AN AL

Who's Who in Military History

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 Who's Who in
Military History
F R O M 1453 T O T H E
PRESENT DAY

JOHN KEEGAN AND

ANDREW WHEATCROFT
 First published by Weidenfeld & N i c o l s o n in 1976
Second edition published in Great Britain in 1987 by Hutchinson, an imprint of
Century Hutchinson L t d

T h i r d edition published 1996 by

Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, O x o n O X 14 4 R N

Simultaneously published in the U S A and Canada

by Routledge
711 T h i r d Avenue, New York, N Y 10017

This edition first published 2002

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 1996, 2002 John Keegan, Andrew Wheatcroft, Janet Wheatcroft

A l l rights reserved. N o part of this book may be reprinted or

reproduced or utilized i n any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now k n o w n or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book has been requested

I S B N 0-415-26039-6
 AN AL
Contents
List of M a p s vi

Prefaces vii

WHO'S W H O IN MILITARY HISTORY I

Glossary 327
 List of Maps
I T h e Thirty Years' W a r 1618-48 332

2 T h e Dominance of France c. 1700 333

3 T h e Wars of Frederick the Great 334

4 T h e American War of Independence 1775-83 335

5 Europe 1789-1815 336

6 T h e American Civil W a r 1861-5 337

7 T h e First W o r l d W a r 338

8 T h e Western Front 1914-18 339

9 T h e Second W o r l d War 340

Maps drawn by T o n y Garrett

 AN ALEdition
Vreface to the Second

W h o ' s w h o is a matter of which soldiers effect. M e n disfavoured or overlooked

are left in little doubt. N o t for their in peace are often proved by the test of
leaders the anonymity of a dark suit and war to be men of steel. Pétain, blocked
an unmarked car. ' W h o ' can be told for promotion and only a colonel in
from all the whoms in the military w o r l d 1914 because of his unfashionable insist-
by a plethora of outward and visible ence on the importance of fire-power,
signs - plumes, medals, sashes, gold lace, found himself commanding a brigade at
an attentive entourage and a row of the battle of the M a r n e and a corps i n
stars on the official conveyance whose the following year. By 1916 he was the
length exactly indicates the importance saviour of V e r d u n and a national hero.
of the occupant. ' M r Smith, I believe!', Foch, too, was propelled to the heights
the deathless error of identification with the same rapidity when war found
launched at the D u k e of Wellington o n in h i m a resilience and power to inspire
the frock-coated streets of L o n d o n , was that nothing in peace had called forth.
not one even the village idiot could have R o m m e l , a colonel in 1939 and a simple
made if the victor of Waterloo had been infantryman, discovered in 1940 that he
in uniform. and the tank had an affinity for each
other which resulted in the most brilliant
But all that glitters is not gold. Peace-
display of mobile tactics seen since Sher-
time generals are often the first casual-
man had marched from Atlanta to the
ties of war. However stout the heart
sea in 1864.
that beats beneath the braid, it is brain
and nervous system that count when W h o ' s who i n military history, i n
armies clash. T h e great panjandrums of short, is not the same thing as archival
the parade ground are frequently found research in dog-eared army lists. M o s t
to lack both when armies take the field. of yesterday's field-marshals signify no
There have been some famous massacres more in the history of warfare than dead
of reputations as a result. Between L o r d M a y o r s of L o n d o n do in the his-
August and September 1914, Joffre tory of high finance. T h e really signifi-
sacked one third of the generals i n the cant warriors form a separate and inner
French army. After the Wehrmacht's group, whose reputations were made
defeat outside M o s c o w in 1941, H i t l e r not by the bureaucratic processes that
replaced nearly half the senior generals elevate workaday soldiers up the ladder
on the Russian front. Armies even coin of promotion but by lightning inspi-
words for these humiliations. 'Stellen- rations of m i n d and flashing strokes of
bosched' was what the British army action.
called generals sent to the place furthest Who's Who in Military History is a
from action in the Boer W a r . 'Limogé' time traveller's guide to the identity and
was the French equivalent in the First biographies of such men. It does not
World War. claim to be exhaustive. T h e great cap-
'Stellenbosching' has its reciprocal tains of Antiquity and the paladins of

vii
Preface to the Second Edition

the Feudal age are not here, because too ers, then a military organization that
little is k n o w n of many of them for it to would make best use of their talents.
be possible to construct biographies for ' N o plan survives the first five minutes'
all of uniform merit. T h e authors there- encounter with the enemy', is his best-
fore decided to confine the scope of the k n o w n military dictum. What his work
book to the age of firearms which they ensured was that, when a plan found-
decided should be taken to begin i n ered, his network of Kriegsakademie
1453. T h a t date is not only convention- graduates were able to carry forward its
ally regarded as marking the end of the purpose amid the chaos of events.
M i d d l e Ages. It also marks the first A third category is that of the m i l i -
unarguably decisive achievement of gun- tary thinkers. Foremost among them is
powder weapons, the breaching of the the man w h o furnished M o l t k e with his
walls of Constantinople by the giant guiding military philosophy, C a r l von
cannon of the Ottoman sultan. Clausewitz. Also a Prussian, Clausewitz
W i t h i n the chronology adopted, how- devoted his later life, after years spent
ever, the book does seek to identify and campaigning, to the construction of a
characterized the most significant men of theory of war which w o u l d have univer-
war. They fall into several categories. sal validity. Though he died before the
First and most obvious are the great completion of his work, which was put
commanders, land, sea and air, whose into order by his w i d o w , the book which
leadership w o n the most famous vic- resulted, Vom Kriege, quickly attained
tories of the modern age. Some, perhaps the status of a classic, was a dominating
the majority, were the products of an influence on the Prussian army under
organized military system w h o m the out- M o l t k e and, as a result of M o l t k e ' s vic-
break of hostilities found i n the ranks tories, passed into currency throughout
and w h o proved equal to its challenge. the armies of the w o r l d . It remains the
In the British service, Wellington was most important w o r k of military
one of these, a junior officer at the- thought ever written.
outbreak of the French wars w h o com- A fourth category includes the great
manded w i t h success first a regiment, military technocrats. W a r is not exclu-
then a brigade, then a small army o n sively a competition between technol-
colonial service, then a large army i n ogies. M o r a l and intellectual factors also
the Peninsula, finally a great allied army underlie the victory of one side over
in direct confrontation w i t h the Emperor another. But superior weapons convey
of the French himself. 'I do not think it an advantage which it is rarely possible
could have been done had I not been to offset by immaterial means. D u r i n g
there,' he remarked with uncharacteris- much of the period the book covers, it
tic immodesty after Waterloo, but w i t h was the quality of fortification that deter-
incontestable accuracy. O n l y Wellington mined the success or failure of offensives
could have ensured that the line was and invasions. Outstanding among forti-
held throughout the day of Waterloo. fication engineers was Vauban i n the
A second category comprises those seventeenth century and Todleben in the
who, i f not great commanders i n the nineteenth. Vauban, chief engineer to
field, laid the ground for the victory of Louis X I V , constructed the systems that
others. M o l t k e the Elder, though he did protected France for over a century.
in fact command i n Prussia's wars Todleben, a tsarist engineer, developed
against Austria and France, is one of the idea o f field or 'flying' entrench-
those. H i s real achievements were to ments that were to reach their culmi-
create first a system of education which nation i n the trench lines of the First
w o u l d produce professional staff offic- World War.

viii
 Preface to the Second Edition

Finally, war cannot w o r k without There is, of course, little romance to

heroes, men who count the value of war in reality. ' B l o o d and i r o n ' are its
their lives less than that of the cause. raw material and most of those who
Often, they are humble men in w h o m figure in this book spent blood and ham-
war finds some touch of the sublime. mered iron with a brutality from which
Other times they are cavaliers, like the Bismarck w o u l d have shrunk in practice.
aces w h o m the aerial fighting of the These pages w i l l have served their pur-
First W o r l d W a r conjured into being. pose if they succeed in singling out
Guynemer and Richthofen might, two for the enquirer who really was who
hundred years before their time, have in the harsh and lethal business by which
been dashing but obscure cavalry cap- the w o r l d has engineered change since
tains. T h e aeroplane, and their skill in the inception of modern times.
whirling it through the skies made them
into w o r l d figures. They remain symbols JK and A W
of daring and romance to this day. i8 9 7

ix
 Preface to the New Edition

It w o u l d have seemed hubris twenty told, of a N e w W o r l d Order, growing

years ago to imagine that this volume from the shards of the C o l d W a r .
w o u l d be appearing in a new edition. It Since the G u l f W a r , these noble aspir-
is n o w published during perhaps the ations have turned to dust. T h e use of
greatest period of military uncertainty military power to prevent oppression,
in the last half century. In retrospect, persecution or starvation, the modern
when the second edition appeared i n equivalent of nineteenth-century gun-
1987, we were on the verge of a military boat diplomacy, is n o w seen to be, politi-
transformation, an unravelling of the cally, a most dangerous option, so risky
settled structures of C o l d W a r military indeed, as to be avoided at almost any
confrontation. Since then new styles of cost. T h e N e w W o r l d Order d i d not
war have emerged, like 'ethnic cleans- even enjoy a brief flowering. Instead,
ing; or rather we have witnessed the rather as Francis Fukuyama proclaimed
resurgence of habits of barbarity which the 'end of history', suggesting that a l l
generals (and war artists) of earlier centu- that followed its termination was a
ries w o u l d have recognized. Callot and random chaos of mere events, so too,
G o y a could find fresh horrors to record perhaps the G u l f W a r was the end of
in Bosnia and Chechnia. military history in its traditional sense?
But i n the same time-frame, as small The jury is out.
conflicts began to proliferate, we have W i t h that thought i n mind, we bring
also seen i n the G u l f W a r a textbook this edition up to the end of the G u l f
exercise i n the art of war, the largest W a r , and find no one i n the subsequent
allied intervention since the Second conflicts who merits inclusion i n the
W o r l d W a r . Moreover, it was presented annals of military history.
as a model for the new moral use of
force: for G o o d against E v i l . This was AW and JK
just the first manifestation, we were 1996

x
 A
Abbas (i571-1629) Persian shah and many of his reforms used the experience
conqueror. T o Shah Abbas belongs the of the T u r k s , but for his artillery he had
distinction of creating a united Persian a team of expert English advisers, led by
army, modelled on those of both the Sir Robert Shirley : their advice was also
O t t o m a n T u r k s and the west, and of instrumental i n the creation of a skilled
extending Persia's boundaries almost to force of musketeers. By 1600 he had the
the limits it had occupied i n antiquity. nucleus of a professional army, depend-
For these achievements, and for the ent solely o n h i m for its support and
dramatic flowering of Persian culture able to undertake sustained campaigning
which took place under his encourage- far from home. Abbas soon threw back
ment, he is k n o w n as Abbas the Great. the T u r k s , extending his frontiers on the
Under Shah Ismail I, Persia had suffered northern border into Uzbek and T u r c o -
both internal fragmentation and pres- man territory. In 1606 he repulsed a
sure from external enemies - T u r k s , the major T u r k i s h assault, under Sultan
nomadic Uzbek tribes, and the M o g u l A h m e d II, at Sis, where his skilled and
rulers of India. Abbas decided to demol- disciplined nucleus routed the T u r k s ,
ish his enemies piecemeal. C o m i n g to who left 20,000 dead o n the battlefield.
the throne at the age of seventeen, he at Thereafter, although peace was made,
once made peace w i t h the Ottomans war w i t h Turkey was endemic through-
under Selim II, intending to concentrate out his reign. T u r k i s h and Persian inter-
on the protection of his northern fron- ests coincided too closely for any lasting
tier. But although he frustrated any peace to be possible.
major Uzbek incursion, he allowed them F r o m 1616 to 1618 and from 1623 to
to erode the frontier in the ceaseless to- 1638 Persia was at war w i t h T u r k e y :
and-fro of border raiding, confident that the armies were now well matched, but
he could recover all that he had lost in a the vast distances involved made it diffi-
major campaign. cult for either side to gain a decisive
H i s great imperative was to create an advantage. In 1623 they clashed over
army both loyal to h i m and capable of Baghdad, w i t h the T u r k s advancing and
prolonged campaigning. Traditionally, besieging the city, Abbas cutting them
the Persians relied o n tribal levies, and off, and their army making a forced
the army was composed almost entirely retreat. After his death the T u r k s were
of cavalry, usually ill-disciplined and able to regain some lost ground, but
loyal only to their tribal chieftains. It the army which he founded provided
was this pattern of Persian army which his successors w i t h a secure means of
the T u r k i s h Janissaries had shattered at defence. T o the north, he took K a n d -
Chaldiran (1515). Abbas's first task was ahar from the M o g u l s , although it was
to build up a sound basis of taxation to lost to the Uzbeks in 1630. H i s great
pay for his reforms. Thereafter, he con- achievement, however, was not on the
structed an army with a professional battlefield, but in providing the sound
infantry and a 'tribe' of skilled cavalry: administrative base that made possible

I
A b d el-Kader Akbar

the creation of a 'modern' army in a bition was to lead M o r o c c o to sovereign

traditional system. independence (it had become a French
protectorate in 1912 - see Lyautey).
A b d el-Kader (1807-83) Algerian emir, D u r i n g the First W o r l d W a r he was
general and resistance leader. In 1832, imprisoned by the French for communi-
two years after the French capture of cating with the Germans. But, escaping,
Algiers, and to prevent the extension of he raised the tribes around Ajdir,
their conquests into the interior, A b d el- preached the H o l y W a r and w i t h
Kader raised the tribes around his capi- German help armed 10,000 men. O n 21
tal, Mascara, in western Algeria July 1921 he inflicted a major defeat on
(Oranie) and proclaimed a M o s l e m H o l y the Spanish in their enclave at A n u a l
W a r (jihad). This war was to last with (12,000 dead), indirectly bringing d o w n
interruptions for fifteen years and falls the government and ushering in Primo
into three main episodes. In the first he de Rivera (q.v.) as dictator. By 1924
was defeated at O r a n (1832), but A b d el-Krim had reduced the Spanish
through the subsequent treaty which he holding in M o r o c c o to a coastal strip
signed with the French he was able to and in A p r i l 1925 he unleashed a success-
establish his ascendancy over numbers ful offensive against the French border
of western tribes. Thus reinforced he outposts. French and Spanish now com-
resumed his war against the French, de- bined their efforts, reinforced their garri-
feating Trézel on the M a c t a , losing M a s - sons and launched a joint counter-offen-
cara to Clauzel and again accepting sive against Targuist, his headquarters.
French terms from Bugeaud (q.v.) at the H e surrendered there to a French
Tafna in 1837. This treaty made A b d el- column on 26 M a y 1926 and was de-
Kader effectively king of unconquered ported to the island of Reunion. Re-
Algeria and in 1839 he raised the stand- leased for reasons of health in 1947, he
ard of revolt once more. The French made his way to Egypt where he re-
were forced to garrison the countryside sumed his anti-French campaign as a
in strength and to organize large mobile propagandist.
columns to track d o w n his bands. M o s t
of the tribes quickly submitted, but he Abercromby, (Sir) Ralph (1734-
maintained a guerrilla campaign for an- 1801) British general. The captor of St
other eight years, assisted by the sultan Lucia and T r i n i d a d , 1795-6, and a par-
of M o r o c c o , A b d er-Rahman. The ticipant in the Helder expedition of
sultan's invasion was defeated on the 1799, it was his army which defeated
Isly in 1844 and A b d el-Kader, whose the remnant of Napoleon's garrison of
household had been captured in 1843, Egypt at the battle of A b o u k i r (Alexan-
ultimately capitulated to Lamoricière dria), I M a r c h 1801, in which he was
(q.v.) in December 1847. H e was in- killed.
terned in France until 1853 but was sub- H i s brother Robert Abercromby
sequently reconciled to his conquerors. (1740-1827) defeated T i p p u Sultan (q.v.)
H i s name, however, remained to Algeri- in 1792.
ans a catchword of resistance to France
throughout the colonial era. A b u l Hassan see M u l e y Hacen.

A b d e l - K r i m , M a h o m m e d ibn (1882- A k b a r (1542-1605) Soldier and M o g u l

1963) M o r o c c a n chieftain and partisan emperor of India. The M o g u l empire,
leader, best k n o w n for his masterly con- which was founded by Babur (q.v.),
duct of the R i f war (1921-6) against the reached its finest flowering under his
French and Spanish. H i s long-held am- grandson A k b a r . Born in exile, for his

2
Akbar Albrecht, Archduke

father H u m a had been forced from his generals, especially the Rajput Raja
throne, he began his war of reconquest Todar Malla.
and acquisition at the age of fifteen,
although he owed much to the advice of Albert I (1875-1934) Belgian k i n g and
his guardian Bairam. In 1560 he took war leader. B o r n at the palace of
power for himself, and began a life Laeken, son of the Count of Flanders,
which involved almost constant war. By Albert succeeded his uncle Leopold II in
the time of his death, his armies d o m i - 1909. Faced by the German demand for
nated the Indian subcontinent, from the free passage through Belgium (for their
H i n d u K u s h to the Godavari river in the armies) in August 1914, he refused and
south. put himself at the head of his o w n tiny
A k b a r inherited a sound military army to oppose them. After its retreat
system, based on strategic fortresses gar- to Antwerp in August, he directed its
risoned by loyal troops and a largely counter-offensive, 9-12 September 1914,
cavalry army in the field. M u c h of the and then its defence of the A n t w e r p
best cavalry in India was H i n d u , and fortress, 28 September-9 October. Over-
A k b a r was remarkable for his ability whelmed by superior forces, the army
to incorporate H i n d u elements within was forced to retreat across the Yser
his M o s l e m state. H e married Rajput into the north-western corner of Bel-
princesses, firstly in the early stages of gium, where Albert set up his headquar-
his conquest of Rajputana, and sec- ters at Furnes. There he remained for
ondly to consolidate their goodwill. H e the rest of the war, in daily contact w i t h
maintained the power structure of the his troops in the front line. H i s intelli-
Rajput kingdoms, and relied heavily on gence, regal bearing, dignity and sincer-
them for military support. H e extended ity made h i m one of the few genuinely
the traditional army by creating an artil- and internationally popular figures of
lery force and a regular infantry, some the First W o r l d W a r .
12,000 strong, and armed w i t h fire-
arms. T o support his conquests he revo- Albrecht, Archduke (1817-95) Aus-
lutionized the tax structure of his trian field-marshal, the victor of the
domains, collecting taxes in cash rather battle of Custozza (1866) and the leading
than i n k i n d . T o administer his terri- military figure in the Austro-Hungarian
tories he introduced many of the Persian empire. T h e eldest son of the Archduke
patterns and concepts of government, Charles (q.v.), the only Austrian general
together w i t h the lax Persian attitude ever to defeat N a p o l e o n (Aspern 1809),
towards the strict interpretation of Albrecht inherited his father's mantle as
Islam. a great commander. In 1848 he com-
T h e success of A k b a r as a ruler was manded the regiments in Vienna w h i c h ,
that he recognized that India could not on his orders, fired on the crowds,
be ruled without the co-operation of thereby stimulating the revolutionary
H i n d u society, and he abolished all the outbreak in the city. In the war of 1859
restraints under which H i n d u i s m tra- in Italy, Albrecht was sent to Germany
ditionally operated in M o s l e m states. H e to d r u m up support for the Austrian
suffered the usual crop of revolts, the cause, but Prussian prevarication frus-
most serious by his son Salim i n 1601. trated his efforts at gaining worthwhile
A k b a r crushed the rebellion, but par- military help against Italy and France.
doned his son, a decision he was to After the war ended w i t h the loss of
regret when he was poisoned by Salim half of Austria's lands in northern Italy,
four years later. A k b a r himself was not the army was drastically reformed: A l -
a great field commander, relying on his brecht, despite his comparatively junior

3
Albrecht, Archduke Alekseev, Mikhail Vasilievich

status, was destined for the command of period of power. H e suffered from poor
the Austrian northern army in the event eyesight from his c h i l d h o o d ; in his last
of a major war. However, when the years he was nearly blind. But his handi-
Austro-Prussian war of 1866 broke out, cap did not deter h i m from exercising
Albrecht was suddenly shifted to the his powers right up to his death. A l -
southern (Italian) front. M a n y reasons brecht's influence came through his
have been given for this sudden switch, intransigence and supreme confidence
most of them highly discreditable to the in his role and mission. A stern and
Emperor Franz Joseph and to Albrecht. austere figure, he was a Habsburg more
M o r e charitably, Albrecht's replacement in the mould of the sixteenth century
Benedek (q.v.), who had until then been than of the effete and decadent nine-
in command of the Italian army, was a teenth. H i s power was that of the bureau-
much older and more experienced sol- crat, not the fighting soldier, and his
dier, and the northern command was thirty years of command over the
his by right and by public opinion. But peacetime Habsburg army made it a
the switch meant that he went d o w n flabby instrument of war.
into an ignominious and catastrophic
defeat by the Prussians at Königgrätz,
Alekseev, M i k h a i l Vasilievich (1857-
while Albrecht reaped the benefit of his
1918) Russian general. T h e son of a
well-drilled and confident army, as well
private soldier, Alekseev succeeded in
as a very expert staff, to defeat the
acquiring an offier's education, passed
Italian general L a M a r m o r a (q.v.) at the
the staff college in 1890, became a gen-
battle of Custozza, on 25 June 1866. It
eral in 1904 and in 1914 went to war as
was a cautious man's battle, taking ad-
chief of staff of the south-western army
vantage of a carefully chosen strong nat-
group. H e planned the successful offen-
ural site, and letting the enemy come to
sive into G a l i c i a (4-11 September),
him. Yet the same caution stopped h i m
which resulted in the fall of the great
from exploiting his victory, and the Ital-
fortress of Przemysl and, but for the
ians were allowed to retire, bruised but
subordinate Russian army commanders'
intact.
besetting fault of wirelessing each other
After the war ended, despite A l - en clair (see Rennenkampf and Sam-
brecht's victory, w i t h the loss of the re- sonov), w o u l d have led to the annihil-
maining province in Italy, and Austria's ation of the Austrian field army. In
expulsion from Germany, the success at M a r c h 1915 he moved to command the
Custozza was the one relief to an other- north-western army group and in
wise gloomy picture. A s a result, Albrecht August he succeeded the G r a n d D u k e
was given an eminence which, strictly Nicholas (q.v.) as chief of staff of the
speaking, his achievement did not jus- army, with command of the European
tify. H e was created first commander- theatre of operations. Distressed by the
in-chief of the army, and then inspector- tsar's interference in strategy, which he
general of the army. H e was a firm believed was helping Russia to lose the
conservative in all matters, military and war, Alekseev attempted to limit his
civil, and took to writing pamphlets la- power by ultimatum but was forestalled
menting the state of the army's morale, and obliged to resign in the autumn of
as well as fighting a fierce rearguard 1916. In M a r c h 1917 he helped to engi-
action against all forms of innovation. neer Nicholas IPs abdication and was
As Austria-Hungary's leading soldier his reappointed chief of staff but resigned
views carried great weight, and much of on 21 M a y in protest at Kerensky's fail-
the Austrian failure i n the First W o r l d ure to halt the dissolution of the army.
W a r can be traced back to his long H e then gravitated towards K o r n i l o v

4
Alexander, Harold Allen, Ethan

(q.v.) but, after the failure of that gen- mand i n B u r m a , at an unhappy moment
eral's coup and the success of the Bolshe- of the war, and then i n 1942 was sent to
vik revolution, he made his way to the Egypt as overall commander of British
D o n , where he began to organize the and A l l i e d forces i n the Western Desert.
White A r m y . M i l i t a r y command of it T h e smoothness of the relationship
soon passed, however, to K o r n i l o v , he established with M o n t g o m e r y and
Alekseev retaining responsibility only later w i t h the Americans of the army
for political affairs. H e died of natural which landed in N o r t h A f r i c a made h i m
causes before the C i v i l W a r had fully the obvious choice for a supreme com-
broken out. mand, which he assumed (1943) over
the British and A m e r i c a n armies invad-
Alexander, Harold (ist Earl Alexander ing Italy. H e retained the Italian com-
of T u n i s ; 1891-1969) British general mand until the end of the war and w i t h
and A l l i e d commander-in-chief. A l e x , it the confidence and devotion of the
as he was k n o w n throughout the British most disparate of all the A l l i e d armies,
(and American) army, was the younger containing as it d i d (besides Britons)
son of one of those Irish Protestant Indians, Canadians, Americans, Poles,
land-owning families (his father was Italians and Brazilians. After the war
L o r d Caledon) which have produced so Alexander was appointed governor-
many of Britain's leading soldiers in the general of Canada and was immensely
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But successful in the post (1946-52), and then
he stands above and apart even among less happily minister of defence (1952-
that illustrious band by his apparent 4). In 1962 he published his Memoirs, a
possession of every military virtue : total disappointing book written by another
physical and moral courage, athletic hand. H i s reputation w i l l rest on his
prowess, intelligence, charm amounting achievements as an inter-Allied military
to real charisma and complete perfection diplomat, as a beau idéal to regular
of manners. 'The only man', said M o n t -
officers of his generation and as an Irish
gomery (q.v.) - who temperamentally
Guardsman of legendary courage.
abhorred subordination - 'under w h o m
. . . any general . . . w o u l d gladly serve in A l l e n , Ethan (1738-89) American sol-
a subordinate position.' dier and politician. Remembered as the
Commissioned into the Irish Guards commander of the 'Green M o u n t a i n
from Sandhurst (following H a r r o w ) in Boys', a band of irregulars in the
1910, Alexander rose quickly to com- American W a r of Independence, A l l e n
mand the i s t Battalion, and by the end (like his men) found his loyalties torn
of the war, at the cost of three wounds, between an intense local patriotism and
had w o n the D S O , M C and many for- a much less clearly defined duty to the
eign decorations. U n w i l l i n g to surrender new nation. But in M a y 1775 he and his
the pleasures of fighting, which he i n - men disobeyed orders and launched a
tensely enjoyed, he secured an attach- surprise attack o n Fort Ticonderoga,
ment to the British forces in the Baltic which they managed to capture. Shortly
and during 1919-20 commanded a m i l i - afterwards, his comrades voted h i m out
tia of German-Latvians which he had of office as their commander, and his
raised. H i s inter-war career was conven- chapter of woe was completed when he
tional but successful and in 1939 he was was captured by the British. A s the
commanding the ist Division of the victor of Ticonderoga, he was an object
B E F . Promoted to lieutenant-general of their horrified curiosity and he was
and to the command of I Corps after shipped to England as a prisoner. H o w -
D u n k i r k , he had a short spell of com- ever, he was eventually paroled to N e w

5
Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman Alva, Fernando Alvarez de Toledo

Y o r k C i t y and was able (by devious lowing September when, i n the battle of
means) to join Washington at Valley M e g i d d o , his forces and those of the
Forge. A s much a politician as a soldier, sherif of M e c c a under Lawrence de-
Allen used his position for the benefit of feated the remains of the T u r k i s h army
his friends and his home state in quarrels and captured Damascus. After the war,
with its neighbours; indeed, he soon Allenby became high commissioner in
became embroiled i n a boundary dispute Egypt and oversaw its translation from
with the state of N e w Hampshire. H i s protectorate to nominal independence.
one contribution of any significance to H e died in retirement. H i s inter-war
military history was the capture of Fort reputation as an inspired cavalry leader
Ticonderoga, which came at a crucial appears, in retrospect, inflated, and he
formative stage of the war when the looks increasingly the archetype of the
rebels badly needed a victory. overbearing cavalry general whose un-
mindfulness of casualties was one of the
Allenby, E d m u n d Henry H y n m a n (ist most unattractive traits of British m i l i -
Viscount Allenby of M e g i d d o ; 1861- tary leadership in the First W o r l d W a r .
1936) British field-marshal. T h e son of It is believed that Allenby was the model
an East Anglian country gentleman, A l - for the central character in C.S. For-
lenby was commissioned in 1882 into ester's remarkable novel The General.
the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons. In the
Boer W a r he rose to command a cavalry A l i A r s l a n (1741-1822) Pasha of Jan-
column and in 1909, as major-general, nina ; O t t o m a n despot and soldier. Born
was appointed inspector-general of cav- in A l b a n i a , at Tebelen, of which his
alry. It was from this post that he trans- family had traditionally held the title of
ferred to lead the hastily formed cavalry bey, A l i Arslan regained the title, despite
division to France in 1914. Allenby's a career of brigandage, by his defence of
violent verbal outbursts had now the local Ottoman borders against the
become legendary in the army and he Austrians and the Russians. Becoming
was one of its most detested - if grudg- in time pasha of T r i c a l a , in Thessaly, i n
ingly respected - generals. The condi- 1787 and Jannina (Epirus) in 1788, he
tions of trench warfare gave h i m little soon established his power over the
opportunity to show whether this re- whole of A l b a n i a , at the cost of massa-
spect was deserved, however, for as cring the Suliots, a Christian people who
T h i r d A r m y commander, which he had long resisted T u r k i s h rule. Bona-
became in October 1915, he controlled a parte tried unsuccessfully to make h i m
front on which no offensive took place an ally : the British succeeded by ceding
until the spring of 1917. T h e battle of him the port of Parga in 1814 and he
Arras, which he directed, may be eventually extended his power to include
thought a success. the whole of Epirus. Eventually judged
Allenby was then transferred to com- by the Ottoman government to have
mand the British forces in Palestine, become too powerful, he was besieged
which he found in a state of l o w morale. by a T u r k i s h army in Jannina in 1822
This, by his noisy visits from unit to and killed. H i s nickname Arslan means
unit, he d i d much to raise and under his ' L i o n ' , and he has been called 'The M o -
command the army w o n a succession of hammedan Bonaparte'.
victories over the T u r k s , capturing Beer-
sheba and Gaza and, on 9 December Alva, Fernando Alvarez de T o l e d o ,
1917, Jerusalem. Lack of men and sup- duque de (1508-83) Spanish soldier.
plies prevented h i m launching a final T o his many detractors, A l v a is the incar-
offensive against the T u r k s until the fol- nation of the most savage spirit of the

6
Alva, Fernando Alvarez de Toledo Alva, Fernando Alvarez de Toledo

Counter-Reformation, notorious for the they produced was too small. Further,
excessive repression of the Netherlands the complicated skein of local privileges
(1567-72), and his belief that the only and the arrogance of many of the great
good heretic was a burning one. But Flemish nobles were anathema to Philip
these events occurred at the end of a II. Worse still, the spread of Protestant
long and successful career and should heresy w i t h i n the Netherlands was re-
not cloud an impression of his consider- deemable only in blood. A l v a regarded
able abilities as a soldier. H e entered the the pretensions of the Flemish w i t h dis-
Spanish army i n 1524, and served w i t h taste, and argued for repressive meas-
great distinction at the repulse of the ures; and the breakdown of authority
French from Fuenterabbia. A s scion of within the Netherlands, the destruction
one of the leading families in Castile, he of Catholic churches and the hounding
was rapidly given more important com- of priests and nuns by Protestant mobs
mands, both i n Italy and Germany. In gave h i m his chance. H e brought his
the war of the Schmalkaldic League army of veterans up from Italy (1567) :
(1546-7), he dealt the rebellious Protes- it was, in Philip's phrase, 'a Catholic
tant faction a resounding defeat at the army', bent on the destruction of heresy.
battle of Mühlberg (1547). H e became T h e benign rule of Margaret of Parma
the leading soldier in the imperial serv- as regent ended when she saw the meas-
ice, w i t h the full trust and confidence of ures which A l v a intended to adopt: the
the Emperor Charles V (q.v.). T h e war field was clear for a sustained attempt
with the G e r m a n Protestants soon pro- to destroy the national spirit of the N e t h -
duced a renewal of conflict w i t h France erlands and to extirpate the last traces
in northern Italy, for the French had of Protestantism. H e brought to the
entered an alliance with M a u r i c e of easy-going Netherlands a harshness they
Saxony. A l v a was given the command had never seen before. O n the day after
in Italy. T h e invading French were de- Margaret of Parma's resignation as
feated at the battle of M a r c i a n o (1553), regent, the leading Flemish nobles,
and A l v a himself, by now viceroy of Egmont and H o o r n , were arrested, to
Naples for Philip II, who had succeeded be followed by all the natural leaders of
his father i n 1556, outfought Francis of D u t c h society - magistrates, merchants,
Guise i n the south of Italy and forced landowners. A l l their property was con-
h i m to withdraw. A l v a stood very high fiscated, and Alva's net was widened
in Philip's favour, and at court the fac- with information gained under torture.
tion around h i m stood for a ruthless, O n 4 January 1568 eighty-four of the
military solution to every problem. H e leading citizens of the Netherlands died
was Philip's representative at the peace on the scaffold of Brussels; they were
negotiations which led to the agreement the first of some 6000. Others, Protes-
of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559). A l v a was tants, were burned alive.
now Philip's closest adviser, and al- T h e policy of terror was initially suc-
though he argued against the tactless cessful : the D u t c h were cowed and for a
decrees which forced the M o r i s c o s of time A l v a was able to finance his repres-
Granada into revolt, once the outbreak sion from the confiscations and forced
had occurred, he insisted on the most sales, but when he tried to increase his
draconian solution. revenues by imposing higher taxes, a
T h e problem posed by the Nether- movement for passive resistance de-
lands was a different one. It was recog- veloped, which made collections of
nized that the Netherlands were the taxes virtually impossible. O n land, A l v a
richest lands of the Spanish c r o w n ; never- was able to crush any attempts to
theless, it was considered that the revenue oppose h i m ; he and his subordinate

7
Alva, Fernando Alvarez de Toledo Alvaredo, Pedro de

commanders (his son D o n Fadrique, and of his savage actions in the Netherlands,
Julian Romero) were far abler soldiers believing them a harsh necessity. But
than their enemies. A t sea, however, he he died a bitter man, for as he said,
relied of necessity on A d m i r a l Bossu thinking of his master : 'Kings treat men
and a combined Flemish-Spanish fleet. like oranges. They go for the juice,
T h e story of the rebirth of D u t c h patriot- and once they have sucked them dry,
ism is told elsewhere {see W i l l i a m the they throw them aside.'
Silent), but the reasons for Alva's failure
are instructive. Throughout his career Alvaredo, Pedro de (c. 1485-
he had displayed an absolute certainty 1541) Spanish conquistador. A s one of
in his decisions and policies; this had Cortes's (q.v.) company, Alvaredo took
given h i m great force as a commander, part in the conquest of M e x i c o for Spain
and was a powerful factor in the morale (and private gain). In 1518, commanding
of his men and subordinates. Passion- one of the ships sent by Juan de Grijalva
ately convinced of the rightness of his from C u b a , he explored the coast of
actions and that he acted as a soldier of Yucatan, and when Cortes moved into
Christ, he was incapable of seeing the M e x i c o in 1519, the knowledge of the
most effective means of dealing w i t h the coast and the local tribes which he had
situation. A s a stiff-necked Castilian, he thus gained proved of great value. After
had no patience w i t h Netherlanders and the entry into Tenochtitlán and the sei-
he alienated many of his natural support- zure of the Aztec emperor M o n t e z u m a ,
ers: not until Parma (q.v.) gained the Alvaredo was left i n command of the
supreme command was a more subtle city w i t h a tiny Spanish detachment
policy properly instituted. T h u s the very while Cortes left to fight off a rival
qualities which made A l v a so good a Spanish force, led by Narvaez. In his
soldier rendered h i m useless in a situ- absence, Alvaredo, fearful of the enor-
ation, as i n the Netherlands, which re- mous odds against h i m , took stern
quired tact, diplomacy, warmth of action to prevent an uprising; but he
personality, as well as an iron hand. only managed to provoke the Aztecs
into attacking h i m . H e was saved by the
In November 1573 Philip, who had
timely return of Cortes, who had de-
no patience with failure, recalled A l v a ,
feated Narvaez, and acquired his men as
in virtual disgrace. H i s power at court
reinforcements. In 1520 they abandoned
now vanished, he retired from public
the city of Tenochtitlán after the bitter
life, but in 1580 he was recalled for a
fighting caused by Alvaredo, but Cortes
task for which he was entirely qualified
returned in the following year, and after
- the conquest of Portugal, whose
a fierce fight and a long siege, the capital
throne Philip had claimed. T h e army
was taken. T h e city was razed, the popu-
crossed the frontier at the end of June
lation massacred, enslaved or dispersed,
1580; on 25 August A l v a w o n a smash-
and a new capital (Mexico City) built
ing victory at Alcantara, and by the end
beside the o l d . Alvaredo was the first
of the month Philip was k i n g of Portu-
alcalde (mayor) of the new city.
gal, A l v a received no gratitude and died,
once more in the shadow of royal ob- T w o years later w i t h an independent
livion. H e was one of the greatest serv- force Alvaredo occupied what is now
ants of the Spanish state, and, in a Guatemala, moving forward in 1524 into
century replete with great Spanish the territory now occupied by E l Salva-
soldiers, one of her finest commanders. dor. H i s last conquest of new territory
O n l y C o r d o b a (q.v.) and Parma (q.v.) began in 1534, when he led a new expedi-
were his superiors. In a sense the 'black tion into Ecuador but was bought off by
legend' is correct, for he regretted none a rival ; he then set out in search of the

8
Alvensleben, Gustav von Anders, Wladyslaw

fabled Seven Cities of C i b o l a and the table for the number of bright and ag-
riches they were reputed to contain. But gressive young officers, including Wolfe
he fell from his horse and died before and H o w e (qq.v.); men w h o m Amherst
the search was far advanced. L i k e many actively encouraged. H e was well re-
of the conquistadores, Alvaredo had a garded by his soldiers, and the successful
savage streak, but he also displayed the capture of the fort (July 1758) gave h i m
flexibility and courage which enabled a resounding reputation at home. H e
them to overcome amazing odds. commanded i n Canada until the end of
the Seven Years' W a r (1763), latterly as
Alvensleben, Gustav von (1803- governor. T h e longest period of his
81) Prussian general, Alvensleben com- career i n a single position was as
manded I V Corps i n the wars of 1866 commander-in-chief of the army from
and 1870, in the latter playing a promi- 1772 to 1795. H e brought no glory to
nent part in the battle of Sedan and the the office, however, for under his con-
investment of Paris. trol the army languished and he was
H i s brother, Konstantin v o n Alven- finally replaced by the D u k e of Y o r k . It
sleben (1809-82), a veteran of the wars also belied the intense activity of his
of 1864 and 1866, commanded III early life. Amherst was a passionate ad-
Corps i n 1870 at M a r s - l a - T o u r and vocate of high professional standards
Gravelotte. among officers, an innovator i n light
infantry tactics, and a solid, if somewhat
Alvinczy, Josef Freiherr v o n (1735- pedestrian, campaigner. But he was
1810) Austrian field-marshal. Begin- essentially a man of action, and in the
ning his military career during the Seven dry w o r l d of the administrators, he
Years' W a r (1756-63), i n which he saw withered.
service against the French, and later serv-
ing against the T u r k s , Alvinczy came to Anders, Wladyslaw (1892-1970) Polish
high command during the wars of the general and leader of a Polish army-in-
French Revolution. In 1793, w i t h Prince exile. Born near Warsaw, then part o f
Friedrich of Saxe-Coburg, he fought D u - the Russian empire, the son of a land
mouriez (q.v.), the victor of V a l m y , at agent, Anders enlisted as a cavalryman
Neerwinden and defeated h i m . Opposed in the tsar's army at the outbreak of the
by N a p o l e o n i n Italy i n 1796, however, First W o r l d W a r and fought against the
he was consistently outmanoeuvred and Germans. But following the Bolshevik
was defeated at the battles of Areola revolution he joined up i n the Polish
(15-17 November 1796) and R i v o l i (14 Corps, formed earlier by Pilsudski (q.v.)
January 1797). to fight on the side of the Central Powers
against Russia, and was soon appointed
Amherst, Jeffrey, i s t Baron (1717- chief of staff of the Poznan army, whose
97) British soldier. M o s t often remem- operations he directed i n the Russo-
bered for his command of the British Polish war, 1919-20. Independent Poland
forces which expelled the French from became closely allied with France, which
Canada, Amherst's army career spanned had sent a strong team of military ad-
nearly seventy years. H e joined the Foot visers to her assistance during 1919-20,
Guards i n 1731, and served through the and Anders was one of many Polish
war of the Austrian Succession (1740- officers selected subsequently to train i n
8); he served as A D C to L o r d Ligonier France (he attended the 1922-4 course
and, later, to the D u k e of Cumberland. at the Ecole de Guerre). In 1939 he was
In 1757 he was given the expedition sent engaged against both the G e r m a n and
to capture Louisburg, a command no- Russian invaders of his country, was

9
Anderson, Richard H e r o n A n s o n , George, Baron

wounded, for the eighth time, taken cap- of the ist Corps and saved Spotsylvania
tive by the Russians and imprisoned in from capture by a cleverly planned and
the Lubianka in M o s c o w . executed night march, for which he was
In 1941, consequent on Hitler's i n - promoted lieutenant-general. H e took
vasion of Russia, the Soviet government part in the defence of R i c h m o n d and
agreed to release its Polish prisoners in Petersburg, 1864-5, commanding the
order to form an anti-Nazi army; corps which bore his name.
Anders was named to command it. W i t h
Churchill's support he managed to trans- Anson, George, Baron (1697-
port both the soldiers and their families 1762) British sailor and naval re-
to Persia and there to create the force former. 'The father of the navy', A n s o n
which was to be k n o w n to the Western entered the navy in 1712 and was a
Allies as the Polish II Corps and which captain by the amazingly early age of
was to w i n unperishable glory in the twenty-six. H i s service at sea in the
campaigns of the Desert and Italy. Its period of peace which followed the war
crowning achievement was the capture of the Spanish Succession (1701-14) fol-
of M o n t e Cassino, 17-18 M a y 1944, lowed the normal pattern of the service ;
after three previous assaults on the for- but in 1740 he began an epic voyage
tress by the British and Americans had around the w o r l d which was to last for
failed. In the subsequent advance the II four years. H e raided the Spanish terri-
Corps cleared much of the A d r i a t i c coast tories i n South America and captured a
and fought in the battles of the Po valley. great treasure galleon, which he sold for
A t the war's end Anders was acting £400,000 prize money, his share of this
commander of all Polish forces in the booty making h i m a rich man. T h e
west, which included sizeable air and voyage of his ship the Centurion became
naval forces which had fought in the a legend of the navy. In 1745 he was
Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlan- appointed to the Board of Admiralty,
tic and the Strategic Bombing Campaign- which was to be, w i t h two brief inter-
against Germany. Few of these exiles ludes, the scene of his activity for the
chose to return to Communist-governed remainder of his life. In 1747 he com-
Poland and Anders became com- manded a brilliant action off Finisterre,
mandant of the organization formed to in which six French warships, of a total
resettle them in the west. A man of of nine engaged in the action, were
great ability, courage and dignity, he was captured.
as widely respected by western leaders A t the Admiralty, A n s o n pushed for-
as he was honoured by his o w n ward at a rush with reforms long over-
compatriots. due. H e systematized the organization
and construction of ships, classified all
Anderson, Richard Heron (1821- the ships in the service into one of six
79) American (Confederate) general. A rates, depending on its guns and pur-
South Carolinan, a graduate of West pose, a classification which lasted as
Point and a veteran or the M e x i c a n long as the navy used sailing ships. In
war, Anderson declared for the Confed- 1749 he revised the articles of war so
eracy at the outbreak of the hostilities effectively that they remained relatively
and served in the A r m y of Northern unchanged until 1865. H e introduced the
Virginia as a brigade and divisional com- standardized blue and white uniform for
mander during the Peninsula and Gettys- officers (1748) and in 1755 created a
burg campaigns. O n Longstreet's (q.v.) permanent corps of marines, both to
disablement during the Wilderness cam- maintain discipline aboard ship and to
paign of 1864 he succeeded to command be used for land actions. M u c h of the

10
Anthoine, François Paul Argyll, Archibald Campbell, Marquis of

improved performance of the navy in A p r a x i n was created admiral of the

the Seven Years' W a r (1756-63) and the Baltic fleet, the outcome of Peter's experi-
American W a r of Independence (1775- ence in the D u t c h and English shipyards.
83) is directly attributable both to his T h e tsar was determined that Russia
reforms and to the new spirit which he should turn her face to the west and
succeeded in instilling throughout the that she should acquire a powerful navy
service. A s a naval strategist he antici- to secure her communications to the
pated many of the devices used to good western states through the Baltic. T h e
effect i n the Napoleonic wars : the close survival of his new city of St Petersburg
blockade of Brest which he instituted in depended on this fleet.
the Seven Years' W a r was the key to Responsible for the defence of the
British naval success in the war. O n his city when Charles X I I turned on Russia
death, W i l l i a m Pitt summed up his con- in 1708, A p r a x i n , while the Russians
tribution thus: ' T o his wisdom, to his were retreating before the Swedes in
experience, and care, the nation owes its central Russia, drove off an invasion
success in the . . . war.' force under Lybecker and saved the nas-
cent city. In 1714, after the Swedish war
Anthoine, François Paul (1860- effort had lost much of its energy, the
1944) French general. B o r n at Le Russian fleet of 30 sailing ships and 180
M a n s , educated at Saint-Cyr, and in galleys beat the Swedish fleet at Gangut,
1914 a member of the General Staff off the southern tip of Finland, thus
Committee, Anthoine played an import- ending Swedish domination of the
ant role as a staff officer in the First Baltic. Later in the year Charles X I I
W o r l d W a r , on rather the same lines as returned from his long stay in T u r k e y
Weygand and G a m e l i n (qq.v.). Chief of (where he had fled after defeat in Russia)
staff (major général) to Castelnau (q.v.) and Sweden moved to the offensive. But
in 1914, and for a time an army com- A p r a x i n continued to expand his d o m i -
mander in his o w n right during the offen- nance at sea, and by 1719 the Russian
sives of 1917 on the C h e m i n des Dames navy was raiding the Stockholm penin-
and i n Flanders, his principal wartime sula, landing troops for attacks o n the
role was as chief of staff to Pétain (q.v.), city itself. A p r a x i n ' s conquests in the
November 1917-July 1918, during the Baltic were confirmed by the treaty of
desperate months of the great G e r m a n Nystadt (1721). After Peter's death i n
offensives. 1725 A p r a x i n ' s role declined, but the
achievement of creating a secure Russian
A p r a x i n , Fedor Matyeevich, C o u n t position in the Baltic could not be
(1661-1728) Russian admiral. T h e vir- diminished.
tual creator of the Russian navy,
A p r a x i n owed his position to his close A r g y l l , A r c h i b a l d C a m p b e l l , M a r q u i s of
friendship w i t h Peter the Great (q.v.). In (1607-61) Scottish soldier. T h e leader
1700 he was appointed governor of the of the Covenanters' armies, the great
important fort of A z o v , at the mouth of defender of the Presbyterian church
the D o n on the Black Sea, and w i t h against the English, and the bitter enemy
Peter's plans for the creation of a fleet, of the M a r q u i s of M o n t r o s e , A r g y l l was
A z o v w i t h its dockyards became of cru- the cornerstone of Scotland's opposition
cial importance. Here A p r a x i n ordered to Charles I. D u r i n g the English C i v i l
the construction of a fleet of both river W a r (1642-6) he held Scotland, while
and sea-going vessels, which were an Leven (q.v.) w i t h 18,000 infantry and
important factor in Russia's later con- 3000 cavalry, the flower of the Scottish
flict with Turkey (1736-9). In 1707 army, entered England in support of

11
A r g y l l , A r c h i b a l d C a m p b e l l , M a r q u i s of Arnim, Hans Georg von

Parliament. A r g y l l was not a very accom- Restoration his long career of tergiver-
plished soldier and he was beaten by sation ended on the executioner's block.
Montrose (q.v.) at Inverlochy (1645) and H e died as a staunch and dangerous
at Kilsyth in August of the same year. enemy of the k i n g : but he was never
Montrose occupied most of the country, staunch in any cause except his o w n .
although he had none of the heavy equip-
ment needed to subdue a strongpoint. In Arnim, Hans Georg von (1581-
September 1645 a Parliamentary army 1641) German mercenary. B o r n a
sent north under General D a v i d Leslie Brandenburger, von A r n i m tried to main-
routed Montrose at Philiphaugh and left tain the interests of the smaller German
A r g y l l once again in a commanding states in the confused power politics of
position. the T h i r t y Years' W a r (1618-48). H e
Despite the Scots alliance with Parlia- served under Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.)
ment, A r g y l l sought to preserve a in his war with Russia (1613-17), and
delicate balance between king and then, successively, with the Poles against
Parliament. The Scots supported the Sweden and under Wallenstein (q.v.).
king, upon conditions, in the Second Although a Lutheran, he found no diffi-
C i v i l W a r (1648), but after the defeat at culty in serving Catholic masters, but he
Preston where the D u k e of H a m i l t o n resigned his imperial commission i n
was beaten by C r o m w e l l , A r g y l l repaired 1629 in protest against the Edict of Resti-
the breach with Parliament. After the tution, which overturned the long-
execution of Charles I in 1649, A r g y l l established land settlement concerning
negotiated w i t h his son Charles II for former church lands in Protestant states.
Scottish support in his attempt to recover In 1631 a number of Protestant princes
the throne. Agreement was reached, and headed by John George of Saxony issued
A r g y l l went so far as to crown h i m as the Leipzig manifesto, which demanded
Charles II. But this support for Charles redress of their many grievances (includ-
did not stop h i m from hounding M o n - ing the edict itself). When this brought
trose, who had entered Scotland in sup- no response from the Emperor Ferdi-
port of Charles, beating his small force nand, they raised an army led by
at Carbiesdale (April 1650), and then Arnim.
ensuring that he was executed as a trai- In chaotic circumstances Arnim
tor and rebel. C r o m w e l l smashed the achieved no dramatic victories, although
Scottish army at Dunbar (September he did keep his army together. But in
1650) and at Worcester (September 1635 he refused to accept the conclusion
1651) , and A r g y l l , turning his coat of the peace of Prague between the Prot-
yet again, patched up peace with estants and the emperor, and continued
Parliament. as an independent mercenary. In 1637
If A r g y l l was a poor soldier he was a he was taken by the Swedes and was in
skilled intriguer. H e balanced public ad- danger of his life, for they considered
vantage w i t h private gain, and the latter him a traitor. Fortunately he managed
often triumphed. But he failed to achieve to escape and rejoined the Saxon army
the great power for Scotland which he in 1638 as a lieutenant-general : he began
sought. T h e unattractive aspect of his at once to prepare a campaign against
character may be seen in his hatred for the Swedes and French, now as much a
Montrose, w h o m he harried to his threat to the independence of the
death, watching from his house in Edin- German states as the Habsburgs, but he
burgh as he was dragged past on a died before the attack could be mounted.
hurdle to the scaffold. But ironically he In many respects A r n i m was a free-
met a like end in 1661, when after the booter, pursuing his o w n interests, but

12
Arnold, Benedict Ashby, Turner

he d i d believe in the independence of ordinary energies to increasing the A i r

Germany and fought to achieve it. C o r p s ' budget, to persuading General
M a r s h a l l (q.v.) of the A i r C o r p s ' vital
Arnold, Benedict (1741-1801) role and to cultivating the leaders of
American soldier. Best k n o w n for the the American aircraft industry. ' H e was
manner of his leaving American service, a superb fixer and his favourite descrip-
as the great turncoat of the American tion of any negotiation was that he was
W a r of Independence, A r n o l d was a "doing business" with someone.'
competent soldier. H e gained his first A m o n g those on whose behalf he d i d
military experience i n the French and business were the Western Allies, whose
Indian war, and at the outbreak of cause he championed throughout the
hostilities w i t h the British was a captain period of American non-intervention.
of m i l i t i a : he attempted to take Fort As soon as America entered the war, he
Ticonderoga, but was forestalled by embarked on a mammoth expansion of
Ethan Allen (q.v.). H e took part in the his air forces, pressing relentlessly mean-
disastrous invasion of Canada (1775), while for their employment in a major
but despite being wounded continued in strategic bombing campaign against the
the field. H e then took a leading part in heartland of the enemy. It was that strat-
the campaign which led to Burgoyne's egy which he carried i n the U S Joint
(q.v.) surrender at Saratoga (1777), and Chiefs of Staff Committee, and which
was crippled at the second battle o f ' played a major, if endlessly controver-
Saratoga (1777). A r n o l d ' s besetting sin sial, part in the winning of the Second
was a sense of persecution and injustice, W o r l d W a r . H i s most cherished achieve-
and his defection to the British achieved ment, however, was the grant of separ-
nothing. H e died, a bitter man, in ate and equal status to the United States
London. A i r Force in 1947, when his personal
five-star General of the A r m y rank,
A r n o l d , H e n r y Harley ( ' H a p ' ; 1886- which he had been granted in 1944,
1950) American air force commander. was changed to General of the A i r
Born at Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, the Force.
son of a doctor and the grandson of a
nail-maker who had fought at Gettys- Ashby, T u r n e r (182.8-62) American
burg, A r n o l d was educated at West (Confederate) general. A Virginian
Point and commissioned in 1907 into planter of some wealth and political i n -
the infantry. In 1911, however, he trans- fluence but little formal education.
ferred to the air section of the Signal Ashby had formed a volunteer cavalry
Corps, was taught to fly by O r v i l l e squadron from among his neighbours at
Wright and, though missing flying serv- the approach of war, and taken it to
ice in the First W o r l d W a r , ended it as Harper's Ferry at the time of John
assistant chief of the A i r Service. In the Brown's raid. Appointed colonel of a
early postwar years he let his enthusiasm larger cavalry regiment which his squad-
for the ideas of General W i l l i a m M i t c h - ron joined in 1861, he served under
ell show too clearly and his career Stonewall Jackson (q.v.) as his cavalry
passed into the doldrums for a time, but commander in the Shenandoah Valley
in 1931 he was appointed commander campaign, 1862. H e was killed in a rear-
of the First W i n g G H Q A i r Force and guard action near H a r r i s b u r g in June,
in 1938, following the death of General much missed by his men, to w h o m he
Westover in a flying accident, he was was a hero, by Jackson, to w h o m he
promoted to command the A i r Corps. was a brilliant subordinate, and by V i r -
In this post A r n o l d devoted his extra- ginians, for w h o m he personified their

13
Atahualpa Auchinleck, Sir Claude

romantic ideal of the Southern lengthy siege, the garrison surrendered;

gentleman. under the terms of the surrender they
were allowed to leave freely. After the
Atahualpa (1502-33) Inca emperor. pacification of Ireland, Athlone returned
Atahualpa entered history as he left it, a to the Netherlands to serve in W i l l i a m ' s
victim of Pizarro (q.v.). Succeeding to later wars with France. H e fought at
the throne of Peru in 1532 after defeating Steenkirk (1692) and at the relief of
his brother Huascar in two years of N a m u r (1695). A t the start of the war of
war, he opposed Pizarro, who had 62 the Spanish Succession (1701-14) he
cavalry and 102 infantry, w i t h the whole waived his right as the senior D u t c h
force of the Inca army, but was taken general to supreme command of the
by treachery at Cajamarca and held to Dutch forces in favour of M a r l b o r o u g h ,
ransom. The ransom was paid, but de- w h o m he served loyally until his death.
spite the fulfilment of the agreement
Atahualpa was put to death. The last Auchinleck, Sir Claude (1884-
independent emperor of the Incas, like 1981) British field-marshal. Son of an
the great nations on the east coast of Ulster Protestant family, like so many
South America he fell victim to the fear other generals of his generation, A u c k i n -
which the unfamiliar Spanish cavalry leck was commissioned, via Wellington
and the fire-power of the infantry i n - and Sandhurst, into the 62nd Punjabis
spired in the minds of the otherwise in 1904. H i s First W o r l d W a r service, by
courageous Inca warriors. which he earned the D S O , was spent in
Mesopotamia, his inter-war years o n the
Ataturk see K e m a l Ataturk. North-West Frontier or on staff duty in
India. In 1939 he was a lieutenant-
Athlone, G o d a r d van Reede, i s t E a r l of general with an established reputation
(1644-1703) Dutch soldier in the serv- in the Indian army but none outside it.
ice of W i l l i a m III of England. One of H i s arrival in England i n 1940 to raise
the entourage of able D u t c h soldiers and command the new I V Corps was a
who accompanied W i l l i a m of Orange to surprise to British regular officers, as it
England in the Glorious Revolution of was to himself, and it is evidence of his
1688, Athlone is best k n o w n for his remarkable qualities - including his intel-
success in subduing the Irish and the lectual ability, for which he had been
French expeditionary force after the chosen for the post - that he succeeded
battle of the Boyne (1690). H i s first act in making the very difficult transition
was to besiege the remaining Jacobite from the one army to the other, across
strongholds. H e captured the crucial the barrier of suspicion which tradition-
t o w n of Athlone in 1691, and then pro- ally existed between them.
ceeded to destroy the French-led field This achievement, after a short excur-
army (under the M a r q u i s de Saint-Ruth) sion to N o r w a y in 1940 and a return to
and the Irish Earl of Lucan át the battle India as commander-in-chief i n 1941,
of A u g h r i m . H e turned the Irish flank was to pay off fully during his time as
and the rebels fled, losing 7000 men to commander-in-chief, M i d d l e East, in the
the English army's 700. Lucan fled with Western Desert campaign, June 1941-
the remnants of his army and immured August 1942. Superintending subordi-
himself i n Limerick, the last Jacobite nates of varied character and ability at a
fortress. The fort was a strong one and difficult time for British armies, he rode
had already withstood a determined as- out the worst of the R o m m e l offensives
sault in 1690. But Athlone invested the and, in what is now often called the
city in force, and in October, after a first battle of Alamein, July 1942, halted

14
Augereau, Pierre François Charles Augustus II, Frederick

the German drive on C a i r o and stabi- was created as king of Poland, Augustus
lized a firm line (from which M o n t - owed his position to his wealth and
gomery, q.v., w o u l d later launch the power as a prince of the Wettin dynasty
decisive riposte). Differences with Chur- and as Elector of Saxony. In 1694 he
chill then led to his removal and he succeeded to the electorate, and i n 1696,
returned to India as commander-in- after enormous efforts, he was elected
chief. In 1947 he was to have the un- king of Poland, having adopted the
happy task of presiding over the parti- Catholic faith. H i s prize was a mixed
tion of the Indian army between the blessing, for Poland was prey to attack
new dominions of India and Pakistan, from Russia, Sweden and Turkey. W i t h
one which he discharged with as much the accession of the sixteen-year-old
satisfaction to all parties as was possible Charles X I I to the Swedish throne, A u -
in the circumstances. T h e two domin- gustus saw an opportunity to extend his
ions, in token of their trust in h i m , territory: attacking the Swedish posses-
accepted his appointment as supreme sions on the Baltic, he besieged R i g a .
commander of the two new armies. But he brought disaster o n himself by
this opportunism. Charles X I I was not
the easy victim he had expected. By
Augereau, Pierre François Charles (due
1702 he had lost his capital, W a r s a w ,
de Castiglione; 1757—1816) M a r s h a l of
and at the battle of K l i s z o w later i n the
France (Napoleon's marshals were offi-
year his field army was shattered. In the
cially created ' M a r s h a l of the E m p i r e ' ,
spring of 1703 Augustus made great
but all are described in this book as
efforts and created a new army : but his
' M a r s h a l of France'). A Parisian, the
forces were shattered yet again by a
son of a domestic servant, Augereau
much more skilful and effective Swedish
served in the ranks of the French, Prus-
army at Pultusk.
sian and Neapolitan armies, 1774—90,
then joined the Paris N a t i o n a l G u a r d In the following year Charles replaced
and in 1793 was commissioned into the Augustus on the Polish throne w i t h
cavalry. H e saw some fighting in the Stanislaus Leszczynski, without much
Pyrenees the following year and in 1795 difficulty since Augustus was unpop-
joined the A r m y of Italy, where at Cas- ular with his subjects. But Augustus
tiglione, 5 August 1796, he first pre- had some success in the civil war which
vented the army of Würmser (q.v.) from followed, and Charles was forced to
taking Bonaparte at a disadvantage, then turn his attention to Poland once again.
played a major part in its defeat. W h e n In 1705 he trounced Augustus at Punitz
twelve years later N a p o l e o n bestowed a and W s z o w a , but was unable to follow
dukedom on h i m , he was allowed to up his victories since he faced more dan-
take Castiglione as his title - an unusual gerous enemies elsewhere. A t Franstadt
honour, for the emperor disliked remind- (1706), Augustus failed again to defeat a
ers of others' contributions to his vic- small Swedish army under Rehnskjold.
tories. Under the Empire, he command- In the autumn of 1706 Charles was able
ed the left wing at Jena, 1806, the 7th to make a final attempt to settle the
Corps in Spain, 1809-10, and the 16th Polish question. H i s armies invaded
Corps at Leipzig in 1814. H e held aloof Saxony, the source of Augustus's troops
from N a p o l e o n during the H u n d r e d and his wealth. Leipzig was captured
Days. and Augustus quickly sued for terms. A t
the treaty of Altranstädt he abdicated.
Augustus II, Frederick (1670- But w i t h the collapse of the Swedish
1733) Elector of Saxony, king of hegemony after Poltava, where Charles
Poland. Although his military reputation was decisively defeated by Peter the

15
Aumale, Henri Eugene Philippe Louis Aumale, Henri Eugene Philippe Louis

Great (q.v.). Augustus was restored to real talent and quickly distinguished him-
the Polish throne by Russian power. H e self in the Algerian campaign against
remained there until his death. H e was A b d el-Kader (q.v.). D u r i n g the period
scarcely an admirable figure, and al- of guerrilla operations which followed
though k n o w n as Augustus the Strong, Kader's resumption of the war against
he had little success in war. the French after 1839, he emerged as an
outstanding leader and was responsible
Aumale, H e n r i Eugene Philippe Louis in M a y 1843 for the capture of Kader's
d'Orléans, duc d' (1822-97) French household. H e was appointed governor-
prince, colonial soldier and administra- general of French N o r t h Africa in 1847.
tor. T h e fourth son of the D u k e of After the dethronement of his father at
Orleans (later Louis-Philippe, K i n g of the revolution of 1848, he took refuge in
the French, 1830-48), Aumale was born England, but at the fall of the Second
in Paris, educated at the Collège H e n r i Empire (1870) was reappointed to the
IV and entered the army at the age of army as general of division. In that rank
seventeen. H i s royal birth ensured rapid he presided over the tribunal which con-
promotion. But he was also a soldier of demned Bazaine (q.v.).

