTAN
BORN 30 March 1432
DIED 3 May 1481
KEY CONFLICTS Ottoman Wars in Europe
KEY BATTLE Siege of Constantinople 1453
Italian portrait
More interested in Europe than Asia, Mehmed II
aspired to be the successor to the Roman
emperors and had his portrait painted by
the Venetian artist, Gentile Bellini.
Mediterranean
KEY BATTLE Preveza 1538
113
T H E M U S L I M W OR L D
Ottoman-Safavid Wars
KEY BATTLES Siege of Rhodes 1522,
Mohacs 1526, Siege of Vienna 1529,
Baghdad 1534, Siege of Malta 1565
Sultans weapon
Dating from 153334, Suleimans sword has
a curved blade that reects its Ottoman origins,
and is decorated with gold from Damascus.
KEY BATTLE
MOHACS
CAMPAIGN Ottoman Conquest of Hungary
DATE 29 August 1526
LOCATION Southern Hungary
1450 1700
114
MOGUL LEADERS
THE MOGUL EMPERORS were Muslim
BABUR
MOGUL CONQUEROR
BORN 23 February 1483
DIED 5 January 1531
KEY CONFLICT Mogul Invasion of India
KEY BATTLES First Battle of Panipat 1526,
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
KEY BATTLE
PANIPAT
CAMPAIGN Mogul invasion of India
DATE 21 April 1526
LOCATION Panipat, north of Delhi
115
T H E M U S L I M W OR L D
Patna 1574
AURANGZEB
MOGUL EMPEROR
BORN 4 November 1618
DIED 3 March 1707
KEY CONFLICTS War of Succession,
Deccan Wars
KEY BATTLE Samugarh 1658
Pious emperor
Aurangzeb was a strict Muslim who, late in life,
regretted many of his acts. On his deathbed he
reportedly said: I have sinned terribly and I do
not know what punishment awaits me.
A DIVERSE ARMY
1450 1700
1560 1700
117
Siege of Osaka
Samurai Honda Tadatomo, sporting a
ne antler headdress, leads a Tokugawa
onslaught during the 1615 siege of Osaka.
This was the last episode in the pacication
of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate.
TACTICAL SUPERIORITY
The key to success in these wars lay in the
mobilization and organization of large-scale forces
and in the reshaping of tactics that made the best
use of innovative technology. The Manchu might
simply have remained marginal raiders, like other
nomads and pirates by land and sea who
gnawed at the edges of the weakening
Ming empire. But the system of
banners, or companies, into which
their army was organized under the
inspired leadership of Nurhaci around
1620, proved capable of integrating vast
numbers of Chinese peasant conscripts
under commanders drawn from an elite
of steppe horsemen. Similarly, in Japan,
successful warlords needed to sustain
armies in which ashigaru (peasant
foot soldiers) formed the
majority and were
properly trained,
1450 1700
118
JAPANESE DAIMYO
BY THE 16TH CENTURY central authority in
ODA NOBUNAGA
JAPANESE DAIMYO
BORN 23 June 1534
DIED 21 June 1582
KEY CONFLICT Japanese Feudal Wars
KEY BATTLES Okehazama 1560, Anegawa
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
119
EA ST A SIA N WA R FA R E
TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI
JAPANESE DAIMYO AND KAMPAKU
(REGENT)
BORN 2 February 1536
DIED 18 September 1598
KEY CONFLICTS Japanese Feudal Wars,
Korean Campaigns
KEY BATTLES Yamazaki 1582, Shizugatake
authority by demonstrating
competence in all tasks with which
he was entrusted. As a reward for his
performance as a general at the battle
of Anegawa in 1570, he was made a
daimyo in his own right.
JAPANESE DAIMYO
AND SHOGUN
BORN 31 January 1543
DIED 1 June 1616
KEY CONFLICTS Japanese Feudal Wars,
Osaka Campaign
KEY BATTLES Nagakute 1584, Sekigahara
1450 1700
TOKUGAWA IEYASU
War trumpet
Toyotomi Hideyoshi is
represented blowing
his great war
trumpet before the
crucial victory at Shizugatake in 1583 over
Shibata Katsuie. This success freed Hideyoshi to
continue Oda Nobunagas conquest of Japan.
120
J A PA N E S E DAI MYO
ODA NOBUNAGA
AT NAGASHINO
LOCATION
Nagashino, Mikawa
province, Japan
CAMPAIGN Wars of
the Sengoku Era
DATE 28 June 1575
FORCES Nobunaga c.38,000; Takeda c.12,000
CASUALTIES Nobunaga unknown;
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
Takeda c.3,000
ARQUEBUS VOLLEYS
i
Tak
gaw
Oda-Tokugawa
infantry
Oda-Tokugawa
arquebusiers
Oda-Tokugawa
cavalry
Takeda infantry
Takeda cavalry
Fortress
Stockade
a
Rengog
wa
Takeda cavalry
charges are slowed by
stream and by volleys
of arquebus re
ODA
NOBUNAGA
TOKUGAWA
IEYASU
TAKEDA
KATSUYORI
Small Oda
force lifts
the siege
Takeda
Katsuyori divides
his forces to face
large relieving
army
Tokugawa troops
in Nagashino fortress are
besieged by Takeda army
wa
oga
Toy
N
0 km
0 miles
0.5
1
0.5
121
1450 1700
Nobunagas forces
A screen painted in the 17th century depicts
the whole sweep of the battle. In this section,
Oda and Tokugawa samurai are shown in
position on the west bank of the stream that
would deter Katsuyoris charging cavalry.
122
YI SUNSIN
KOREAN ADMIRAL
BORN 28 April 1545
DIED 16 December 1598
KEY CONFLICTS Japanese Invasions of Korea
KEY BATTLES Hansando 1592, Myeongnyang
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
Korean hero
Admiral Yi Sun-sin led Koreas
naval resistance to Japanese
invasions in the 1590s. He is a
national hero, celebrated by
statues in a number of Korean
cities, including Seoul.
123
EA ST A SIA N WA R FA R E
KOXINGA
CHINESE MING LOYALIST
BORN 1624
DIED 1662
KEY CONFLICT Manchu Conquest of China
KEY BATTLES Nanjing 1659, Taiwan 1661
Venerated leader
Zheng Chenggong
remains a hero among
the people of Taiwan
to this day, and is
celebrated in many
shrines and temples
across the island.
SAVED REPUTATION
CHINESE EMPEROR
BORN 4 May 1654
DIED 20 December 1722
KEY CONFLICTS Revolt of the Three
CHINESE EXPANSIONISM
MANCHU BANNERS
The Manchu armies that invaded China
in the 1640s were organized into eight
banners, or ghting units, each with its own
ag and uniform armour. The bannermen
became the elite troops of the Qing dynasty
until the 19th century and were especially
entrusted with upholding Manchu traditions
against native Han Chinese inuence.
1450 1700
1490 1625
THE EARLY
GUNPOWDER ER A
EXPERIENCE TEACHETH HOW SEAFIGHTS IN THESE DAYS COME
SELDOM TO BOARDING BUT ARE CHIEFLY PERFORMED BY THE
GREAT ARTILLERY BREAKING DOWN MASTS AND YARDS,
TEARING, R AKING AND BILGING THE SHIPS
REPORT OF THE ENGLISH NAVY BOARD COMMISSIONERS, 1618
125
factions. Constant warfare provided a test bed for new technology and tactics
as commanders adjusted to the predominance of gunpowder weapons and
disciplined infantry. Cannon-armed sailing ships became a major element in
warfare between European states and in European global power projection.
Dutch victory
The Spanish agship explodes during the
battle of Gibraltar in 1607, a conict of the
Eighty Years War. The Dutch eet destroyed
21 Spanish vessels, including 10 large
galleons, anchored in the bay of Gibraltar.
RELIGIOUS CONFLICT
The central dynastic conflict in
Europe in the 16th century was
between the Habsburgs, whose
domains included Spain, the Holy
Roman Empire, and the Netherlands, and
the French Valois kings, notably Franois I.
Successive Habsburg rulers especially
Emperor Charles V and Philip II of Spain
regarded themselves as the champions of
Catholicism. Consequently, they were also
opposed by states that became committed to
the Protestant side of the Christian divide,
such as England under Queen Elizabeth I.
Religious conflict split countries internally
1450 1700
126
PEDRO DE ALVARADO
SPANISH CONQUISTADOR
BORN 1490
DIED 4 July 1541
KEY CONFLICTS Spanish Conquest of Mexico
and Guatemala
KEY BATTLES Night of Sorrows 1520,
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
Acajutla 1524
CUAUHTMOC
AZTEC EMPEROR
BORN 1502
DIED 28 February 1525
KEY CONFLICT Spanish Conquest of Mexico
KEY BATTLE Siege of Tenochtitln 1521
127
T H E EARLY GUNPOWDER ER A
FRANCISCO PIZARRO
SPANISH CONQUISTADOR
BORN 1471
DIED 26 June 1541
KEY CONFLICT Spanish Conquest of Peru
KEY BATTLE Cajamarca 1532
INCA LEADER
BORN 1516
DIED 1544
KEY CONFLICTS Spanish Conquest of Peru
KEY BATTLES Cuzco 1536,
Ollantaytambo 1537
1450 1700
MANQO QAPAC II
128
CONQ U ES TS OF T HE A M ER IC A S
TIMELINE
1504 The son of a minor noble family,
Corts sails from Seville to Hispaniola in the
West Indies as a colonist.
1511 Corts joins an expedition to
conquer Cuba, led by Diego Velzquez. He
becomes a man of substance on the island.
October 1518 Velzquez appoints
Corts as leader of an expedition to the
Mexican coast.
February 1519 Corts sails from Cuba
to Mexico with 11 ships, despite Velzquez
having revoked his commission.
April 1519 Corts defeats local forces in
Tabasco, on the Mexican coast, and acquires
the services of a native woman, Malinche, as a
translator and adviser.
July 1519 Corts founds the settlement
of Veracruz and destroys his ships, committing
himself to a campaign of conquest.
AugustOctober 1519 Corts marches
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
HERNN CORTS
SPANISH CONQUISTADOR
BORN 1485
DIED 2 December 1547
KEY CONFLICT Spanish Conquest of Mexico
KEY BATTLES Otumba 1520, Siege of
Tenochtitln 1521
CHARLES V
The Habsburg ruler in whose name Corts
conquered Mexico was King Charles I of Spain,
ruler from 1516. He became Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V from 1519. Charles was
constantly at war, his dominance of Europe
contested by the French king, Franois I, and
by the Protestant Reformation. He faced
attack by the Ottoman empire in central
Europe, where Vienna was besieged
in 1529, and in the Mediterranean,
personally leading an expedition
against Ottoman Tunis in 1535.
Plunder from conquests in the New
World funded his many wars. In 1556
Charles abdicated and withdrew to a
monastery, dying two years later.
129
T H E EARLY GUNPOWDER ER A
Conquering hero
Corts rides in triumph after his victory
over the Aztecs at Otumba in 1520. He
provided condent and decisive
leadership when the conquistadores
fortunes were at a low ebb.
1450 1700
130
CONQ U ES TS OF T HE A M ER IC A S
CORTS AT
TENOCHTITLN
drives towards the centre of the city
from the different causeways. Once
in the narrow streets, the advantage
of Spanish horses and cannon was lost,
with the Aztecs hurling missiles from
the rooftops. The conquistadores had
to fight their way in afresh each day,
for Corts believed it was too risky
to station men in the city overnight
where they might be cut off.
LOCATION
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
SYSTEMATIC SLAUGHTER
0 km
Netzahualcoyotls dyke
divided the freshwater part of
the lake from the salty water
and marshy areas to the east
10
5
10
0 miles
Lake
CORTS
Te x c o c o
Texcoco
Tepeyacac
Tacuba
CUAUHTMOC
Tenochtitln
Chapultepec
KEY
Spanish, Tlaxcalan, and
other Indian forces
Aztec forces
Causeway
Aqueduct
Dyke
Ixtapalapa
Culhuacan
Corts sends troops to take
control of the three main causeways
leading to the Aztec capital
After 11 weeks
erce ghting the
Spanish nally
take the city
131
1450 1700
Battle for Tenochtitln
This 17th-century painting of Cortss
occupation of Tenochtitln in 1521 shows
one of the causeways into the city and a
Spanish ship combating Aztec canoes.
132
GONZALO DE CRDOBA
SPANISH GENERAL
BORN 1 September 1453
DIED 2 December 1515
KEY CONFLICTS Granada War, Italian Wars
KEY BATTLES Atella 1496, Cerignola 1503,
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
Garigliano 1503
GASTON DE FOIX
FRENCH DUKE
BORN 10 December 1489
DIED 11 April 1512
KEY CONFLICT Italian Wars
KEY BATTLES Brescia 1512, Ravenna 1512
133
T H E EARLY GUNPOWDER ER A
FRUNDSBERGS INFANTRY
FRANOIS I
FRENCH KING
BORN 12 September 1494
DIED 31 March 1547
KEY CONFLICT Italian Wars
KEY BATTLES Marignano 1515, Pavia 1525
Renaissance ruler
Franois I was famous for his support of artists,
such as Leonardo da Vinci, as well as for his
continual military endeavours.
KEY BATTLE
MARIGNANO
CAMPAIGN Italian Wars
DATE 1315 September 1515
LOCATION Marignano, 16km
(10 miles) from Milan
1450 1700
Mercenary knight
While commanding the Landsknecht
mercenaries, Frundsberg fought as a man
of honour in the service of his emperor.
136
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
DUTCH LEADER
BORN 24 April 1533
DIED 10 July 1584
KEY CONFLICT Eighty Years War
KEY BATTLES Jemmingen 1568, Mons 1572
MAURICE OF NASSAU
DUTCH LEADER
BORN 14 November 1567
DIED 23 April 1625
KEY CONFLICT Eighty Years War
KEY BATTLES Breda 1590, Steenwijk 1592,
Nieuwpoort 1600
137
T H E EARLY GUNPOWDER ER A
KEY BATTLE
DUKE OF PARMA
THWARTED PLANS
Stamped in gold
A gold ducat depicts Alexander Farnese and
describes him as duke of the joint Farnese
duchy of Parma and Piacenza.
1450 1700
AMBROGIO SPINOLA
138
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
A SHIFT OF FOCUS
Versatile admiral
The Marqus de Santa Cruz was
unique in performing outstandingly as a
commander both of oared galleys and of
sailing galleons. His family had served
the Spanish crown since the 15th century.
KEY BATTLE
LEPANTO
CAMPAIGN Habsburg-Ottoman Wars
DATE 7 October 1571
LOCATION Gulf of Patras, off Greece
139
T H E EARLY GUNPOWDER ER A
Armada engagement
The English forced the galleons of the
Spanish Armada to engage in a duel of
cannons, exploiting the superior
manoeuvrability of their smaller ships
to avoid being grappled and boarded.
1450 1700
1620 1680
BIBLE, PIKE,
AND MUSKET
JOINING BATTALIONS TOGETHER, WE CAME TO PUSH OF PIKE
AND DISPUTED THE BUSINESS SO LONG, TILL IT PLEASED GOD
THAT WE ROUTED THEM, AND GAVE US THE VICTORY.
JOHN FORBES, A MAJOR IN THE SWEDISH ARMY, WRITING TO HIS FATHER AFTER THE BATTLE OF BREITENFELD, 10 SEPTEMBER 1631
141
1450 1700
Massed pikemen
The battleelds of the Thirty Years
War like this one at Thionville in
1639 were dominated by clumps
of long pikes, although muskets were
proving more effective as an infantry
weapon. Light cavalry wore little or
no armour and had abandoned the
medieval lance altogether.
142
COMMANDERS OF
THE THIRTY YEARS WAR
THE THIRTY YEARS WAR began in 1618 with a
Danes from 1625, the Swedes from 1630, and the French
revolt by Protestant Bohemia against the Catholic from 1635. The quality of leadership in this destructive,
Holy Roman Empire. Although the revolt was
ultimately indecisive conflict was mixed. Many commanders
repressed, fighting spread to Germany. The power of the
were mercenaries, some with little talent but for plunder.
German Catholic League and the Habsburg forces of the
But others, notably Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus,
empire and Spain was balanced by the intervention of the provided bold examples of inventive generalship.
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
Seeds of mistrust
Ambitious and arrogant, Wallenstein was
a skilful military commander but did not
inspire trust. He was assassinated by
three of his own ofcers.
MOVING ON
Mansfield assembled
a large rabble that,
on landing in Europe,
mostly disintegrated
through desertion and
disease. However, he
did enter the fray in
1626, but was defeated
by Wallenstein at Dessau.
Later that same year,
Mansfeld abandoned the
remnants of his army in
Silesia and died en route
to a new job in the
service of Venice.
143
BI BL E , PI K E , A N D M U S K E T
COUNT TILLY
COMMANDER OF CATHOLIC FORCES
BORN 1559
DIED 30 April 1632
KEY CONFLICTS Eighty Years War,
KEY BATTLE
WHITE MOUNTAIN
CAMPAIGN Thirty Years War
DATE 8 November 1620
LOCATION Near Prague, now Czech Republic
1450 1700
Bourbon prince
Proud and impulsive,
le grand Cond (the
great Cond), as he
was known, was
a prince of the
Bourbon line.
144
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS
KING OF SWEDEN
BORN 19 December 1594
DIED 16 November 1632
KEY CONFLICTS Polish-Swedish War,
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
Personal experience
also allowed Gustavus
to modify the latest
tactical theories mostly devised
by the much-admired Maurice of
Nassau into an effective practice
of aggressive combined-arms
warfare. Influenced by his Polish
opponents, he emphasized
charging cavalry as a shock force
on the battlefield. He also saw his
drilled, disciplined infantry as an
offensive force, the musketeers
firing massed salvoes to break open
the enemy line for the pikemen to
penetrate. He initiated the
deployment of lightweight mobile
artillery in the front line. The key
to his tactical concept was that the
arms must support one another,
the shock of firepower from
cannon and musket
preparing the way for
the push of pike and
cavalry charge.
Gustavus had as
his strategic focus
control of the
Baltic. Through the
1620s he kept out
of the conflict in
Germany, refusing
to support the
Protestant cause
despite his genuine
Lutheran faith.
145
BI BL E , PI K E , A N D M U S K E T
Battle of Dirschau
Gustavus Adolphus, on the dark brown horse,
joins in a melee at Dirschau in August 1627.
He suffered a serious neck wound in the battle.
TIMELINE
1611 Aged 16, Gustavus Adolphus inherits
IMPERIAL DESIGNS
BIOGRAPHY
LENNART TORSTENSSON
Gustavus Adolphus gave Lennart Torstensson
complete command of the Swedish artillery in
1629. Torstensson led the rst modern artillery
force, with standardized sizes of cannon and
an emphasis on battleeld mobility. He played
a major role at Breitenfeld in 1631, but was
taken prisoner at the Alte Veste the next
year. Returning to service in 1635, he fought
in the later stages of the Thirty Years War,
rst as Swedish artillery commander, then
from 1641 as overall commander of the
Swedish army. He won a notable victory
against the imperialists at Jankow in 1645,
and his campaigning nally persuaded the
emperor he had no choice but to sue for peace.
1450 1700
146
GUSTAVUS VS TILLY
IN THE SUMMER OF 1631, Saxony, ruled by
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS
GUSTAVUS
DRIVING FORWARD
1631: 17 SEPT
TILLY
TIMELINE
147
BI BL E , PI K E , A N D M U S K E T
LOCATION
N
Gustavus swiftly
redeploys his troops.
Swedish cavalry reinforce
left ank and drive off
Imperial cavalry
North of Leipzig,
present-day Germany
Podelwitz
CAMPAIGN
GUSTAVUS
ELECTOR OF
SAXONY
Breitenfeld
PAPPENHEIM
KEY
TILLY
FRSTENBERG
Gustavuss infantry
drives forward, crushing
the Imperial centre
COUNT TILLY
ig
ipz
Le
Swedish-Saxon infantry
Swedish-Saxon cavalry
Swedish-Saxon artillery
Swedish-Saxon musketeers
Imperial infantry
Imperial cavalry
Imperial artillery
Stenburg
0 km 0.5
0 miles
1
0.5
ARTILLERY DUEL
POWERLESS TO REACT
Frstenbergs cavalry
returns from the pursuit
but fails to break Horns
defensive line
1450 1700
148
THOMAS FAIRFAX
PARLIAMENTARY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
BORN 17 January 1612
DIED 12 November 1671
KEY CONFLICTS British Civil Wars
KEY BATTLES Marston Moor 1644,
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
Naseby 1645
Anglo-Dutch Wars
KEY BATTLES Edgehill 1642, Marston Moor
Youthful commander
Young and arrogant, Rupert was
a charismatic leader and popular
with his men, but his
conceit alienated
senior members of
King Charles Is
entourage.
149
BI BL E , PI K E , A N D M U S K E T
OLIVER CROMWELL
PARLIAMENTARY COMMANDER
BORN 25 April 1599
DIED 3 September 1658
KEY CONFLICTS British Civil Wars
KEY BATTLES Marston Moor 1644, Naseby
Puritan general
Cromwell was a devout Puritan and believed
his military victories reected Gods approval
of his armys moral conduct and mission.
1450 1700
KEY TROOPS
152
FAIRFAX VS RUPERT
NASEBY WAS A CRUCIAL VICTORY for the
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
THOMAS FAIRFAX
Parliamentary triumph
An engraving shows the English king, Charles I,
being restrained from joining the fray. His
armys defeat at Naseby was followed by a
series of Parliamentary victories throughout
England. Charles surrendered in May 1646.