16
 B
Babur (148 3-1530) Conqueror of in defeating armies far larger than his
northern India and founder of the own.
M o g u l empire. Succeeding his father as
ruler of the khanate of Fergana in 1494, Baden-Powell, Robert Stephenson Smyth
Babur tried to carve himself an empire (ist Baron Baden-Powell of G i l w e l l ;
in central A s i a , as befitted a descendant 1857-1941) H e r o of M a f e k i n g and
of T i m u r and Genghis K h a n . A t first founder of the Boy Scout movement.
successful, he was beaten by the Uzbeks Seventh son of the Savilian Professor of
under Shaibani K h a n in 1501 and ex- Geometry at O x f o r d , born i n L o n d o n ,
pelled from Fergana. Three years later educated at Charterhouse, Baden-Powell
he settled in K a b u l and sought to regain was excused the Sandhurst course be-
his former possessions. But by 1512 it cause of his high placing i n the competi-
was clear that he had no hope of estab- tive examination and gazetted direct to
lishing himself i n central A s i a , although the 13th Hussars, then stationed in
he had n o w built up a considerable fol- India. F r o m the start he showed an apti-
lowing, and he turned his eyes south- tude for and joy in military scouting
wards to India and the rich pickings and irregular warfare of which the con-
which lay before h i m . temporary empire gave h i m his fill. H e
In 1522 Babur captured Kandahar, was detached for scouting service in
and in 1524 invaded Lahore, but was Africa in the Ashanti (1895) d M a t a -
a n

repulsed. In the following year he re- bele (1896) campaigns, promoted to com-
turned with 10,000 men to face the mand the 5th Dragoon Guards in 1897
30,000 men of the sultan of D e l h i , Ibra- and posted to South A f r i c a to raise ir-
h i m L o d i . Preparing a strong field fortifi- regular cavalry at the outbreak of the
Boer W a r . C o m m a n d i n g in M a f e k i n g
cation, Babur repulsed his attackers at
when it fell under siege, he maintained
the battle of Panipat. H e then loosed his
the defence for 217 days, the relief pro-
o w n semi-savage T u r k i c cavalry, and the
voking scenes of public rejoicing at
Delhi army collapsed, leaving L o d i and
home whose exuberance remains legen-
15,000 of his men dead on the battle-
dary ('Mafeking N i g h t ' ) . H e had been
field. Babur occupied D e l h i and estab-
promoted major-general during the siege
lished the foundations of the M o g u l
and was later to be appointed inspector-
empire. In 1527 he beat the Rajputs at
general of the South A f r i c a Constabu-
Khanua, where 20,000 of his men dis-
lary (which he raised), and inspector-
persed an enemy force of 100,000 under
general of cavalry. H e retired from the
R a n a Sanga. T w o years later at Gogra
army in 1910 as a lieutenant-general to
he destroyed an Afghan threat to his
pursue what had become his principal
new kingdom, his conquests interrupted
interest, the training of youth for
only by his death. H i s empire was to be
citizenship through his Boy Scout and
built on by his grandson A k b a r (q.v.).
G i r l Guide movements. It is for his pro-
A n outstanding soldier, Babur displayed
motion of his organization and ideals
great creative and tactical imagination

17
Badoglio, Pietro Balck, Hermann

throughout the w o r l d , which loaded h i m of 1805-7 against N a p o l e o n he gained

with its decorations, that he is remem- further distinction on a number of occa-
bered, rather than for his slightly eccen- sions, covering Kutuzov's retreat after
tric military career. H e died in Africa H o l l a b r u n n and conducting other ten-
(Kenya), where he had been happiest. acious rearguard actions after Eylau and
Austerlitz. H i s personal courage at the
Badoglio, Pietro (1871-1956) Italian battle of Friedland has become legen-
field-marshal and prime minister. A Pied- dary. In 1808 he led a force in a daring
montese, like so many distinguished Ital- march across the ice of the G u l f of
ian soldiers of his generation, Badoglio Bothnia to capture the A a l a n d Islands
joined the army of the united K i n g d o m and in 1809 he was o n campaign against
of Italy as an artillery officer, fought in the T u r k s in Bulgaria. H i s apotheosis
the disastrous Ethiopian campaign of came at Borodino whither, following his
1896, then in the more successful I t a l o - defeat at M o g i l e v in July 1812, he had
T u r k i s h war in L i b y a (1911-12). A colo- brought his Second A r m y of the West
nel on Italy's entry into the First W o r l d and where he was given the left wing.
W a r , he planned and executed the cap- Wounded in the thick of the fighting on
ture of M o n t e Sabotino, the highly suc- 7 September, he died of a general infec-
cessful prelude to the sixth battle of the tion at Simy on 24 September. Nicholas
Isonzo, August 1916, and was promoted I erected a monument to his memory on
to command II Corps. Later deputy chief the battlefield.
of staff, he negotiated the armistice with
Austria. Balck, H e r m a n n (1893-1950) German
T w i c e chief of staff after the war, and general. Born at Danzig. Balck was com-
promoted field-marshal, he was gover- missioned in 1914 into the 10th (Hano-
nor of L i b y a , 1928-33, and then in 1935 verian) Jäger (which Guderian, q.v., had
given command of the army in the in- shortly before also joined). Distin-
vasion of Ethiopia, of which he subse- guished for his bravery as a junior of-
quently became viceroy. Appointed chief ficer in the First W o r l d W a r , he was not
of staff for the third time in 1940, he to attract widespread public attention
resigned after the miscarried invasion of until the Second W o r l d W a r when, in
Greece in December. A leading plotter M a y 1940, he had the good luck to be
of Mussolini's downfall, he signed commanding the infantry regiment
Italy's unconditional surrender to the (Schutzenregiment I) in ist Panzer D i v -
Allies in September 1943, and was the ision, the spearhead formation of Gude-
first prime minister of post-Fascist Italy. rian's Panzer Corps in its drive to the
Meuse at Sedan. The opposite bank of
Bagration, Prince Petr Ivanovitch (1765- the section of the river assigned to Balck
1812) Russian general and hero of the was heavily defended but, taking advan-
Napoleonic wars. A member of a noble tage of an air attack, he got his infantry
Georgian family, born at K i z l y a r , north across in rubber boats without serious
of the Caucasus, Bagration entered the loss and established the bridgehead from
army in 1782 and served first in his which the German armour was to break
home area. A participant in the Polish out and w i n the Battle of France.
campaign of 1794, following the T h i r d Promoted to command a division in
Partition, his abilities were recognized Russia, Balck displayed during the defen-
by Suvorov (q.v.), who took h i m to sive stages of the campaign a remarkable
fight in the Italian and Swiss campaigns tactical flair in the handling of large
of 1799. There he w o n recognition for formations and in fifteen months was
his capture of Brescia. In the campaigns promoted from major-general to full

18
Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss Barbarossa

general. Appointed to command A r m y Garibaldi (q.v.), Baratieri later became

G r o u p G i n the west in September 1944, a regular officer of the army of united
he unjustly incurred Hitler's displeasure Italy and, as governor of the colony of
for his conduct of the defence of L o r - Eritrea, a protagonist of the conquest of
raine against Patton (q.v.) and was de- neighbouring Abyssinia. Largely on his
moted to the command of an army o w n initiative, he invaded the ancient
{Armeegruppe Balck) in Hungary, where empire in 1894 and annexed some terri-
he finished the war. 'If Manstein was tory. But at A d o w a on 1 M a r c h 1896, a
Germany's greatest strategist during day he had wrongly calculated w o u l d
W o r l d W a r I I . . . Balck has strong claims find the army of the Emperor M e n e l i k II
to be regarded as our finest field com- dispersed to celebrate the feast of O u r
mander. H e had a superb grasp of tactics Lady, he suffered a catastrophic defeat.
and great qualities of leadership' (Gen- M o s t of his soldiers were killed and
eral von Mellenthin). Italy was deterred from attempts on A b -
yssinia for another forty years. A d o w a
Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss (1816- and Isandhlwana (see Chelmsford)
94) American (Union) general. L i k e remain the most complete debacles suf-
Breckinridge (q.v.), a politician rather fered by European armies at the hands
than a soldier but without even his of Africans.
amateur military experience. Banks's
standing in Congress none the less w o n Barbarossa (Khair-ed-Din ; 1483-1546)
h i m command of a corps by early 1862. T u r k i s h admiral, pirate and Dey of A l -
Unfortunately his opponent was Stone- giers. One of the great Mediterranean
w a l l Jackson (q.v.) who, though margin- sailors of the sixteenth century. Bar-
ally defeated by h i m at Kernstown, barossa's career began as a Barbary
completely outmanoeuvred h i m in the pirate, a calling he followed w i t h con-
subsequent course of the Shenandoah siderable success. H i s nickname, Bar-
Valley campaign. In 1863 he took a com- barossa, from his red hair and his fear-
mand in the west and succeeded in defeat- some reputation, soon spread along the
ing a small Confederate force in the R e d Christian coasts. Elected Dey of Algiers,
River campaign. Its continuation the he enlisted the support of the T u r k i s h
following year, though interesting for sultan Selim I (q.v.). in return for a
some remarkable feats of engineering by declaration of loyalty to the O t t o m a n
his subordinate, Colonel Joseph Bailey, empire. It was a good bargain. Bar-
was ultimately unsuccessful in its aim barossa spent twelve years in extending
of carrying the U n i o n presence into his control of territory around the city
Texas and foundered in recriminations of Algiers, spreading both inland and
between the leaders. along the coast. H e fought the Span-
iards, local chieftains and a rebellious
Baraguay d'Hilliers, Achille (comte; population w i t h i n Algiers itself, paying
1795-1878) M a r s h a l of France. Son of the considerable expenses of these inter-
one of Napoleon's generals, Baraguay nal wars with the continuing profits
d'Hilliers commanded the military con- of piracy. H e constructed a new harbour
tingent in the Anglo-French expedition at Algiers, and systematized and con-
to Bomarsund in the Baltic in 1854 {see trolled the Barbary pirates, uniting
A d m i r a l Napier) and w o n a victory over them under his leadership. In these early
the Austrians at Melegnano in 1859. years Barbarossa achieved two great suc-
cesses : first, the creation of a battle fleet,
Baratieri, Oreste (1841-1901) Italian living off piracy but capable of concerted
general. One of the Thousand of naval action. Second, he guaranteed the

19
Barbarossa Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail Bogdanovich

economic security of Algiers by establish- Calabria in Italy, Palamos and Rosas o n

ing the city as the main port for pirated the coast of Catalonia. In 1544 the treaty
goods, slaves and ships. For his o w n of Crepy concluded the war, and it was
protection he created a bodyguard of to prove Barbarossa's last campaign, for
renegade Europeans which formed the he died two years after his triumphant
nucleus of a professional army, owing return to Constantinople. Barbarossa
its loyalty and support to h i m alone. was a brilliant naval tactician, extending
W i t h this new army he conquered the the skills of piracy into the management
neighbouring kingdom of Tunis (1534), of a larger fleet. H i s administrative tal-
Algiers' greatest competitor : but the city ents were considerable, both in the cre-
was lost in the following year to the ation of his Algerian kingdom and its
Emperor Charles V , who sent a large army, and in his development of the
fleet to capture it. O t t o m a n fleet. Despite the seemingly ef-
W i t h Algiers now securely established fortless success of his campaigns, it was
as the pirate capital of the Mediter- built on hard-won discipline and the
ranean, Barbarossa felt secure enough professional skills of seamanship.
to obey a call to Constantinople from
Suleiman I (q.v.) to take up the post of Barclay de T o l l y , (Prince) M i k h a i l
admiral of the T u r k i s h fleet. H e made Bogdanovich (1761-1818) Russian
substantial changes, improving disci- field-marshal. T h e son of a Scottish
pline and seamanship, building more emigre family (Barclay of T o wie), which
ships with more powerful armament. had settled in L i v o n i a in the seventeenth
H e created an efficient and flexible i n - century and inter-married with its Baltic
strument of war, with subordinate offic- German neighbours, Barclay de T o l l y ,
ers of good quality under his command. unlike so many emigres, belonged not to
F r o m 1537 the T u r k i s h fleet roamed the the officer class but had originally en-
Mediterranean, raiding coastlines and listed (1776) in the ranks. After fourteen
terrorizing Christian shipping: it was years' service he was still an N C O in a
his o l d technique of piracy, but on a dragoon regiment when, during the Ser-
grand scale. M o s t of the Venetian is- bian campaign against Turkey, Prince
lands in the Aegean were captured, and Repuin noticed his military talents and
in 1538 he beat the Venetian fleet under made h i m his adjutant. A s an officer, he
Andrea D o r i a (q.v.) at Preveza and St fought against the Swedes (1790) and
M a u r a . So successful was this naval cam- the Poles (1792-4), but really distin-
paign and the accompanying land cam- guished himself for the first time in
paign that Venice sued for peace. In Russia's 1806-7 campaign against N a p o -
1541 Algiers itself was threatened by a leon. H i s conduct in the battles of P u l -
large fleet and army under Charles V , tusk (26 December 1806) and E y l a u ,
but a storm destroyed much of the i m - where he was wounded, w o n h i m promo-
perial fleet, and the staunch defence of tion to lieutenant-general: in 1808 he,
the city meant that the imperial forces with Bagration (q.v.), made the daring
had to retreat with heavy losses. march across the frozen G u l f of Bothnia
After this debacle Barbarossa ex- to capture Sweden's A a l a n d Islands.
tended his campaign into the western W h e n Napoleon invaded Russia in
Mediterranean. In alliance w i t h the 1812, Barclay de T o l l y had to combine
French, he ravaged the coasts of Italy the posts of minister of war, which he
and Spain, as well as besieging and sack- had held since 1810, and commander-in-
ing Nice. H e passed the winter i n the chief of the Armies of the West (without
sanctuary of a French port, then contin- the title as such), and the resulting div-
ued his conquests, taking Reggio and ision of his energies made his grasp of

20
Bart, Jean Bayazid II

events less sure than it might have his métier, however, was not for the
been. But his reputation suffered, too, fleet action, but for the cut and thrust
from the criticism of unco-operative of commerce raiding.
subordinates w h o represented his strat- Disliked and despised at the French
egy of evasion and retreat before N a p o - court, Bart was admired by V a u b a n
leon's advance as cowardice. After the (q.v.), w h o consulted h i m when con-
defeat of Smolensk (16-17 August 1812), structing the fortifications of D u n k i r k ,
he surrendered command to Kutuzov which Bart defended against the English
and at Borodino commanded only his in 1694 and 1696. H i s greatest exploit
o w n First West A r m y , but w i t h such was against a D u t c h flotilla guarding a
courage and judgement that his actions grain fleet; smashing through the de-
were chiefly responsible for the victory. fence Bart carried eighty-one ships laden
H e felt compelled to resign after the with grain into French ports, at a time
battle, since he was still calumnied, but when many areas of France were starv-
returned to the field for the 1813 cam- ing. Louis X I V raised h i m to the nobility
paign, was made commander-in-chief for his services. By the end of the w a r
and fought at Dresden, K u l m and Leip- he had destroyed 30 warships and taken
zig. H e was i n both invasions of 211 prizes. O n e of the greatest Channel
France, 1814 and 1815, and by then a seamen of a l l time, he was an outstand-
field-marshal and prince. H e died at ing success as a privateer, pioneering
Insterburg o n 26 M a y 1818. T h o u g h techniques of commerce raiding.
posterity denied h i m the heroic status
accorded Kutuzov or Suvorov (q.v.), Bayazid II (1481-1512) Turkish
he deserved well of his country for sultan. T h e son of M e h m e d the C o n -
his w o r k as minister and his rescue queror, w h o had captured Constant-
the Russian army from decay and inople, Bayazid was an essentially peace-
inanition. ful m a n , not concerning himself w i t h
great wars of conquest. But under h i m
Bart, Jean (1650-1702) French priva- the frontiers of Islam were pushed for-
teer and commerce raider. Born into a w a r d in the west, though he failed to
dynasty of D u n k i r k pirates, and w i t h an control Egypt and A s i a M i n o r . Provid-
unsurpassed knowledge of the northern ing order in what had hitherto been a
coast of France and the approaches random pattern of border raiding along
through the Channel, in time of war the northern frontiers, he expanded the
Bart became a privateer sailing against artillery and infantry fire-power, the
the enemies of France. H e had learned naval forces, and revised the training of
naval tactics serving under the great the Janissaries, the most highly trained
D u t c h admiral de Ruyter (q.v.), but in O t t o m a n infantry. These efforts pro-
Louis X I V ' s first war w i t h H o l l a n d duced some successes, notably the first
(1672-8) he turned on his former men- naval battle at Lepanto (1499) against
tors and fought six actions, taking the Venetians. Against the Austrians he
eighty-one prizes. A t the outset of the had less success, but his cavalry raided
war of the G r a n d Alliance (1688—97), he into northern Italy ; and throughout H u n -
was taken i n an action w i t h the British ; gary, Bosnia and Serbia incessant border
but he escaped, and with Claude de raiding brought normal commercial and
Forbin rowed for fifty-two hours to the peasant life to a standstill. T h e real
safety of France. F o r this exploit Louis threat, however, came from a renascent
X I V appointed h i m a captain i n the Persia, and although Persian expansion
navy. H e fought at the battle of Beachy was contained, the problem was not
H e a d (1690) under de Tourville (q.v.) ; resolved.

21
Bazaine, Achille Bazaine, Achille

In the last years o f Bayazid's reign classic display of leadership at Solferino

any scheme of resolute action was in the 1859 campaign, supreme com-
vitiated by the bitter civil w a r between mand o f the army i n M e x i c o . H i s task
his sons, in which Selim (q.v.) finally tri- was to make the country safe for
umphed. T h e old sultan retired to Demo- M a x i m i l i a n to ascend its throne, which
tika, the town of his birth, and was he temporarily achieved, being com-
soon dead. Despite the fact that he had mended i n 1864 for such victories as
no list o f brilliant conquests to his credit, Puebla with the baton o f marshal.
Bayazid, by stabilizing the O t t o m a n Nominated to command the Imperial
state and reducing, i n some measure, G u a r d o n the eve of the Franco-Prussian
the capacity of the Janissaries to war, Bazaine was made commander of
dominate the state, created a firm base the A r m y of Lorraine after the early
on which the great wars of conquest defeats of August 1870, and o n 12
undertaken by his son and grandson August commander-in-chief. H e was to
were built. prove wholly deficient i n the reserve
and judgement necessary to the situation
Bazaine, Achille (1811-88) M a r s h a l of in which the Second Empire n o w found
France. H e was a self-made general. H i s itself. Instead of maintaining his forces
father, chief engineer of the Seine-et- in contact with the main base at
Oise, emigrated to Russia shortly after Chalons, as had been ordered, he clung
Achille's birth at Versailles, abandoning to the forward pivot of M e t z , fighting
his family without financial support. there three battles, Borny, 14 August,
M o n e y was found for the boy's edu- Vionville-Mars-la-Tour, 16 August, and
cation (Bourbaki, q.v., was a classmate), Gravelotte—Saint-Privat, 18 August,
but when he failed to follow his elder which, though by no means defeats, he
brother through the entrance examin- accepted as such, retiring accordingly
ation to the Ecole Polytechnique none inside the fortress. After a three-month
was available to establish h i m i n a suit- siege, during which he failed to negotiate
able career. H e enlisted therefore in 18 31 an imperial restoration, he surrendered
as a private in the 37th Infantry. H i s it to the Germans. Returning to a republi-
promotion was rapid. A corporal within can France after the war, he was court-
three months, a sergeant within twelve, martialled for treasonable capitulation
he was commissioned sous-lieutenant, (though his excursion into anti-republi-
having transferred to the newly raised can intrigue was an unwritten charge)
Foreign Legion, i n 1833. 'Son coup and condemned to death i n 1873. T h e
d'œil, son sangfroid et sa bravoure en- sentence was commuted and he escaped
traînante', qualities which w o u l d distin- in 1874 f He Ste Marguerite to
r o m t n e

guish h i m throughout all but the last Spain, where he died. Bazaine is a classic
months of his military career, acceler- example of the overpromoted m a n o f
ated his rise during the conquest of action buckling under the strain of re-
Algeria and the intervention i n Spain. sponsibilities his character and intelli-
A captain at twenty-eight, he was o n gence should not have been asked to
Napoleon Ill's accession a colonel and bear. H i s name is nevertheless re-
one of the most experienced and cele- membered i n the Foreign Legion,
brated of French colonial campaigners. which with typical perversity cherishes
Napoleon Ill's little wars brought h i m him as one of its heroes, and less affec-
further promotion, to the rank of general tionately i n the French army, where the
of brigade and then of division i n the mess-sergeant (gérant du mess) is
Crimea, where he took part i n the final k n o w n still as ' L e Bazaine' ('J'ai rendu
assault o n Sebastopol, and then, after a Metz').

22
Beatty, David Beaulieu, Jean Pierre de

Beatty, D a v i d (ist Earl Beatty; 1871- ceived the battlecruiser as the answer to
1936) British admiral. Anglo-Irish by an- a need for a ship fast enough to find the
cestry and the son of a cavalry officer, enemy's main fleet and strong enough
Beatty was firm i n his choice of the to hold it i n play while the G r a n d Fleet
navy as a career from an early age. A t of slower battleships came up. Beatty,
thirteen he entered the training ship Bri- prima facie, was its natural commander
tannia (forerunner of the R o y a l N a v a l and in the two minor naval engagements
College, Dartmouth) and at fifteen was of the first years of the Great W a r ,
at sea as a midshipman. T h e first ten Heligoland Bight, 28 August 1914, and
years of his naval life were uneventful the Dogger Bank, 24 January 1915, his
and increasingly frustrating to his i m - handling of it, despite an unfortunate
patient temperament. But at the end of signalling mishap during the latter, justi-
the century he had the good fortune, fied the belief widely held i n his genius.
which came rarely to seamen of the H i s conduct of battlecruiser operations
period, to be involved i n a sustained during the opening phase of the great
bout of combat. In 1896 he was given battle of Jutland, 31 M a y 1916, how-
command of a small fleet of gunboats, ever, was ever after to cast doubt o n his
which was to accompany Kitchener's real soundness of judgement. Beatty's
(q.v.) army along the N i l e in its advance instincts, as he frankly confessed, were
to recapture the Sudan. F o r his daring essentially those of a sabreur and, car-
handling of his boats - at one stage he ried away by the elation of being the
beat the army i n the race to capture the first commander of major units to find
important town of Dongola - he was and close w i t h the H i g h Seas Fleet, he
awarded the D S O and i n the following concentrated on fighting it - to the exclu-
year, recalled to Egypt at Kitchener's sion of keeping his superior Jellicoe
request, he again so distinguished him- (q.v.) properly informed of his and its
self that he was promoted at the age of whereabouts and at the cost of the loss
twenty-seven to the rank of commander, of three of his ships. T h e consequence
an occurrence which, i n an institution was that the battleships came too late
given almost to worship of the principle into contact with the Germans a n d ,
of seniority, aroused incensed comment. partly as a result, failed to w i n a conclu-
Worse was to come for the naval masto- sive victory. Beatty was nevertheless ac-
dons: for his leadership of naval claimed at the time the hero of Jutland
landing-parties i n north C h i n a during and at the end of 1916 succeeded to the
the Boxer rebellion (1900) he was pro- command of the G r a n d Fleet. T h e
moted captain - at twenty-nine, when the course of the naval w a r gave h i m no
average age was forty-three - and in 1910, further chance to prove his talents. H e
despite insufficiency of time at sea, rear- made, however, an enlightened postwar
admiral, thus becoming the youngest First Sea L o r d . Nevertheless, he was a
officer of flag rank for a hundred years. man born after his time, i n spirit a N e l -
By now he had t w o extra advantages to sonian, with much of that admiral's
add to his formidable ability and thrust- charm (but an arrogance he d i d not
fulness : a very rich wife and the patron- possess) and some of his ability, con-
age of W i n s t o n C h u r c h i l l , soon to be demned to play the role of frigate cap-
First L o r d of the Admiralty. C h u r c h i l l tain in a technically more exigent age.
made h i m his naval secretary i n 1911
and then in 1913 flag officer of the Battle- Beaulieu, Jean Pierre de (172.5-
cruiser Squadron of the G r a n d Fleet. 1819) Austrian general. A native of the
T h e squadron was the brainchild and Austrian Netherlands, born at Lathuy,
darling of Fisher (q.v.) w h o had con- Brabant, Beaulieu distinguished himself

23
 Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant Benedek, L u d w i g August Ritter von

as a junior officer in the Seven Years' but was soon given an independent
W a r (1756-63) and, as a general during command, capturing T r i e r and Traer-
the wars of the French Revolution, de- bach with his corps. After the war his
feated B i r o n (q.v.) at Valenciennes, and activity became as much diplomatic as
Jourdan (q.v.) at A r l o n in 1794. H e was military, for C a r d i n a l Fleury, the French
defeated by Napoleon in Italy in 1796, prime minister, used h i m in a variety of
when commander-in-chief of the Aus- missions, during which he constructed
trian armies there. the series of alliances against Austria,
prior to the death of the Emperor
Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant Charles V I . D u r i n g the war of the Aus-
(1818-93) American (Confederate) gen- trian Succession (1740-8), Belle Isle had
eral. Superintendent of West Point, of little success on the battlefield (unlike
which he was a graduate, his undisguis- his younger brother Louis-Charles I) : he
ably Southern sympathies led in the made some bold strategic moves, but
months before the outbreak of the C i v i l w o n no victories and his reputation
W a r to his removal and he went south slumped. Late in the war, however, he
(he was, as his name reveals, a 'Cajun' was sent with an army to the relief of
of Louisiana). H e first directed oper- Genoa, under siege by an Austrian army.
ations which led to the fall of Fort H e quickly relieved the city and forced
Sumter and was then given command of the Austrians back into Lombardy. T h i s
the forces which fought at Manassas competent campaign d i d much to restore
(First B u l l Run) on 1 June 1861. Second his stock at court.
in command to A . S . Johnston (q.v.) at A s a battlefield commander Belle Isle
Shiloh, he fell sick and into disfavour was of small consequence, but his real
and did not meet U n i o n force again legacy to the French army was organiz-
until 1864, when he w o n the battle of ational. For three years, 1757-60, he was
Drewry's Bluff and took a successful minister of war, and set in train a series
part in the defence of Petersburg. M i l i - of reforms. H e tackled some of the root
tary in appearance rather than talent, he causes of France's relatively poor per-
was, like so many of the generals of both formance in the recent wars. A i m i n g to
armies of the C i v i l W a r , overpromoted. make the army more professional, he
established that all officers had to serve
Bellegarde, H e n r i , comte de (1756- at least two years before promotion to
1845) Austrian general. Originally in captain, and at least five years as captain
the service of Saxony. Bellegarde later before promotion to colonel, an attempt
joined the Austrians and commanded to end the scandal of totally unqualified
armies i n all their campaigns from 1792 officers. Attacks were made on corrup-
to 1814. tion and the excessive luxury of life in
officers' quarters. H e founded a military
Belle Isle, Charles Louis Fouquet, due academy at M e t z , and made efforts to
de ( 1684-1761) French soldier. The improve the production of artillery and
son of Nicholas Fouquet, Louis X I V ' s muskets. But many of his reforms were
first finance minister, who was impris- never implemented, as he retired prema-
oned for corruption on a monumental turely through ill-health.
scale. Belle Isle was none the less shown
considerable royal favour. H i s first taste Benedek, L u d w i g August Ritter von
of active service was under Berwick (q.v.) (1804-81) Austrian field-marshal. The
in the brief Spanish campaign of 1719- son of a Protestant doctor of ödenburg
20. In the war of the Polish Succession (Sopron), Hungary, Benedek entered the
(1733-8) he served again with Berwick, Wiener Neustadt academy in 1824 and

24
Bennigsen, C o u n t L e v i n August Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Jules

in 1828 joined the 27th Regiment at centre at Borodino but, having quar-
Capua in Italy (where he was to spend relled both w i t h Barclay and Kutuzov
most of his service). Appointed to the (q.v.), was again retired. O n Kutuzov's
staff in 1833, he showed his promise in death he was reappointed to an army
the suppression of the Galician insurrec- and led the decisive attack at Leipzig, 19
tion of 1846 and during the Italian cam- October 1813, for which he was created
paign of 1848-9. Radetzky (q.v.) made count. A n able but opinionated and i n -
h i m his chief of staff (1850-7) and at subordinate officer, he left Russia to
Solferino (1859) in the war w i t h France spend his last years in his native
it was his generalship which allowed his Hanover.
chief to withdraw his army to the
M i n c i o and w o n h i m the adulation of Beresford, Charles W i l l i a m de la Poer
the empire. Promoted quarter-master- (ist Baron Beresford; 1846-1919) Brit-
general of the army (i860) and ish admiral. 'Charlie B', as he was
commander-in-chief i n Venetia (1861), k n o w n to the navy, was one of the most
he was extremely reluctant (see A l - flamboyant sailors of the V i c t o r i a n age.
brecht) to take the supreme command A son of the Marquess of Waterford (he
when war threatened in 1866, complain- was L o r d Charles Beresford for most of
ing publicly that he felt i l l at ease outside his career), he captured the popular
Italy and privately that he had little imagination by his handling of the gun-
confidence in the army. H i s fears were boat Condor at the bombardment of
justified for at Sadowa (Königgrätz) Alexandria, 1882, when he laid it along-
Prussia's riflemen decisively defeated his side Fort M a r a b o u t , silenced its guns,
muzzle-loading battalions. H e neverthe- then landed a shore-party to restore
less rescued them from total destruction order in the town. In 1884 Wolseley
by his brilliant conduct of the retreat (q.v.) chose h i m to command the naval
and, though subsequently court- half of the expedition to relieve G o r d o n
martialled, was spared disgrace by the (q.v.) at K h a r t o u m . H e retired in 1909
emperor's personal intervention. In turn a as a full admiral, having held every naval
national hero and national scapegoat, for command of importance. Beresford pur-
his generalship respectively at the battles sued a parallel political career, sitting as
of Solferino and Sadowa, his real crime a Conservative M P almost continuously
was to have been an eighteenth-century from 1874 to 1916 (when he entered the
general in a nineteenth-century war. Lords), and whenever on half-pay used
his voice in the C o m m o n s to oppose
Bennigsen, C o u n t L e v i n August (Leonti naval policies which he disfavoured -
Leontievitch ; 1745-1826) Russian gen- principally those of A d m i r a l Fisher
eral. One of the tsar's many emigre offic- (q.v.).
ers, Bennigsen entered Russian service
in 1764 from the Hanoverian army, took Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Jules (prince
part i n the T u r k i s h , Polish and Persian de Pontecorvo; 1763-1844) M a r s h a l of
campaigns of the 1770s and 1790s, and France and later k i n g of Sweden. Berna-
was apparently implicated in the assassi- dotte belongs to that large group of
nation of Paul I. Alexander I promoted Frenchmen whose careers were made by
h i m general and he successfully com- the Revolution, and to that smaller sub-
manded at the battles of Pultusk (26 group who founded dynasties upon their
December 1806) and at Eylau, a genuine success. B o r n into the minor bourgeoisie
reverse for N a p o l e o n , but was defeated of Pau, he was intended for the law but
at Friedland, 14 June 1807. Recalled to his father's early death left the family
service in 1812, he commanded the without resources and he was driven

25
Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Jules Bernhard, D u k e of Saxe-Weimar

into the army - before 1791 'a career crees, in Napoleon that he was releasing
without future for those not " b o r n " ' - a loyal servant to create a satrapy.
joining the Régiment Royale-Marine as Neither belief was vindicated. In 1812
a private in 1780. D u r i n g the first popu- Napoleon seized Swedish Pomerania
lar outbreaks in Marseilles in 1789 he and in 1813 Bernadotte (now Prince C a r l
saved his colonel from a mob and was Johan) brought Sweden into the Sixth
promoted lieutenant into the 36th Regi- Coalition against N a p o l e o n . H e fought
ment. Swiftly advanced thereafter, for Oudinot (q.v.) at Grossbeeren on 23
he was a genuine protagonist of the August and N e y (q.v.) at Dennewitz on
Revolution, he served at the battle of 6 September, beating them both, and
Fleurus (26 June 1794) as a battalion finally took part in the battle of Leipzig
commander and then with the Armies (16-19 October 1813). H e apparently
of the N o r t h and of the Sambre-et- had hopes of succeeding Napoleon when
Meuse as a general. In 1796 he was he abdicated, but his fellow marshals
posted to Bonaparte's A r m y of Italy, not unnaturally regarded h i m as a trai-
attracted his attention and married in tor. H e had to be content w i t h the crown
1798 Joseph Bonaparte's sister-in-law, of Sweden (and of N o r w a y , which he
Désirée Clary. In 1804 he was among had annexed to Sweden in 1814), to
the eighteen soldiers w h o m the emperor which he succeeded on 5 February 1818.
created marshals of the Empire, and was H e died in Stockholm on 8 M a r c h 1844.
subsequently entrusted with important In some ways the most interesting of the
commands, that of the central reserve at marshals, militarily he was among the
Austerlitz (he was rewarded w i t h the less talented, his gifts being those of
principality of Pontecorvo in June 1806) charm and of the narrow calculation of
and of the ist Corps in the Prussian self-interest.
campaign of 1806. This he handled so
badly on the day of Jena that Napoleon Bernhard, D u k e of Saxe-Weimar (1604-
considered having h i m court-martialled, 39) German general. A celebrated Prot-
but he made partial amends by his vigor- estant general of the T h i r t y Years' W a r
ous pursuit of the Prussians to the Baltic, (1618-48), he, like many of his contem-
where he took Blücher (q.v.) prisoner at poraries, reached his maturity as com-
Schwartau. mander at an early age. H i s career began
It was during the Baltic episode that inauspiciously, for he was on the losing
Bernadotte unknowingly prepared the side at Wiesloch and Wimpfen (1622)
ground for his future kingship. Adept in and Stadtlohn (1623). Until the advent
his relations with foreigners, he treated of the Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus
with great courtesy a division of Swedish (q.v.) in 1630, both superior generalship
troops w h o m their government had sent and better troops were to be found on
to the Prussians' aid and allowed them the Catholic and imperial side. In his
to return home. H e was shortly to be early battles Bernhard showed great ca-
repaid. A repetition of poor generalship pacity for independent command, with
on the field of Wagram (5-6 July 1809) an ability to keep his forces together
drove Napoleon to relieve h i m of com- even if the Protestant army as a whole
mand and in August 1810, on the Swedes failed. As in the case of many soldiers of
electing h i m crown prince, to allow h i m the T h i r t y Years' W a r , it is sometimes
to leave his service altogether. It was a hard to distinguish when Bernhard was
curious decision on both sides, operating on his o w n account and when
prompted in the Swedes by the belief on behalf of his current paymaster. W i t h
that it w o u l d persuade France to exempt the advent of the Swedes his career took
their country from the Continental De- a great step forward. L i k e d and trusted

26
Bernhard, D u k e of Saxe-Weimar Berthelot, H e n r i M a t h i a s

by Gustavus, he distinguished himself Saône. Bernhard n o w drove forward

by his courage at Breitenfeld (1631), into Alsace, and for the first time i n
where he commanded the left wing of three years his army crossed the Rhine
the army facing Wallenstein (q.v.). A t into Germany. H e consolidated his gains
Lützen, i n November 1632, he took a by victories at Rheinfelden, Breisach and
major role i n the battle. W h e n , at the Freiburg, which gave possession of three
height of the fight, Gustavus was killed strategic towns dominating the lower
in a mêlée. Bernhard rallied the Protes- Rhineland. These successes gave Bern-
tants, and, fighting with great ferocity, hard and his 'Weimar army', as it was
drove back Wallenstein and captured k n o w n , a virtually independent position,
the imperial artillery train. Pappenheim and he tried to create a new domain
(q.v.), the leader of the imperial cavalry, for himself, centred on Breisach (which
was killed and the initiative remained capitulated i n December 1638). But
with the Protestants. Richelieu refused to recognize a power-
After the death of Gustavus, however, ful independent force, even though an
the strong central direction of the Protes- ally, as D u k e of Alsace ; Bernhard's plans
tant cause began to slacken; despite the were frustrated, and he turned again to
efforts of A x e l Oxenstierna, who created the Swedes, in the vain hope of construct-
the League of H e i l b r o n n to unite Protes- ing a new third force i n Germany. H e
tant resistance, the initiative began to died before he could accomplish this new
slip back to the imperial forces. Bern- goal. A s a military commander he was
hard, appointed commander of the army not of the first rank, but he was one of
of the league, pursued an independent the few soldiers of solid competence
course, ravaging southern Germany. It which the Protestant cause possessed
was not until mid-1634 that the Protes- from within Germany itself. In his cam-
tant forces began to move forward in paign of 1637-9 he showed his skill i n
unison, but at Nordlingen i n September the normal w a r of siegecraft and a war
their cause suffered a shattering defeat. of manoeuvre, but the high point of his
Co-ordination between Bernhard and career was Lützen, where his quick think-
the Swedish general H o r n broke d o w n ing saved the day.
and the imperial army, led by the two
young Habsburgs, Ferdinand of H u n - Berthelot, Henri Mathias (1861-
gary and his cousin Ferdinand of Spain, 1931 ) French staff officer. Aide-major-
smashed the t w o halves of the Protestant général (assistant chief of staff) to Joffre
army: 21,000 of a Protestant army of (q.v.) i n 1914, Berthelot had been closely
25,000 were killed or captured, H o r n involved in the conception and imple-
was killed, and Bernhard with a tiny mentation of the French scheme to deal
remnant of his army quit the battlefield. with an outbreak of war with Germany
But he managed to reconstruct his army, by an immediate offensive (Plan X V I I ) .
and the league allied with the French As Joffre's principal assistant he had
who now entered the war. also to make the plan work i n the teeth
Bernhard was first given command of of German resistance. H e failed, but his
the combined armies, but by the end of cool and cheerful conduct of staff work
1635 the armies of the league had been at G H Q (grand quartier général) con-
incorporated, for practical purposes, i n tributed much to the French army's sur-
the army of France. In 1636 his army vival of defeat i n the battle of the Fron-
blocked the imperial army of Gallas in tiers and i n the Great Retreat, A u g u s t -
their thrust into France from the east, September 1914. O n Joffre's removal
and the following year drove back from office i n 1916, Berthelot was re-
Charles I V of Lorraine from the river moved also, going to R o m a n i a as head

27
 Berthier, Louis Alexandre Berwick, James, D u k e of

of the military mission. H e was recalled completely interpretative rather than

to command the Fifth A r m y in the A l l i e d creative were his military talents. Never-
counter-offensive of 1918. Berthelot theless these talents were almost indis-
weighed 17 stones and, at work i n his pensable to Napoleon (who also used
office, i n his blouse and carpet slippers, h i m as minister of war, 1799-1807) and
made a memorably - but misleadingly - he took Berthier's defection to Louis
unmilitary impression. X V I I i n 1814 badly. Berthier took his
separation from Napoleon during the
Berthier, Louis Alexandre (prince de H u n d r e d Days worse, his fatal fall from
Neuchâtel et Valangin, prince de a w i n d o w of his lodgings i n Bamberg,
W a g r a m ; 1753-1815) M a r s h a l of France whither he had withdrawn, apparently
and chief of staff to Napoleon. Berthier's being a suicide (though the suspicion o f
great reputation rests on the punctilious- assassination remains). H e died one of
ness of his staff work. H e was i n many the most decorated of the emperor's en-
respects the first professional staff of- tourage: a marshal of the 1804 creation,
ficer, and the smooth transition of N a p o - he was also made hereditary prince of
leon's plans into executive orders was Neuchâtel. After his death the toy army
his doing throughout the eighteen years he had raised for his realm was trans-
they worked together. H e had learnt the ferred to Prussian service, surviving until
rudiments of his craft i n the royal army, 1918 as the famous Garde-Schutzen-
which he had entered i n 1766 as an Bataillon ('die Neuchatelier').
ingénieur-géographe, as had his father,
who rose to be director of military Berwick, James, D u k e of (1670-
survey and, through his w o r k o n the 1734) French soldier. T h e illegitimate
royal hunting maps, an intimate of Louis son of James II and Arabella C h u r c h i l l ,
X V I . Patronage may, therefore, have and thus nephew of the D u k e of M a r l -
played some part i n Berthier's advance- borough, Berwick became one of the
ment to lieutenant-colonel at the age of most successful French commanders i n
thirty-six, but he had also worked hard the war of the Spanish Succession
for his promotion, serving i n the Flan- (1701-14). A t the age of fifteen he was
ders Legion, the Lorraine Dragoons and apprenticed to Charles I V of Lorraine to
on Rochambeau's (q.v.) staff in America assimilate the art of w a r at first h a n d :
during the W a r of Independence. war against the T u r k still had a roman-
The coming of the Revolution, which tic attraction. H e served with Charles i n
Berthier chose to follow, d i d not at first his Hungarian campaign, distinguishing
interrupt his career, but i n September himself in the hard-fought siege of Buda
1792 he was suspended and not re- and the second battle of Mohács (1688).
employed until M a r c h 1795, when he was After the Glorious Revolution of 1688,
posted as chief of staff, with the rank of which replaced James II w i t h W i l l i a m
général de brigade, to the A r m y of Italy. of Orange, he was summoned home and
H e thus automatically became the subor- took an active part i n his father's at-
dinate of Bonaparte on the latter's ar- tempts to recover the throne. H e was
rival as commander, and until 1814 they present at the battle of the Boyne (1690)
were separated only twice thereafter, but after the Irish campaign failed he
once for a few days during the 1809 took service i n the French army, i n
campaign and then at the end of the common with many Irish and Scottish
retreat from M o s c o w . In 1809 it was Catholics. H e fought under M a r s h a l L u x -
unfortunately Berthier, not Napoleon, embourg (q.v.) at Steenkirk (1692) and
who was left with the G r a n d A r m y and Neerwinden i n the following year,
his mishandling of it demonstrated h o w where he was taken prisoner by his uncle

28
Berwick, James, D u k e of Bessières, Jean Baptiste

(Marlborough), but was quickly ex- was to return, ironically, in 1719, at

changed. H i s success in these campaigns the head of an army to fight against
resulted in his promotion to lieutenant- Philip V , w h o m he had done so much
general. to establish on the throne of Spain. It
In the first stage of the war of the fought almost exclusively in the north,
Spanish Succession (1701-14) Berwick and although the Basque provinces suf-
served again in Flanders, but this time fered the ravages of campaigning
in the army of the incompetent D u k e of armies, little progress was made to-
Burgundy; however, his main role wards M a d r i d .
during the war lay in the successful Berwick's skill as a soldier combined
attempt to establish Philip V on the the rather formal techniques of western
throne of Spain, which was, after a l l , European warfare with an experience of
the ostensible cause of the war. After a a more irregular approach. Thus his
year of fruitless campaigning in Spain, early career against the T u r k s , a cam-
with a small army and little Spanish co- paign fought in 1705 against the irregu-
operation, he returned in despair (1704). lar peasant Camisards of Languedoc,
But in 1706, after the British had inter- and the experience gained in Spain, all
vened in Spain in force, he returned to gave h i m an absolute pre-eminence in
take charge of a deteriorating situation. campaigns involving speedy manoeuvre
N o w a marshal of France, he fought a and unorthodox actions. L i k e his uncle
brilliant campaign of manœuvre in Cas- M a r l b o r o u g h he paid scrupulous atten-
tile and Estremadura, which had the tion to the fine logistic details involved
effect of forcing the British army under in planning a campaign, and he always
G a l w a y (q.v.) to lose its nerve. M a d r i d ensured that his supplies could match
was abandoned and the British retreated every exigency of the plan of battle. H i s
towards Valencia, where they could be abilities in conventional positional war-
supported by their fleet. A t the battle of fare were also considerable, as the siege
A l m a n z a (1707) near Valencia, Berwick of Barcelona showed. H e was killed
routed the English and Spanish forces during the siege of Philippsburg (1734),
under G a l w a y and established control by a chance cannon ball.
over almost the whole of Spain.
However, the threat to France from Bessières, Jean Baptiste (duc d'Istrie;
M a r l b o r o u g h ' s victorious army after the 1768-1813) M a r s h a l of France. A
battle of Oudenarde (1708) meant that simple fighting soldier, much of his life
Berwick was required for the main strug- was spent at Napoleon's side, the two
gle in the north. H e met M a r l b o r o u g h being unusually close friends. Bessières,
again at the siege of Lille, in the French by birth a gentleman, was promoted
attempt to relieve the city. A g a i n , when through the ranks of his local N a t i o n a l
an emergency arose, this time in Pied- G u a r d - he came from Prayssas in the
mont, Berwick was sent to recover the L o t - to minor staff appointments in the
situation. H e fought a skilful campaign regular army of the republic and then to
and kept the line of the Alps secure. H i s a cavalry captaincy in the A r m y of Italy.
absence from Spain, however, had led There he attracted the attention of N a p o -
to a deterioration in the French position leon, who made h i m commander of his
there, and Vendôme (q.v.) was sent to personal escort of Guides, took h i m to
recover the situation; in 1714 Berwick Egypt, where he served at Acre and
A b o u k i r , and thereafter kept h i m close
completed his success in Spain when he
to his person, usually as a superior
returned to conduct a brilliantly success-
officer of the Cavalry of the G u a r d . H e
ful campaign in Catalonia, culminating
fought at Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland and
in the capture of Barcelona i n 1714. H e

29
Bigeard, M a r c e l M a u r i c e Blake, Robert

Eylau, took part i n the Spanish cam- an extreme example of the 'parachutist'
paign of 1808, where he w o n t w o minor type.
victories at M e d i n a del R i o Seco and
Guadalajara, and then i n Germany B i r o n , A r m a n d Louis de Gontaut, due
during 1809, when he was present at de Lauzun et duc de Biron (1747-
Essling and W a g r a m . Briefly in Spain 93) French general. Nephew of Louis
again i n 1811, he rejoined the G r a n d Antoine, duc de Biron and marshal of
A r m y for the Russian expedition, i n France, w h o was the son of Charles
which he commanded the Cavalry of A r m a n d , duc de Biron and marshal of
the G u a r d . It was he w h o rescued the France, w h o was the great-nephew of
emperor from capture by Cossacks o n Charles, duc de B i r o n , admiral and mar-
25 October 1812 at Gorodnaya. In A p r i l shal of France, w h o was the son of
1813 he was promoted to command the A r m a n d , duc de Biron, marshal of
Imperial G u a r d , but on 1 M a y was killed France and i n his time the greatest and
by a cannon shot on the eve of the most senior of her generals. A r m a n d -
battle of Lützen while riding near R i p - Louis 's passionate adherence to the
pach in Saxony. Revolution may be thought surprising.
H e had had, however, a wildly adventur-
Bigeard, M a r c e l M a u r i c e (1916- ) ous youth as an explorer i n Senegal and
French general. Unusually, i n modern in the G a m b i a and as an officer under
times, Bigeard rose from the lowest Rochambeau (q.v.) i n America, and he
ranks of the French army, and from possessed an impatient, impulsive tem-
social obscurity, to its highest peak. T h e perament, to which the excitement of
son of a railway worker, himself a bank the Revolution gave full scope. First ap-
clerk, he volunteered i n 1939 for the pointed as chief of staff to Rocham-
Corps francs (a sort of commando beau's A r m y of the N o r t h i n 1792, he
force), was captured but escaped and i n subsequently became commander of
1944 was parachuted back into France the A r m y of the Rhine and then of the
to lead the maquis of the Ariège. C o m - A r m y of Italy. Condemned under the
missioned an officer, he went to Indo- Terror, he was guillotined i n Paris, 31
C h i n a at the outbreak of the w a r and December 1793.
served there from 1947 to 1954. H i s
exploits as commander of the 6th C o l - Bishop, W i l l i a m Avery (1894-1956)
onial Parachutists became legendary. In Canadian fighter ace. Second-ranking
1954 he jumped with his regiment into among British aces of the First W o r l d
the besieged fortress of Dien Bien Phu, W a r . Bishop shot d o w n seventy-two
for command of which he subsequently enemy aircraft and was awarded the
became largely responsible. After its fall, Victoria Cross and many other decor-
he survived Vietnamese imprisonment ations. H e d i d not start operational
to play an important part i n the flying until M a r c h 1917, but i n one
counter-insurrection of Algeria, 1954-60 twelve-day period in 1918 scored twenty-
(it is he o n whom Larteguey is believed five victories. In the Second W o r l d W a r
to have modelled the central figure of he served as an air marshal.
his famous novel Les Centurions), but
he avoided involvement i n anti-Gaullist Blake, Robert (1599-1657) British sol-
politics. In 1975 he was appointed sec- dier and sailor. O n e of the few military
retary of state at the M i n i s t r y of Defence figures to have a distinguished career
in order to alleviate the discontent of on both land and sea, Blake chose the
the conscripts. Bigeard is perhaps less Parliamentary side at the outset of the
important for what he has done than as English C i v i l W a r (1646-9). H e proved

30
Blake, Robert Blomberg, Werner von

an extremely able soldier and organized the Commonwealth (1649-60) and Blake
two of the principal defences of the war, was instrumental in systematizing tactics
at Bristol and Lyme Regis where he and organization into forms which long
outfaced Prince Rupert (q.v.) for a con- outlasted the political institutions of the
siderable time, and a further epic de- period. T h e committee revised tactics
fence at T a u n t o n , where he held out and issued fighting instructions. They
against G o r i n g . But i n 1649 he was to pioneered the line-ahead formation,
discover a second career when he was which greatly increased effective fire-
appointed, together with Deane and power, and issued articles o f w a r to
Popham, as one of three 'generals at sea'. control discipline. In a l l these, Blake's
Blake turned out to be a seaman of was the leading voice, forever suggesting
extraordinary brilliance, the equal of the innovations and urging experiment. H e
great D u t c h admirals w h o had spent died at sea with his fleet, only one hour
their whole active careers i n naval serv- before the ships entered Plymouth. But
ice. H i s first naval command was the death was not the end. In 1660 his putres-
pursuit of his o l d opponent Prince cent corpse was exhumed and cast into
Rupert i n his flight to Portugal: when a lime pit outside Westminster H a l l , to-
the Portuguese refused to allow h i m to gether with those of other leaders of the
land, he ravaged their shipping and com- Commonwealth. Blake was a radical -
merce. It was Blake w h o provided the in politics, i n religion, and i n his atti-
spark that caused the First D u t c h W a r tudes towards the conduct of w a r at
(1652-4), when he chastised the D u t c h sea. H e was an innovator of a high
for failing to pay the normal courtesies order, for (as the historian of the C i v i l
due to an English fleet i n its home W a r , Clarendon, described him) he was :
waters. A t the battle of Kentish K n o c k 'The first man that declined the o l d
(1652), he drove off the D u t c h fleet track.'
under Cornelis de W i t t : but at Dunge-
ness, t w o months later in November, he B l o c h , Ivan (Jean d e ; 1836-1902)
was badly beaten by a D u t c h fleet twice Polish Jew of poor family, w h o made a
his size under T r o m p (q.v.). A t Portland great fortune i n the Russian railway
and off Beachy H e a d , i n 1653, he met boom of 1860-80. Bloch devoted his de-
T r o m p again, w i t h complete and justi- clining years to the reconciliation o f
fied success. T h e w a r was assuming the Polish with Russian interests and to
character o f a personal duel. Badly writing o n the futility of future warfare.
wounded at Beachy H e a d , Blake was H i s War of the Future in its Technical,
forced to leave active command, and i n Economic and Political Aspects (1897)
the battle of the Gabbard Bank (later i n (French and G e r m a n editions 1900, Eng-
the same year) the active leadership was lish edition of sixth and final volume
being exercised by M o n c k (q.v.), a l - entitled Is War Impossible? 1899),
though Blake's arrival with his ships though not greatly noticed i n its time,
was decisive in the English victory. became greatly admired after the First
As part of the larger political plans of W o r l d W a r for the prescience o f its warn-
the Protectorate, Blake was next sent to ings ('Everybody w i l l be entrenched i n
cruise in the Mediterranean, where w i t h the next w a r . . . ' ) and encouraged seers
twenty-four ships he harried the Barbary like Liddell H a r t and Fuller - the latter
pirates and attacked Algiers (1655). But Bloch's chief admirer - to forecast the
his most lasting influence was felt not at nature of the Second W o r l d W a r .
sea, but i n the deliberations of the new
Committee of A d m i r a l s . The navy grew Blomberg, Werner von (1878-
by over 200 vessels during the period of 1943) German field-marshal. M i n i s t e r

3 1
Blücher, Gebhard Liberecht von Blücher, Gebhard Liberecht von

of war to Hitler, by w h o m he was cre- was subsequently kept from command

ated field-marshal - the first of the by the French, w h o feared his abilities,
regime - for his services to German and it was not until Napoleon's defeat
rearmament ( i A p r i l 1936), Blomberg in Russia that he properly returned to
was removed from office and disgraced military life. H e had meanwhile made
in the crucial episode now k n o w n as the the acquaintance of Scharnhorst and
Blomberg-Fritsch (q.v.) crisis of 1938. Gneisenau (qq.v.) and learnt from their
It had long been Hitler's ambition to example the value of competent staff
bring the army to heel, which he was support (with which Gneisenau was to
unable to do while it retained the right provide h i m during the campaign of
to provide the minister of war from the 1815). Blücher took a notable part i n
ranks of serving generals. Using evidence several battles of the Prussian W a r of
provided by H i m m l e r that Blomberg's Liberation against N a p o l e o n : Lützen (2
second marriage - to a typist in his M a y 1813), Bautzen (20 M a y 1813), Katz-
office - was not just an o l d man's folly bach (26 August 1813) i n which he de-
but an insult to the officer corps (the feated M a c D o n a l d (q.v.), and finally
girl had been a prostitute), Hitler moved Leipzig (16-18 October 1813), for his
behind the shockwave this revelation part in which he was promoted field-
caused to abolish Blomberg's post and marshal.
transfer its functions to a new Oberkom- Despite the onset of winter, the Prus-
mando der Wehrmacht, of which he sians, Austrians and Russians persisted
made himself head. Thereafter the sub- in their pursuit of Napoleon from cen-
jection of the army to his w i l l progressed
tral Germany to northern France.
uninterrupted. W i t h i n France itself, Napoleon fought a
series of defensive battles which demon-
Blücher, Gebhard Liberecht v o n (Prinz strated his o l d tactical and strategic
von Wahlstadt; 1742-1819) Prussian superiority ; but against the greater num-
field-marshal and joint victor of Water- bers enjoyed by the Allies and the deter-
loo. Born at Rostock i n Mecklenburg- mination and singlemindedness dis-
Schwerin, Blücher enlisted at the age of played by Blücher, it availed h i m little.
fourteen in a Swedish cavalry regiment, Blücher's goal was Paris, towards which
from which he was taken prisoner by he advanced along the valley of the
the Prussians i n the early stages of the M a r n e , Schwarzenberg (q.v.), his Aus-
Seven Years' W a r (1756-63). Changing trian confederate, advancing along the
sides - a practice neither uncommon Seine. O n five successive days, at C h a m -
nor disreputable in eighteenth-century paubert (10 February 1814), M o n t m i r a i l
German warfare - he fought with his (11 February), Château-Thierry (12 Feb-
captors, the 8th Hussars, for the remain- ruary) and Vauchamps (14 February),
der of the war. Retiring to farm i n Si- Napoleon checked Blücher and w o n the
lesia, he rejoined the regiment i n 1786, time to turn and defeat Schwarzenberg
and in the campaign against the French at Montereau (18 February). H e de-
of 1793 he showed himself a fanatically feated Blücher again at Craonne o n 7
brave, determined and inspiring leader M a r c h , but when he attacked h i m at
of cavalry i n battle. H e was promoted Laon t w o days later suffered heavy
major-general i n 1794, and his devoted casualties and was forced to retreat.
command of the rearguard after N a p o - Concentrating thereafter chiefly against
leon's victory at Jena (1806) was one of the Austrians, but steadily giving ground
the few alleviations of Prussia's humili- meanwhile, Napoleon's army next met
ation i n that battle. Eventually forced to Blücher outside Paris, where he had
surrender at R a c k a u , near Lübeck, he joined forces with the Austrians. Their

32-
Blyukher, Vasilii Konstantinovich Boelcke, Oswald

joint defeat of it compelled Napoleon's alleged that the name Blyukher was also
abdication. adopted, because o f its military associ-
In the 1815 campaign, to take part i n ations, and that his real name was
which he returned from his estates, Gurov.
Blücher took command of the Prussian
troops i n Belgium and was the first of
Bock, Fedor von (1880-1945) German
the Allied commanders to meet N a p o -
field-marshal. A n East Prussian aristo-
leon i n force. Defeated at Ligny (16
crat from Küstrin, the son of a general,
June) he refused to do as N a p o l e o n
he w o n the Pour le mérite for 'nerveless
wished - retreat d o w n his o w n line of
bravery' as an officer of the 5th Foot
communications, leaving the British to
Guards during the First W o r l d W a r ,
be defeated alone - but made a danger-
afterwards became an assistant to Seeckt
ous flank march towards Wavre and
(q.v.) and rose eventually to command,
Waterloo. Entering the battlefield i n the
with Rundstedt and Leeb (qq.v.), one of
late afternoon of 18 June, his soldiers
the three 'army groups' into which the
attacked Napoleon's army i n flank and
peacetime army was organized up to
deprived h i m of the reserves he needed
1938. O n the formation of true A r m y
to break the British line at the decisive
Groups at the outbreak of war, he was
moment. In the twilight, the t w o A l l i e d
appointed to command o f N o r t h (later
armies advanced, driving the French
B), which he directed i n the Polish cam-
before them to destruction. Wellington
paign, 1939, against H o l l a n d and Bel-
and Blücher met outside L a Belle A l l i -
gium, 1940, and i n 1941 (as A r m y G r o u p
ance inn to celebrate their victory. F o r
Centre) i n the invasion of Russia (see
his part in it, Blücher was created prince
Guderian). Removed i n the great purge
of Wahlstadt, and was loaded with other
of December 1941, he was reappointed
honours by the Allied states. H e died at
to succeed Rundstedt at A r m y G r o u p
K r i b l o w i t z , Silesia, o n 19 September
South, January-July 1942, but was then
1819. N o military genius, his bravery,
relieved by Manstein (q.v.), chiefly o n
strength of character and inflexible hon-
grounds of age. 'Frederican Prussianism
esty made h i m a superb ally and his
was deeply ingrained i n his character:
earthy habits and indulgence in gin, rhu-
he was a violent nationalist, a stern disci-
barb and strong tobacco endeared h i m
plinarian and intent only upon strength-
to the German soldiers w h o m he had to
ening the army and advancing his o w n
lead.
military career.' H e was killed i n
Schleswig-Holstein at the. end of the
Blyukher, Vasilii Konstantinovich (1889- war.
1938) M a r s h a l of the Soviet U n i o n . A
man of mystery, Blyukher was suspected
in the months before the great purge Boelcke, O s w a l d (1891-1916) German
(1937) of preparing his semi-independent fighter ace. T h o u g h not a leader i n the
Far Eastern A r m y for an anti-Stalin number of victories credited to h i m i n
coup. H e nevertheless escaped execution aerial combat (forty), Boelcke was i m -
in the first wave of arrests and d i d not mensely successful i n the organization
'disappear' until late 1938. H e had in of aerial fighting units and i n transmit-
earlier life successfully commanded the ting to fledgling pilots his o w n warrior
Red troops against Kolchak i n Siberia skills: his Jasta Boelcke was a nursery
and Wrangel i n the Crimea (qq.v.) and of many other aces. Earlier he had
led the military mission which advised been a rival of the famous M a x Immel-
Chiang Kai-shek (q.v.), 1924-7, under mann and like h i m was killed early i n
the pseudonym G a l i n . It is occasionally the war.

33
Boisot, Louis Bolivar, Simon

Boisot, Louis {d 1576) Dutch sailor. A thought the Spanish colonies ripe for
leading figure in the Dutch revolt against independence. Napoleon's deposition of
the Spanish (1568-1609), Boisot the Spanish king in 1808 gave the col-
achieved greatest note as the commander onists, among w h o m Bolivar had now
of the Sea Beggars, the small fleet of returned, their opportunities to strike
Dutch vessels which harried Spanish sea for freedom.
communications and rendered their con- The royal forces in the continent, how-
trol of the coastline precarious. Created ever, moved to repress them and fighting
admiral of Zealand by W i l l i a m of broke out in 1811. Successful, in part
Orange, he dealt a shattering blow to through the treachery of one of the
Spanish prestige by the destruction of rebels, in putting d o w n rebellion in Ven-
their fleet at Sud-Beveland in January ezuela, the Spanish army obliged Bolivar
1574. This action effectively prevented to take refuge in adjoining N e w G r a n -
the relief of the besieged Spanish garri- ada (now Colombia). H e had hitherto
son of M i d d l e b u r g . Later in the year he played a subordinate role but though
led the heroic relief of the town of without military training or experience
Leyden, which was hard pressed by a he now raised an army, defeated the
large Spanish force, crossing the flooded Spaniards in six pitched battles and in
fields to bring supplies and manpower August 1813 entered Caracas, where he
to the defenders. But a promising career established himself as ruler with the title
was cut short when, in command of the of 'Liberator'. But he was not univer-
island of Zielzee, he tried to stop a sally accepted; civil war broke out, the
surprise Spanish assault at low tide. H i s Spanish forces regained the upper hand
great skill was impeccable seamanship and Bolivar was forced into exile, which
and a detailed knowledge of the coast- he spent in Jamaica and H a i t i . The
line. But, above that, his exploits indi- black president of the latter republic,
cated qualities of inspired leadership and which had freed itself from France, gave
tactical imagination. him money and weapons ; with these he
was able to recruit a force of foreign,
Bolivar, Simon (178 3-18 30) South largely British, mercenaries and adven-
American soldier and statesman: the turers, and in 1819, from a base he had
'Liberator'. Born into a rich and aristo- established in the remote Orinoco
cratic family in Caracas on 24 July 1783, region, he led his little army to join the
Bolivar was sent to Spain to complete guerrilla force of Santander in N e w
his education, where he wed a Spanish Granada. H e had conceived the plan of
noblewoman who died after a year of attacking the Spaniards in Venezuela
marriage. H e never remarried. Indeed from the unexpected westerly direction
this personal tragedy seems to have been and, with less than 2500 soldiers,
decisive in setting him on his single- brought it to a brilliant conclusion.
minded pursuit of Spanish-American lib- Taken by surprise, the Spaniards were
eration. As a boy he had been intro- forced to fight in disadvantageous cir-
duced to the thought of the Enlighten- cumstances at Boyaca, outside Bogota,
ment and during a secret visit to Europe on 7 August 1819. They were defeated,
in 1804-7 he systematically worked his Bolivar entered the city and thenceforth
way through its literature. H e was also carried the independence movement
present in Paris during Napoleon's coro- from success to success.
nation, which made a deep impression In the following year Bolivar reopened
on h i m , and there encountered H u m - the campaign for Venezuela itself, whose
boldt, recently returned from his voyage Spanish defenders, disheartened by the
around South America, who told h i m he restored Spanish king's concessions to

34
Boroevic von Bojna, Svetozar Botha, L o u i s

liberalism at home, were fairly easily senior branch of which he passed fourth
overcome. After the victory of C a r a - by competition in 1920, to take up the
bobo, June 1821, Bolivar entered cause of Indian independence. By 1938
Caracas and in the following year, co- he was president of its principal organ,
ordinating his advance w i t h that of his the Indian N a t i o n a l Congress, but re-
gifted subordinate Sucre (q.v.), he i n - signed from it on the outbreak of the
vaded Ecuador and captured Q u i t o . A l l war when its other leaders declined to
of northern South America but Peru was take the chance he believed the emer-
now liberated and in a campaign in the gency offered of leading India to immedi-
mountainous regions of the interior, ate freedom. H e was imprisoned by the
marked by the victories of Junin and British but escaped to Afghanistan in
Ayacuho, that region was conquered and 1941 and thence to Germany, where he
the last major Spanish army in South recruited Indians in the prisoner-of-war
America defeated. The campaign is re- camps for the nucleus of an Indian N a -
markable for the difficulties of organ- tional A r m y . Seeing in South-East A s i a
ization, supply and movement which the a more promising field of endeavour, he
rebels overcame. By the end of 1826 the made thither a daring journey by U-boat
territory of the six modern states of and Japanese submarine in 1943, and
Venezuela, C o l o m b i a , Ecuador, Peru, from the Indians taken captive in
Paraguay and Bolivia had w o n their M a l a y a and Burma eventually created a
independence from Spain. T h e last force of three (notional) divisions. But
four years of Bolivar's life were marred its performance at the side of the Japa-
by disagreements between and within nese was disappointing, many I N A sol-
the new republics, which culminated in diers deserting to the British at first
revolts and civil war. Feeling himself to contact, and he was discredited w i t h the
be a cause of the dissensions among his Japanese (though not w i t h many Indi-
followers, he decided to retire to Europe ans, w h o still regard h i m as a national
but died before he could embark on the hero). H e died in an aircrash i n T a i w a n
journey. (on the way to seek asylum in Russia).