FAIRFAX
1645: 13 JUNE
RUPERT
TIMELINE
14 JUNE
153
BI BL E , PI K E , A N D M U S K E T
LOCATION Northern
N
0 km
0.5
0 miles
1
0.5
Royalist centre
advances. At rst
Skippons infantry
is forced back
CHARLES I
King Charles is dissuaded
from joining the ght and
ees the battleeld
Colonel Okeys dragoons,
who had dismounted to shoot
at Ruperts cavalry, remount
and join in the battle
Dust Hill
RUPERT
LANGDALE
Sulby
Hedges
Prince Ruperts
regiments scatter
Iretons horse, but
ride on in pursuit
oo
Broad M
KEY
Parliamentarian cavalry
Parliamentarian infantry
Parliamentarian musketeers
Royalist cavalry
Royalist infantry
Hedge
ASTLEY
IRETON
Na
SKIPPON
CROMWELL
FAIRFAX
seb
yv
illa
Cromwell
sends his men to
join attack on
Royalist centre
Cromwell
makes short work
of Langdales
cavalry on the
Royalist left
Northamptonshire in
the English Midlands
CAMPAIGN
PRINCE RUPERT
Mill Hill
ge
RECKLESS PURSUIT
Mid-afternoon
Parliamentary forces
pursue and kill eeing
Royalists, overcoming
pockets of resistance
1450 1700
154
ADMIRALS OF THE
ANGLODUTCH WARS
THE THREE ANGLO-DUTCH WARS took place
ROBERT BLAKE
ENGLISH ADMIRAL
BORN 1599
DIED 17 August 1657
KEY CONFLICTS British Civil Wars, First Anglo-
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
155
BI BL E , PI K E , A N D M U S K E T
MAARTEN TROMP
DUTCH ADMIRAL
BORN 23 April 1598
DIED 10 August 1653
KEY CONFLICTS Eighty Years War, First
Anglo-Dutch War
KEY BATTLES The Downs 1639, Dungeness
1652, Portland 1653, Scheveningen 1653
CORNELIS TROMP
DUTCH ADMIRAL
BORN 9 September 1629
DIED 29 May 1691
KEY CONFLICTS Anglo-Dutch Wars,
Scanian War
KEY BATTLES Lowestoft 1665, Texel 1673,
Oland 1676
THE DOWNS
CAMPAIGN Eighty Years War
DATE SeptemberOctober 1639
LOCATION English Channel
Vain admiral
Cornelis Tromp was
hard-drinking, irascible,
untrustworthy, and vain,
but a fearsome ghting
commander.
1450 1700
KEY BATTLE
156
MICHIEL DE RUYTER
DUTCH ADMIRAL
BORN 24 March 1607
DIED 29 April 1676
KEY CONFLICTS Anglo-Dutch Wars,
Franco-Dutch War
KEY BATTLES Four Days Battle 1666, Raid
A CHANGE OF HEART
MASTERS OF INNOVATION
Unassuming hero
A modest and humane man of
impeccable physical courage, capable
of bold aggression and yet prudent
when occasion required, Michiel de
Ruyter is one of the Netherlands
most respected national heroes.
157
BI BL E , PI K E , A N D M U S K E T
TIMELINE
163740 A merchant sea captain, Michiel
DE WITT BROTHERS
1450 1700
1660 1850
RULERS AND
REVOLUTIONARIES
160
the Duke of Marlborough and Frederick the Great to George Washington and
Napoleon Bonaparte played decisive roles in wars and revolutions that shaped
the course of history. Amid the political and social upheaval, the actual weapons
of war changed hardly at all. The flintlock musket and bayonet, adopted in the dynastic wars of
the late 1600s, were still in use when the Texans fought the Mexicans at the Alamo in 1836.
161
LEADERSHIP STYLES
Although there were exceptions Frederick
the Great of Prussia, Charles XII of Sweden,
and Britains George II among them it
became rare for monarchs to take personal
command of their armies in the field. But
1660 1850
1660 1720
163
MILITARY REORGANIZATION
European armies were transformed during this
period. Regular forces were organized into
permanent regiments with a clear
hierarchy of officers. The men wore
uniforms and increasingly traded
their pikes and matchlock
muskets for flintlocks with
bayonets. France set the pace
Siege weapon
Mortars were designed
to propel explosive devices
over the walls of a besieged
fortress. This type of mortar
was introduced by Dutch
engineer Menno van
Coehoorn in 1674.
1660 1850
164
HABSBURG GENERAL
BORN 18 October 1663
DIED 21 April 1736
KEY CONFLICTS Ottoman-Habsburg Wars,
WILLIAM III
DUTCH LEADER AND KING OF ENGLAND
BORN 14 November 1650
DIED 8 March 1702
KEY CONFLICTS Franco-Dutch War, War of
165
MARQUIS DE VAUBAN
FRENCH MILITARY ENGINEER
BORN 15 May 1633
DIED 30 March 1707
KEY CONFLICT Wars of Louis XIV
KEY BATTLES Siege of Lille 1667, Siege of
CITY UNTAKEABLE.
POPULAR SAYING IN FRANCE ON VAUBANS MILITARY PROWESS, LATE 17TH CENTURY
Star fortress
Vaubans forts were star-shaped, the points
providing bastions for artillery and musketeers
to direct crossre at an approaching enemy.
Vaubans prestige
was all the greater
because Louis and his
courtiers took such a
keen interest in sieges,
which they treated as
a form of spectacle.
He was thus able to
push through his
policy for a large-scale
programme of fortressbuilding to render Frances
northern and eastern borders secure.
Vauban oversaw construction of
some 30 fortresses, and the rebuilding
of hundreds of others. He was not a
strikingly innovative fortress designer,
producing variations on the currently
standard star-shaped bastion design
originally invented in Italy. Indeed,
his own improvements in offensive
siege warfare, which included
the ricochet firing of cannon
to bounce solid shot over
obstacles, rendered fortresses
increasingly difficult to defend.
1660 1850
166
G E N E R A L S OF LO U I S X I V S WA RS
TIMELINE
1668 After being commissioned as an
ensign in the Guards, John Churchill serves in
the English garrison of Tangiers in north Africa.
7 June 1672 In the Third Anglo-Dutch
War Churchill takes part in the naval battle of
Solebay on board the Duke of Yorks agship.
6 July 1685 As a major-general, Churchill
plays a leading role in the defeat of the rebel
Duke of Monmouth at Sedgemoor.
November 1688 Churchill deserts
the king, James II, and welcomes William of
Oranges invasion force advancing on London.
1690 Now Earl of Marlborough, he leads
an expedition to Ireland, which retakes Cork
and Kinsale from the Jacobites.
DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH
ENGLISH MILITARY COMMANDER
BORN 26 May 1650
DIED 16 June 1722
KEY CONFLICT War of the Spanish Succession
KEY BATTLES Blenheim 1704, Ramillies 1706,
Heavy losses
Marlboroughs pitched battle against the French
at Malplaquet ended as a Pyrrhic victory. The
high casualty gures even more on the allied
than the French side shocked Europe.
English weapon
The intlock ring
mechanism introduced
at this time made
rearms far more
reliable and effective.
BLENHEIM PALACE
167
Absolute accomplishment
A master of every aspect of warfare, from
logistics and the training of troops to deception
and battleeld tactics, Marlborough was the
complete military commander.
BIOGRAPHY
WILLIAM CADOGAN
Marlboroughs quartermaster-general,
William Cadogan (16751726), served
him throughout the War of the Spanish
Succession. He was the dukes right-hand
man, ready to lead the vanguard of the army
on the march, carry out reconnaissance, draw
up detailed plans for movement or battle,
organize supplies, and if necessary command
troops in combat. Cadogan also shared in
Marlboroughs systematic pursuit of nancial
prot and remained a loyal follower during
his subsequent fall from favour.
1660 1850
168
G E N E R A L S OF LO U I S X I V S WA RS
MARLBOROUGH AT BLENHEIM
Eugne was assigned to distract the
Bavarians on the left of the enemy
line, while Marlborough smashed the
French in their centre and right. The
duke had spotted that the French
were too far back from the Nebel to
defend it properly. He ordered his
infantry to cross the stream and hold
the opposite bank until they were
BATTLE PREPARATION
On 12 August Marlborough and
Eugne advanced along the north
bank of the Danube and located
the enemy. Climbing a church tower
in the village of Tapfheim, they
observed the French and Bavarian
LOCATION
Bavarian: 56,000
169
Eugnes
troops drive
the Bavarians
out of Lutzingen
A series of allied
attacks on the French
left is repulsed
EUGNE
Richen
MARLBOROUGH
Nebel
Unterglau
Oberglau
Lutzingen
Maulw
eye
r
Blenheim
ELECTOR OF BAVARIA
ac
nb
wa
Sch
TALLARD
Sonderheim
KEY
Allied infantry
Allied cavalry
Franco-Bavarian infantry
Franco-Bavarian cavalry
Hchstadt
be
nu
Da
1
0.5
1660 1850
170
ROYAL COMMANDERS
MONARCHS FROM COUNTRIES in northern
JAN SOBIESKI
KING OF POLAND-LITHUANIA
BORN 17 August 1629
DIED 17 June 1696
KEY CONFLICTS Polish-Ottoman War,
Ottoman-Habsburg War
KEY BATTLES Khotyn 1673, Vienna 1683
171
POLTAVA
CAMPAIGN Swedish Invasion of Russia
DATE 8 July 1709
LOCATION Poltava, Ukraine
Modern emperor
Peter the Great made Russia a
major European power through
a ruthless programme of
modernization on Western lines.
Foreign ofcers were brought
in to lead his army and navy.
1660 1850
KEY BATTLE
1720 1800
18THCENTURY
WARFARE
WHEN THE TWO ARMIES ARRIVE WITHIN A CERTAIN
DISTANCE FROM EACH OTHER, THEY BOTH BEGIN TO FIRE
AND CONTINUE THEIR APPROACHES, TILL EITHER THE ONE
OR OTHER TAKES TO FLIGHT.
MAURICE DE SAXE, MARSHAL OF FRANCE, FROM REVERIES ON THE ART OF WAR, PUBLISHED 175657
173
initiative and formal rules over innovation. This, for example, is the popular
American view of the British generals who fought to prevent the independence
of the United States. Yet this was in fact the time when European armies
first established a clear superiority over those of other civilizations.
Prussian formation
At the battle of Hohenfriedberg in 1745
Frederick the Greats Prussian grenadiers
advance in a tight line into enemy re
the standard method of attack for infantry
in the mid-18th century.
COLONIAL RIVALRY
Arguably more decisive and more important in
their outcome were the wars fought by European
armies on other continents. Britain and France
in particular had emerged as colonial powers and
their rivalry gave European conflicts global scope.
Engaged on opposing sides in the Seven Years
War in Europe, the British and French also fought
one another in India, the West Indies, and North
America. The result was a resounding defeat for
Socket bayonet
Mounted on a ring slipped over the barrel of
a musket, the socket bayonet allowed a single
infantryman to combine the functions of a
musketeer and a pikeman.
1660 1850
174
MAURICE DE SAXE
FRENCH ARMY COMMANDER
BORN 28 October 1696
DIED 20 November 1750
KEY CONFLICTS War of the Polish Succession,
lieutenant-general in 1734
for his part in the siege
of Philippsburg during
the War of the Polish
Succession.
In the opening
stages of the
subsequent War
of the Austrian
Succession,
Maurices coup
in seizing Prague
through a surprise
night attack was
much admired. He
would have led an
Military thinker
The intelligence of Maurice de Saxe
shines through this portrait by court artist
Quentin de la Tour. He was made Marshal
General of France a rare honour in 1747.
DUKE OF CUMBERLAND
Merciless leader
Prince William Augustus,
Duke of Cumberland,
was known in Scotland
as the Butcher for his
brutal suppression of the
Jacobite rebellion led by
Bonnie Prince Charlie in
174546.
KEY BATTLE
FONTENOY
CAMPAIGN War of the Austrian Succession
DATE 11 May 1745
LOCATION Near Tournai, Belgium
Hastenbeck 1757
Academy founder
Daun possessed excellent organizational skills
and supported various army reforms, setting up
the Theresian Military Academy in 1751.
175
18T HCENTURY WA R FA R E
ALEXANDER SUVOROV
RUSSIAN ARMY COMMMANDER
BORN 24 November 1730
DIED 18 May 1800
KEY CONFLICTS Bar Confederation War,
1660 1850
176
Victor of Rossbach
During his famous victory over
French and imperial troops at
Rossbach in November
1757, Frederick was in
direct command on
the battleeld.
177
18T HCENTURY WA R FA R E
BIOGRAPHY
FREDERICK WILLIAM I
Ruling Prussia from 1713 to 1740, Frederick
the Greats father, Frederick William I, is
sometimes called the Soldier-King owing to
his obsessive concern with military affairs. A
bluff and boorish man, he was frugal to the
TIMELINE
June 1740 Aged 28, Frederick II accedes
1660 1850
178
FREDERICK AT
ZORNDORF
LOCATION
Zorndorf, 10km
(6 miles) from Kstrin
(Kostrzyn) on the
present-day
Polish-German border
CAMPAIGN Seven Years War
DATE 25 August 1758
FORCES Prussian 36,000; Russian 43,000
CASUALTIES Prussian 13,000 dead and
wounded; Russian 19,000 dead and wounded
11:45am: Russian
cavalry starts to drive
Prussian infantry back
to Zorndorf
el
etz
Mi
Quartschen
3:00pm: Series
of furious attacks and
counterattacks around
Prussian battery
La
ng
d
run
FERMOR
Za
b
Cossacks
G
er
Cossacks
n
er
d
un
Gr
FREDERICK
SEYDLITZ
Zorndorf
11:00am:
Fierce infantry
battles result in
heavy losses on
both sides
0 km
0 miles
0.5
11:50am: Prussian
9:00am: Fredericks
cavalry charges halt
attack on the Russian right
Russian pursuit. Infantry of starts with artillery duel
both sides now in retreat
1
0.5
1:00pm: Battle
switches to the Russian
left, where the Prussians
again meet stiff resistance
KEY
Prussian cavalry
Prussian infantry
Prussian artillery
Russian cavalry
Russian infantry
Russian artillery
179
1660 1850
180
COLONIAL WARS
IN THE MID-18TH CENTURY Britain and
ROBERT CLIVE
Clive of India
Though he became
governor-general
of Bengal, Clives
later years were
plagued by
accusations
of corruption.
KEY TROOPS
EAST INDIA
COMPANY SEPOYS
The East India Company, which represented
British power in India up to 1858, depended
heavily upon sepoys, local Indian soldiers
serving mostly under British ofcers. The
sepoys were drilled and equipped to ght in
the style of European troops, with a similar
regimental organization. The British learned
to trust, and to believe that they understood,
these soldiers who served so well under
Clive at Plassey and under Wellington at
Assaye. Consequently, the mutiny of sepoys
in 1857 (known as the Indian Mutiny) was
a profound shock to Britain. It resulted in
the replacement of the East India Company
by direct British rule.
181
18T HCENTURY WA R FA R E
MARQUIS DE MONTCALM
FRENCH ARMY OFFICER
BORN 28 February 1712
DIED 14 September 1759
KEY CONFLICTS War of the Austrian
Indian War
KEY BATTLES Siege of Louisbourg 1758,
Quebec 1759
Precocious brilliance
The frail-looking Wolfe possessed extraordinary
energy and drive, but because of his youth, the
battle for Quebec was called a boys campaign.
1660 1850
JAMES WOLFE
184
THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTIONARY WAR
IN 1775 THIRTEEN AMERICAN colonies
JOHN BURGOYNE
MOVING SOUTH
Gentleman Johnny
Burgoyne was a bold and intelligent
ofcer whose chief fault was overcondence. His dashing persona earned
him the nickname Gentleman Johnny.
HORATIO GATES
AMERICAN GENERAL
BORN 1727
DIED 10 April 1806
KEY CONFLICTS French and Indian War,
artillery up a mountain to a
dominant vantage point, Burgoyne
took Fort Ticonderoga with startling
ease in July. However, his subsequent
advance southward through wild
territory ran into mounting logistical
difficulties. Trapped at Saratoga, he
negotiated a controversial surrender
that permitted his return to Britain.
He never commanded an army again.
185
18T HCENTURY WA R FA R E
NATHANAEL GREENE
AMERICAN GENERAL
BORN 7 August 1742
DIED 19 June 1786
KEY CONFLICT American Revolutionary War
KEY BATTLES Springfield 1780, Guilford
GATESS SUCCESSOR
Yorktown 1781
1660 1850
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE
FRENCH ARMY OFFICER
BORN 6 September 1757
DIED 20 May 1834
KEY CONFLICTS American Revolutionary War,
186
TIMELINE
175458 Washington serves with
distinction as a Virginian ofcer in the French
and Indian War, nishing as brigadier-general.
August 1774 A landowner living on his
estate at Mount Vernon, Washington is elected
as a Virginian delegate to the rebel First
Continental Congress.
15 June 1775 The Second Continental
Congress appoints Washington as commanderin-chief of the newly created Continental Army.
March 1776 Washington forces the
GEORGE WASHINGTON
AMERICAN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
AND PRESIDENT
BORN 22 February 1732
DIED 14 December 1799
KEY CONFLICTS French and Indian War,
KEY TROOPS
CONTINENTAL ARMY
The Continental Army was founded on
14 June 1775, as a joint force for the 13
colonies rebelling against British rule. The
army suffered a host of problems, ranging
from desertion and indiscipline to lack of
187
18T HCENTURY WA R FA R E
Purple Heart
Washington introduced a
Badge of Military Merit in 1782
in the form of a purple heart.
The current Purple Heart
decoration was revived on
the 200th anniversary of
the commanders birth
and bears his prole.
1660 1850
190
GATES VS BURGOYNE
IN SUMMER 1777 THE BRITISH had taken the
HORATIO GATES
Daniel Morgans riflemen and other
light troops should be sent into the
woods to investigate. To Morgans
surprise, he found himself in the path
of a full-scale British advance.
LEADERSHIP CLASH
GATES
BURGOYNE
TIMELINE
1777: 12 SEPT
18 SEPT
Advancing south
along the Hudson Valley
from Saratoga, Burgoyne
arrives in front of the
Bemis Heights
Morning British
columns leave camp and
march into the wooded
hills to take Gatess line
in its left ank
Surrender at Saratoga
Burgoyne offers his sword to Gates in
a formal gesture of surrender after
his defeat in October 1777. The
surrender was a momentous
event, encouraging the
French to back the
American patriots
and profoundly
discouraging
the British.
19 SEPT
191
18T HCENTURY WA R FA R E
LOCATION
0.5
0 km
0 miles
0.5
General Fraser
is shot by one of
Morgans riemen;
the British retreat
Swords Farm
Benedict Arnold
Burgoyne orders
assumes command
and leads bold
troops to withdraw to
attack that captures
Saratoga, where he
the redoubt
surrenders ten days later
Breymanns Redoubt
Great
Redoubt
Freemans
Farm
FRASER
H u ds o n R
i ve
7 October:
Burgoyne sends
reconnaissance force to
test the American left
Mill Creek
MORGAN
BURGOYNE
Balcarres
Redoubt
POOR
KEY
LEARNED
Gates
dispatches
three brigades
to counter the
British advance
American forces
American camp
American defences
British forces
British camp
British defences
GATES
B e m i s Heig h t s
JOHN BURGOYNE
faced with musket, bayonet, and
cannon. Morgans rifle sharpshooters
took a heavy toll of Burgoynes
officers, nearly killing the commander
himself. Burgoyne avoided a disaster
by calling the Hessians into the fray
at the crucial moment, but his attack
failed and his losses were grievous.
DESPERATION SETS IN
DIVIDING FORCES
7 OCT
Night Burgoyne
disengages, pulling
his shattered forces
back to the Hudson
13 OCT
Surrounded, outnumbered,
and out of supplies,
Burgoyne holds a poll
of his ofcers, who vote
unanimously for surrender
17 OCT
1660 1850
192
WARFARE IN ASIA
DURING THE 18TH CENTURY Asian rulers
NADER SHAH
TURCOMAN WARRIOR AND SHAH OF IRAN
BORN 22 October 1688
DIED 19 June 1747
KEY CONFLICTS Persian-Ottoman Wars,
EMPEROR QIANLONG
CHINESE EMPEROR
BORN 25 September 1711
DIED 7 February 1799
KEY CONFLICTS The Ten Great Campaigns
KEY BATTLE Altishar 1757
Long-lived emperor
Qianlong ruled China through most
of the 18th century. This portrait
of him was based on sketches
by William Alexander, who
was part of an English
embassy to China,
from 1792 to 1794.
193
18T HCENTURY WA R FA R E
RULER OF MYSORE
BORN 1750
DIED 4 May 1799
KEY CONFLICT Anglo-Mysore Wars
KEY BATTLES Pollilur 1780,
Srirangapatna 1799
Commemorative fresco
Tipu Sultan had this mural painted in one of
his palaces to record his victory over the British
at Pollilur in September 1780. It gives pride of
place to the dashing Mysorean cavalry.
ROCKET FORCES
Tipu Sultans Mysorean army deployed
some 20 rocket brigades of around
200 men each. Their rockets
consisted of gunpowderlled metal cylinders
attached to bamboo
sticks. These were
usually mounted on
frames on a cart as
wheeled artillery.
Smaller versions
were carried by
infantry in quivers.