Boroevic von Bojna, Svetozar (1856- Bosquet, Pierre Joseph François (1810-
1920) Austrian general. A Croat (the 61) M a r s h a l of France. A Polytech-
Croats prided themselves on their par- nicien, whose early career had been dar-
ticular loyalty to the emperor), Boroevic ingly spent in the conquest of Algeria,
was appointed to the T h i r d A r m y on under both Bugeaud and Saint-Arnaud
the outbreak of the First W o r l d W a r , (qq.v.), Bosquet commanded the 2nd D i -
commanded it in the battle of the Car- vision i n the Crimea and was severely
pathians, J a n u a r y - M a r c h 1915, and in wounded at the assault on the M a l a k o v
the breakthrough at G o r l i c e - T a r n o w , [see Todleben and M a c M a h o n ) . H e is
A p r i l - J u n e 1915. H e then assumed su- remembered for his remark on the
preme command on the Italian front Charge of the Light Brigade, 'It is
(the Isonzo, then the Piave), retaining it magnificent but it is not war.' In 1856
until the end of the war. N a p o l e o n III created h i m a marshal -
a dignity he conferred too lightly.
Bose, Subhas Chandra (1897-
1945) Indian nationalist and creator of Botha, Louis (1862-1919) South A f r i -
the Indian N a t i o n a l A r m y . One of the can general and statesman. M a g n a n i m -
most brilliant products of the Bengali ity in defeat was his most striking
renaissance. Bose surrendered a career characteristic. After the peace of Ver-
in the Indian C i v i l Service, into the eeniging, which he signed w i t h Roberts

35
Bouffiers, Louis François, duc de Boulanger, Georges Ernest

(q.v.) to end the Boer W a r , M a y 1902, When the war ended in 1697, there were
Botha devoted himself wholeheartedly a few brief years of peace, until a general
to the reconciliation of Afrikaaner to conflict developed once more in the war
Briton in South Africa and of South of the Spanish Succession (1701-14).
Africa to Great Britain. A n d this came Bouffiers was given command over ter-
after his waging of a bitter and brilliant rain he knew well, the Spanish Nether-
guerrilla campaign directed towards lands. This brought h i m into direct
exactly contrary ends. A typical Boer conflict with an allied army under M a r l -
farmer's son, Botha was one of the borough (q.v.). A s a result of D u t c h
founders of the Transvaal and, though a vacillation, M a r l b o r o u g h had to delay
political opponent of Kruger, took loy- his attack on Bouffiers : the outcome was
ally to the field when war broke out a severe reverse for the D u t c h armies at
with Britain in 1899. H e helped to invest Nijmegen. The inability of the allies to
Ladysmith, captured the armoured train act in effective concert allowed Bouffiers
in which Winston C h u r c h i l l (q.v.) was a to strengthen his hold on the towns of
passenger, defeated Buller (q.v.) at the southern Netherlands, extending for-
Colenso, and played a major role in the tifications and provisioning garrisons.
victories of Vaal Krantz and Spion K o p . Yet when the command problems of the
Appointed commandant-general of the allies were resolved, Marlborough
Transvaal, he sustained a guerrilla cam- waged a skilful campaign which resulted
paign against the British until resistance in the capture of the Meuse fortresses,
became hopeless. In his subsequent politi- and forced Bouffiers to withdraw from
cal career he became first prime minister his positions. But despite this reverse,
of the new U n i o n of South A f r i c a , and his conduct of the campaign was credit-
in 1914-15, resuming military command, able, and he was appointed commander
put d o w n the pro-German rebellion of of the R o y a l Bodyguard (1704).
Beyers and de Wet (q.v.) and conquered The close of his career was high-
the German colony of South-West Africa. lighted by two acts of gallantry. In 1708,
as commander of Lille, he defended the
Bouffiers, Louis François, duc de (1644- town with such success against an allied
1711 ) French soldier. One of a galaxy force of 110,000 under Eugen and M a r l -
of excellent French generals who rose to borough (qq.v.), that after three months
prominence in the wars of Louis X I V . he surrendered the town with full hon-
Bouffiers came from a Picard family ours. T h e n , in the following year, at the
with a strong military tradition. H e en- battle of Malplaquet, he took over after
tered the army in 1662 and commanded Villars was wounded. H e conducted the
the royal dragoons most successfully battle in a masterly manner, first attack-
during the First Dutch W a r (1672-8). ing to recover his position after the allied
H e served with distinction in all the assault, and then ensuring an orderly
early wars against the Dutch and was retreat. Malplaquet was the last great
created a marshal of France in 1693, in battle of the war, and Bouffiers, now an
the midst of the war of the G r a n d A l l i - old man, retired. H e had displayed in
ance (1688-97), ° d in 1694, a duke.
a
his career the skill and professionalism
Bouffiers was expert in the formal pos- which was the hallmark of the French
itional warfare of the day, and his skill generals of the epoch, but also a tenacity
was well seen in his stubborn defence of and determination in battle which made
N a m u r against the much larger army of him an especially redoubtable enemy.
W i l l i a m of Orange, now king of Eng-
land. H e held out for three months, Boulanger, Georges Ernest (1837-
losing over half his garrison of 14,000. 91) French general and political adven-

36
Bouquet, H e n r y B o u r b a k i , Charles Denis Sauter

turer. H i s importance post-dated his advance post of the French, where his
active military career (which had i n - troops rapidly cut off the French from
cluded experience in the conquests of their lines of supply, so that their retreat
Algeria and Indo-China, in the Franco- became precipitate. Thereafter, Bouquet
Prussian war and in the suppression of was constantly engaged i n the border
the Commune). Because he was on the wars, his R o y a l Americans the principal
staff of Saint-Cyr in 1870, he escaped defence of the colonies against savage
capture by the Prussians, which befell so incursions by Indians. T h e most danger-
many of his contemporaries, and ous threat to the colonies came in Pon-
achieved very quick promotion. A p - tiac's (q.v.) Rebellion (1763), when the
pointed minister of war in the cabinets O t t a w a Indians sacked all the posts and
of Freycinet and Goblet (1886-7), n e
forts west of the Niagara river, and were
took to dabbling in the inner politics of set to descend on the coastal settlements.
the T h i r d Republic and was adopted as A l l that stood between them and the
a champion by a variety of dissatisfied coast were Bouquet's R o y a l Americans
factions - legitimists, Orleanists, Bona- and a section of T h e Black W a t c h , a
partists, clericals, anti-clericals, patri- 'loyal' Scottish regiment formed after
otic republicans like Déroulède, anti- the Jacobite '45'. A t the battle of Bushy
parliamentary conservatives and idealis- R u n , he routed a much larger force of
tic socialists. A popular belief was that Indians who ambushed h i m . A d o p t i n g a
he w o u l d lead France in a victorious strong defensive position around his
war of revenge against Prussia. T h e supply wagons, he used his superior dis-
truth was that he had no policy beyond cipline and fire-power to break succes-
egotism and, after securing a succession sive Indian assaults. After wearing them
of triumphs w i t h the Paris crowds (14 d o w n , he managed to attack them in the
July 1886), at plebiscitary by-elections flank with a small detachment: the
(27 January 1889) and having terrified result was a complete victory. Bouquet
the government w i t h the spectre of insur- continued to serve w i t h his regiment
rection, he meekly accepted its sentence until his death.
of exile and retired to Brussels, where
he committed suicide on the grave of his B o u r b a k i , Charles Denis Sauter (1816-
mistress. H e left as his memorial a use- 97) French general and hero of the
ful political expression, 'Boulangism', Franco-Prussian war. Born of a family
which denotes a phoney Caesarism, and of Greek origin, Bourbaki was educated
the practice of painting sentry boxes at the Prytanée and Saint-Cyr, was com-
red, white and blue, instituted by h i m missioned into the 59th Regiment in
while minister of war. 1836 but soon transferred to the
Zouaves. L i k e most French officers of
Bouquet, H e n r y (1719-65) British sol- his generation, he first saw action in
dier serving in N o r t h America. Swiss- Algeria, where he at once demonstrated
born, Bouquet entered English service the courage and powers of command
and fought in the N o r t h American col- which were to distinguish his career. A
onies during their wars with the French brigadier in the Crimea and divisional
and their Indian allies. H e commanded commander in the Franco-Austrian war
the R o y a l Americans, one of the most in northern Italy (1859), he was com-
successful exponents of the skirmishing manding N a p o l e o n Ill's Imperial G u a r d
tactics developed during the Indian Corps at the outbreak of war w i t h Prus-
wars. T h e high quality of his troops, sia. H e did not, in the opening cam-
and his o w n abilities, became clear at paign, play an important role, for the
the capture of Fort Duquesne (1758), an G u a r d was held throughout in reserve.

37
B o u r b o n , Charles, duc de Bradley, O m a r

After the surrender of the field army at made h i m an effective weapon to use
Sedan (2 September 1870), however, his against Francis. In 1524 Bourbon led an
luck changed. M a k i n g his way through abortive invasion of the south of France
the German lines, he offered his services from Italy with 20,000 men, but he was
to the Government of N a t i o n a l Defence driven back by a prompt response from
and, after lesser appointments, was ulti- Francis who hastened d o w n the Rhone
mately named to command the A r m y of valley with a large army. H e fought the
the East, operating towards Belfort French invasion of Italy, which followed
(which was still in French hands). But, his unsuccessful invasion of southern
like all those raised in the aftermath of France, and was present at the dramatic
defeat, his army was too spontaneous a victory over the French at Pavia. Francis
creation to stand against the seasoned was captured i n the battle and signed
Prussians and though he beat them in a the treaty of M a d r i d , by which he aban-
minor battle at Villersexel on 9 January doned all his claims against Charles V .
1871, he was himself defeated on the But as soon as he was released, he repudi-
Lisaine (15-17 January). H i s army then ated the agreement and war began again.
disintegrated and he attempted suicide. In M a y 1527 the imperial army launched
Bourbaki's unfortunate destiny was to an assault on Rome, led by Charles of
have served the wrong N a p o l e o n : under Bourbon. H e was killed in the first as-
the first his panache w o u l d have assured sault. What might have been a very
him a glittering reputation. promising military career was termi-
nated at the age of thirty-seven. H i s
B o u r b o n , Charles, due de (1490- qualities were great courage and furious
1527) French soldier in the Imperial impetuosity, much like those of his great
service. A wayward and irascible soldier enemy Francis.
of great talent. Bourbon brought glory
both to the arms of his native France Bradley, O m a r (1893-1981) American
and her Habsburg enemies. In 1515 he general. Bradley, the ' G I General', rose
was appointed constable of France and rapidly to prominence in the Second
was largely responsible for the recovery W o r l d W a r as the commander of the II
of the French after the surprise Swiss Corps i n N o r t h Africa and Italy, then of
assault at the battle of M a r i g n a n o Seventh A r m y in Italy, and finally of
(1515). H e fell out of favour with his First A r m y and Twelfth A r m y G r o u p in
cousin, Francis I, however, who feared the invasion of North-West Europe. A
both his ambition and his military skill. man of humble background and notably
H e withdrew from active service at homely appearance, Bradley attracted
court, but Francis pursued h i m , setting the attention of George C . M a r s h a l l , the
in motion a legal process to confiscate wartime chief of staff, because of his
his lands and fortune. Bourbon was cer- attention to detail and efficiency as a
tainly pursuing treasonable aims, for he staff officer. H i s simple manners and
was in secret negotiations with both the evident concern for their welfare made
English and Emperor Charles V , w i t h him trusted by his soldiers and his mas-
the clear objective of unseating Francis terly execution of operational orders in
from the throne of France. But his plot- France and Germany made h i m a favour-
ting was betrayed and he was forced to ite of Eisenhower, his contemporary at
flee the country closely pursued by his West Point. After the war, Bradley
vengeful enemies. became chief of staff of the army and
H e immediately entered the imperial Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
service, a valuable asset to Charles V , the five-star rank of General of the
for his proximity to the French throne Army.

38
Bragg, Braxton Breckinridge, John C a b e l l

Bragg, Braxton (1817-76) American the failure of the battle outside M o s c o w

(Confederate) general. A West Pointer in December 1941 and removed from
who had retired to plant in Louisiana, office, which Hitler then assumed, thus
Bragg rejoined the (South's) colours in becoming the first civilian ever to exer-
1861 and, as an ex-regular and veteran cise command over the German army.
of the M e x i c a n war ('Give me a little
more grape, Captain Bragg' - Zachary Braun, Wernher von (1912-77) De-
Taylor, q.v., at the battle of Buena signer of military rocket missiles. A s a
Vista) was promoted major-general schoolboy in Germany, Braun had writ-
almost immediately. H e was chief of ten a thesis on the design of long-range
staff to A . S . Johnston (q.v.) at Shiloh, rockets, a seemingly unlikely interest for
where he commanded the Confederate a young aristocrat whose father served
right, and in 1862, a full general, he as von Papen's minister of agriculture,
relieved Beauregard (q.v.) as commander and at twenty-five he was appointed
of the A r m y of Tennessee. This he led technical director of the German army's
in an invasion of Kentucky but was rocket research centre. By 1938 he had
defeated at Perryville and threw away produced a rocket (the A-4) capable of
the fruits of victory at Stones River. A t carrying an explosive warhead for eleven
Chickamauga, 19 September 1863, he miles, but it was not until he fully en-
did the same thing and, when he laid gaged Hitler's attention that he procured
siege to Rosecrans (q.v.) at Chattanooga the necessary finance to develop it into
(October-November 1863) he was deci- the V - z . T h i s , the first practical long-
sively defeated at Missionary Ridge. H e range, load-carrying missile, was used
was relieved by Joseph E.Johnston (q.v.) to bombard England from 8 September
and returned to R i c h m o n d to act as 1944, about 3600 being fired, though its
Jefferson Davis's military adviser, a post small warhead ensured that it w o u l d
he held almost until the end of the war. not achieve the war-winning effect
T h i s appointment was not inappropri- Hitler had hoped of it. In 1945 Braun,
ate, for his weakness lay not in concep- who had taken care to deliver himself,
tion but execution. H e was, moreover, his team and his documents into
often i l l w i t h migraine in the field. ' H e American hands, transferred his design
was frequently in the saddle when the work to the United States, where he
more appropriate place for h i m w o u l d developed from the V - 2 the family of
have been in bed', wrote one of his liquid-fuelled rockets which provided
officers. his new homeland with its first inter-
continental nuclear delivery system and
Brauchitsch, Walter von (1881- with the rockets which carried the first
1948) German field-marshal. O n the men to the moon.
overthrow in 1938 of Fritsch (q.v.), Brau-
chitsch was appointed commander-in- Breckinridge, John Cabell (1821-
chief of the German army. H e was a 75) American (Confederate) general. A
compromise candidate, for Hitler w o u l d veteran of the M e x i c a n war (but a volun-
have preferred the p r o - N a z i Reichenau teer, not a regular) and a successful poli-
(q.v.). In practice, he did the military tician — he had served as vice-president
establishment little good in its struggle to Buchanan and as a senator and run
to preserve its independence, for, though against L i n c o l n for the presidency -
splendidly soldierly in appearance and Breckinridge went south in 1861, was
manner, he lacked the fibre to stand up declared a traitor by the U n i o n govern-
to Hitler in face-to-face argument. H e ment, appointed brigadier by the Confed-
was made the principal scapegoat for eracy and commanded the reserve corps

39
Brialmont, Henry Alexis Brooke, A l a n

at Shiloh. Subsequently he commanded and at Bergen (1759) he managed to

divisions or corps in many of the major defeat Ferdinand of Brunswick. N o w a
battles until appointed secretary of war marshal of France, he was given the
in February 1865 by Jefferson Davis, chief command in Germany, but al-
w h o m he advised in the surrender nego- though he was successful at Corbach
tiations at Appomattox. (1760) , he was beaten again by Ferdi-
nand of Brunswick at Vellinghausen
Brialmont, Henry Alexis (1821- (1761) , and was removed from his
1903) Belgian military engineer. Called command in disgrace. H i s most lasting
'the Belgian V a u b a n ' (q.v.), Brialmont influence on the French army was the
owed the title to his conception of a organizational reform into a divisional
system of fortification designed to resist structure, which established fixed pro-
the new long-range artillery, firing high- portions for artillery and infantry in a
explosive shell. It was based upon the single unit, giving a commander a power-
dispersion of heavily armoured detached ful and flexible tactical unit. After the
forts in a circle, up to 8 miles in diam- French Revolution, Broglie lived abroad
eter, around the place to be protected. until his death, serving in both the Brit-
H i s system was an important influence ish and Russian armies.
upon French fortification, notably at
Verdun, and he built three forts to his Brooke, A l a n (ist Viscount Alanbrooke
o w n design, at Antwerp, Liège and of Brookeborough ; 1883-1963) British
N a m u r . The Germans in response de- field-marshal, principal military adviser
signed a siege train of super-heavy artil- to C h u r c h i l l in the Second W o r l d W a r .
lery which in August 1914 destroyed A gunner officer, son of the Ulster house
the defences of the last two places of Brookeborough, he had been edu-
within ten days (see Ludendorff and cated in France before entering W o o l -
Leman). w i c h , and his fluency i n the language
contributed to the great success he
Broglie, V i c t o r François, duc de (1718- achieved during the First W o r l d W a r in
1804) French soldier. Scion of an illus- adapting French methods of controlling
trious family of French soldiers, Broglie the great rolling barrages to English prac-
first saw action in the Italian campaign tice. It marked h i m out as a coming
of 1741, during the war of the Austrian officer and between the wars he held a
Succession (1740-8). H e was then sent succession of key appointments, includ-
with an army of French 'volunteers' led ing commander of the School of A r t i l -
by his father, François de Broglie, to the lery and Director of M i l i t a r y Training.
aid of the Elector of Bavaria. In 1746 he In 1939 he was given II Corps in the
was transferred to the army in Flanders British Expeditionary Force, which he
and fought at Rocourt (1746) and commanded with great skill in the with-
Laufeld (1747). H e fought through the drawal to D u n k i r k . In 1941, on the
Seven Years' W a r (1756-63) under a appointment of his old Staff College
variety of commanders - Soubise, Cler- teacher, Sir John D i l l (q.v.), to the Wash-
mont and Contades. W i t h Contades, he ington mission, he succeeded h i m as
was saved from defeat at the battle of Chief of the Imperial General Staff and
M i n d e n by the irresolution of L o r d in that post he was at Churchill's elbow
George Germaine, who refused to ex- throughout the war. H e modestly de-
ploit the opening so brilliantly created scribed his role, in the remarkable books
for h i m by Ferdinand of Brunswick which were made out of his diaries, as
(q.v.). Broglie fought gallantly at that of turning Churchill's inspirations
Rossbach (1757), Sonderhausen (1758), into military sense, but at least some

40
Brueys d'Aigailliers, François Paul Brusilov, A l e x e i Alexeevich

of the inspiration of British strategy Brunswick, K a r l W i l h e l m Ferdinand,

between 1939 and 1945 came undoubt- D u k e of (1735-1806) Prussian general.
edly from h i m . A son of Frederick the Great's lieuten-
ant, Brunswick had made a considerable
Brueys d'Aigailliers, François Paul reputation in Prussian service during the
(1753-98) French admiral. A n officer Seven Years' W a r (1756-63), in and
of the royal navy, Brueys d'Aigailliers during the interventions in the Bavarian
continued in service under the Revolu- Succession crisis of 1777-9 ('The Potato
tion and it was his fleet which conveyed War') and the D u t c h C i v i l W a r (1785-7)
Napoleon's army to Egypt in 1798, before he was chosen in 1792 to com-
taking M a l t a en route. O n 1 August, mand the Allied A r m y of the First C o -
while at anchor in A b o u k i r Bay, it was alition (Austrian and Prussian). It had
attacked by Nelson (q.v.) and com- been formed to compel the French to
pletely destroyed (the battle of the Nile). restore power to Louis X V I , but its func-
Brueys, who believed that he had chosen tion and the tone of the anti-revolution-
an attack-proof position, was killed in ary manifesto issued under Brunswick's
the action. name led instead to the storming of the
Tuileries and to his defeat at V a l m y on
Brune, Guillaume M a r i e Anne (1763- 20 September 1792. When N a p o l e o n i n -
1815) M a r s h a l of France. A native of vaded Prussia in 1806, Brunswick was
Corrèze, but in 1789 a Parisian printer again in command, but was mortally
and journalist, Brune rose through the wounded on the field of Auerstadt. A n
N a t i o n a l G u a r d of the city to general of accomplished general of the old school,
brigade in the A r m y of the N o r t h in he had outlived his time.
1793. Posted to Napoleon's A r m y of
Italy in 1796, he served in the division Brusilov, Alexei Alexeevich (1853-
of Masséna (q.v.) at Areola and R i v o l i 1926) Russian general. H i s name is
and was promoted general of division. chiefly remembered for his planning and
In 1799 he commanded against the execution of the only successful Russian
Anglo-Russian expedition to the Helder offensive of the First W o r l d W a r - the
in H o l l a n d , and in 1800 replaced M a s - 'Brusilov Offensive' of 1916. A cavalry
séna as commander in Italy, waging officer, he had entered the army through
against the Austrians a brisk campaign the Corps of Pages, had first seen fight-
of nineteen days (passage of the M i n c i o , ing in the Caucasus campaign and had
capture of Verona and Vicenza), which attracted attention by his boldness in
culminated in the signing of the armi- action in the Russo-Turkish war of
stice of Treviso. H e was serving as am- 1877-8. In 1914 he commanded the
bassador to Turkey when N a p o l e o n Eighth A r m y against the Austrians in
named h i m marshal in the great creation G a l i c i a . N o t until the spring of 1916 d i d
of 1804. In 1807 he commanded a corps, he achieve command of a large enough
but offended Napoleon by a diplomatic force (the Seventh, Eighth, N i n t h and
peccadillo in negotiations with the Eleventh armies) to undertake decisive
Swedes and remained in disfavour until operations on his o w n initiative. By care-
the first abdication in 1814. Despite his ful concealment of his offensive pre-
mistreatment, he rallied to the emperor parations, he was able to surprise the
during the H u n d r e d Days but did not Austrians on his front south of the
exercise a field command. H e was assas- Pripet marshes, break through, recap-
sinated by a White Terrorist gang at ture most of G a l i c i a and the Bukovina
Avignon while making his way under and take 375,000 prisoners. L a c k of sup-
arrest to Paris. plies and transport prevented h i m from

41
Buchanan, Franklin Bugeaud de la Piconnerie, T h o m a s

sustaining the momentum of his advance. moustache - Budenny had indeed begun
In the following year he was among his career as a trooper in the imperial
those generals who urged Nicholas II to cavalry. But in 1917 he took up the
abdicate after the February revolution. cause of revolution, was elected chair-
After the October revolution he threw man of his divisional soviet and formed
in his lot with the Soviets, but was not a cavalry unit that fought for Reds
employed in command and soon retired. against Whites on the D o n . Joining the
Communist Party in 1919, he formed
Buchanan, Franklin (1800-74) the First Cavalry A r m y with Stalin,
American (Confederate) admiral. The Yegorov and Voroshilov (qq.v.), which
first superintendent of the U S N a v a l played a dramatic but ultimately un-
Academy, Annapolis, for which he had successful part in the Russo-Polish W a r
drawn up the plans, he also commanded of 1920 and a decisive role in operations
the flagship which took Perry (q.v.) to against the White armies of Wrangel
Japan in 1852. H e entered Confederate and D e n i k i n (qq.v.). H e held staff ap-
service in 1861 and commanded the Mer- pointments after the C i v i l W a r and i n
rimac on its initial appearance i n H a m p - 1937, as a favourite of Stalin's, was
ton Roads, 8 M a r c h 1862; wounds spared i n the great purge and promoted.
prevented h i m fighting against the In 1941 he commanded the South-West
Monitor the day following. Promoted Front (army group) against Rundstedt
admiral, he commanded i n the battle of (q.v.), was relieved for incompetence
M o b i l e Bay, 5 August 1864, where he and, again spared Stalin's anger, rel-
was defeated by Farragut (q.v.). egated to honorific duties. In 1958 he
was created a H e r o of the Soviet U n i o n .
Buckner, Simon Bolivar (1823-
1914) American (Confederate) general. Buell, D o n Carlos (1818-98) American
A Kentuckyan, Buckner had been retired (Union) general. A northerner (from
from the army six years when the C i v i l O h i o ) , a West Pointer, a veteran of the
W a r broke out, and tried at first to M e x i c a n war, Buell's promotion from
negotiate the neutrality of his state. major to brigadier-general at the out-
W h e n U n i o n troops invaded it, however, break of the war was therefore predes-
he joined the Confederate army, was tined. H e commanded troops in the
promoted brigadier-general (having pre- Henry and Donelson campaign, and ar-
viously been offered that rank by the rived at Shiloh to contribute to Grant's
Union) and was in command of Fort (q.v.) victory. In 1862 he embarked on
Donelson when it fell to Grant (q.v.), a an independent campaign to capture
West Point fellow-student (and lifelong eastern Tennessee (the Stones River
friend). H e was exchanged, fought at campaign), but found himself forced
Perryville and commanded a corps at to retreat by the skilful manoeuvring of
Chickamauga. H e lived to be a pall- General Braxton Bragg (q.v.), and re-
bearer at Grant's funeral and to father a trieved the situation only by fighting
son, also Simon Bolivar, who was killed what turned into a drawn battle, Perry-
aged fifty-nine in command of the U S ville. H e was replaced i n command by
Tenth A r m y on O k i n a w a , June 1945. Rosecrans (q.v.), no improvement,
some might think, and retired.
Budenny, Semen M i k h a i l o v i c h (1883-
1973) M a r s h a l of the Soviet U n i o n . In- Bugeaud de la Piconnerie, Thomas
stantly recognizable in group photo- Robert (due d'Isly; 1784-1849) M a r -
graphs of Soviet leaders by his tsarist shal of France and conqueror of Algeria.
appearance - he sported a splendid curly A product of Napoleon's officer-

42
Buller, Sir Redvers H e n r y Bülow, D i e t r i c h A d a m H e i n r i c h Freiherr

producing unit, the Vélites of the Im- W a r and has been taken for a stereotype
perial G u a r d , his principal experience of the brainless blunderer, a notion to
under the emperor was of guerrilla war- which his blimplike appearance - great
fare i n Spain. T h i s was to prove of the girth, multiple chins, flushed complex-
greatest use to h i m when, i n 1836, he ion and walrus moustache - lends sub-
was sent to command i n Algeria. It was stance. But Buller was a brave man - he
a mighty appointment for a man w h o had w o n the V i c t o r i a Cross for rescuing
had risen no higher than chef de batail- wounded during the Z u l u w a r - and
lon i n the G r a n d A r m y and whose only had been one of the most zealous and
real military achievement since the H u n - intelligent of the 'ring' of young officers
dred Days (during which he had de- selected by Wolseley (q.v.) to help
feated an Austrian corps) was the sup- h i m w i n Britain's succession of late
pression, unduly ruthless it was thought, nineteenth-century colonial campaigns.
of the domestic insurrection of 1834. H e had also spent ten successful reform-
H i s conduct of the Algerian conquest ing years at the W a r Office as Quarter-
was, nevertheless, masterly. H e trans- master - and then Adjutant-General,
formed the morale of a dispirited army, 1887-97. N o n e of this availed to offset
brought an elusive enemy to battle, the defeats - Stormberg, Magersfontein,
forced peace o n A b d el-Kader (q.v.), Colenso - he and his subordinates suf-
and defeated his M o r o c c a n allies at the fered i n the first months of the w a r i n
Isly, 1844 (he took that title when created South Africa, whither he had been sent
duke). A pacifier as well as a soldier, he in 1899 a
commander-in-chief.
s

worked to reconcile the tribes whose

spirit he had broken by his strategy of Bulnes, M a n u e l (1799-1866) Chilean
pillage and razzia, while the ambitious general and president. H i s victory at
programme of public works he carried Yungay o n 20 January 1839 over the
through w o n from the white colonists Bolivian dictator Andreas Santa C r u z
w h o m he settled i n the new dominions broke up the Bolivian—Peruvian confed-
(many o f them ex-soldiers) the soubri- eration which Chile and Argentina
quet père Bugeaud. H e was assisted in opposed.
much of his Algerian w o r k by a remark-
able band of subordinates, including B i i l o w , Dietrich A d a m H e i n r i c h Freiherr
Aumale (to w h o m he surrendered the von (1757—1807) Prussian military
governorship i n 1847) and Lamoricière writer. T h i s man of unhappy life - he
(qq.v.). H e died of cholera in Paris, was passed over for promotion i n the
having been first recalled by the Orlean- service of Prussia, confined for insanity
ist Chamber of Deputies, then re- because of the unorthodoxy of his mili-
appointed to military command by tary writing and died eventually in
prince-president Louis-Napoleon after Russian captivity, probably as a conse-
the 1848 revolution. H e ranks with quence of ill-treatment - produced some
Lyautey (q.v.) among French colonial of the first perceptive military writing
soldiers. H i s name was chosen as titre about the 'new warfare' of the French
de promotion by a Saint-Cyr class at the Revolution and Empire. H i s most import-
height of the Algerian rebellion, 1954-60. ant book was the Geist des neueren
Kriegssystems (1799), in which he of-
Buller, Sir Redvers Henry (1839- fered the first useful definition of the
1908) British general. Genuinely popu- terms 'strategy', 'tactics' and 'base of
lar with the common soldier and highly operations'. In later writing he at-
regarded by his contemporaries, Buller tempted to show that success i n w a r
was discredited by his failure in the Boer was the fruit not of a sterile military

43
Burgoyne, J o h n Burnside, A m b r o s e Everett

theory but of the organization of the Burgoyne's southwards offensive (July

resources of the state to that end. H e 1777) was well managed and planned.
also attempted to prove much palpable H e recaptured Fort Ticonderoga, which
nonsense and hence 'has been called Ethan Allen's (q.v.) disreputable Green
everything from a conceited crank to the M o u n t a i n Boys had taken two years
founder of modern military science'. before. H e moved slowly south, impeded
by American harassment, and discov-
Burgoyne, John (1722-92) British sol- ered to his horror early in August that
dier. 'Gentleman Johnny' Burgoyne was H o w e , instead of advancing north from
one of the more raffish and attractive of N e w Y o r k to meet h i m , had turned
the senior officers in the British army. south in pursuit of Washington. Bur-
H e entered the army in 1740, and goyne was in an exposed position, for
showed his ability in the half-hearted new and powerful American forces now
raids on the French coast in 1758, which faced h i m , and his men were short of
were finally abandoned after the repulse supplies. C u t off from hope of reinforce-
of the expedition against St Cas. Bur- ment, he sent out detachments to obtain
goyne now raised a regiment of light new supplies, but the Americans
horse, which he took to fight in Portugal mopped them up. Playing his last card,
against the Spanish (1761). H e routed Burgoyne tried to defeat the main
the Spanish at the battle of V i l l a Velha American force under General Gates
(1762) and returned to England at the (q.v.) in battle. But the American force
end of the war with a well-earned repu- was much larger than his shrunken com-
tation for enterprise and daring. H e mand, and despite bold attacks, he was
soon found himself lionized in L o n d o n bloodily repulsed. Finally, abandoned by
society, and he became a fashionable his fellow generals, he was forced to
swell, with a lucrative sideline of writing surrender at Saratoga (October 1777)
successful plays. with the remains of his force, 5700 men
from the total of 7200 which left
W h e n the American W a r of Independ-
Canada. Burgoyne was released by
ence (1775-83) seemed imminent. Bur-
Washington and returned to L o n d o n ,
goyne was posted to a command in
where he faced a maelstrom of hatred
N o r t h America, and was sent with his
and venom, led by the government who
troops to relieve the Canadian garrison
sought to excuse their o w n ineptitude.
under Sir G u y Carleton (1776). H e re-
The opposition supported Burgoyne.
turned to England i n the winter of 1776
H o w e put forward a different version of
to propose a plan for united action
the story outlined above and a pro-
against the rebel centres. It was strategi-
longed and unseemly pamphlet war re-
cally sound, although it did not have the
sulted. W i t h good sense and discretion
wholehearted support of H o w e (q.v.),
Burgoyne washed his hands of the whole
the senior general in America. But the
affair. H e commanded in Ireland in
plan for joint action, difficult in any
1782-3, but otherwise devoted him-
event over such great distances, was com-
self to fathering four illegitimate chil-
pletely frustrated by the criminal incom-
dren, to w h o m he was devoted, and
petence of L o r d George Germaine, the
writing diverting plays. Burgoyne was a
secretary of state for the colonies. H e
good soldier and an entertaining
failed to issue proper instructions co-
character.
ordinating the expeditions, and allowed
each commander - Burgoyne, H o w e and
St Leger - to manœuvre in the belief Burnside, Ambrose Everett (1824-
that they were acting in concert when in 81) American (Union) general. A re-
fact they were moving independently. tired regular, Burnside rejoined the army

44
Buxhowden, Friedrich W i l h e l m , G r a f Byng, Julian H e d w o r t h George

as a colonel of volunteers i n 1861, was outcry against the Newcastle adminis-

swiftly promoted general and at A n t i - tration for the loss of M i n o r c a and
etam (17 September 1862) commanded other failures grew: Byng was court-
the left wing - but so badly that Lee martialled, and although found inno-
(q.v.) escaped the destruction he de- cent of cowardice, was found guilty o f
served. H e was nevertheless promoted neglect of duty. A death sentence was
to command the A r m y of Potomac, mandatory under the Articles of W a r ,
through the lobbying of other generals but the court advised that mercy should
who d i d not wish H o o k e r (q.v.) to have be exercised. However, the government
it. In supreme command at Fredericks- sought to transfer their mismanagement
burg (13 December 1862), he demon- on to the person of Byng and insisted
strated h o w unimaginative his general- that justice and honour demanded that
ship was, publicly accepted blame for the sentence be carried out. Byng was
the defeat and reverted to subordinate shot o n the deck of his o w n flagship,
command, principally that of I X Corps. with a final remark which Voltaire trans-
But at Petersburg he again mishandled muted into his famous statement that
operations, admittedly of a very trying the British shot an admiral every n o w
and unconventional sort (the great mine and again, 'pour encourager les autres'.
explosion), and was relieved. Grant L i k e de Lally (q.v.) i n France, Byng was
(q.v.) described h i m as 'generally liked a victim of public hysteria and govern-
and respected [but] n o t . . . fitted to com- mental cowardice.
mand an army. N o one knew this better
than himself.' H i s splendid muttonchop Byng, Julian H e d w o r t h George (ist Vis-
whiskers perpetuate his name, i n the count Byng of V i m y ; 1862-1935) Brit-
form of 'sideburns'. ish field-marshal. T h e younger son of a
military family (his grandfather had com-
B u x h o w d e n , Friedrich W i l h e l m , G r a f manded one of the G u a r d brigades at
von (1750-1811) Russian field-marshal. Waterloo), Byng entered the 10th H u s -
A Bait, Buxhowden first achieved senior sars from Eton i n 1883, via a commis-
command in the T h i r d Partition of Poland sion in the militia. U n t i l the outbreak of
under Suvorov (q.v.), 1792-4, and was the Boer W a r he was chiefly distin-
subsequently governor of the Russian guished i n the army for his skills at
share of the country. H e commanded polo, but in South Africa he made a fine
the Russian left wing at Austerlitz. name at the head of a regiment of light
horse raised by himself. C o m m a n d i n g i n
Byng, John (1704-57) British admiral. Egypt in 1914, he was called to France
T h e son of Viscount T o r r i n g t o n (q.v.), in September to take over the 3rd Cav-
Byng is noteworthy only for the manner alry D i v i s i o n , then the Cavalry Corps,
of his death. Sent to secure the British and thence was sent to supervise the
island of M i n o r c a i n 1756, he found it evacuation of Suvla o n the G a l l i p o l i
under attack by French land and sea Peninsula. In M a y 1916 he was ap-
forces. H e attacked the French fleet pointed to the Canadian Corps in France,
under L a Galisonnière, but planned his which, under his command, achieved
battle badly, and the French fleet, which the often frustrated capture of V i m y
he just outnumbered, slipped away. H e Ridge, and i n June 1917 to the T h i r d
decided to abandon the expedition and A r m y , a command he exercised until
return to Gibraltar. In England the the armistice.

45
 c
Cabrera, R a m o n (1806-77) Spanish and destroyed his army. H e was re-
(Carlist) general. Ferdinand VII's desig- moved from command and, though
nation of his daughter Isabella as his found an anodyne post elsewhere, effec-
heir, instead of his brother D o n Carlos tively disgraced. A perfectly competent
to w h o m Salic law gave the succession, general, his faults were those of many
provoked i n Spain a succession struggle of the commanders of the First W o r l d
(the Carlist wars) which racked the W a r - intellectual arrogance, aloofness
country i n 1834-9 and again i n 1873-6. and a lack of understanding of and con-
As a leader of Carlist bands i n the first tact with ordinary soldiers.
war Cabrera, a former theological stu-
dent, w o n the soubriquet 'Tiger of the C a m b r i d g e , George W i l l i a m Frederick
Maestrazgo' for his cruelty. T h o u g h a Charles, D u k e o f (1819-1904) British
self-taught soldier, he w o n several vic- field-marshal. A grandson of George III,
tories over the royal army, including he was commander-in-chief from 1856
that of M o r e l l a (for which D o n Carlos to 1895, when he was at last succeeded
created h i m Count of Morella) i n 1835. by Wolseley (q.v.). H i s inflexibly con-
Eventually, dispirited by the pretender's servative outlook was the principal
feebleness and the movement's lack of brake on the reform of the British army
success, he retired to England and spoke- between the Crimean and the Boer
against insurrection during the Second Wars.
Carlist W a r .
Cambronne, Pierre Jacques Etienne
C ado m a , C o u n t L u i g i (1850-1928) Ital- (comte; 1770-1842) French general.
ian general. T h e son of one of the W h e n called upon to surrender the 'last
Piedmontese military families which square' of the O l d G u a r d at Waterloo,
supplied the army of the United K i n g - 18 June 1815, Cambronne is officially
dom of Italy with so many of its officers - reported to have cried, ' T h e G u a r d dies,
his father had fought i n the wars of the it does not surrender,' but popularly
Risorgimento and the Crimea - Cadorna believed to have shouted Merde\ T h i s
i

became chief of staff i n 1914 with the obscenity is politely alluded to i n , for
mission of modernizing its antiquated example, French judicial proceedings as
structure and equipment. W a r came He mot de Cambronne'.
before he could much advance the task,
and i n 1915 he began the period of Campbell, C o l i n (ist Baron C l y d e ;
command on the eastern Alpine frontier 1792-1863) British field-marshal. T h e
against the Austrians, which was to last son of a carpenter named M a c l i v e r ,
until Caporetto (1917). H e directed C o l i n assumed his mother's name when
eleven battles of the Isonzo, each a more her brother, a colonel, put h i m to school
or less unsuccessful offensive, until in and found h i m a commission i n the 9th
the twelfth the Austrians, w i t h German Regiment. H e proved to be a fighting
assistance, forestalled his preparations soldier of quite exceptional physical

46
Canaris, W i l h e l m Cardigan, T h o m a s James Brudenell

bravery. A t the siege of San Sebastian i n not to gain Hitler's ear but to guide
the Peninsular campaign, he left the bed Germany to a post-Nazi future. H e and
where he was recovering from a double his agents consequently became en-
w o u n d received i n one assault to lead tangled i n a double game w i t h the Allies
another, i n which he was wounded for a abroad and with the opposition move-
third time; earlier - at Barossa, Terifa ment at home. H i s duplicity caused his
and Vittoria - he had shown extra- removal in January 1944, ^ arrest after
n s

ordinary courage and leadership. W h e n the July bomb plot and his death i n
invalided home at the age of twenty-one Flossenburg camp in A p r i l 1945.
he was a captain, w i t h a w o u n d pension
of £100 a year - testimony, i n an age Canrobert, François Certain (1809-
parsimonious w i t h rewards either of 95) M a r s h a l of France. L i k e so many
money or promotion to the lowly-born, of his generation, Canrobert made his
of the exceptional mark he had made. It name i n the conquest of Algeria, where
then took h i m twenty-five years to reach his dash i n action, flaming locks and
command of a regiment, despite long ready rapport with the rank and file
service abroad and financial help from made h i m an outstanding figure even
friends i n 'buying his steps'. In the 1840s among the sabreurs of the Armée d'Afri-
his luck changed as campaigning called que. L o u i s - N a p o l e o n made h i m his
h i m again : for his part in the First C h i n a A D C general i n 1850, and he took part
W a r (1842) he was made C B , and K C B in the imperial coup d'état of 1851. But
for his role i n the Second Sikh W a r . though fearless i n the face of personal
Promoted to command the H i g h l a n d B r i - danger, he shrank from responsibility
gade i n the Crimea, his personification and was not a success i n the high com-
of its collective courage, particularly at mand which imperial favour brought
Balaclava, made h i m almost overnight h i m ; he actually resigned the supreme
one of those popular heroes w h o m the command i n the Crimea i n 1855, plead-
Victorian public delighted to honour. ing incompatibility w i t h his British
O n the news of the Indian M u t i n y ' s opposite number. But he exercised sub-
outbreak reaching home in 1857, he was ordinate command w i t h great bravery at
offered by Palmerston the command-in- Solferino and Magenta i n 1859, and, as
chief and, though he arrived after Delhi a corps commander at Saint-Privat i n
and Cawnpore had been recovered, it 1870, inflicted on the Prussian Guards a
was he w h o directed the second relief of murderous defeat. H e subsequently en-
L u c k n o w (1858). In 1858 his health tered politics, keeping alive the Bonapar-
failed and he returned home, to be tist cause i n the senate of the T h i r d
loaded with honours before his briefly Republic.
delayed death.
Cardigan, Thomas James Brudenell, 7th
Canaris, Wilhelm (1888-1945) E a r l of (1797-1868) British general. A
German admiral and chief of intelli- man of impossible character - stupid,
gence. A First W o r l d W a r U-boat com- overbearing, arrogant, vindictive - but
mander, his reputation derives from ancient title and great wealth, he was
his years as head of the Abwehr - the appointed i n 1854, despite his proven
German joint services intelligence inability to sustain temperate relation-
branch. T h e Abwehr was only one of ships either w i t h subordinates or su-
several - some say thirty - intelligence periors, to command the light cavalry
organizations competing for primacy i n brigade in the expedition to the C r i m e a .
N a z i Germany, but its aims i n the compe- H i s immediate superior was L o r d L u c a n
tition were different from the others: (q.v.), his estranged brother-in-law;

47
Cardwell, Edward C a Steinau, N o e l M a r i e Joseph E d o u a r d

their estrangement was exacerbated by country for weapons to arm them and
official quarrels i n the field and culmi- creating new arms factories. D u r i n g the
nated in Cardigan's leading of the Light period of confusion and setback ( A p r i l -
Brigade to destruction at Balaclava {see July 1793) which followed the defection
Bosquet) through a misunderstanding of of Dumouriez (q.v.), victor o f V a l m y
Lucan's orders. and Jemappes, to the Austrian and Prus-
sian invaders, Carnot took effective com-
C a r d well, E d w a r d (ist Viscount C a r d - mand o n the northern frontiers and w o n
w e l l ; 1813-86) British military re- with Jourdan (q.v.) the stopgap victory
former. Appointed secretary of state for of Wattignies (15-16 October 1793). T h e
war i n Gladstone's government of 1868, armies' success during the rest of the
he tackled the three major difficulties in year and i n 1794 drove the invaders
the contemporary British military system back across the Rhine. But Carnot him-
- the army's unreadiness for war, its self was under attack from politicians to
inability to provide adequate colonial his left in the Convention and the C o m -
garrisons and its officering by the mittee. Although he escaped the Terror
antiquated system of the purchase of and was subsequently elected to the D i -
commissions. T h e fragmented infantry rectory, he had become isolated and be-
battalions of the army were grouped tween 1797 and 1799 was forced into
into double battalion regiments, one to exile. Recalled by the Consulate, he
remain at home feeding the other o n served as minister of war for six months
imperial duty and providing, with associ- in 1800 but was not employed by N a p o -
ated militia and volunteer battalions, a leon during the Empire, the t w o being
home defence force and nucleus of an out of sympathy. In 1814, however, the
expeditionary corps. T h e institution of fresh danger of invasion reawoke his
purchase was abolished, i n the face of patriotism and he sustained a remark-
vociferous objections, the commission able defence of Antwerp. H e served
holders compensated, and entry to and Napoleon as war minister during the
promotion within the army regulated by H u n d r e d Days, was condemned as a
competitive examination. Cardwell's re- regicide at the Second Restoration and
forms remained the most important i n exiled, dying in Magdeburg. H e be-
scope until those of Haldane (q.v.) i n queathed some influential works on for-
1906-10. tification, and a grandson, Sadi, w h o
was to become a president of the T h i r d
Carnot, Lazare Nicolas Marguerite (le Republic.
grand Carnot; 1753-1823) French gen-
eral and minister of w a r ; the 'Organizer Castelnau, N o e l M a r i e Joseph Edouard
of Victory'. A regular officer of engi- de Curières de (1851-1944) French
neers i n the royal army, Carnot was an general. Just as Sarrail (q.v.) repre-
advocate of reform from the onset of sented the anti-clerical interest i n the
the Revolution, became a member of faction-ridden army of the T h i r d Repub-
the Legislative Assembly, then of the lic, Castelnau - He capucin botté' (friar
Convention and voted for the death of in riding boots) - represented the militant
the king. Appointed a member of the Catholic. A n aristocrat and a lay mem-
Committee of Public Safety (August ber of a religious order (hence his nick-
1793), he became responsible for the name), he was also a soldier of intellect
raising of the young republic's armies and decision. Leaving Saint-Cyr to fight
(he raised fourteen i n all) by combining in the war of 1870, he was by 1914 a
new w i t h o l d regiments i n a system member of the Conseil supérieur de la
called l'Amalgame, ransacking the guerre, had taken a major part i n the

48
Castries, Christian M a r i e Ferdinand Charles Albert

preparation of W a r Plan X V I I and which he was promoted general, were

was earmarked i n case of hostilities nevertheless irreproachable.
for command of the Second A r m y .
In August he led it into Lorraine, fight- Cavaignac, Louis Eugène (1802-
ing at Château-Salins and Morhange, 57) French general. O n e of the no-
the only t w o offensive battles of the tables of the conquest of Algeria - he
opening campaign. Forced into retreat, succeeded Lamoricière (q.v.) as governor
he successfully defended Nancy at the of O r a n - he is remembered chiefly for
battle of le Grand Couronné and ad- his repression of the 'June Days' of 1848.
vanced the front to the line of the T h a t attempt by the Paris w o r k i n g class
Franco-German frontier. Promoted com- to transform the anti-Orleanist coup
mander of one of the army groups d'état into a genuine revolution so
formed i n 1915 (Centre) he directed the alarmed the Assembly that it voted dicta-
great (and partially successful) offensive torial powers to the minister of w a r ,
in Champagne of 25 September. O u t who happened to be Cavaignac. H e used
of favour during 1916-17, he resumed them ferociously, extinguished the insur-
command of an army group i n 1918 rection but relinquished his authority to
and directed the final offensive i n stand against Louis-Napoleon i n the
Lorraine. presidential elections of December a n d
was defeated. H i s father had voted i n the
Castries, Christian M a r i e Ferdinand de Convention for the death of Louis X V I .
la C r o i x de (1902-91). French general; H i s son, Jacques Cavaignac (1853-
the defender of Dien Bien Phu. T h o u g h 1905), as minister of w a r also, played a
much burdened by military ancestors - central role i n the prosecution of Drey-
one a marshal of France - Castries failed fus (q.v.).
to secure entry to Saint-Cyr and served
as a cavalry trooper for three years. A Chanzy, Antoine Eugène Alfred (1823-
superb horseman - he represented 83) French general. A Saint-Cyrien, he
France, 1927-39 - and a daring pilot, he chose the Zouaves and served i n Algeria
volunteered for the Corps francs (a sort for nearly thirty years, leaving it only to
of commando force) i n 1939, fought take part i n the Franco-Austrian w a r of
with great dash and bravery behind 1859 and the occupation of R o m e which
German lines, but was eventually cap- followed. Recalled to France by G a m -
tured. Escaping at his fourth attempt, he betta after the defeat of the field army
joined the Free French forces i n N o r t h in 1870, he was appointed to command
Africa and distinguished himself i n the first the 16th Corps, then the A r m y of
invasions of Italy and southern France. the Loire i n the desperate and confused
In the postwar years he made a name as 'campaign i n the provinces' over the
one of the most dashing commanders of winter of 1870-1. M i c h a e l H o w a r d con-
a groupe mobile i n Indo-China and was siders that ' H e was incontestably the
selected to command the aero-terrestrial best of the French generals' of that tragic
base of D i e n Bien P h u for a 'decisive phase of the war.
battle' w i t h the Vietminh i n 1953. T h e
'decisive battle' shortly became an Charles Albert (1798-1849) K i n g of
agonizing siege, which he lacked the Sardinia (Piedmont), figurehead of the
qualities to manage, and command was Italian national movement against Aus-
effectively usurped by a group of para- tria. Succeeding to the throne i n 1832,
chutists which included the dynamic Charles Albert was persuaded to mobi-
Bigeard (q.v.). Castries's courage and lize the kingdom's forces against the
bearing throughout the siege, during Austrians during the popular uprising of

49
Charles, Archduke of Austria Charles V

M a r c h 1848. H e briefly liberated L o m - tician or statesman. Campaigning with

bardy from their control but was de- his armies in the field, Charles in general
cisively defeated by Radetzky (q.v.) at acted as a tempering and restraining i n -
Custozza, 22-5 July 1848, and N o v a r a , fluence upon them. O n two occasions,
23 M a r c h 1849. H e abdicated in favour after the battle of Edgehill (1642) and
of his son, Victor Emmanuel II, and the first battle of Newbury (1643), he
died in exile. resisted attempts to set the Royalist
army in a march on L o n d o n , in an at-
Charles, Archduke of Austria, D u k e of tempt to bring the war to a rapid conclu-
Teschen (1771-1847) Austrian field- sion. H e learnt the arts of war quickly.
marshal. T h i r d son of Emperor Leopold At the battle of Cropredy Bridge (1644),
II and brother of Emperor Francis I, not far from the site of Edgehill, he beat
Charles was adopted by the governor of a larger Parliamentary army under Sir
the Austrian Netherlands, the D u k e of W i l l i a m Waller (q.v.), a defeat which
Saxe-Teschen, and trained as a soldier. Waller claimed 'broke the heart of his
As a junior officer he fought at Jemap- army'. H e outmanoeuvred the stolid
pes, Neerwinden, Wattignies and Fleu- Essex, and at the second battle of N e w -
rus against the armies of the infant bury (October 1644) skilfully evaded the
French republic. In 1796-7 he com- Parliamentary armies which seemed set
manded the A r m y of the Rhine against to trap h i m , an evasion, again, the result
Jourdan and M o r e a u (qq.v.) and w o n of failure on the Parliamentary side. T h e
the victories of Rastadt, Arnberg and security of the south and west for the
Würzburg, which drove them back Royalist cause were the result of his
across the Rhine. Briefly in Italy, where energetic campaigning. But it was
he was not successful, he returned to the Charles's choice to give battle at Naseby
Rhine in 1799, beating Jourdan at Biber- (1645), against Prince Rupert's (q.v.),
ach and Stockach, but was himself then strongest protestations : the result was a
beaten by Masséna (q.v.) at Z u r i c h , disaster for the Royalist cause. H e was
whither the focus of the campaign had forced to flee the field, his standard was
shifted. H e then fell into disfavour with captured and his cause was in disarray.
the unstable Tsar Paul, retiring to Bo- In adversity, Charles continued to
hemia as governor but also busying him- show both considerable determination
self with the reform of the army, and d i d and a reckless physical courage, which
not take command again until the 1809 belied his reputation as an effete aes-
campaign. Defeated at Eckmühl, 22 thete. Throughout his life he had a fatal
A p r i l , he inflicted on Napoleon the first propensity for taking bad advice, and in
serious defeat of his career at Aspern- the military field he ran true to type. H e
Essling, 21-2 M a y , but was crushingly allowed himself to be too much swayed
beaten in the great battle of Wagram, both by his wife and his civilian advisers,
5-6 July 1809. H e must nevertheless be notably L o r d Digby, disregarding the
recognized as a really talented strategist advice of his professional military men.
and a serious student of the art of war.
O n his o w n behalf he waged a compe-
tent campaign, but with no flashes of
Charles I (1600-49) K i n g of England. inspiration.
When he raised his standard at Notting-
ham on 22 August 1642, signalling the Charles V (1500-58) H o l y R o m a n em-
start of the English C i v i l W a r (1642-6), peror. The last H o l y R o m a n emperor to
Charles was a military novice. In the be crowned by the Pope, Charles, from
war which followed he revealed himself his election as emperor in 1519, was
a more competent soldier than a poli- dominated by war or the threat of war.

50
Charles V of Lorraine Charles V of Lorraine

A n unmilitary figure who had the first broke out, in defence of M a r i a Theresa's
taste of battle in 1535 a t
siege of
t n e
inheritance of the Austrian empire, he
Tunis, he nevertheless spent over twenty and his brother took the field on the
years of his reign engaged in war. By far side of their adopted country. Charles
the greatest threat came from the T u r k s , led an army to counter the incursion by
who under Suleiman the Magnificent French 'volunteers' and Bavarian troops
(q.v.), sultan for all save the first year of into Bohemia, although he met w i t h
Charles's rule, had turned their attention little success. In 1742 he faced Frederick
from the east to the west. Both by land II, 'the Great', of Prussia, the first of
and sea the T u r k i s h menace was ever many encounters. O n this occasion
present: in 1529 they reached the gates Charles attacked at Chotusitz; but he
of Vienna, and barely a year passed was driven off by the Prussians after a
without some T u r k i s h activity i n the sharp encounter. T u r n i n g again, he at-
Balkans or the Mediterranean. Charles's tacked the French who had occupied
other enemies - the French, the Papacy Prague. T h e great danger he faced for
of Clement V I I , the German Protestants much of the war was of an attack in the
- were intermittent problems, and he flank or the rear from the enemy -
was reasonably successful against all of French, Bavarian or Prussian - which he
them. Francis I was taken prisoner at was not engaging. T i m e and again he
Pavia (1525), R o m e sacked and the Pope was forced to interrupt a crucial opera-
captured (1527), and the Protestant tion by the need to face a fresh enemy.
armies shattered at the battle of Mühl- But in June 1742 the Prussians left the
berg (1547). But no problem came war by the treaty of Breslau, and Charles
singly, and he proved unable to resolve was able to turn his attentions to the
the extraordinary complexity of the diffi- west. For two years he operated w i t h
culties which engaged h i m . In the end the allies - England, H o l l a n d , and some
the dream which he sustained of the of the small German states - probing
united empire of Christendom was the enemy's lines along the Rhine. But
found to be a vain, and ungovernable, Charles was outmanoeuvred by his
aspiration. W h e n he resigned as emperor French opponent Coigny, and his series
in 1556 he split his territories between of attacks failed.
his son, Philip, who took the Spanish In 1744 Frederick the Great decided
inheritance, and his brother, Ferdinand, that the time was ripe to re-enter the
who was elected emperor. war, and Charles moved east again to
face h i m . The armies sparred and in
Charles V of Lorraine, Alexander, June 1745, as Charles advanced into
Prince (1712-80) Imperial soldier. Prussian-occupied Silesia, they met for a
Charles's fortunes were tied closely to decisive battle, at Hohenfriedburg. Here
those of his elder brother Francis, who the Austrians and their Saxon allies lost
married M a r i a Theresa, heiress to the 16,000 men to the Prussians' 1000. Fred-
Habsburg domains, in 1736. (The L o r - erick pursued the remains of Charles's
raine family had long been connected army into Bohemia, but himself re-
with the Austrian Habsburgs, and the treated as the Austrian relief armies hur-
family lived in Vienna after 1723.) ried to fill the gap. Barely two months
Charles joined the Austrian army in later, i n September 1745, Frederick
1736 and took part in the unsuccessful trounced Charles again at the battle
T u r k i s h campaign of 1737—9, which re- of Sohr. Here, by a display of tactical
sulted in substantial Austrian losses at
virtuosity, he w o n the advantage of the
the treaty of Belgrade (1739). W h e n the
ground from Charles, and w i t h a sur-
war of the Austrian Succession (1740-8)
prise oblique attack caught the Austrians

51
Charles V of Lorraine Charles X I I

off balance. The result was 8000 Aus- Netherlands, which he had held since
trian dead and wounded for negligible 1744. H e was an able administrator and
Prussian casualties. T w o months later, highly respected by his subjects. A s a
at Hennersdorf, Frederick caught h i m soldier he had the misfortune to be
again, attacked and delivered another matched time and again against a con-
resounding defeat, turning swiftly to summate military genius; it is no real
catch a second Austrian column at discredit that he was worsted. W i t h i n
Görlitz. In their various encounters the canons of the coventional warfare of
Charles was invariably confounded by the day, he was competent and conscien-
the nerve and tactical genius of his tious. H e had a good eye for terrain and
opponent, and the superb discipline considerable tenacity in battle. These
and fighting skill of the Prussian were not small gifts.
soldiers.
When the Seven Years' W a r (1756-63) Charles X I I (1682-1718) K i n g of
broke out, Charles again faced the invad- Sweden. A character whose achieve-
ing Prussians, this time in front of ments and vices have become more
Prague. The battle was hard fought, mythical than real. Charles was a bril-
each side losing about 14,000 men, liant organizer and administrator, but a
troops which Frederick could i l l afford battlefield commander of lesser stature.
to sacrifice. Displaying the full reserves H e inherited from his father Charles X I
of his generalship. Frederick demolished a state and army which had been ruth-
the Austrians and French at Rossbach in lessly reformed and tested by experi-
early November, and hastened to meet ence; the army was without equal in
D a u n (q.v.) and Charles w h o had de- Europe for its fierce offensive spirit and
feated a Prussian army at Breslau. O n 6 its preference for cold steel rather than
December 1757, in probably the greatest fire-power as the decisive elements in a
of his battles - Leuthen - he used every battle. But Charles XII's o w n interest in
advantage of terrain, flanking assaults military affairs was consuming. H i s per-
and surprise to destroy the Austrian sonal bodyguard, the drabants, were put
army. H e confused Charles into believ- through a programme of arduous train-
ing that the main attack was to come on ing, in which he participated; the army
his right wing, and then delivered a shat- was enlarged from 65,000 to 77,000, and
tering blow, combining infantry and ar- the fleet much strengthened. H e encour-
tillery, to the left wing. O n l y nightfall aged the successful generals w h o m his
saved the Austrian army, completely father had appointed, in particular K a r l
wrongfooted despite herculean efforts Gustaf Rehnskjold, as well as H o r n ,
by D a u n and Charles to reconstruct the Stenbock and Sparre, and prepared for
line of battle, and the survivors streamed war against the many enemies who saw
back across the Schwiednitz river into the accession of an adolescent in 1697,
Breslau. Charles had lost more than in succession to such a successful soldier
20,000 captured, almost 7000 killed, and as Charles X I , as an opportunity to
116 guns: equally galling to Austrian pillage the Swedish empire. A t the
pride was the loss of 51 colours. Victory outbreak of the Great Northern W a r
had not been bought cheaply, and Freder- (1700-21), which was to occupy the
ick had almost as many dead as Charles. whole of Charles's life, Sweden faced
But whereas Frederick went on to fur- Denmark, Poland and Saxony, and, lat-
ther dazzling victories, Charles's career terly, Russia. M u c h of the credit for the
was in ruins. H e was relieved of his decisive Swedish moves early in the war,
command and returned, w i t h some pleas- including the attack on the Danes in
ure, to his position as governor of the Zealand (1700) and the defeat of the

52.
Charles XII Charles XII

Russians at N a r v a in November of the the Swedish supply train under Loewen-

same year, has been given to Charles, haupt (October 1708), which left the
but it belongs to Rehnskjold. N o t until Swedes to face winter w i t h d w i n d l i n g
the victory of K l i s z o w (1702), where resources. When spring came, Charles
12,000 Swedes beat 16,000 Saxons, d i d moved against the fortress of Poltava.
Charles make a significant contribution Peter attacked h i m , w i t h over 40,000
to the military success of the Swedish men to the Swedish 20,000 ; worst of a l l ,
army, and only in the following year d i d Charles was wounded before the battle
he undertake an independent action, free by a chance shot in the foot, which had
from the tutelage of his generals. A t festered, and could not maintain his
Pultusk (1703), he beat a Saxon army of usual active command. The battle was a
3500, w i t h Saxon losses of a thousand decisive Russian victory, which was to
for twenty Swedish dead. Poland fell be expected in the circumstances of their
into civil war, w i t h Charles supporting massive superiority in numbers, and
Stanislas Leszczynski against his enemy, Charles was hurried away on a litter to
Augustus II of Poland (q.v.). In 1705, escape capture. H e took refuge w i t h the
the Saxons were beaten again at Punitz T u r k s , his rather wayward allies; for
and Wszowa, while Rehnskjold five years, 1709-14, he ruled Sweden
trounced a force double his size at Frans- from the camp at Bender, trying always
tadt (1706). A t the treaty of Altranstädt, to construct an effective force which
after the invasion of Saxony itself had w o u l d allow h i m to launch a new attack
forced Augustus to negotiate, all on Russia. Tension grew over the years
Charles's objectives in Poland were with his T u r k i s h hosts, and in 1713, he
gained: he was now determined to was actually besieged in his camp, N e w
march east and dispose of the Russian Bender, by a huge T u r k i s h force; the
threat. H e built up his army, and in siege was something of a formality, and
particular its supply services, for what despite the growth of the myth about it,
he recognized w o u l d be an arduous and the Swedes suffered only fourteen casual-
difficult campaign, and on N e w Year's ties and the T u r k s , forty. Eventually,
Day, 1708, he marched into Russia with the complicated negotiations for his
an army of almost 45,000, the largest he return were concluded, and he made an
had ever commanded. H e had little epic secret dash across Europe, arriving
regard for the Russians as soldiers but at the Swedish outpost of Stralsund in
at the battle of H o l o w c z y n (1708), where November 1714. H e now took command
they fought stubbornly against the more in person of the defence of Sweden, and
skilful Swedes, he was forced to recog- began to put into effect the military and
nize that the task before h i m was more administrative reforms he had formu-
fearsome than he had anticipated. lated at Bender. H e fended off the as-
T h r o u g h the summer of 1708, while the saults of his enemies, while forging a
Russians adopted a scorched earth new army for renewed conquest: in the
policy, Charles attempted to create a creation of the army for the N o r w e g i a n
co-ordinated policy of alliances against campaign of 1717-18, his administrative
the Russians by using the Cossacks and talents came to the fore. H e revolution-
the Tartars to attack them from the ized the artillery, making it much more
south. But Peter the Great (q.v.) immedi- mobile and faster firing, and through
ately struck against M a z e p p a , the his active support for C a r l Cronstedt,
Hetman of the Cossacks, and deposed his artillery expert, made it the most
h i m , thus robbing Charles of support on effective in Europe. T h e Swedish army,
which he had depended. A more shatter- already renowned for its power of
ing blow came w i t h the destruction of attack, became more flexible as a result