Fired in salvos,
they were effective
at ranges up to
1,000m (3,300ft).
The British were so
impressed by the metal
rockets that they made
their own version, the
Congreve rocket, in the
early 19th century.
1660 1850
TIPU SULTAN
1792 1815
FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY
AND NAPOLEONIC WARS
THE YOUNG MEN SHALL FIGHT; THE MARRIED MEN SHALL
FORGE ARMS AND TR ANSPORT PROVISIONS THE OLD MEN
SHALL BETAKE THEMSELVES TO THE PUBLIC SQUARES IN ORDER
TO AROUSE THE COUR AGE OF THE WARRIORS.
NATIONAL CONVENTION DECLARATION OF THE LEVE EN MASSE, 23 AUGUST 1793
195
A NEW REVOLUTION
In August 1793 the French revolutionary
government proclaimed a leve en masse
total mobilization for the war
effort, including universal
conscription for men of
fighting age. Although
often poorly supplied, the
new revolutionary armies
were superior to their
enemies in numbers and
patriotic enthusiasm. As
the radical impetus of the
revolution waned after
1794, the armies ambitious
young commanders emerged
as arbiters of political power.
Outstripping his rivals in both
military skill and political ambition, the
Corsican soldier Napoleon Bonaparte rose
irresistibly on the back of victories in the
field. He played the leading role in imposing
a peace treaty on Austria in 1797 and two
years later returned from an expedition to
Egypt to head a coup in Paris.
1660 1850
196
GENERALS OF THE
FRENCH REVOLUTION
MEN OF NOBLE LINEAGE commanded beside
CHARLESFRANOIS DUMOURIEZ
FRENCH GENERAL
BORN 25 January 1739
DIED 14 March 1823
KEY CONFLICTS War of the Bar
FRANOISCHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN
FRENCH GENERAL AND MARSHAL
BORN 28 May 1735
DIED 23 September 1820
KEY CONFLICTS French Revolutionary Wars,
Napoleonic Wars
KEY BATTLE Valmy
197
JEANBAPTISTE JOURDAN
FRENCH GENERAL AND MARSHAL
BORN 29 April 1762
DIED 23 November 1833
KEY CONFLICTS French Revolutionary Wars,
Peninsular War
KEY BATTLES Wattignies 1793, Fleurus 1794,
Revolutionary colours
The victor at the battle of Fleurus,
General Jourdan, accompanied by an
aide, sports the revolutionary tricolor
cockade on his bicorne hat.
FLEURUS
CAMPAIGN French Revolutionary Wars
DATE 26 June 1794
LOCATION Belgium, north of Charleroi
JEANVICTORMARIE MOREAU
FRENCH GENERAL
BORN 14 February 1763
DIED 2 September 1813
KEY CONFLICT French Revolutionary Wars
KEY BATTLES Tourcoing 1794,
Hohenlinden 1800
Medallion of Moreau
This medallion commemorates
Moreaus death in 1813 and
gives his name in Latin
appropriately, Victorius.
REST EASY,
GENTLEMEN, IT
IS MY DESTINY.
MOREAUS LAST WORDS, 2 SEPTEMBER 1813
1660 1850
198
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
FRENCH GENERAL AND EMPEROR
BORN 15 August 1769
DIED 5 May 1821
KEY CONFLICTS French Revolutionary Wars,
Napoleonic Wars
KEY BATTLES Rivoli 1797, Pyramids 1798,
Napoleons sword
Dating from 1780, this sword was presented
to the young Napoleon when he became
an artillery ofcer in the French army.
199
KEY TROOPS
TIMELINE
CONSIDERED NAPOLEONS
A FINAL FLOURISH
1660 1850
200
NAPOLEON:
MASTER OF EUROPE
A giant surrounded
by pygmies
Waterloo The Hundred Days, David Chandler,
1980. British military historian Chandler has written
admiringly of Napoleons skill as a general.
t night he wished
to visit on foot and
incognito all the posts;
but he had not gone
many steps when he
was recognized. It would be impossible to depict the
enthusiasm of the soldiers upon seeing him. Lighted
straw was placed in an instant upon the tops of
thousands of poles, and eighty thousand men
appeared before the emperor, saluting
him with acclamations
an impressive
degree of personal loyalty in his
troops. This was partly achieved
through showmanship. He created
the impression that he knew his men
personally, taking care to greet some
veterans by name as he rode up and
down the lines. He also made the
soldiers feel that he shared their
hardships on campaign and faced the
same dangers in battle, even if this was
NAPOLEON INSPIRED
201
was mostly
a triumphal progress until around
1808. He had defeated all the major
land powers in Europe.Yet he was
unable to create a stable new order
to sustain a peaceful domination of
the continent neither by placing
his relatives and marshals on thrones,
nor by allying himself by marriage to
Austrian royalty. The revolt against
the French in Spain in 1808 was the
1660 1850
202
NAPOLEON AT AUSTERLITZ
LOCATION Moravia,
modern-day Czech
Republic
CAMPAIGN War of
the Third Coalition
DATE 2 December 1805
FORCES French: 73,000; Allies: 70,000
203
LANNES
Brnn
MURAT
Bosenitz
BAGRATION
Plateau
BERNADOTTE
NAPOLEON
Schlapanitz
French centre
wheels south,
splitting allied
force in two
Blasowitz
en
wa
Litta
Pr
Krzenowitz
KOLOWRAT &
LIECHTENSTEIN
DAVOUT
Sokolnitz
Aujezd
Telnitz
ac
h
KEY
French forces
French artillery
Allied forces
Austerlitz
atz
Kobelnitz
Pratzen
Davouts
corps arrives in
time to halt
allied advance
KUTUZOV
SOULT
db
G
ol
THE ENGAGEMENT
Schwarz a
Monitz
Satschan Lake
ALEXANDER
BUXHOWDEN
Allied forces
advance on
French right wing
0 km 1
0 miles 1
2
2
1660 1850
204
NAPOLEONS MARSHALS
NAPOLEON ESTABLISHED the rank of Marshal
LOUISNICOLAS DAVOUT
FRENCH MARSHAL
BORN 10 May 1770
DIED 1 June 1823
KEY CONFLICTS French Revolutionary
NICOLAS SOULT
FRENCH MARSHAL
BORN 29 March 1769
DIED 26 November 1851
KEY CONFLICTS French Revolutionary Wars,
Napoleonic Wars
SPORADIC SUCCESS
205
MICHEL NEY
FRENCH MARSHAL
BORN 25 March 1769
DIED 26 November 1815
KEY CONFLICTS French Revolutionary
JOACHIM MURAT
Napoleonic Wars
KEY BATTLES Aboukir 1799, Austerlitz 1805,
1660 1850
206
NAPOLEONS ADVERSARIES
DESPITE HIS MILITARY GENIUS, Napoleon
ARCHDUKE CHARLES
AUSTRIAN COMMANDER
BORN 5 September 1771
DIED 30 April 1847
KEY CONFLICTS French Revolutionary Wars,
Napoleonic Wars
KEY BATTLES Stockach 1799, Aspern-Essling
Napoleonic Wars
KEY BATTLES Auerstedt 1806, Katzbach 1813,
Leipzig 1813, Ligny 1815, Waterloo 1815
207
MIKHAIL KUTUZOV
RUSSIAN COMMANDER
BORN 16 September 1745
DIED 28 April 1813
KEY CONFLICTS Russo-Turkish Wars,
FACING DISASTER
Conference at Fili
After Borodino, Kutuzov held a conference with
his generals at the village of Fili. He decided to
withdraw beyond Moscow, sacricing the city
to keep his army intact.
1660 1850
Napoleonic Wars
KEY BATTLES Austerlitz 1805, Borodino
1812, Maloyaroslavets 1812, Berezina 1812
208
N A POLE ON S AD V ERS AR I ES
DUKE OF WELLINGTON
BRITISH COMMANDER
BORN 1 May 1769
DIED 14 September 1852
KEY CONFLICTS Anglo-Mysore Wars,
KEY BATTLE
BADAJOZ
At Badajoz, a fortress city on the PortugueseSpanish border, the French resisted a British
siege in 1811, but in March 1812 Wellington
returned for a second attempt. A three-week
siege gained breaches in the fortications. He
ordered an assault on the night of 6 April,
aware that this was a desperate venture but in
a hurry to move on. Repeated attacks on the
209
TIMELINE
178586 In preparation for a career in
Quatre-Bras 1815
Wellington once described his soldiers as the
scum of the earth, yet he placed his faith in the
steady re of British line infantry, as here in the
clash at Quatre-Bras, two days before Waterloo.
Model of propriety
Wellington was sober in his dress,
in conscious contrast to the elaborate
uniforms affected by French commanders.
He despised heroic poses and disliked the
vulgarity of popular acclaim.
Portugal, Wellesley
defeats Marshal
Junot at Vimeiro
(21 August), but is
recalled to Britain
to face an enquiry
after French troops
are allowed free
passage home.
1809 Returning
1660 1850
210
WELLINGTON VS NAPOLEON
IN JUNE 1815 A PRUSSIAN ARMY under
DUKE OF WELLINGTON
rebuff a possible French flanking
move that, in the event, never came.
At first Wellington took up a vantage
point by an elm tree, from where he
issued a stream of scribbled orders,
concentrating initially on the
desperate defence of Hougoumont.
AN OBSCURED VIEW
WELLINGTON
1815: 18 JUNE
NAPOLEON
TIMELINE
DUKE OF WELLINGTON, IN A LETTER TO HIS BROTHER RICHARD AFTER WATERLOO, JUNE 1815
211
Brussels
Blchers forces
advance on La Belle
Alliance, forcing
Napoleon to ee
WELLINGTON
18 June:
Wellington draws
up his army south
of Waterloo
HALL
Halle
La Haye
Sainte
Grouchy defeats
Prussian rearguard
at Wavre, but this is
too late to affect the
outcome of the battle
Waterloo
Wavre
Hougoumont
Attack by the
Imperial Guard is
repulsed by British
NAPOLEON
Mont St
Guibert
Nivelles
16 June:
Wellingtons advance
guard withdraws after an
indecisive clash with Ney
KEY
British-led forces
Prussian forces
French infantry
French cavalry
BLCHER
La Belle
Alliance
Outside Waterloo
village, south of
Brussels
DATE 18 June 1815
CAMPAIGN Napoleonic Wars
FORCES Anglo-Dutch: 67,000; Prussians:
53,000; French: 74,000
CASUALTIES Anglo-Dutch: 15,000 killed or
wounded; Prussians: 7,000 killed or wounded;
French: 25,000 killed or wounded
QuatreBras
Gembloux
GROUCHY
NEY
16 June: Napoleon
defeats Prussians at
Ligny, then advances
on Brussels with the
main part of his army
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
17 June:
Prussians withdraw
following their
defeat at Ligny
Ligny
0 km
0 miles
10
5
10
FRENCH TACTICS
Attacked by Wellingtons
troops and a Prussian corps
that has joined Wellingtons
left, the Imperial Guard fall
back and a rout begins
CAVALRY ASSAULT
9pm Wellington
meets Blcher at La
Belle Alliance. They
agree that the Prussians
will mount the pursuit
1660 1850
1680 1830
NAVAL WARFARE
EVERY PERSON IN THE FLEET, WHO THROUGH COWARDICE,
NEGLIGENCE, OR DISAFFECTION, SHALL, IN TIME OF ACTION,
WITHDR AW OR KEEP BACK OR SHALL NOT DO HIS UTMOST
TO TAKE OR DESTROY EVERY SHIP WHICH IT SHALL BE HIS
DUTY TO ENGAGE SHALL SUFFER DEATH.
AMENDMENT TO THE ROYAL NAVYS ARTICLES OF WAR GOVERNING THE CONDUCT OF OFFICERS, 1779
213
control of the seas. The quality of naval commanders was crucial to the
outcome of this contest, which was ultimately and decisively won by
Britains Royal Navy. Although their ships were not the biggest or the best,
British seamanship and aggression were unmatched.
Britain victorious
A ship of the line, Santo Domingo, blows up
as British admiral George Rodney savages
a Spanish squadron off Cape St Vincent in
1780. Spain had a poor record in naval
combat in this period.
18th-century sextant
Naval commanders beneted from new
navigational instruments, such as this
English-made sextant. It was a major
improvement on the astrolabe as an
instrument for measuring the
angle of the sun.
1660 1850
214
18THCENTURY ADMIRALS
ALTHOUGH 18TH-CENTURY naval warfare
EDWARD HAWKE
KEY BATTLE
QUIBERON BAY
BRITISH ADMIRAL
BORN 21 February 1705
DIED 16 October 1781
KEY CONFLICTS War of the Austrian
GEORGE RODNEY
BRITISH ADMIRAL
BORN 13 February 1719
DIED 24 May 1792
KEY CONFLICTS Seven Years War,
Boarding weapons
Sailing ships were hard to sink,
even when battered for hours
by cannon re, so engagements
frequently ended with an assault
by a boarding party armed with
cutlasses and axes.
215
NAVA L WA R FA R E
JOHN JERVIS
BRITISH ADMIRAL
BORN 9 January 1735
DIED 14 March 1823
KEY CONFLICTS American Revolutionary War,
Harsh measures
Determined to improve the morale and
efciency of the British navy, Jervis did not
hesitate to hand out severe punishments.
His insistence on hanging two mutineers
on a Sunday caused protests.
1660 1850
216
1 8 T H CE N T U RY ADM I R AL S
TIMELINE
1771 Nelson joins the Royal Navy at
the age of 12, serving as a midshipman on
the warship HMS Raisonnable, commanded
by his uncle, Maurice Suckling.
June 1779 At the age of 20, Nelson
CANNONBALL
FIRED FROM A
SPANISH SHIP INTO THE
VICTORY AT TRAFALGAR
HORATIO NELSON
BRITISH ADMIRAL
BORN 29 September 1758
DIED 21 October 1805
KEY CONFLICTS French Revolutionary Wars,
Napoleonic Wars
KEY BATTLES Cape St Vincent 1797, Nile
217
NAVA L WA R FA R E
KEY BATTLE
COPENHAGEN
CAMPAIGN Napoleonic Wars
DATE 2 April 1801
LOCATION Copenhagen, Denmark
1660 1850
218
1 8 T H CE N T U RY ADM I R AL S
219
NAVA L WA R FA R E
0 km 0.5
AND SCORCHED
JOHN NICOL, A SAILOR ABOARD GOLIATH DESCRIBING THE SCENE AFTER THE BATTLE OF THE NILE
E G Y P T
Aboukir Island
1
0.5
Culloden
nd
0 miles
Wi
Guerrier
Mediterranean
Sea
NELSON
Vanguard
Goliath
Leander
Orion
Peuple Souverain
BRUEYS
8:00pm: Late
arrivals Alexander and
Swiftsure join the battle
against the French centre
Swiftsure
LOrient
Alexander
9:00pm: The
badly damaged
Bellerophon drifts
away from the battle
Tonnant
Majestic
Shallows
KEY
British ship of the line
French ship of the line
French frigate
Guillaume Tell
Gnreux
Bellerophon
Only two French ships
of the line, Gnreux and
Guillaume Tell, and two
frigates escape
1660 1850
Fire at night
In the confusion of a swiftly initiated battle
fought partly at night, Nelson relied on the
initiative of subordinates who had absorbed
his tactical doctrine.
1790 1850
221
British raiders
The American frigate Chesapeake was
boarded by the crew of HMS Shannon outside
the port of Boston in a erce naval encounter
during the War of 1812. Here, British Captain
Philip Broke takes on four American sailors.
1660 1850
222
TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE
HAITIAN REVOLUTIONARY
BORN 20 May 1743
DIED 8 April 1803
KEY CONFLICT Haitian Revolution
KEY BATTLES Guerrilla warfare
Liberation
KEY BATTLES San Lorenzo 1813, Chacabuco
Wars of Liberation
KEY BATTLES Boyac 1819,
President of newly
independent Bolivia,
Sucre was never
comfortable amid
the savage power struggles
that followed the liberation
wars. He had probably
decided to withdraw
from politics when he was
assassinated in June 1830.
Exemplary leader
Sucre inspired his subordinates
by his integrity and selessness.
His murder in 1830 has never
been fully explained.
223
KEY BATTLE
BOYAC
CAMPAIGN Independence War in New Granada
DATE 7 August 1819
LOCATION Boyac, Colombia
SIMN BOLVAR
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE LEADER
BORN 24 July 1783
DIED 17 December 1830
KEY CONFLICT South American Wars of
Liberation
KEY BATTLES Boyac 1819, Carabobo 1821,
Junin 1824
RETURN TO VENEZUELA
1660 1850
Victory at Carabobo
Bolvar (on the white horse)
hands a captured Spanish
ag to one of his victorious
commanders after the battle
of Carabobo in June 1821.
This hard-fought success
owed much to the
ghting skills of British
and Irish volunteers.
224
US COMMANDERS 18001850
IN WARS AGAINST the British in 181215, against
ANDREW JACKSON
AMERICAN MILITARY LEADER, POLITICIAN,
AND PRESIDENT
BORN 15 March 1767
DIED 8 June 1845
KEY CONFLICTS Creek War, War of 1812,
Seminole War
KEY BATTLES Horseshoe Bend 1814,
KEY BATTLE
NEW ORLEANS
CAMPAIGN War of 1812
DATE 8 January 1815
LOCATION New Orleans, Louisiana
Old Hickory
Jackson, who was nicknamed
after the tough hickory tree, had
no military training, but was a natural
ghter and leader. He was one of those
rare commanders who frightened his
own men more than the enemy did.
225
ZACHARY TAYLOR
AMERICAN GENERAL AND PRESIDENT
BORN 24 November 1784
DIED 9 July 1850
KEY CONFLICTS War of 1812, Black Hawk
Decisive in command
Zachary Taylor issues orders during
the battle of Buena Vista against the
Mexicans in 1847. Field artillery played
a large part in his victories.
WELLEARNED PRAISE
Parade-ground perfect
Scotts preoccupation with
formal dress and discipline
earned him the nickname
Old Fuss and Feathers.
WINFIELD SCOTT
AMERICAN GENERAL
BORN 13 June 1786
DIED 29 May 1866
KEY CONFLICTS War of 1812, Black Hawk
1660 1850
1850 1914
AGENTS OF
EMPIRE
228
A G E N TS OF EM PI R E
ETWEEN 1850 AND 1914 MILITARY LEADERS of widely varying styles and
standing won fame and glory. They ranged from mustachioed imperialists, such as
Lord Kitchener, to the Italian freedom fighter, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and from hardfighting generals of the American Civil War, such as Ulysses S. Grant and William
T. Sherman, to the Prussian war manager, Helmuth von Moltke. Their exploits took place at a
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
time of sweeping technological changes that had a profound impact on the conduct of war.
Gatling Gun
Introduced in the mid-1860s, the Gatling gun was one of
the new rapid-re weapons that transformed warfare.
229
1850 1914
1849 1880
EUROPEAN WARS
THE AIR WAS LITER ALLY FILLED WITH SHELLS, SHR APNEL AND
CANISTER... IT WAS AS IF THE WORLD WAS COMING TO AN
END. BUT NOTHING COULD MAKE THE BR AVE FUSILIERS QUAIL;
THEY FELL IN ROWS, BUT THEY WERE WORTHY OF THE OLD
BREED... THEY DIDNT WAVER A FOOTS BREADTH.
AN AUSTRIAN OFFICER, ON THE BATTLE OF KNIGGRTZ (SADOWA), 1866
231
Austrians, whose muzzle-loading rifles fired only a fifth as fast. The lessons
generals had learned by studying or taking part in the battles of Napoleon
and Wellington were still relevant, but the cavalry charge or advance of
infantry over open ground were fast becoming excessively costly tactics.
PRUSSIAN DOMINANCE
In the other major wars of this period Frances
campaign against Austria in Italy in 1859, the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and the FrancoPrussian War of 1871 commanders set out
to fight decisive battles that would settle the
issue as swiftly as possible, and in this they
largely succeeded. These wars were short
conflicts fought with definite and limited
objectives, and undertaken in line with
the dictum of the Prussian theorist, Carl
von Clausewitz, that war was the
continuation of politics by other
means. The French intervention
in Italy evicted Austria from
Lombardy, and Prussias wars
with Austria and France
were part of a grand
plan orchestrated by
Chancellor Otto von
Bismarck to assert
Prussian dominance
1850 1914
232
FRANOIS CANROBERT
FRENCH MARSHAL
BORN 27 June 1809
DIED 28 January 1895
KEY CONFLICTS Crimean War, Italian
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
Old warrior
Elevated to marshal of France in 1856,
Canrobert was at his best involving himself in
combat rather than considering larger strategic
issues. He lived to a ripe old age, entering
politics and serving as a senator.
FRANZ TOTLEBEN
RUSSIAN MILITARY ENGINEER
BORN 20 May 1818
DIED 1 July 1884
KEY CONFLICTS Crimean War,
Russo-Turkish War.
KEY BATTLES Siege of Sevastopol 185455,
Courage of conviction
Totleben possessed immense selfcondence that allowed him to
criticize the senior ofcers
misdirecting the defence
of Sevastopol.
233
EUR OPEA N WA RS
LORD RAGLAN
BRITISH GENERAL
BORN 30 September 1788
DIED 29 June 1855
KEY CONFLICTS Crimean War
KEY BATTLES Siege of Sevastopol 185455,
Bugle call
This bugle was used in the
charge of the Light Brigade.
In battle, bugle notes conveyed
simple instructions.
1850 1914
One-armed veteran
Lord Raglan was a ne staff ofcer who lost an
arm at Waterloo. His conduct of battles in the
Crimea, based on what he had learned serving
under Wellington, was mostly competent.
234
NATIONBUILDING WARS
BETWEEN 1848 AND 1871 a series of wars
NAPOLEON III
FRENCH EMPEROR
BORN 20 April 1808
DIED Died 9 January 1873
KEY CONFLICTS Crimean War, Italian
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
PATRICE DE MACMAHON
FRENCH MARSHAL
BORN 13 July 1808
DIED 17 October 1893
KEY CONFLICTS Crimean War, Italian
ARMY OF AFRICA
Sedan 1870
235
EUR OPEA N WA RS
GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI
ITALIAN FREEDOM FIGHTER
BORN 4 July 1807
DIED 2 June 1882
KEY CONFLICTS Uruguayan Civil War, Italian
Aspromonte 1862
KEY TROOPS
REDSHIRTS
In May 1860 Garibaldi landed on the coast
of Sicily with around 1,000 red-shirted
volunteers, mostly recruited from northern
Italy. Although the Redshirts had naval
backing from Britain, they were heavily
outnumbered by the troops of the Kingdom
of the Two Sicilies. However, the volunteers
were better motivated and led than the
forces of the decrepit monarchy, and after
sharp ghting at Calatami and Milazzo
they took control of Sicily. Garibaldi
continued his campaign into southern Italy,
eventually leading some 25,000 men, but
the achievement of the original 1,000
Redshirts became an Italian national legend.
1850 1914
Personal weapon
Garibaldis pistol was part of his personal
weaponry, along with a sabre and dagger.
Depictions of him as a fearless freedom
ghter often show him sabre in hand.
238
N AT ION B U I L DI NG WARS
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
ROYAL FAVOUR
BIOGRAPHY
239
EUR OPEA N WA RS
TIMELINE
181921 After attending a cadet
ENTRAPMENT
Battle of Kniggrtz
King Wilhelm I rides through the eld of victory
at Kniggrtz on 3 July 1866, with Helmuth
von Moltke on his right. The battle resulted
in 44,000 Austrian casualties, compared with
only 9,000 on the Prussian side.
1850 1914
240
MOLTKE VS MACMAHON
AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE Franco-Prussian
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
MOLTKE
MACMAHON
TIMELINE
25 AUG
29 AUG
30 AUG
31 AUG
241
EUR OPEA N WA RS
LOCATION
0 km
N
Giv
Illy
VillersCernay
Givonne
Fresh artillery
arrives and drives
the French back
into Sedan
Floing
0 miles
e
onn
St Menges
Meus
e
French launch
counterattack at
La Moncelle in
an attempt to
break out
Sedan
DE WIMPFFEN
Donchery
MACMAHON
Balan
Frnois
KEY
Bazeilles
German forces
German artillery
French forces
French defences
Railway
German forces
begin encirclement
of the city at dawn
La Moncelle
Battle starts at 4am
with German attack on
Bazeilles. MacMahon is
later wounded as he
watches the ghting
MOLTKE
PATRICE DE MACMAHON
Douzy
Meus e
7.30am Moltke
arrives at his position
on a hill near Frnois
from which he will
observe the battle
CRUSHING DEFEAT
1 SEPT
5pm MacMahon
declares that 1 September
will be a rest day for his
exhausted army
6am MacMahon is
wounded by an artillery
shell. He is succeeded
rst by Ducrot and
then by de Wimpffen
1850 1914
1861 1865
243
Picketts Charge
The battle of Gettysburg, 13 July 1863, was
a major defeat for Confederate commander
Robert E. Lee. One of its disastrous episodes
was a hopeless charge into Union re by
infantry under General George Pickett.
A CHAOTIC START
Fought with inexperienced troops unused to
discipline, serving under officers often unsuited
to command, the early stages of the war were
chaotic. The Prussian chief of general staff,
Helmuth von Moltke, was an observer who
reputedly described the war as two armed
mobs chasing each other around the
country. Most senior commanders
had been through the West Point
military academy, where the stress
was placed more on engineering
and fortifications than on tactics and
drill. As a consequence they coped
relatively well with using new
technologies such as railroads, steam
ships, and the electric telegraph, but
had more difficulty fighting coherent
1850 1914
244
CONFEDERATE COMMANDERS
MANY OF THE FINEST serving US Army
JEB STUART
CONFEDERATE CAVALRY GENERAL
BORN 6 February 1833
DIED 12 May 1864
KEY CONFLICT American Civil War
KEY BATTLES First Bull Run 1861,
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON
CONFEDERATE GENERAL
BORN 3 February 1807
DIED 21 March 1891
KEY CONFLICTS Seminole Wars, Mexican-
Seasoned professional
Always the professional, Johnston resisted
pressure from Confederate President Jefferson
Davis to attack when facing superior forces.
245
STONEWALL JACKSON
CONFEDERATE GENERAL
BORN 21 January 1824
DIED 10 May 1863
KEY CONFLICT American Civil War
KEY BATTLES First Bull Run 1861, Second Bull
A LEGEND IS BORN
CHANCELLORSVILLE
CAMPAIGN American Civil War
DATE 16 May 1863
LOCATION Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Gods general
Jackson had the assurance of a
man convinced his every act was
fullling Gods plan for the world.
He sought to mystify, mislead
and surprise the enemy to
compensate for the heavy odds
against the Confederates.
1850 1914
KEY BATTLE
246
CON F E DE R AT E COM M A N DE RS
TIMELINE
182529 Robert E. Lee attends West
Point, the US military academy, graduating to
enter the Corps of Engineers as a lieutenant.
1847 In the Mexican War Lee ghts with
distinction under General Wineld Scott in the
advance from Vera Cruz to Mexico City.
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
ROBERT E. LEE
CONFEDERATE GENERAL
BORN 19 January 1807
DIED 12 October 1870
KEY CONFLICTS Mexican-American War,
247
KEY TROOPS
CONFEDERATE ARMY
Created out of nothing at the start of the
Civil War, the Confederate Army was initially a
volunteer force, with conscription introduced in
1862. It was an all-white army only at the
very end was any attempt made to enlist black
slaves. The Confederate troops, convinced that
they were ghting in defence of their homes
and families, on average showed greater
1850 1914
248
LEE VS McCLELLAN
IN SEPTEMBER 1862 Robert E. Lees Army of
ROBERT E. LEE
morning he was well prepared to
face an onslaught from that direction.
As the battle unfolded, Lee stayed
in close touch with the fighting,
shifting troops rapidly to places
where collapse threatened. Divisions
were first thrown into the desperate
battle in the Cornfield and West
Wood on his left, then switched back
to the centre and the right as the
focus of the Union attacks altered.
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
On 15 September, encouraged by
the news that Jackson had taken
Harpers Ferry, Lee decided to stand
and fight at Sharpsburg. Ordering
Jacksons men and other scattered
forces to join him, he established
a defensive line exploiting existing
features hills, fences, and a sunken
road. His strength increasing as
dispersed contingents arrived, Lee
faced McClellan across Antietam
Creek. Skirmishes on the evening of
16 September revealed Union troops
had crossed the Creek and were
assembling on Lees left. The next
DIGNIFIED RETREAT
1862: 16 SEPT
MCCLELLAN
TIMELINE
LEE
17 SEPT
249
N
Attack in the centre
leads to erce ghting
around the sunken
road. McClellan fails
to commit his reserves
Union forces
Confederate forces
McCLELLAN
tie
tam
6:00am: Hooker
launches powerful
attack against the
Confederate left
HOOKER
MANSFIELD
C re
Middle Bridge
SUMNER
Lower Bridge
East
Woods
A.P. HILL
North Corneld
Woods
o
pers F e r ry R ad
Har
Sharpsburg
West
Woods
Dunker Church
LONGSTREET
JACKSON
STUART
Burnside withdraws
to the bridge and
ghting comes to an
end. The next day both
sides gather their dead
and wounded
BURNSIDE
ek
o
ot
c
ma
GEORGE B. McCLELLAN
Potom
ac
Upper Bridge A
n
Near Sharpsburg,
Maryland
CAMPAIGN American
Civil War
DATE 17 September 1862
FORCES Union: c.75,000; Confederate:
c.40,000
CASUALTIES Union: c.12,000; Confederate:
c.10,000
LEE
0 km 0.5
0 miles
1
0.5
Burnsides bridge
Union troops ood over Lower Bridge on
the Antietam, overcoming resistance by
Confederate sharpshooters and artillery.
HEAVY CASUALTIES
Evening McClellan
decides that it is too risky
to resume the battle, saying
there is no absolute
assurance of success
1850 1914
250
UNION COMMANDERS
THE MAJORITY OF SUCCESSFUL Union
GEORGE B. McCLELLAN
UNION GENERAL
BORN 3 December 1826
DIED 29 October 1885
KEY CONFLICT American Civil War
KEY BATTLES Williamsburg 1862, Seven Days
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
PHILIP SHERIDAN
UNION CAVALRY GENERAL
BORN 6 March 1831
DIED 5 August 1888
KEY CONFLICTS American Civil War,
Pushed by Lincoln, he
finally launched an
offensive in March
1862. A plan to land
the Army of the
Potomac on the
Virginia coast and
march down the
Yorktown Peninsula
to Richmond
was thwarted by
hesitant execution.
McClellan the cautious
Though he was an imposing
gure and popular with his
troops, McClellan was also vain,
over-cautious, and secretive.
Sheridans ride
In a famous episode of the Shenandoah
Valley Campaign in October 1864,
Sheridan galloped to rejoin his army
engaged in battle at Cedar Creek, and
was cheered as he rode down the line.
251
WILLIAM T. SHERMAN
UNION GENERAL
BORN 8 February 1820
DIED 14 February 1891
KEY CONFLICTS American Civil War,
A CHANGE OF STANCE
THERE IS NO
USE TRYING TO
REFORM IT. THE
CRUELER IT IS,
THE SOONER IT
WILL BE OVER.
GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN
1850 1914
WAR IS CRUELTY.
252
ULYSSES S. GRANT
UNION GENERAL AND US PRESIDENT
BORN 27 April 1822
DIED 23 July 1885
KEY CONFLICTS Mexican-American War,
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
253
TIMELINE
183943 Grant studies at West Point
TOTAL WARFARE
of all Union armies with the rank of lieutenantgeneral, Grant moves to the eastern theatre to
lead the ght against the main Confederate
force, Lees Army of Northern Virginia.
BIOGRAPHY
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
President Lincoln had no experience of military
command when he led the United States into
war in 1861 and he had difculty handling
generals such as McClellan who did not respect
him and resented his meddling. Yet Lincolns
instinctive grasp of the principles of warfare
was superior to theirs. He knew that a war was
only won by bringing the enemy to battle and
striking hard, at any cost. The Unions success
depended largely on Lincolns ability to choose
good generals. In Grant and Sherman he at last
found leaders with the bulldog tenacity he
required. Lincoln was a man of exceptional
qualities, and his assassination in the hour of
victory was a disaster for the United States.
1850 1914
1865 1905
FRONTIERS
AND COLONIES
IT IS FOOLISH NOT TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE FIGHTING
A FORMIDABLE AND TERRIBLE ADVERSARY... WE MUST FACE
THE FACTS. THE INDIVIDUAL BOER MOUNTED IN SUITABLE
COUNTRY IS WORTH THREE TO FIVE REGULAR SOLDIERS.
WINSTON CHURCHILL, MY EARLY LIFE: A ROVING COMMISSION, 1930
257
troops against traditional warriors with inferior weaponry, these wars made
a colourful spectacle for the patriotic public of industrialized countries.
Commanders were as likely to earn fame with dramatic deaths like George
Custer and Gordon of Khartoum as with victories through superior strength.
Battle of Isandhlwana
On 22 January 1879 Zulu warriors attacked
a British camp at Isandhlwana, slaughtering
the British troops to the last man. It was a
harsh lesson in the fate that could befall
imperial forces under inadequate command.
Feathered headdress
Made from the immature tail feathers
of a golden eagle, this headdress belonged
to the Arapaho chief, Yellow Calf. The feathers
represented achievements in war.
1850 1914
258
RED CLOUD
LAKOTA CHIEF
BORN c.1822
DIED 10 December 1909
KEY CONFLICT Plains Indian Wars
KEY BATTLES Fetterman Massacre 1866,
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
GERONIMO
APACHE WAR LEADER
BORN 16 June 1829
DIED 17 February 1909
KEY CONFLICT Apache Wars
Respected leader
Red Cloud was an imposing gure who won
the respect of many white Americans for his
dignied defence of Native American rights.
This photograph was taken in 1904, by which
time he was living on the Pine Ridge
Reservation in South Dakota.
259
F R ONTIERS A ND COLONIES
CRAZY HORSE
LAKOTA WAR LEADER
BORN c.1840
DIED 5 September 1877
KEY CONFLICT Plains Indian Wars
KEY BATTLES Fetterman Massacre 1866,
BIOGRAPHY
SITTING BULL
A chief of the Hunkpapa Sioux, Sitting Bull
was a erce opponent of American expansion.
In the 1870s he attracted to his camp
thousands of warriors who wanted to ght
white settlers and the US Army. His moral
authority and prophetic visions inspired
them to victory at Little Bighorn. Continuing
persecution led him to seek refuge in Canada
with his tribe, but in 1881 Sitting Bull was
starved into surrendering to the authorities.
In 1890 he was about to join a Ghost Dance,
a ceremony believed to restore the Sioux way
of life and sweep away the whites, when he
was shot dead by a Lakota policeman.
1850 1914
Rosebud ambush
A newspaper illustration of August 1876 shows
Crazy Horse leading the attack on General
Crook at Rosebud Creek. In reality both Lakota
and US cavalry would have dismounted to ght.
260
N AT I V E A M ER IC AN WAR R IORS
CRAZY HORSE AT
LITTLE BIGHORN
about 150 men. Crazy Horse and the
other Indian war leaders responded
swiftly. Counterattacking in strength,
they forced Reno to take refuge on
a ridge, where he was joined by a
second detachment under Captain
Frederick Benteen and pinned down.
Custers own body of around 210
men, delayed by crossing difficult
terrain, reached the encampment
after Reno had been driven off. Faced
by Indian warriors in overwhelming
numbers, he too pulled back to high
ground, but found it hard to stabilize
a defensive position. His men were
weakened by volleys of arrows and
by individual warriors boldly
penetrating their skirmish line.
LOCATION
US Army c.600
CASUALTIES Native American c.300;
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
INDIAN VICTORY
CUSTERS OFFENSIVE
KEY
Indian forces
Indian encampment
US cavalry
N
Benteens column
joins Renos force on
the top of the bluffs
Custer is encircled
and outnumbered, and
his force splits into
small groups
CUSTER
Custer probably
approaches the river,
intending to attack the
village, but is driven off
BENTEEN
Little Bighorn
Northern
Cheyenne
CRAZY HORSE
Sans Arc
Minneconjou
SITTING BULL
Brule
Hunkpapa
Oglala
Blackfeet
1
0.5
RENO
Indians halt Renos
advance on their village.
His force retreats back
across the river
261
1850 1914
Custers last stand
An imaginary depiction shows Crazy Horse
charging Custers hilltop position at Little
Bighorn. The Indians had modern repeating
ries to the cavalrys single-shot carbines.
262
AFRICAN LEADERS
FROM THE FRENCH invasion of Algeria in 1830
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
Khartoum 1885
DERVISH DEFIANCE
KEY BATTLE
MENELIK II
ETHIOPIAN EMPEROR
BORN 17 August 1844
DIED 12 December 1913
KEY CONFLICT First Italo-Ethiopian War
KEY BATTLE Adowa 1896
ADOWA
(king) of Shoa in 1865 and was
obliged to pay tribute to the Ethiopian
emperor,Yohannis IV. He built up his
army by importing modern weapons
from Italy and France, and expanded
his realm through campaigns against
peoples around Shoas borders.
EMPEROR MENELIK
263
F R ONTIERS A ND COLONIES
CETSHWAYO
ZULU PARAMOUNT CHIEF
BORN c.1826
DIED 8 February 1884
KEY CONFLICT Anglo-Zulu War.
KEY BATTLES Isandhlwana 1879,
Ulundi 1879
Military chief
Cetshwayo was an energetic ruler who worked
to revive the Zulu military system established
by Shaka in the early 19th century. This
photograph of him was taken around 1870.
ABD ALQADIR
ALGERIAN GUERRILLA LEADER
BORN 6 September 1808
DIED 26 May 1883
KEY CONFLICT Algerian resistance struggle
KEY BATTLES Macta 1835, Sidi Brahim 1845
1850 1914
264
IMPERIAL COMMANDERS
FRANCE AND BRITAIN were the leading
HUBERT LYAUTEY
FRENCH ARMY OFFICER
BORN 17 November 1854
DIED 21 July 1934
KEY CONFLICTS Pacification of Madagascar,
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
Conquest of Morocco
HERBERT KITCHENER
BRITISH ARMY OFFICER
BORN 24 June 1850
DIED 5 June 1916
KEY CONFLICTS Mahdist War, Second
Boer War
KEY BATTLES Atbara 1898, Omdurman 1898,
Paardeberg 1900
African lord
Kitchener wears the fez of an
ofcer in the Egyptian Army. He
was elevated to the peerage as
Lord Kitchener of Khartoum
after his victory at the battle
of Omdurman in 1898.
265
Mahdist War
KEY BATTLES Peking 1860, Changzhou 1864,
BESIEGED IN KHARTOUM
KEY BATTLE
1850 1914
266
KITCHENER AT OMDURMAN
LOCATION
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
As sirdar (commander-in-chief) of
the British-officered Egyptian Army,
General Herbert Kitchener was tasked
with regaining control of the Sudan,
lost in 1885 to the Islamic Mahdists
(known to the British as Dervishes).
Kitchener mounted an expedition
down the Nile with meticulous
267
F R ONTIERS A ND COLONIES
0 km 0.5
N i l e
0 miles
1
0.5
Kitchener gives
order to advance
on Omdurman
KITCHENER
British cavalry
force withdraws
Omdurman
Initial charge
by Mahdists is
driven off by
Kitchener's
Maxim guns
and artillery
Camel
Corps
Kerreri Hills
75m (250ft)
Jebel Surgham
75m (250ft)
KEY
British, Egyptian,
and Sudanese forces
British cavalry
British camp
British gunboat
Mahdist army
Thorn hedge
Mahdist army is
destroyed by superior
repower of the British
Mahdist forces concealed
behind Kerreri Hills join attack
on the isolated British brigade
KHALIFA
21st Lancers,
sent ahead to
reconnoitre, are
surprised by force
hiding in a dry
stream bed
1850 1914
268
CHRISTIAAN DE WET
BOER COMMANDER
BORN 7 October 1854
DIED 3 February 1922
KEY CONFLICTS First Boer War, Second
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
LOUIS BOTHA
BOER COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
BORN 27 September 1862
DIED 27 August 1919
KEY CONFLICTS Second Boer War, Southwest
269
F R ONTIERS A ND COLONIES
KEY BATTLE
REDVERS BULLER
BRITISH ARMY OFFICER
BORN 7 December 1839
DIED 2 June 1908
KEY CONFLICTS Anglo-Zulu War, Second
SPION KOP
Medal for bravery
Buller was a popular ofcer
who had won a Victoria
Cross for bravery at Hlobane
during the Zulu War.
His dismissal from
the army in 1901
was widely seen
as unfair.
Boer War
KEY BATTLES Hlobane 1879, Colenso 1899,
FREDERICK ROBERTS
BRITISH ARMY OFFICER
BORN 30 September 1832
DIED 14 November 1914
KEY CONFLICTS Second Afghan War,
Buller as commander-in-chief in
January 1900, Roberts benefited from
large-scale reinforcements that made
his task considerably easier. He was
also lucky in his subordinates, with
the experienced Herbert Kitchener
Afghan Earl
General Roberts (standing)
went on from his South
African role to become
commander-in-chief of
the British Army and was
ennobled to Earl Roberts
of Kandahar. The troops
called him Bobs.
1850 1914
1850 1914
NAVAL WARFARE
IN THE AGE OF STEAM
IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE EVEN TO COUNT THE NUMBER OF
PROJECTILES STRIKING US. I HAD NOT ONLY NEVER WITNESSED
SUCH A FIRE BEFORE, BUT I HAD NEVER IMAGINED ANYTHING
LIKE IT. SHELLS SEEMED TO BE POURING UPON US INCESSANTLY.
VLADIMIR SEMENOFF, RUSSIAN WITNESS OF THE BATTLE OF TSUSHIMA, 1905
271
Signal lamp
Aldis lamps are used to send
visual signals between ships,
typically in Morse code. This
British example dates from 1913.
CLINGING TO TRADITION
The officers of the new navies had the benefit of
more formal training than their predecessors and
achieved higher social status. The United States
established its Naval Academy at Annapolis in
1850 and even the ultra-conservative British
Royal Navy felt it necessary to establish a Naval
College at Dartmouth. Traditions
were maintained as far as possible.
Although the use of explosive shells
eventually made it impossible for
admirals or captains to stand on
the open deck during battles,
they still adopted the
most exposed position
practicable on the
bridge. Despite all
the changes to naval
warfare in this period,
Japanese Admiral
Togo consciously
modelled his great
victory at Tsushima
in 1905 on Nelsons
triumph at Trafalgar.
1850 1914
SYMBOLS OF POWER
Steam fleets became an essential symbol of
great power status, no doubt partly because they
were so hugely expensive to build and maintain.