53
Château-Renault, François Louis Cherwell, L o r d

of Charles's tactical reforms, and the battles only by A d o w a (see Baratieri)

harmony in manœuvre between the and not fully offset by his subsequent
various arms was marvelled at by con- victory at U l u n d i , 4 July.
temporaries. Charles was killed by a
chance enemy bullet at the siege of Chennault, Claire Lee (1898-
Fredriksten. H i s achievement lay not so 1953) American airman. A brilliant
much in the epic military encounters aerobatic flyer and veteran pilot of the
which were the basis for the myth, but First W o r l d W a r (19th Pursuit Squad-
in the effective absolutism which he ron), Chennault left the American air
established, enabling h i m to rule Sweden force in 1937. H e organized an air force
from the isolation of Bender or from his of American volunteer pilots to aid
camp in the field. Chiang Kai-shek's armies in their fight
with Japan before America's entry into
Château-Renault, François L o u i s , mar- the war. In 1942 these Flying Tigers
quis de (1637-1716) French admiral. were incorporated as the 14th (Volun-
Louis X I V ' s admirals, like many of his teer) A r m y A i r Force and Chennault
generals, displayed a high level of gen- was made a major-general. In early 1942
eral competence, but their handicap lay the force destroyed 300 Japanese air-
in a lack of resources allocated to the craft, though flying only 250 itself, and
navy. The navy was virtually the cre- blunted the Japanese offensive in C h e k i -
ation of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis ang and Kiang. By July 1943 Chennault's
X I V ' s finance minister, and possessed air force commanded the Chinese skies.
some 270 vessels in 1677. T h e ships were H e resigned his command in 1945 in
well built and thoroughly provisioned, protest at official demands to disband
both in men and equipment. But in the the remaining American volunteer ele-
latter part of the reign, after Colbert's ment of the Chinese air force.
death, his reforms began to lose their
effect. Château-Renault nevertheless Cherwell, L o r d (Frederick Alexander
played an important role in the Irish Lindemann, i s t Viscount C h e r w e l l ;
campaign of 1689, for a time cutting 1886-1957) Scientific adviser to Winston
communications between Ireland and Churchill. Though born at Baden-Baden
the English mainland, blockading L o n - of an Alsatian father, 'the P r o f was
donderry, and ferrying French troops to British by nationality and passionately
support James H's attempt to recover British in sentiment. A n able experimen-
his throne. H e fended off an English tal physicist and a dynamic scientific
fleet under Torrington (q.v.) at Bantry administrator (he became director of the
Bay (1689), and in 1690 he led the van- R o y a l Flying Corps Experimental Phys-
guard of the fleet under de Tourville ics Station at Farnborough in 1914), he
(q.v.), which beat Torrington off Beachy explained mathematically why an air-
Head. C o n t r o l of the seas now passed craft got into spin, hitherto thought
to the French, but they failed to exploit it. fatal, and how it could be got out, delib-
erately putting a plane into a spin to
Chelmsford, Frederic Augustus demonstrate his belief in the accuracy of
Thesiger, 2nd Baron (1827-1905) Brit- his calculations. Between the wars he
ish general. Commander of British became a close friend of Winston
troops in South Africa during the Z u l u Churchill (q.v.) and in 1940 his personal
W a r , 1879, Chelmsford lost a major part scientific adviser (officially paymaster-
of his army to Cetewayo's impis at general 1942-5). As such, he was the
Isandhlwana on 22 January, a disaster first scientist to influence directly the
rivalled in scale among Afro-European conduct of a war, his belief in the effi-

54
C h i a n g Kai-shek Chodkiewicz, Jan Karol

cacy of 'area' bombing being crucial to concentration on the struggle against the
its adoption by Bomber C o m m a n d , Japanese - to extinguish Communist
though his advice o n this, and many power in C h i n a led shortly to his d o w n -
other matters, was disputed by other fall. In the civil w a r with the armies of
government scientists. Arrogant, aloof, M a o Tse-tung (q.v.), which broke out i n
singleminded, crankish, Cherwell made 1947, his forces were overwhelmed and
many enemies and few friends. But in 1949 he withdrew their remnants to
C h u r c h i l l believed in the soundness of Formosa (Taiwan), though America and
his advice and the British war effort many of its allies continued to recognize
probably benefited from ChurchilPs lis- the legitimacy of his regime until 1972.
tening to a single scientific voice, Hitler's
listening to many being the cause of a Ch'ien L u n g (1711-99) Chinese em-
wasteful diffusion of scientific effort in peror. Under C h ' i e n L u n g , the fourth
wartime Germany. C h i n g emperor, the M a n c h u empire of
C h i n a reached its greatest extent.
C h i a n g Kai-shek (1887-1975) Chinese C o m i n g to the throne i n succession to
general and head of state. B o r n i n Feng- his grandfather, K'anghsi, he extended
hwa, Chekiang, and trained as an officer effective Chinese control i n Tibet (1751),
in T o k y o , Chiang Kai-shek belonged to conquered Sinkiang (1755—9), and i n
the generation of young Chinese w h o 1790-2 sent an expeditionary force into
attempted, under the inspiration of Sun N e p a l . T h e latter exploit marked the
Yat-sen, to transform their decayed zenith of the M a n c h u s ' military power.
empire into a modern state. A t Sun's Once more C h i n a was an effective force
bidding he became commandant of the in central A s i a , and C h ' i e n L u n g united
new republic's military academy at territorial expansion to a period of high
W h a m p o a and i n 1926 took command prosperity and economic development.
of the army which set out to establish Although he notionally abdicated i n
the power of the central government 1796, he i n fact ruled, w i t h the aid of
over the war lords and the Communists, his powerful minister H o Shen, until his
into whose hands the provinces of C h i n a death.
had fallen. By a mixture of negotiation
and military action he achieved the nomi- Chodkiewicz, Jan Karol (1560-
nal submission of most (though not of 1621 ) Polish soldier and cavalry gen-
the Communists) by 1928. F r o m 1931 he eral. Born into a leading Ruthene family,
had to deal also with the incursion of Chodkiewicz created a 'godly army' of
the Japanese, first i n M a n c h u r i a , then outstanding cavalry, effective both
from 1937 in heartland C h i n a . Their against the Swedes and T u r k s , t w o to-
success forced h i m to withdraw the capi- tally different styles of warfare. H e estab-
tal from N a n k i n g to Chungking in the lished his reputation i n a great campaign
interior from which, supplied with plenti- against the T u r k s in 1600, under the
ful American aid and air support after command of Jan Z a m o y s k i , which
December 1941, he waged an unrelent- drove back the invaders. But the real
ing struggle in C h i n a and Burma until conflict was for the control of the Baltic
the end of the war. Acclaimed as the littoral w i t h Sweden. After the T u r k i s h
symbol of Chinese resistance to the A x i s , war, he turned to the battles i n L i v o n i a
and accepted as the co-equal of Stalin, (where he had his family roots). T h e
C h u r c h i l l and Roosevelt, he emerged invading Swedes under Charles of Soder-
from the war as Asia's leading statesman mannland were well trained, but unim-
and its representative i n w o r l d politics. aginative in their tactics; in particular,
But his failure - caused partly by his they relied heavily on fire-power both

55
Chodkiewicz, Jan Karol C h u i k o v , Vasilii Ivanovich

for offence and defence, lacking a solid soon developed, w i t h neither side gain-
body of trained pikemen. The Polish ing much of an advantage, until the
calvary, possibly the best in Europe, shat- treaty of Deulino (1618) established an
tered the Swedish ranks, charging at full uneasy peace and consolidated the
tilt into the ill-protected lines. Outside Polish conquests. T h e T u r k s , mean-
formal battle, Chodkiewicz developed while, had taken advantage of Poland's
great skill in harrying an enemy, break- occupation in the east and invaded the
ing his morale and destroying his com- Ukraine. Chodkiewicz turned to meet
munications. The traditional problem this new threat and succeeded in stem-
with many cavalry armies was disci- ming the T u r k i s h advance. A t the battle
pline, but Chodkiewicz trained and con- of C h o c i m (1621), a Polish army of
trolled his men to a high degree. 75,000 defeated a T u r k i s h host of
H e received little support, either finan- 200,000 led by Sultan O s m a n , but C h o d -
cial or in manpower, from the Polish kiewicz was killed in the struggle. H e
king Sigismund III (q.v.), but w i t h a was one of the great cavalry command-
small army he expelled the Swedes from ers of history, using the rough material
Riga, and took the towns of Dorpat at his disposal and moulding it into a
(1601) and Reval. In 1601 he smashed flexible, disciplined army, capable of
the Swedish army again at Weissenstein. lightning movement and pulverizing
Charles, now Charles I X of Sweden, blows in battle. H e influenced the form
returned to the war w i t h an army which the Swedish army adopted under Gus-
had been re-equipped to withstand the tavus Adolphus (q.v.), for the experience
Polish attack. But his men had not been of the wars w i t h Poland changed the
properly trained in so short a time and whole attitude of the Swedes towards
again Chodkiewicz w o n a dramatic vic- cavalry.
tory. A t K i r c h o l m (1604) his 4500 lanc-
ers and swordsmen destroyed a Swedish Chuikov, Vasilii Ivanovich (1900-
army of 14,000, by the simple expedient 82) M a r s h a l of the Soviet U n i o n . A
of drawing the Swedes into an incau- volunteer to the infant R e d A r m y , C h u -
tious attack and then turning swiftly on ikov became a regular officer after the
them to demolish the ragged lines. Once C i v i l W a r , escaped the great purge and
again, cavalry, well led, could rout any spent 1941-2 in C h i n a as military ad-
infantry not well supported by pikemen. viser to Chiang Kai-shek (q.v.). O n his
In all, the Swedes lost 9000 men. C h o d - return he became commander of the
kiewicz now turned into Poland again, 62nd A r m y (later renamed the 8th
putting d o w n a revolt against Sigismund Guards A r m y for its distinguished con-
(1606—7). In 1609 a n e
Swedish attack
w
duct), which in late 1942 found itself
was driven off from R i g a ; and after engaged in the defence of Stalingrad,
Charles's death in 1611 a truce was providing the soldiers who occupied the
made with Sweden. tiny strip of ruins on the west bank of
Chodkiewicz now turned to lead the the V o l g a , which was all of the city that
Polish attack on Russia, which was the Russians had prevented from falling
much weakened by dynastic strife. In into German hands. C h u i k o v main-
1610 the Poles had taken M o s c o w and tained his command post on the west
Chodkiewicz hoped to relieve the Polish bank and by inspired leadership sus-
garrisons, now hard pressed. But he was tained the defence until Z h u k o v (q.v.)
ill-supported once again, and in the vast could organize the decisive counter-
waste of Russia his troops mutinied for offensive. H e later led his army in the
lack of pay ; he was forced to retreat to recapture of Odessa and the assault on
Smolensk. A pattern of border raiding Berlin, became commander-in-chief of

56
 Chu Teh Clausewitz, Karl Maria von

the Soviet occupation forces in Germany when he defeated the papal forces at
and eventually deputy minister of de- Castelfidardo, 18 September i860.
fence i n the Russian government. H e
was the author of an account of the Clark, Mark Wayne (1896-
defence of Stalingrad, The Beginning of 1984) American general. B o r n into a
the Road, remarkable for the freshness military family and educated at West
of its style and the frankness of its Point, C l a r k was wounded i n France i n
judgements. the First W o r l d W a r . In 1942 he was
appointed commander of ground forces
C h u T e h (1886-1976) M a r s h a l of the in Europe as Eisenhower's deputy. Prior
People's Republic of C h i n a (all ranks, to America's first great European m i l i -
including that of marshal, were abol- tary operation, the T o r c h landings i n
ished i n the P L A in 1965). T h e senior of N o r t h Africa, he was landed i n Algeria
the ten marshals created i n 1955 and the from a submarine to make contact w i t h
leading Communist general of the civil the V i c h y French garrison ; after the land-
war, C h u T e h was born of peasant par- ings, he negotiated a ceasefire w i t h A d -
ents in Szechwan and educated at the miral D a r l a n (q.v.) and recognized h i m
Y u n n a n M i l i t a r y Academy, where he as head of state, a move not without
joined Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary move- repercussions. In the invasion of Italy he
ment. In 1921 he gave up his military commanded the Fifth A r m y , directed
career a n d sailed for Europe, where he the unsuccessful A n z i o operation and
met C h o u Enlai and joined the Chinese was responsible for the controversial de-
Communist Party. O n his return to cision to bomb the monastery of M o n t e
C h i n a i n 1925 he became a R e d A r m y Cassino. H e made a triumphal entry
commander i n the south and i n 1930 into R o m e , 4 June 1944, and i n Decem-
was named commander o f a l l the C h i - ber succeeded Alexander (q.v.) as A l l i e d
nese Communist armies. D u r i n g the civil commander i n Italy, directing the cam-
war he commanded a l l the Liberation paign to its conclusion. H e was subse-
armies. quently American commander in Austria
and then in the Far East. O n retirement
C i a l d i n i , Enrico (1811-92) Italian gen- he became commandant of the Citadel,
eral. A soldier not so much of fortune a private military academy, i n Charles-
as of ideology. Cialdini's name crops up ton, South C a r o l i n a . A n excellent com-
on the 'liberal' side i n the minor and mander of multi-national armies and an
major wars of southern Europe, 1830- able strategist, C l a r k is perhaps unfairly
70. B o r n i n the duchy of M o d e n a , he best remembered for his photogenic
took part i n the revolt organized by good looks and flair for press relations.
M a z z i n i against the Austrian puppet gov-
ernment (1831) and was exiled to Portu- Clausewitz, K a r l M a r i a v o n (1780-
gal, where he fought for Queen M a r i a 1831) Philosopher of war. H i s military
against the pretender M i g u e l , 1832-4. In career was respectably successful. B o r n
1835 he was in Spain, fighting for Queen at Burg, near Magdeburg, he joined the
M a r i a Christina against the Carlists, but Prussian army, fought against the French
returned to Italy in time for the national- on the Rhine i n 1793-4, d secured
a n

ist w a r against the Austrians, 1848-9. entry to the Berlin military academy.
Promoted general in the royal Piedmon- There he attracted the attention of
tese army, he distinguished himself i n Scharnhorst (q.v.), transferred to the
the victory of Palestro over the Austri- staff o n which he served during the
ans, 30 M a y 1859, and i n the Piedmon- 1806 campaign and was captured after
tese campaign to assist G a r i b a l d i (q.v.), Auerstadt. O n his release he became an

57
Clausewitz, K a r l M a r i a v o n C l i n t o n , Sir H e n r y

assistant to Scharnhorst in the secret of nuclear weapons makes the Haupt-

reform of the Prussian army, was sel- schlacht too dangerous an object for
ected as military tutor to the crown which to play, and the Clausewitzian
prince (the future W i l h e l m I) and in philosophy has, i n the nuclear age, come
1812 chose, like many other Prussian under heavy and continuous criticism.
officers, to defect to Russia rather than But as a thesis i n strategic dialectic it
serve Napoleon i n the enforced collab- retains a permanent force.
oration between his country and France.
In Russian service, he was a staff officer Clerfayt, François Sebastien Charles
with Puhl and Wittgenstein (q.v.) and Joseph de C r o i x (comte de Clerfayt;
helped negotiate the convention of Taur- 1733-98) Austrian field-marshal. B o r n
rogen, which brought the army of Y o r c k at Bruille i n the Austrian Netherlands
von Wartenburg (q.v.) over to the Rus- (Belgium), Clerfayt fought i n the Seven
sian side. Readmitted to the Prussian Years' W a r and against the T u r k s , and
army i n 1814, he was chief of staff to in 1792 was given an Austro-Prussian
Thielmann at Ligny and Wavre. corps which he commanded at V a l m y
But his real and lasting achievements and Jemappes. Later he raised the siege
were of the mind. In 1818 he was pro- of Maastricht, took L e Quesnoy and
moted major-general and appointed d i - contributed to the victory at Neer-
rector of the Kriegsakademie, the Berlin winden. In 1795 he commanded the i m -
staff college, founded i n 1810, which perial army which recaptured M a i n z
was subsequently to serve as a model from Custine (q.v.)
for a l l foreign staff colleges. But curi-
ously his post was a sinecure and he C l i n t o n , Sir H e n r y (1738-95) British
devoted his leisure to writing about war. general. T h e only senior British general
A good deal of his writing was historical in the American W a r of Independence
and little of this has been translated. with a natural connection w i t h N o r t h
But his philosophical w o r k - heavily America (he was born i n Newfound-
though apparently unconsciously influ- land), C l i n t o n joined the British army i n
enced by Kantian and Hegelian idealism 1757 and had a rapid if not meteoric
- discovered after his death (in the great rise: by 1772 he was a general and was
cholera epidemic of 1831) has been dis- sent as second-in-command to Sir W i l -
seminated throughout the w o r l d . T h e liam H o w e (q.v.) at the start of the war
delicacy of his analysis and its eclecti- (1775-83). In 1778 H o w e resigned his
cism defies summary. H i s ideals, more- command and C l i n t o n took over. H e
over, have been as much misapplied as was instrumental in developing the
understood. But their main thrust was southern strategy which produced such
a) to depict w a r as 'the continuation of dramatic results in 1780. Savannah was
state (peace) policy', instead of as a dis- captured, and C l i n t o n arrived with
junctive activity, and b) to make the 14,000 to take Charleston; the city fell
destruction of the enemy's main force in M a y 1780 and C l i n t o n , convinced
by a decisive battle (Hauptschlacht) the that the southern campaign was com-
proper object of a general's strategy, pleted, returned to his base in N e w Y o r k
rather than the seeking of advantage by leaving Cornwallis (q.v.) with 8000 men
manœuvre, evasion or delay. H i s ideas to mop up the American remnants. But
captured the mind of the Prussian army, under Nathanael Greene (q.v.) the
underlying its strategy i n the wars of American cause rallied. C l i n t o n soon
1866 and 1870, and were profoundly disagreed violently w i t h Cornwallis's
influential on a l l armies i n the First and assessment of the situation. A s at
Second W o r l d Wars. T h e development Saratoga, confused orders and bad

58
Clive, Robert, ist Baron Cochrane, Thomas

communications led to a disaster : C o r n - captain of a sloop, 1800-1, he took over

wallis, ordered into an untenable pos- fifty prizes and in 1809, in command of
ition, was forced to surrender to a fleet of fireships, he broke into the
Washington at Y o r k t o w n in October roadsteads at A i x where the French fleet
1781, the anniversary of Burgoyne's was blockaded. H i s superior, Gambier,
(q.v.) surrender at Saratoga. C l i n t o n re- was however miles away and d i d not
signed his command and returned to come to his support, so that only four
England. L i k e so many generals of the enemy ships were destroyed. For the
American war, he hastened to exculpate action Cochrane was knighted and G a m -
himself with A Narrative of the Cam- bier voted the thanks of Parliament - at
paign of 1781, which was published in which Cochrane protested so violently
1783. Cornwallis was not amused, for that he was court-martialled, but acquit-
C l i n t o n contrived to shift the blame for ted. H e had been elected to Parliament
the disaster on to h i m . In 1794 C l i n t o n himself in 1807 and used his seat to
was appointed governor of Gibraltar, protest at abuses in the administration
where he died. of the navy. N o w on such bad terms
with the A d m i r a l t y that it w o u l d not
Clive, Robert, ist Baron (1725- offer h i m suitable employment, he de-
74) British soldier and administrator. voted his time to furthering the exposure
In two great military enterprises - the in Parliament of naval malpractices,
capture of Arcot (1751) and the battle of until in 1814 he was tried and i m -
Plassey (1757) - Clive frustrated French prisoned for a fraud (of which he was
designs in India (see Dupleix) and estab- innocent). Dismissed from the service,
lished the foundations of secure British degraded from his knighthood and ex-
rule over the subcontinent. T h e capture pelled from Parliament, he was almost
of Arcot, the capital of Chanda Sahib, a immediately re-elected by his constitu-
leading French supporter, was main- ents, who refused to believe that C o -
tained w i t h a tiny garrison against an chrane was guilty. H e himself always
army of 10,000. But Clive survived a suspected that the A d m i r a l t y was respon-
siege of fifty days, and Arcot remained sible for implicating h i m and, after serv-
in English hands. Six years later at Plas- ing his term and paying his fine - for
sey, his military talents now recognized, which public subscription reimbursed
Clive faced the army of Suraja D o w l a , h i m - he returned to Parliament to carry
50,000 strong, and a force of 53 guns on his campaign.
under French command, with a force of In 1818, however, Cochrane was of-
1100 Europeans, 2100 native troops and fered by the Chilean government com-
10 guns. H e relied on fire-power and a mand of its infant navy in its war of
forceful attack on the shattered Indian liberation from Spain. By a campaign of
ranks to sweep them away in confusion. blockade and raiding, he disrupted the
H e lost twenty-three men killed and Spanish coastal defences of C h i l e and
gained not only Bengal, but fame and then turning to Peru compelled by his
fortune for himself. almost unaided efforts - the army of San
M a r t i n (q.v.) which he had embarked
Cochrane, T h o m a s , 10th Earl of D u n - playing little effective part - the capitula-
donald (177 5-1860) British admiral tion of L i m a , the capital (6 July 1821)
(admiral also i n the service of Chile, and of the Spanish government of the
Brazil and Greece). Eldest son of the colony. H e was for a short while a hero ;
ninth earl, the well-known experimental but, falling out with the government
chemist, Cochrane chose the family call- of liberation, accepted in 1825 an offer
ing and entered the navy in 1793. A s from the emperor of Brazil to command

59
Codrington, (Sir) Edward Collins, Michael

its navy in the war of liberation against cruise off Greece in the course of its war
Portugal, which he did until peace was of independence from Turkey. O n 20
signed between the two countries. H e October he destroyed the T u r k i s h fleet
managed, nevertheless, to part from the under T a h i r Pasha at N a v a r i n o , the
Brazilians on bad terms and at once action which effectually decided the out-
accepted command of the Greek navy - come of the w a r ; like the N i l e battle, it
one constructed by a loan secured by was fought close inshore with the ships
British supporters of her independence - at anchor. Codrington was held to have
in her war of liberation with Turkey. exceeded his instructions but vindicated
This episode was not a fruitful one, few himself and was later employed as
of Greece's ships ever appearing, though commander-in-chief, Portsmouth.
all the money evaporated.
In 1832, after much effort, Cochrane C o l ling w o o d , Cuthbert (ist Baron
secured reappointment in the R o y a l C o l l i n g w o o d ; 1758-1810) British ad-
N a v y and devoted himself thencefor- miral, Nelson's principal lieutenant.
ward to experiments with steam and Entering the navy at eleven in his cousin's
screw propulsion, of which he was an frigate Shannon, his first experience of
early proponent. In 1847 he was rein- action was at Bunker's H i l l , where he
stated in the Order of the Bath, in 1848 was put ashore with a landing party of
he was appointed commander-in-chief sailors. For his good service he was pro-
on the West Indian station, and in 1854 moted lieutenant. Court-martialled for
nominated rear-admiral of the United surliness to his captain in 1777, but ac-
K i n g d o m (he was by then full admiral quitted, he had the good fortune in 1778
in the navy). H e was not employed in to be posted first lieutenant in the Lowes-
the Crimean W a r , though much con- toft, the captain of which was N e l s o n ,
sideration was given to his 'secret war with w h o m his career was henceforth to
plan' (which he had been advocating be entwined. Captain of the Barfleur at
since 1811) and which he declared (and the Glorious First of June (1794), he
the Admiralty apparently believed) pro- commanded the Excellent at Cape St
vided an infallible method of overwhelm- Vincent, 14 February 1797, took two
ing the defences of Sebastopol and Spanish first rates and assisted the Cap-
Cronstadt. The A d m i r a l t y eventually tain, Nelson's ship, in the capture of a
rejected it on the grounds of humanity third. For the next eight years he was
and its nature was kept secret until 1908, almost continuously employed on block-
when it was revealed to be a scheme ade of the French and Spanish coasts
for the discharge of sulphur fumes - a (consoled meanwhile by promotion to
prefigurement of poison gas warfare. rear and then vice-admiral), but in 1805
Cochrane remains an enigma, frustrated was appointed to a squadron assisting
Nelson to pursue the French fleet which
genius or an embittered eccentric accord-
had broken out of harbour. Under
ing to taste.
Nelson's command he led the lee d i -
Codrington, (Sir) Edward (1770- vision, when the combined French and
1851) British admiral. Flag lieutenant Spanish fleets were brought to battle at
to H o w e (q.v.) at the Glorious First of Trafalgar at the end of the chase, and at
June, 1794, and captain of the Orion at its head broke their line. H e was en-
Trafalgar - in which battle Nelson had nobled for his part in the battle.
nominated h i m to lead the third column,
were one to have been formed - C o d - Collins, M i c h a e l (1890-1922) Irish
rington went in 1827 to command revolutionary. F r o m humble origins, C o l -
the Anglo-Russo-French fleet ordered to lins rose by ability, force of character,

6o
Condé, Louis II de B o u r b o n , 'The Great* Condé, Louis II de B o u r b o n , 'The Great'

charm and ruthlessness to leadership in victory over the Spanish at R o c r o i

the independence movement which grew (1643). A t the age of twenty-two he
out of the defeat of the D u b l i n rising of smashed the tercios (infantry) under
Easter 1916. Elected a Westminster M P Francisco de M e l o (q.v.) by concentrated
in 1918, he, like the other Sinn Fein artillery fire: but R o c r o i , in keeping
candidates, refused to sit in L o n d o n , with his personality, was essentially a
assembling in a D a i l (parliament) in Ire- cavalry battle. The due d'Enghien (as he
land and creating a parallel machinery was until his father died in 1646) took
of government in which he held the post command over Turenne (q.v.) in the
of minister of finance. H e raised substan- Rhineland campaign in 1644 and capped
tial loans at home and in America, but his reputation with a fine campaign in
his main achievement was as director of the Netherlands, although, to his fury,
intelligence and subversion, his early command was given to Gaston D'Orlé-
career as a post office clerk equipping ans. M a z a r i n sent him to Spain, anxious
h i m w i t h a useful understanding of the to remove so successful a young prince
(British) enemy's channels of communi- from the French scene, and although he
cations. A wanted man, he eluded cap- failed to take Lerida the campaign was
ture though taking little care to hide a strategic success for France. But Condé
himself and organized ruthless counter- was needed in the north, and he waged
blows against the British intelligence a brilliant battle at Lens (1648), defeat-
service, the most notable of which was ing the imperial army under the A r c h -
the murder in their beds of twelve British duke Leopold W i l h e l m . But after the
intelligence officers on one Sunday morn- close of the T h i r t y Years' W a r , Condé's
ing. In December 1921 he was a member close involvement in the civil wars of
of the delegation which agreed in the Fronde (1648-53) served to breed
L o n d o n to limited independence for an great distrust between h i m and the
Irish Free State and, on the movement young K i n g Louis X I V . Although Condé
splitting over this, became chairman of stood aloof from the first Fronde and
the provisional government, and later, helped to suppress it, his ambition and
when civil war broke out, commander haughty pride made M a z a r i n fearful : he
of the Free State army. H e was killed in imprisoned both Condé who had not
an ambush by republican forces o n 22 entered the rebellion, and his brother
August 1922. The 'Big Fellow' is an C o n t i , who had, together w i t h their
important figure in Irish revolutionary brother-in-law the due de Longueville,
legend and has claims to be regarded as for thirteen months. Freed by popular
the chief pioneer of modern urban guer- pressure, he sought to dominate the
rilla warfare. court, until he overstepped his power
and was forced into open rebellion, ally-
Condé, Louis II de B o u r b o n , ' T h e Great' ing himself with the Spanish (1652). H e
(1621-86) It was remarked that on his was sentenced to death in absentia as a
deathbed, sparing time from a hastily rebel in 1654. H e fought the royal forces
made acceptance of the benefits of reli- under Turenne with some success, but
gion, Condé took time to write to Louis the Spanish were never w i l l i n g to trust
X I V reminding h i m of his status as pre- h i m entirely and kept h i m o n a short
mier Prince of the B l o o d . A n overween- rein, with few troops or support. T h e
ing arrogance persisted in h i m from defeat at the battle of the Dunes (1658)
childhood, a confidence which also at which Condé was present was not his
served to make him an extremely effec- fault, for he advised against giving battle
tive attacking soldier. H e sprang into in an exposed position, under fire from
military prominence w i t h an astonishing the sea and without proper artillery

61
C o n i n g h a m , Sir A r t h u r C o r d o b a , G o n z a l o Fernandez, C o n d e de

support. When peace was made in 1659 C o n r a d von Hötzendorf, Franz, Frhr.
a general amnesty was declared, and (1852-1925) Austrian field-marshal.
Condé was able to return home. The last of the feldherrn in the Benedek-
Although theoretically reconciled Radetzky (qq.v.) tradition, C o n r a d von
with the king, Louis X I V never fully Hötzendorf was chief of the general staff
forgot Condé's treason and never re- from 1907 to 1917. H i g h l y educated, an
posed his full confidence in h i m , as he accomplished linguist (a difficult repu-
did in Turenne. In the W a r of Devol- tation to acquire in a polyglot state) and
ution (1667-8), and the Dutch war a man of wide political understanding,
(1672-8), Condé commanded armies in he was nevertheless an advocate before
Flanders under the watchful eye of the 1914 of aggressive war, either against
king. H e was almost invariably success- Serbia or Italy, an initiative which he
ful in battle, and at Seneffe (1674) his believed w o u l d stifle separatism within
power and audacity in attack enabled the multinational empire. It was his
h i m to defeat a Dutch army of 67,000 insistence on threatening Serbia w i t h
with scarcely a third of that number. attack in July 1914 which helped to
But he was hampered, as was Turenne, precipitate the First W o r l d W a r . H e is
by Louis's interference: unencumbered usually held to have been a brilliant
by the royal presence his campaign strategist, whose plans were frustrated
might have achieved even greater suc- by the weakness of the machine through
cess. W i t h Turenne's death in 1675, which he had to w o r k or, alternatively,
Condé hurried to defend Alsace against stolen by the Germans, but that esti-
Montecuccoli (q.v.), and completed the mation must be taken largely on the
w o r k of forcing the imperial army back say-so of his admirers. H e was replaced,
over the Rhine. In this last campaign he on the death of Franz Josef, by A r z von
was already stricken with the gout Straussenberg (q.v.).
which was to make h i m almost totally
inactive, and he retired to his house at C o r d o b a , G o n z a l o Fernandez, Conde de
Chantilly. Although he did not possess (1453-1515) Spanish soldier. C o r d o b a ,
Turenne's subtlety as a general, he was el Gran Capitan, was one of the soldiers
a military commander of a high order. of genius in the sixteenth century, a
general whose skills embraced inno-
C o n i n g h a m , Sir A r t h u r (1895-1948) vation in the organization of armies,
British air marshal. After an early m i l i - a solid grasp of logistics, subtle diplo-
tary career spent w i t h troops from N e w macy, as well as luck in battle. B o r n a
Zealand, where he had been brought up Castilian of good family, he soon estab-
(hence his R A F nickname ' M a o r i ' ) , C o n - lished himself at the court of Isabella of
ingham became a specialist in long- Castile. H i s real proving ground, how-
distance flying. In 1939 commander of ever, was the long war against the king-
N o . 4 Bomber G r o u p , he took over the d o m of Granada, which ended in 1492
Desert A i r Force in 1941 and directed its with the capture of the city of Granada
operations in support of the Eighth from the M o o r s . T h e campaigning com-
A r m y throughout its long fight with the prised a mixture of small, hectic cavalry
Afrika Korps. H e later commanded the skirmishes and positional warfare as the
Anglo-American ist Tactical A i r Force in innumerable small towns and villages
the Tunisian and Southern Italian C o m - were taken. Thus his experience united
pany, and in 1944 took over command an understanding of the demands of
of the 2nd Tactical A i r Force, which mobile war with the technical disciplines
supported the Allied invasion of north- of siegecraft and the use of explosives.
west Europe and the liberation campaign. H i s positions of command were minor

62
C o r d o b a , G o n z a l o Fernandez, Conde de C o r d o b a , G o n z a l o Fernandez, Conde de

but he attracted the attention of the to protect his infantry, while the French
queen and her husband, Ferdinand of destroyed themselves by assaults on his
A r a g o n , and he was sufficiently high in guns. Once demoralized, he completed
their favour to be given in 1495 com- their destruction by loosing his infantry
mand of the expeditionary force sent to from behind their palisade to carry the
support the king of Naples against the battlefield. The duc de Nemours, the
French. H i s technique was to avoid French commander, was killed and the
pitched battles (after an initial disaster balance of power in Italy swung in C o r -
at Seminara) and to harass the enemy's doba's direction. T h e importance of
long lines of communication, a tech- Cerignola was that it was the first battle
nique so recently used against h i m in in which small-arms played the decisive
Granada. Progressively he weakened the role, for C o r d o b a was unable to use his
French hold on the countryside, and artillery after his explosive store had
then concentrated on the garrisons hold- been detonated by an unlucky accident.
ing the cities of the kingdom. In the H e later demonstrated his mastery of
summer of 1496 he besieged and cap- combined operations involving all three
tured Atella and took the French com- major arms.
mander, Montspensier, prisoner; the T h e winter of 1503 saw C o r d o b a on
recovery of the R o m a n port of Ostia, at the Garigliano river, facing the French
the mouth of the Tiber, earned h i m the on the far bank. Shattering their sense
gratitude of the Pope. H e returned home of security, by stringing a pontoon
in 1498 with an understanding of what bridge across the supposedly impassable
was needed if the Spanish armies were river, which gave his army a huge tacti-
to compete with the French. cal advantage i n the ensuing night
T h e lesson of the war was that Spain attack, he revealed in this operation the
needed a flexible infantry formation, greatest of his capacities: an ability to
capable of protecting and accommodat- co-ordinate a set of widely disparate
ing fire-power, able to move and man- activities, with only rudimentary commu-
œuvre even over rough ground, and, most nications, and to bring them together
important, responsive to command and for a concerted, planned attack. It was a
able to co-operate with artillery, cavalry victory for an enterprising mind which
and other arms. C o r d o b a expanded quickly assessed the enemy's weakness,
the Swiss doctrine of the use of pike- and had a real knowledge of the tech-
men, the most successful infantry of nical capacity at his disposal; and
the day, which he had experienced in well-drilled troops responsive to his com-
Italy, by increasing their offensive mand. The victory at the Garigliano
capacity: he added a group of arque- virtually destroyed the offensive capacity
busiers to fight from within or in front of the F r e n c h ; by January 1504 he had
of the spear w a l l , giving his formation captured Gaeta, and the treaty of Blois
a unique power to resist cavalry attacks, forced the French to end their claim to
and a much greater shock power than Naples. But Cordoba's protector Isa-
opposing infantry. When next in Italy, bella was now dead, and Ferdinand, sus-
the effectiveness of this force was picious of his growing influence in the
demonstrated. w o r l d of Mediterranean diplomacy, re-
Facing the French again in 1502, C o r - called h i m . For the last eight years of
doba was, as before, heavily outnum- his life he lived quietly in retirement.
bered. In A p r i l 1503 he brought them to The root cause of Cordoba's triumphs
battle on ground of his o w n choosing at was his ability to recognize the reasons
Cerignola. Here he routed a larger behind his success, and to take eclecti-
French force, by using field fortifications cally the best ideas of his opponents.

63
Cornwallis, Charles, Marquess Cortes, H e r n a n

H i s reforms in organization and training battle, at G u i l f o r d Courthouse (1781),

made infantry units of 6000 men inde- Cornwallis w o n , but with heavy losses:
pendent manoeuvring bodies, capable of his weakened position forced h i m , to
rapid defence or attack. The mixture of Clinton's fury, to abandon the
pikes and firearms, swords and javelins, Carolinas.
provided a balance between position and In the autumn of 1781 Cornwallis
manœuvre; but the emphasis was on took up a strong position on the tip of
the offensive. H e saw that great battles the Virginia Peninsula, at Y o r k t o w n ,
were to be won by the infantry engaging where the British fleet provided his
and destroying the enemy's main force. means of support and relief. Late in
Cavalry was to scout and skirmish ; artil- September 1781 nearly 17,000 American
lery to break up field formations. Infan- and French troops under Washington
try was the queen of the battlefield. surrounded Cornwallis, with his 8000:
Cordoba's victories and his scheme of the British temporarily lost control of
organization was to give the Spanish the the sea, and Cornwallis was forced to
basis of military supremacy for over a surrender when his position became un-
century. tenable (October 1781). Despite the
defeat, and possibly because of his op-
Cornwallis, Charles, Marquess (1738- position connections, his reputation did
1805) British soldier. The best British not suffer. In 1786 he was appointed
general in N o r t h America during the commander-in-chief in India, where in
American W a r of Independence (1775- the T h i r d Mysore W a r (1789-92) he re-
83), Cornwallis had distinguished him- duced the power of T i p p u Sahib (q.v.),
self in the Seven Years' W a r (1756-63). capturing his capital, Bangalore. Return-
H e succeeded to his father's earldom in ing to England in 1793, he was created
1762, and was one of the government's master-general of the ordnance and
most savage critics in the House of given a seat in the Cabinet, until, in
Lords over the matter of taxing the 1797, he was sent to command in Ire-
American colonists. But despite his op- land, where he was responsible for
position to the policy of L o r d North's putting down the rebellion by Wolfe
administration, he was sent in 1776 to Tone. H e was a popular and tolerant
America to serve in Howe's (q.v.) com- governor, and favoured Catholic
mand. A t Trenton (1777), he was outwit- emancipation.
ted by Washington (q.v.), but gained his
revenge at Brandywine (1777). H e was Cortes, Hernan (1485-1547) Spanish
Clinton's (q.v.) subordinate in the South- conquistador. The destruction of the
ern campaign, participating in the early powerful Aztec empire, accomplished by
success at Charleston (1780), and, after Cortes with a tiny force of barely 600
the defeat of the main rebel army in the men, 17 horses and 10 cannon, is one of
South, in charge of 8000 men to mop up the epics of conquest. Cortes landed on
final resistance. In the summer of 1780 the coast of M e x i c o early in 1519,
Cornwallis mounted a campaign against against the orders of the governor of
the rapidly growing guerrilla movement, C u b a , Diego Velazquez, under whose
and beat the new American commander authority he technically came (Cortes
Gates (q.v.) at Camden (1780); yet an- had been appointed the alcalde (mayor)
other American commander Greene of Santiago, the capital of C u b a , and
(q.v.) was appointed, and he forced claimed that he was answerable only to
Cornwallis to dissipate his troops in a the town authorities). O n the coast near
number of small actions. When the Brit- where he landed he built the town of
ish did succeed in bringing Greene to Vera C r u z , and justified his further con-

64
C o t t o n , (Sir) Stapleton C r a d o c k , (Sir) Christopher George

quests under the authority of the town in the Waterloo campaign, 1815, C o t t o n
fathers. H e was adept at exploiting dis- was commander-in-chief in India, 1825-
sensions within the subject peoples of 30, and in the first of those years took
the Aztecs, and it was in alliance with Bhurtpore, last stronghold of the M a h -
the Tlaxcalans and Totonacs that he ratta confederacy.
marched against the Aztec capital, Teno-
chtitlán. T h e rumour, fostered by the Couch, Darins Nash (1822-97)
Spaniards, was that they were the re- American (Union) general. A nat-
incarnations of divine figures, and uralist and explorer of some distinc-
Cortes himself was Quetzalcoatl reborn. tion, C o u c h had been educated at West
A s such, the Spaniards were admitted to Point and fought in the M e x i c a n and
the city as friends, a trust which Cortes Seminole wars, so was swiftly promoted
rapidly broke when he seized the person to general rank on the outbreak of the
of M o n t e z u m a . American C i v i l W a r . H e commanded
In 1520 news reached h i m that an- the II Corps w i t h considerable effect at
other force of Spaniards under Narvaez, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, but
sent by Velazquez, had landed at Vera was so disgusted by the blunderings of
C r u z . Cortes set out to rebuff them, H o o k e r (q.v.) in the latter battle that he
leaving Tenochtitlán in the hands of A l - asked to be relieved.
varedo (q.v.) and a tiny garrison. H e
returned to find Alvaredo under siege, Courbet, Amédée Anatole Prosper
and i n hard struggle they left the city (1827-85) French admiral. A Polytech-
(Montezuma was killed by the Spanish nicien, Courbet unusually chose the
during the fighting). It was now clear to navy as a career. In 1883 he was ap-
the Aztecs that the Spanish were not pointed to command the squadron o n
gods but rapacious human enemies, so the Indo-China station and extended the
in 1520 they ranged the full weight of French protectorate over that empire by
their army against them at the battle of landing at Hué and defeating the C h i -
O t u m b a , where after a savage struggle nese 'Black Flags' at Sontay. In the fol-
Cortes was completely victorious. But lowing year, when the Chinese again
it was almost a year before a new ex- intervened, he bombarded and block-
pedition could be mounted against Ten- aded Formosa, captured the Pescadores
ochtitlán. In M a y 1521 Cortes's small and destroyed a Chinese squadron at
army invested the Aztec capital, and after Foochow. H e died aboard his flagship
a bitter three-month siege captured the in Asian waters shortly afterwards ; w i t h
city and razed it to the ground. In its G a m i e r (q.v.), he is one of the heroes of
place he built a new capital, M e x i c o the French conquest of Indo-China.
City, and set about the conquest of the
rest of M e x i c o , which he accomplished C r a d o c k , (Sir) Christopher George Fran-
by 1528. Eventually brought d o w n by cis M a u r i c e (1862-1914) British ad-
his enemies, who attacked his greed and miral. W i t h an orthodox but adventur-
misgovernment, he died unregarded. ously successful career behind h i m (he
Cortes was a fine soldier, incomparable had commanded the naval brigade at the
in his audacity and w i t h a fine eye for a storming of the T a k u forts during the
tactical opportunity. Boxer Rising), Cradock found himself in
1914 appointed to clear the western
C o t t o n , (Sir) Stapleton (ist Viscount Atlantic of G e r m a n commerce raiders
Combermere; 1773-1865) British field- with a squadron of o l d , slow cruisers.
marshal. Commander of Wellington's H a v i n g swept the American coast and
cavalry in the Peninsula, 1808—12, and West Indies, he informed the A d m i r a l t y

65
Crazy Horse Cromwell, Oliver

that the German squadron i n the south- latterly, for Cambridge. In Parliament
ern Atlantic could be cornered only if he d i d not attract much attention as a
an additional force were sent h i m . H e high-flown orator: 'a very mean figure
nevertheless proceeded south, fell in of a man i n the beginning of this Parlia-
with von Spee's (q.v.) ships o n i N o v e m - ment', a contemporary wrote of h i m at
ber and went down i n his flagship Good the outset of the L o n g Parliament (1640),
Hope, with all hands. Coronel enraged but he was a man of power on the back
British feelings but was quickly revenged benches, resolute i n committee, and re-
by Sturdee's (q.v.) victory off the Falk- vealing himself as an able Parliamentary
land Islands. tactician. C r o m w e l l was clearly remark-
able, even i n subordinate capacities, for
Crazy Horse (c. 1849-77) American his immense energy and clarity of pur-
Indian (Sioux) chief. H e first fought the pose. W h i l e others vacillated, he acted.
US A r m y under Chief R e d C l o u d i n the H e prevented the colleges of Cambridge
campaign to close the Bozeman T r a i l disposing of their bullion for the benefit
into Sioux territory i n 1865-8, and later of the king's w a r chest, seized C a m -
led Sioux and Cheyennes in raids out of bridge Castle when it might have been
the reservations to which they were con- used i n the Royalist interest, a n d began
fined. H e forced the army to withdraw to raise a troop of horse at a time when
from the river Rosebud i n 1876 and others h a d little conception of the m i l i -
tary implications of Parliament's de-
later in the year caught and massacred
cision to resist the king.
the 7th Cavalry under Custer (q.v.) at
the Little B i g H o r n . H e was obliged to C r o m w e l l came to the task of raising
surrender the following year and died in his cavalry in the autumn of 1642, with
captivity, resisting attempts to put h i m a clear view of what he wanted to
in close confinement. achieve, of the standards he intended to
enforce, and, although an amateur i n
C r o m w e l l , Oliver (1599-1658) L o r d military matters, of the model he hoped
Protector of England, soldier and states- to follow in armaments and tactics. First
man. It is impossible to separate C r o m - and foremost he strove for a 'godly disci-
well the military leader from C r o m w e l l pline' on and off the field of battle. H i s
the political operator or C r o m w e l l the troops were to be responsive to his com-
statesman, for one great quality i n - mands ; desertion, looting, swearing and
formed all his activities: an adamantine ungodliness were to be severely pun-
will which refused to accept the well- ished. M o r a l factors he rated above in-
w o r n path, the accustomed method of herent professional s k i l l : ' . . . it must
achieving any end. C r o m w e l l was an not be soldiers nor Scots that must do
original thinker of a high order, a man this work,' he once retorted to a critic,
capable of applying and sustaining his 'but it must be the godly.' H e succeeded
own originality against all odds. First and in recruiting upright citizens, convinced
foremost, he had found his o w n path of the justice of their cause. Both men
to G o d , struggled with his conscience, and officers had to meet the severest
and confounded those w h o tried to turn criteria as to character and probity: but
him in a different direction. O n this bed- C r o m w e l l did not probe too deeply into
rock of faith, o n this primal battle with their innermost religious feelings. Se-
himself, his enormous achievement was verely practical, he allowed none of the
built. usual social preconceptions of the age -
Born into a prominent East Anglian that only gentlemen were fit to com-
family, but i n a cadet branch, C r o m w e l l mand others - to interfere with his
served first as M P for Huntingdon, and, choice of men and their leaders. H e

66
Cromwell, Oliver Cromwell, Oliver

fended off, brusquely, criticisms that he ists d i d . Cromwell's troopers were an

employed low-born men, schismatics or extension of his o w n personality: flex-
revolutionaries in his ranks : his sole con- ible, unshakable and indomitable.
sideration should be 'godly soldiers'. A s A t the early battles in the east of
he put i t : 'Being well armed w i t h i n by England in which the Ironsides took
the satisfaction of their conscience, and part, both at the battle of Gainsborough
without by good iron arms, they w o u l d (July 1643) and at Winceby, near H a g -
as one man stand firmly and charge worthingham (October 1643), their influ-
desperately.' But godliness was no match ence was decisive. After Winceby the
for the superior skill on horseback of Royalist commander noted in his dis-
many of the Royalist cavalry, gentlemen, patch: 'Their Horse are very good, and
almost born in the saddle, and armed extraordinarily [well] armed.' Although
with their o w n equipment - swords, this comment also applies to Fairfax's
breastplates and pistols. C r o m w e l l (q.v.) men who played a crucial role in
w o r k e d hard to equip his men uni- the battle, Cromwell's men fought stol-
formly, with serviceable material, good idly on although their commander had
horses and a proper commissariat for been unhorsed and forced to retire tem-
replacements. porarily from the battle at its critical
Tactically, the 'Ironsides' as they juncture. A t M a r s t o n M o o r (July 1644),
came to be k n o w n , after the nickname Cromwell's men received one charge,
for C r o m w e l l himself, developed as they regrouped, and delivered a decisive blow
gained experience: but the essence was to Goring's Royalist cavalry; turning
there from the outset. The complicated their attention to the Royalist infantry,
evolutions of the caracole, which used the massed Ironsides delivered a thunder-
horsemen as pistoleers, depended on a ous attack and drove them in disarray
high degree of training, and the tactic from the field. But after the indecisive
had been shown to be ineffective. second battle of N e w b u r y (October
C r o m w e l l opted for the use of cold steel 1644), C r o m w e l l pressed hard in Parlia-
and shock tactics, which the Swedish ment for the removal of those command-
cavalry had shown to be so successful. ers, such as the Earl of Manchester and
A n d it was easier to train men to ride in the E a r l of Essex, as well as innummer-
a body than to instruct them and their able subordinate commanders, who
horses to manœuvre in close formation. owed their positions to their social influ-
Thus the Ironsides charged home, firing ence rather than their military gifts.
their pistols at close range before W i t h equal vehemence C r o m w e l l also
impact. T h e technique was successful. supported the creation of a N e w M o d e l
Cromwell's great quality as a com- A r m y , which w o u l d extend the princi-
mander of cavalry was that he could, on ples so amply vindicated by the perform-
the whole, control his men and summon ance of his Ironsides and which w o u l d
them back from a charge to reform and comprise a force of 22,000 men, infantry
charge again. H e was cautious about and cavalry. The passage of the Self
committing his troops and ready to w i t h - Denying Ordinance (December 1644)
draw them, to attack again, if they were meant that C r o m w e l l himself should
unsuccessful. Individually (and he tried have been barred from military office,
always to ensure that they fought in but the threat from the Royalist army
coherent bodies), they were probably before Naseby meant that he was given
outmatched by the best of the Royalist a temporary commission as lieutenant-
horse : but they d i d not become disorgan- general of the Horse. A n d it was this
ized, or fritter their effectiveness in idle temporary commission, repeatedly re-
pursuits or lust for booty, as the R o y a l - newed, which allowed h i m to fight and

67
Cromwell, Oliver Cronje, Piet

to retain his seat in Parliament. The on grounds of conscience, and C r o m w e l l

N e w M o d e l was Fairfax's creation, al- was appointed captain-general, the su-
though Cromwell's hand was often seen preme military office in the land. H e
at work, but it was not quite the godly fought two more battles, at Dunbar (Sep-
association which the Ironsides, now tember 1650) and Worcester (1651). O n
incorporated within it, had been. But both occasions he showed his daring
Fairfax insisted on appointing his o w n and willingness to take risks. A t Dunbar,
officers, free from Parliamentary con- with an exhausted army, he feared
trol, and followed Cromwell's practice of defeat. But in a dawn attack he engaged
appointing humble, godly and compe- the Scots with a first assault and
tent men to his colonelcies. U n t i l the smashed their exposed flank with his
campaign against the Scots in the Second cavalry. A year later to the day, at
C i v i l W a r (1648). C r o m w e l l came under Worcester, he faced a Scottish army
Fairfax's direct command. It was Fairfax again, this time with an overwhelming
w h o planned the strategy of the Naseby superiority of numbers on his side. H e
campaign and its successful aftermath. split his attack, himself crossing the river
N o t until the expedition to Ireland did Severn with the bulk of his troops. W h e n
C r o m w e l l have a completely independ- the Royalist cavalry under the young
ent command. A t Naseby (June 1645) Charles II attacked his forces on the
the N e w M o d e l A r m y showed its paces. other bank, he was forced to make a
Once again Cromwell's role was crucial. hurried alteration to his plans. But the
While Prince Rupert's (q.v.) Royalist cav- experience of the N e w M o d e l told
alry smashed through the Parliamentary against the less expert Royalists, and
ranks and rode off in pursuit of their C r o m w e l l had w o n a final and decisive
defeated enemies, Cromwell's cavalry ac- victory. The civil wars were over.
complished their objectives, regrouped,
The seven remaining years of
and were launched by C r o m w e l l with
Cromwell's life were marked by the
devastating effect at the Royalist infan-
same firm conviction that he 'acted in
try: by the time Prince Rupert's horse
the Lord's business'. The creation of a
returned, the battle was lost for the king.
godly army and the (failed) attempt
In the battle of Preston (August 1648)
to create a godly nation were God's
C r o m w e l l showed his great talents as a
design, too important to be handled
commanding general. M o v i n g with great
badly or with less than the full force of
speed against the Scots, who outnum-
his titanic energy. As a soldier, he lacked
bered h i m , he defeated them in battle
the essential wayward genius of a N a p o -
and ruthlessly battered them in their
leon or Frederick the Great. Never
retreat. There was no let-up, no doubts
except at Dunbar, where the choice was
or hesitations in his actions.
not his, did he fight a superior opponent.
Cromwell's Irish campaign showed For C r o m w e l l success in the great cause
his precise attention to detail in the plan- for which he fought was all-important,
ning and provisioning of the expedition. and nothing - neither individuals,
M u c h criticism has been raised, fairly, human frailty or scruples, nor estab-
about the savagery of the Parliamentary lished institutions or attitudes - was al-
army in fulfilment of Cromwell's direct lowed to stand in his way. C r o m w e l l
orders. But he operated strictly within willed his way to victory, overcoming
the conventions of war then established, all obstacles.
and moreover his campaign of terror
had the desired effect: Ireland was Cronje, Piet (1835-1911) South A f r i -
brought to heel. In the T h i r d C i v i l W a r can (Boer) general. Alone among Boer
(1650-1), Fairfax refused the command soldiers in having made a serious study

68
C r o o k , George Cumberland, W i l l i a m Augustus, D u k e of

of modern war, Cronje had had the over the Jacobite rebels at Culloden
experience during the First Boer W a r of (1746). The Hanoverian royal family
1881 of forcing the surrender of a British had a passion for military affairs, if no
force at Potchefstroom, and had also tradition of great practical competence,
taken the surrender of Jameson at and Cumberland, the second son of
D o o r n k o p . If he rather than Joubert George II (q.v.), gravitated to the army.
(q.v.) had been commandant-general, it In the war of the Austrian Succession
is possible that the Boers might have ach- (1740-8) he fought gallantly at Dettingen,
ieved in 1899 the quick victory in which 1743, after which he led an allied force
lay their only hope of success. As it of some 50,000 men (the army of the
was, he defeated Methuen (q.v.) at M a g - Pragmatic Sanction) against the French.
ersfontein, but was eventually cornered A t Fontenoy he was bested by the ailing
by Roberts (q.v.) at Paardeburg and M a r s h a l Saxe (q.v.), who outmanoeuvred
forced to surrender on 27 February 1900. h i m by using his artillery and cavalry in
It was the last major battle of the war. unison to break up the clumsily managed
allied attack. But Cumberland managed
C r o o k , George (1829-90) American to retreat i n good order and the defeat
(Union) general and Indian fighter. did not become a rout.
W o u n d e d by a poisoned arrow i n Indian In 1745 he was recalled home i n haste
fighting before the C i v i l W a r broke out, to meet the threat of a Jacobite invasion
C r o o k played a most dashing role as a of England from Scotland, aimed at re-
cavalry leader in the war itself, fighting storing the Stuart dynasty and packing
at South M o u n t a i n , Antietam, C h i c k - the Hanoverians back to Hanover. By
amauga, Winchester and Fisher's H i l l . December the Scottish armies had
In independent command, he w o n his reached Derby and the court in L o n d o n
o w n minor victory over Confederate cav- was in panic. But this was the high tide
alry at Farmington, October 1863, in of their advance and they retired to Scot-
the pursuit from Chickamauga. H e com- land closely followed by Cumberland.
manded the army of West Virginia in T h e two armies sparred w i t h each other
1864 and in 1865 the army of the as they moved n o r t h : Charles E d w a r d
Potomac's cavalry, which he led i n the Stuart (q.v.), the ' Y o u n g Pretender' and
pursuit from R i c h m o n d to Appomattox. leader of the Jacobite forces, tried and
After the war he reverted to fighting failed to capture Stirling Castle, the key
Indians, pacifying those of the Boise dis- to the l o w l a n d s ; the English attempted
trict, then the Apaches of northern A r i - to stop the Jacobites, but were beaten at
zona. H e took a major part in the Sioux Penrith and Falkirk. Finally the two
war of 1876, and between 1882 and armies met at C u l l o d e n , near Inverness,
1886 sought to pacify the Chiricahua on 16 A p r i l 1746. Cumberland's artillery
Apaches. H e respected the Indians, to broke up the strength of the H i g h -
w h o m he was k n o w n as Grey F o x , and landers' assault, and the remnants
advocated granting them full citizenship, broke on the lines of English infantry.
but was regarded nevertheless by contem- T h e Scots were routed and the English
poraries as the greatest of the army's cavalry harried the survivors, commit-
Indian fighters. ting numerous atrocities.
After Culloden, Cumberland spent
Cumberland, W i l l i a m Augustus, D u k e three months in Scotland destroying
of (1721-65) British general. Remem- the social base of Jacobitism. It was a
bered by posterity as 'Butcher Cumber- campaign carried out with ruthless
land' or 'Stinking B i l l y ' , his military efficiency, proscribing the clan system,
career was inglorious save for his victory executing or transporting the leaders of

69
Cunningham, Andrew Browne Custine de Sarreck, A d a m Philippe

the community, and building a system cruisers and destroyers to German air
of military communication and garri- attack while covering the evacuation,
soned forts which subdued the country- but during 1943, when acting as naval
side. T h i s was the peak (or the nadir) of commander-in-chief under Eisenhower,
Cumberland's career : his suppression of he recovered complete command of the
Jacobitism was a complete success. sea. In October 1943, o n the death of
But when he returned to command A d m i r a l Pound (q.v.), he became First
the army i n Europe, the o l d pattern of Sea L o r d and acted as Churchill's princi-
failure recurred : he lost again to Saxe at pal naval adviser to the end of the war.
Lauffeld (1747) ; and i n the Seven Years' A commander rather than an adminis-
W a r (1756-63), during his command of trator, he was 'the outstanding British
the defence of Hanover w i t h 50,000 naval leader of the war'.
men, he was beaten by the French under H i s brother, General Sir A l a n C u n -
d'Estrées. H e was even forced to evacu- ningham, (1887-1983) commanded the
ate Hanover under the terms of the con- British forces i n the liberation of Italian
vention of Klosterzeveyen, which he was East Africa from the Duke of Aosta
compelled to conclude although its (q.v.) i n December 1940-May 1941, and
terms were angrily renounced by George less successfully the Eighth A r m y i n the
II. Recalled i n disgrace to be told by the Western Desert, August-December
king that 'he had ruined his country and 1941.
his army', Cumberland retired i n high
dudgeon to Windsor, whence he rarely Custer, George Armstrong (1839-76)
emerged, since he grew immensely fat in American general. A West Pointer, his
his later years. H i s faults as a general outstanding dash as a cavalry leader
were extreme stolidity and lack of gave h i m promotion to brigadier-general
imagination, but these were also his vir- at the age of twenty-three and he was
tues. Faced w i t h a good opponent he present at all but one of the A r m y of the
always lost ; with a clear, simple plan t a Potomac's battles during the C i v i l W a r ,
follow, he was capable of success. having eleven horses killed under h i m .
After Appomattox (1865) he went west
Cunningham, A n d r e w Browne (ist Vis- to fight the Indians, was gazetted colonel
count Cunningham of H y n d h o p e ; of the 7th Cavalry, at its head was am-
1883-1963) British admiral. Born i n bushed by Crazy Horse (q.v.) at the
Edinburgh and trained at Dartmouth, Little B i g H o r n , 25 July 1876, and, w i t h
Cunningham w o n the D S O and two bars all his men, killed. T h e Indians testified
in the First W o r l d W a r , particularly dis- that he died heroically, as indeed he had
tinguishing himself i n command of the lived, the conscious embodiment of the
destroyer Scorpion i n the Dardanelles. beau sabreur. H e was not a clever
In 1939 commander-in-chief in the M e d i - soldier.
terranean, of which he had great experi-
ence, he quickly established complete Custine de Sarreck, A d a m Philippe,
British naval superiority i n the area. In comte de (1742-93) French general. A
November 1940 he directed the air soldier of the ancien régime, whose
attack on Taranto, which destroyed a enthusiasm for the Revolution was per-
large part of the Italian fleet at its moor- haps explained by his service in America
ings, and i n the night battle of Cape (he made a name for himself at Y o r k -
M a t a p a n , M a r c h 1941, he w o n a re- town, 1781), Custine de Sarreck was
sounding moral and physical victory. among the generals of 1792 w h o de-
T h e fighting off Crete i n M a y was fended France against her Austrian and
less successful, the British losing many Prussian invaders. H e himself led a

70
Custine de Sarreck, A d a m Philippe Custine de Sarreck, A d a m Philippe

successful counter-invasion, captured during the Terror in the following year

M a i n z and reached Frankfurt. But he evidence was found of his treachery and
was forced eventually to retreat and he was executed.

71
 D
Darlan, Jean François (1881- act a Frederickan attack. H e was a thor-
1942) French admiral and politician. A oughgoing professional who had begun
former chief of the naval staff, and in his service in the Austrian army in 1718.
1939-40 commander-in-chief of the H e fought in all the wars thereafter,
French navy. D a r l a n had the difficult including a campaign against the T u r k s
task of deciding how to dispose of the (1737-9). M u c h of his most successful
French fleet once defeat o n land had work came after the war of the Austrian
become unavoidable. T o C h u r c h i l l he Succession (1740-8), when he worked
declared his resolve not to allow it to hard to reform the army, applying the
fall into German hands and at one stage many lessons he had learnt. In the Seven
appeared w i l l i n g to sail it into British Years' W a r (1756-63), D a u n , a field-
ports. But he eventually accepted office marshal since 1754, administered the first
as minister of marine i n the government defeat of Frederick the Great's career at
of Pétain (q.v.) and kept the fleet in its K o l i n (1757). Thereafter he developed a
N o r t h African harbours (where its tactic of creative procrastination, refus-
major units were destroyed by British ing to be drawn by Frederick into battle
naval action, July 1940). In February save on the most favourable terms, using
1941 he became Pétain's deputy and em- the advantages gained by an efficient
barked on a policy of co-operation with system of replenishment to manœuvre
Hitler in the hope of extracting conces- and shadow the Prussians rather than
sions from h i m . Displaced on Laval's come to grips. A t Leuthen (1757) he
reconciliation with Pétain, he was came under the command of Charles of
named head of the French armed forces, Lorraine (q.v.), so cannot be held respon-
of which the only sizeable remainder sible for the defeat. A t H o c h k i r k (1758),
were i n N o r t h A f r i c a , and was present although the Prussians were able to
in the territory as high commissioner at escape, success now effectively lay w i t h
the time of the Allied landings in N o v e m - the Austrians, who had fewer casualties,
ber 1942. W i t h M a r k C l a r k (q.v.) he and captured 101 guns. A n d at the final
agreed on an armistice and declared him- great battle which D a u n fought against
self sovereign representative of French Frederick, at Torgau (1760), where he
authority, Allied acquiescence in which was himself severely wounded, the Prus-
provoked criticism in Britain and sian victory was dearly bought.
America. H e was assassinated by a Daun's strategic concept was much
young French monarchist on Christmas more than the avoidance of battle so
Eve. prevalent in the eighteenth century. The
experience of the war of the Austrian
D a u n , Leopold Joseph, G r a f (1705- Succession had shown h i m that Austria's
66) Austrian soldier. If not the equal strength lay in artillery and light horse.
of Frederick the Great (q.v.) in his skill H e devised a campaign plan which uti-
and daring, D a u n at least developed lized these resources. H e preserved con-
some of the methods needed to counter- tact with the Prussians, using his o w n

72.
Davout, Louis Nicolas Dearborn, Henry

army and those of his subordinate com- Paris, and signed the convention of occu-
manders to act as a permanent threat to pation with the Allies. Davout never
the Prussian forces, seeking to combine held the independent command which
in overwhelming force and to give w o u l d have allowed h i m to demonstrate
battle, preferably from a secure en- his real talents. H e was one of the most
trenched position. These were the tactics efficient and consistent of the marshals,
which w o n K o l i n and made Daun's and, though not agreeable in manner,
other encounters w i t h the Prussians so was much respected by N a p o l e o n .
costly for them. H i s success was recog-
nized when he was made president of Dayan, M o s h e (1915-81) Israeli gen-
the Hofkriegsrat in 1762, the senior post eral. B o r n at the first-established of
in the Austrian army. H e used his tenure the kibbutzim (Zionist communal settle-
to institute a mass of reforms, but his ments) of Palestine, Deganya, Dayan
plans were cut short by his death. M u c h became a member of Haganah, the clan-
of the inventive and successful military destine Z i o n i s t military force, in 1929,
education w i t h i n the Austrian army was second-in-command to Wingate
owed its existence to D a u n . (q.v.) in the Special N i g h t Squads during
the A r a b revolt of 1936, and in 1939
Davout, Louis Nicolas (due d'Auerstadt, was imprisoned when Haganah was de-
prince d ' E c k m i i h l ; 1770-1823) M a r - clared illegal. H e was released to serve
shal of France. Son of an officer of in the British army during the Second
the Royal-Champagne-Cavalerie, into W o r l d W a r and, at the outbreak of war
which he himself was commissioned in with the A r a b states in 1948, when Brit-
1788, Davout, though undoubtedly ain surrendered her mandate in Pales-
noble, embraced the principles of the tine, emerged as one of the new state of
Revolution so ardently from the outset Israel's most talented military leaders.
that he was put under military arrest. H e became chief of staff in 1953 and
Elected lieutenant-colonel of one of the planned the ' i o o hours' advance across
new volunteer battalions of the Yonne the desert of Sinai which carried the
(his native département), he fought at Israeli army to the Suez C a n a l in 1956
Neerwinden, and, after a chequered pas- (and provoked the Anglo-French i n -
sage in his career, was introduced to vasion of Egypt). In 1959 he left the
Napoleon who took him to Egypt and army for politics but in 1967, when Egypt
subsequently appointed h i m to com- menaced Israel by her concentration of
mand in the Consular (later the Im- armour in Sinai, was appointed minister
perial) G u a r d . H e was created marshal of defence, more or less at popular insist-
in the great promotion of 1804 (having ence. T h e victory in the Six D a y W a r
been a general since 1793) and in 1805-6 (5-11 June) which followed is attributed
commanded the 3rd Corps, playing a largely to his boldness and powers of
decisive role at Austerlitz and at Eylau. decision, though he must undoubtedly
H e led it again in the 1809 campaign, to share much of the credit with the serving
particular effect at Eckmühl and staff officers who had prepared plans
Wagram, where he had a horse killed beforehand, particularly for the decisive
under h i m . In 1812 he led the ist Corps, air strikes against the Egyptian and
gave N a p o l e o n good advice, which he Syrian air bases with which the war
ignored, before Borodino, and lost two opened.
horses in the battle. H i s defence of H a m -
burg, 1813-14, during Napoleon's time Dearborn, H e n r y (1751-1829) Amer-
of troubles, was an example of tenacity ican soldier and secretary of war. A vol-
and fidelity. In 1815 he commanded unteer in the W a r of Independence,

73
Decatur, Stephen Denfert-Rochereau, Pierre M a r i e

present at Bunker's H i l l , Saratoga and k n o w n as a military writer of unortho-

Y o r k t o w n , Dearborn entered politics i n dox views (Vers l'armée de métier, 1933)
1792 and was Jefferson's secretary of and as an advocate of mechanization
war, 1801-9. In 1812, o n the outbreak (though a much less radical one than
of war with Britain, he was appointed has been made out). Appointed to com-
senior major-general of the U S A r m y , mand the half-formed 4th A r m o u r e d D i -
and drew up ambitious plans for an vision after the German invasion of 1940
invasion of Canada, which came to had begun, he attempted, at L a o n o n 19
nothing. M a y , the only French counter-attack
into the flank of the German 'panzer
Decatur, Stephen (1779-1820) Amer- corridor'. Its failure was not his fault.
ican naval officer. Remembered as the H e was almost immediately promoted
most dashing of the frigate captains général de brigade, the highest rank he
w h o m the Corsair and 1812 wars pro- ever held, and brought into the govern-
duced, he was born at Sinnepuxent, ment as under-secretary for war. But he
M a r y l a n d , and entered the U S N a v y fled to England to raise the standard of
in 1798. Posted to Prebble's squadron i n resistance rather than participate i n the
the Mediterranean i n 1803, he brought armistice. H i s life then became that of a
off the audacious burning o f the U S statesman rather than a soldier.
frigate Philadelphia i n T r i p o l i harbour
after it had fallen into corsair hands and de la Rey, Jacobus Hercules (1847-
was promoted captain for it. In the war 1914) South African general. Arguably
of 1812, as captain of the United States, the most talented of Britain's opponents
he captured the British frigate Macedo- in the Boer W a r , de la Rey had no
nian in single-ship action ; though forced formal military training, but some ex-
to surrender his flagship President i n perience of fighting the Bantu. T h o u g h
1815, when attempting to break the opposed to Kruger's war policy he ac-
blockade of N e w Y o r k , his reputation cepted high command i n 1899 and, w i t h
was not harmed. H e subsequently com- Cronje (q.v.), contested Methuen's (q.v.)
manded i n the Mediterranean against advance to the M o d d e r river. H i s great-
the corsairs of Algiers, T r i p o l i and Tunis est successes came during the guerrilla
and held the post of navy commissioner phase of the war, when he captured
until killed i n a duel w i t h a fellow naval Methuen, but chivalrously released h i m
officer at Bladensburg, M a r y l a n d . Three for medical care. Although he entered
American towns, i n A l a b a m a , Georgia the political life of the postwar U n i o n of
and Illinois, bear his name, which is South Africa, he never i n his heart ac-
perhaps best remembered for his apho- cepted the British connection and at the
r i s m : ' M y country right or wrong.' outbreak of the First W o r l d W a r he
(True context: a toast. ' O u r C o u n t r y ! took the decision to raise a rebellion.
In her intercourse with foreign nations O n his way to the Transvaal he was
may she always be in the right; but our shot dead by a police patrol, an event
country, right or wrong!') which precipitated the revolt he had
planned to lead.
De Gaulle, Charles André Joseph M a r i e
( 1890-1970) French general a n d head Denfert-Rochereau, Pierre M a r i e Phil-
of state. T h e son of a schoolmaster, de ippe Aristide (1823-78) French hero
Gaulle was commissioned i n 1914 into of 1870. A n engineer officer, educated
the 33rd Regiment (commanded at the at the Polytechnique and distinguished
time by Pétain, q.v.) and captured i n in the relief of Rome (1849), the Crimea
1916 at Verdun. After the w a r he became and the pacification of Algeria, Denfert-

74
D e n i k i n , A n t o n Ivanovich De Valera, Eamon

Rochereau was appointed i n 1864 chief Desaix (des A i x ) , Louis Charles A n -

of engineers at the important border toine, chevalier de Veygoux (1768-1800)
fortress of Belfort. Promoted to com- French general. O n e of the brightest
mand it i n 1870, when Prussia attacked, stars of the revolutionary armies, Desaix
he sustained its defence defiantly for 105 was a brilliant subordinate of Napole-
days until his was the last force offering on's. A n officer of the ancien régime, he
resistance to the invader i n the whole opted for the Revolution (though he was
of France. O n 15 February 1871, on the briefly imprisoned for protesting against
orders of his government and by arrange- Louis X V I ' s dethronement) and com-
ment w i t h the Prussians, the colonel manded the rearguard for M o r e a u (q.v.)
marched his force out with the honours during the retreat from Wissemburg
of war and into French lines. T h e region through the Black Forest i n 1793. H e
surrounding the fortress was exempted was wounded at Lauterburg but stayed
from annexation by the Prussians and at his post and in 1796, again under
raised by the French to the status of M o r e a u , assisted i n the passage of the
a département (Territoire de Beifort), Rhine and tenaciously defended the
which it retains. ruined fortress of K e h l against the Aust-
rians. In 1798 Bonaparte gave h i m com-
Denikin, Anton Ivanovich (1872- mand of the advance guard of the army
1947) Russian (White) general. T h e son of the Orient. H e took part i n the battle
of a former serf, D e n i k i n rose quickly of the Pyramids, defeated M u r a d Bey
by his natural talents to command a (q.v.) i n an independent operation and
division and a corps i n the First W o r l d set up a French administration of the
W a r . H e accepted the February revolu- province of Fayum, w i n n i n g from his
tion, becoming chief of staff to the new subjects the title of 'the just sultan'. After
commander-in-chief, Alekseev (q.v.), Bonaparte's departure it was he w h o
and later commander of the western was obliged to sign the convention of E l
front. Imprisoned for his part i n the A r i s h , but he rejoined Bonaparte in Italy
K o r n i l o v (q.v.) coup, he escaped to join swiftly enough to fight at M a r e n g o ,
an anti-Bolshevik army which Alekseev where he was killed i n action, 'univer-
was forming o n the D o n , a n d i n M a r c h sally regretted'.
1918, on K o r n i l o v ' s death, became com-
mander of all the White armies in south- De Valera, E a m o n (1882-1975) Irish
ern Russia. H i s anti-Bolshevik offensive, statesman and revolutionary. Born i n
heavily supported by the French and N e w Y o r k , son of a Spanish artist and
British, w h o sent arms and supplies, got an Irish mother, de Valera was brought
properly under way i n 1919 and by that up i n Ireland, espoused the cause of
October had reached to within 250 miles Irish nationalism and the linguistic re-
of M o s c o w . H i s military government of vival i n early manhood, joined the Irish
the captured areas was, however, very (Home Rule) Volunteers in 1913 and
unpopular with the inhabitants, and his commanded one of its battalions i n the
personal relations with groups whose abortive Easter Rising in D u b l i n , 1916.
support he needed, particularly the Cos- The last rebel commander to surrender,
sacks, were bad, he making little attempt he escaped execution because of his
to conceal his Great-Russian national- American birth and, after imprisonment,
ism. Gradually his army dispersed and was elected leader of the Sinn Fein party,
its remnants had to be evacuated across which swept the polls i n Ireland at the
the Black Sea to the Crimea i n M a r c h election of 1918. A b r o a d fund-raising
1920. H e retired in favour of Wrangel during most of the Anglo-Irish w a r of
(q.v.) and went into exile in the west. 1919-21, he refused to accept the treaty

75
De Wet, Christiaan D i l l , Sir J o h n Greer

negotiated by the Sinn Fein plenipoten- Austrian offensive on the river Piave, to
tiaries he had sent to L o n d o n and led which the Italians had retreated after
what was to become its 'Republican' Caporetto, and in October and N o v e m -
wing into civil war with the new Free ber directed the counter-offensive which
State forces. Defeated and imprisoned, culminated i n the successful battle of
he emerged to become the most import- Vittorio Veneto and the Austrian capitu-
ant leader of independent Ireland lation. British and French troops contrib-
(whose strict neutrality he maintained uted considerably to this achievement.
throughout the Second W o r l d War) and In 1920 he was created D u k e of V i t t o r i o
eventually its president. H e is a Veneto.
twentieth-century archetype of the vio-
lent revolutionary turned statesman. Diebitsch, Hans K a r l Friedrich A n t o n
(called by the Russians Ivan Ivanovich;
De Wet, Christiaan (1854-1922) South Count; 1785-1831) Russian field-
African general. A veteran of the First marshal. A Prussian by birth and a prod-
Boer W a r , 1880-1, de Wet took the field uct of the Berlin cadet school, Diebitsch
again at the head of the Orange Free entered Russian service in 1801, fought at
State commandos in 1899. H e com- Austerlitz, Eylau and Friedland, and was
manded at the battle of Sanna's Post promoted general for his conduct at P o l -
and in the guerrilla phase of the war otsk, 17-18 August 1812. Later in the
proved the most elusive of all the Boer 1812 campaign he helped, with Clause-
cavalry leaders. After the surrender to witz (q.v.), to arrange the surrender of
the British he entered politics, helped to Y o r c k von Wartenburg (q.v.) to the
found the Nationalist Party and in 1914 Russians, and took part i n the counter-
took part in the pro-German rebellion. offensive which led to the battles of
H e was quickly captured, through the Dresden and Leipzig. H e became chief
efforts of his ex-confederates, Botha and of staff in 1824, suppressed the military
Smuts (qq.v.), sentenced to six years for Decembrist rising in 1825, was created
treason but released after six months. count in 1827 and in 1829, for the suc-
cess of his campaign against the T u r k s in
Dewey, George (1837-1917) American the Balkans (capture of Adrianople, 29
admiral. One of the first Annapolis August) was granted the suffix ' Z a b a l -
graduates, Dewey served under Farragut kanski'. In 1830 he led the army sent to
(q.v.) in the C i v i l W a r . In 1898 he was suppress the rising in Poland, w o n the
appointed to command the Asiatic battles of G r o c h o w , 25 February, and
Squadron and, on the outbreak of war Ostroleka, 20 M a y , but then succumbed
with Spain, entered M a n i l a harbour and to the pandemic of cholera, which also
captured the city, capital of the Philip- killed Gneisenau (q.v.) and Clausewitz.
pines. H i s reception in N e w Y o r k and His paramount role in the Russian army
elsewhere on his return home rivalled the passed to Paskievich (q.v.).
celebrations of the relief of M a f e k i n g .
D i l l , Sir John Greer (1881-1944) Brit-
D i a z , A r m a n d o (1861-1928) Italian ish field-marshal. H i g h l y regarded i n the
field-marshal. Appointed director of op- British army during the 1930s for his
erations on Italy's entry into the First intellect - D i l l had served both as com-
W o r l d W a r in 1915, D i a z succeeded mandant of the Staff College and direc-
Cadorna (q.v.) in November 1917 as tor of military operations - he was
commander-in-chief at the latter's re- expected to become chief of the Imperial
moval consequent on the Caporetto dis- General Staff, but on the outbreak of
aster. In June 1918 he repelled the final war was given I Corps in France, and

76
Dönitz, K a r l Doria, Andrea

did not achieve that post until the re- Japanese navy's unwise decision to
moval of Ironside in M a y 1940. T h i s embark on the South Pacific campaign
promotion brought h i m into close asso- of mid-1942). F o r his part he was
ciation during the greatest crisis of the awarded the Congressional M e d a l of
war with C h u r c h i l l , who thought his H o n o u r and subsequently and succes-
rationality and intellectual caution ob- sively appointed to command the 12th
structive. In December 1941 he was re- A i r Force in N o r t h A f r i c a , the 15th in
placed by Alanbrooke (q.v.) and sent as Italy and the 8th in Britain - the latter
head of the military mission to Washing- the backbone of the strategic air offen-
ton, where he formed a w a r m friendship sive against Germany, which he took
with General M a r s h a l l (q.v.), ably repre- later to the Pacific.
senting British interests and establishing
himself in Roosevelt's eyes as 'the most D o r i a , Andrea (1466-1560) Italian ad-
important figure in Anglo-American co- miral in the service of the H o l y R o m a n
operation'. A man of immense charm, empire. In his o w n right a powerful
his death was widely mourned by offi- independent force in the Mediterranean
cial America. before 1550, Andrea D o r i a was one of
the last of the old-style condottieri. Born
Dönitz, K a r l (1891-1980) German ad- into the ruling caste of Genoa, he fought
miral and head of state. A regular officer on land under a variety of leaders and
of the imperial navy, which he entered in a mixture of causes. Equipping his
in 1910, Dönitz was promoted rear- o w n force of galleys, he engaged in a
admiral by Hitler in 1939 and appointed ceaseless freebooting campaign, both
head of the U-boat force, which he against the T u r k i s h state and the Bar-
directed with almost unbroken success bary pirates. In the Italian wars he
until January 1943. O n the removal served first the French, and latterly the
of Raeder (q.v.) and before the reversal Habsburgs; he remained, however, a
of the U-boat campaign in the Allies' Genoese patriot, and after capturing
favour, he was appointed commander-in- the city from French occupation in 1528,
chief of the navy and promoted grand he ruled as a virtual autocrat. A grateful
admiral. H i s duty then was to preside Emperor Charles V made h i m admiral
over the defeat of the remnants of the of the imperial fleet, and his main activ-
German navy and, on 30 A p r i l 1945, ity after 1529 was directed to stemming
to assume titular headship of Germany, the growth of T u r k i s h naval power in
in which capacity he negotiated uncon- the Mediterranean.
ditional surrender with the Allies. H e H e had already w o n an important
was condemned by the Nuremberg victory over the T u r k s at Pianosa
T r i b u n a l as a war c r i m i n a l , sentenced (1519) ; now with the fleet at his disposal
to ten years and released in 1956. he carried the war into the eastern M e d i -
terranean. In 1532 he gained the island
Doolittle, James Harold (1896- of C o r o n and garrisoned Patras: the
1993) American airman. T h o u g h not a M o r e a became a Christian outpost.
regular officer - he had left the U S However, his hold on his conquests was
A r m y A i r Corps, which he had joined tenuous, and in 1533 his great opponent
as a pilot during the First W o r l d W a r , Barbarossa (q.v.) began his naval war of
in 1930 - Doolittle was reappointed in conquest in response to the Christian
high rank in 1940 and in A p r i l 1942 threat. A l l Doria's conquests were lost,
selected to lead the spectacular raid on and the T u r k i s h fleet raided the coasts
T o k y o by land bombers launched from of Italy. In 1537 the T u r k s settled d o w n
aircraft carriers (which precipitated the to besiege C o r f u , until D o r i a arrived

77
D o r i a , Andrea D o w d i n g , H u g h Caswell Tremenheere

w i t h a large fleet, combining the i m - addition the Christian powers were fre-
perial and Venetian battle squadrons, quently divided among themselves.
and forced them to withdraw. But D o r i a Andrea D o r i a was a great exponent of
could not prevent the privateering war galley warfare in its final and most inter-
which Barbarossa waged, striking esting phase.
swiftly along the coastline. D o h a ' s aim
was to bring him to battle, Barbarossa's Douhet, G i u l i o (1869-1930) Italian air-
to avoid i t : for almost a year the fleets m a n ; 'the M a h a n (q.v.) of air strategy'.
sparred, while the T u r k i s h forces loos- A n artillery officer, Douhet secured com-
ened the Venetian hold o n her enclaves mand before the First W o r l d W a r of the
in Greece. In September 1538 a battle Italian army's first air unit (which was
was fought, but without a decisive also the first to practise aerial bombard-
result: the T u r k i s h fleet slipped away ment, in L i b y a during the Italo-Turkish
from the Christians, having inflicted con- war of 1911-12). D u r i n g the First W o r l d
siderable damage. Despite successful W a r he was court-martialled and dis-
raiding against T u r k i s h commerce and missed from the service for his criticism
along the coastline, year by year D o r i a of the high command, but the disaster
was forced back o n to the defensive. H e of Caporetto (24 November 1917) vindi-
advised against the disastrous Algiers cated h i m and he was reinstated i n 1918.
expedition of 1541, arguing that the fleet In 1921 he was promoted general but
could not operate against so strong an thereafter he increasingly withdrew from
enemy. Events proved h i m right: the active duty to devote himself to his writ-
city resisted stoutly and a storm de- ing o n the proper role of air power. H i s
stroyed much of his fleet. T h e advantage ideas, which he had formulated as early
now rested firmly with the T u r k s . In as 1915, were set out i n The Command
1542 the T u r k s swept into the western of the Air (II Dominio delVAria) - the
Mediterranean i n force. D o r i a took title is a direct reference to the central
refuge in Genoa and Barbarossa had idea of M a h a n ' s works on naval strategy
free rein to ravage the coasts of Spain - published first in 1921. They constel-
and Italy. late around t w o main assumptions: a)
that aircraft are weapons of limitless
After Barbarossa's death i n 1546 some
offensive power, against which no de-
of the energy went out of the T u r k i s h
fence can be provided; b) that civilian
westwards expansion, although his suc-
morale can and should be shattered -
cessor Tourghoud was active in north-
and so wars w o n - by aerial attacks o n
ern Africa. In 1555 D o r i a relinquished
cities. Because he wrote in Italian, his
command of the imperial fleet to his
ideas were slow to circulate, and for
nephew, called G i a n Andrea D o r i a , who
that reason were apparently duplicated
was to command part of the fleet, n o w
by protagonists of air power in other
well drilled i n united action and hard-
countries, notably General W i l l i a m
ened over years of campaigning, at the
M i t c h e l l i n America. N o n e , however,
decisive T u r k i s h reverse at Lepanto
arrived at so ambitious a strategy for
(1571). Andrea D o r i a , like his opponent
the newly fledged air forces or one
Barbarossa, had brought system to the
which, though it had to wait for the
haphazard warfare of the Mediter-
development of inter-continental mis-
ranean. Under his aegis a proper system
siles to substantiate its argument in toto,
of supply and replenishment was estab-
so terrifyingly anticipated the future.
lished, and the erratic supply of galley
slaves somewhat improved. But he d i d
not possess the financial and technical D o w d i n g , H u g h Caswell Tremenheere
resources at Barbarossa's disposal; in (ist Baron D o w d i n g ; 1882-1970) Brit-

78
Dragomirov, M i k h a i l Ivanovich Drake, Sir Francis

ish air marshal. A Wykehamist and a ily for them in the Russo-Japanese and
regular artillery officer, D o w d i n g trans- First W o r l d wars.
ferred early to the R o y a l Flying Corps
and from 1930 to 1936 he was research Drake, Sir Francis {c. 1543-1596) Brit-
and development member of the A i r ish sailor. ' E l Draque', w h o 'singed the
C o u n c i l , on which he encouraged the K i n g of Spain's beard' with his attack
development of prototypes which were on Cadiz in 1587, has become a creature
to become the Spitfire and Hurricane of legend rather than a figure of real
and authorized expenditure o n radar substance. H e was, in essence, a corsair,
experimentation. Appointed head o f and remained so throughout his life a l -
Fighter C o m m a n d i n 1936, he directed though honours and riches were heaped
its operations during the Battle of upon h i m , and he acquired respectability
France, his opposition to the transfer in society. B o r n into a staunchly Puritan
of squadrons from England being a pre- family, he began his maritime career o n
condition for its narrow but decisive a coastal bark i n Kent, where his parents
victory under his command in the sub- had fled after persecutions of the new
sequent Battle of Britain. Despite his religion had blossomed i n the West
great abilities as a tactician and strat- Country. H i s education was rudimen-
egist, however, he remained a lonely tary; as he said himself: 'my bringing
figure (nicknamed 'Stuffy'), was not up hath not been i n learning'. But he
promoted after 1940 and retired i n acquired a detailed and intimate k n o w l -
1942. H e was a spiritualist and wrote edge of practical ship management, quali-
a book, Many Mansions, containing ties which brought h i m rapid advance i n
what he claimed were messages from a number o f voyages under the com-
beyond the grave from men killed in mand of his kinsmen, the H a w k i n s
the war. brothers. Relations w i t h the Hawkinses
were temporarily soured when they a l -
Dragomirov, M i k h a i l Ivanovich (1830- leged that he left them i n difficulties i n
1905) Russian general and military an action at San Juan de Ulua (1568) ; in
theorist. A Guards officer and tutor to 1570, he mounted the first expedition to
the imperial family, Dragomirov fought the West Indies under his o w n com-
with great bravery during the Russo- mand, but without much success. T w o
T u r k i s h war of 1877 in the Balkans. more expeditions followed, and i n 1573
W o u n d e d there at the head of his d i - he captured a quantity of Spanish treas-
vision, he was invalided into the director- ure ; i n the following four years, numer-
ship of the Nicholas M i l i t a r y Academy ous plans were made for voyages of
(staff college) where for eleven years he exploration around the southern tip
exercised a profound influence on the of the Americas, and a well-armed ex-
education and training of the Russian pedition was prepared w i t h Drake in
army. H e believed strongly in what he command. Its aims were uncertain, but
claimed were 'traditionally Russian' it is clear that several of the backers
methods and the 'ideas of Suvorov' expected a fine dividend in Spanish
(q.v.), using that o l d hero's words, 'the treasure, rather than the less tangible
bullet is foolish, the bayonet is wise', to rewards of exploration.
justify a tactical system based on mass T h i s voyage, which developed into
charges instead of fire and movement. the epic circumnavigation of the globe
F r o m 1889 to 1903 he translated his (1577-80), was extremely profitable,
theories into direct teaching practice as with booty of more than 360,000 pesos
commander of the Kiev M i l i t a r y Dis- from the treasure ship Cacafuego, taken
trict. T h e Russian army was to pay heav- off Callao, as well as other prizes. By

79
 Drake, Sir Francis Dreyfus, Alfred

knighting Drake, Queen Elizabeth con- of any great strategic skill displayed by
ferred her approval on him for acts that the English admirals, and indeed, many
amounted to piracy; England was set i n of the ships lost to Spain were merchant-
direct conflict w i t h Spain. In 1585, men rather than warships. After the
Drake, n o w a rich man, was given com- great A r m a d a , Spain mounted fresh
mand o f a substantial new expedition of attacks, and the privateering war con-
twenty-two ships to raid the West tinued: i n the West Indies, Spanish de-
Indies. H i s forces devastated the Spanish fences and tactics were overhauled and
settlements. Santo Domingo and Carta- improved, as Drake discovered o n his
gena were taken against heavy odds, unsuccessful last voyage (1595-6). H e
and he returned to Plymouth w i t h booty quarrelled with H a w k i n s , w h o partici-
amounting to £60,000: this was less pated i n the venture, failed to capture
than his backers, including the Queen, San Juan de Puerto R i c o , and failed
had expected. After the West Indies ex- again against Panama. O n 20 January
pedition, Drake's activities combined 1596, he contracted dysentery, which
privateering with more active prepara- was ravaging his fleet, and died three
tions for the defence of England against days later. H e was buried i n N o m b r e de
Spanish invasion; he was, simultane- Dios Bay. In an age of great sea captains,
ously, the commissioned agent of a Drake stands out both for the strength
privateering company, and the R o y a l and power of his personality, and his
admiral. In M a r c h 1587, he was commis- supreme skill and daring as a seaman.
sioned to move against the Spanish H i s greatest exploit was undoubtedly
forces which were being gathered for the circumnavigation, i n which his tiny
the invasion: in A p r i l , in the famous ship, only seventy feet i n length (the
attack on the port o f C a d i z , he destroyed Pelican but better k n o w n by its later
some thirty vessels and a large quantity name The Golden Hind), fired the
of stores. In other raids on the Spanish imagination of his o w n and succeeding
and Portuguese coasts, he upset Spanish
generations. Yet he was inferior as a
preparations, i n particular burning the
naval strategist to H a w k i n s . H i s most
timber to be used for water casks, o n
substantial contribution was i n the cre-
which the invading force w o u l d depend
ation of the ideal of English naval might,
for its drinking water. Financially, the
and, perhaps, i n pioneering the notion
expedition was made worthwhile by the
of how naval supremacy could combine
capture of the Spanish ship San Felipe,
patriotism with profit.
with a cargo worth £100,000.

In the long wait for the Spanish i n - Dreyfus, Alfred (1859-1935) French
vasion, which his assaults delayed until officer, central figure of the Dreyfus
1588, Drake advocated a firm, attacking affair. Son of a Jewish textile manu-
policy, but he was overruled. In the facturer, Dreyfus had been educated at
running fight up the Channel with the the Polytechnique and led an unexcept-
A r m a d a , Drake in the Revenge captured ionable career i n the artillery until, as a
the Nuestra Senora del Rosário, and led staff-learner at the ministry o f w a r in
the way i n the harrying tactics using 1894, he was accused of the treasonable
long-range fire, which cost the Spanish transmission of documents to Ger-
many casualties. T h e main a i m of the many and sentenced to be degraded and
A r m a d a was irretrievably lost when the imprisoned for ten years o n Devil's
fleet split up after an English attack Island, French Guiana. H i s guilt was
with fireships on their anchorage off subsequently called into doubt, and the
Gravelines (2.8-9 July 1588). But the resulting efforts, some altruistic, some
defeat of the A r m a d a was not the result nakedly political, to clear his name,

80
D r i a n t , E m i l e August C y p r i e n D u n a n t , Jean H e n r i

divided French society. Ultimately par- ulgated the first of the Geneva Conven-
doned and reinstated, he retired as a tions (see Dunant).
lieutenant-colonel. N o t until 1958 was
France to undergo, over the recall of de Dumouriez, Charles François (1739-
Gaulle, an internal crisis comparable i n 1823) French general. Son of a military
severity to l'Affaire. official o f the ancien régime, D u m o u r i e z
fought i n the Seven Years' W a r (1756-
Driant, Emile August Cyprien (Capi- 63) and as a volunteer for Paoli i n C o r -
taine D a n r i t ; 1855-1916) French sol- sica, engaged i n secret diplomacy for
dier, writer, anglophobe. A regular Louis X V i n Hungary and was impris-
soldier of great promise, Driant made oned in the Bastille. Ambitious and avari-
the dual mistake, i n T h i r d Republican cious, he embraced the Revolution i n a
France, of marrying the wrong wife - a spirit of calculation, was appointed for-
daughter of Boulanger (q.v.) - and pro- eign minister i n 1792 and made the
testing against the wrong malpractice - declaration o f w a r against the First C o -
the keeping of dossiers o n 'clerical' of- alition. H e was then i n swift succession
ficers. Retired, he became a deputy and minister of w a r and commander-in-chief
used his parliamentary voice to advance of the A r m y of the N o r t h i n succession
the fortification of the frontier with Ger- to Lafayette (q.v.). W i t h Kellermann
many. H e used his civilian freedom of (q.v.) he w o n the battle of V a l m y and
expression to write - as Capitaine reconquered Belgium from the Austri-
Danrit - a succession of imaginative ans. H e then returned to Paris to i n -
works of the future, in some of which trigue, took up w i t h D a n t o n and, after
he merely indulged his anglophobia, but his defeat at Neerwinden, refused to
in others painted remarkably prescient accept dismissal. H e delivered the com-
pictures of coming battles. Returning to missaries of the government into the
the colours i n 1914, he was killed o n 22 hands of the Austrians, w h o m he then
February 1916, while commanding a joined. H e was never accepted as trust-
chasseur battalion in the Bois des Caures worthy by the royalist émigrés, however,
at V e r d u n , i n the heart of the district and died after a bitter exile i n England.
whose lack of defences he had long Nevertheless, his name is inscribed o n
deplored. the A r c de T r i o m p h e .

Dufour, Guillaume Henri (1787- Dunant, Jean H e n r i (1828-1910) Swiss

1875) Swiss general. Educated at the humanitarian, founder of the R e d Cross
Polytechnique, Dufour returned to Swit- movement. A Geneva businessman w h o
zerland to become one of its army's few had a proposition to put to N a p o l e o n
full-time officers. W h e n i n 1847 the III, Dunant's pursuit o f the emperor car-
Catholic central cantons attempted to ried h i m unawares o n to the battlefield
form a special confederation (Sonder- of Solferino (24 June 1859). Appalled by
bund) o f their o w n , it was he w h o was the abandonment of the wounded, of
elected general by the Diet to put the w h o m about 30,000 were left o n the
rebellion d o w n . (The general, of w h o m field - the battle was bloody even by
there can be only one at a time, i n that contemporary standards - he attempted
of war, has virtually unlimited powers.) to organize local relief and then, i n the
W i t h skill and humanity he brought the hope of averting such eventualities,
rebellion almost bloodlessly to a close wrote an eye-witness account called Un
within t w o months: it was the last of Souvenir de Solferino, i n which he pro-
Switzerland's wars. In 1864 he presided posed the establishment i n a l l countries
at the conference in Geneva which prom- of societies for the impartial relief o f

81
D u n d e e , J o h n G r a h a m o f Claverhouse D u p l e i x , Joseph Francois, marquis de

suffering caused by war, and the inter- non-militant Presbyterians. T h i s repres-

national agreement of rules for the treat- sion brought many adherents to the
ment of wounded. T h e book had an rebel cause and helped to secure Scot-
enormous impact and led in 1864 to the land for W i l l i a m of Orange in the G l o r i -
promulgation of the first Geneva C o n - ous Revolution of 1688. After James's
vention. In later life he retired into com- overthrow, Dundee immediately became
plete obscurity. H e was the recipient of the most influential of his Scottish adher-
the first N o b e l Peace Prize in 1901. ents. In June 1689 he led a long-planned
rising against the new regime. H e am-
Dundee, John G r a h a m of Claverhouse, bushed the army of General H u g h
E a r l of (1649-89) Scottish soldier. M a c k a y (q.v.) in the narrow pass of
'Bonnie Dundee', one of a constellation Killiecrankie on 17 July 1689, a severe
of romantic Scottish military heroes, blow to the Williamite cause. But he
combined soldierly skill with political was killed in the battle, and the rebel
and religious traditionalism. H e served army, without his firm control, began
his military apprenticeship as a mer- to fragment. The most dangerous threat
cenary in France and the L o w Countries, to the revolutionary settlement evapor-
returning to Scotland in 1678, where he ated. Despite the romantic appeal of
turned his tactical knowledge to the sup- Dundee, heard in the songs and ballads
pression of Protestant meetings (conven- embroidered around his career, he was
ticles). T o this work he brought a ruth- in reality a merciless soldier, sparing
less zeal which revealed a deep hatred neither his enemies nor his o w n men.
both of the politics and religious views
of the Presbyterians. But despite his ex- Dupleix, Joseph François, marquis de
perience he was outmanoeuvred by the (1697-1763) French colonial adminis-
Covenanters, who knew the terrain, and trator. The most notable of Clive's (q.v.)
beaten by them at D r u m c l o g M o o r in opponents in India, Dupleix first visited
June 1679 ; a defeat somewhat redeemed the sub-continent in 1720; by 1742 he
by the victory at Bothwell Bridge, where had risen through various posts in the
an English army led by the D u k e of French administration to be governor-
M o n m o u t h (q.v.) defeated the Covenant- general, commanding all the French
ers decisively. It proved impossible, how- forces and ports in India. W h e n the war
ever, to enforce strict religious conform- of the Austrian Succession (1740-8)
ity on Scotland and despite the brutal broke out between France and England
suppression executed by Dundee's dra- in Europe, Dupleix sought to keep India
goons, the Presbyterian organization at peace. But a British fleet arrived to
survived. buttress the position of the East India
Dundee was much attracted by the Company, and Dupleix took reciprocal
personality of James, Duke of Y o r k , action. W i t h the aid of a strong fleet
during his residence at H o l y r o o d , and under L a Bourdonnais and 1200 French
after 1679 was attached to his entourage soldiers, he captured the chief British
in L o n d o n . In 1682 he returned north town, M a d r a s (1746), and defended it
with a renewed commission against the successfully against attacks by the Indian
Covenanters, his ferocity now exceeding allies of the British. But he failed to
that of three years before. When James capture the crucial Fort St George, and
ascended the throne (1685), the Protes- eventually, when A d m i r a l Boscawen ar-
tants in Scotland rose in renewed revolt, rived with a strong fleet to reinforce the
full of fear of a Catholic monarch; British, the French reluctantly withdrew.
Dundee took this opportunity to use The eighteen-month siege had proved
draconian methods to terrorize even fruitless. Dupleix withdrew to his capi-

82
Duquesne, A b r a h a m , marquis de Duquesne, A b r a h a m , marquis de

tal, Pondicherry, which the British made forces and defeated them. This criticism
several vain attempts to capture. was not well received at court and he
After the peace of A i x la Chapelle was removed from his c o m m a n d : ru-
(1748), Dupleix concentrated on extend- mours circulated of his doubtful loyalty,
ing French influence in the south, play- without justification. But after a period
ing an active part in local Indian politics in disgrace he was recalled and gained
and establishing his supporters on the his revenge over de Ruyter (q.v.), the
thrones of neighbouring states. By astute Dutch victor at Sole Bay, when he drove
manoeuvring he established his domin- off the combined Spanish and D u t c h
ance over the Deccan, with a small but fleet from the port of Messina in Sicily
competent army under de Bussy. But his (1676), which he had recently captured.
campaign of expansion met with a re- H e extended his territorial base w i t h the
verse at the hands of Robert Clive, and capture of Agosta, and returned to
the elaborate system of clientage col- France for more troops and supplies.
lapsed. In the autumn of 1751 Clive The battle for Sicily continued : a French
made a surprise attack on the capital of army under M a r s h a l Vivonne beat the
the leading francophile ruler, Chanda Spanish on land, and when de Ruyter
Sahib, who was at the time besieging a attacked again w i t h a stronger fleet
British outpost at Trichinopoly. Chanda Duquesne drove h i m off once more,
managed to hold Arcot against deter- in a battle (April 1676) which cost de
mined attacks, but the whole strategy Ruyter his life.
mapped out by Dupleix was thrown into In 1678 the war with Spain was ended
confusion. T h e dominant position of the by the treaty of Nijmegen; three years
French was questioned and the delicate later Duquesne was created a marquis,
system of alliances, based as much on largely in gratitude for his services
bluff as real French power, fell apart. In in the D u t c h war. T h e superiority of
1754 Dupleix was recalled to France in the D u t c h fleet, which had become al-
disgrace. L i k e his great opponent Clive most legendary, was undermined in two
he had recognized the realities of Indian battles where French seamanship and tac-
politics, the unreliability of local rulers, tical skill had been shown to be equal or
the dominant need for European troops superior. Duquesne became something
and a strong naval presence. But he was of a hero within the French navy, but
ill-served by the controlling interests of his undisguised Huguenot convictions,
his Compagnie des Indes at home, and in a France where Protestantism was
there was little substance behind his being treated more and more harshly,
show of power. made his further advance impossible. In
1685 Louis repealed the Edict of Nantes,
Duquesne, A b r a h a m , marquis de (1610- the charter which allowed freedom of
88) French admiral. A victim of Louis Protestant worship in France. M a n y
X I V ' s repressive attitude towards Protes- were forced into exile, and many of
tants, Duquesne served France with un- those who stayed were oppressed. In a l l ,
deviating loyalty and great competence. France lost over 50,000 Protestants, a
H e sailed as a captain under de Sourdis, substantial proportion of the most
as well as Maillé-Brézé, and between skilled and best-educated members of
1644 and 1647 took service under the the population. But Duquesne was not
Swedish c r o w n . H e disagreed w i t h A d m i - among them. Because of his reputation
ral d'Estrêes after the failure at the battle he was allowed to live in peace until his
of Sole Bay, when the D u t c h fleet sur- death. H i s achievement had been to en-
prised the combined French and English hance the status of the French navy.

83
 E
Early, Jubal Anderson (1816- and was regularly entrusted with confi-
94) American (Confederate) general. A dential missions. Created a Knight of
West Pointer and a Virginian, Early had the Golden Fleece, the leading noble
resigned from the army in 1833 t o
make order of the empire, his was a voice of
a successful career as a lawyer and poli- moderation in the complex problems
tician, but was commissioned a colonel which stemmed from the growth of Prot-
in his state militia at secession (1861) estant belief. H e served Philip II well,
and a brigadier-general in the Confeder- playing a major part in the battle of
ate regular army after First Bull R u n Saint-Quentin, where the French were
(at which he commanded the 6th Brig- decisively defeated. In the following year
ade). A divisional commander in the (1558), he demolished a small army led
battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, by M a r s h a l des Thermes in the sand
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilder- dunes at Gravelines, a battle in which
ness, Spotsylvania and C o l d H a r b o r , his he was helped by the English fleet bom-
most important individual contribution barding the French positions. In 1559, in
to Confederate strategy was his raid recognition of his social position and his
on Washington, 27 June-7 August 1864. great services to the state, he was ap-
H i s men reached the suburbs, caused pointed stadholder of Flanders and
panic in the city and compelled Grant to Artois and a member of the C o u n c i l of
divert major forces to repel them. The Regency under the regent, Margaret of
counter-offensive by Sheridan (q.v.) in Austria.
the Shenandoah Valley was, however, a The point that was to be at issue
decisive Union success and effectively between him and the Spanish c r o w n was
eclipsed Early's career. the liberty and independence of the
towns of the Netherlands. The Spanish,
Egmont, L a m o r a a l , G r a a f van (1522- in an effort both to increase their tax
68) D u t c h patriot. A hero of the Dutch revenues, by extended application of
resistance to Philip II, Egmont was Spanish taxes to the underburdened
caught between his adherence to the Netherlands, and to extirpate Protestant
lawful authority of the Habsburgs in the heresy, decided to abolish all the fiscal
L o w Countries, and his opposition to and political privileges of the provinces.
the ruthless policy of centralization This Egmont and other leading members
adopted by Philip II, quite against the of the C o u n c i l - W i l l i a m of Orange and
historic rights and privileges of the Neth- Count H o o r n - w o u l d not tolerate and
erlands. Born into one of the leading they succeeded in persuading Philip to
families in the northern Netherlands, remove the hated Cardinal Granvelle, a
Egmont was a staunch Catholic and a symbol of the growing autocracy. But
close confidant of the Emperor Charles the moderate party were soon forced
V (q.v.). H e was sent as part of a small from the C o u n c i l of Regency; Egmont
delegation to England to secure the hand withdrew to his estates and refused to
of M a r y T u d o r for Philip II of Spain, become involved in the many plots being

84
Eichelberger, Robert Lawrence Eisenhower, D a v i d D w i g h t

brewed. After Alva's (q.v.) appointment tated to the staff, served M a c A r t h u r

at the end of 1566, the situation began (q.v.), 1933-9, both m
Washington and
to deteriorate. Egmont was forced to the Philippines, and then attracted the
take an oath of loyalty in spring 1567, attention of M a r s h a l l (q.v.). O n the
but this did not save h i m from Alva's coming of war, and fresh from a success-
determination to destroy the natural ful spell as assistant chief of the war
leadership of the Netherlands. In a purge plans division, he was sent as liaison
of the leadership of revolt, Egmont was officer to L o n d o n and shortly afterwards
swept into prison and illegally (for a (25 June 1942) appointed commander of
Knight of the Golden Fleece could not the European theatre of operations. In
be executed without an edict from the that capacity he commanded the
Order) condemned to death for treason, American ground troops in N o r t h
dying on the scaffold. W i t h his death Africa, Sicily and Italy from November
the last restraining influence was gone 1942 to November 1943, then returned
and prolonged and savage war became to England to prepare the invasion of
inevitable. H a d he lived there seems little Europe (for which he had been named
doubt that he w o u l d have been drawn supreme A l l i e d commander), in Septem-
into opposition, placing his military ber 1944 following his armies to the
talents, which were substantial, at the Continent to direct the final advance
service of the cause of resistance. into Germany.
T h e front line was then nearing Ger-
Eichelberger, Robert Lawrence (1886- many's western frontier and Eisenhower
1961) American general. Educated at was called upon to make the most import-
West Point, of which he was later super- ant operational decision of his career:
intendent (1940-2), Eichelberger saw whether to proceed, as the armies were,
service in the American expeditionary on a broad front, or to back one or
force to Siberia, 1918-20. Appointed to other of his more thrusting commanders,
command I Corps on America's entry Montgomery o r Patton (qq.v.). Scarcity
into the Second W o r l d W a r , he directed of resources w o u l d allow only one of
the attack on Buna, N e w Guinea, which these choices (Hitler's h o l d on the ports
became one of America's first ground and the Allies' overefficient bombing of
victories against the Japanese. Promoted the railways having reduced the move-
to command the Eighth A r m y in Septem- ment of supplies to a trickle), and Eisen-
ber 1944, he led it throughout the rest of hower eventually backed Montgomery,
the Pacific campaign, including the am- whose plan was for an air-borne descent
phibious assault on and capture of the on the Rhine bridges, followed by a
Philippines. O n 30 August 1945 he was swift armoured dash to the parachutists'
at the head of a small party of soldiers relief. T h e plan misfired.
which landed at Atsugi airfield o n the It is testimony to Eisenhower's evident
Japanese mainland to begin the lack of personal ambition, his sincerity
occupation. and zeal for the common good and his
remarkable warmth in personal relations
Eisenhower, David Dwight (1890- w i t h every manner of man - and Patton
1969) American soldier and president and Montgomery were extremely op-
of the United States. Born the third son posed types - that he was reproached
of seven to a Texas railway worker, neither at the time, nor seriously after-
Eisenhower was brought up in poverty wards, for its failure. The failure does
but w o n a nomination to West Point reveal, however, that Eisenhower was
and was commissioned in 1913. H e saw not really a general in the traditional
no action in the First W o r l d W a r , gravi- sense but a chairman and conciliator,

85
Elbée, M a u r i c e L o u i s Joseph Gigost d ' Enver Pasha

ideally suited to the management of an Prussian generals who wished to conceal

agreed programme between allies, and their identity. H i s principal theme was
indeed to the presidency of the United the importance o f putting armies o n to
States, but not to the making and chang- a broad popular basis of recruitment,
ing of a personal strategy i n the face of which w o u l d prevent their use by govern-
the enemy. But it is doubtful whether ments as an instrument of oppression at
the alliance required or could have sus- home and adventurism abroad. It has
tained generalship of that sort. been of profound influence on M a r x i s t
military thinking, almost not at all o n
Elbée, M a u r i c e Louis Joseph Gigost d ' M a r x i s t political practice.
(1752-94) French (Vendéen) general. A
former officer, d'Elbée initially accepted Enver Pasha (1881-1922) T u r k i s h gen-
the Revolution w i t h enthusiasm and was eral and revolutionary. T h e son of a
elected a member of the T h i r d Estate member of Sultan A b d u l H a m i d IPs
but, objecting to the disestablishment of court, Enver took up revolutionary p o l i -
the C h u r c h , he retired to his estates i n tics almost as soon as he left the military
Brittany. Summoned i n 1793 by e localt n
academy by joining the Y o u n g T u r k
Catholic and royalist peasantry to lead ' U n i o n and Progress' eel! i n III Corps at
them to war against the atheist republic, Salonika, his first posting. But he was
after the death of Cathelineau he was also a dedicated and skilful soldier, lead-
proclaimed generalissimo of the armée ing a band of T u r k i s h irregulars in guer-
catholique et royale. Victorious at rilla fighting with Greek and Bulgarian
C o r o n and T o r f o u , he was taken pris- partisans i n M a c e d o n i a during 1903-7.
oner at Cholet on 17 October 1793 and H e took a leading part i n the deposition
executed (though so badly wounded that of the sultan i n 1908 and was then sent
he had to face the firing squad sitting) as military attaché to Berlin, where he
at N o i r m o u t i e r early the following year. developed an abiding admiration for
German military efficiency. H e returned
Engels, Friedrich (1820-95) Socialist, home to take part i n the wars w i t h Italy
philosopher and military commentator. in 1911, when he was the last T u r k to
It is little k n o w n that Engels was a resist in Cyrenaica, and with Greece and
prolific writer on military affairs, which Bulgaria, 1912-13, when he took part i n
interested h i m both i n their o w n right the coup which established the Y o u n g
and as a means of achieving the proletar- T u r k s i n power, and by his recapture of
ian revolution. ' H e was by nature a Edirne (Adrianople) from the Bulgarians
soldier and warrior . . . proud of his became a national hero. H e was by then
early military experience as [a Prussian chief of staff and i n February 1914 was
one-year volunteer] and as an active par- made minister of war. Thenceforward,
ticipant i n the Baden insurrection . . . of he, Talat and Jemal Pasha ruled the
1848.' N i c k n a m e d 'the general' by his empire.
friends, he contributed articles o n mili- Soon after the outbreak of the First
tary subjects for many years to the New W o r l d W a r they brought Turkey i n on
York Tribune, and wrote for two techni- Germany's side and Enver, as effective
cal military journals, the Darmstadter commander-in-chief, embarked o n an
Allgemeine Militär Zeitung, and the Vol- offensive strategy against Russia, which
unteer Journal of Lancashire and Chesh- had the object of uniting the T u r k i c
ire. T h e quality of his military writing, peoples of Russian Central A s i a to
which exceeds i n quantity a l l his politi- Turkey. T h i s Pan-Turanian scheme
cal writing, was high enough to be attrib- was overambitious and setbacks i n the
uted, when published anonymously, to Caucasus diminished his prestige. It was

86
Erik X I V Espartero, Baldomero

partially restored by T u r k i s h success as fighting units. H a v i n g equipped them

against the British at G a l l i p o l i i n 1915, with pikes (the first time they had been
however, but too much of the credit for issued i n Sweden), he used the pikemen,
victory there belonged to Mustafa supported by musketeers, as an attack-
K e m a l (q.v.) w h o became thenceforth ing, rather than a merely defensive,
his principal rival. Russia's collapse in force. Finally, he made use o f the
1917 allowed Enver to essay his Pan- countermarch to provide a virtually
Turanian offensive again, and his forces continuous barrage of small-arms fire.
reached Baku o n the Caspian, but Ger- The outcome of these reforms was
many's collapse entailed Turkey's and the Swedish victory over the Danes at
he was forced to flee to Berlin. F o r the A x t o r n a in 1565.
next three years he searched increasingly Erik himself, however, must be denied
desperately for a road back to power, the status of great commander, since
and tried to enlist Soviet help to over- owing to a strong trait of arrogance i n
throw K e m a l . It was refused and he was his personality, he refused to be present
ultimately killed at the head o f anti- on the field opposite Danish command-
Soviet insurgents (basmachis) in Russian ers w h o were his inferiors i n rank. T h i s
Turkestan, where the Soviet leaders had habit of disappearing as soon as action
unwisely allowed h i m to go. was imminent caused much adverse reac-
tion among his troops, with w h o m his
E r i k X I V [d. 1577) K i n g of Sweden, brilliant experiments were not popular.
Erik X I V came to the throne of Sweden H e died i n 1577, probably the victim of
in 1561, and in many of his army re- poison, and regretted by almost no one.
forms were to anticipate by thirty years After his death the army thankfully re-
those of M a u r i c e of Nassau. H e had verted to its o l d heavily defensive tactics
delved into the classical writers o n m i l i - and abandoned its heavy modern equip-
tary tactics and, impressed by the flexibil- ment, only to go into decline for the
ity and manoeuvrability of the R o m a n next half-century. Overbearing, testy,
legions, sought to emulate them i n his and given to temporary bouts of insan-
reorganization of the Swedish army. ity, E r i k X I V almost certainly had a
T h i s he divided into battalions each com- touch of genius about h i m ; he is n o w
prising 525 men, the battalions being largely forgotten as an army reformer.
subdivided into five kvarters of 105 men,
four or five battalions making up a regi- Espartero, Baldomero (1793-1879)
ment, or, as Erik preferred to call it, a Spanish general. A carter's son, w h o m his
legion. In the field three of the five parents had intended for the priesthood,
kvarters w o u l d be placed i n the front Espartero learnt the trade of arms in the
line forming a single tactical unit, the popular rising (1808) against Napoleon's
other t w o acting either as a reserve or a army o f occupation. Like many fellow
skirmishing force behind the front line. guerrilleros he subsequently gained en-
T h e battalions w o u l d be placed side by trance to the regular army, trained at
side i n t w o lines, and Erik can thus be the Colégio de Ingenieros at C a d i z but
credited with the first use of linear tac- became an infantry officer. H e returned
tics since the invention of firearms. from a tour of duty in the revolting
M o r e o v e r , he used the increased man- American colonies a colonel and, when
oeuvrability which the new formations war broke out i n Spain (First Carlist
brought to execute outflanking move- War), espoused the legitimist side and
ments w i t h his infantry. In addition to quickly rose to become commander-
these changes i n the deployment of in-chief, winning a resounding victory
troops, he reconsidered their functions at Luchana (1836) a n d , by raising the

87
Estaing, Jean Baptiste Charles H e n r i Eugen, Prince o f S a v o y - C a r i g n o n

siege of Bilbao (1839), ending the civil D u r i n g the Terror, however, he was ar-
war. Earning the popular nickname el rested, tried and eventually guillotined.
pacificador and the title of duque de
la Victoria, he subsequently adopted Eugen, Prince of Savoy-Carignon (1663-
a wholly political career, was twice 1736) Imperial soldier, diplomat and
head of the government (1841-3, as military reformer. Prince Eugen was
regent, and 1854-6) but was obliged born i n Paris o n 18 October 1663, son
to spend the years 1843-9 i n exile, his of Eugène-Maurice, Prince of Savoy-
political touch, i n an admittedly very Carignon, and O l y m p i a M a n c i n i , one of
difficult period of Spanish life, lacking a bevy of nieces imported to France to
deftness. Nevertheless, at the end of further the ambitions of the detested
his life he was created principe de Cardinal M a z a r i n . In 1673 his father
Vergara and awarded the title of royal died suddenly on active service, and
highness. O l y m p i a , once a favourite of Louis X I V ,
made many enemies at court, including
Estaing, Jean Baptiste Charles H e n r i M a d a m e de Montespan. She became i n -
Hector, comte d* (1729-94) French ad- volved i n black magic and astrology,
miral. H i s early career was spent as a some said w i t h the intention of winning
soldier i n the French armies i n India, back by magic her erstwhile place i n the
where he was taken prisoner at the siege king's affections ; in 1680 she was caught
of M a d r a s (1759). Paroled on condition up i n the 'affaire des poisons', rumours
that he d i d not fight i n India again, he were rife that she was involved i n the
became a sea officer and fought for a death of her o w n husband, and she was
year around its coasts. D u r i n g the banished from France. Eugen, w i t h his
American W a r of Independence he had brothers and sisters, was abandoned to
created for h i m the title of 'Vice-admiral the neglect of his grandmother (Olympia
of the seas of A s i a , Africa and A m e r i c a ' had made no financial provision for her
and was given command of a fleet in children), and the king decided that he
the West Indies (where he had been should enter the church. Already an un-
governor of the Antilles, 1763-6). H i s prepossessing child, he was tonsured and
knowledge of those waters gave h i m an soutaned, and referred to i n mocking
advantage, which was partly cancelled tones as 'the little Abbé'. But Eugen was
however by his regarding sea warfare as determined somehow to enter the army,
an extension of that on land. Thus he and in 1683 engineered an audience with
was successful i n blockading A d m i r a l the king to request to join the colours;
Richard H o w e (q.v.) in Delaware Bay i n the answer was a peremptory 'no'. ' T h e
request was modest, the applicant not,'
1778, but lacked the seamanship to cross
the king later said of this audience, but
the bar and destroy the British ships
whatever the reason, Eugen was hence-
within. Transferring his fleet to the A n -
forth determined to leave France and
tilles, he captured Grenada on 3 July
enter the service of some foreign army.
1779, but his battle with the inferior
fleet of A d m i r a l Byron was indecisive O n 26 July of that same year he took
and at his unsuccessful attack on Savan- his chance, fleeing from Paris disguised
nah, Georgia, in October 1779, he was as a woman, and finally reaching
seriously wounded and retired to France. Passau, where he encountered Emperor
H i s liberal outlook led h i m to accept Leopold I and was received, as so many
the Revolution with enthusiasm and he distinguished foreigners had been before
was appointed commander of the N a - h i m , into the multinational and polyglot
tional G u a r d at Versailles (1789) and imperial army. But he had transferred
created A d m i r a l of France i n 1792. his allegiance to the empire at an un-

88
Eugen, Prince of Savoy-Carignon Eugen, Prince of Savoy-Carignon

propitious moment in its history: the the T u r k s , setting his sights on Constan-
emperor had fled to Passau to escape tinople, with the result that Austria was
the T u r k i s h army, which, for the first now committed to a war o n two fronts.
time in 150 years, was settling d o w n to In 1689 the O t t o m a n armies had retaken
besiege Vienna with every prospect of Belgrade, and were providing once again
success. Thus, Eugen's first encounter a serious threat in the east. In 1697
with the enemy was with the vast, fear- Eugen was despatched to the T u r k i s h
some and oriental army of the Porte. H e front as supreme commander and en-
was so to distinguish himself in the relief joyed the first major triumph of his solo
of Vienna, in which an imperial force career in the overwhelming victory of
under the D u k e of Lorraine, and a Polish Zenta (1697). H e had found the army in
army under the dashing K i n g John Sobie- a deplorable state, unpaid, unclothed
ski (q.v.), fought their way d o w n from and desperately short of munitions and
the Kahlenburg Heights overlooking supplies, but in a matter of weeks he
Vienna, that Leopold promised h i m the had succeeded, as usual w i t h scant help
first regimental command to fall vacant, from Vienna, in pulling them together
which was that of the Regiment of D r a - into a tough fighting force. H a v i n g dis-
goons of Kufstein. H e covered himself covered that the sultan had thrown a
in glory in the reconquest of Hungary, bridge over the river Zenta to cross into
displaying great personal courage as well Transylvania, and that much of the cav-
as brilliant qualities of leadership; his alry had already crossed, Eugen saw a
achievements d i d not go unnoticed, and chance he could not afford to throw
he was rapidly promoted through away; despite the fact that his men had
major-general (1685) and lieutenant- already done a ten-hour march, that they
general (1688) to, after the outbreak of were still some distance from the river,
the war of the G r a n d Alliance (1688-97), and that there were only a few hours of
field-marshal, a remarkable achievement daylight left, he reasoned that if he
for a foreigner of only thirty w i t h little waited even a day the T u r k i s h armies
in the way of money and background to w o u l d slip across the river under cover
expedite his progress. This meteoric rise of night. H i s inspired leadership spurred
culminated, in 1694, in his being ap- his soldiers on to greater effort, and
pointed imperial commander-in-chief in with only two hours of daylight left he
Italy, though here he was to be severely attacked the T u r k s in their encampment.
handicapped by ill-equipped and inferior They were taken completely by surprise
Spanish troops (recruited from the Span- as Eugen's pincer-movement forced
ish duchies in Italy), lack of money and them into an ever-decreasing space; the
support from Vienna, and the incompe- Austrians showed no quarter and 20,000
tence and excessive caution of the Italian T u r k s were slaughtered, another 10,000
generals, Carafa, and subsequently fleeing in panic to the river, only to be
Caprara, in charge of 12,000 imperial drowned by the crush of bodies; Eugen
reinforcements. H e chafed, too, under lost only 300 dead and 200 wounded. By
the static conditions of siege-warfare, the time darkness fell the T u r k i s h army
grasping, even at this early stage in his had been annihilated. It had been a bold
career, that only in movement and sur- and brilliantly audacious attack, the
prise lay the key to victory. T h e war of stakes made higher by the fact that
the G r a n d Alliance, however, gave h i m Eugen had been instructed by Vienna to
valuable experience of his other lifelong take no risks and engage w i t h the enemy
enemy, the French. only if victory were certain. It being too
After the Hungarian campaign late in the campaigning season to push
Leopold had refused to make peace with on to Belgrade, Eugen turned south w i t h

89
Eugen, Prince of Savoy-Carignon Eugen, Prince of Savoy-Carignon

a raiding force into Bosnia, retaking from two sides: from the east, where
Sarajevo i n October before returning to Ferenc Rakoczy was leading a rebellion
Vienna a hero, though not without the of Hungarian nobles and peasantry, and
enemies which success brings. from the south, where a combined
O n the outbreak of the war of the Franco-Bavarian army was pushing to-
Spanish Succession (1701-14) Eugen wards the Danube. H e paid a brief visit
took 30,000 Habsburg troops into north- to Hungary to pull together the disorgan-
ern Italy to fight the French under Cati- ized Austrian forces, and then, as M a r l -
nat; discovering that the French army borough (q.v.) marched eastwards from
was sitting i n the mouth of the pass, H o l l a n d into Germany, gathered a l l his
Eugen simulated a frontal attack while available resources to join up with h i m
taking the main body of his army over to repulse the French and Bavarians.
the mountains towards Vicenza, a tre- The battle of Blenheim (August 1704)
mendous feat of organization and hardi- was a resounding victory for M a r l b o r -
ness. T h e much larger French army was ough and Eugen, and removed the i m -
forced back over the O g l i o river to mediate threat to Austria. Eugen showed
defend M i l a n , and Catinat, disgraced, himself as much a master of the normal
was replaced by Villeroi. H a v i n g been frontal assault as he had of the daring
defeated by Eugen in a number of engage- and ingenious plan, but the real triumph
ments, Villeroi retired for the winter of of the battle was the cementing of the
1701-2 to Cremona, a strongly fortified brilliant partnership between the t w o
city w i t h unrivalled views of the P o and great generals. So harmonious was
the plains of Lombardy ; a siege or fron- their relationship, so unselfish their co-
tal attack being impossible i n winter, operation, that popular victory medals
Eugen conceived a plan to attack the were struck depicting them as Castor
city from within and without, infiltrat- and Pollux.
ing 4000 men through a disused canal
Eugen then turned once again to north-
into the heart of the town. Villeroi h i m -
ern Italy, where he outflanked a French
self was taken prisoner, the French were
force besieging T u r i n , and having dealt
in disarray, but the town remained u n -
the investing army a resounding rebuff
taken, for Austrian ammunition was run-
in September 1706, proceeded over the
ning low. Disheartened by the failure of
next three months to sweep northern
his plans due to lack of material assist-
Italy clear of the French. In 1708 Eugen
ance from Vienna, Eugen returned to
joined forces with M a r l b o r o u g h once
Austria, and became president of the
again at Oudenarde (July 1708), another
Imperial W a r C o u n c i l [Hofkriegsrat);
great allied victory which left the way
among the reforms he instituted were
open for the capture of Ghent and
the abolition of the sale of commissions ;
Bruges. O n the fourth anniversary of
the creation of a much stronger and
Blenheim, 13 August 1708, the allied
more flexible cavalry - this was to have
forces began their bombardment of Lille,
a lasting effect o n Austria's subsequent
a fortress constructed by Vauban (q.v.),
military history - and the setting up of
and believed to be impregnable. O n 9
forward supply depots (hitherto it had
December after a prolonged siege and
been assumed that the army could not
heavy fighting, the citadel surrendered;
march more than five days away from
it was the first time that any of Vauban's
its main magazine). H e also d i d much
heavily defended fortresses had ever
to improve the lot of the common
been breached. Malplaquet (September
soldier.
1709) was the last battle that Eugen and
Eugen returned to active service i n M a r l b o r o u g h were to fight together;
1703. Once again Austria was threatened after a bloody and hard fight over