Britain, still the worlds leading maritime power,
found itself challenged by Japanese, American,
and German naval expansion. Ever larger
warships with ever more powerful guns were
built, but generations of vessels succeeded one
another without seeing significant
use in combat. The American
fleet enjoyed a chance to show
what destruction its guns
could wreak in an unequal
war with Spain in 1898,
but it was not until the
Russo-Japanese War
of 190405 that a
full-scale contest
between naval powers
equipped with the new
types of ship took place.
It was necessary for
commanders to devise
new tactical manoeuvres
for fighting naval battles
with ships that were
272
NAVAL COMMANDERS
BETWEEN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS and
DAVID FARRAGUT
AMERICAN ADMIRAL
BORN 5 July 1801
DIED 14 August 1870
KEY CONFLICTS American Civil War
KEY BATTLES Mississippi Forts 1862,
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
GEORGE DEWEY
AMERICAN ADMIRAL
BORN 26 December 1837
DIED 16 January 1917
KEY CONFLICTS Spanish-American War
KEY BATTLES Manila Bay 1898
273
TOGO HEIHACHIRO
JAPANESE ADMIRAL
BORN 27 January 1848
DIED 30 May 1934
KEY CONFLICTS Russo-Japanese War
KEY BATTLES Port Arthur 1904, Yellow Sea
Honoured admiral
Japans greatest national
hero after his victories in the
Russo-Japanese War, Admiral
Togo lived to an advanced
age. When he died in 1934
warships from Britain,
America, and many other
countries took part in a
naval parade in his honour.
KEY BATTLE
PORT ARTHUR
CAMPAIGN Russo-Japanese War
DATE 89 February 1904
LOCATION Liaodong Peninsula, Manchuria
1850 1914
274
TOGO AT TSUSHIMA
LOCATION
Tsushima Strait,
between Japan
and Korea
CAMPAIGN
Russo-Japanese War
DATE 2728 May 1905
FORCES Japanese: 4 battleships, 24 cruisers,
36 other ships; Russians: 8 battleships,
8 cruisers, 12 other ships
CASUALTIES Japanese: 117 killed, 3 torpedo
boats sunk; Russians: 4,380 killed, 7 battleships,
4 cruisers, and 10 other ships sunk
AGENTS OF EMPIRE
SURVEILLANCE BY RADIO
275
N
Disorganized Russian
eet continues to
suffer serious losses
Japanese pursuit
continues through
the night
Borodino
Alexander III
Ts u s h i m a
S t r a i t
Knyaz
Suvorov
Ural
TOGO
Japanese turn to
avoid Russian torpedoes
Oslyabya
KEY
Japanese battleship/
armoured cruiser
Russian battleship
Sunk Russian ship
ROZHDESTVENSKI
Russian battleship
Oslyabya is sunk. Flagship
Knyaz Suvorov is set on
re and loses control
0 km
0 miles
10
5
10
1850 1914
Russian disaster
The Russian battleship Oslyabya sinks after
a shell strikes its magazine. More than 500
sailors died as the ship went down, one of
seven Russian battleships lost in the battle.
1914 PRESENT
MODERN
COMMANDERS
278
ARKED BY THE TWO COSTLIEST WARS in history, the 20th century saw the
Rapid developments in the nature of warfare, as well as its extraordinary scale, placed severe
MODERN COMMANDERS
279
Rocket-propelled grenade-launcher
The Al-Nasirah RPG7 is the Iraqi version of the
Soviet RPG7, and is widely used by insurgents.
1914 PRESENT
Control centre
Operators at work in the air trafc control centre on
board the American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
USS Abraham Lincoln.
1914 1918
WORLD WAR I
THERE IS NO COURSE OPEN TO US BUT TO FIGHT IT OUT.
EVERY POSITION MUST BE HELD TO THE LAST MAN; THERE
MUST BE NO RETIREMENT. WITH OUR BACKS TO THE WALL
AND BELIEVING IN THE JUSTICE OF OUR CAUSE EACH ONE
OF US MUST FIGHT ON TO THE END.
FIELD MARSHAL SIR DOUGLAS HAIG, ORDER OF THE DAY, 11 APRIL 1918
281
GRINDING STALEMATE
Commanders of the period tended to believe
that highly motivated troops on the offensive
would win battles. But the mass firepower of
high-explosive artillery shells and machine-guns
gave a strong advantage to defenders in prepared
positions. As the war spread to Germanys ally,
Ottoman Turkey with British and French
landings at Gallipoli and to Italy, the result
Hotchkiss machine-gun
The Hotchkiss was the standard French
heavy machine-gun in World War I. The
rate of re of such weapons made frontal
assaults by infantry immensely costly.
1914 PRESENT
282
BRITISH COMMANDERS
THE HIGHLY TRAINED British Expeditionary
JOHN FRENCH
BRITISH FIELD MARSHAL
BORN 28 September 1852
DIED 22 May 1925
KEY CONFLICTS Boer War, World War I
KEY BATTLES Mons 1914, First Marne 1914,
MODERN COMMANDERS
EDMUND ALLENBY
BRITISH GENERAL
BORN 23 April 1861
DIED 14 May 1936
KEY CONFLICTS Boer War, World War I
KEY BATTLES Second Ypres 1915, Arras 1917,
283
WOR LD WA R I
Reticent character
Haig had a taciturn and aloof personality.
His manner distanced subordinate
ofcers, who were deterred from
questioning plans or
drawing attention to
inconvenient facts.
DOUGLAS HAIG
BRITISH FIELD MARSHAL
BORN 19 June 1861
DIED 29 January 1928
KEY CONFLICTS Boer War, World War I
KEY BATTLES First Ypres 1914,
A MAN OF VIRTUE
HENRY RAWLINSON
BRITISH GENERAL
BORN 20 February 1864
DIED 28 March 1925
KEY CONFLICTS Boer War,
World War I
KEY BATTLES Antwerp
1914, First Ypres 1914,
Somme 1916, Amiens 1918
An infantry officer,
Henry Rawlinson saw
action in the Sudan and
the Boer War. Early in
World War I he was
involved in the defence of
Antwerp and the first battle of Ypres,
doing well enough to be made a corps
commander in 1915. He was then
given command of Fourth Army, a
force of New Army volunteers and
Territorials chosen to spearhead the
Somme Offensive in July 1916.
Reassessing tactics
A thinker, Rawlinson at last found
the tactical combination that
would succeed in the trench
warfare of the Western Front.
KEY BATTLE
THE SOMME
CAMPAIGN World War I
DATE 1 July13 November 1916
LOCATION Eastern France
1914 PRESENT
284
FRENCH COMMANDERS
FRANCE MOBILIZED AROUND 2.5 million
JOSEPH JOFFRE
FRENCH MARSHAL
BORN 12 January 1852
DIED 3 January 1931
KEY CONFLICT World War I
KEY BATTLES Frontiers 1914, First Marne
Papa Joffre
Projecting an assured
image, Joffre was a
popular gure despite
failed offensives.
MODERN COMMANDERS
PHILIPPE PTAIN
As commander-in-chief,
Joffre ruled the zone of
the armies in France
like a dictator, still
certain that lan
(attacking spirit)
would triumph
over defensive
firepower. In the
Champagne and
Artois offensives
of 1915, his theory
failed at the cost of
hundreds of thousands
of lives. Joffre lost his
command in December
1916 after Verdun.
KEY TROOPS
FRENCH POILUS
The French infantryman, popularly known
as a poilu (hairy one), went to war in August
1914 in a bright blue uniform and kepi. A
product of universal conscription, he was
trained to attack at all costs. Despite support
from the excellent quick-ring 75mm eld
gun, French infantry were
cut down by German
repower, suffering a
million casualties in
the rst three months
of the war. By
1918 the French
infantryman was
a soberly clad,
steel-helmeted
warrior, tenacious
but thoroughly
disillusioned.
STANDARD POILU
UNIFORM IN 1914
285
WOR LD WA R I
Aggressive marshal
Ferdinand Foch was an
instinctively aggressive
commander who performed best
when on the counterattack. He
regarded the peace terms
imposed on Germany at Versailles
in 1919 as criminally lenient.
FERDINAND FOCH
FRENCH MARSHAL AND ALLIED SUPREME
COMMANDER
BORN 2 October 1851
DIED 20 March 1929
KEY CONFLICT World War I
KEY BATTLES First Marne 1914, First Ypres
ROBERT NIVELLE
FRENCH GENERAL
BORN 15 October 1856
DIED 22 March 1924
KEY CONFLICT World War I
KEY BATTLES Verdun 1916, Nivelle
Offensive 1917
Man of charm
Nivelle charmed politicians, including the
British prime minister, David Lloyd George,
into supporting his offensive.
1914 PRESENT
288
ARTHUR CURRIE
CANADIAN GENERAL
BORN 5 December 1875
DIED 30 November 1933
KEY CONFLICT World War I
KEY BATTLES Vimy Ridge 1917, Third Ypres
MODERN COMMANDERS
ALEXEI BRUSILOV
RUSSIAN GENERAL
BORN 19 August 1853
DIED 17 March 1926
KEY CONFLICT World War I
KEY BATTLES Brusilov Offensive 1916,
Patriotic general
Brusilov was above all
a patriot, who wanted the
Russian Army to be properly
led and supplied for the defence
of the homeland. His offensive in
1916 was one of the most successful
operations of the whole war.
289
WOR LD WA R I
JOHN MONASH
AUSTRALIAN GENERAL
BORN 27 June 1865
DIED 8 October 1935
KEY CONFLICT World War I
KEY BATTLES Gallipoli 1915, Messines 1917,
JOHN J. PERSHING
AMERICAN GENERAL
BORN 13 September 1860
DIED 15 July 1948
KEY CONFLICTS Philippine-American War,
KEY BATTLE
ST MIHIEL
CAMPAIGN World War I
DATE 1216 September 1918
LOCATION Eastern France, near Metz
Black Jack
As his nickname
suggests, Pershing
was not popular with
his troops, appearing
distant and reserved.
He was emotionally
numbed by the death
of his wife and three
children in a house
re in 1915.
1914 PRESENT
Corps commander
An Australian engineer of Prussian-Jewish
origin, Monash proved an outstanding general
on the Western Front. He planned and
organized combined-arms offensives that gave
maximum re support to the advancing infantry.
290
GERMAN COMMANDERS
GERMANY HAD THE MOST powerful army
MODERN COMMANDERS
291
WOR LD WA R I
Mahiwa 1917
ERICH LUDENDORFF
GERMAN ARMY QUARTERMASTER
BORN 9 April 1865
DIED 20 December 1937
KEY CONFLICTS World War I
KEY BATTLES Lige 1914, Tannenberg 1914,
BIOGRAPHY
1914 PRESENT
292
PTAIN VS FALKENHAYN
IN DECEMBER 1915 German chief of general
MODERN COMMANDERS
PHILIPPE PTAIN
PTAIN
FALKENHAYN
TIMELINE
22 FEB
4.30pm German
infantry enter Fort
Douaumont, the central
strongpoint of the
French Verdun defences,
almost unopposed
25 FEB
6 MAR
20 MAR
9 APR
16 APR
293
WOR LD WA R I
LOCATION
21 February: Initial
German attack on the
east bank of the Meuse
CROWN PRINCE
WILHELM
u
Me
se
MarchMay: Offensive
switches to west bank of the
Meuse. Desperate battles for
Le Mort Homme ridge and
neighbouring Cte 304
FALKENHAYN
25 February: Fall
of Fort Douaumont
Beaumont
Bezonvaux
Avocourt
Le Mort
Homme
Cte 304
Marre
Vaux
Fleury
Belleville
Souville
9 April: Launch
of major German
offensive on both
sides of the Meuse
Tavannes
Verdun
Belrupt
25 February:
French troops to the
east of Verdun start to
withdraw to this line
La Voi e Sacr
KEY
PTAIN
Meu s e
Bar-le Duc
German attack
French front line
21 February 1916
French front line
24 February 1916
French front line
9 April 1916
French fort
Railway
7 June: Fall
of Fort Vaux
Douaumont
Souilly
6
3
GROUND DOWN
La Voie Sacre
The French relied on a single minor road, with a
narrow-gauge railway track alongside, to move
their men and supplies into beleaguered Verdun.
Motor trucks, horse-drawn carts, and marching
soldiers led along this route day and night.
2226 MAY
The strongpoint of
Fort Vaux falls to the
Germans after an assault
by Stormtroopers and
prolonged ghting
within the fortress
29 MAY
17 JUN
2 JULY
12 JULY
29 AUG
24 OCT
Falkenhayn is replaced as
chief of German general staff
by Hindenburg, partly because
of his failure at Verdun, which
ceases to be a German priority
1914 PRESENT
294
MODERN COMMANDERS
DAVID BEATTY
German High Seas Fleet faced each other across the North
Sea, but the Germans were too weak to challenge British
dominance, and the British did not need a victory to keep
the Germans under blockade. German submarines in the
end came closest to a decisive impact on the war through
large-scale sinking of Allied merchant shipping in 1917.
FRANZ HIPPER
BRITISH ADMIRAL
BORN 17 January 1871
DIED 11 March 1936
KEY CONFLICTS World War I
KEY BATTLES Heligoland Bight 1914,
GERMAN ADMIRAL
BORN 13 September 1863
DIED 25 May 1932
KEY CONFLICTS World War I
KEY BATTLES Scarborough Raid 1914,
Hipper medal
This medal commemorates Hipper at the battle
of Jutland. He was much honoured and received
a knighthood from the king of his native Bavaria.
REINHARD SCHEER
GERMAN ADMIRAL
BORN 30 September 1863
DIED 26 November 1928
KEY CONFLICTS World War I
KEY BATTLE Jutland 1916
Commander-in-chief 1916
An aggressive naval commander, Scheer resented
the German eet being conned to port. Yet
after the battle of Jutland in 1916, he found
almost no opportunity for offensive action.
295
WOR LD WA R I
JOHN JELLICOE
BRITISH ADMIRAL
BORN 5 December 1859
DIED 20 November 1935
KEY CONFLICTS World War I
KEY BATTLES Jutland 1916
A CAUTIOUS APPROACH
KEY BATTLE
JUTLAND
CAMPAIGN World War I
DATE 31 May1 June 1916
LOCATION North Sea, off Denmark
1914 PRESENT
THE FIGHT?
1913 1939
297
Mosin-Nagant rie
Designed in 1891, the Mosin-Nagant rie was widely used by
both sides in the Russian Civil War. Mosin-Nagants were also
supplied to the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.
1914 PRESENT
298
ABD ELKRIM
MODERN COMMANDERS
CHALLENGING FRANCE
Respected leader
Abd el-Krim was much admired in Europe and
North America. He lived to see Morocco and
Algeria gain independence from European rule.
LONGER TO BE FEARED.
MARSHAL PHILIPPE PTAIN, QUOTED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, 8 NOVEMBER 1925
MICHAEL COLLINS
IRISH NATIONALIST LEADER
BORN 16 October 1890
DIED 22 August 1922
KEY CONFLICTS Irish Independence War,
Dublin 1922
Irish conicts
Rebels ght in the streets of Dublin during
the Irish Civil War of 1922, a conict that
was triggered by the treaty that gave
self-governance to southern Ireland.
299
LEON TROTSKY
BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTIONARY LEADER
BORN 7 November 1879
DIED 21 August 1940
KEY CONFLICTS Russian Civil War,
Russo-Polish War
KEY BATTLES Petrograd 1919, Warsaw 1920
Columbus 1916
1914 PRESENT
PANCHO VILLA
Bolshevik, 1920
A giant gure, symbolic of Bolshevism,
waves the red ag of Communism as he
strides among the masses. The picture, by
painter and set designer Boris Kustodiev,
captures the revolutionary spirit of the time.
302
JOZEF PILSUDSKI
POLISH MILITARY AND POLITICAL LEADER
BORN 5 December 1867
DIED 12 May 1935
KEY CONFLICTS World War I,
Polish-Soviet War
MODERN COMMANDERS
Warsaw 1920
FRAGILE INDEPENDENCE
Greco-Turkish War
KEY BATTLES Gallipoli 1915, Sakarya 1921,
Dumlupinar 1922
303
JIANG JIESHI
CHINESE NATIONALIST LEADER
BORN 31 October 1887
DIED 5 April 1975
KEY CONFLICTS Chinese Civil Wars,
Dynamic leader
In the 1930s Jiang Jieshi impressed many
foreign observers as a Chinese political and
military leader with energy and dynamism.
FRANCISCO FRANCO
SPANISH GENERAL AND DICTATOR
BORN 4 December 1892
DIED 20 November 1975
KEY CONFLICTS Rif War, Spanish Civil War
KEY BATTLES Madrid 1936, Brunete 1937,
Victory medal
This medal was awarded to
Nationalist soldiers and records
the military uprising of 18 July 1936.
KEY TROOPS
ARMY OF AFRICA
The Army of Africa, stationed in Spanish
Morocco, consisted of two distinct elements.
The regulares were Moroccan volunteer
infantry and cavalry serving under Spanish
ofcers; the Spanish Legion, set up in 1920,
was modelled on the French Foreign Legion,
except that recruitment was almost entirely
from Spain rather than abroad. Together
these two elements constituted an army of
30,000 hardened professionals, blooded in
colonial wars very different from the mob
of disaffected conscripts that made up the
bulk of the soldiers in barracks in Spanish
cities. At the start of the Spanish Civil War
in 1936, the Army of Africa, advancing on
Madrid under General Francos command,
was the feared spearhead of the Nationalist
forces. It was responsible for widespread
massacres of civilians and captured large
numbers of Republican troops.
1914 PRESENT
Francisco Franco
Bahamonde made his
reputation fighting
rebels in the Spanish
protectorate of Morocco
in the Rif War up to the
1920s. Courageous and
able, he was made
1939 1945
WORLD WAR II
IMAGINE STALINGR AD... THE STREETS ARE NO LONGER
MEASURED IN METRES BUT IN CORPSES. STALINGR AD IS
NO LONGER A TOWN. BY DAY IT IS AN ENORMOUS CLOUD
OF BURNING, BLINDING SMOKE. IT IS A VAST FURNACE
LIT BY THE REFLECTION OF THE FLAMES.
A GERMAN OFFICER, WRITING DURING THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD, 194243
305
really two separate wars. One was fought against Nazi Germany
and its Axis allies (mainly Italy) in Europe and North Africa,
the other against Japan in the Pacific, Southeast Asia, and China.
On land, at sea, and in the air, aggressive commanders came to the fore as
technology and tactics swung in favour of the offensive. Germanys Erwin
Rommel, the USs George Patton, and the Soviet Unions Georgi Zhukov won
heroic reputations, inflated by the propagandists of a publicity-conscious war.
1914 PRESENT
Air power
A Luftwaffe Heinkel bomber ies over
London during the Battle of Britain in 1940.
Air power was all-pervasive, used in
strategic bombing as well as playing a
crucial role in land and naval operations.
306
GERMAN GENERALS
GERMANY HAD THE MOST GIFTED generals
HEINZ GUDERIAN
GERMAN GENERAL
BORN 17 June 1888
DIED 14 May 1954
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Poland 1939, France 1940,
MODERN COMMANDERS
BIOGRAPHY
ADOLF HITLER
A corporal in World War I, Hitler rose to
power as leader of the Nazi Party in the
1920s. Chancellor of Germany from 1933,
and thereafter dictator, he won the support
of the German ofcer corps with a massive
expansion of the armed forces and reassertion
of German power. In 1934 all German
soldiers swore a personal oath to Hitler as
their Fhrer that few were later prepared to
break. Hitler backed Blitzkrieg tactics that
chimed with his belief in the value of
willpower, shock, and surprise, and his
expansionist policies led directly to war in
1939. Early military successes some of them
achieved by overruling his top commanders
convinced Hitler of his own infallibility,
and conicts with his generals escalated.
Surviving an assassination attempt in July
1944, Hitler became increasingly deluded
and irrational. He committed suicide in his
Berlin bunker in April 1945, as the city was
falling to Soviet forces.
307
WOR LD WA R II
WALTER MODEL
GERMAN GENERAL
BORN 24 January 1891
DIED 21 April 1945
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Operation Barbarossa 1941,
Figure of hate
Tactless, demanding, and foul-tempered,
Model was almost universally hated by ofcers
on his staff. Hitler once remarked, I trust that
man to do the job, but I wouldnt want to serve
under him.
ERWIN ROMMEL
GERMAN GENERAL
BORN 15 November 1891
DIED 14 October 1944
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES France 1940, Gazala 1942,
Rommels cap
The standard German general ofcers
headwear of World War II.
1914 PRESENT
Victory parade
A small boy approaches German soldiers
taking part in a victory procession through
the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on 18 July
1940. The parade was held to celebrate the
capitulation of France during World War II.
310
SOVIET COMMANDERS
THE GENERALS WHO SERVED under Soviet
KONSTANTIN ROKOSSOVSKY
SOVIET MARSHAL
BORN 21 December 1896
DIED 3 August 1968
KEY CONFLICTS World War II
KEY BATTLES Moscow 1941, Stalingrad
MODERN COMMANDERS
VASILII CHUIKOV
SOVIET GENERAL
BORN 12 February 1900
DIED 18 March 1982
KEY CONFLICTS World War II
KEY BATTLES Stalingrad 194243,
Berlin 1945
311
WOR LD WA R II
GEORGI ZHUKOV
SOVIET MARSHAL
BORN 1 December 1896
DIED 18 June 1974
KEY CONFLICTS Sino-Japanese War,
World War II
KEY BATTLES Khalkhin Gol 1939, Leningrad
STALINGRAD
CAMPAIGN Eastern Front, World War II
DATE September 1942February 1943
LOCATION Stalingrad (now Volgograd)
1914 PRESENT
Soviet hero
This poster shows Zhukov on the white
horse he rode at the Moscow victory parade
in June 1945. The ruins of Berlin provide the
backdrop and Nazi banners lie trampled
beneath his horses hooves.