90
Eugen, Prince of Savoy-Carignon Ewell, Richard Stoddert

difficult, heavily wooded terrain, the strengths and weaknesses he knew so

French, under Eugen's most redoubtable well.
opponent Villars (q.v.), and, after he Classed by N a p o l e o n as one of the
was wounded, Bouffiers (q.v.), with- seven great commanders of history,
drew, but the allied victory was a Eugen reintroduced a sense of enterprise
Pyrrhic one; it brought them little into the static and formalized warfare
strategic advantage, and they lost 24,000 of the late seventeenth and early eight-
dead or wounded against France's eenth centuries. H e was equally at home
12,000-15,000. It was also to induce a fighting the vast O t t o m a n hordes and
mood of war-weariness in England, the sophisticated French, equally the
which, skilfully exploited by the T o r y master of the conventional frontal attack
opposition, led to Marlborough's and the ingenious and audacious plan.
downfall. H e used terrain brilliantly to his advan-
After the recall of M a r l b o r o u g h at tage, and made unprecedented use of
the end of 1711, Eugen was left to fight cavalry, particularly of hussars and dra-
on alone ; deprived of support from Eng- goons for reconnaissance w o r k , a legacy
land and with diminishing assistance which was to stay with the Habsburg
from Vienna, he now faced the full army almost until its dissolution.
weight of the French armies and the Always willing to take risks, he never
first major reverses of his career. But found himself incapable of taking the
that his genius was not expended is split-second decision which might w i n
amply demonstrated in the war against or lose the battle. Unselfish often to the
the T u r k s , which broke out in 1716. point of self-effacement in his relation-
H a v i n g w o n a decisive victory at Peter- ship with the great M a r l b o r o u g h , he
wardein (August 1716) he proceeded to never let any hint of rivalry or jealousy
Belgrade, held by a garrison of 30,000 sully their partnership. Above a l l , he
men, including the elite of the Janissar- had the ability of the great commander
ies. H e invested the city with his 50,000 to inspire both officers and men, and to
men, only to be besieged himself by a extract every ounce of effort from often
huge T u r k i s h relief army of over 200,000 tired or disheartened troops.
men. Although they seemed surely
doomed, Eugen did not panic, nor did Ewell, Richard Stoddert (1817-72)
he allow his men to do so. Characteristi- American (Confederate) general. A West
cally, he made the unexpected move, Pointer, who had made a reputation in
leading his men in a night attack against the Dragoons as a frontiersman and
the T u r k i s h lines, and despite heavy Indian fighter, E w e l l chose the South in
bombardment, instructed them to hold 1861, was at once commissioned colonel
their fire until they were at close range, and quickly promoted brigadier. A t
and then to lower their bayonets and First B u l l R u n he commanded the 2nd
charge. W i t h i n minutes the battery fell Brigade, was promoted major-general
and the T u r k s were in full retreat; even and given a division under Stonewall
now he w o u l d not let his men enter Jackson (q.v.) in the Shenandoah Valley
enemy lines, for he realized that a plun- campaign. Becoming one of Jackson's
dering army was especially susceptible most trusted subordinates, he went w i t h
to counter-attack. By the time daylight him to the Peninsula and fought in the
came victory was his, and Belgrade sur- Seven Days' battles. After his mentor's
rendered shortly afterwards. A s active death he was promoted, but though
in peace as in war, he devoted the rest showing bravery to the point of reck-
of his life to the reform and reconstruc- lessness (he lost a leg at Groveton), he
tion of the Austrian army whose did not demonstrate the capacity for

91
Exelmans, Remi Joseph Isidore Exelmans, Remi Joseph Isidore

independent command. H i s command M u r a t (q.v.) who took h i m to Spain as

of a corps at Gettysburg, in the Wilder- chief of staff. Captured by the British,
ness and Spotsylvania was not really he escaped to become master of the
distinguished, and after he had been horse to M u r a t , by then king of Naples,
wounded again he was rightly retired to and to command a division i n Russia.
static duties at R i c h m o n d . H e was much H e rallied to Napoleon during the
liked by his fellow officers and k n o w n Hundred Days, took part in a charge at
as ' O l d Bald H e a d ' to his soldiers. Ligny and directed the last action of
the campaign at Rocquencourt near
Exelmans, R e m i Joseph Isidore (Baron; Versailles, 1 July 1815. Exiled, he was
1775-1852) M a r s h a l of France. A vol- later pardoned and ultimately created a
unteer of 1791, his exploits as an officer marshal by Napoleon III.
of cavalry attracted the attention of

92
 F
Faidherbe, Louis Léon Lesar (1818- having served with Sir Horace Vere in
89) French general and colonial gover- the Netherlands (1629-31) against the
nor. A Polytechnicien, he served first as Spanish under Spinola (q.v.); it was a
a sapper in Algeria but in 1854 w a s s e n t
testing apprenticeship against some of
as governor to the ancient West African the best troops in Europe. In the Bish-
colony of Senegal, which he found in a ops' W a r against the Scots (1639), Fair-
much decayed state. H i s boundless fax loyally answered Charles's summons
energy transformed its economy and to arms and raised a troop of dragoons ;
equipped it with new hospitals, schools, but in the C i v i l W a r he was firmly fixed
roads, fortresses and harbours, including on the Parliamentary side. Energetic in
that of Dakar, while he added greatly to his native Yorkshire, raising troops and
its extent by pushing expeditions into attacking the Royalists, he was surprised
the neighbouring uncolonized terri- by G o r i n g at Seacroft M o o r (1643) and
tories. Detained by duties in N o r t h Africa was forced to retreat in disorder. H e
during the opening stage of the Franco- lost again, to a much larger Royalist
Prussian war, he offered his services to force, at A d w a l t o n M o o r later that
Gambetta after the defeat of the field summer, but he then put defeat entirely
armies, organized a new A r m y of the behind h i m .
N o r t h from untrained conscripts and In the autumn he joined Oliver
w o n the victories of Pont-Noyelles {3 C r o m w e l l (q.v.) to meet the Royalist
December 1870) and Bapaume (4 Janu- threat to Lincolnshire and the eastern
ary 1871) against Manteuffel (q.v.) counties. A t the battle of Winceby, near
before being defeated at Le M a n s (19 Hagworthingham in Lincolnshire, the
January). A soldier of 'luminous intellec- Royalist force was roundly beaten, and
tual courage', he w o u l d , had the Repub- a sound partnership established between
lic not placed the marshalate in abeyance, the two men. A t M a r s t o n M o o r (1644),
surely have earned that dignity. where the battle was in the hands of
L o r d Leven (q.v.), Fairfax commanded
Fairfax, T h o m a s , Baron (1612.-71) Brit- 5000 men (infantry and cavalry) and
ish soldier, 'Black T o m ' Fairfax was the C r o m w e l l his troops of cavalry, the 'Iron-
nearest approach on Parliament's side in sides'. It was C r o m w e l l who delivered
the English C i v i l W a r to a military para- the decisive blow in the battle after all
gon. H e excelled in battle, possessed the other forces were committed. But
outstanding physical courage, was hon- Fairfax's role in the C i v i l W a r was as
ourable towards his enemies, trusted by much in organization as on the field of
his men, and stood outside the crude battle. H e argued hard for a professional
power politics which led to the death of army, independent of Parliament,
Charles I and the establishment of a trained and organized to the high stand-
military dictatorship. In a war in which ards which C r o m w e l l had already estab-
amateurs, perforce, played a large part, lished in his 'Ironsides'. Appointed
Fairfax had professional experience, captain-general of the N e w M o d e l A r m y

93
Fairfax, Thomas, Baron Falkenhayn, Erich von

(1645), he insisted on choosing his o w n of the English Republic and at the

officers and removing the army from Restoration.
the baleful political influence of Parlia- Fairfax was a tactician of great skill,
ment. T h e N e w M o d e l was his creation, supple i n his responses to a l l circum-
not Cromwell's, and he remained the stances. In t w o strokes, Naseby, and its
senior officer of the Parliamentary cause sequel, the battle of Langport i n Somer-
until 1650. T h e N e w M o d e l was an set, he applied a decisive strategy which
army drilled and organized to the best resulted i n the destruction of the t w o
European standards, 22,000 strong (al- Royalist field armies of any strength.
though it was understrength at the H e had, it has been said, w o n the war
outset), comprising 6600 cavalry, 14,400 in six weeks. A t Colchester, and against
infantry and 1000 dragoons. In its first the Levellers at Banbury, he behaved
major outing, the battle of Naseby (June with strict justice but absolute firmness.
1645), it displayed discipline and cour- Few, friend or enemy, had anything i l l
age, where the Royalists (particularly to say of h i m . H e was a model soldier.
the cavalry of Prince Rupert, q.v.)
showed courage but much less disci- Falkenhayn, Erich von (1861-
pline. Again it was C r o m w e l l w h o de- 1922) German general. B o r n at T h o r n ,
cided the battle; Fairfax's army had into one of the moneyless junker families
shown itself to have the makings of the which supplied the Prussian army w i t h
fearsome 'godly army' it later became. so many of its officers, Falkenhayn was
In the western campaign later i n the commissioned into a line regiment. Se-
year Fairfax moved w i t h ruthless ef- lected for the Kriegsakademie and then
ficiency, subduing towns and forcing the posted to C h i n a where Germany had a
Royalists back into C o r n w a l l . large military mission as chief instructor
In the Second C i v i l W a r (1648-9) Fair- at the N a n k o w M i l i t a r y School, his re-
fax was occupied i n the south-east of ports from Tientsin during the Boxer
England, with a much reduced army,- Rising attracted the attention of the
while C r o m w e l l went north to face the kaiser. H i s favour propelled Falkenhayn
Scottish army, w h o had n o w come out up the ladder at exceptional speed, from
in support of Charles I. Capturing C o l - the post of chief of staff of X V I Corps
chester, which had declared for the king, to command of the 4th Foot Guards -
Fairfax had a number of the senior offic- an almost unheard-of distinction for a
ers defending the town shot, for they line officer to receive - i n 1911. In 1913
had broken the parole they had given i n he was promoted general and made min-
1646. T h e mood of the army was grim, ister of w a r and, on the breakdown of
and C r o m w e l l had determined on the younger M o l t k e (q.v.) i n November
Charles's trial and death as the only 1914, he combined that post with that
sure solution to their problems. Fairfax of chief of the general staff. H e proved
could not agree, and a breach began to a much more satisfactory commander
open between h i m and his former col- than M o l t k e , but not the saviour of
leagues. H e refused to have any hand i n German strategy for w h o m the kaiser
the king's death, and although he joined had hoped. H i s decision to transfer Ger-
C r o m w e l l i n crushing Leveller agitation many's major military efforts to the east
in the army, he refused entirely to take during 1915 was undoubtedly correct,
part i n an aggressive war against the and yielded the breakthrough victory of
Scots. H e laid d o w n his command, leav- Gorlice-Tarnow. But Verdun (February
ing C r o m w e l l to command i n the T h i r d 1916) was a mistake which in August cost
C i v i l W a r (1650-1), and kept studiously h i m his appointment. D u r i n g the rest
out of politics, both during the period of 1916 he commanded the N i n t h A r m y

94
Farragut, D a v i d Glasgow Ferdinand of Brunswick, D u k e

against R o m a n i a , in 1917 the so-called French back over the R h i n e : at Crefeld

Asiatic Corps i n the Caucasus and in (June 1758) the French commander Cler-
1918-19 the Tenth A r m y in Lithuania. mont decided to give battle, but was
outfought by Ferdinand's smaller army
Farragut, David Glasgow (1801- and forced to retreat. But the following
70) American (Union) admiral. A mid- spring, the French attacked again, now
shipman at eleven and prize-master of a under the more energetic Broglie (q.v.).
captured British ship at twelve, Far- A t Bergen, near Frankfurt am M a i n ,
ragut's reputation dates from the C i v i l Ferdinand w i t h 40,000 men met with a
W a r , in which he first commanded the sharp defeat from Broglie's much larger
N e w Orleans expedition, opening the army. Forced to fall back, with Broglie
Mississippi as far as Vicksburg, 1862. In and Contades in hot pursuit, he decided
1863 he was in the G u l f of M e x i c o to make a stand, much as Clermont had
operating against Port H u d s o n and in done at Crefeld the year before. But
1864 captured M o b i l e (5 August). H e Ferdinand had better luck. A t M i n d e n
was promoted admiral in 1866, the first (August 1759), he beat Broglie and C o n -
to hold the rank i n the United States tades, despite the fact that they outnum-
Navy. bered h i m . But his troops were generally
superior, and better handled. T h e British
Fayolle, M a r i e Emile (1852-1928) M a r - infantry, in an unheard-of manœuvre,
shal of France. Commander of the Sixth advanced against the French cavalry, ad-
A r m y in the battle of the Somme, 1916, vancing and firing by volleys. T h i s un-
Fayolle was sent at the head of the hinged the French assault, and disaster
French reinforcements to Italy after the for them was averted only by the failure
disaster of Caporetto, November 1917. of L o r d George Germaine, Ferdinand's
In 1918, as commander of the Reserve British subordinate commanding the Brit-
A r m y G r o u p , he directed the counter- ish cavalry, to exploit the advantage de-
offensive of the M a t z . spite clear orders to attack. Contades
was able to retire in good order. T h e
Ferdinand of Brunswick, D u k e (1721- French had overstretched their lines of
92) German soldier and statesman. Be- support and the bruising fight at M i n d e n
set by enemies in the Seven Years' W a r forced a withdrawal. T h e two armies
(1756-63), Prussia possessed a military sparred, and Ferdinand inflicted a fur-
genius in Frederick the Great (q.v.) ; ther defeat on Broglie at Vellinghausen
but the good fortune was doubled by (1761). In the following year he drove
the addition of a 'brilliant second' in the French out of Westphalia at the
Ferdinand of Brunswick. A soldier in the battle of Wilhelmstal and by the end of
service of Prussia from his nineteenth 1762 the French armies were, once
year, he had proved his solid ability again, beyond the Rhine. Prussia was
during the war of the Austrian Succes- safe in the west. But at the end of the
sion (1740-8). A t the outset of the Seven war Ferdinand's relations with Frederick
Years' W a r George II of England re- cooled and he left the Prussian army in
quested that he should take command 1766 to rule his duchy in tranquillity
of the allied armies. After Frederick had until his death, disturbed latterly by the
crushed the French and Austrian troops tremors emanating from revolutionary
at Rossbach (November 1757), the west- France.
ern campaign was left to Ferdinand and Ferdinand's greatest achievement was
the allied army of 30,000 men. to weld a disparate allied army with
W h e n the winter was over therefore some seven national elements into an
Ferdinand marched west and drove the effective fighting force. It required the

95
Fisher, John Arbuthnot Foch, Ferdinand

talents of a consummate diplomat as returned at the outbreak of w a r to re-

well as those of a fighting general. H e place Battenberg, w h o had been re-
radiated confidence to all w h o came i n moved because of his German name and
contact w i t h h i m , and he was fortunate connections, and formed a close com-
in possessing i n the Marquess of radeship with Winston C h u r c h i l l , then
Granby, his British subordinate after the First L o r d of the Admiralty. 'Yours till
cowardly Germaine was withdrawn, an hell freezes over' was one characteristic
officer whose energy matched his o w n . farewell from Fisher to C h u r c h i l l ; but
Ferdinand had a clear grasp of the stra- they fell out over the Dardanelles oper-
tegic needs of Prussia, and saw his aim ation - for though he believed that 'the
to be that of protecting Frederick's back. British army [ought to be] a projectile
He did not have his master's innate flair, fired by the British navy' the target he
but his unshakable steadiness fulfilled favoured was the Baltic coast - and he
the need of the hour exactly. retired in M a y 1915.

Fisher, John Arbuthnot (ist Baron Foch, Ferdinand (1851-1929) M a r s h a l

Fisher; 1841-1920) British admiral. of France. Foch was one of the genuinely
T h e dominating figure of the R o y a l great soldiers of the twentieth century,
Navy i n the late Victorian and E d w a r d - but rather in what he was - a man of
ian age, Fisher had been commissioned warmth, humanity and fierce moral and
in 1854, seen service i n the Crimea and physical courage - than in what he d i d
distinguished himself at the bombard- (though his achievements were consider-
ment of Alexandria, 1882. Appointed, able). Born at Tarbes, near the shrine of
after a series of senior commands, First Lourdes - his devout Catholicism was to
Sea L o r d in 1904, he embarked at once retard his career during the anti-clerical
on a programme of reform and recon- reaction which followed the Dreyfus
struction which shook the navy to its affair - he passed into the Polytechnique
topmasts. Fisher had enemies and few and was commissioned into the artillery
survived his first year of office. H e also in 1873. H e had enlisted briefly as a
had ideas, of which the most startling private soldier in 1870, but had seen no
(though it was not wholly his own) was fighting, and was to see none again.until
that of the 'all big-gun ship', a battleship 1914, when he had command of a corps.
mounting guns of only one calibre, i n - In the intermission he made his name as
stead of several as hitherto, and thus a military teacher and thinker, returning
capable of delivering a much heavier to the Ecole de Guerre, where he had
and more tightly bunched fall of shot. been a student in 1885 and professor of
T o build such a ship meant making strategy and tactics, 1895-1900, as com-
obsolete at a stroke the whole of the mandant in 1907. H i s teaching, epito-
British battlefleet. But he overcame all mized in his book, Principes de la Guerre
opposition and the Dreadnought, armed (1903), centred on the idea of 'the w i l l
with ten 12-inch guns and driven by to conquer', of the need for a general to
high-speed turbines - also an innovation cultivate a psychological superiority
in a capital ship - was launched i n 1906. over his opponents and to imbue his
Despite the cost, the R o y a l N a v y was soldiers with the same. It had a pro-
soon an all-Dreadnought fleet (while re- found influence within the French army,
maining larger than the German, its prin- so much so that by 1914 French tactics
cipal rival), w i t h a scouting force of were based on the idea of the unrelent-
'battlecruisers' (another, less successful, ing offensive as a means of browbeating
Fisher conception) to scout for them the enemy into subjection. But his m i n d
{see Beatty). Fisher retired i n 1910 but was unusually flexible - having accepted

96
Foch, Ferdinand F o i x , Gaston de, duc de Nemours

as a result of the casualties suffered in Allied plans that first halted, then re-
his X X C o r p s ' brave assault on versed the German offensives of A p r i l -
Morhange i n August 1914 that machine- July and led to their o w n war-winning
guns defy browbeating, he sought more offensive of August-September. In
practical methods of overcoming the August Foch was created a marshal. H e
enemy. was also to be elected to the French
Joffre (q.v.) had been impressed by Academy and to be made a Polish and
Foch's handling of his corps in the battle British field-marshal. T h e piece of
of the Frontiers, and having sacked one- ground on which his statue stands oppo-
third of his generals by September, was site V i c t o r i a Station (from which the
able to offer h i m command of a force, millions of British soldiers left for
soon to be called the N i n t h A r m y , which France, 1914-18) is French territory. O n
is often credited with the decisive role i n the plinth is written, 'I am conscious of
the battle of the M a r n e . Foch's signal serving Britain as I served my o w n
during the battle has become famous: country.'
' M y centre is giving way, my right is
falling back, situation excellent, I am F o i x , Gaston de, duc de Nemours
attacking.' D u r i n g the so-called Race to (1489-1512) French soldier. A military
the Sea in October-November 1914, he prodigy, F o i x came from one of the
co-ordinated, as Joffre's deputy, the most ancient families of France w i t h an
operations of the British, French and impeccable military pedigree. H i s m i l i -
Belgians on the northern wing and, as tary reputation however rests on one
commander of the Northern A r m y campaign, and two years of a short life.
G r o u p , directed the spring offensive of The French invasion of Italy had gone
1915 in Artois. D u r i n g 1916 he was badly after the advent of the Spanish
titular commander of the French effort general C o r d o b a (q.v.) to head the
on the Somme but his reputation, with Spanish-Neapolitan armies, but French
Joffre's, was failing. fortunes had recovered after his recall in
Transferred to a meaningless advisory 1507. The French were decisively out-
post in December 1916, it was not until numbered, and their hold on their Ital-
early 1918 that power came his way ian conquests had become tenuous. It
again. In late 1917, as a means of co- was therefore a major blow when their
ordinating A l l i e d strategy after the Ital- commander, the D u k e of Nemours, was
ian disaster at Caporetto (which Foch killed at the battle of Cerignola (1503).
had a hand in repairing) a supreme war It was scarcely surprising that Louis X I I
council, with a military committee of (q.v.) made a frantic search for a new
national representatives at Versailles, general after the death of Nemours's
was set up. W h e n the first German offen- successor Amboise, but more unusual
sive broke in M a r c h 1918, H a i g (q.v.), that he entrusted his fortunes to his
desperate for reserves, suddenly de- young nephew, Gaston de F o i x , D u k e
manded that the military committee of Nemours in succession to his father.
became an executive inter-Allied staff A r r i v i n g in Italy at the end of 1511,
with power to direct troop movements. Foix found a large force commanded by
L l o y d George, anxious to curb Haig's R a y m o n d de Cardona besieging the
power, and Clemenceau, delighted to French in Bologna (they had taken the
strengthen a body that must have a city in M a y 1511). Travelling 'like a
French head, agreed and Foch was ap- w h i r l w i n d ' , he spurred his men through
pointed generalissimo of the Allied day and night marches across the snow,
armies, at first in the west, later every- to arrive completely unexpectedly in the
where. A s such, he co-ordinated the rear of the Spanish and Papal forces.

97
Foix, Gaston de, duc de Nemours Forrest, Nathan Bedford

The siege was hastily abandoned and was only twenty-three at his death. H e
Cardona retreated in disorder. A few manoeuvred his men at great speed,
weeks later, in February 1512, F o i x ap- undertaking forced marches when his
peared before Brescia, only nine days enemies had settled into their winter
after he had left Bologna. H e took the positions. H e positively sought out
town by storm in an orgy of pillage battle, when his opponents were content
which lasted for a week. Again display- to wage a war of position : he was pre-
ing the same astonishing speed, he then pared to take risks where others were
hastened to invest Ravenna, which was not. Since he fought only one great battle
strongly held by the Spanish, hoping to it is hard to judge h i m as a tactician, but
lure them from the town and tempt his skilled use of the element of surprise
them into open battle. O n 11 A p r i l F o i x both before Bologna and at Ravenna, as
faced a somewhat smaller Spanish force well as his personal qualities of courage
commanded by Cardona and Pedro Nav- and daring, must indicate that had he
arro (Count of Alvetto). Both were good survived he w o u l d have developed into
commanders, and they had the advan- a general of the highest calibre.
tage of fighting on their o w n ground,
their backs to a secure fortress. F o i x on Fonck, René Paul (1894-195 3) French
the other hand risked everything on the fighter ace. Credited with seventy-five
gamble of one battle. The superior Span- victories, Fonck was the Allied as well
ish artillery, under the command of Nav-
as the French Ace of Aces. H e learnt to
arro, battered the French lines, but the
fly in 1915, survived the war untouched,
French infantry, their ranks stiffened by
remained in the service and retired as
8500 landesknechts (German mercenary
inspecteur de l'aviation de chasse in
pikemen), held firm despite the large
1939.
losses incurred in their exposed position
facing the Spanish entrenchments. But
Forrest, N a t h a n Bedford (1821-77)
the French artillery, causing less damage
American (Confederate) general. A self-
to the infantry and artillery than to the
made and almost uneducated million-
cavalry, raked the Spanish lines so that
aire, Forrest joined the Confederate
eventually Spanish discipline broke
army as a private in 1861 but quickly
under the weight of fire and their cavalry raised, armed and mounted at his o w n
charged prematurely. They broke expense a cavalry regiment, which he
against the French line, unable to pro- led in the Henry and Donelson cam-
vide any aid to the tercios (Spanish infan- paign, later covering the retreat from
try) when the two masses of footsoldiers Shiloh. Promoted brigadier-general in
closed. The decisive moment came when July 1862, he embarked on the series of
a cannon, sent by F o i x behind the Span- cavalry raids into Union-held territory
ish position, opened fire on the demoral- for which he was to become famous and
ized Spanish. The bitter hand-to-hand feared. F r o m December 1862 to January
fighting led to heavy casualties on each 1863 he devastated the railways in the
side: almost half the men engaged were rear of Grant's positions on the upper
either killed or wounded. But the victory Mississippi. A n d during Sherman's A t -
was Pyrrhic for the French, for Foix was lanta campaign, June-November 1864,
killed in an impetuous pursuit of the he so harried the U n i o n lines of commu-
retreating Spanish. A career of enormous nication that Sherman burst out, 'That
promise was thus brought to a prema- devil Forrest . . . must be hunted d o w n
ture close. and killed if it costs ten thousand lives
What F o i x brought to the battlefield and bankrupts the Federal treasury.' H e
was energy and the fury of youth — he took part with H o o d (q.v.) in the Frank-

98
Franchet D'Esperey, Louis Felix M a r i e Francis I

lin and Nashville campaigns, his com- Francis I (1494-1547) K i n g of France.

mand by then having risen to the size of Succeeding to the throne of France at
a corps. H e was a man of immense the age of twenty-one, his life was
personal toughness and ruthlessness. A t - dominated by the inner compulsion to
tacked by one of his o w n officers over a continue the conflict with the
grievance, he held his assailant's pistol Habsburgs, bequeathed to h i m by Louis
hand, prized his penknife open w i t h his X I I (q.v.). H e invaded Italy in 1515 w i t h
teeth and fatally stabbed the man in his an army of 30,000, eager to capture
stomach. But he was also a soldier of M i l a n . A t M a r i g n a n o (1515), he experi-
near genius. Joseph E . Johnston (q.v.), enced the power of the Swiss infantry,
asked to name the war's greatest soldier, and only in desperate hand-to-hand fight-
answered, 'Forrest, who, had he had the ing was their advance stemmed. But his
advantages of a thorough military train- objective was gained, and M i l a n was
ing and education, w o u l d have been the ceded to France. In 1521 war was re-
great central figure of the C i v i l W a r . ' sumed, and Francis's Italian army under
There is some evidence that he was first the command of Lautrec smashed the
G r a n d W i z a r d of the K u K l u x K l a n , the Swiss at Bicocca (1522) by the use o f
secret society raised by Southerners of fire-power against the solid mass of i n -
Forrest's background to resist the conse- fantry. But M i l a n was lost and the tide
quences of defeat. of war turned against Francis. In 1524
the French renegade Charles de Bourbon
Franchet D'Esperey, Louis Felix M a r i e (q.v.) marched into France, and Francis
François (1856-1942) M a r s h a l of was forced to gather a large army to
France. 'Desperate Frankie' to the many repel h i m . H e then riposted by a new
British officers who knew h i m and wel- thrust into Italy, but at the battle of
comed his wholehearted co-operation Pavia the superior tactical skill of the
during the First W o r l d W a r , this Saint- imperial general Pescara (q.v.) told
Cyrien, a veteran of the expeditions to against h i m , and although he led his
C h i n a , 1900, and M o r o c c o , 1912, was cavalry w i t h great bravery to regain the
commanding I Corps in 1914. T h a t splen- initiative, the battle was lost; Francis
did formation from the northern départe- was taken prisoner and sent to M a d r i d ,
ments had actually to defend its home where he was forced to conclude a
territory i n August, doing so brilliantly humiliating peace. Released in 1526, he
under the direction of Franchet, who at renounced his pledges and renewed the
Guise (29 August 1914) w o n a resound- war i n Italy. But his luck had deserted
ing minor victory, temporarily halted h i m , and he was forced to unfavourable
the German advance from Brussels to terms (1529) at the 'Ladies Peace' of
Paris and badly mauled the Imperial C a m b r a i . H e waged war on Charles V
G u a r d Corps. Promoted to replace the twice more (1535-8 and 1542-4), but
vacillating Lanrezac (q.v.) at the head of without success. T h e later wars are most
the Fifth A r m y , he retook Reims in Sep- interesting for Francis's use of alliances
tember and was later selected to com- with Protestant princes and the T u r k s
mand an army group: in 1915 that of against the Habsburgs, foreshadowing a
the east, in 1917 that of the north. In technique to be widely used by French
1918 he succeeded Guillaumat (q.v.) as kings. Francis was a ruler of consider-
A l l i e d commander-in-chief in Macedo- able talents and an able soldier, but like
nia and w o n the victory of the Vardar his great adversary Charles V he was
over the Bulgarians (15-29 September). not lucky in war.
Created a marshal in 1921, he was
elected to the French Academy in 1934.

99
Franco, Francisco Frederick II, 'The Great'

Franco, Francisco (-Bahamonde; 1892- to become commander of all ' N a t i o n a l -

1975) Spanish general and head of ist' forces in Spain, and political leader
state. The son of a naval paymaster, of the anti-Republicans. H i s single-
Franco was himself intended for the mindedness and strategic skills were
service until, a financial crisis interrupt- chiefly responsible for their victory in
ing the recruitment of naval cadets, he 1939, after which he became regent and
entered the Toledo Infantry Academy head of state.
(the Alcazar, which was to figure
prominently in the C i v i l W a r of 1936-9) Frederick II, 'The Great' (1713-
in 1907. Commissioned into the 8th 86) K i n g of Prussia. A traveller who
Regiment in 1910, he was posted to visited the 'new Alexander', Frederick II
M o r o c c o in 1913 and transferred to the of Prussia, after his great victories,
Reguläres (native infantry) with w h o m w o u l d have been disappointed had he
he showed himself to be an officer of expected to find a hero i n the classic
exceptional efficiency and courage. In mould. Frederick scarcely seemed a great
1918 the creator of the newly raised commander, w i t h his shabby clothes and
Spanish Foreign Legion asked for h i m unmilitary mien. H e was not an 'intui-
as his second-in-command and in 1923 tive' general; as Macaulay lucidly
he became its commander, at thirty the phrased i t : ' H i s proficiency in military
youngest lieutenant-colonel in the army. science was simply the proficiency which
H e had been the youngest captain and a man of vigorous faculties makes in
in 1926 was to become the youngest any science to which he applies his mind
general (perhaps in the whole of Europe) with industry and earnestness.' The hor-
for his part in the successful counter- rific circumstances of Frederick's child-
offensive against A b d el-Krim (q.v.). In hood and adolescence, the son of the
1928 he was appointed director of a militarist boor Frederick W i l l i a m I
new General M i l i t a r y Academy at Sara- (q.v.), made h i m a cynical, covert and
gossa, but for his loyalty to the k i n g stoical personality, as free from deep
during the abdication crisis of 1930 was affection as from devouring hatreds.
removed and stripped of seniority. H i s
Frederick's real inheritance from his
outstanding talents eventually overcame
father was a fine army of 80,000 men
the republican government's mistrust of
and a full war-chest, but more important
h i m , however, and he was sent in 1933
still, a centralized and perfectly subservi-
to command in the Balearics, then to
ent state. Frederick never had to worry,
suppress the Asturian rising of 1934,
even in the direst extremity, whether
and in 1935 as commander-in-chief to
taxes w o u l d continue to be collected,
M o r o c c o . In early 1936, as fears of a
recruits still arrive for their military serv-
military rising took hold of the Popular
ice, and the whole apparatus of state
Front government, he was dispatched to
still function as his executive arm.
the distant Canary Islands, his Catholic
When, at the beginning of his reign, he
and monarchist loyalties, together with
gave audience to the greatest of his
his military reputation, making h i m a
father's generals, Leopold I (q.v.) of
prime object of suspicion. F r o m that
Anhalt Dessau, the ' O l d Dessauer', he
post he nevertheless managed to keep in
told h i m : 'In this kingdom, I am the
touch with the officers' insurrectionary
only person to exercise authority.' H e
movement and, on the outbreak of the
spoke the exact truth, for he rapidly
C i v i l W a r i n July, flew to Tetuán, Span-
centralized within his personal jurisdic-
ish M o r o c c o , to supervise the transport
tion even those few functions which his
of the A r m y of Africa to the mainland. H e
father had delegated. H i s proficiency i n
was shortly, on the death of Sanjurjo,
the military arts was quickly acquired,

100
Frederick II, ' T h e Great' Frederick II, ' T h e Great'

and it was, indeed, an intellectual ap- he lacked were the light 'auxiliary'
proach to war. Frederick took little troops - hussars and light infantry,
notice of the established tactical and which the Austrians possessed i n such
strategic conventions of war. H e looked, numbers. In his tactics Frederick tried
instead, w i t h a driving logic at the par- always to match his methods to the
ticular qualities of his troops and the terrain and particular situation, but the
restraints which the geographical situ- very qualities of speed and flexibility in
ation of his territory imposed upon h i m . attack which characterized his army at
Prussia was a kingdom vulnerable to all its best meant that he had to strike for a
his likely enemies: France, Russia, Aus- decisive advantage early in a battle,
tria. T h e Saxon border lay only some before it could develop into a bruising
few miles from B e r l i n : there were no and costly fire-fight. H e relied o n the
great natural defensive positions, such power and shock of his attack to break
as the mountains surrounding Bohemia, and disrupt an enemy: when the attack
which formed a line of defence. Prussia, was weakened, as at Kunersdorf (1759),
therefore, depended on an active, mobile or the enemy stood their ground, as at
army to blunt the assaults of an enemy Zorndorf (1758), Frederick risked
before they could gather strength. T h e disaster.
essence of Frederican war was the offen- The first war of Frederick's reign was,
sive. A s he acutely observed : ' O u r wars despite all the excuses which have been
must be short and active . . . Those w h o made for h i m by his apologists, a naked
lead the Prussian armies must be clever aggression. L i k e the other powers of
and careful, but must try to bring the Europe, Prussia had accepted the Prag-
issue to a decision.' In an age when matic Sanction, constructed by the E m -
generals still preferred the solid tempo peror Charles I so that his daughter
of a siege to the myriad uncertainties of M a r i a Theresa should be able to inherit
a battle, Frederick was prepared to take his dominions unopposed; Frederick
risks. A s the sole master of Prussia he agreed to support her claims, provided
could afford to shrug off criticism of his Silesia was ceded to h i m . T o make good
methods, even from so professional and his claim, he occupied the province. 'Fre-
eminent a source as his brother H e n r y : derick's first battle was fought at M o l l -
most failed generals risked dismissal, witz,' wrote M a c a u l a y , 'and never d i d
while Frederick could accept the odd the career of a great commander open
failure, though the stakes he played for in a more inauspicious manner . . . N o t
were much higher. only d i d he not establish his title to the
Years of training by the ' O l d Des- character of an able general ; but he was
sauer' had given Prussia the best infantry so unfortunate as to make it doubtful
in Europe - the most flexible in manœu- whether he possessed the vulgar courage
vre, the fastest-firing, the steadiest under of a soldier.' M o l l w i t z was w o n by the
attack. They also possessed something steadiness of the Prussian infantry under
of the staunch Protestant spirit which von Schwerin: Frederick had followed
had fired the armies of Gustavus A d o l - advice to leave the battle when its out-
phus (q.v.). 'We fight for religion, for come seemed in doubt. Never again d i d
you, for the fatherland,' one veteran told he leave the field of battle until the issue
Frederick after the battle of Liegnitz. was clear, and thereafter behaved w i t h
The cavalry and the artillery were sadly an almost foolhardy bravery. The next
deficient for the offensive campaigns major battle of the First Silesian W a r
which Frederick wished to wage, and he (1740-2) took place in the following year
recast their structure and equipment for at Chotusitz (1742) where the cavalry,
the Seven Years' W a r (1756-63). What which had failed so lamentably in the

101
Frederick II, T h e Great' Frederick II, T h e Great'

attack at M o l l w i t z , carried the day. But prisoner, the Prussians less than 1000.
neither of these battles displayed any H e advanced into Bohemia, but with no
great skill on Frederick's part, merely more success, ultimately, than in the
that he was served by excellent generals previous year. O n his return to Silesia
and well-trained troops. H e succeeded his army was forced to fight against
in making a favourable peace at the Charles of Lorraine in carefully prepared
treaty of Breslau (1742), leaving his positions. H e hoped to destroy the
French allies to fight on alone. But in Prussians by massed artillery fire; but
Frederick, contrary to all expectations,
1744, alarmed at the great successes of
manoeuvred his army with great rapidity
the Austrians, and fearing that they
and launched an all-out attack, uphill,
w o u l d attempt to recover Silesia, he
on the Austrian left. Once again Charles
launched a Second Silesian War
had misjudged his enemy, and the result
(I744-5)-
was a further 8000 Austrian casualties
In the two years of peace he had
and free passage for the Prussians back
increased his armies to 140,000 and
into Silesia. Charles now tried yet an-
given his troops elaborate field training :
other approach, attacking into Prussia
he had learnt from the mistakes of the
itself through Saxony, but Frederick an-
first war. But his plan was too am-
ticipated him and caught h i m unpre-
bitious, for he plunged deep into Bohemia,
pared, twice, at Hennersdorf and Görlitz
capturing towns and fortresses. Before
(1745). T h e final blow to Prussia's en-
long, however, he discovered that his
emies was the sharp defeat inflicted on
intelligence was faulty, and he was in
the Saxon army under R u t o w s k i . A t
danger of being trapped by powerful
Kesselsdorf (1745) the ' O l d Dessauer',
Austrian armies i n a hostile terrain. H i s
leading his beloved infantry across the
retreat into Silesia almost turned into a
snow, outfought his enemies and drove
disaster, and his Bohemian frolic cost
them from the field. This succession
him 17,000 men lost through desertion
of hammer-blows brought the Austrians
alone, so arduous were the conditions
to the negotiating table and peace was
on the return. H e was able to write
signed at Dresden (1745).
from bitter experience in his General
Principles of War (1748) : ' O n the whole, Frederick had survived his apprentice-
those wars are useless in which we move ship and established himself as a new
too far from our borders. A l l wars that star in the military firmament. W i t h
others have led in this fashion we have Silesia firmly in his grasp, and as a result
seen end in disaster.' Fortunately for a 50 per cent increase in state revenues,
Frederick the assault which the Austri- as well as two and a half million new
ans now mounted into Silesia in the subjects, his main concern was to hold
following spring (1745) was led not by it. But considerable dangers confronted
the competent M a r s h a l T r a u n , but by him. H e had alienated his allies by aban-
the much less effective Prince Charles of doning obligations when it suited h i m ;
Lorraine (q.v.). Frederick 'baited the the Austrians under Kaunitz (who
mousetrap' and drew the Austrians became chancellor in 1753) were work-
d o w n on to the Silesian plain. A t Hohen- ing for an understanding with France;
friedburg (1745) Frederick wrong-footed Russia was being drawn into his en-
the Austrian defence by a set of adroit emies' camp. Frederick's answer to these
feints, and then smashed home with in- threats was to increase his army to
fantry and cavalry. 154,000 and extend his cavalry and artil-
In the few hours after dawn Frederick lery. But even with Silesia there was a
had established his reputation. T h e Aus- limit to the revenue and manpower
trians had lost over 13,000 dead and available for a prolonged struggle. H e

102
Frederick II, 'The Great' Frederick II, 'The Great'

expected war and prepared for i t : he French, and exactly a month later, at
wanted to amass a war-chest of twenty Leuthen, against the Austrians.
million thalers, enough for four cam- A t Rossbach, Frederick faced a
paigns, before attacking ; in the event, in Franco-Imperial army of 64,000 with a
1756, he had only thirteen million. In third that number. H e used the hilly
August 1756, believing his enemies contours to move his army, out of sight
would attack h i m in the next campaign- of the French, to a new position where
ing season, he struck first, occupying he could trap the French between the
Saxony, a province he had always cov- anvil of his infantry and artillery and
eted. But Saxon resistance was stronger the hammer of his cavalry. T h e French,
than he had expected, and although who had hoped to outflank Frederick's
eventually he was in complete control, original position, were themselves out-
he was prevented from attacking into flanked ; in a battle lasting little over an
Bohemia by the onset of winter. A t hour they lost 8000 men to Frederick's
Lobositz (October 1756) he had beaten 165 dead. The decisive element in the
an Austrian army under von Browne, battle had been speed: Frederick had
but casualties were about equal on used his greater flexibility to adopt new
both sides. Frederick could afford positions, and his cavalry under von Sey-
losses much less than his numerous dlitz (q.v.) attacked 'compact like a w a l l ,
enemies. and at an incredible speed', as an eye-
When Frederick invaded Bohemia witness reported. The French threat was
after the winter, he found, as the fore- shattered and Frederick turned east to
taste of Lobositz had indicated, that the face his more dangerous adversaries, the
Austrians had learnt from their mistakes Austrians and Russians. Leuthen was
against h i m . H e beat Charles of Lorraine Frederick's greatest battle and his final
outside Prague, but only because he ex- triumph against the ill-starred Charles
ploited an Austrian error and split their of Lorraine. Once again Frederick took
army. But the victory cost h i m over advantage of 'dead ground' to march
13,000 dead, many of them his elite Prus- his men secretly to a position where
sian troops. The Austrians sent up a they could surprise the enemy in the
relief army under D a u n (q.v.), a much flank. But the beauty of Leuthen was
more dangerous adversary, and Freder- that both wings of the Prussian army
ick turned from the siege of Prague to worked in complete h a r m o n y : the cav-
attack this new enemy; but D a u n was alry provided the feint to the Austrian
not to be tempted into an attack, and right, drawing in the Austrian reserves,
sat in a strong defensive location to while Frederick pounced on the Austrian
await the Prussian assault. A t K o l i n left. T h e n , from left and right, they
(June 1757), he repulsed Frederick's smashed through the Austrian defences.
assaults, for the loss of 8000 to the Once again Silesia had proved disastrous
Prussian 12,000. ' M y heart is broken,' for Charles of Lorraine, who lost nearly
Frederick wrote to M o r i t z of Dessau, 7000 dead, 20,000 prisoners, 116 guns
'yet I am not dejected . . . and I shall try and 51 colours. Prussian losses
to make up for this defeat.' But disaster amounted to less than 7000. But this
piled on disaster: Prussia, even Berlin was to be the last victory where Freder-
itself was ravaged by his enemies' ick's casualties were so far outnumbered
armies, and his mother, for w h o m he by those of his enemies. In 1758 he w o n
had some affection, died. But the year smashing victories at Z o r n d o r f and
ended w i t h a complete reversal of fate: H o c h k i r k , but in both cases at great
he triumphed in two great battles, at cost.
Rossbach (November 1757) against the The strategy of blunting the enemy's

103
Frederick II, 'The Great' Frederick William, 'The Great Elector*

power to attack by forcing battle after had held at the outset - Silesia. For
battle was now more devastating for years to come Prussians believed that
Prussia than her enemies: i n the first ' O l d Fritz* had discovered the ultimate
two years of the war he had lost over secrets of the art of war, teaching the
100,000 men, the veterans his father had manoeuvres he had used as if they were
trained and he himself had perfected. the stone tablets of the L a w . They were
T h e new drafts had nothing like the wrong, as Napoleon's victories were to
quality of their predecessors, and al- prove. But it was Napoleon himself,
though, numerically, his forces remained who as he stood before the tomb of
stable, he was no longer able to indulge Frederick in Potsdam remarked, 'Were
in some of the wilder flights of tactical he still alive, we should now not be here
fancy, certain that his well-drilled troops in Prussia', who appreciated the bril-
could execute them. In 1759, as the Rus- liance of Frederick's achievement. Fred-
sian contribution to the allied war effort erick had demonstrated with utmost
increased, Frederick was forced more clarity that a state w i t h an army in being
and more on to the defensive, seeking to could never be defeated until that army
prevent the union of Austrian and Rus- was finally destroyed. H e was not hide-
sian forces, which could be disastrous bound in his tactics or methods, varying
for h i m . A t Kunersdorf (1759) he faced his techniques to match the occasion,
the combined armies of L a u d o n (q.v.) but there was a limit to his scope for
and Soltikov, who heavily outnumbered inventiveness as the quality of his troops
h i m . Frederick, desperate to snatch a declined. Ultimately his reputation is se-
victory where none was possible, contin- cured by his conduct of Rossbach and
ued his assaults long after it was clear Leuthen, where the mind of the com-
they could not succeed. H e lost more mander was reflected so clearly in the
than 20,000 men, and entered a m o o d of action on the ground. After the war
black despair. But he recovered himself Frederick, in the remaining twenty-three
and again attacked. A i d e d by Daun's years of his life, set about the reconstruc-
sensible strategy of avoiding battle tion and enrichment of his kingdom. A s
except under the most favourable of cir- he remarked to his brother H e n r y : 'If I
cumstances, he regained Silesia; but he repair adequately the ravages of war, I
was now fighting for survival itself. A t shall have achieved something worth-
Liegnitz he skilfully avoided the converg-
while, and that is now the limit of my
ing Austrian and Russian armies and
ambitions.' But at the root of his great-
smashed through Laudon's Austrian
ness as a general lay a sense of audacity
forces, costing them 10,000 casualties.
and boldness, which placed h i m along-
But at Torgau (November 1760) he beat
side the other great captains of history
D a u n with the loss of 13,000 men, more
who shared that simple but potent
than the Austrians suffered.
quality.
Although the war lasted for two more
years, all the participants were ex- Frederick W i l l i a m , 'The Great Elector'
hausted. Frederick, in his strategy of (1620-88) Prussian monarch and states-
aggressive attrition, had fought his en- man. A t the start of the T h i r t y Years'
emies to a standstill, although no doubt W a r (1618-48) Brandenburg Prussia was
it was the withdrawal of the Russians a collection of states united only in the
from the war in January 1762 after the person or its ruler. By the death of the
death of the Empress Elizabeth, his most Great Elector it was a coherent state
dedicated enemy, which allowed h i m to and the major power in northern Ger-
survive. H e had fought for seven years, many. The success of Frederick W i l l i a m ,
at enormous cost, to maintain what he the 'Great Elector', was accomplished

104
Frederick W i l l i a m I Fremont, John Charles

not so much on the battlefield as in the soldier; he certainly displayed the cal-
chancellery. H e was successful in war, lousness and boorishness which marked
as his crushing victory over the Swedes many soldiers), and brought their equip-
at Fehrbellin (1675) clearly showed. But ment and organization up to the best
his real achievement was in reforming standards of the day. Some regiments,
the finances of his estates to provide a like his regiment of giant Grenadiers,
regular revenue and thus to create a for which he scoured Europe for re-
standing army financed from the profits cruits, were playthings, but the army
of his fiscal reforms. Frederick W i l l i a m as a whole was a fearsome instrument
was a pragmatist, taking advantages of war. It was the most professional
where they could be gained from war or army in Europe, well paid and armed,
alliances, but never risking too much on completely responsive to the ruler's com-
the chance of war to the bitter end. H e mand. But because Frederick W i l l i a m
recognized that the greatest constraint kept his kingdom at peace, Prussia was
on Prussia's policy was her poverty, ignored by the great powers, his army
which he attempted to remedy, and her dismissed as being fit only for the parade
lack of a proper army, which was really ground. T o his son, he bequeathed an
accomplished however only under his a r m y ; but, more important, he left h i m
grandson, Frederick W i l l i a m I (q.v.). a state completely subordinated to the
monarch's wishes, an aristocracy bent
Frederick William I (1688-1740) Prus- to the service of the state, and a war-
sian monarch and army reformer. It was chest of eight million thalers. N o am-
Frederick W i l l i a m I who gave to the bitious young man could have received a
Prussian state its particular stamp of better inheritance.
authoritarianism, which persisted until
its final downfall, i must be served,' he Fremont, John Charles (1813-
wrote, ' w i t h life and limb, with house 80) American (Union) general and ex-
and wealth, with honour and con- plorer. ' A sincere and attractive person,
science, everything must be committed but a giddy and fumbling general', Fre-
except eternal salvation - that belongs mont had originally joined the army as
to G o d . But all else is mine.' C o m i n g to a topographer, gaining the title 'The
the throne in 1713 he instantly disposed Pathfinder' for his exploration of the
of the attempts at style and elegance R o c k y M o u n t a i n s in 1838-45. Elected
which had distinguished the court of his governor of California in 1846, having
father, and set about the construction of been instrumental in arranging its acces-
a court and state with total subordi- sion to the U n i o n , he was court-
nation to his w i l l . H e succeeded in creating martialled for disobedience to the orders
in the lands which made up the kingdom of a presidential emissary, resigned his
of Prussia an economically productive post and commission and was elected a
secular state, w i t h a total population of U S senator. In 1856 he stood against
2.5 million obedient subjects and an Buchanan for the presidency as the new
army of more than adequate size. H e Republican Party's candidate and in
increased the inherited army of some 1861 was offered major-general's rank
40,000 to 80,000, trained them to a peak and command of the Western Depart-
of efficiency w i t h the help of Leopold ment. Conceiving his powers to be as
(q.v.) of Anhalt Dessau, the O l d Des- much political as military, he emanci-
sauer, a stern soldier of the same cast of pated the slaves of all who opposed the
mind as Frederick W i l l i a m himself (Fred- government, a measure which L i n c o l n
erick W i l l i a m I always appeared in uni- at once revoked. O n 10 August 1861 his
form, and thought of himself as a simple troops were defeated by an invading

105
French, John Denton Pinkstone Freyburg, Bernard Cyril

Confederate army at Wilson's Creek and Rule ('the Curragh Incident' of 1914) he
he was removed. Appointed to the nevertheless took command of the Brit-
M o u n t a i n Department in M a r c h 1862, ish Expeditionary Force in August and
he was quite out-generalled by Jackson led it to France. Unfortunately the pres-
(q.v.) i n the Shenandoah Valley cam- sures to which he was to be subjected
paign, but, when his force was placed there were greater than he could bear.
under the orders of Pope (q.v.), he re- D u r i n g the retreat from Möns (where
fused to accept his authority. H e was his army had fought w i t h effect and
relieved and spent the rest of the war in superb resolution), he became convinced
N e w Y o r k 'awaiting orders'. that disaster was inevitable and that his
duty was to save what he could of the
French, John Denton Pinkstone (ist Earl B E F , even at the expense of abandoning
of Y p r e s ; 1852-1925) British field- the alliance; it took a visit by Kitchener
marshal. A prototypal b l i m p i n appear- (q.v.) to stiffen h i m . Once the Germans
ance, red-faced and white-moustached, had entrenched, his m o o d reversed and
French had begun service life i n the navy he became overoptimistic, overestimat-
(Britannia cadet, 1866-8, midshipman ing the possibilities of success i n the
1868-70), in which his father had served. first battle of Ypres (which city he must
A soldier at heart, however, he managed nevertheless be given the credit for
to transfer to the Suffolk Artillery M i l - saving) and in the minor trench offen-
itia and thence to the 19th Hussars, sives he launched during 1915 (Neuve
which he rose to command at the early Chapelle, Festubert, Aubers Ridge). By
age of thirty-six, partly through profes- September, when he was called upon to
sional application (a habit he later learnt co-operate w i t h the French i n a joint
to disguise), partly through the dash he offensive, he had again to be pressured
showed in the G o r d o n Relief E x - into action and threw away the opening
pedition, 1884. Sponsored by Redvers success at Loos (25 September 1915).
Buller (q.v.), he passed to the staff, H i s growing incapacity had become
rewrote the Cavalry Manual, was pro- a matter for comment in the army and
moted brigadier and in 1899 sailed to at home and in December he was re-
South Africa to command a brigade. placed by H a i g (q.v.), his principal subord-
T h e Boer W a r was the making of his inate and critic. H e was subsequently
career, his talents being exactly suited commander of home forces and lord-
to the free-ranging cavalry tactics for lieutenant of Ireland 1918-21, a period
which it called. A s commander of the when no one of his temperament could
cavalry force he cleared Cape Province have succeeded in the post. O n his re-
of rebels during 1899 and early the fol- moval he was created Earl of Ypres. A l l
lowing year led the relief of Kimberley. efforts to rehabilitate his reputation
For these and other achievements he have failed: he was not fit for high
was knighted and promoted substantive command.
major-general.
Sent home to command at Aldershot, Freyburg, Bernard C y r i l (ist Baron Frey-
he took a major part in Haldane's (q.v.) burg; 1889-1963) N e w Zealand soldier.
reform of the army and, having served T h o u g h British by birth, his parents
as inspector-general, was appointed took h i m , aged two, to N e w Zealand
chief of the Imperial General Staff in where he grew up, was educated and
1912 and promoted field-marshal in joined the army. In 1914 he took leave
1913. Although he was obliged to resign to serve on Pancho V i l l a ' s side in the
as C I G S for his ill-conceived efforts to M e x i c a n civil war, but reached England
palliate military hostility to Irish H o m e in time to join the R o y a l N a v a l Division

106
Friedrich K a r l , Prinz Fritsch, Werner, Freiherr von

in the defence of Antwerp. In 1915 he greatly to the success at Vionville and

took part in the G a l l i p o l i landings, Saint Privat, 16 and 18 August. H e was
where he w o n the first of his D S O s for then left to blockade M e t z and took the
swimming two miles in the icy waters of surrender of Bazaine (q.v.), for which he
the Hellespont to lay diversionary flares. was promoted field-marshal. In the war
In the following year he w o n the V C that followed in the French provinces he
in France and was promoted brigadier- led First A r m y in the Loire campaign
general, the youngest in the British and w o n the victory of Le M a n s on 12
army, and i n the following year major- January 1871 (against, it must be said.
general as commander of the famous French forces inferior in quality). Called
29th D i v i s i o n . In the Second W o r l d the Red Prince from his habit of wearing
W a r he was made general officer com- G u a r d Hussar uniform, he was the last
manding the N e w Zealand forces, a of the Hohenzollerns to show the mili-
post he held throughout the war. In tary skill by which the family had risen
1941 he was obliged to defend Crete in to pre-eminence.
very inauspicious circumstances and,
after a heroic resistance, to abandon the Friedrich W i l h e l m , D u k e of Brunswick
island. After the war he became governor- (1771-1815) Prussian soldier. He
general of N e w Zealand. A friend of fought for Prussia against France in 1792
poets - he was present at the burial and 1806, when he was taken prisoner.
of Rupert Brooke on Skyros - he seemed Napoleon vetoed his succession to the
to his contemporaries a reincarnation of duchy, so on his release he raised a free
the classical ideal of manhood. corps, fought the emperor in Bohemia
in 1809 and made good his escape to
Friedrich K a r l , Prinz (1828-85) Prus- England with his followers, w h o m he
sian field-marshal. Son of Prince K a r l then took to fight in the Peninsula. In
and grandson of K i n g Frederick W i l l i a m 1815 he brought his Black Hussars to
III of Prussia, he had a military edu- fight in Belgium after Napoleon's escape
cation (Roon, q.v., was his tutor), first from Elba and was killed at their head
saw action i n the 1848-9 revolution, at Quatre Bras, 16 June. They fought
where he was wounded charging insur- with particular ferocity at Waterloo,
gents at Wiesenthal, and in i860 was two days later, to avenge his death.
appointed to command III Corps. H e
was a disciplinarian and a zealot and his Fritsch, Werner, Freiherr von (1880-
corps was soon second only to the 1939) German general. A n artillery
G u a r d i n standards of training. D u r i n g officer, a horseman and a man of great
the Danish war of 1864 he succeeded personal charm, Fritsch was appointed
Wrangel (q.v.) as commander-in-chief, chief of the general staff {Heeresleitung)
with M o l t k e as his chief of staff, and in 1934 and thus head of the a r m y ; he
together they planned the capture of the was promoted colonel-general in 1936.
island of Alsen which ended the war. In In 1938 he and Blomberg (q.v.) were
1866 he commanded First A r m y and accused of improprieties (the latter
directed its operations up to and during rightly, he falsely), the N a z i leadership
the battle of Sadowa (Königgrätz), in wishing to place its o w n nominees at
which it played the decisive role. In 1870 the head of the armed forces. Paralysed
he was less successful, his headstrong by the shock of the accusation of homo-
conduct of Second A r m y ' s operations sexual behaviour, Fritsch accepted dis-
seriously conflicting with M o l t k e ' s strat- missal and retired. A military court of
egy in the opening stages. H e recovered honour of senior officers subsequently
his mistakes, however, and contributed established his innocence, but the only

107
Frunze, M i k h a i l Vasilievich Fuller, John Frederick Charles

recompense he received from H i t l e r must be regarded as father of the Soviet

was the honorary colonelcy of the 12th army. Its staff college, of which he was
Artillery Regiment. H e insisted on ac- briefly head, was named after h i m .
companying it to war i n 1939 and was
killed by a stray bullet on reconnais- Fuller, John Frederick Charles (1878-
sance outside Warsaw. T h e army's fail- 1964) British general and military
ure to oppose Hitler over the Fritsch writer and thinker. Fuller entitled his
affair is usually regarded as marking its autobiography Memoirs of an Unconven-
capitulation to h i m . tional Soldier, which indeed was what
he became, but his beginnings were a
Frunze, M i k h a i l Vasilievich (1885- period stereotype: M a l v e r n , Sandhurst
1925) Russian general, commissar for and the O x f o r d and Buckinghamshire
war. A member of the lower middle- Light Infantry. W i t h the latter he fought
class - his father was a medical assistant in the Boer W a r (subject of his Last of
- Frunze completed a technical edu- the Gentlemen's Wars) where the Boers'
cation but, having become a Communist, skill awakened his interest i n the train-
embarked o n the career of professional ing of amateur soldiers and led h i m ,
revolutionary. H e found w o r k i n a tex- after studying at the Staff College, to
tile m i l l , took part in the 1905 revolution take a post as adjutant of a Territorial
in M o s c o w , was subsequently twice ar- battalion. Because of that appointment,
rested and imprisoned and during the he missed going to France i n August
First W o r l d W a r organized anti-Tsarist 1914 and found himself on the staff,
groups among the soldiers o n the west- where he remained for most of the war.
ern front. After the February revolution T h i s d i d not mean that he dodged the
he was elected to various soviets, took front line - he was a fire-eater - but
part i n suppressing the rebellion of K o r - that he was saved from the great slaugh-
nilov (q.v.) and i n the October revolu- ter of young regular officers in 1914-15.
tion i n M o s c o w . A n organizer of R e d The gain was the British army's, for
A r m y units against the Whites during Fuller turned out a brilliant staff officer
1918, in September he was appointed and, when posted to the new-born T a n k
commander of the Fourth A r m y and Corps, a tactical innovator of genius. It
fought w i t h success against both W r a n - was he w h o planned the battle of C a m -
gel and Kolchak (qq.v.). After the civil brai (20 November 1917), the first great
war, he became chief spokesman of tank attack i n history, and proposed
those w h o opposed the military methods 'Plan 1919' for a full-blown tank army.
of Trotsky (q.v.), particularly his belief That idea was to mesmerize h i m
in a workers' militia as the proper form throughout the postwar years, but the
of army for a socialist state. Frunze held relentlessness, to say nothing of the intel-
that a standing army provided the only ligence and proselytizing skills with
means of waging the k i n d of offensive which he propounded it, increasingly
warfare which the Soviet state must irritated his superiors. A succession of
pursue i f attacked. In 1924 he was ap- important posts - chief instructor at the
pointed Trotsky's deputy, signifying that Staff College, 1922, military assistant to
he had w o n the battle for control of the the chief of the Imperial General Staff,
Red A r m y , and i n January 1925 suc- 1926, commander or the new experimen-
ceeded h i m as commissar for war. tal brigade, Aldershot, and G S O I of
Shortly afterwards he died under sur- Ironside's 2nd Division - only brought
gery, the victim, it has been alleged, of a him closer to those w h o most disfav-
medical murder instigated by Stalin who oured his views. In 1930 he was placed on
feared his rising power. W i t h Trotsky he half-pay, firmly refused an appointment

108
Fuller, John Frederick Charles Fuller, John Frederick Charles

to command in Bombay, 'which he con- listened to with attention in Germany

sidered a waste of his talents', i n 1932 where Guderian (q.v.) acknowledged
published a book entitled Generalship : Fuller as his mentor and, through the
Its Diseases and Their Cure (he had hard lesson of defeat at G e r m a n hands,
been promoted major-general in 1930), was eventually heard in Britain and
and the following year was placed o n America. Fuller received no official rec-
the retired list. Thereafter his life took a ognition for the originality of his w o r k
very curious turn, when he became one and devoted his later years chiefly to his-
or the principal ornaments of Mosley's torical writing. H e was in all the author
British U n i o n of Fascists, but he recov- of some thirty books. K n o w n as 'Boney'
ered from it to devote the rest of his life to his army contemporaries from his
to what perhaps was his true vocation facial resemblance to Bonaparte and his
of authorship. Napoleonic impatience with failure to fol-
Fuller was a prophet, whose gospel l o w the quickness o f his o w n military
failed to determine the future i n every thinking, he might, given an opportune
detail but whose message was i n its cen- war, have achieved a British Austerlitz.
tral theme powerfully correct: that But it seems unlikely, for his real talent
massed armoured forces were the key to was i n making, not breaking, important
victory i n industrial warfare. It had been enemies.