Side arm
The Tokarev TT-33
self-loading pistol was
a popular Soviet weapon
during World War II and
was often used as a
generals side arm.
312
ZHUKOV VS MANSTEIN
IN SPRING 1943 GERMAN AND Soviet armies
MODERN COMMANDERS
GEORGI ZHUKOV
ZHUKOV
MANSTEIN
TIMELINE
5 JULY
Rokossovsky, commanding
Soviet Central Front on
the northern side of the
salient, commits his tanks to
counterattacks but these fail
6 JULY
10 JULY
313
WOR LD WA R II
LOCATION
N
78 July:
German advance
is halted at Ponyri
12 July: Soviet
counteroffensive towards
Orel fails to encircle
German forces
Orel
MODEL
ROKOSSOVSKY
KLUGE
ZHUKOV
Ponyri
56 July: Massive
air battles over northern
and southern sectors
of Operation Citadel
Kursk
UKRAINE
VATUTIN
12 July: Vast tank
battle around small
town of Prokhorovka
halts German advance
Belgorod
Soviet offensive
in the south leads to
recapture of Kharkov
on 23 August
KEY
German front line
4 July 1943
Furthest extent
of German advance
Soviet defensive lines
Kharkov
MANSTEIN
0 km 30
0 miles
60
30
60
13 JULY
Soviet counterattacks to
the south of the salient
force Manstein on to the
defensive. Hitler cancels
Citadel and begins moving
tanks to the Italian front
15 JULY
Manstein announces
a continued push
northwards, despite the
failure of Ninth Armys
side of Operation Citadel
17 JULY
3 AUG
1914 PRESENT
Tank battle
Kursk is famous as historys largest tank
battle, with more than 5,000 armoured
vehicles taking part. Anti-tank guns and
tank-busting aircraft inicted heavy
damage on the panzers and T-34s involved.
314
ALLIED COMMANDERS
THE SPECTRE OF WORLD WAR I haunted
ARCHIBALD WAVELL
BRITISH FIELD MARSHAL
BORN 5 May 1883
DIED 24 May 1950
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Operation Compass 194041,
MODERN COMMANDERS
WINSTON
CHURCHILL
The British prime minister from May 1940,
Churchill provided energetic direction to the
war effort and a resolute focus for national
resistance. A keen amateur strategist, he
was behind the decisions to invade Italy in
1943 and hold back the invasion of France
until summer 1944. He regarded his generals
as unimaginative and disinclined to ght, and
prodded them to take offensive action, but
ultimately he let them do their jobs.
Commander-in-chiefs ag
This Union ag was own on Wavells car when
he commanded in the Middle East from 193941.
315
WOR LD WA R II
BERNARD FREYBERG
NEW ZEALAND GENERAL
BORN 21 March 1889
DIED 4 July 1963
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Crete 1941, Second El Alamein
FIERCE FIGHTER
Leading by example
Fearless and pugnacious, Freyberg
always led from the front. He disliked
formal discipline, exercising authority
through the respect he inspired.
FRENCH GENERAL
BORN 22 November 1902
DIED 28 November 1947
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES France 1940, Kufra 1941,
AUSTRALIAN GENERAL
BORN 18 September 1889
DIED 26 September 1959
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Siege of Tobruk 1941, Second
El Alamein 1942
Effective leader
A highly distinguished commander, Morshead
was a tough disciplinarian, which earned him
the nickname Ming the Merciless.
BIOGRAPHY
CHARLES DE GAULLE
An infantry ofcer in World War I, de Gaulle
was wounded three times and captured at
Verdun. Between the wars he made a
reputation as a military theorist, arguing for
the primacy of mobile armoured warfare.
In the battle of France, commanding Fourth
Armoured Division, he inicted a few tactical
reverses on the German Army. In June 1940
he established the Free French forces from
his base in London to continue the ght
after the fall of France.
He linked up with
the Resistance
inside France to
ensure his army
a leading role
when liberation
came in 1944. De
Gaulle was briey
president of a
provisional French
government, but
returned in
1958 to found
the Fifth
Republic.
1914 PRESENT
PHILIPPE LECLERC
LESLIE MORSHEAD
316
TIMELINE
1908 Montgomery graduates from
Sandhurst Military Academy and is
commissioned as an infantry ofcer in the
Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
MODERN COMMANDERS
BERNARD MONTGOMERY
WORLD WAR II
Approachable leader
Montgomery addresses part of Eighth Army
in Tunisia in 1943. He strongly believed that a
commander should be visible to his troops and
explain the operations they were engaged in.
Montgomery to be no master
of mobile warfare, his sluggish
manoeuvres missing a chance to
cut off Rommels retreat.
THE ROAD TO VICTORY
317
WOR LD WA R II
KEY BATTLE
INFLUENCE OF FEAR.
BERNARD MONTGOMERY, IN A SPEECH ON MORALE IN BATTLE, 1946
Complex character
Montgomery had personality aws
he was argumentative, arrogant,
and vain but he understood
soldiers well and had a rm
grasp of operations.
1914 PRESENT
Montgomerys medals
This impressive collection of awards includes the
Order of the Bath, the Distinguished Service
Order, the Italy Star, and the Africa Star.
318
MONTGOMERY VS ROMMEL
BERNARD MONTGOMERY took command of
BERNARD MONTGOMERY
MODERN COMMANDERS
A QUALIFIED VICTORY
MONTGOMERY
ROMMEL
TIMELINE
Night Montgomery
orders reluctant tank
commanders to
pursue the offensive
as the advance stalls
24 OCT
24 OCT
25 OCT
Evening Rommel
returns from sick
leave in Austria to
resume command
Night Montgomery
orders Australian infantry
to thrust north towards
the coast road
26 OCT
27 OCT
Afternoon Axis
armoured counterattack
suffers heavy losses to
British anti-tank guns
28 OCT
29 OCT
Rommel redeploys
forces towards the
coast to block the
Australian thrust
319
WOR LD WA R II
LOCATION 100km
ROMMEL
Tob
ru
4 November:
Rommel, reduced to about
30 serviceable tanks, starts
retreat towards Libya
Sidi El Rahman
2325 October:
Allied tanks fail to nd
a way through Axis
mineelds
26 October: 21st
Panzer Division moves
north to support
Rommels counterattacks
El Alamein
Alex a n d r ia
2 November: Start
of Operation Supercharge. Allies
make progress through
mineelds despite heavy losses
MONTGOMERY
Miteiriya
Ridge
Ruweisat
Ridge
KEY
Axis front line
23 October 1942
Allied forces
Axis forces
Axis mineeld
Area cleared of mines
Railway
Mediterr a n e a n
Sea
23 October:
Montgomery starts the
battle with artillery barrage
along the whole front
23 October:
Allied forces make a
series of diversionary
raids in the south
Qattara
Depression
0 km 5
Qaret el
Himeimat
0 miles
ERWIN ROMMEL
terms of the fuel it required. He lacked
air cover and his formations could not
travel by day without being decimated
by the RAF. Armoured counterattacks
on a restricted battlefield packed
with enemy tanks and anti-tank guns
proved extremely costly.
10
5
10
Desert warfare
British Churchill tanks advance through the
desert sand. Churchill Mark IIIs appeared on
the battleeld for the rst time at El Alamein
and stood up well to Axis anti-tank re.
LIMITED CHOICES
1am Montgomery
launches Operation
Supercharge
1 NOV
Furious counterattacks
fail to dislodge the
Australians. Rommel
begins planning a retreat
2 NOV
Rommel throws in
his armoured reserves
to block Supercharge
Morning Montgomerys
forces have broken through
the Axis lines and he
attempts an envelopment
Night Montgomery
reorganizes his forces
in preparation for a
nal breakout
3 NOV
4 NOV
1914 PRESENT
320
US ARMY COMMANDERS
IN EUROPE
ENTERING WORLD WAR II in December 1941,
OMAR BRADLEY
MODERN COMMANDERS
US ARMY GENERAL
BORN 12 February 1893
DIED 8 April 1981
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Sicily 1943, Normandy 1944,
NORMANDY LANDINGS
MARK CLARK
US ARMY GENERAL
BORN 1 May 1896
DIED 17 April 1984
KEY CONFLICTS World War II, Korean War
KEY BATTLES Operation Torch 1942, Salerno
321
WOR LD WA R II
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
landings and subsequent campaign
in North Africa showed he had the
strategic and political skills that the job
required. He oversaw the invasions of
Sicily and the Italian mainland before
his appointment, in January 1944, as
Operation Overlord 1944
supreme commander of the Allied
forces for the invasion of France.
Eisenhower graduated from West
Throughout the rest of the
Point in 1915. He became a
European campaign, he
staff officer and, in
struggled to reconcile
the 1930s, aide to
the conflicting egos
General Douglas
of his British and US
MacArthur. He was
generals. His decisiona major for 16 years
making was sound, apart
before World War II.
from the error of backing
METEORIC RISE
Operation Market
Garden, and his firm
Catching the attention
optimism was moraleof Army Chief-of-Staff
Five stars
boosting. For example, he
George C. Marshall,
Eisenhower is one
insisted that the German
Eisenhower was catapulted
of only ve men who
into important posts in
have held the rank of Ardennes offensive of
December 1944 be seen as
Washington and, in 1942,
ve-star general.
an opportunity and not as
surprisingly chosen to
a disaster. After the war he was the
command US forces in the European
first supreme commander of NATO,
theatre. Despite his lack of combat
and US president from 1953 to 1961.
experience, his handling of the Torch
US ARMY GENERAL AND US PRESIDENT
BORN 14 October 1890
DIED 28 March 1969
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Operation Torch 1942,
DDAY
CAMPAIGN World War II
DATE 6 June 1944
LOCATION Normandy, France
1914 PRESENT
Supreme commander
Eisenhower talks to US Airborne paratroopers
on the eve of the D-day landings. His
honesty and toughness won
him respect from soldiers
and ofcers alike.
KEY BATTLE
322
TIMELINE
June 1909 Patton graduates from West
Point, the US Military Academy.
191617 Patton serves as aide to General
Pershing, the commander-in-chief during the
American intervention in the Mexican revolution.
1918 In the later stages of World War I, he
MODERN COMMANDERS
PATTON IN 1918
GEORGE PATTON
US ARMY GENERAL
BORN 11 November 1885
DIED 21 December 1945
KEY CONFLICTS World War II
KEY BATTLES Sicily 1943, Normandy 1944,
In November 1942
Patton led the
Western Task Force
in Operation Torch,
the Anglo-American
invasion of northwest Africa. His command saw little
combat but in March 1943 he was
called to the front in Tunisia where
he took over the under-performing
US II Corps, transforming it with his
energy and determination.
A ferocious disciplinarian, Patton
always insisted on his men wearing
correct uniforms. He also cultivated
an inspiring presence, assiduously
visiting forward units and imbuing
his speeches to the troops with a
charisma that transcended his
surprisingly high-pitched voice.
Although in private he could be
sensitive and thoughtful, in public his
speech was laced with obscenities
and aggressive, bloodthirsty remarks.
It was during the Tunisian campaign
that Patton first encountered the
British general, Bernard Montgomery.
Showy weapon
Patton often sported
ivory-handled revolvers.
This nickel-plated Colt .45
was his favourite, owned
by him since 1916.
323
WOR LD WA R II
Allied commander-in-chief,
Dwight D. Eisenhower, intervened,
recognizing that Patton was too
gifted a general to lose, and ordered
him to make amends. Eisenhower
then sent Patton to Britain in
December as part of Fortitude
South, a plan designed to confuse
the Germans about the location and
timing of the D-Day landings.
NORMANDY INVASION
KEY BATTLE
SICILY CAMPAIGN
CAMPAIGN Liberation of Sicily
DATE 10 July17 August 1943
LOCATION Southern Italy
Four-star general
Patton was promoted to the rank of four-star
general in April 1945, jealously aware that
contemporaries and, in his view, rivals
and inferiors had reached this rank
before him.
1914 PRESENT
324
PATTON:
ON THE ATTACK
MODERN COMMANDERS
325
WOR LD WA R II
IN MODERN ARMIES it is clearly
understood that combat exhaustion
and trauma are realities of warfare,
and that those suffering from them
deserve considerate treatment.
Another school of thought states
that armies with strong discipline
and a robust attitude to such
problems will end up with fewer
t has come to my
attention that a very
small number of soldiers
are going to the hospital
on the pretext that they are nervously incapable of
combat. Such men are cowards and bring disgrace
to their comrades, whom they heartlessly
leave to endure the dangers of battle...
1914 PRESENT
Returning hero
Patton salutes the crowd at a victory
parade in Los Angeles in his native
California on 11 June 1945. The parade
was attended by about a million people.
326
PATTON AT
THE BULGE
for halting the German advance and
then counterattacking. Omar Bradley
was given the corresponding role to
the south, but in effect George
Patton commanding US Third Army
became the driving force behind the
southern operations.
At Eisenhowers conference
officers were disbelieving when
Patton claimed that he could have
three divisions on the attack against
the German southern flank some
150km (90 miles) from their existing
front within 48 hours. But Patton
made this happen. Over the next
few days, Patton alone worked as
Third Armys forward headquarters,
driving from unit to unit and
hurrying them along the line of
march, adjusting their deployment,
and finally sending them into battle.
The relief of Bastogne was achieved
on 26 December, and on 16 January
Third Army linked up at Houffalize
with forces of Hodgess First Army
attacking from the north.
LOCATION
MODERN COMMANDERS
Ardennes region,
Luxembourg,
and eastern
Belgium
CAMPAIGN Liberation of northwest Europe
DATE 16 December 1944end January 1945
FORCES Allied (initially): 83,000;
German: 200,000
CASUALTIES Allied: c.100,000;
German: c.100,000
0 km 10
0 miles
20
ALLIED VICTORY
MONTGOMERY
10
20
25 December:
Troops of US First
Army halt advance
of panzers at Celles
BELGIUM
M eu
se
HODGES
M eus
26 December:
Pattons 4th Armored
Division spearheads
the breakthrough to
relieve Bastogne
Monschau
20 December:
Germans encircle US
troops in Bastogne
Malmdy
DIETRICH
Dinant
Celles
Gouvy
F RANC E
n
rde
ne
16 December
5:30am: German
offensive takes US
forces completely
by surprise
MODEL
Houffalize
MANTEUFFEL
St Hubert
Libramont
BRADLEY
St Vith
Clervaux
Bastogne
Vianden
GERMANY
BRANDENBERGER
Echternach
LUXE MB OUR G
KEY
Allied front line
16 Dec 1944
Allied front line 20 Dec
Allied front line 25 Dec
Pre-war frontiers
PATTON
Luxembourg
19 December:
Patton orders US Third
Army to swing north to
counter German offensive
327
1914 PRESENT
Difcult conditions
An M36 tank destroyer passes another on an
icy road. The Germans hoped that the wintry
weather would stop the Allies using their air
power, but when conditions improved Allied
aircraft made devastating attacks.
328
US COMMANDERS
IN THE PACIFIC
THE SURPRISE ATTACK on Pearl Harbor on
DOUGLAS MACARTHUR
US ARMY GENERAL
BORN 26 January 1880
DIED 5 April 1964
KEY CONFLICTS World War I, World War II,
Korean War
MODERN COMMANDERS
commander of
Allied forces in
the southwest
Pacific, he
launched an
offensive in
New Guinea
and instituted an
island-hopping strategy, bypassing
Japanese strongpoints. He used the
media to press for his preferred
strategic choices, invading the
Philippines in 1944 against the
judgment of the joint chiefs of staff.
After the war MacArthur led the
occupation forces in Japan, and at the
onset of the Korean War in 1950, he
was given command of UN forces.
He stabilized a perimeter around the
Four stars
MacArthurs
four-star plate
was superseded
in December 1944,
when he became a
ve-star general.
A promise kept
Fleeing the Philippines in 1942 MacArthur
promised to return. He did wade
ashore at Leyte in October 1944,
but this staged, publicity
shot was taken later.
329
WOR LD WA R II
HOLLAND SMITH
US MARINE CORPS GENERAL
BORN 20 April 1882
DIED 12 January 1967
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Tarawa 1943, Kwajalein 1944,
CHESTER NIMITZ
US ADMIRAL
BORN 24 February 1885
DIED 20 February 1966
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Coral Sea 1942, Midway 1942,
ISLAND ASSAULTS
KEY TROOPS
MARINE CORPS
In the early 20th century the US Marine
Corps was Americas overseas intervention
force. As such, its ofcers and men gained
combat experience that served them well in
World War I, when the Marines earned the
nickname Devil Dogs. By World War II they
had developed an expertise in amphibious
warfare that was applied to seizing islands
in the Pacic War. Their performance in the
bitter combat against the Japanese at
Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo
Jima gained the Marines a reputation as an
elite ghting force. By 1945 the corps had
grown from two brigades to six divisions
numbering almost half a million men. They
conrmed their elite reputation
in the toughest ghting
of the Korean and
Vietnam Wars.
1914 PRESENT
Marine general
A hard-hitting Marine
general, Smith was largely
responsible for US forces
standard of excellence
in combined-arms
amphibious operations
during World War II.
330
AIR COMMANDERS
THE CORRECT USE of air power was a subject
HUGH DOWDING
HEAD OF RAF FIGHTER COMMAND
BORN 24 April 1882
DIED 15 February 1970
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES France 1940, Britain 1940
ARTHUR HARRIS
HEAD OF RAF BOMBER COMMAND
BORN 13 April 1892
DIED 5 April 1984
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Cologne 1942, Ruhr 1943,
MODERN COMMANDERS
The Spitre
RAF Fighter Commands
most famous aircraft, the
Supermarine Spitre, went
into production in 1938,
appearing just in time to
counter the Luftwaffe. This
Mark V version was own
by a Canadian pilot.
BLANKET BOMBING
Bomber Harris
Air Marshal Arthur Harris (seated) was a blunt,
aggressive man who rejected suggestions that
bombing German civilians was immoral. He felt
his Command was badly treated after the war,
when opinion turned against strategic bombing.
331
WOR LD WA R II
ALBERT KESSELRING
LUFTWAFFE FIELD MARSHAL
BORN 30 November 1885
DIED 16 July 1960
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Poland 1939, France 1940,
CURTIS LEMAY
Getting results
A draconian disciplinarian with no tolerance
of incompetence or weakness, LeMay always
ensured his bomber crews were the best
trained in the air force, achieving greater
accuracy and suffering lower casualties.
1914 PRESENT
US AIR COMMANDER
BORN 15 November 1906
DIED 1 October 1990
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Regensburg 1943, Tokyo 1945
The Blitz
Air raid wardens clamber over the wreckage
of a bomb-damaged building in Holborn,
central London, following a daylight raid on
8 October 1940. The Blitz caused 30,000
deaths and 50,000 injuries in London alone.
334
YAMAMOTO ISOROKU
JAPANESE ADMIRAL
BORN 4 April 1884
DIED 18 April 1943
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Pearl Harbor 1941, Midway
MODERN COMMANDERS
KEY BATTLE
PEARL HARBOR
CAMPAIGN Pacific Theatre, World War II
DATE 7 December 1941
LOCATION Oahu Island, Hawaii
Fiery admiral
Cunningham embodied the
ghting spirit of the Royal
Navy. He once ordered his
eet to sink, burn, and
destroy every enemy vessel.
ANDREW CUNNINGHAM
BRITISH ADMIRAL
BORN 7 January 1883
DIED 12 June 1963
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Taranto 1940, Cape Matapan
335
WOR LD WA R II
Coolness under pressure
Spruance was a quiet man, cool and decisive
under pressure. After the war he served as
president of the US Naval War College and
later as US ambassador in the Philippines.
RAYMOND SPRUANCE
AMERICAN ADMIRAL
BORN 3 July 1886
DIED 13 December 1969
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLES Midway 1942, Philippine Sea
Bombers at Midway
An artists view of Douglas Dauntless
dive-bombers ying away after scoring hits
on a Japanese carrier during the battle of
Midway on 4 June 1942.
KARL DNITZ
GERMAN ADMIRAL
BORN 16 September 1891
DIED 24 December 1980
KEY CONFLICT World War II
KEY BATTLE The Atlantic 194045
KEY TROOPS
UBOAT CREW
In the early years of World War II, U-boat
crews were a well-trained elite and their
commanders were celebrated in Germany
as aces, competing to clock up kills.
The life expectancy of U-boat crewmembers
was low, however. By the end
of the war 60 per cent
of men who had served
on U-boats were dead.
FAILED STRATEGY
1914 PRESENT
1945 PRESENT
337
obvious that 1945 marked the end of the era of total war
mainly because total war had come to mean the utter
devastation of all combatants by nuclear weapons. Military
1914 PRESENT
Vietnam War
Taken in 1964, this photograph shows a
US Army special forces captain contacting
his base camp via radio in the foreground.
In the background Vietnamese soldiers set
re to a Vietcong hideout.
GUERRILLA WARFARE
The Korean War, precipitated by a Communist
North Korean invasion of the pro-American
South, was fought for the most part with World
War II-vintage equipment, commanders, and
tactics. In Vietnam some of the worlds most
skilled practitioners of guerrilla warfare took on
US forces strong on firepower but weaker on the
political and propaganda aspects of war. US
commanders were often successful in their
conduct of operations, but when it came to
long-term strategy their Communist opponents
out-planned and out-manoeuvred them.