109
 G
Galliéni, Joseph Simon (1849- cavalry after the battle of the Boyne
1916) French general. L i k e so many of (1690) broke the resistance of the remain-
the outstanding soldiers of France of the ing French units. In 1694 n e w
dis-
a s

First W o r l d W a r , his reputation had patched as the commander of the allied

been made in the building of her empire. armies in Savoy against the victorious
Commissioned from Saint-Cyr into the French army under Catinat.
colonial infantry in 1870, he took part After the treaty of T u r i n (1696) he
in the defence of Bazeilles (to the Mar- returned to England and was created
souins what Camerone is to the Foreign Earl of Galway in 1697. One of the
Legion). In Africa after the Franco- close associates of W i l l i a m III, he was
Prussian war, he annexed Upper Niger, appointed to the sensitive position of
commanded in Senegal, and from 1896 the L o r d Chief Justice of Ireland, still
to 1905 was governor-general of the new smarting after the defeat of the armies
protectorate of Madagascar. H e had re- of James II. H e felt uneasy in this compli-
tired on reaching the age limit in 1913, cated post and retired, only to be re-
but on the outbreak of war was ap- called in 1704 to take command of a
pointed military governor of Paris and, combined English-Portuguese-Dutch
on the approach of von K l u c k (q.v.), army to combat the French army fight-
organized the sortie by the garrison ing for Philip (the French candidate for
which took his army in flank on the the Spanish throne). In 1706 his army
O u r c q and turned the decisive battle of took M a d r i d and proclaimed the allied
the M a r n e in the Allies' favour. H e was candidate, the Archduke Charles, as
minister of war, October 1915-March king of Spain. But four months later
1916, and died from overwork. In 1921 (October) the new French commander
the posthumous dignity of marshal was forced Galway to abandon the city by a
conferred upon h i m . Some attribute the brilliant set of encircling moves.
conception of the O u r c q counter-stroke Galway's army, under the command of
to M a u n o u r y (q.v.), but Galliéni's repu- the Archduke Charles, retreated towards
tation is nevertheless assured. Valencia, while G a l w a y himself left for
Lisbon with his Portuguese and sailed
G a l w a y , Henry de Massue, Earl of from there to Valencia, where he re-
(1648-1720) French soldier in the serv- joined the army. H e led the army for-
ice of England. A French Huguenot, ward from the coast towards the capital,
G a l w a y left France for England in 1688, but was met by Berwick (q.v.) at the
after the revocation of the Edict of battle of Almanza (1707), and resound-
Nantes (1685) ; the Glorious Revolution ingly defeated, losing 15,000 men killed
(1688) provided opportunities for Protes- or captured. T h e remnants of the army
tants which no longer existed in France. retreated along the coast towards Barce-
In 1690 he entered the British army. H e lona, under the protection of an allied
had gained his early military experience fleet. Galway, relieved by Stanhope,
under Turenne, and his skilful use of then returned to England and retirement

110
G a m e l i n , M a u r i c e Gustave Garnier, M a r i e Joseph François

from military affairs. Although he was tan armies. H e escaped to America but
certainly outclassed by Berwick, he had returned to Italy in 1854 anQ,
>m t n e

shown himself a good soldier in his Franco-Austrian war of 1859, com-

earlier campaigns. manded the Piedmontese Alpine troops
which defeated the Austrians at Casale.
G a m e l i n , M a u r i c e Gustave (1872- H e then embarked on the liberation of
1958) French general. H e personified southern Italy from the Bourbon house
that type of 'pure staff officer* which of Naples, on 11 M a y i860, landed,
the army of the T h i r d Republic pro- under British naval protection, in
duced in greater numbers than was good M a r s a l a , Sicily, w i t h his Redshirts and
for its health. O n Joffre's staff in 1914, routed the Neapolitan army in a series
he worked as head of the operations of small battles - Calatafimi, Reggio
section at general headquarters through- and the V o l t u r n o . In September he en-
out the First W o r l d W a r . In the 1920s tered Naples and in November wel-
he was chief of staff to Sarrail (q.v.) in comed K i n g V i c t o r Emmanuel into the
Syria, then commander-in-chief, and city.
from 1935 was employed in the for- H i s subsequent career was less trium-
mation of national defence policy, first phant, for his efforts to liberate R o m e
as vice-president of the war council, then from Papal rule for the new kingdom of
as chief of the defence staff, finally com- Italy were judged impolitic and he was
mander of land forces. W h e n the shock arrested when he tried. H e commanded
of the German assault came in 1940, he troops successfully in the war of 1866
showed himself quite unfitted, by tem- with Austria and took a volunteer force
perament as much as age, to the strain. to fight in France against Prussia in
H e was replaced by Weygand (q.v.) on 1870. H e eventually became deputy for
19 M a y . R o m e in 1874, after its surrender to the
kingdom of Italy, an event which
G a r i b a l d i , Giuseppe (1807-82) Italian crowned his w o r k of Italian unification
revolutionary and guerrilla general. A n but in which he had played no part.
early member of the Italian unification Garibaldi was the most remarkable and
movement, he was exiled from the king- successful of all European nationalist
d o m of Piedmont for sedition in 1834 revolutionaries of his century and an
and took refuge in South America, inspiration to all who have followed his
where he fought first as a privateer for road elsewhere.
the secessionist province of R i o Grande
del Sol against Brazil and then, as com- G a m i e r , M a r i e Joseph François (1839-
mander of an Italian Legion, for U r u - 73) French admiral, explorer and colo-
guay against Argentina. O n hearing nial conqueror. A member of the early
news from Italy of the incipient 1848 French expeditions to Indo-China and
revolution, he returned home, offered C h i n a , he took part in the circular ascent
his services to K i n g Charles Albert of of the M e k o n g river to Y u n n a n and the
Piedmont (q.v.) and raised an army of descent of the Yangtse to Shanghai,
3000 volunteers. After the defeat of Cus- 1866-8. A t home in 1870, he helped i n
tozza, he took refuge in Switzerland but the defence of Paris (to which the navy
emerged to organize the defence of the contributed so much), but in 1872 was
R o m a n Republic, last outpost of the once more in Indo-China, whither he
revolution, against a French expedition- had been sent to explore a river route
ary force. O n the fall of the city he led from C h i n a to Tibet, and to open the
his troops to safety, though pursued by country to European trade. Negotiations
French, Austrian, Spanish and N e a p o l i - with the emperor of A n n a m breaking

111
Gates, Horatio Georges, Joseph

d o w n , he attacked H a n o i with 120 (1740-8) and much of the Seven Years'

Frenchmen, took it, conquered the Red W a r (1756-63). H i s moment of greatest
River delta and was eventually killed glory came on 27 June 1743, while lead-
outside H a n o i by the Chinese 'Black ing a mixed army, k n o w n as the A r m y
Flags'. A prolific writer, G a m i e r per- of the Lower Rhine, composed of H a n o -
fectly incarnated the warrior-imperialist verian, D u t c h and English troops. A t
which France produced in such numbers Dettingen, thoroughly out-manoeuvred
in the nineteenth century. and forced into a bad position for de-
fence, George with 40,000 men met the
Gates, H o r a t i o (1727-93) American French under the D u c de Noailles with
soldier. One of the few 'native' officers 30,000. H i s battle formation was almost
who had served in the British army. broken by the French cavalry, and
Gates was born in England and served George restored the situation only by
in the French and Indian war (1754-63). the desperate expedient of leading his
H e returned to England, as a major, but infantry on foot in a headlong assault
soon went back to settle in West V i r - on the French position.
ginia. H i s military experience was valu- George II showed great courage, as
able to the nascent Continental A r m y in well as the hereditary stubbornness of
1775, and he was appointed adjutant- the Hanoverians. O n l y once did he lose
general. Succeeding General Schuyler in his nerve, during the rebellion of 1745,
command of the retreat of the ill-starred when he and the court panicked and left
Canadian expedition of 1775, he com- L o n d o n in the face of the advancing
manded during the campaign which led Scottish army. George's passion was for
to Burgoyne's (q.v.) surrender at Sara- military affairs, and he tried constantly
toga (1777). H i s success led to his being to interfere in their conduct, to the
made president of the Board of W a r by horror of his ministers. H e occupied the
Congress, and considered by some role of licensed critic of official policies,
senior officers as a replacement for asking always for a sense of enterprise
Washington. It was because his star was in operations and policies. The famous
in the ascendant that he was given the remark (if possibly apocryphal) he made
command of the Southern campaign in about General Wolfe (q.v.) illustrates
1780, against the direct wishes of Wash- his character perfectly: told by one of
ington. H i s ambitions were brought his officers that General Wolfe, one of
crashing d o w n by the disasters of the his few successful commanders, was
campaign, beginning with the capture of
mad, he snapped, 'Then I wish he w o u l d
Charleston ( M a y 1780) and culminating
bite a few of my other generals.'
with the battle of Camden, where Gates
slightly outnumbered the British but was
Georges, Joseph (1875-1951) French
routed by them. H e was recalled and an
general. In 1940 he was directly subordi-
inquiry launched into his conduct; but nate to Gamelin (q.v.) as commander of
he was acquitted of neglect of duty. H e the north-east front and therefore respon-
held no further command until 1782, sible for opposing the critical German
and passed the rest of the war in com- onslaught in M a y . H e had risen to that
parative obscurity. post through association with a succes-
sion of leading military figures, Foch,
George II (1683-1760) British king. Pétain and M a g i n o t (qq.v.), w h o m he
Usually remembered as the last English had served respectively as director of
monarch to lead his troops in battle, his operations in 1918, chief of staff in the
reign saw the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, R i f war and military assistant. Since
the war of the Austrian Succession 1935 he had been deputy to G a m e l i n .

112
Georgey, Artur Giraud, Henri

H e had had the bad luck to be wounded overestimation of its effects and of his
by the assassin of K i n g Alexander of o w n strength, coupled with the arrival
Yugoslavia in 1934 ^ a n 0
faltering con-
m s
from France of the dynamic de Lattre
duct of the 1940 battle was attributed to (q.v.) as commander-in-chief, led to his
the after-effects. outright defeat when he attempted to
invade the Red River delta region
Georgey, A r t u r (1818-1912) Hungarian around H a n o i in early 1951. Recogniz-
general. H e took the leading military ing that, as in 1946, he had acted prema-
part in the Hungarian rebellion of turely - a breach of the M a o i s t doctrine
1848-9 against the Habsburgs in whose of 'protracted warfare' - he returned to
army he had formerly served. Appointed the Viet Bac and waited for the French
commander-in-chief of the national to make a major false move. In 1954 at
army, he surrendered the post after some Dien Bien Phu (see Navarre, Castries
early setbacks but resumed it i n A p r i l and Bigeard) they d i d so and lost the
1849, recaptured Budapest, 21 M a y , and war.
was only eventually defeated by much G i a p became minister of defence in
superior Russian forces at K o m o r n , 11 the People's Republic of (North) Viet-
July. H e succeeded Kossuth as national nam created on the departure of the
leader, signed the capitulation and fled French and directed its strategy through-
into exile. out its intervention in the war in South
Vietnam against the nationalist govern-
G i a p , V o Nguyen (1910- ) Vietnamese ment and their American allies. Clearly
general. A revolutionary from an early a general of the first class, he remains
age, G i a p originally earned his living as none the less a shadowy figure, whose
a schoolteacher but, after serving a term philosophy of war, in so far as it differs
of imprisonment for sedition imposed from that of M a o , must be guessed at
by the French colonial government, left from what he has done rather than from
Vietnam for C h i n a ; his wife, who re- anything he has uttered on the subject,
mained behind, was later arrested and which is very little.
died in prison. After undergoing military
training by the Chinese Communists (see G i r a u d , H e n r i (1879-1949) French gen-
M a o Tse-tung), he returned to Vietnam eral. A distinguished veteran of the First
during the Japanese occupation and, on W o r l d W a r and the R i f campaign in
their surrender to the Allies in 1945 but M o r o c c o , G i r a u d succeeded the un-
before the return of the French, organ- happy Corap in command of the N i n t h
ized under the orders of H o C h i M i n h A r m y after its front had already been
the nucleus of a national army. Its at- broken by the German panzer onslaught
tempt to resist the disembarkation of in M a y 1940. T a k e n prisoner, he escaped
the French at H a i p h o n g in 1946 and from Germany to Gibraltar i n 1942 and
their reoccupation of H a n o i was, how- was transported by British submarine to
ever, unavailing and he led it in retreat N o r t h Africa, the Allies at the time con-
into the mountains on the Chinese sidering h i m a possible alternative to de
border (the Viet Bac). There, after a Gaulle (q.v.) as leader of the Free
period of training and, in 1949, of French. H e was backed particularly by
re-equipment by the Chinese C o m m u - the Americans, w h o m de Gaulle had
nists whose victory in their civil war affronted, and appointed to succeed
had brought them on to the border, he D a r l a n (q.v.) as high commissioner, but
contrived the swift and total destruction when it became clear that he lacked
of the French frontier garrisons. H i s vic- political authority, he lost the Allies'
tory provoked a panic in H a n o i , but his backing and was obliged in November

113
Gneisenau, Augustus Wilhelm Godunov, Boris

1943 to resign his joint-presidency of the nal and external. By origin a member of
Committee of N a t i o n a l Liberation. a Tartar family which had migrated into
Muscovy after Russian expansion
Gneisenau, Augustus W i l h e l m (Graf N e i - against the Tartar hordes, he had estab-
thardt von Gneisenau; 1760-1831) Prus- lished himself at the court of Ivan, gain-
sian field-marshal and military reformer. ing the confidence of that most sus-
The son of a Saxon officer, Gneisenau picious of monarchs. H i s sister married
had served i n the armies of Austria and Fedor, Ivan's heir, i n 1580 and G o d u n o v
of Bayreuth-Anspach (which took h i m was raised to the status of a hereditary
as a British mercenary to America) magnate (boyar). Godunov himself mar-
before joining the Prussian army in 1786. ried the daughter of one of the tsar's
H e took part i n the Polish campaign of close advisers, which further strength-

AN AL
1793-4 D U
did
t n
emerge as a sol-
o t

dier of promise until Napoleon's i n -

ened his position. T h e final stroke was
his appointment as one of the guardians
vasion of Prussia i n 1806 when, by his for Fedor, who was i n no condition to
maintenance of the defence of Colberg take over so arduous a throne. Shortly
until after the signing of the peace treaty, afterwards, on Ivan's death in 1584,
he w o n promotion to lieutenant-colonel Boris quickly crushed his many enemies
and the Pour le mérite. Adopted by among the boyars, w h o regarded him as
Scharnhorst (q.v.) as a colleague in the an upstart, and established a personal
clandestine reform of the army under
the noses of the French, he helped to
AN ALAN AL
rule, albeit in the name of Fedor.

Against the external enemies, the

universalize conscription o n the
Swedes and Tartars w h o were attacking
Krumper (swift rotation) method and to
along two frontiers, Godunov took
establish the officer-training system
equally resolute action. H e w o n a de-
which w o u l d make the Prussian army
cisive victory against the Tartars i n 1591
pre-eminent later i n the century. In 1813
and consolidated his gains by the con-
he became quartermaster-general (chief
struction of fortress and garrison towns,
of staff) to Blücher (q.v.) and was at his
as at Samara, Saratov and Tsaritsyn. H e
side throughout the war of liberation,
pushed forward into Siberia, an expan-
the campaign of 1814 and that of Water-
sion which had lapsed in the last years
loo. H e was ennobled after Leipzig.
of Ivan the Terrible: territorially he
After the war he was for a time governor
achieved a considerable expansion of the
of Berlin. In 1831, on the outbreak of
Russian state, and his military success
insurrection in Poland, he was appointed
made his election as tsar after Fedor's
to command the army sent to suppress
death i n 1598 a virtual certainty. Once
it, with Clausewitz (q.v.) as his chief of
he was tsar he attacked the power and
staff. Both died (at Posen) i n the cholera
privileges of the boyar families, a turbu-
epidemic then sweeping Europe.
lent element i n the state; i n particular,
Gneisenau was a disappointed man, his
he attacked the Romanovs, w h o had led
plans for the constitutional and social
the opposition to h i m . A s a counter-
reform of Prussia through military
weight to the boyarSy he extended the
AN AL
AN AL
reform frustrated by the diehards of aris-
AN AL
power and privileges of the service nobil-
tocratic privilege.
ity, dvorianin, w h o thus became his
staunch supporters. But his attacks on
Godunov, Boris (1551-1605) Russian his enemies provided a natural party of
tsar and soldier. T h e effective successor rebellion. A pretender, the 'false D i m i t r i '
of Ivan the Terrible, q.v. (for Ivan's son (Dimitri was the younger brother ' of
Fedor was incapable), Godunov was Fedor and had predeceased h i m ) , en-
faced with a profusion of enemies, inter- tered Russia and quickly acquired a

114
G o l t z , C o l m a r Freiherr, von der G o r d o n , Charles George

large boyar army. T h e whole structure Fornovo clearly showed the superiority
of Boris Godunov's achievement was of the French infantry, tempered by ex-
threatened, and i n particular, his desire cellent training and the contact w i t h the
to found a new dynasty. But he died, Swiss, and their well-organized artillery
and because his son was not strong and siege train, against the effete and
enough to crush a l l his enemies Russia formalized traditions of Italian warfare
entered the period of dynastic strife between mercenary armies.
k n o w n as the ' T i m e of Troubles'.
G o r c h a k o v , M i k h a i l (1793-1861) Rus-
G o l t z , C o l m a r Freiherr, v o n der (1843- sian general. A veteran of the Persian
1916) German field-marshal and m i l i - war and of the Polish Rebellion of 1831,
tary writer. T h e author of a number of he brought to an end the rebellion of
historical studies, he also wrote a work the Hungarians, 1848-9 (see Georgey),
of prophecy, Das Volk in Waffen (The and was commander-in-chief of the Rus-
N a t i o n i n Arms), 1883, which empha- sian army i n the Crimea, 1854-5. His
sized that w a r was becoming a struggle brother Piotr (1789-1868) played an i m -
between peoples instead of armies and portant part in the conquest of eastern
forecast that its operations w o u l d Siberia.
become static and costly. In November
1914 he was sent as military adviser to G o r d o n , Charles George ('Chinese';
the T u r k i s h sultan and i n December 1833-85) British general, empire-
1915, as commander of the T u r k i s h First builder and popular hero ('Gordon of
A r m y , laid siege to Townshend (q.v.) at Khartoum'). T h e son of a general, he
Kut-el-Amara. H e advocated an ' O r i e n - was brought up o n C o r f u during the
tal' solution to the war, exciting but British administration of the island, edu-
impracticable, and died at Baghdad, per- cated at T a u n t o n School and W o o l w i c h ,
haps of cholera, but perhaps poisoned where he displayed talent as a cartogra-
by Y o u n g T u r k s . pher, and commissioned into the R o y a l
Engineers i n 1852. In his first post he
Gonzaga, Giovanni Francesco II, served with an officer of evangelical
marchese d i M a n t u a (1466-1519) Ital- views, which became his o w n and deeply
ian mercenary. A main protagonist i n influenced his life. In the Crimea (1854—
the Italian resistance to the French erup- 6) he served before Sebastopol and was
tion into Italy under Charles VIII i n later assigned to map the new Russo-
1494, he led the combined army of T u r k i s h frontier. In i860 he went o n the
M i l a n and Venice against the enemy. Peking expedition, took part i n its cap-
Charles, w h o had already captured ture (see H o p e Grant), and during
Naples, marched north towards Pied- 1863-4 commanded a Chinese 'Ever V i c -
mont. Gonzaga, w h o had a reputation torious' army raised by the Europeans
as a successful mercenary leader, op- of Shanghai to protect themselves
posed h i m with nearly 15,000 men against the T a i p i n g rebels. Gordon's
(mostly infantry) i n the pass of P o n - transformation of this rabble into a genu-
tremoli. T h e French, with nearly 9000 inely effective force, and his pacification
men, and, crucially, an excellent field of the region he conquered with it, made
artillery train, met them in the battle of his name a household one. But he next
Fornovo (1495). Here the Italian cavalry took a humdrum engineering appoint-
attack and infantry advance was broken ment i n England, and it was a chance
up by the French artillery, and a rapid meeting with a courtier of the khédive
assault by the French infantry : Gonzaga of Egypt which took h i m there i n 1873
lost 3350 men to French losses of 400. on a mission to open the upper N i l e to

115
Gordon, Charles George Gorshkov, Sergei Georgievich

commerce. T o that task he soon added government was vilified over his death,
his o w n of suppressing the slave trade, which was seen - particularly by the
which was widespread on the equatorial evangelical middle class - as a martyr's.
N i l e . By 1876 he had pushed his line of In technical terms G o r d o n was not a
ports as far as Lake Albert, but finding great soldier, but he possessed an almost
that the slave traders had opened new mystical power to transform half-hearted
routes through the Sudan, he then re- Asians and Africans into efficient soldiers
turned to C a i r o to enlist Khedive and adoring followers. For his o w n life he
Ismail's support for an extension of his had no regard whatever.
activities into that region. Ismail, with
w h o m he established a remarkable re- Gorshkov, Sergei Georgievich (1910-
lationship, at once made him its 88). Russian admiral. Put crudely, G o r -
governor-general. G o r d o n spent the next shkov is the Russian equivalent of Ger-
three years in its exploration but, his many's A d m i r a l T i r p i t z (q.v.); he forced
health and the khedive's support eventu- through a new concept of the Russian
ally failing, resigned and returned to navy on to a narrow, blinkered, political
AN AL
England in 1879.
T h e next two years were of almost
and military hierarchy. Born in the
Ukrainian town of Kamenets Podolsky,
bewildering activity: he agreed with the son of a teacher, Gorshkov moved
Leopold II to succeed Stanley when the up the career ladder of the small Soviet
latter gave up the administration of the navy. H e graduated from the N a v a l
Congo (because he intended to w o r k Academy in Leningrad in 1931 (despite
against the slave trade there), accepted the legend advanced by some enthusi-
an appointment as private secretary to astic biographer that he had fought with
R i p o n on his becoming viceroy of India, distinction in the Revolutionary navy in
but resigned over a disagreement of prin- the Russian C i v i l W a r at the age of 11)
ciple as soon as he reached Bombay. H e and served most of his early career in
then visited Peking to dissuade the i m - the Black Sea Fleet. H e commanded the
perial government from war with Russia A z o v flotilla during the Second W o r l d
and next took up the post of chief engi- W a r , as well as the Danube flotilla
neer in Mauritius. Promoted major- (1944), which was integrated w i t h the
general in 1882, he visited South Africa to land advance of the Russian forces. H e
mediate between the Cape government w o n a reputation as a loyal, innovative
and the warring Basuto chiefs. Believing officer, adept at handling political and
his mission undermined by a Cape offi- interservice difficulties. Both qualities
cial, he resigned again and spent 1883 in were of great value in his later career.
biblical study in Palestine. M e a n w h i l e a By 1948, he was chief of staff of the
rebellion had broken out in the Sudan Black Sea fleet until in 1955 he was
and in January 1884 he accepted a re- promoted to be deputy commander in
quest to resume the governor-general- chief of the Soviet navy. In the following
ship and supervise the withdrawal of year, he was appointed to the command
Egyptians and Europeans. Perhaps ex- of the Soviet navy.
ceeding his instructions, which were Gorshkov held supreme power in the
ambiguous, he attempted to pacify the navy for almost thirty years. H e trans-
province, was besieged i n K h a r t o u m formed it from being a port-bound navy
by the M a h d i (q.v.) and killed in his into an instrument of international
residence at the end of a long and heroic power politics. By doing so he increased
defence on 26 January 1885. A British both the strategic 'reach' of the Soviet
relief force under Wolseley (q.v.) entered U n i o n , and its visibility in w o r l d affairs.
the city two days later. Gladstone's W h e n he took over, the Soviet U n i o n

116
Gorshkov, Sergei Georgievich G o u g h , Sir Hubert de la Poer

had just tested its first submarine- December 1985 by the new General Sec-
launched missiles, to be followed retary M i k h a i l Gorbachov.
shortly by surface-launched missiles. Gorshkov's legacy was what he called
Gorshkov, although supporting the sub- a 'balanced fleet'. T h i s was, no doubt, a
marine strike force was also concerned stage through which the Soviet navy
to build a balanced, all-purpose fleet, needed to pass, to achieve w o r l d status.
such as (classically) the British navy But it seems unlikely that it w i l l be
had possessed in its heyday. H e pressed sustained in quite the same way by his
for the construction of aircraft carriers, successors. L i k e T i r p i t z before h i m , G o r -
cruisers and destroyers, as well as a shkov has rewritten the rules of global
massive amphibious warfare capacity. politics by the creation of a navy, con-
T h i s went contrary to previous Soviet jured more or less from the head of its
practice, and indeed, to developing creator. But he d i d not live to see the
Western theories. Gorshkov believed extinction of the Soviet U n i o n and the
that the nature of Russia's security end of his creation without its ever firing
needs, and the requirements of ideology, a shot in anger.
imposed a special k i n d of naval
doctrine. G o r t , John Standish Surtees Prendergast
Analysts judged Gorshkov's inten- Vereker, 6th Viscount G o r t (1886-
tions from the sort of navy which he 1946) British field-marshal. A Protes-
built. H i n t s as to the theory emerged tant Irish aristocrat and a Grenadier of
over the years, but he presented it in legendary bravery - he had w o n the
extenso in his famous book The Sea V C , the D S O and two bars and the
Power of the State, published in 1976. M C w i t h his battalion in the First
There he described 'The w o r l d ocean' W o r l d W a r - G o r t had been promoted
and the claim of the Soviet U n i o n to an by H o r e Belisha over the heads of hun-
equal share of its bounty and resources. dreds of more senior officers i n 1937
Under Gorshkov, the Russian fleet {see Liddell Hart) to be Chief of the
actively patrolled the seas, in particular Imperial General Staff. In 1939 he went
the Indian Ocean and the Mediter- to France with the British Expeditionary
ranean, in a way which seemed pecu- Force and commanded it from the onset
liarly offensive to the United States, of the German attack to the end of its
which had hitherto sailed in solitary evacuation from D u n k i r k . H i s decision
splendour. The navy became the overt to disengage from the battle and fall
evidence of 'Soviet expansionism', in back to the coast was both brave and
American eyes. Gorshkov had staked right, for it saved Britain's only army,
out a claim for superpower parity in an though at the expense of embittering
unmistakable fashion. relations with the French, who felt they
It is often foolish to personalize had been abandoned. H e was subse-
military-professional issues in the Soviet quently governor of M a l t a during the
U n i o n , for policy is the consequence of German air offensive on the island and
a fiercely argued political process. But then high commissioner in Palestine.
Gorshkov carried the political apparatus
along with h i m for a whole generation, G o u g h , Sir Hubert de la Poer (1870-^
while at the same time avoiding many 1963) British general and mutineer.
potential clashes with other elements in The son of a V C winner, G o u g h com-
the military. It was this acute political manded in 1914 the 3rd Cavalry Brigade
sense which sustained h i m for so long. at the Curragh C a m p outside D u b l i n .
H i s replacement came when a new gen- Alerted for duty in the north, to impose
eration took over: he was dismissed in the Irish H o m e Rule A c t on resistant

117
Gough, Hugh Gouvion-St-Cyr, Laurent

Ulstermen, he conveyed to Asquith's gov- equipped and most nearly equal of all
ernment the unwillingness of himself the Indian armies the British fought
and his officers to march. T h i s 'Curragh during the conquest. By beating them,
M u t i n y ' procured the shelving of the ' O l d White Coat' made himself one of
Act. As commander of the Fifth A r m y the greatest of the Sepoy generals.
on the Somme in 1916 and at Paschen-
daele in 1917, the slap-dash work of his G o u r a u d , H e n r i Joseph Eugène (1867-
staff contributed greatly to the casualties 1946) French general. As a lieutenant
his units suffered and made h i m widely of Chasseurs à pied fresh from Saint-
unpopular (where his arrogant manner C y r , G o u r a u d had made a name for
had not already done so). In M a r c h himself in the conquest of the French
1918 his much understrength army was Sudan and was deputy to Lyautey (q.v.)
broken by the Germans on the Somme in the occupation of M o r o c c o . H i s great
sector which it had recently taken over moment came in 1915 when he replaced
from the French and he was disgraced. d'Amade in command of the French
troops at G a l l i p o l i (where he lost an
G o u g h , H u g h (ist Viscount G o u g h ; arm in the fighting). A s commander of
1779-1869) British field-marshal. After the Fourth A r m y he played a major role
an exciting and varied career as a regi- in the second battle of the M a r n e in
mental officer, in which he served at the 1918 and, after the war, was high com-
taking of Capetown, 1796, in the West missioner in Syria, 1919-23, where he
Indies and in the Peninsula (his regi- successfully suppressed a M o s l e m revolt
ment, the 87th, captured the baton of {see Sarrail). A man of striking appear-
Jourdan, q.v., at Vittoria), Gough saw ance, he was something of a popular
no action until 1837. Posted in that year hero during the First W o r l d W a r .
to India, he took part in the First C h i n a
W a r , 1841-2, and in the M a h r a t t a cam- G o u r k o , Ossip V l a d i m i r o v i c h ( C o u n t ;
paign of 1843. It is with the Sikh wars, 1828-1901) Russian general. H i s i n -
however, that his name is chiefly con- vasion of Bulgaria, at the outbreak of
nected. The Sikhs, last of the warrior the Russo-Turkish war of 1877, was a
peoples of India unsubdued by the Brit- masterpiece of the indirect approach,
ish, broke out of the Punjab into British although its success was negated by the
India in December 1845. G o u g h took slowness of the Russian main advance,
the field against them and, after two which was blocked at Plevna. H i s action
hard-fought but strategically indecisive against the T u r k s ' line of communi-
battles, M u d k i and A h i v a l , drove them cations to Plevna eventually brought
back into the Punjab by his victory at about its investment, and he went on to
Sobraon on 10 February 1846. T w o capture Sofia. H e was made a count for
years later war broke out again and he his generalship, the best, on the Russian
was obliged to fight two further battles, side, of the war.
Chillianwallah, 13 January 1849, and
Gujrat, 18 February. U n k n o w n to h i m . Gouvion-St-Cyr, Laurent (marquis de;
Charles Napier (q.v.) had been ordered 1764-1830) M a r s h a l of France. A
to supersede him after the first battle painter by profession, Gouvion-St-Cyr
because of the heavy casualties his army rose through the ranks of the revolution-
had suffered in it, but Napier did not ary army, which he joined as a private
arrive until he had w o n the second, a in Paris in 1792, to command of a bri-
decisive victory which gave Britain the gade in 1793, and to the rank of general
Punjab and brought Gough a viscounty. of division in 1794. Distinguished at the
The Sikhs fielded the bravest, best- siege of M a i n z , he briefly succeeded

118
Grant, (Sir) James Hope Grant, Ulysses Simpson

H o c h e (q.v.) in command of the A r m y later been obliged to resign his commis-

of the Rhine and Moselle in 1797. H e sion to avoid court-martial for the drunk-
took part i n the campaigns of Italy (1799 enness into which the boredom of
and 1805) and of the Rhine (1800), but frontier duty had led h i m . A s a civilian
did not achieve a properly independent he failed in one minor enterprise after
command until he went to Spain i n 1808, another and was destitute when the C i v i l
where he w o n the minor battles of W a r broke out. N o t without difficulty
M o l i n s del Rey and Vails. In 1812 he he secured command of the 21st Illinois
was given command of the Bavarian Volunteers (he was a mid-westerner by
Corps of the G r a n d A r m y and fought birth) and then, as a brigadier-general,
twice at Polotsk, winning the first battle, of a district, w i t h headquarters at C a i r o ,
losing the second. For his victory he was Illinois.
promoted marshal. H e commanded the U n i o n strategy required (see Scott)
French centre at Dresden, 25 August that the South be cut off from its western
1813, and then held the city until N o v e m - hinterland by the seizing of the whole
ber. H e was reconciled to the monarchy length of the Mississippi, from C a i r o
in 1814 and did not join N a p o l e o n southward to N e w Orleans (on which a
during the H u n d r e d Days. Louis X V I I I seaborne attack was planned - see Far-
employed h i m as minister of war and of ragut). Grant's first effort in that direc-
marine, and created h i m marquis. H e tion (battle of Belmont, 7 November
retired in 1819. 1861) was indecisive, but in the follow-
ing February he caught the attention of
Grant, (Sir) James H o p e (1805-75) the N o r t h (and the South) w i t h his bril-
British general. A 9th Lancer, Grant liant seizure of Forts Henry and Donel-
spent the greater part of his military son on an upper tributary of the great
career in India and C h i n a . D u r i n g the river. In A p r i l he turned a surprise attack
Indian M u t i n y he played a major part in on his positions at Shiloh into a Confed-
its suppression in the Central Provinces, erate defeat and in the following year at
and in the Second C h i n a W a r of i860 he Vicksburg, which he had reached by a
commanded the British contingent in brilliant series of manœuvres, inflicted a
the Anglo-French expedition to Peking shattering defeat on the South, putting
(see Palikao). H i s troops took part in the whole line of the Mississippi in N o r t h -
the burning of the Summer Palace ern hands. In November 1863 he was
(Yueng-ming-yueng), an aesthetic atroc- appointed by L i n c o l n commander of all
ity comparable to the burning of the U n i o n forces i n the west and quickly
Ptolemaic library at Alexandria by the transformed a faltering N o r t h e r n offen-
Arabs in 646. T o his credit, he had sive in Tennessee (the Chattanooga cam-
opposed the burning, which was ordered paign - see Rosecrans) into a victorious
by L o r d Elgin, and refused to share in sweep of the territory, opening the way
the loot. to an invasion of Georgia.
In M a r c h 1864, against the protests of
Grant, Ulysses Simpson (1822-85) more conventional soldiers, he was
American (Union) general and president brought by L i n c o l n ('I need this man.
of the United States. Grant's rise to H e fights') to command in the east, with
supreme command of the U n i o n armies supreme authority over all U n i o n
in the C i v i l W a r was anticipated by armies. Abandoning the strategy of man-
nothing in his earlier career. H e had œuvre, which the ratio of men to space
passed out of West Point in the bottom made inappropriate in the V i r g i n i a
half of his class and, though decorated theatre, he embarked on a campaign of
for service i n the M e x i c a n war, had naked attrition, and fought a succession

119
Gravina, D o n Carlos, duque de Greene, Nathanael

of murderous battles: the Wilderness, wars, Graziani was in 1940 made gover-
Spotsylvania, C o l d H a r b o r and the siege nor of L i b y a and commander-in-chief in
of Petersburg. H e was present at the N o r t h Africa. Under pressure from
culminating episode at Appomattox to M u s s o l i n i he invaded Egypt in September
receive the surrender of Lee (q.v.) in but did not press the advance towards
person. After the war he was secretary C a i r o , and in December was decisively
of war in President Johnson's administra- counter-attacked by O ' C o n n o r (q.v.). H e
tion and in 1868, as a Republican, was was relieved of command i n February
himself elected president. H e was re- 1941, his Tenth A r m y having ceased to
elected in 1872 but, though his personal exist, and court-martialled. Nevertheless
honour was never impugned, both his he and M u s s o l i n i remained on terms
presidencies were disfigured by the mal- and i n September 1943 the dictator made
practices of his subordinates. In o l d age him minister of war in his rump republic
he once again lost his money in an in northern Italy. After the war he was
unwise investment, recouped only by the tried and sentenced for collaboration
publication of his remarkable autobiog- with the Germans.
raphy, which he wrote while dying of
cancer. Greene, Nathanael (1742-86) A m e r i -
Whatever his defects as a businessman can soldier. O n e of the more competent
and politician, Grant was an undeniably of Washington's subordinates, Greene
great soldier. H i s talents were for the had begun the American W a r of Inde-
large strategic appreciation rather than pendence as commander of the Rhode
for battlefield tactics, though he was a Island contingent. Later in 1775, C o n -
tenacious fighter. But his greatest gift gress appointed h i m a brigadier-general
was in the understanding of how indus- in the Continental A r m y , and a major-
trialization had changed war and of the general i n the following year. H e com-
needs the new warfare laid on a general. manded Fort Washington when it was
' H e saw that the destruction of the captured by General Sir W i l l i a m H o w e
enemy's economic resources was as effec- (q.v.) in 1776, and was criticized for his
tive and legitimate a form of warfare as handling of the defence. Surviving the
the destruction of his armies . . . Lee was adverse comments on his performance
the last of the great old-fashioned gen- with Washington's support, he com-
erals. Grant the first of the great mod- manded the reserve at the battle of
erns' (T. H a r r y W i l l i a m s in Lincoln and Brandy wine (1777), and fought well at
his Generals). Germantown later in the same year.
Greene had not yet held an independ-
G r a v i n a , D o n Carlos, duque de (1756- ent command, and his opportunity came
1806) Spanish admiral. A veteran of in 1780. Contrary to the advice of Wash-
the second siege of Gibraltar (1779-83) ington, Congress had appointed General
and of the French expedition to H a i t i Gates (q.v.) to command against a Brit-
{see Leclerc and Toussaint), Gravina ish invasion of the south, but disaster
commanded the Spanish fleet which, after disaster had overtaken his troops.
with the French under Villeneuve (q.v.), Greene was sent south w i t h Washing-
was destroyed by Nelson (q.v.) at Trafal- ton's blessing to recover the situation.
gar. H e died at Cadiz the following year H i s troops were in a parlous state, i l l -
from wounds received in the battle. equipped and in a l o w state of morale.
H i s problem was the need to restore
G r a z i a n i , Rodolfo (1882-1955) Italian their spirits by a successful offensive at
field-marshal. H a v i n g made his repu- a time when he could not hope to defeat
tation in Italy's minor N o r t h African a substantial British force in open battle.

120
Grenville, Sir Richard Gribeauval, Jean Baptiste Vaquette de

H i s strategy was to force the British to leons; eventually, despite brilliant sea-
disperse their troops and energies in fruit- manship and gunhandling, the Revenge
less pursuit of his command. Cornwallis was disabled. O n 10 September Grenville
(q.v.) took the bait and also split his and the remaining crew surrendered.
troops, following both Greene and his Grenville died a few days later. H i s
detached party under M o r g a n (q.v.), best epitaph must be Tennyson's heroic
w h o managed a stinging defeat of the tribute, in his poem 'The Revenge' :
British at Cowpens (1781).
Sir R i c h a r d cried in his English pride,
Although Greene was beaten at G u i l -
' W e have fought such a fight, for a day
ford Courthouse (1781), he was the and a night,
strategic victor, for the strain of the A s may never be fought again . . . !'
campaign on manpower and com-
munications forced Cornwallis to break Gribeauval, Jean Baptiste Vaquette de
off the conquest of the Carolinas. Greene (1715-89) French artillerist. Possibly
had defeated the most severe threat the greatest innovator i n artillery since
which the American cause had faced since Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.), Gribeauval en-
the early days of the revolution and, tered the French army in 1732 and was
moreover, w i t h poor and exhausted promoted to officer rank in 1735. In the
troops. But his reputation was somewhat Seven Years' W a r (1756-63) he was at-
tarnished by constant allegations of cor- tached to the Austrian army and served
ruption, some stemming from the time as a general of artillery. After the war
(1778) when he was quartermaster- he returned to the development of the
general but mostly from the period of French artillery service, and w i t h the
the southern campaign. But these trivial experience of the war as a background
peccadilloes should not obscure the fact to all his w o r k , i n 1765 began his main
that he was an officer of great talent. task in the rationalization of the artillery
equipment. H e discarded the multitude
Grenville, Sir R i c h a r d (1542-91) Eng- of different calibres and patterns of gun
lish sailor. Remembered best for the and reclassified them all into 4-, 8- and
manner of his death in battle w i t h the 12-pounders, made to standard specifi-
Spanish fleet. Grenville's real signifi- cations. Guns were designed for their
cance was as a remarkable shipmaster particular roles (as howitzers or field
and navigator (it was his plan which guns) and a new siege train was created.
Drake used for his circumnavigation of Gribeauval extended the new system
the globe in 1577—80). Grenville was beyond the guns themselves to encom-
active and financially interested in the pass the whole process of use and train-
policy of 'plantation' (colonization), ing. The technical changes - lighter
both in N o r t h America and in Ireland, and weapons, horses harnessed for rapid
it was he who established the ill-fated movement, proper arrangements made
colony on Roenoke Island. H e took for the carriage of powder and shot -
part in the A r m a d a campaign of 1588, made possible tactical changes. T h e field
and in 1591 was second-in-command artillery acquired a capacity to manoeu-
of a squadron of fifteen ships sent to vre, to keep up w i t h the other arms and,
intercept the Spanish treasure fleet off w i t h improvements to sighting, to con-
the Azores. Caught by some fifty-three centrate fire more accurately. In 1776 he
Spanish vessels, and abandoned by his was created inspector-general of artillery
other ships, Grenville tried to run his and thus was able to apply the results of
ship through the Spanish line i n an his dedicated research in the previous
effort to escape. For fifteen hours his decade. H e concentrated on the train-
lone ship held off fifteen Spanish gal- ing of competent specialist officers

121
 Grierson, Benjamin Henry Guderian, Heinz

(one of w h o m was Napoleon) and on Grouchy, Emmanuel, marquis de (1766-

establishing a proper career within the 1847) M a r s h a l of France. A nobleman
service. In the lower ranks he established by birth, Grouchy served first i n the
a new scale of pay and improved living artillery, then i n the cavalry (Royal-
conditions. H e died o n the eve of the Etranger), then in the Gardes Ecossaises.
Revolution. T h e result of his w o r k was Despite, or perhaps because of, this asso-
a century of French dominance of field ciation with the court, he embraced the
artillery, and a crop of outstanding artil- Revolution, fought the Vendéen royal-
lery officers and theorists. ists and helped to repel the emigre land-
ing at Quiberon Bay. In 1797 he took
Grierson, Benjamin Henry (1826- part i n the misfired attempt to invade
1911) American (Union) general. T h e Ireland at Bantry Bay. A divisional com-
counterpart, o n a diminished scale, of mander at N o v i (where he was severely
the Confederate Forrest (q.v.); none of wounded), Hohenlinden, U l m , Eylau
his cavalry raids into the South produced and Friedland, he was the officer respon-
quite the effect of Forrest's great forays, sible for repressing the M a d r i d revolt o f
but the so-called Grierson's R a i d of 17 1808 - the Dos de M a y o commemorated
A p r i l - 2 M a y 1863 did divert troops from in Goya's famous horror paintings. H e
the defence of Vicksburg. A music was at Wagram and in the Russian cam-
teacher by origin, Grierson volunteered paign, when he commanded a cavalry
in 1861 and remained i n the army after corps, was wounded at Borodino and
the peace, to retire as a brigadier- eventually took charge of the bataillon
general. sacré, composed entirely of officers,
which guarded Napoleon during the re-
Groener, W i l h e l m (1867-1939) Ger- treat. In 1814 he commanded the cavalry
man general. H e had a distinguished of the army in the defence of France and
military career, directing the railway was again wounded. After Elba, N a p o -
section of the general staff during the leon created h i m marshal (his last) and
mobilization of 1914, and acting as chief gave h i m command of the right wing o f
of staff of the army group commanded the A r m y of the N o r t h . It was this force
first by Linsingen, then by Eichhorn i n which Grouchy failed to lead to the
the invasion of the Ukraine i n 1918. But sound of the guns at Waterloo and
the real significance of his life was politi- whose arrival might - it is arguable -
cal and constitutional. Summoned by have turned the tide i n Napoleon's
Hindenburg to replace Ludendorff in favour. Disgraced after the Second Res-
November 1918 (see Lossberg), he was toration, his rank of marshal was re-
chosen to present the army's ultimatum stored to h i m by Louis-Philippe. H e bore
of abdication to the kaiser (cynics said the scars of nineteen wounds.
because he was a Württemberg ser-
geant's son whose action w o u l d thus Guderian, Heinz (1888-1953) German
sully the Prussian officer corps only indi- general and theorist of tank warfare:
rectly). In fact he was a realist, whose 'the Father of the panzer divisions'. T h e
instinct told h i m that the kaiser must go son of a Prussian general, he was edu-
if Germany and its army were to survive. cated i n cadet school and commissioned
It was he w h o arranged with Ebert the into the 10th (Hanoverian) Jäger in 1908
accommodation between army and re- (see Balck). Selected for the Kriegsakad-
public which put an end to Germany's emie in 1913, he was posted to command
civil w a r of 1918-19 and gave the infant a cavalry division's wireless section at
Weimar Republic, which he later served the outbreak of the First W o r l d W a r ,
as minister of war, its start in life. and subsequently promoted operational

122
Guderian, H e i n z Guevara, Ernesto

staff officer of a division, a corps and M o s c o w . Finding that H i t l e r then i n -

an army o n the western front. A t the tended to transfer his armour to the
armistice he was sent to organize the more laggard A r m y G r o u p South, he
volunteer armies in the Baltic states with first attempted to thwart the Fiihrer's
which Germany was seeking illegally to wishes, finally bearded h i m i n his head-
retain the territories wrested from quarters and argued with h i m the error
Russia at the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, of his strategy, which he believed threat-
and after the collapse of that enterprise ened to deprive Germany of the chance
was chosen as one of the 4000 (out of of total victory i n 1941. Out-talked, he
32,000 surviving) officers allowed to Ger- loyally acquiesced i n Hitler's subsequent
many by the Allies for her peacetime plans, but was dismissed, w i t h scores of
army. H e began to specialize i n the m i l i - other generals, following the Russian
tary uses of mechanical transport and, winter counter-offensive. H e was re-
in the teeth of official disapproval, had called to be inspector-general of panzer
by the early 1930s got together the n u - forces i n February 1943 and, following
cleus of a mechanized force. Hitler, on the bomb plot of 20 July 1944, was
his seizure of power, recognized its po- appointed chief of the general staff {see
tential and gave Guderian his backing. Zeitzler). Hitler, however, w o u l d no
By 1935 three armoured (panzer) divi- longer heed the advice of any soldier,
sions had been brought into being along even of Guderian, w h o m he respected,
the lines advocated by Guderian and he and his tenure of the post was therefore
was given command of the 2nd. H e was frustrating. H e was relieved of duty,
thereafter swiftly promoted (major- after a disagreement on 21 M a r c h 1945,
general, 1936, lieutenant-general, 1938, and taken prisoner by the Americans on
general of panzer troops, November 10 M a y .
1938), at the same time successfully Guderian, the quintessence of the
propagating, through the publication German military intellectual, was also
of his book Achtung! Panzer, his ideas an inspiring leader. But he had a talent
on armoured warfare. These were for the for falling out w i t h equals and superiors
waging of w a r by very strong armoured and was too headstrong to be counted a
forces on narrow fronts, aiming at break- really successful commander ; though ad-
through and rapid exploitation, a form mired, he was not greatly liked in the
later to be k n o w n as blitzkrieg. Almost German army. H e found his real follow-
at once, he was to be given the chance to ing among tank theorists i n other
put his ideas into practice and did so w i t h armies.
great élan as commander of the X I X
Corps i n Poland and France. H e was Guevara, Ernesto ('Che'; 1928-
promoted colonel-general at the victory 67) C u b a n guerrilla leader. Born an
celebrations of July 1940. F o r the Rus- Argentinian, Guevara became a revolu-
sian campaign he was given one of the tionary as soon as he had qualified as a
four panzer groups into which the expan- doctor, at first i n Guatemala and then
ded armoured force had been organized (having met Fidel Castro in M e x i c o ) i n
(it was subsequently retitled Panzer- C u b a , where from December 1956 until
armee Guderian and then 2nd Panzer January 1959 he was a member of
Army) and subordinated directly to Castro's guerrilla army. Promoted to
Bock's A r m y G r o u p on the central front. high rank after its victory, he left C u b a
W i t h i n six weeks he had w o n a series of in 1965 to spread revolution elsewhere
extraordinary victories, encircling hun- in Latin America and was killed by the
dreds of thousands of Russians and car- Bolivian army. Guevara, though an
rying the battle to within 200 miles of orthodox M a r x i s t and deeply influenced

123
Guillaumat, Marie Louis Adolphe Gustavus Adolphus

by the military ideas of M a o Tse-tung equipped, undermanned, and generally

(q.v.), had come to believe that dedi- unequal to the demands of modern war.
cated guerrilla fighters could create a A t the same time he recognized that
revolutionary war even where the pre- reorganized, properly equipped, and led
disposing conditions did not exist; his by officers of high calibre, they could be
belief, immensely attractive to intellect- shaped into a sturdy and self-reliant
ual left-wing youth in the 1960s, was fighting force. This he resolved to do.
disproved by the circumstances of his H i s other alternative was to rely, as
death, for his band was betrayed to its most of his forebears had done, o n mer-
hunters by the peasants w h o m he sought cenary armies, but these were a constant
to politicize. drain on resources, prone to mutiny or
to change sides at w h i m , and had the
Guillaumat, M a r i e Louis Adolphe additional disadvantage that they were
( 1863-1940) French general. H e com- so attached to their status as fighting
manded the Second A r m y in the recap- troops that they would refuse to engage
ture of Côte 304 and the M o r t - H o m m e in such mundane but necessary activities
at Verdun in 1916, from December 1917 as digging (one important lesson Gus-
to June 1918 was commander-in-chief tavus Adolphus was to draw from the
first war of his reign was the significance
of the A l l i e d army at Salonika, and in
of field fortifications).
October 1918 directed the Fifth A r m y in
the final phase of the general offensive A quarter of a century before, M a u -
in France. After the war he commanded rice of Nassau (q.v.) had radically re-
the French army of occupation on the formed the army of the Netherlands,
Rhine, 1924-5, during the height of the creating a large standing army of highly
reparation conflict, and was briefly min- professional native-born soldiers who
ister of war during the same period. earned a reputation higher than any
except that of the crack Spanish units.
Gustavus Adolphus (1594-1632) K i n g Gustavus Adolphus was greatly influ-
of Sweden. When Gustavus Adolphus enced by the work of this great military
came to the throne in 1611 at the age of reformer and thinker. But his reforms
sixteen, Sweden was in the midst of a were to be even more radical and
war. W a r , indeed, was to be the constant thorough-going than those effected in
factor throughout his reign, and there the United Provinces. L i k e M a u r i c e of
was scarcely a time when he was not Nassau, however, the king believed in
preparing for, fighting, or recovering starting from basic principles, and the
from, a campaign. Popularly k n o w n as most basic of all was the problem of
a great warrior king, il re d'oro\ 'the
t
manpower; although Gustavus A d o l -
L i o n of the N o r t h ' , his great victories phus was to use mercenaries, drawn for
were not the flashes of intermittent preference from England or Scotland,
genius, but the culmination of years of throughout his career, it was necessary,
administrative reform, and a hard indeed essential, that the Swedish army
apprenticeship fighting the Danes and should be kept up to strength. T o this
the Muscovites for mastery of the Baltic, end he regularized the procedure of con-
and the Poles for dynastic security. Gus- scription which had evolved over the
tavus Adolphus was confronted first previous half-century to ensure that it
with the inherent weaknesses of his was fairer, that it provided a regular
troops. Although he believed them to be supply of men, and, most important in
unsurpassed in the art of forest fighting, many ways, that the standard of the
being almost entirely recruited from the new conscripts was higher; Gustavus
woodsmen and peasantry, they were i l l - himself was k n o w n to prefer property-

124
Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus

owning conscripts since they w o u l d be was equally bound to help with the farm
at least adequately nourished, and he w o r k in exchange for his board and
did not underrate the importance of a lodging. Thus, instead of being an out-
sound constitution when confronted cast, as was the case in most other
with campaign conditions. A further western countries, the ordinary soldier
side-effect of these reforms was that the had his roots very firmly in society; on
conscripts, bound together by the Swed- the reverse side of the coin, a large
ish language (often no doubt in its dia- proportion of the c o m m o n people were
lect forms), by a bond with the native actively involved in the maintenance of
soil of Sweden, and often even by family the army. In these respects it was a truly
ties, were to provide the most homogene- national army. In time of war, however,
ous and closely knit infantry in Europe. Gustavus Adolphus took care to pay
A n d it was the bond with the soil which, soldiers actively engaged against the
strangely enough, was to be further ex- enemy a monthly allowance of hard cash
ploited in Gustavus's reorganization of whenever possible. A large proportion
the army pay structure. of the credit for these administrative
M a u r i c e of Nassau had first laid reforms must be given to A x e l O x e n -
d o w n that the professional army should stierna, who gave form and substance to
be indeed professional, that is, that it the king's often rather sketchy ideas.
should be paid on a regular basis for its In the other great sphere of army
services. T h i s was designed to dignify reform, that of tactics, Gustavus A d o l -
the status of the c o m m o n soldier, and to phus was both progenitor and executor.
prevent looting in time of war and H i s first major task was to rearm the
large-scale desertion in time of peace. soldiers w i t h weapons more in accord
T o these principles Gustavus adhered, with modern notions of war. Yet against
but at the same time he was faced w i t h the current of an age which was begin-
the immense problem that he simply ning to question the efficacy of the pike,
could not command the same resources he increased rather than reduced the
as the wealthy mercantile D u t c h . T h e proportion of pikemen in his ranks. E x -
system which was devised was ingenious periments with a greatly shortened pike
and uniquely Swedish. H i s conscripts came to nothing, but in 1616 he short-
had to serve for twenty years, or until ened the pikeshaft slightly, presumably
they reached the age of fifty, and there- to give greater manoeuvrability, and, as
fore they deserved adequate recompense a result of experience in the Polish wars,
for what often amounted to half a life- clad the top of the pikeshaft w i t h iron
time spent under the colours. The so that the attacker could not simply
answer was payment in k i n d , and the sever it with his sword. H i s principal
currency was land. In its simplest form improvements in the field of small-arms
this might mean that an officer w o u l d included decreasing the weight of the
be given a farm, usually on crown land, musket, though the musketeer was still
and thus the right to collect rent from burdened with the fork-rest in addition
the crown tenant. In the case of a private to his cumbersome w e a p o n ; there was
the system was more involved. In ad- also considerable progress towards the
dition to his yearly wage and his cloth standardization of powder, and at-
allowance, a private w o u l d be allotted a tempts, again largely successful, to stand-
share, usually an eighth, of a homestead, ardize calibre. But his most innovatory
where he w o u l d actually be billeted ; the series of reforms concerned the artillery
farmer was entitled to deduct the equiva- (dealt with under Torstensson, q.v.),
lent amount from his rent or taxes, and for he recognized, just as M a u r i c e of
w o u l d pay it over to the soldier, who Nassau had done, that artillery had an

125
Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus

increasingly important role i n battle. O n the field of battle the extra-

Each of these changes was undertaken ordinary power of attack which the
with a single a i m i n view: the creation Swedes could command amazed Europe.
of an army which was decisive in attack, W h i l e most armies relied o n fire-power
unwavering i n defence, and capable of from musketeers to attack and maul the
great mobility. They were to be bril- enemy, and the pikemen to act as a
liantly justified i n what was indubitably secure defensive w a l l to protect their
to be Gustavus's greatest battle, that of musketeers from enemy horsemen, Gus-
Breitenfeld i n 1631. tavus used his pikemen and musketeers
The army which accompanied Gus- in complementary offensive roles. W h i l e
tavus Adolphus to Germany i n 1630 dif- an enemy infantry reeled under the fire
fered radically from every other army from the musketeers (all the more effec-
engaged i n the T h i r t y Years' W a r , w i t h tive since the Swedes fired by salvo, as
the possible exception of the Dutch. It one man), the pikes rushed forward and
was capable of more flexible battle for- pressed into the gaps torn i n the enemy
mations, having been reorganized into line. In the case of the tercio, especially,
tactical and administrative units of 408 with its huge body of men grouped i n
men, plus officers and N C O s , as op- dense formation, any disruption of its
posed to the unwieldy though formid- solid front could prove fatal. T o the
able tercios of anything up to 1500 men shock tactics of his infantry, Gustavus
favoured by the imperial side, and it could add the impact of his cavalry strik-
must have been w i t h some astonishment ing home à la Polonaise. A t Breitenfeld
that the imperial cavalry perceived that it was the harmony between the various
its opposite number had reverted to the arms which brought the Swedes an unex-
arme blanche, being equipped w i t h both pected victory. It enabled them, exposed
pistol and s w o r d ; but Gustavus A d o l - by the collapse of their Saxon allies o n
phus had learnt from fighting the Poles their left wing to the full weight of the
the effectiveness in cavalry operations of imperial advance under T i l l y (q.v.), to
élan over the formalized and moribund reform a new line of defence facing the
caracole, where the cavalryman was, i n enemy. This new line, too weak to with-
effect, little more than a mounted pisto- stand the weight of an imperial attack,
leer. Further, the Swedish army was launched itself forward, using combined
much better disciplined; the reorganiz- artillery and musket fire-power to break
ation and the re-equipment of the troops up the imperial formations, and the ter-
meant that training was a more vital rible Swedish pikemen to rend great
part of the army's curriculum. Intensive holes i n the ranks of the tercios. A n d it
drill was used to introduce a sense of was Gustavus himself who captured the
corporate discipline, and this, along imperial artillery and turned it o n the
with troop exercises and large-scale disordered enemy, then launched his
manœuvres, meant that each m a n , horsemen to complete the rout of T i l l y ' s
and each section of the army, was fine army of experienced veterans.
thoroughly prepared for the part it
A t the passage of the Lech (1632),
w o u l d have to play i n battle. T h i s , too,
Gustavus managed to cross a river i n
was to pay brilliant dividends at Breiten-
spate over a bridge of boats, concealing
feld. Finally, it was somewhat better
his exact whereabouts by a dense pall of
behaved than the other armies engaged
smoke given off by burning damp straw,
in the war, for Gustavus's Articles of
and again smashed through the ranks of
War, which were enforced, forbade
T i l l y ' s men. T h e Swedish juggernaut
swearing, blasphemy, drunkenness and
seemed invincible. But at the battle of
fornication.
the Alte Veste (1632), Gustavus

126
Gustavus Adolphus Guynemer, Georges

launched an attack on Wallenstein not entirely o r i g i n a l : he derived much

(q.v.), secure behind prepared fortifi- of his inspiration from the D u t c h , bor-
cations, in a position which allowed rowed freely from the Poles in regard to
neither the cavalry nor the artillery to cavalry, and the moral curbs he put on
play its wonted part. The attack was a his soldiers were no less strait than those
failure and, more important, it was imposed on the Huguenot armies. But if
costly in m e n : 2400 precious infantry the raw material of his reforms often,
killed or wounded. Equally important, though not invariably, came from else-
the benign myth of Swedish invincibility where, the use he made of them was the
was shattered, and Wallenstein looked product of his o w n genius, and this was
for an opportunity to defeat the Swedes all-embracing. N o detail was too small,
in open battle. The armies met at Lützen no obstacle too insurmountable, no tacti-
(1632). Gustavus was now slightly cal reform too outré to attract his consid-
weaker than his enemy, especially in ered attention. T h e Swedish army of the
cavalry. But his dispositions were excel- T h i r t y Years' W a r was the product of
lent. H e recognized Wallenstein's weak his intense intellectual curiosity and enor-
left wing, and attacked it with his best mous breadth of imagination, but based
men, leading them himself. Delayed by on solid foundations of practical experi-
mist and bad weather, he strove to ence, and it was his masterpiece. One of
smash the imperial army before rein- his officers said of h i m : ' H e thought
forcements under Pappenheim (q.v.) nothing well-done that he d i d not do
could reach Wallenstein and turn the himself,' but it is a tribute to the power
struggle in his favour. A t a moment of his reforms, and his willingness to
when victory seemed within his grasp, delegate to the new school of officers
he led a charge against the enemy and which had grown up w i t h them, that
was shot i n the back. Falling from his the army did not disintegrate after his
horse, he lay immobile on the ground death, but, though it lacked the vital
until an imperial pistol left h i m dead in spark of his genius, remained among the
the mud. H i s body was stripped by most powerful in Europe for many years
looters. to come.
It has often been said that Gustavus
Adolphus was the first great modern Guynemer, Georges (1894-1917)
commander, and some indication of his French fighter ace. Second-ranking of
influence may be drawn from the fact French fighter aces of the First W o r l d
that no less a soldier than M a r l b o r o u g h W a r , Guynemer shot d o w n fifty-four
(q.v.) was still using some of his infantry enemy aircraft. H e disappeared after an
formations and offensive techniques aerial combat over Poelcapelle and is
some seventy years after his death at commemorated in the Pantheon.
Lützen. M a n y of his innovations were

127
 H
H a i g , Douglas (ist Earl H a i g of Bemer- moval in December 1915 was selected
syde; 1861-1928) British field-marshal to replace h i m . H i s first test as
and commander-in-chief of the British commander-in-chief was in the handling
armies in France, 1915-18. H a i g , the of the battle of the Somme, for which
son of a Scottish distiller, was educated Britain had assembled a volunteer citizen
at Clifton and Brasenose College, army of several million. Haig's hopes of
O x f o r d , subsequently entering the R o y a l a quick breakthrough were deceived but
M i l i t a r y College, Sandhurst, and passing he persisted in keeping the battle going
out first. H e was commissioned into the from July to November 1916, at a cost
7th Hussars and served at home and in of over 400,000 casualties. These 'attri-
India. Failing to pass the Staff College tional' tactics were a foretaste of what
examination, he secured admission by was to prove his distinctive approach to
patronage and later left his regiment to the problems of the First W o r l d W a r .
command the 17th Lancers. H e excelled A t the battle of Arras, A p r i l 1917, and
at staff and junior command appoint- above all T h i r d Ypres (Paschendaele),
ments during the Boer W a r , married June-October 1917, he enforced the pur-
after the shortest acquaintance one of suit of unattainable aims even at the
Queen Alexandra's maids-in-waiting, price of the destruction of his o w n
became a minor member of the court armies. Invoking the need to relieve the
circle and made his way by preferment French of pressure, he nevertheless re-
and diligence up the ladder of the E d - sisted L l o y d George's efforts, motivated
wardian W a r Office. H e acted as H a l - by mistrust of his methods, to subordi-
dane's (q.v.) principal military adviser nate h i m to French command. F o l l o w i n g
during the Liberal government's reforms the collapse of his front in M a r c h 1918,
of the army, 1906—8, became Director of however, he was obliged to acquiesce in
M i l i t a r y Operations and in August 1914 the appointment of a French supreme
was commanding the I Corps at Alder- commander, Foch, and subsequently
shot, earmarked to spearhead a British worked well with h i m . H i s final months
Expeditionary Force. H i s leadership of of command were his most successful,
the corps during the battles of the bringing the victories of Amiens, a re-
Frontier and the Great Retreat was un- markable tank attack in August, and of
distinguished, but he showed remarkable the Hindenburg Line in September. H a i g
resolution in his defence of Ypres in the retired completely into private life at the
first battle for that city (October-Novem- war's end, devoting himself to the affairs
ber 1914) and was shortly promoted to of ex-servicemen through the British
command First A r m y . Encouraged by Legion.
George V to correspond confidentially H e was no worse a general than many
about the conduct of the war, he made of the Great W a r to w h o m historical
clear his doubts about the suitability of opinion has been kinder, and better than
Sir John French (q.v.) for the supreme some of them, being comparatively open
command and on the field-marshal's re- to new ideas and an efficient organizer.