Although no other conflict of this period
matched Vietnam in scale, there was also a series
of Arab-Israeli wars in the Middle East, in which
desert terrain provided a theatre for conventional
338
POSTWAR COMMANDERS
THE WARS OF THE 1950s and 1960s reflected
MATTHEW RIDGWAY
US ARMY GENERAL
BORN 3 March 1895
DIED 26 July 1993
KEY CONFLICTS World War II,
Korean War
KEY BATTLES Normandy 1944,
MODERN COMMANDERS
Determined professional
A thoroughly professional soldier, de Lattre
brought intelligence and decisivenenss to the
struggle in Vietnam. This was in spite of failing
health and the loss of his only son, killed
ghting the Viet Minh in the spring of 1951.
FRENCH GENERAL
BORN 2 February 1889
DIED 11 January 1952
KEY CONFLICTS World War II,
339
POST WOR LD WA R II
JACQUES MASSU
FRENCH GENERAL
BORN 5 May 1908
DIED 26 October 2002
KEY CONFLICT Algerian War
KEY BATTLE Algiers 1957
WILLIAM WESTMORELAND
1914 PRESENT
US ARMY GENERAL
BORN 26 March 1914
DIED 18 July 2005
KEY CONFLICT Vietnam War
KEY BATTLES Operation Cedar Falls 1967,
340
REVOLUTIONARY FIGHTERS
UNTIL THE 20TH CENTURY guerrilla warfare
MAO ZEDONG
CHINESE REVOLUTIONARY LEADER
BORN 26 December 1893
DIED 9 September 1976
KEY CONFLICTS Chinese Civil War,
Sino-Japanese War
MODERN COMMANDERS
Cuban guerrillas
Fidel Castro poses with fellow
commanders at a secret guerrilla
base in Cuba in 1957.
Revolutionary leader
A Communist poster shows a young Mao leading
Chinese peasants on the Long March. He ruled
China from 1949 to his death in 1976, presiding
over the violent transformation of the country.
COMMUNIST TRIUMPH
FIDEL CASTRO
CUBAN REVOLUTIONARY LEADER
BORN 13 August 1926
KEY CONFLICT Cuban Revolution
KEY BATTLES Moncada 1953, La Plata 1958,
341
POST WOR LD WA R II
BOLIVIAN CAMPAIGN
CAMPAIGN Bolivian Insurgency
DATE November 1966October 1967
LOCATION Bolivia
1914 PRESENT
Revolutionary hero
Guevaras good looks and idealistic outlook
have made him a world-famous iconic leader.
342
RE VOLUTIONARY FIGHTERS
VO NGUYEN GIAP
VIETNAMESE GUERRILLA AND
ARMY COMMANDER
BORN 25 August 1911
KEY CONFLICTS Indochina War, Vietnam War
KEY BATTLES Lang Son 1950, Hoa Binh
MODERN COMMANDERS
Hoa Binh
in late 1951
to early 1952,
harassing supply
lines to the base so
effectively that the French
had to withdraw. He then
threatened outposts in Laos,
provoking the French into
establishing a base at Dien Bien Phu,
near the Laotian border. The major
Viet Minh victory that followed
(pp.34445) ended French colonial
rule and made Giap famous.
FIGHTING THE SOUTH
343
POST WOR LD WA R II
TIMELINE
1931 While a student in Hanoi, Vo
KEY BATTLE
TET OFFENSIVE
CAMPAIGN Vietnam War
DATE 31 January2 March 1968
LOCATION South Vietnam
chief-of-staff, takes over as NVA commanderin-chief. The defeat of South Vietnam follows
in April 1975.
1914 PRESENT
344
RE VOLUTIONARY FIGHTERS
GIAP AT DIEN
BIEN PHU
the French, who were anticipating an
attack but did not expect their enemy
to have heavy guns. Infantry attacks
began that night, and by 17 March
the Viet Minh had overrun three of
the fortified positions defending the
camp. The French fought back
fiercely, mounting counterattacks
and inflicting heavy casualties.
Giaps artillery had put the bases
airstrip out of action almost straight
away. This left the French dependent
on parachute supply drops, but these
were rendered hazardous by Viet
Minh anti-aircraft fire.
Heavy fighting continued through
early April. More French strongpoints
were overrun, but Giaps artillerysupported infantry assaults were
proving too costly and damaging
to his soldiers morale. He switched
to a classic siege technique, digging
zigzag lines of trenches across the
open ground to advance his troops
to the perimeter of the French base.
LOCATION
Northern
Vietnam
CAMPAIGN
A VIETNAMESE VICTORY
14 March: Airstrip
so badly damaged that
French have to drop future
supplies by parachute
1 May: Giap launches
an all-out attack on
remaining positions
17 March: Many
Vietnamese soldiers on the
Anne-Marie
French side desert, forcing a
French withdrawal
ip
str
Huguette
Isabelle
KEY
Viet Minh forces
Viet Minh artillery
French fortied strongpoint
Dominique
13 March: Daytime
artillery attack weakens
French base at Batrice
Eliane
Claudine
Yum
DE CASTRIES
7 May: Their supplies
exhausted, French abandon
Isabelle at night. Only 70 men
manage to escape to Laos
Batrice
Air
7 May: Remaining
French positions overrun
Gabrielle
Na
m
MODERN COMMANDERS
GIAP
30 March: Fierce
ghting begins for
Eliane and Dominique
6 May: Viet Minh
detonate huge mine
below Eliane
30 March: Isabelle is isolated by
artillery re, stopping reinforcements
from heading north
0 km
0 miles
2
1
345
1914 PRESENT
Infantry assault
Viet Minh soldiers advance behind artillery
re. At Dien Bien Phu, Giap showed superb
organizational ability, but his battle tactics
mostly involved unsubtle frontal assaults.
346
COMMANDERS IN
THE ISRAELI WARS
THE STATE OF ISRAEL has been in conflict with
YITZHAK RABIN
ISRAELI MILITARY AND POLITICAL LEADER
BORN 1 March 1922
DIED 4 November 1995
KEY CONFLICTS Arab-Israeli War 1948,
MODERN COMMANDERS
MOSHE DAYAN
ISRAELI MILITARY AND POLITICAL LEADER
BORN 20 May 1915
DIED 26 October 1981
KEY CONFLICTS Arab-Israeli War 1948,
SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS
KEY TROOPS
Charismatic image
An instantly recognisable gure due to his
eye patch, Moshe Dayans swashbuckling
image matched the high performance of
Israeli forces in the 1950s and 60s.
347
POST WOR LD WA R II
ARIEL SHARON
ISRAELI MILITARY AND POLITICAL LEADER
BORN 26 February 1928
KEY CONFLICTS Suez War 1956,
RESURGENT CAREER
YASSER ARAFAT
1914 PRESENT
PALESTINIAN LEADER
BORN 24 August 1929
DIED 11 November 2004
KEY CONFLICTS Anti-Israeli Campaigns,
348
NORMAN SCHWARZKOPF
MODERN COMMANDERS
US ARMY GENERAL
BORN 22 August 1934
KEY CONFLICTS Vietnam War, Gulf War
KEY BATTLE Operation Desert Storm 1991
Stormin Norman
A photograph taken during the run-up
to Desert Storm captures the gritty
determination that earned Schwarzkopf
his nicknames, The Bear and
Stormin Norman.
DESERT STORM
CAMPAIGN Gulf War
DATE 17 January28 February 1991
LOCATION Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq
349
POST WOR LD WA R II
TOMMY FRANKS
US ARMY GENERAL
BORN 17 June 1945
KEY CONFLICTS War in Afghanistan, Iraq War
KEY BATTLES Invasion of Afghanistan 2001,
Franks in Iraq
General Franks mixes with US troops in Iraq in
2003. The Oklahoma-born general had retired
before the apparent successes of his operations
in Afghanistan and Iraq began to unravel in the
face of large-scale insurgency.
Media manipulator
Bin Ladens large-scale operations were
calculated for maximum media impact. A
number of analysts believe that he may now
be dead, possibly from kidney failure.
1914 PRESENT
Afghanistan War
US Soldiers exit a helicopter to search for
an IED (improvised explosive device) factory
in Afghanistan in September 2009. IEDs
have been used extensively against coalition
forces in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
352
Index
Page numbers in bold indicate main references
INDEX
A
Abbas I, Shah 111
Abd al-Rahman 62
Abd el-Kadir 263
Abd el-Krim 264, 298
Aboukir Bay, battle of 198, 205, 217, 21819
Abu Ageila, battle of 347
Abu Bakr, Caliph 58
Abu Klea, battle of 262
Acajutla, battle of 126
Achaemenids 13, 15, 47
Acre, siege of 74, 75, 801
Actium, battle of 33
Ad Decimum, battle of 56
Adowa, battle of 262
Aetius 45
Afghanistan 49, 115, 337
Anglo-Afghan War 269
Soviet occupation 349
War in Afghanistan 349, 3501
Afonso Henriques, king of Portugal 85
Afrika Korps 307, 318
Agincourt, battle of 97, 102
Agosta, battle of 157
Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius 33
Ahmedabad, battle of 115
Ain Jalut, battle of 81
AK47 rifle 341
Akbar the Great, Emperor 115
Akechi Mitsuhide 119
Al-Mansurah, battle of 81
al-Qaeda 349
Alamanni 43, 57
Alamo, siege of the 221
Alarcos, battle of 85
Alaric 43
Albuera, battle of 204
aldis lamps 271
Alenon, Duc d 103
Aleppo
battle of (1183) 80
battle of (1399) 91
Alesia, siege of 35, 389, 44
Alexander I, Tsar 161, 201, 202
Alexander III, Pope 77, 789
Alexander the Great 12, 13, 15, 1823
Alexandria 18, 80
Alexius, Emperor 69
Alfonso VI, king of Castile 84
Alfonso VIII, king of Castile and Toledo 85
Alfred Jewel 63
Alfred the Great 63
Algeria
Algerian War 339
resistance struggle 263
Algiers 112
battle of 339
Allenby, Edmund 282
Alma, battle of the 232, 233
Almagro, Diego de 127
Almohads 85
Almoravids 84
Alp Arslan, Sultan 59
Alte Veste, battle of 142, 145
Altishar, battle of 192
Alvarado, Pedro de 126, 130
Amblve, battle of 62
American Civil War 225, 228, 229, 24255
Appomattox Campaign 250
Atlanta Campaign 251
Confederate Army 247
Confederate commanders 243, 2447
March to the Sea 251
naval warfare 271, 272
Seven Days Battles 245, 246, 250
B
Babur 114
Babylon 15
siege of 14
Bach Dang, battle of 89
Badajoz, battle of 208
Baecula, battle of 27
Baghdad 87, 90
Bagration, Operation 310, 311
Bagration, Prince Pyotr 207
Baibars al-Bunduqdari, Sultan 81
Baille, William 193
Balaclava, battle of 233
Balkh 90
Bannockburn, battle of 98, 105
Bar Confederation War 175
Baratiere, Oreste 262
Barbarossa, Frederick 769
Barbarossa (Khairad-ad-Din) 112, 113
Barbarossa, Operation 305, 306, 307, 331
Barbary corsairs 111
Barreiro, Jos Maria 223
Basing, battle of 63
Bataan, battle of 328
battle fatigue 325
Battle of Maldon 54
Battleaxe, Operation 314
Bavaria
French Revolutionary Wars 197
War of the Spanish Succession 1689
Bay of Pigs 340
Bayeux Tapestry 71
Bayezid, Sultan 87, 91, 111
bayonets 160, 165, 173
Beatty, David 294
Bee, Barnard E. 245
Beijing see Peking; Zhongdu
Bela IV, king of Hungary 89
Belgrade 113
battle of (1456) 105
battle of (1717) 164
Belisarius 56, 57
Belleau Wood, battle of 289
Beneventum, battle of 17
Bentonville, battle of 244, 251
Berchtesgarden 315
Berezina, battle of 205, 207
Berlin
battle of (1945) 310, 311
bombing of (1943-44) 330
Bernard of Clairvaux 72
Berre, battle of the 62
Bicocca, battle of 133
353
War of the Spanish Succession 1669
World War I 281, 2825, 294, 295
World War II 305, 314, 330, 3323, 334
see also England; Ireland; Scotland; Wales
Brooke, Alan 324
Brown, John 244, 246
Brueys, Franois-Paul 218, 219
Brunete, battle of 303
Brusilov, Alexei 288
Brusilov Offensive 288
Bucharest 290
Buena Vista, battle of 225
Bugeaud, Thomas 263
Bukhara 88
Bulge, battle of the 307, 317, 320, 323, 3267
Bull Run, first battle of 244, 245, 251
Bull Run, second battle of 245, 247
Buller, Redvers 269
Bureau, Jean and Gaspard 97
Burgoyne, John 184, 190, 191
Burma (Myanmar)
Chinese invasion 192
Mongol invasion 89
Byng, John 213
Byzantine empire 55, 567, 73
Byzantine-Arab Wars 57, 58
Byzantine-Norman Wars 69
Byzantine-Persian Wars 57
Byzantine-Sasanian Wars 56
Byzantine-Seljuk Wars 59
Gothic War 56, 57
Vandalic War 56
D
D-Day 305, 321, 323
Dacian Wars 42
daggers 42, 111, 259
daimyo 117, 11819
Damascus
siege of (634) 58
siege of (1148) 76
siege of (1401) 91, 93
Damietta, battle of 75
Dan no Ura, battle of 94, 95
Dara, battle of 56
Darius III, king of Persia 15, 18, 19, 223
Dartmouth Naval College 271
Daun, Leopold Graf von 174
Davis, Jefferson 244, 246
Davout, Louis-Nicolas 204
Dayan, Moshe 346
De Lattre de Tassigny, Jean 338
De Re Militari 52
De Wet, Christiaan 268
Delhi 192
battle of 91
Denmark
Danish-Saxon wars 63
Great Northern War 171
invasion of Sweden 144
E
Eanatum of Lagash 10
East India Company 180, 193
Easter Rising 282, 298
Eastern Solomons, battle of the 334
Ebro, battle of 303
Eckmhl, battle of 204
Ecuador 222
Edgehill, battle of 148
Edington, battle of 63
Edmund Ironside 68
Edward II, king of England 98, 105
Edward III, king of England 98
Edward, the Black Prince 98, 99, 1001
Edward the Confessor 69
Egypt
Alexander in 19
ancient Egypt 10, 11, 13, 14, 19
Arab-Israeli conflicts 346
Ayyubid dynasty 80
crusader campaign 75
Fatamids 80
Mahdist War 262, 264, 265, 2667
Napoleons campaigns 198
Nubian campaign 11
Ottoman conquests 111
Ptolemies 13, 17
Sinai Campaign 346, 347
Syrian campaigns 14
Timurs invasion of 91
Eighty Years War 125, 1367, 138, 143
Eisenhower, Dwight D. 321, 323, 326
El Alamein, battles of 307, 315, 316, 31819
El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar) 84
El Obeid, battle of 262
Elchingen, battle of 205
elephants, war 17, 19, 27, 28, 47, 49, 91, 115
Elizabeth I, queen of England 125, 139
Enduring Freedom, Operation 349
Enghien, Duc d 143
England
Anglo-Dutch Wars 141, 148, 1547
Anglo-Saxons 55, 70
Anglo-Spanish War 139, 154
INDEX
Cdiz
blockade of 154
raid on 139
Cadogan, William 167
Caen, siege of 102
Caesar, Julius 11, 32, 33, 349, 44
crossing the Rubicon 36
Gallic Wars 345, 37, 389
Cajamarca, battle of 127
Calais, siege of 98
Calcutta 180
Callinicum, battle of 56
Camden, battle of 184
Camulodunum, battle of 45
Canada
French and Indian War 1813
World War I 288
Canal du Nord, battle of 288
Cannae, battle of 26, 29, 301
cannon 97, 108, 111, 117, 145
seaborne 109, 122, 125
Canrobert, Franois 232
Canute (Cnut) 68
Cao Cao 47
Cape Finisterre, battle of 214
Cape Matapan, battle of 334
Cape St Vincent, battle of 213, 214, 215, 216
Carabobo, battle of 223
caracole 108
Carnot, Lazare 197
Carolingian dynasty 55, 62, 63
Carthage see Punic Wars
Casale-Monferrato, siege of 137
Castilian Civil War 99, 102
Castro, Fidel 340, 341
Catherine II (the Great), Empress 175
Catholic League 143
cavalry 17, 19, 25, 52, 64, 70, 108, 141, 144, 244
Cedar Falls, Operation 339
Cerignola, battle of 132
Cerro Gordo, battle of 225, 246
Cetshwayo 263
Chacabuco, battle of 222
Chaeronea, battle of 17, 18
Chlons, battle of 45
Champagne, battle of 284
Chancellorsville, battle of 244, 245, 247
Chandos, Sir John 101, 102
354
DanishSaxon wars 63
Hundred Years War 97, 98103
Norman Conquest 6971
revolt of the Iceni 45
Roman occupation 45
Scottish Independence Wars 98, 105
Viking invasions 55, 68
see also Britain
Epaminondas 16
Ethelred, king of Wessex 63
Ethelred II, king of England (Ethelred the
Unready) 68
Ethiopia 314
Italo-Ethiopian Wars 262
Eudo of Aquitaine 62
Eugne, prince of Savoy 164, 166, 168, 169, 176
Eylau, battle of 204, 205
INDEX
F
Fabius Cunctator 26, 29
Fairfax, Thomas 148, 149, 152, 153
falconets 141
Falkenhayn, Erich von 290, 292, 293
Farragut, David 271, 272
Fatah movement 347
Fatamids 80
feigned flight tactic 87, 92
Ferdinand II, Emperor 142
Ferghana 114
Fetterman Massacre 258, 259
field telephones 278
Firaz, battle of 58
First Indochina War 338, 342, 3445
Fleurus
battle of (1622) 142
battle of (1794) 197
flintlocks 160, 163, 173
Foch, Ferdinand 285
Focsani, battle of 175
Foix, Gaston de 132
Foley, Thomas 218
Fontenoy, battle of 174
Fort Carillon, battle of 181
Fort Donelson, battle of 252
Fort Harrison, battle of 225
Fort Oswego, battle of 181
Fort St George, battle of 225
Fort Ticonderoga, battle of 184
Fort William Henry, battle of 181
fortress-building 163, 165
Four Days battle 155, 156
France
Algerian resistance struggle 263
Algerian War 339
American Revolutionary War 173, 185, 187,
213, 215
battle of France 306, 307, 315, 330, 331
Breton Civil War 102
colonial wars 173, 1803, 263, 264
Crimean War 231, 232, 234
First Indochina War 338, 342, 3445
Franco-Dutch War 157, 164, 165
Franco-Prussian War 231, 232, 234, 239, 2401
Franco-Spanish War 143
French and Indian War 1813, 184, 186
French Revolutionary Wars 175, 185, 195,
1968, 2047, 215, 21617, 21819
Fronde 141, 143, 165
Granada War 132
Haitian Revolution 221, 222
Hundred Years War 97, 98103
Indian campaigns 180
Italian Independence Wars 232, 234, 235
Italian Wars 125, 1323
League of Augsburg, wars of the 163
Napoleonic Wars 195, 196, 204, 205, 206,
207, 208, 216, 217
navy 213
Paris Commune 234
Peninsular War 195, 197, 204, 209
religious wars 125
Seven Years War 173, 177, 214, 215
G
Gabbard, battle of the 154, 155
Galdan 123
Galil assault rifle 346
Gallic Wars 345, 37, 44
Gallieni, Joseph 264
Gallipoli Campaign 289, 302, 315
Garibaldi, Giuseppe 231, 235, 237
Garigliano, battle of 132
Gates, Horatio 184, 190, 191
Gatling gun 228
Gaugamela, battle of 15, 19, 223
Gaulle, Charles de 297, 315, 339
Gazala, battle of 307
Gembloux, battle of 137
Gempei Wars 87, 94, 95
Genghis Khan 53, 86, 87, 88, 89
George II, king of England 161
Georgia 91
Gergovia, battle of 44
Germanicus 44
Germany
German empire 238
Spanish Civil War 303
Thirty Years War 141, 142, 143
World War I 281, 283, 284, 285, 288, 289,
2901, 2923, 294
World War II 305, 3067, 310, 311, 31213,
322, 326, 330, 331, 335
see also Prussia
Geronimo 258
Gettysburg, battle of 247
Ghaghra, battle of 114
Ghibellines 76
Ghost Dance 259
Gibraltar, battle of 125
Gisors, battle of 74
Glyndwr, Owain 102
Golden Horde 87, 90
Gordon, Charles George 262, 265
Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive 291
Gothic War 56, 57
Granada War 132
Grande Arme 199
Granicus, battle of 18, 20
Grant, Ulysses S. 243, 247, 251, 2523
Grasse, Comte de 213, 214
Graus, battle of 84
Gravelines, siege of 165
Gravelotte, battle of 232
Great Northern War 163, 171, 177
Great Sioux War 260
I
H
Habsburgs 125, 141
Eighty Years War 125
Habsburg-Ottoman Wars 137, 138, 164, 170
Italian Wars 125, 1325
Thirty Years War 137, 141, 142, 143, 144
see also Austria
Haganah Jewish militia 346
Haig, Douglas 280, 281, 283, 289
Haitian Revolution 221, 222
halberds 125
Halidon Hill, battle of 98
Halleck, Henry 252
Hamayun 114, 115
Hamburg
battle of (1943) 330
siege of (1814) 204
Hamilcar Barca 26
Hamilton, Emma 217
Hannibal Barca 26, 27, 2831
Hansando, battle of 122
Harald Hadrada 69, 70
Harfleur, siege of 102
Harold II, king of England (Harold Godwinson)
69, 70
Harpers Ferry 246
Harris, Arthur 330
Harrison, William 221
Hasdrubal Barca 27, 29
Hastenbeck, battle of 174
Hastings, battle of 69, 701
Hattin, battle of 80, 81
Hawke, Edward 213, 214
Hawkins, John 139
Helgea, battle of 68
Heligoland Bight, battle of the 294
helmets 10, 13, 35, 44, 73, 231
Helvetii 34
Henri I, king of France 69
Henry the Lion of Saxony 77
Henry V, king of England 96, 97, 102
Heraclea, battle of 17
Heraclius 57
Herodotus 15
Heyn, Piet 155
Hindenburg, Paul von 290, 291
Hindenburg Line 283, 289
355
Italy
Byzantine campaigns 56, 57
Frankish campaigns 65
Guelphs and Ghibellines 76
Italian Independence Wars 232, 234, 235
Italian Wars 125, 1325
Italo-Ethiopian Wars 262
Lombard League 77
World War I 281
World War II 314, 320, 321, 322, 331, 334
Iwo Jima, battle of 329
Izmail, battle of 175
Izmir 91
K
Kabul 114, 115
Kadesh, battle of 14
Kaifeng, siege of 89
Kalinga, battle of 49
Kalinga War 49
Kalka River, battle of 89
L
La Plata, battle of 340
Ladysmith, relief of 269
Lafayette, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de 185
Lagos, battle of 215
Lake Okeechobee, battle of 221, 225
Lake Peipus, battle of 104
Lake Trasimene, battle of 29
Lancasters Raid 99
Lanckorona, battle of 196
Landsknechte 125, 133, 134
Lang Son, battle of 342
Laos 342
Las Mercedes, battle of 341
Le Hamel, battle of 289
M
Maastricht
battle of (1748) 174
siege of (1579) 137
siege of (1673) 165
MacArthur, Douglas 328
McClellan, George B. 243, 246, 248, 249, 250, 253
MacDonald, Hector 267
Macedonia 13, 17
maces 108
Macmahon, Patrice de 234, 240, 241
Macta, battle of 263
Madagascar occupation 264
Madison, James 221
Madrid, battle of 303
Mafeking, relief of 269
Magdeburg, battle of 143, 145
Magenta, battle of 232, 234
Maginot Line 297
Magyars 60, 62, 63
Mahabharata 46, 47
Mahdi (Muhammad Ahmed al-Mahdi) 262
Mahdist War 262, 264, 265, 2667
Mahiwa, battle of 291
Mahmud of Ghazni 59
Maipu, battle of 222
Malakoff, battle of 234
Maldon, battle of 68
Maleov, battle of 105
Malinche 128
INDEX
Kandahar
battle of (1594) 115
battle of (1736) 192
battle of (1880) 269
Kandurcha, battle of 90
Kanezawa, siege of 94
Kangxi, Emperor 123
Karameh, battle of 347
Karnal, battle of 192
Kashgar 192
Kasserine Pass, battle of 307
Katzbach, battle of 206
Kawasaki, battle of 94
Kellermann, Franois-Christophe 196
Kellermann, Franois-tienne 196
Kentish Knock, battle of the 154, 155, 156
Kerensky, Alexander 288
Kerensky Offensive 288
Kesselring, Albert 331
Khair ad-Din (Barbarossa) 112, 113
Khalid ibn al-Walid 58
Khalifa al-Taashi 266
Khalkhin Gol, battle of 311
Khanwa, battle of 114
Kharkov, battle of 306
Khartoum, siege of 262, 265
Khe Sanh, battle of 339, 343
Khorasan 192
Khotyn, battle of 170
Khrushchev, Nikita 312
Khwarezmian empire 88, 89
Kiev 89
Killer, Operation 338
Kimberley, relief of 269
Kitchener, Herbert 264, 2667, 269, 282
Kliszw, battle of 171
knights 52, 53, 55, 73, 97
Knights Hospitaller 73, 82
Knights of St John 112, 113, 215
Knights Templar 53, 72, 73, 82
Koh-i-Noor diamond 192
Koln, battle of 174, 177
Kniggrtz (Sadowa), battle of 231, 239
Konya 77
Korea
Japanese invasions 117, 119, 122
Korean War 320, 328, 337, 338
Manchu invasions 117, 122
Koromogawa, battle of 95
Kosciuszko Uprising 175
Kostiuchnowka, battle of 302
Koxinga 123
Krak des Chevaliers 81
Kublai Khan 87, 89
Kufra, battle of 315
Kunersdorf, battle of 177
Kursk, battle of 306, 307, 310, 311, 31213
Kurukshatra, battle of 47
Kushans 49
Kstrin, siege of 178
Kusumapura, siege of 49
Kutna Hor, battle of 105
Kutuzov, Mikhail 195, 202, 207
Kuwait, invasion of 348
Kwajalein, battle of 329
Kyoto 118
INDEX
356
Mobile Bay, battle of 272
Moctezuma II, Emperor 126, 128
Model, Walter 307, 313
Mogul empire 111, 192
Deccan Wars 115
War of Succession 115
wars of Mogul expansion 11415
Mohacs, battle of 113
Mohi, battle of 87, 89
Mollwitz, battle of 176
Moltke, Helmuth von, the Elder 228, 231,
23840, 241, 243
Moltke, Helmuth von, the Younger 290
Monash, John 289
Moncada, battle of 340
Mongke Khan 89
Mongol-Jin War 88, 89
Mongols 81, 87, 889, 90, 104
Mameluke-Mongol Wars 81
Monmouth, battle of 187
Monmouth Rebellion 166
Monongahela, battle of 184, 186
Mons
battle of (1572) 136
battle of (1914) 282
Montcalm, Louis-Joseph, Marquis de 181
Monte Cassino, battle of 315, 320, 331
Monterrey, battle of 225
Montgisard, battle of 80
Montgomery, Bernard 310, 31618, 319,
322, 326
Moreau, Jean-Victor-Marie 197, 206
Morella, battle of 84
Morgan, Daniel 190
Morisco Revolt 138
Morocco 263, 264
Rif rebellion 298, 303
Morshead, Leslie 315
mortars 163
Moscow
battle of (1941) 310, 311
Napoleons retreat from 207
Mosin-Nagant rifle 297
Mount Hiei, siege of 118
Muhammad, Prophet 58
Muhammad III al-Nasir 85
Munda, battle of 35
Murad II, Sultan 105, 111, 112
Murat, Joachim 205
muskets 108, 111, 141, 160, 163, 173, 177
see also arquebuses
Mussolini, Benito 297
Mutwallah, king of the Hittites 14
Myongyang, battle of 122
N
Nader Shah 173, 192
Nagakute, battle of 119
Nagashima, siege of 118
Nagashino, siege of 117, 118, 1201
Najera, battle of 99, 102
Namur 138, 164
siege of 165
Nanda War 49
Nanjing, siege of 123
Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I) 198201, 222
command style 160, 161, 198, 200
Egyptian campaign 198
French Revolutionary Wars 198
Grande Arme 199
Hundred Days 204, 205, 206
Napoleonic Wars 195, 196, 1989, 201,
20211, 216, 217
rise of 195, 198
Waterloo 21011
Napoleon III, Emperor 232, 234, 235, 241, 263
Narses 57
Narva, battle of 171
Narvez, Pnfilo de 128
Naseby, battle of 148, 149, 1523
nationalism 297, 302, 303
Native Americans 173
O
Ocana, battle of 204
Ochakov, battle of 175
Octavian see Augustus, Emperor
Oda Nobunaga 117, 118, 119, 1201
Odawara, siege of 119
gedei Khan 89
OHara, Charles 188
OHiggins, Bernardo 222
P
Paardeberg, battle of 264, 269
Pakenham, Edward 224
Palatinate 142
Palestine 73, 80, 347
Fatah liberation movement 347
Lebanese Civil War 347
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) 347
see also Israel; Jerusalem
Palo Alto, battle of 225
Pamplona, siege of 64
Panipat, battle of 114
Paris
battle of (1944) 315
Paris Commune 234
siege of (1870-71) 239
Parker, Hyde 217
Parma, Alexander Farnese, Duke of 137
Parthian Campaign 42
Parthians 25, 47
Passchendale see Ypres, third battle of
Patay, battle of 103
Patna, battle of 115
Patton, George 305, 317, 3226
Paul I, Tsar 175
Paulinus, Suetonius 45
Paulus, Friedrich 311
Pavia
battle of (1525) 133, 1345
siege of (773-74) 65
357
Principles of War (Ferdinand Foch) 285
privateering 139
professionalism 2289, 231
Providien, battle of 215
Prussia
Austro-Prussian War 231, 2389
Franco-Prussian War 231, 232, 234, 239, 2401
Great Northern War 177
Napoleonic Wars 195, 204, 205, 206
Second Schleswig War 238
Seven Years War 173, 1769
War of the Austrian Succession 173, 176
War of the Polish Succession 176
see also Germany
Ptolemies 13, 17
Punic Wars 25, 2631
Purple Heart decoration 187
Pyramids, battle of the 198
Pyrrhic Wars 17
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus 17
Q
Qianlong, Emperor 192
Qin Shi Huangdi 48
Quatre-Bras, battle of 205, 209
Quebec, battle of 181
Quiberon Bay, battle of 213, 214
Qutuz, Sultan 81
S
Sabra massacre 347
Sacred Wars 17
Safavid empire 111
Ottoman-Safavid Wars 113
Saguntum 28
St Cyr Academy 232
St Jamess Day battle 155, 156
St Mihiel, battle of 289
Saints, battle of the 214
Saipan, battle of 329
Sakarya, battle of 302
Saladin 73, 74, 801, 82, 83
Salamanca, battle of 209
Salamis, battle of 16
Salerno, battle of 320
Salya, king of Madra 46
Samarkand 88, 90, 91, 114
Samugarh, battle of 115
samurai 87, 945, 11821
San Lorenzo, battle of 222
San Martin, Jos de 221, 222
Sancho II, king of Castile 84
Sannas Post, battle of 268
Santa Anna, Antonio Lpez de 225
Santa Clara, battle of 341
Santa Cruz, lvaro de Bazn, Marqus de
138
Santa Cruz Islands, battle of the 334
Sao Mamede, battle of 85
Saratoga, battle of 184, 1901
Sardinia 234
Sardis, battle of 15
Sargon of Akkad 10
sarissas 17
Sasanians 25, 47, 49, 55, 56, 57, 58
satellites 279
Saw, battle of the 26
Saxe, Maurice de 172, 174
Saxons 65
Saxony
Great Northern War 171
Seven Years War 176
Scanian War 155
Scarborough Raid 294
Scheer, Reinhard 294, 295
Scheveningen, battle of 155
Schooneveld, battle of 155, 157
Schwarzkopf, Norman 336, 348
Schwerin, Kurt 176
Scipio Africanus 27, 29
Scotland
British Civil War 149
Jacobite Uprising 174, 181
Scottish Independence Wars 98, 105
Scott, Winfield 221, 225, 246
Second Schleswig War 238
Sedan, battle of 234, 239, 2401
Sekigahara, battle of 119
Seleucids 13
Seleucid War 49
Seleucus Nicator 49
Seljuk Turks 55, 59, 73, 76, 77
Seminole Wars 221, 224, 225, 244
Sennacherib, king of Assyria 14
sepoys 180, 193
Serna, Jos de la 222
Sevastopol
battle of (1941-42) 306
siege of (1854-55) 232, 233, 234
Seven Pines, battle of 244
Seven Years War 173, 174, 175, 1769, 178, 184,
214, 215
sextants 213
Seydlitz, Friedrich von 178
Shah Jehan 115
Shanghai, battle of 303
Shapur II, Emperor 49
Sharon, Ariel 347
Shatila massacre 347
Sheridan, Philip 250, 253
Sherman, William T. 243, 251, 252
Shi Lang 123
Shibata Katsuie 119
Shiites 111, 349
Shiloh, battle of 251, 252
ships of the line 213
Shivaji 115
Shizugatake, battle of 119
shrapnel 208
Sicily 17
Garibaldi in 2345, 2367
invasion of (1943) 31617, 320, 321, 322,
323
Norman campaigns 69
Punic Wars 26
Sidi Brahim, battle of 263
siege warfare 52, 76, 89, 91, 97, 108, 163,
165, 232
Sigismund, king of Poland 144
signalling systems 213
Silesia 176
Sinai Campaign 346, 347
Singapore 314
Sitting Bull 259
Six-Day War 346, 347
Slavs 57
Sluys, battle of 98
Smederevo, battle of 105
Smith, Holland 329
Sobieski, Jan 170
Social War 32
Soissons, battle of 62
Solebay, battle of 154, 157
Solferino, battle of 231, 232, 234
Somme, battle of the 283, 285
Somosierra, battle of 195
The Song of Roland 65
INDEX
Rabin,Yitzhak 346
Radagaisus 43
radar 330
radio 271, 274, 278
Ragenfrid 62
Raglan, Lord 233
railways 228, 229
Rain am Lech, battle of 143, 145
Ramesses II, Pharaoh 13, 14
Ramillies, battle of 166
Rana Sanga 114
Ravenna 56
battle of 132
Rawlinson, Henry 283
Red Army 299
Red Cloud 258, 259
Reddersburg, battle of 268
Redshirts 235
Reformation 125
Regensburg, battle of 331
Rennes, siege of 102
Reno, Marcus 260
Reveries on the Art of War (Maurice de Saxe) 174
Revolt of the Three Feudatories 123
Rhahzadh 57
Rhine Crossing 317, 338
Rhodes 29, 112
siege of 113
Richard I (the Lionheart), king of England 74,
75, 81, 82, 83
Ridda Wars 58
Ridgway, Matthew 338
Rif War 298, 303
rifles 297, 341, 346
Rivoli, battle of 198
Robert Bruce, king of Scotland 105
Robert of Artois 75
Robert Guiscard 69
Roberts, Frederick 269
Rochambeau, Comte de 187
rockets
Congreve rockets 193, 221
rocket launchers 117, 279
Rocoux, battle of 174
Rocroi, battle of 143
Rodney, George 213, 214
Rokossovsky, Konstantin 310, 312
Roman-Germanic War 44
Romanian Campaign 290
358
INDEX
T
Taginae, battle of 57
Taiping Rebellion 265
Taira Kiyomori 94
Taira Tomomori 94
Taiwan 123, 303
Talas, battle of 55
Talavera, battle of 197, 208
Taliban 349
Tallard, Marshal 168, 169
Tanga, battle of 291
Tangut empire 88
tanks 278, 283, 313, 322
Tannenberg, battle of 291
Taranto, battle of 334
Tarawa, battle of 329
Tarentum 17, 26
Tatars 87, 170
Taylor, Zachary 221, 225
Tecumseh 221, 225
telegraph 228
Tenerife, battle of 154
Tennoji, battle of 119
Tenochtitln, siege of 126, 12931
tercios 132, 143, 147
Terek, battle of the 90
Terracotta Army 48
terror as military strategy 21, 87, 91, 93, 118
terrorism 349
Teruel, battle of 303
Tet Offensive 339, 343
Teutoburg Forest, battle of 44
Teutones 32
Teutonic Knights 104, 105
Texan Independence War 221
Texel, battle of 148, 155, 157
Thapsus, battle of 35
Theban Wars 16
Thebes 17, 18
Themistocles 16
Theodoric 45
Theresian Military Academy 174
Thirty Years War 137, 141, 1427
Thucydides 11, 16
Thutmosis III, Pharaoh 13
Tibet, Chinese invasion of 192
Ticino, battle of 28
Tierra Blanca, battle of 299
Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria 14
Tilly, Count 143, 145, 146, 147
Timur (Timur Lenk, the Lame) 53, 87, 903, 114
Tippecanoe, battle of 221
Tipu Sultan (Tiger of Mysore) 193
Titus, Emperor 42
Tobruk, siege of 315
Togo Heihachiro 271, 2735
Tokarev pistol 311
Tokhtamysh 90
Tokhtamysh-Timur War 90
Tokugawa Ieyasu 118, 119, 120
Tokugawa shogunate 117, 119
Tokyo, bombing of 331
Toledo, siege of 303
Tolentino, battle of 205
Tolly, Barclay de 207
Torch, Operation 320, 321, 322
Torgau, battle of 174, 177
torpedoes 271
Torstensson, Lennart 145, 146
total war 251, 291, 337
Totila 56, 57
Totleben, Franz 232
Toulon 112
battle of 214
Toulouse, battle of 204
Tourcoing, battle of 197
Tournai
siege of (1667) 163, 165
siege of (1745) 174
Toussaint lOuverture, Franois Dominique 221,
222
Toyotomi Hideyoshi 116, 117, 119
Trafalgar, battle of 213, 217
U
U-boats 295, 335
Uji, battle of 94
Ukraine 170, 302
Ulm, battle of 198
Ulundi, battle of 263
Umar, Caliph 58
uniforms 141, 209
United States
Apache Wars 258
Black Hawk War 225
Civil War 225, 228, 229, 24255, 271, 272
Cold War 337
Creek War 224
Cuban missile crisis 331, 340
Great Sioux War 260
Gulf War 348
Iraq, invasion of 349
Korean War 338
Mexican Expedition 289, 299
Mexican-American War 221, 225, 244, 246, 252
Overland Campaign 253
Philippine-American War 289
Plains Indian Wars 250, 251, 258, 259
Seminole Wars 221, 224, 225, 244
Spanish-American War 272
Vietnam War 337, 339, 343, 348
War in Afghanistan 349, 3501
War of 1812 221, 224, 225
World War I 281, 289
World War II 305, 3209, 331, 334, 335, 338
see also North America
Urban II, Pope 73
Uruguayan Civil War 235
V
Val-s-Dunes, battle of 69
Valencia, siege of 84
Valmy, battle of 196
Vandalic War 56
Vandals 56
Varna, battle of 105, 111, 112
Varus, Quinctilius 44
Vatutin, Nikolai 312
Vauban, Sbastien Le Prestre, Marquis de 163, 165
Vegetius 11, 52
Venezuela 223
Veracruz, battle of 225
Vercellae, battle of 32
W
Wagon Box Fight 258
Wagram, battle of 199, 204, 206
Wales
British Civil War 149
Owain Glyndwrs uprising 102
Wallenstein, Albrecht von 109, 142, 145
Warren, Charles 269
Warsaw, battle of 299, 302
Washington, George 173, 184, 185, 1869
Waterloo, battle of 199, 205, 206, 21011, 233
Watling Street, battle of 45
Wattignies, battle of 197
Wavell, Archibald 200, 314
Wellington, Duke of 160, 193, 195, 20810,
211, 233
Weser, battle of the 44
West Point Military Academy 160, 221, 243
Westmoreland, William 339
Wexford, massacre at 149
White Mountain, battle of 143
Widukind 65
Wilderness, battle of the 229, 253
Wilhelm I, king of Prussia 239, 240
William the Conqueror 6971
William I, prince of Orange (William the Silent)
136
William III, king of England (William of Orange)
154, 164, 166
Williamsburg, battle of 250
Wimpffen, Emmanuel de 241
Witiges 56
Witt, Cornelis de 157
Witt, Johan de 156, 157
Wadisaw III, king of Poland 105
Wolf Mountain, battle of 259
Wolfe, James 1813
World War I 278, 28095, 302
Allied commanders 2825, 2889
Armistice 285, 289
German commanders 2901
Hundred Days 283
naval warfare 281, 2945
Southwest African Campaign 268
Spring Offensive 283, 285, 291
trench warfare 281, 282, 290
Western Front 281
X
Xenophon 10
Xerxes I, Emperor 13, 16
Xiangyang, siege of 89
Xiongnu 48
Y
Yahagigawa, battle of 94
Yakub al-Mansur 85
Yamamoto Isoroku 334
Yamazaki, battle of 119
Yamen, battle of 89
Yarkand 192
Yarmuk, battle of 57, 58
Yashima, battle of 95
Yellow Sea, battle of the 273
Yellow Tavern, battle of 244, 250
Ying Zeng see Qin Shi Huangdi
Yi Sunshin 117, 122
Yom Kippur War 346, 347
York, James, Duke of 154, 166
see also James II, king of England
Yorktown, battle of 185, 187, 1889
Ypres
first battle of (1914) 283, 285, 290
second battle of (1915) 282
siege of (1657) 165
third battle of (1917) 283, 288
Yudenich, Nikolai 299
Z
Zama, battle of 27, 29
Zaragoza 84
Zeelandia 123
Zela, battle of 35
Zengids 80
Zenta, battle of 164
Zhaohui, Emperor 192
Zheng Chenggong see Koxinga
Zhongdu (Beijing), siege of 88
Zhuge Liang 47
Zhukov, Georgi 305, 310, 31112, 313
ika, Jan 97, 105
Zorndorf, battle of 177, 1789
Zouaves 232, 234
Zululand 257, 263
Zunghars 123
Zurich, battle of 204
359
ACKNOWLED GEMENTS
Acknowledgements
The publisher would like to thank the following
for their kind permission to reproduce their
photographs:
(Key: a-above; b-below/bottom; c-centre; f-far;
l-left; r-right; t-top)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
360
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ACKNOWL E D G E M E NT S
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