128
Haidane, R i c h a r d B u r t o n , i s t Viscount Halsey, W i l l i a m Frederick

But he was a cold, unimaginative and the executive scheme which succeeded
seemingly self-seeking man and is n o w so brilliantly i n M a y - J u n e . H e also
irredeemably typecast as a flinthearted planned the invasion of Russia, but dis-
butcher of his o w n soldiers. agreed with Hitler over its execution and
was dismissed i n September 1942. H e
Haldane, R i c h a r d B u r t o n , i s t Viscount was arrested after the bomb plot of July
Haldane (1856-1928) British military 1944, although not implicated, but es-
reformer. A liberal lawyer of great intel- caped execution.
lectual distinction, Haldane was ap-
pointed secretary of w a r by Campbell- Halleck, Henry Wager (1815-72)
Bannerman in 1905, and embarked o n a American (Union) general. K n o w n i n
series of reforms which were declared the regular army before the war as ' O l d
necessary by commissions of enquiry set Brains' because he had written a book
up after the Boer W a r . O f these the {Element of Military Art and Science,
most important were the creation of a 1846) and translated another, Jomini's
true general staff, o f the post o f chief of Vie de Napoléon, Halleck acted for most
the imperial general staff to co-ordinate of the war as Lincoln's military adviser,
the military efforts of the Empire (an with the rank o f general-in-chief (when
unfulfilled ambition) and of an ex- Grant, q.v., became supreme com-
peditionary force capable of immediately mander i n M a r c h 1864, he reverted to
taking the field i n an emergency (this chief of staff). Between 1854 and 1861
became the B E F ) . H e also brought he had practised successfully as a lawyer
about the integration of the Volunteers and was initially charged, after his re-
w i t h the regular army as the T e r r i t o r i a l appointment to the army, to sort out the
Force. muddle left by Fremont (q.v.) i n the
Department of the M i s s o u r i . G o o d at
Haider, Franz (1884-1971) German that, he proved so inept at field oper-
general and chief of staff. A n artillery ations (he took a month, though almost
officer of the Bavarian army, H a i d e r unopposed, to advance the twenty miles
had been trained at the Bavarian Staff from Shiloh to Corinth) that L i n c o l n
College and served on the staff of Prince brought him to Washington to w o r k o n
Rupprecht (q.v.) during the First W o r l d administrative affairs. H i s dabblings i n
W a r . F o l l o w i n g the resignation of Beck strategy from o n high were an irritant
in 1938, he became chief of staff of the and sometimes a handicap to field com-
army (the first Bavarian and first Catho- manders. ' A man completely lacking i n
lic to do so), though he shared his pre- physical attractiveness or charm - pop-
decessor's scepticism about the Tightness eyed, flabby, surly and crafty - he had
and possibility of close co-operation be- the reputation of being the most unpopu-
tween the army and Hitler. Almost at lar m a n i n Washington.' But he pos-
once he became the leader w i t h Witzle- sessed 'the happy faculty of being able
ben (q.v.) of a 'half-hearted conspiracy' to communicate civilian ideas to a sol-
to remove the Führer, but the weakness dier and military ideas to a civilian',
of Brauchitsch (q.v.) and his o w n inde- and he acted as a vital medium between
cision brought it to nothing. H e at- Grant and L i n c o l n during the months of
tempted during the winter of 1939-40 to their most fruitful co-operation.
delay an invasion of France, which he
feared w o u l d lead to Germany's defeat, Halsey, W i l l i a m Frederick ( ' B u l l ' ; 1882-
by prevaricating over the production of 1959) American admiral. T h e son o f a
plans, but when put o n the spot trans- naval officer, a graduate of Annapolis
formed the ideas of Manstein (q.v.) into and a naval aviator by training, Halsey

129
Hamilton, (Sir) Ian Standish Monteith Harris, (Sir) Arthur

was commanding the air arm of the H a m p t o n , Wade (1818-1902) A m e r i -

Pacific fleet at the outbreak of w a r in can (Confederate) general. N o t a pro-
1941. Already an admiral, he was given fessional soldier but a wealthy South
command of the South Pacific force and Carolinan planter, H a m p t o n raised at
in November 1942 directed the import- his o w n expense the H a m p t o n Legion
ant and successful operations around and led it at First Bull R u n . In 1862 he
Guadalcanal. In June 1944, as com- was appointed deputy to Stuart (q.v.),
mander of the 3rd Fleet, he w o n (despite commanding the cavalry of the A r m y o f
a faulty decision at the height of the Northern Virginia, and fought at A n t i -
action) the battle of Leyte Gulf, the larg- etam and Gettysburg, where he was
est sea battle of history, measured i n wounded. After the Wilderness cam-
numbers of ships engaged, and the de- paign he succeeded Stuart and i n 1865
cisive blow in the destruction of the Impe- took his cavalry to cover J.E.Johnston's
rial Japanese Navy. H e directed the final (q.v.) retreat through South C a r o l i n a .
operations of the war, May-September H e attempted to carry o n the war i n
1944, around O k i n a w a . O n 12 Decem- Texas after the surrender at Appomat-
ber 1945 he was promoted fleet admiral, tox, but eventually returned to his es-
one of the very few American sailors to tates. In later life he was governor of
have held that highest rank. South Carolina and U S senator for the
state. In his appearance and character
H a m i l t o n , (Sir) Ian Standish M o n t e i t h he embodied the ideal type of Southern
(1853-1947) British general. Born o n gentleman, and was a cavalry leader of
Corfu during the British occupation, talent.
H a m i l t o n was educated at Wellington
and commissioned i n 1872 into the 92nd H a r r i s , (Sir) A r t h u r ('Bomber'; 1892-
Highlanders. H i s early career, during 1984) British air marshal. H i s name is
which he became a protege of Roberts associated with the decision, controver-
(q.v.), was spent campaigning in the colo- sial within government and the service
nies (Second Afghan W a r , First Boer at the time, and widely condemned i n
W a r , N i l e Expedition 1884-5, Burma retrospect, to practise 'area' or indis-
1886-7, relief of Chitral). H e com- criminate bombing of German cities
manded a division of mounted infantry during the Second W o r l d W a r . Harris,
in South Africa in 1900, and was deputy who became head of Bomber C o m m a n d
to Kitchener (q.v.) in the final stages of the in February 1942, had rightly concluded
campaign. H e then held a succession of that the selective bombing of allegedly
important posts at the W a r Office (mili- 'bottleneck' targets (e.g. railway marshal-
tary secretary and adjutant-general), ling yards) was ineffective. H e therefore
interrupted by a spell i n charge of assembled the largest possible number
Southern C o m m a n d and a visit to M a n - of aircraft to attack large areas, arguing
churia during the Russo-Japanese war. that this would heighten the probability
Out of his experience there he wrote of hitting targets of military value, be-
what was to become a minor military sides certainly depressing civilian
classic, A Staff Officer's Scrapbook (two morale. Both premises remain unproved
volumes, 1906-7). It still reveals both and Harris, who despite his long tenure
the charm and delicacy of character of command received only a baronetcy
which made h i m so widely liked, as well in the victory honours, has attracted
as the intellectual detachment which irremovable historical o d i u m for his per-
proved so disastrous when he was ap- sistent belief in them. A t the time, how-
pointed to direct the G a l l i p o l i landings ever, most British civilians regarded his
in 1915. bombing policy as fair retribution for

130
Havelock, (Sir) H e n r y Henry IV

what L o n d o n and Coventry had suffered commander rather than in the higher
in the Blitz. planning or organization of war. After
the massacre of St Bartholomew (1572),
Havelock, (Sir) Henry (1795-1857) the Protestant cause was decimated and
British general. One of four brothers, the responsibilities of command de-
all of w h o m became soldiers, Havelock volved on H e n r y . In effective imprison-
was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade ment at court when the massacre took
in 1815, transferred to the 13th (Somer- place, H e n r y escaped dramatically early
set Light Infantry) and in 1823 went to in 1576, and fled south to take up the
India, where he was to spend all but Protestant cause. Thereafter, he re-
two years of the rest of his life. H e was mained in a perpetual state of readiness
also to be twenty-three years a lieuten- for war, fighting in all in some 200
ant (perhaps because, unfashionably, he battles and skirmishes during his m i l i -
had become a Baptist), but he then did tary career; in his shabby, stained
outstandingly well in Afghanistan, clothes, he looked, contemporaries said,
1839-42 (siege of Jellalabad) and began more like a common cavalry captain
to rise. A t the outbreak of the M u t i n y than a great prince. H e n r y inspired his
in 1857 he was commanding a division men to superhuman efforts : at the battle
in Persia but was hurried back to relieve of Coutras (1587) he faced a Catholic
L u c k n o w (of which his son was a de- army of 10,000 under Joyeuse, w i t h
fender). A t his third attempt he broke 6500, in a position so disadvantageous
through the sepoy lines and entered that Henry, who preferred to wear d o w n
the Residency, the newspaper headlines his enemy by lightning assaults and skir-
and every Victorian schoolboy's book mishes, felt he had fallen into a trap.
of heroes. H e died, full of fight and But his superior use of his artillery, and
of his austere faith, amid the ruins, of the weight and power of the experienced
disease contracted on his remarkable Protestant cavalry, battered through the
fighting advance from the Persian royalist lines and destroyed the Catholic
army. Over 3000 Catholics died to 500
frontier.
of Henry's Huguenots. M u c h of the
nobility of France lay dead on the
H a y n a u , Julius Jacob (Freiherr) von
battlefield.
(1786-1853) Austrian general. A n ille-
gitimate son of the Elector of Hesse, After the assassination of H e n r y III in
H a y n a u entered Austrian service in 1589, Henry succeeded to the French
1801. H e gained widespread notoriety throne, an empty honour if he could not
for his actions during the revolutions of establish his authority over the powerful
1848—9, when he put d o w n w i t h great forces formed by the Catholic League,
brutality a rising at Brescia in Italy, and which was sworn to resist a Protestant
then in Hungary where he defeated monarch. In alliance w i t h the league
Georgey (q.v.) at Temesvar, 9 August were the Spanish, whose troops were i n
1849. O n a visit to England in 1850 he the Netherlands under í a r m a (q.v.), and
was denounced as a tyrant and thrown jointly they out-matched H e n r y both in
into the Thames by draymen of the brew- numbers and quality of their troops. But
ers Barclay and Perkins. Henry dealt them a devastating blow at
the battle of Arques (1589). H e n r y , again
Henry IV (15 53-1610) K i n g of France faced by an army much larger than his
and Navarre. The outstanding Protes- o w n , created a strong position using
tant commander in the interminable both field fortification and the naturally
French wars of religion (1562—98), marshy ground. H i s artillery was located
Henry's skills were those of a battlefield so as to enfilade any attacking force.

131
Henry IV Hideyoshi, Toyotomi

Once again he was able to defeat a sons to be reinforced by the Swedish

superior enemy, but this time in an essen- successes in the T h i r t y Years' W a r . L i k e
tially defensive battle. A t Ivry i n the his predecessor, Henry III, he died at
following year he again faced Mayenne the hands of an assassin.
with the league army, w h o fielded
16,000 men to Henry's 11,000. A s at Herkimer, Nicholas (1728-77) A m e r i -
Coutras, the battle was w o n by a deter- can soldier. By birth a German,
mined cavalry charge, led by Henry him- Herkimer led the N e w Y o r k militia at
self against the pick of Mayenne's troops the outbreak of the W a r of Indepen-
in the centre. But although it was the dence, his main concern being the pres-
shock of the cavalry charge which de- ervation of N e w Y o r k from an attack
cided the day, it was the mixture of by Indians and 'Tories' (American sym-
fire-power and the arme blanche which pathizers of the British). In particular
distinguished Henry's tactical approach. he had hoped to keep Chief Joseph
H i s arquebusiers were massed to provide Brant and the M o h a w k tribe neutral i n
a far greater concentration of fire than the conflict, but they allied w i t h the
was possible in the conventional arrange- British and besieged Fort Stanwix.
ment, and his artillery was always care- Herkimer and his small force set out i n
fully sited to give the most effective fire. relief, but he was ambushed some six
The skill of his artillerymen was clearly miles from the fort at Oriskany (1777)
seen at Coutras, where his few guns and retreated i n disorder. Wounded i n
fired eighteen shots to the Catholic six. the engagement, he was taken home to
Although Henry was clearly successful his family, where he made an edifying
in pitched battle, his preference was de-
death after reciting the T h i r t y - N i n t h
cidedly for irregular warfare; he never
psalm.
mastered the skills of strategy and his
temperament was not suited to the slow
pace o f siegecraft. Against Parma i n a Hideyoshi, T o y o t o m i (1536-98) Japa-
war of manœuvre (1590-2) Henry nese soldier. T h e principal soldier o f the
showed his limitations as a commander; great Japanese shogun O d a Nobunaga,
after Parma's death i n 1592 he was never Hideyoshi conducted numerous cam-
paigns i n the west of Japan to extend
faced again by a general of real quality.
his master's territories. After N o b u -
In 1593 Henry abjured the Protestant
naga's suicide (1582) to avoid capture
faith, and Paris opened its gates to its
by rebels, Hideyoshi allied w i t h another
lawful Catholic king. W a r continued for
of his former master's principal soldiers,
five more years, and at one pitched
T o k u g a w a Ieyasu, to avenge his death.
battle w i t h the Spanish at Fontaine-
Together they gained control of the
Française (1595) Henry was nearly killed
entirety of central Japan. In 1587
in the mêlée; he said afterwards that he
Hideyoshi defeated one of the remain-
had had to fight not only for victory,
ing powerful clans, the Satsuma, at
but for life itself. Peace was finally con-
Kyushu, and i n 1590 the consolidation
cluded at Vervins (1598), and Henry,
of Japan under their control was com-
now securely K i n g o f France, set about
pleted by the victory at O d a w a r a .
rebuilding a country ruined by over
Hideyoshi now turned to the conquest
thirty years of war. It is for this process
of an empire on the mainland. In 1592
of reconstruction that he deserved his
he invaded Korea, intending to strike
title 'the Great'. In battle he was an
into C h i n a . But the Koreans resisted,
inspirational leader, and one of the first
and his army had to fight its way slowly
to realize the importance o f shock and
up the country. But i n the battle of the
fire-power in the winning of battles, les-
Y e l l o w Sea the Korean fleet under Y i

132
Hindenburg, Paul L u d w i g v o n Hindenburg, Paul L u d w i g v o n

Sung Sin shattered a Japanese fleet, car- o w n request, seeing no further chance
rying troops and supplies. Fifty-nine of promotion. A t the outbreak of w a r ,
Japanese ships were sunk, and the battle however, a senior general being needed
saw the introduction of t w o ironclad to command the isolated Eighth A r m y
vessels, made to Y i ' s o w n requirements. defending East Prussia against the invad-
T h e war teetered back and forward, and ing Russians, he was recalled and sent
inconclusive peace negotiations were car- thither, with Ludendorff (q.v.), the
ried o n . But i n 1598 the Korean fleet victor of Liège, as his chief o f staff.
sealed the fate of the Japanese force at Between them, w i t h the assistance of
the battle of Chinhae Bay, where some Hoffmann (q.v.) and thanks to the inepti-
200 Japanese ships, half the fleet, were tude of Rennenkampf and Samsonov
sunk by Y i . Shortly before the disaster (qq.v.), commanding the Russian
Hideyoshi had died i n Japan, and peace armies, they w o n the brilliant defensive
negotiations were hurried to a conclu- battles of Tannenberg, 26-31 August,
sion. The reason for Hideyoshi's success and the M a s u r i a n Lakes, 9-14 Septem-
in his various campaigns was his use of ber. East Prussia was saved. In N o v e m -
fire-power (small-arms had been re- ber Hindenburg was promoted field-
cently introduced into Japan) and his marshal and commander of all German
departure from the stately formality of and Austrian forces on the eastern front ;
normal Samurai warfare. Hideyoshi, a he had already become a popular i d o l .
commoner, had no time for the outworn T h e Austrians, despite the German
practices of the chivalric code, and he victories, had failed against the Rus-
thus brought the first elements of sians, and during 1915 H i n d e n b u r g , d i -
modern war into Japan. rectly or indirectly, conducted oper-
ations to relieve pressure o n them and
Hindenburg, Paul L u d w i g von (properly maintain the advance o n the German
v. Beneckendorf u n d v. H i n d e n b u r g ; sector of the front. In February he w o n
1847—1934) German field-marshal and the Winter battle i n M a s u r i a and i n
president. A Prussian of Prussians (he M a y - J u n e , through Mackensen (q.v.),
was born at Posen, the son of an officer achieved the great G o r l i c e - T a r n o w
and o f a family which traced its military breakthrough which pushed the Rus-
tradition to the thirteenth century), sian line 300 miles eastward by the end
Hindenburg was commissioned i n 1866 of the year. T h e next was less success-
into the 3rd Foot Guards (subsequently, ful, because of the masterly counter-
and as a result of his connection w i t h it, offensive by Brusilov (q.v.), but i n Sep-
to be a nursery of generals, see M a n - tember Hindenburg and Ludendorff
stein). H e w o n the Order of the R e d left the east to succeed Falkenhayn in the
Eagle at Königgrätz, 1866, and i n 1870 west and in overall command. T h e i r ap-
the Iron Cross at Saint-Privat, the G u a r d pointment revived flagging national mor-
Corps' dies irae. H i s subsequent career ale and they instituted a rational strategy
was, nevertheless, steady rather than ex- of defence i n the west and offence i n
ceptional. H e passed the Staff College, the east, reckoning the Russians the
but it was 'the ordinary process of pro- weaker and therefore the more beatable
motion', not brilliance, which made h i m enemy. A new position (the Siegfried-
a general. H e was patient and balanced Stellung ; to the British, 'the H i n d e n b u r g
in temperament, but lacked money and Line') was constructed i n France, against
influence at court and i n 1909, during which both the British Arras a n d the
the 'Kaiser manœuvres', made the mis- French Nivelle offensives foundered. In
take of allowing W i l h e l m II to lose the the east the Riga offensive (September
sham battle. In 1911 he retired at his 1917) broke what was left of the Russian

133
Hipper, Franz Hitler, Adolf

army's spirit and led directly to the ar- H i t l e r , Adolf ( 18 89-1945 ) German dic-
mistice of Brest-Litovsk i n December. tator and w a r leader. Hitler served
But their appointment was, i n the long as a private soldier and junior N C O
term, disadvantageous to Germany, for (Gefreiter) from August 1914 until
they used it to political as well as m i l i - after the armistice, for most of the time
tary ends, insisting o n the replacement on the western front. These years
of the 'defeatist' H o l l w e g by the more as a Frontkämpfer (front-line soldier)
pliant Michaelis as chancellor, o n the equalled i n importance in forming his
repudiation of an important Papal outlook those he spent as a down-and-
peace offer and o n the initiation of un- out i n prewar V i e n n a ; nothing sur-
restricted submarine warfare which passed them. H e entered the w a r
brought America into the war. In 1918 without military training (having first
their offensives, launched w i t h the d i - evaded and then been exempted for
visions released by Russia's capitulation, reasons of health from peacetime service
very nearly brought about, as Hinden- in the Austro-Hungarian army) as a
burg intended, the defeat of France and volunteer i n the 16th Bavarian Reserve
Britain before American soldiers ar- Infantry Regiment. W i t h it he was sent
rived en masse; but not quite. A n d in October to fight against the British
their near-success was i n effect total in the first battle o f Ypres, called by the
failure. In September the Hindenburg Germans the Kindermord ('Massacre
Line was breached. In November the of the Innocents') bei Ypern, because the
old field-marshal was obliged not only corps committed to it were formed o f
to sue for terms but to call o n the untrained volunteers, like Hitler, and
kaiser to abdicate, a hitherto unthink- suffered very high casualties in
consequence. H i s job i n the regiment
able act of lèse-majesté to a Prussian
was the dangerous one of Meldegänger
officer.
(message-carrier or runner) which he
F r o m 1925 to 1934 Hindenburg acted
held throughout the w a r ; he was once
as president of the republic; effectively
wounded and once gassed and four
and beneficially at first, but, as his
times decorated, ultimately with the Iron
health failed and social divisions wid-
Cross i s t Class (August 1918), an order
ened, with decreasing power. H e ap-
given only for acts of exceptional
pointed t w o favourites, Papen and courage.
Schleicher, both ex-soldiers, to avoid
sending for Hitler as chancellor, but A brief spell as a 'political education
was eventually left without an alterna- officer' followed the armistice, and after
tive. O n his death the Führer succeeded his clash with the Reichsheer in M u n i c h
him in office. It was an unworthy succes- in 1923, which ended his first attempt at
sion, for there was much nobility i n a putsch, he had no further contact with
Hindenburg's character. the army until he came to power as
chancellor of Germany i n 1933. But the
H i p p e r , Franz (Ritter v o n ; 1863- putsch and his trench experiences were
1932) German admiral. H e com- to determine his attitude towards it
manded the battlecruisers of the H i g h throughout his dictatorship. M u n i c h
Seas Fleet from August 1914 to August had taught h i m that to rule he must
1918, when he succeeded Scheer (q.v.), have power over the army: that he
and led them in the battles of the Dogger acquired by a steady erosion of its
Bank, 24 January 1915 and Jutland, 31 independence and self-confidence, which
M a y 1916; in the latter his ships sank culminated i n his management of the
two of the British battlecruisers led by Blomberg-Fritsch (q.v.) crisis of 1938.
Beatty (q.v.). The trenches had taught h i m , or so he

134
Hitler, Adolf Hitler, Adolf

thought, that he understood w a r i n a Fritsch (q.v.) crisis. H e dictated, more-

way his generals d i d not. There was over, that while the army staff ( O K H )
something i n this. H i s first generation should supervise ground operations i n
of military advisers, Brauchitsch, Bock, Russia, all other fronts were ' O K W thea-
Leeb, Rundstedt (qq.v.), being Krieg- tres': thus he prevented any of his sol-
sakademie graduates, had been kept out diers, except those of his immediate
of the trenches during the First W o r l d circle (see Keitel and Jodl), from grasp-
W a r lest their valuable brains be blown ing a picture i n the round of Germany's
out i n some chance raid or bombard- strategic situation, and ensured that even
ment. In strict terms, therefore, he knew the few, like Guderian, w h o were still
war w i t h an intimacy which they had prepared to stand up to h i m after 1941,
been spared. A t first, during the Polish lacked the ground on which to do so.
and French campaigns, this conviction It became the custom among his per-
served only to help h i m intervene as an sonal staff during the last four years of
equal (that is, a fellow soldier) i n argu- his life, which were spent wholly i n the
ments which he nevertheless let his direction of the war, to refer to h i m as
military advisers decide. Proof that his the 'Grofaz\ an acronym of the G e r m a n
judgement could be better than theirs, for 'the greatest commander (Feldherr)
however, which the success of the M a n - of all time'. A n d indeed he lived the
stein (q.v.) plan - partly his o w n - awoke part, so organizing his day that he could
in h i m , led h i m increasingly to want to be awake for several hours both at noon
w i n his arguments, and eventually to and midnight i n order to hold situation
expect no opposition to his views what- conferences — a routine which persisted
soever. T h e turning point came i n De- from the outbreak of the Russian cam-
cember 1941, over the M o s c o w counter- paign until his suicide i n Berlin and
offensive. H e and the generals - in which d i d much i n itself to bring on the
particular, Guderian (q.v.) - had wasted appearance of o l d age which a l l visitors
six weeks of the campaign arguing h o w to his headquarters (the most used was
its initial success might best be ex- at Rastenburg - the Wolfsschanze - but
ploited. Its imminent failure, as winter there were others i n the Ukraine, o n the
came down, could be averted, he decided, Somme, and, i n Germany, at N a u h e i m ,
only if the army stood where it was. Pro- M u n i c h , Obersalzburg and Berlin) no-
ponents of manœuvre or retreat, which ticed from the middle of the w a r on-
he judged disastrous, were dismissed and wards. 'Grofaz' he certainly was not.
(when events bore out his judgement) so But, equally, he was not the strategic
too were a host of commanders he dunderhead which wartime A l l i e d propa-
thought unenterprising, self-willed or ganda made h i m out to be. H e had,
over-age: the purge matched i n propor- during his years of idleness, read a great
tions the famous limogeage unleashed deal of military history and theory and
by Joffre (q.v.) o n the French Generali- he possessed, of course, many of the
tät i n August 1914. Thereafter he acted qualities essential to military success -
as his o w n commander-in-chief - he actu- self-confidence, boldness, intelligence, a
ally assumed the title on his dismissal of hold over his immediate subordinates
Brauchitsch, w h o had previously held it and a genuine indifference to human
- dealing w i t h the army through its suffering. H e had a nose for others'
chief of staff {see Halder, Zeitzler, G u d - good ideas, among the many bad he
erian) and with the other services through was offered, was reasonably creative
his o w n command organization, O K W himself, and must be given the credit for
(Oberkommando der Wehrmacht), set conceiving or backing some of the best
up i n the aftermath of the B l o m b e r g - military judgements of the age - notably,

135
Hoche, Louis Lazare Hodges, Courtney Hicks

the decision to create the panzer divi- (q.v.), impressed by a memorandum he

sions, the Manstein plan, the outline had written to the Committee of Public
(though not the execution) of the Bar- Safety on the strategic situation brought
barossa, and the 1941 invasion of the about by the Austro-Prussian invasion
Balkans. But he suffered from a beset- of the north, made h i m a battalion
ting and eventually fatal weakness of commander. H i s part i n the defence of
judgement - an inability to match his D u n k i r k was so successful that he was
ambitions to his resources. W h i l e the promoted general of brigade, then of
impetus of his blitzkrieg victories lasted, division i n quick succession, and then
the industrial and economic inferiority commander-in-chief of the A r m y of
of Germany vis-à-vis the growing list of the Moselle. Initially unsuccessful at
enemies he almost casually acquired Kaiserlautern (28-30 November 1793),
(there was no diplomatic necessity for he recovered to beat the Prussians at
h i m to declare w a r o n America i n the Froeschwiller (22 December) and the
aftermath of Pearl Harbor) was dis- Austrians at Geisberg (26 December).
guised. Once it ran out, as it d i d i n the Through these victories he recaptured
middle of 1943, he was left without initia- the lines of Wissemburg, relieved
tive or room to manoeuvre. H e recog- Landau and threw the invaders back
nized that this was quite literally so across the Rhine.
- hence his insistence o n holding ground H i s career was interrupted during
everywhere, no matter what the cost, 1794 by imprisonment, contrived by his
and his growing preference for generals, rival Pichegru (q.v.), but he was released
like Schörner (q.v.), w h o w o u l d stand after the overthrow of Robespierre and
fast long after there had ceased to be conducted a successful pacification i n
any point i n so doing. A t the very end - Brittany, including the repulse of the
and he almost succeeded i n carrying out emigre landing at Quiberon Bay, 27 June
his boast of fighting 'until five past mid- 1795. H i s o w n expedition to Ireland the
night' - he clung obsessively to the single following year (Bantry Bay) was, how-
idea of staying put, surrendering his ever, a fiasco, though not of his making.
chance of escaping from Berlin when he In 1797, in command of the A r m y of the
still might have done, and ultimately Sambre-et-Meuse, he achieved the vic-
dying by his o w n hand as enemy shells tories of N e u w i e d and Altenkirchen
exploded on the ground over his head. against the Austrians i n northern Ger-
The circumstances were a bizarre many. It was there that he died of a
repetition of his youthful experience disease of the chest, aged twenty-nine.
of war on the western front with 'One of the greatest and purest figures
which he had so often taunted his of the Revolution', Hoche's ruthlessness,
generals. even brutality, against the Chouans of
Brittany make h i m difficult to like. But
Hoche, Louis Lazare (1768-97) his generalship attracted even N a p o -
French general. T h e son of a groom, leon's admiration.
H o c h e himself began work as an assist-
ant groom i n the royal stables. In 1784 Hodges, Courtney Hicks (1887-
he enlisted i n the Gardes françaises and 1966) American general. A Georgian,
in 1789 was a corporal. Despite its royal Hodges enlisted as a private soldier and
associations, his regiment favoured the served three years i n the ranks. D u r i n g
Revolution, and he himself prospered the Second W o r l d W a r he commanded
through it (though not materially, for he the U S First A r m y throughout its ad-
was of a puritanical temperament). By vance from N o r m a n d y to Germany and
1792 he was a captain and Carnot during the German Ardennes offensive.

136
Hoepner, Erich Hoik, Heinrich

Hoepner, Erich (i886-1944) German Napoleon's invasion. Its leading ele-

panzer general and conspirator against ments were thrown back at the battle of
Hitler. H e commanded the Fourth Saalfeld, 10 October 1806, and the corps
Panzer G r o u p w i t h great success in the itself destroyed at Jena. T h e death of
advance to M o s c o w in 1941 and came Brunswick (q.v.) at Auerstadt on the
within sight of the city, but took the full same day brought h i m the supreme com-
brunt of Z h u k o v ' s (q.v.) December mand and, after directing the retreat of
counter-offensive and was driven back. the army to the Oder, he capitulated.
H i t l e r made h i m the principal target of A relative, Karl Augustus von
his w r a t h ; he was not only dismissed Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1827-92), had a
but stripped of his rank. H e had been distinguished career in the reconstructed
involved in the 1938 conspiracy and was Prussian army and commanded the artil-
now drawn into the Beck-Stauffenberg lery at the siege of Paris, 1870-1. H e was
circle. A t the critical moment on 20 July a prolific military writer and his Letters
1944, however, he hesitated in his role on Artillery were an influential text.
of supplanting the commander of the
H o m e A r m y and was arrested that H o i k , H e i n r i c h (1599-1633) G e r m a n
evening when the coup failed. H e was soldier of fortune. Danish by birth, H o i k
hanged on 8 August. first served Christian IV of Denmark
before transferring to the imperial cause.
Hoffmann, M a x (1869-1927) German H e commanded in the heroic defence of
general. H e was the most important sub- Stralsund i n 1628, when he held off W a l -
ordinate of Hindenburg and Ludendorff lenstein (q.v.) for almost six months
(qq.v.) during their successful direction before the imperial army withdrew. But
of operations on the eastern front, which after the peace of Lübeck (1629), which
brought them to the supreme command. took Denmark out of the T h i r t y Years'
In 1914 he was already in post as oper- W a r , H o i k joined his erstwhile oppo-
ations officer of the Eighth A r m y in East nent, Wallenstein. In 1632 he was given
Prussia and advised General François a cavalry command, and it was as a
during his brilliant defence against the cavalry commander that he was to leave
invading Russians, for which, H o f f m a n n his mark.
later alleged, Hindenburg and Luden- ' H o i k ' s Horse' were notable for their
dorff unfairly reaped the credit. After zeal in battle, their enthusiasm in rape
the duumvirate's departure to the west and pillage (his devastation of Saxony
in September 1916, he remained as chief was notorious even in an age of atroci-
of staff in the east, negotiated the treaty ties), and their solidness under fire. A t
of Brest-Litovsk w i t h the Bolsheviks, Lützen (1632) he commanded the cav-
and organized the annexation of the alry facing Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.)
Ukraine. Perhaps the most brilliant and was hard pressed when the Swedish
G e r m a n staff officer of his generation, cavalry charged. But fortunately for
the exact importance of his contribution H o i k , Gustavus was killed and he man-
to Hindenburg's and Ludendorff's suc- aged to rally his troops i n the confusion
cess, though disputed by the latter, was which ensued. After Lützen he was left
certainly very great. in senior command but without an
active role. H e chafed under this en-
Hohen lohe-Ingelfingen, Prinz Friedrich forced idleness, but his rising irritation
L u d w i g von (1746-1818) Prussian gen- was quenched by an attack of plague,
eral. In 1806 he commanded the corps from which he died. H o i k ' s real talent
which defended the sector between the was for irregular war, skirmishing and
Saal and the Thuringian forests against raiding.

137
H o o d , John Bell Hopton, Ralph, Lord

H o o d , John Bell (1831-79) American lorsville that some credit perhaps reflects
(Confederate) general. N o t one of the on H o o k e r for helping to make it poss-
South's great generals, he was one of its ible. L i n c o l n , understandably, d i d not
bravest fighters. A West Pointer (and take that view, and replaced h i m with
only a lieutenant in 1861), he got com- Meade (q.v.). H e spent the rest of the
mand of a brigade, then of a division, in war a corps commander in Tennessee
1862 (he was promoted major-general and Georgia. 'Fightin' Joe' was a press-
on 10 October), and made it 'man for man's nickname which stuck, and was
man perhaps the best . . . in the A r m y ' . partly deserved for it described his
H e was badly wounded at Gettysburg talent, which was 'limited to his field of
and again at Chickamauga but retained vision . . . he could not make war on the
spirit enough, when promoted to suc- map'.
ceed Johnston (q.v.) as commander of
the A r m y of Tennessee, to plan and lead H o p t o n , R a l p h , L o r d (1598-1652) Eng-
a counter-offensive against Sherman lish soldier. Although initially a strong
(q.v.) after Atlanta. Neither he nor his Parliament man, H o p t o n rallied to the
soldiers could offer a match, however, flag of K i n g Charles I i n 1642 and was
and the F r a n k l i n - N a s h v i l l e campaign one of his most energetic and effective
was a failure. But he d i d not surrender commanders. A t the start of the war he
until the following 31 M a y . F o r over galvanized Cornish resistance to Parlia-
two years he had commanded from the ment, and defeated a Parliamentary
saddle with a crippled left arm and with- army under Ruthven sent to secure the
out a leg. west. After beating Ruthven at Bradock
D o w n and L o r d Stamford at Stratton
H o o k e r , Joseph ('Fightin' J o e ' ; 1814- (1643), H o p t o n ravaged Devonshire. In
79) American (Union) general. A West July 1643 he attacked a larger force
Pointer, H o o k e r had fought in the M e x i - under Sir W i l l i a m Waller (q.v.) at
can and Seminole wars but had retired Lansdown near Bath, but was wounded
in 1853. Moreover, having quarrelled during the action and took refuge in
with generals Scott and Halleck (qq.v.), Devizes. Recovered from his w o u n d , he
he had difficulty in re-establishing him- built on his earlier success and moved
self in the army in 1861, but when he through Dorset into the south-eastern
got command of a brigade showed him- counties of England. But his advance
self a brilliant and brave tactical leader. was halted when he was beaten at
A t Second Bull R u n he commanded a Cheriton in Kent by Waller ( M a r c h
division, at Antietam, where he was 1644). H o p t o n retreated in good order,
wounded, a corps. A t Fredericksburg he however, and managed to save his pre-
commanded the centre and, consequent cious artillery from capture. In 1646 he
on the poor handling of the battle by was less fortunate for he met his match
Burnside (q.v.), was himself appointed in Fairfax (q.v.), who systematically re-
commander of the A r m y of the duced the centres of Royalist resistance
Potomac, a post he badly wanted and in the west: at Torrington (1646) he
had intrigued to get. L i n c o l n wrote h i m was routed and retreated south-west
a very remarkable letter of advice and into C o r n w a l l . But at T r u r o he faced
warning, ending, 'Give us victories.' U n - overwhelming odds and considerable
fortunately at Chancellorsville, 1-4 M a y doubts about the continuing loyalty of
1863, he encountered Lee and Jackson his o w n troops : he surrendered and was
(qq.v.) at the top of their joint form and allowed to leave freely. H e died, in exile,
was completely outmanoeuvred. So per- in the Netherlands.
fect a (Confederate) victory was Chancel- Hopton's successes were those of

138
Howe, Richard, Earl H o w e , W i l l i a m , Viscount

improvisation, transforming poor human a Knight of the Garter, and he and all
material, training his troops and instill- his officers were lavishly rewarded. By
ing a sense of duty and loyalty into now an officer of eminence, he held
them. H i s later campaigns were with administrative posts, but it was his per-
men he did not k n o w well and in w h o m sonal intervention which ended the dan-
he had little confidence. H e was profes- gerous Spithead mutiny of 1797. T h e
sional in his management of a campaign, sailors trusted 'Black D i c k , as he was
benefiting from the experience he had nicknamed (he shared his brother's dark
gained serving with Mansfeld (q.v.) in features). H e was an excellent and cour-
the Palatinate in the early stages of the ageous seaman, and a naval officer of
Thirty Years' W a r (1618-48). H e was the traditional sort. H e was, however,
out-generalled by Fairfax, but he also no great thinker or innovator.
lacked his strength both in men and
support. Howe, William, Viscount (1729-
1814) British soldier. The youngest of
H o w e , R i c h a r d , Earl (1726-99) Eng- the three H o w e brothers, his military
lish admiral. T h e most successful of the reputation is a little less resplendent.
H o w e brothers, R i c h a r d H o w e joined Serving briefly under the D u k e of C u m -
the British navy in 1740, served under berland (q.v.) after the Culloden cam-
A n s o n (q.v.), and saw his first action paign, he later served with Wolfe (q.v.)
against the French in 1746, when he was at the siege of Louisburg (1758). In the
severely wounded. A t the beginning of following year H o w e took a leading part
the Seven Years' W a r (1756-63) he held in the capture of Quebec under Wolfe's
station in the Channel, and his career command and completed his run of suc-
during the war amounted to a series of cess with the capture of M o n t r e a l in
assaults, dashingly executed, on the 1760. H e developed light infantry tac-
French mainland, and the harassment of tics, based on the general experience
coastal shipping. In November 1759 how- gained in N o r t h America, and was
ever he commanded the lead ship in viewed as one of the most promising
Hawke's victory at Quiberon Bay. Late young officers. As such he was sent to
in M a r c h 1776 he was appointed as stiffen the British command in the
overall commander in N o r t h America, American colonies in 1775. A t the battle
to act in concert with his brother W i l - of Bunker H i l l , H o w e followed his com-
liam (q.v.). But the naval part in the mander, Gage's, orders and launched a
war was slight and, like his brother, he frontal assault against prepared pos-
was accused of inaction and lack of itions: he lost over 1000 men.
zeal. H e too resigned his command in In the campaigns of 1776 and 1777,
1778, to join W i l l i a m in the defeat of H o w e , now in overall command, was
their political enemies. faced with the impossible task of impos-
In 1782, with a change of government, ing a scheme of united, co-ordinated
he accepted a new command and was action. But he had a good record of
responsible for the successful outcome success, taking N e w Y o r k (1776), beat-
of the relief expedition to Gibraltar, ing Washington at the battle of Brandy-
under attack by de C r i l l o n and ably wine (1777), and at G e r m a n t o w n in the
defended by Sir George Elliott. Howe's following month (October). But his
most lasting triumph came on 1 June other generals reaped the rewards of
1794, The Glorious First of June, off their impetuosity, Burgoyne (q.v.) being
Ushant, when as commander of the forced to surrender to General Gates
Channel fleet he defeated the French (q.v.) at Saratoga in October 1777. A s
fleet of Joyeuse decisively. H e was made the British position worsened, H o w e

139
Huger, Isaac H u n t l y , George G o r d o n , E a r l of

tried to bring Washington into a pos- land. T a k i n g up command in the Indian

ition where he could inflict a decisive Ocean in July 1778 for the second time,
defeat. But he failed, and in 1778 he since he had served there from 1773 to
resigned his command, because he be- 1777, his first act was to raid the French
lieved that the government in L o n d o n coastal possessions, in 1782 capturing
had failed to support h i m properly. H e the important fort of Trincomalee. But
returned to L o n d o n to defend himself he had very rapidly to defend his new
against a whispering campaign fostered conquest as a superior French fleet
by his enemies. H e never held another arrived to challenge his dominance of
command. H o w e was a skilful field com- the coast.
mander, an inspiring and imposing Hughes and the French admiral, Suf-
leader, a tall, saturnine figure, but he fren (q.v.), fought four fleet actions in
lacked the strategic grasp of a great seven months. Suffren recaptured T r i n -
general. comalee and generally had the best of
the encounters, but Hughes, by excellent
Huger, Isaac (1743-97) American sol- seamanship, never allowed the advan-
dier. One of no less than five brothers tage to pass decisively to the French. By
active in the American Revolution, Isaac keeping his fleet in being, and at sea, he
Huger rose to the greatest military posed a constant threat to the French,
prominence in the war. Educated in who could never concentrate on using
Europe, he had experience both in their fleet to support their forces on
Indian warfare and regular military serv- land. The running battles were ended by
ice before the revolution broke out. the treaty of Versailles (1783). Hughes
Faced by regular troops, well handled, returned to England with a massive for-
he had little success at the head of his tune, acquired in India by means which
South C a r o l i n a regiment. A t the second were never disclosed. H e never held a
battle of Charleston (1780) he was swept command again. The interest of the
away by Tarleton's successful assault; campaign lies in its duration : both fleets
at H o b k i r k ' s H i l l (1781) he was part of were at sea for nearly a year. Suffren's
Nathanael Greene's (q.v.) force (which was the greater achievement, however,
had already lost at G u i l f o r d Courthouse for he had no secure base which he
earlier in the year), and again went could use to refit and repair his ships.
d o w n to defeat. But despite this lack of But both admirals anticipated some of
success, Huger inspired his men with the techniques used in the blockade
confidence, especially since he was during the Napoleonic wars.
always where the danger was fiercest in
a battle. W o u n d e d many times in action, H u n t l y , George G o r d o n , Earl of (1514-
he was not well served by his troops, 62) Scottish soldier. In the tumultuous
who were never able to fulfil the de- Scottish politics of the mid-sixteenth cen-
mands he made on them. W i t h better tury, H u n t l y was an arch-conniver, and
material, his undoubted energy should in a generation devoid of military skill
have had a more successful outcome. in Scotland he passed for a leading sol-
dier. In 1542 he repulsed an invading
Hughes, Sir E d w a r d (1720-94) English English force in a skirmish at H a d d e n
admiral. Together with Eyre Coote, R i g , and, more important, kept the pow-
Hughes played a crucial role in the exten- erful army of the D u k e of N o r f o l k from
sion of British power in India. H e pro- moving much beyond the Tweed. (The
vided control of the seas, always vital English army of 30,000 smashed the
for a successful European campaign in main Scottish army at Solway M o s s ,
India, while Eyre Coote had free rein o n however, a battle at which H u n t l y was

140
H u n t l y , George G o r d o n , E a r l of H u n t l y , George G o r d o n , E a r l of

not present.) T w o years later he turned as the situation and his o w n advantage
his attention to the Highlands, crushing demanded. Trusted by none, H u n t l y
rebellious clans with great firmness. But was, nevertheless, too powerful to be
at the battle of Pinkie (1547), his career disregarded. But his many enemies at
received a reverse, for in the general the court of M a r y , Queen of Scots,
panic which followed the rout of the united against h i m . Driven finally into
Scots, H u n t l y fled and was taken rebellion, he died in a pathetic mêlée
prisoner. between his few remaining supporters
But nothing served to reduce the great and the royalist party. H i s death was
power, based on lands and wealth, caused, it was said, by being crushed in
which he held in the north of Scotland. the throng, 'being a corpulent m a n ' .
After his release by the English, on pay- Heart failure, the most probable reason,
ment of a substantial ransom, he again saved h i m from the executioner's axe.
assumed a leading role in Scottish poli- In few respects an attractive character,
tics, in the tumult over religious change he was the least unsuccessful Scottish
adopting a Catholic or Protestant stance soldier of his era.

141
 I
Ironside, E d m u n d (ist B a r o n ; 1880- 1549-50 he sent expeditions against the
1959) British field-marshal. Six feet Tartar khanate of Kazan. T h e ex-
four inches i n height and muscular i n peditions failed and the generals suffered
proportion, T i n y ' Ironside played rugby execution, the usual consequence of
for Scotland, spoke seven languages, Ivan's displeasure. In 1552 he him-
and, through his escapades as an intelli- self led a much stronger force, and
gence officer in the Boer W a r , provided the city succumbed. But i n 1555 the
John Buchan with the model for his country was invaded from the south by
famous character Richard Hannay (of the Crimean Tartars, w h o ravaged the
The Thirty-nine Steps and other novels). land and took M o s c o w , although the
After a distinguished regimental and Kremlin of M o s c o w held out against
staff career, 1914-18, he was appointed them.
to command the allied forces i n N o r t h In general, Ivan's campaigns i n the
Russia (see his Archangel, 1918-19), east and south were successful, but his
an episode which Buchan might have attempts to conquer territory in L i v o n i a ,
hesitated to write as fiction, was sub- on the Baltic, brought h i m into direct
sequently commandant o f the Staff conflict with Poland. By 1582 a l l
College and, after his career had faltered Russia's gains i n L i v o n i a had been lost,
in the 1930s, was chosen by Belisha,- despite the rigours of a long w a r . In
who had found difficulty i n w o r k i n g 1570 Ivan destroyed the city of
with G o r t (q.v.), to be Chief of the N o v g o r o d the Great, believing they were
Imperial General Staff o n 3 September treating with the Poles ; and as the years
1939. A commander at heart, w h o went o n , looming insanity clouded his
would have preferred to go to France in mind. H e built up a private army, the
Gort's place, was not happy in the post oprichniki, and terrorized his more emi-
and was relieved after D u n k i r k . nent subjects. H i s rages were devastat-
ing : in one o f his passions he killed his
Ivan the Terrible (1530-84) Tsar of son, and guilt for the deed soured his
Russia. Although the main activity of life. T h e achievement of Ivan's reign
Ivan's reign was the construction of a was to subordinate all considerations to
strong centralized state, involving the the building of military power and an
bloody destruction o f boyar (noble) unassailable royal autocracy. T h e first
families and privileges, he was active ruler of Russia to take the title 'tsar', he
in foreign conquest. In 1547-8 and is still revered as a great patriot.

142
 J
Jackson, Andrew (1767-1845) Seventh mond. Initially unsuccessful at Kerns-
president of the United States; victor of t o w n , 23 M a r c h 1862, he then proceeded
the battle of N e w Orleans. A lawyer to defeat in detail a superior U n i o n force
turned politician, Jackson had gained in a succession of minor but brilliantly
some experience of fighting as a major- contrived victories - Winchester, Cross
general of Tennessee militia and i n 1814 Keys and Port Republic. These t w o
conducted a campaign i n A l a b a m a months o f campaigning have been a sub-
against the Creek Indians, allies of the ject of study at American and British
British with w h o m America was then at staff colleges ever since.
war. In M a y he was commissioned Jackson's next passage of c o m m a n d ,
major-general i n the regular army and in support o f Lee (q.v.) during the Seven
on 8 January 1815, with a rag-tag Days' battles, was curiously inept. But
army, defeated General Pakenham at he recovered his form at Second B u l l
N e w Orleans (a victory to w h i c h a line R u n , took a prominent part at Freder-
in ' T h e Star-spangled Banner' refers). icksburg and, with Lee, achieved one of
H e became overnight a national hero. the masterpieces of battlefield strategy
H e later campaigned successfully against at Chancellorsvilie. Reconnoitring after
the Seminole Indians (1818). the battle, he was accidentally shot by
his o w n men and died eight days later
Jackson, Thomas Jonathan ('Stone- of pneumonia. H i s last words, typically
w a l l ' ; 1824-63) American (Confeder- elegant and enigmatic, were, 'Let us
ate) general. Jackson w o n his nickname, cross over the river and rest under the
now inseparable, at First Bull R u n , his shade of the trees.' Lee in particular and
undying reputation for will-o'-the-wisp the Confederacy in general were stricken
generalship in his Shenandoah Valley by his loss. Austere i n manner and
campaign, M a y - J u n e 1862. Originally a habits, passionately religious and obses-
regular officer (West Point, class of sively secretive, he set a style of general-
1846), he had left the army i n 1851 to ship which influenced many English-
teach at the Virginia M i l i t a r y Institute, speaking soldiers, chiefly through the
a private academy. Appointed a briga- remarkable Life by G . F . R . Henderson.
dier i n the Confederate army i n June
1861, he raised the brigade which he James II (1633-1701) K i n g of England
commanded with such tenacity i n the and British admiral. T h e second son of
first battle of the war ('There is Jackson, Charles I, and k n o w n as the D u k e of
standing like a stone w a l l , ' said General Y o r k until his accession, James II
Barnard E. Bee, w h o fell o n the field). In showed himself to be the most compe-
the following year he was given an inde- tent, i n military terms, of the House of
pendent command and the mission of Stuart. W h e n his brother Charles II
detaining Federal troops in the Shenan- was restored to the English throne
doah Valley so that they might not assist in 1660, James was appointed L o r d
the advance of M c C l e l l a n (q.v.) on R i c h - H i g h A d m i r a l , a post of considerable

143
James II Jodl, Alfred

responsibility in view of the strength the subtlety of his brother, or of his

of the Dutch navy, England's most per- enemies.
sistent maritime rival.
While in exile, James had served in Jaurès, Jean-Léon (1859-1914) French
both the French and Spanish army, socialist. Founder of the French Socialist
and good opinions were held of his ca- Party (PSI) and the journal L'Humanité,
pacities as an officer (he fought with his Armée nouvelle, published in 1914,
great courage at the head of an English which argued for the transformation of
Royalist force at the battle of the Dunes, the French army into a classless national
1658). But in high command he lacked militia, has influenced socialist military
that power of firm and immediate de- thinking ever since.
cision which was necessary in a senior
officer. In the naval battle of Lowestoft, Jellicoe, John Rushworth (ist Earl Jelli-
in the Second Dutch W a r (1665-7), coe; 1859-1935) British admiral. T h e
he was relieved of his command for son of an officer of the merchant marine,
failing to follow up a badly battered on which the R o y a l Navy traditionally
Dutch fleet. A t the battle of Sole Bay looked d o w n , Jellicoe's great abilities
(1672), in the T h i r d D u t c h W a r (1672- carried him quickly up the ladder of
4), he fought with tremendous physical promotion in the gunnery branch, which
courage, but lost the battle to the then enjoyed primacy in the service.
greater skill of de Ruyter (q.v.). H i s Unlike many contemporaries, he saw
real achievement for the navy, however, little foreign adventure (though he was
was in the sphere of administration and aboard Victoria in her never-to-be-
organization. Some of the credit usu- forgotten collision with the Camperdown
ally loaded on Samuel Pepys belongs in 1893, and at the relief of Peking).
by right to James, who had a keen inter- Picked by Fisher (q.v.) as early as 1908
est in ship design and military as the officer most suitable to command
organization. the G r a n d Fleet in war, he was nomi-
H e became a covert Catholic in 1669 nated to that post before war broke out
and loosed on his head the fury of a in 1914. F r o m August 1914 to M a y 1916
political outcry that he should be ex- he kept watch from Scapa F l o w for a
cluded from the throne; in 1672 he was sortie by the German H i g h Seas Fleet
forced to retire as L o r d H i g h A d m i r a l . and when it occurred on 30 M a y he led
When he acceded to the throne in 1685 his ships to a costly strategic victory at
he began a programme of reform in the Jutland, his conduct of which battle has
army, which had, indeed, the motive of been ever after debated. Replaced by
purging it of his enemies, but also of Beatty (q.v.), he was First Sea L o r d ,
introducing needed reforms. Ousted in 1916-17, but was removed by L l o y d
the Glorious Revolution of 1688 by W i l - George for his supposed resistance to
liam of Orange and many of the leading the introduction of the convoy system.
English families, he displayed the same H e was promoted admiral of the fleet in
vacillation which had handicapped his 1919 and created earl in 1925, and from
earlier career. A l l attempts, in Ireland 1920 to 1924 was governor-general of
and Scotland, to restore him to the N e w Zealand. A man of flawless charac-
throne failed, and he died in exile in ter and cool brain, he lacked the hold
Saint-Germain, passing on the Jacobite on his subordinates which made Beatty,
cause to his eldest son James Edward though a worse admiral, a more effective
(the O l d Pretender). A brusque, tactless commander.
man, he was capable of deep affection
within his o w n family. H e had none of Jodl, Alfred (1890-1946) German gen-

144
Joffre, Joseph Jacques Césaire John III (Jan Sobieski)

eral. A n artillery officer o f the Bavarian H i s strategy during the subsequent 'Race
army by origin, Jodl was chosen i n 1938 to the Sea' established a strong defensive
to become chief of operations section of line in north-east France, while his purge
O K W , the tri-service staff set up to in September of one-third of the French
replace the W a r M i n i s t r y i n 1938 by Generalität - the most ruthless ever
H i t l e r , and so his chief military adviser, carried out i n time of w a r , exceeding
which he remained throughout the war. in scale even Hitler's mass limogeage of
A brilliant staff officer and tireless December 1941 - immensely improved
worker, he gave executive form to a l l the quality of operational leadership.
the military decisions w h i c h the Führer D u r i n g the following year a series of
made at his twice-daily situation confer- 'nibbling operations' ('Je les grignote')
ences, while in those theatres designated led o n to t w o major offensives, i n
as O K W instead of army spheres of Artois i n M a y and i n Champagne i n
operations (roughly everywhere except September, both of w h i c h failed for lack
Russia) he acted as immediate chief of of material. In 1916 he conducted the
staff. H e was arraigned as a major w a r defence o f V e r d u n and the attack o n
criminal at Nuremberg and hanged. the Somme but in December, his influ-
ence with the government having been
Joffre, Joseph Jacques Césaire (1852- overtaken by that of others, notably
1931) M a r s h a l of France. A Polytech- Nivelle (q.v.), he was elevated to an
nicien, Joffre took part, as a junior engi- honorific position (and created marshal,
neer officer, i n the defence of Paris, the first since 1870, i n compensation).
1870-1. In 1885 he embarked, like so Joffre was not a great general and cer-
many officers of his generation, o n a tainly not an inspired one. But he
colonial career, first i n the Pacific and possessed certain qualities, 'an imper-
Indo-China, where he organized the de- turbable calm and a rough good sense',
fence of H a n o i , then i n the French which were of perhaps greater use to
Sudan, where he established French France, in the face of problems w h i c h
power at T i m b u c t o o , finally in Madagas- no general anywhere proved capable of
car. Appointed director of engineers at solving, than the technical excellence of
the W a r M i n i s t r y in 1905, he became in a weaker character might have been.
1911 vice-president of the Higher W a r D u r i n g the worst months of 1914 his
C o u n c i l and therefore responsible for enormous bulk, expressionless face
framing w a r plans. Plan X V I I , with and stated determination to let nothing
which his name is associated, rejected as interrupt his regular mealtimes were i n
its basis the supposition that Germany themselves a vital reassurance to French
might violate Belgian neutrality and national morale.
put the main French weight opposite
the c o m m o n Franco-German frontier, John III (Jan Sobieski; 1629-96) K i n g
across which it was intended to launch of Poland. Jan Sobieski was not of royal
a major offensive if war broke out. birth, but the son of the castellan of
W h e n , i n August 1914, the Germans ap- C r a c o w . H a v i n g made the 'grand tour',
peared in strength out of Belgium, Joffre spending t w o years in France, England
was slow to reapportion his forces. H e and the Netherlands, he returned to
nevertheless kept his nerve during the Poland in 1648 and was present at the
long retreat into which his faulty dispos- battle o f Beresteczko (1651), i n which
itions forced h i m and was eventually 34,000 Poles defeated 200,000 Cossacks
able, through his subordinates, to launch and Tartars. W h e n the Swedes invaded
the counter-offensive which made the Poland (1656) and K i n g John Casimir
battle of the M a r n e a decisive victory. left the country i n exile, Sobieski, along

145
John III (Jan Sobieski) John, Archduke of Austria

with many other Polish leaders, defected Poland, except for Kamieniec, and recov-
to the invaders, taking a large part of ered two-thirds of the Ukraine.
the army with h i m . In the following It had been Sobieski's ambition to
year, however, he changed sides again secure Louis X I V ' s help to regain ducal
and was instrumental i n driving the Prussia from the Hohenzollerns and thus
Swedes out of the central Polish prov- weaken the opposition of the powerful
inces. F o r this, and for further services Polish magnates w h o had always re-
to John Casimir, especially i n the sented h i m . H i s plans came to nothing,
Ukraine against the Tartars and Cos- however, and Franco-Polish relations
sacks, he was created grand marshal became strained. In 1683 he signed the
and field commander of the Polish treaty of Warsaw with the H o l y R o m a n
armies. empire, n o w itself threatened by a huge
In 1672., when Sobieski was in the invading army of T u r k s . T h e emperor
midst o f a particularly sordid episode had been forced to flee Vienna, w h i c h ,
involving his accepting bribes from the defended by Rudiger von Starhemburg
French in return for supporting their and 15,000 men, was under siege by
candidate i n the election of John 150,000 T u r k s . After a remarkable
Casimir's successor, a 200,000-strong march of 220 miles in fifteen days Jan
army of T u r k s invaded Poland. They Sobieski arrived with his army to join
marched into the south-eastern prov- up with German and Austrian forces on
inces and the new, but weak, king con- the Kahlenburg Heights west of the city.
cluded the disgraceful treaty of Buczacz, H e was to be in overall command. O n
which ceded large territories to them. 12 September 1683, the allied armies
Sobieski hastened to meet them with and the besieged garrison made a simul-
every available man and mitigated the taneous attack on the T u r k s . T h e de-
effects of the treaty by winning four cisive factor of the battle was a Polish
victories in ten days. T h e Polish people cavalry attack, led by the king himself,
rallied to his flag, and in November on the headquarters of K a r a M u s t a p h a .
1673, iw t n
army o f 40,000 men, he
a n
H a v i n g thus driven the T u r k s back from
destroyed an army of 30,000 T u r k s at Vienna, Sobieski spent the rest of the
the second battle of C h o c i m . O n the eve year beating them back across north-
of the battle the king died, so Sobieski, west Hungary. But Poland profited little
having driven the T u r k s from Polish from this triumph, being left to fight on
territory, abandoned the frontier to its alone against the T u r k s in the Ukraine.
fate and hurried to Warsaw to present The last twelve years of Jan Sobieski's
himself as a candidate for election. H e life brought him nothing but disillusion;
was duly elected at the diet of 1674, his allies were ungrateful, the diet muti-
although the army of 6000 veterans nous, and the Polish nobles constantly
which he took with h i m must have i m - involved in intrigues against h i m . H i s
pressed the electors more than his inher- last campaign, i n 1691, was a failure
ent suitability. H e ascended the throne and he died at W i l a n o w on 17 June
as K i n g John III. In 1675 the T u r k s 1696, a bitter and broken-hearted man.
invaded the Ukraine, retaking C h o c i m ,
and threatening Lvov. Sobieski went John, Archduke of Austria (1782-
to meet them, but the Polish generals 1859) Austrian general. Son of
refused to support h i m , and he had Leopold II, w h o was G r a n d Duke of
difficulty in raising a large army. Never- Tuscany at his son's birth, John com-
theless in the subsequent campaign he manded in 1800, at the age of eighteen,
gradually drove their invading army, re- the army of Bavaria i n the battle
inforced with 100,000 Tartars, out of of Hohenlinden (3 December). T h e

146
Johnston, Joseph Eggleston Jomini, Antoine Henri

French under M o r e a u (q.v.) completely given military rank in the French-

defeated h i m . In 1809, however, he suc- sponsored Swiss army. F r o m 1801 to
cessfully invaded Venetia and defeated 1804 he was writing the first of his great
Eugène de Beauharnais at Sacile: later treatises, Traité des grandes opérations
he conducted the army safely into militaires, but in 1805 he found a place
Hungary. on the staff of Ney (q.v.) for the Auster-
litz campaign. H i s forecast in 1806 of the
Johnston, Joseph Eggleston (1807- outcome of the impending war with Prus-
91) American (Confederate) general. sia led N a p o l e o n to attach h i m to his
A n engineer who had been at West Point o w n staff, and he was therefore present
with Lee (q.v.), Johnston was the most at Jena and Eylau. In 1807 n e w
pro-
a s

senior American officer to declare for moted chief of staff to Ney and created
the South in 1861, but he nurtured a baron, besides being given a commission
grievance for much of the war over the in the Russian service, w h i c h N a p o l e o n
Confederacy's failure to recognize his allowed h i m to hold jointly with his
seniority. H e was in overall command French rank. W i t h Ney he campaigned
at First Bull R u n , was severely wounded in Spain, but declined to serve on the
at Four O a k s (31 M a y 1862) and failed, Russian expedition, rejoining his chief
through want of numbers, to relieve Pem- only for Lützen and Bautzen after it had
berton (q.v.) during the Vicksburg cam- ended. Falling foul of Berthier (q.v.),
paign. In 1864 he conducted an efficient w h o , long jealous of his talents, had
withdrawal through Georgia before the h i m arrested on a technicality, J o m i n i
advance of Sherman (q.v.), opposing his took up his Russian commission and,
invasion into the Carolinas with determi- though refusing to assist in the invasion
nation before being obliged to surrender. of Switzerland and France in 1814, re-
A n able strategist and tactician, he had mained in the tsar's service for the rest
a high reputation among Southern lead- of his life.
ers, w h o d i d not, however, always take F r o m 1823 to 1829 he was military
his advice. H e died of pneumonia con- tutor to the tsarevich (later Nicholas I)
tracted by standing hatless in the rain at and busy in establishing the Russian
Sherman's funeral. Staff College (opened 1832); in 1828 he
H e was no relation to Albert Sidney served against the T u r k s at the siege of
Johnston (1803-62), also a West Pointer, V a r n a ; and from 1853 to 1856 he lived
w h o was regarded during his short at St Petersburg, advising Nicholas I
tenure of command as the most brilliant during the Crimean W a r . F r o m 1829,
officer to come over to the South. H e however, his chief abode was Brussels,
had commanded the army of independ- where he wrote his Précis de l'art de
ent Texas, the M o r m o n expedition of guerre (1836), one of the most influential
1857 (for the conduct of which he was books of military theory ever published :
promoted brigadier) and the 2nd U S it was used, for example, as a textbook
Cavalry, with Lee as his deputy. H e was at the United States M i l i t a r y Academy
killed at Shiloh, commanding the C o n - (see D . Mahan) and formed the thinking
federate army there. of many generals of both sides in the
American C i v i l W a r . They believed, as
Jomini, Antoine Henri (Baron; 1779- did J o m i n i himself, that he had isolated
1869) Swiss military theorist and gen- 'the secret of N a p o l e o n ' and that it
eral. A citizen of Switzerland (Vaud), he consisted in the correct choice of a 'line
began his life as a bank clerk but was of operations' which w o u l d allow a
drawn to a military career, and on the campaigning general to dominate the
outbreak of the Swiss revolution was theatre of war. H e also believed in the

147
Jones, John Paul Joubert, Pietrus Jacobus

importance of the strategic initiative, sur- L o n d o n was substantial. Jones was a

prise and the concentration of force hero of the United States. But he craved
against a single weak point. In many action rather than reward, and he en-
respects his ideas resemble those of tered Russian service against the T u r k s
Clausewitz (q.v.). But, brilliant though in 1788. H e shattered t w o T u r k i s h at-
his analysis of N a p o l e o n was, J o m i n i tacks o n the Russian Black Sea fleet
failed, where Clausewitz did not, to per- (June 1788), but nothing i n his later
ceive the true object of Napoleon's style career could match the epic fight with
of warfare : the destruction of the enemy's the Serapis o n 23 September 1779. H e
field army. T h e importance of Clause- returned to revolutionary France, but
witz's ideas, hidden until the 1870s, then found no openings for his talents and
cast into shade all Jomini's writings. died, a rather embittered man, in Paris.

Jones, John Paul (1747-92) American Joseph, C h i e f (Heinmot Tooyalaket;

sailor. A n outstanding naval captain i n 1831-1904) American Indian war
the American W a r of Independence, leader. Chief of the N e z Percés, i n 1877
Jones was born i n Scotland. After a Joseph conducted a brilliant campaign
slightly chequered early career, he was along the Snake river i n Oregon to frus-
commissioned as senior lieutenant in the trate a government plan to remove the
Continental navy i n 1775. H i s audacity tribe to a reservation. Encumbered by
quickly made h i m a naval legend, for their women and children, the tribe was
with a single ship, the Ranger, he carried eventually surrounded and its resistance
the w a r into British home waters, raid- overcome. Joseph is sometimes called
ing English shipping in the Irish Sea, 'the Napoleon of the Indians'.
landing at Whitehaven and spiking the
guns of the fort. T o cap this remarkable Joseph-Ferdinand, Archduke (1872-
cruise he fought and captured H M S 1942) Austrian general. A member of
Drake and took her into Brest as a prize the Tuscan branch o f the Habsburg
(spring 1778). In the following year a family, Joseph-Ferdinand commanded
more ambitious project was launched, in 1914 the Fourth A r m y , with which i n
with a small squadron comprising December he w o n the battle of
Jones's new ship Bonhomme Richard, Limanova-Lapanov, the concluding
the U S frigate Alliance and three French phase of the battle of L o d z and one of
ships. This small fleet scoured the sea Austria's few singlehanded victories of
lanes around Scotland and Ireland and the war. In June 1916 his army was
ended their cruise with a classic sea beaten at Lutsk, during the Brusilov
battle, attacking the Baltic merchant (q.v.) offensive, and he was removed.
convoy with a strong escort.
Off Flamborough H e a d , Jones fought Joubert, Pietrus Jacobus (1831-
the much stronger and better-armed Brit- 1900) South African general. A veteran
ish frigate Serapis to a standstill, refus- of the Boers' Kaffir wars, Joubert was
ing to surrender his crippled vessel with elected general i n 1881 o n the outbreak
the words, 'I have not yet begun to of war with. Britain (First Boer W a r )
fight.' In the end it was the British cap- and defeated Methuen (q.v.) at M a j u b a .
tain w h o surrendered, and Jones aban- In 1896 he suppressed the Jameson raid,
doned his sinking ship, transferring his taking its leader prisoner. Reappointed
command to the Serapis. The effect that commandant-general of the Orange Free
this news had o n the morale of the State and Transvaal armies i n 1899,
revolutionaries i n America, as well as he was i n nominal command during
on the government and opposition i n their early success (siege of Ladysmith,

148
Jourdan, Jean Baptiste Juan of Austria, Don

Kimberley and Mafeking), but was al- lages, although the revolt took two years
ready dying. Roberts sent Kruger (q.v.) to quell. H i s experience thus gained was
a message of condolence on his death. in small-scale irregular warfare, but in
1571 he was given command of a fleet
Jourdan, Jean Baptiste (comte; 1762- of 300 ships which gathered at Messina
1833) M a r s h a l of France. A former to confront the T u r k i s h fleet under A l i
private soldier of the royal army and sub- M o n z i n a n d e . T h e advantage of numbers
sequently in the drapery business, and skill lay with the Christians, and
Jourdan's career as a soldier of the revo- the battle consisted of a series of melees
lution began in the N a t i o n a l G u a r d . H e and close combat between some 20,000
commanded a battalion and then a bri- Christian soldiers and 16,000 T u r k s car-
gade at Jemappes and Neerwinden and ried on the ships. T h e victory went to
in September 1793 was given the A r m y the Christians and the T u r k i s h fleet was
of the N o r t h , with which he w o n the annihilated, with only 47 of its 270
battle of Wattignies. In the following galleys escaping capture or destruction.
year, with the A r m y of the Moselle, he Lepanto marked the high point of the
w o n the victory of Fleurus. D u r i n g the T u r k i s h naval dominance of the Mediter-
Peninsular war he acted as chief of staff ranean. Never again w o u l d so powerful
to Joseph Bonaparte and was at Talav- a T u r k i s h fleet threaten the west, and
era and Vittoria. H e was president of Lepanto, the last great battle fought by
the court w h i c h condemned Ney (q.v.) galleys, was a new stage reached i n the
in 1815 (though he himself had rallied containment of O t t o m a n power.
to N a p o l e o n after Elba). Jourdan ranked After the battle D o n Juan's ambition
with K é b e r , Hoche and Carnot (qq.v.) and confidence were boundless, but his
among the military saviours of the aspirations found an outlet only in the
young republic. capture of Tunis (1572). In 1576 he was
appointed governor of the Netherlands,
Juan of A u s t r i a , D o n (1545-78) Span- where it was hoped that his amiable
ish sailor and soldier. T h e illegitimate nature and military reputation w o u l d
outcome of a brief union between help to calm the political and religious
Charles V and the daughter of a Regens- troubles. A l t h o u g h he succeeded in occu-
burg merchant, D o n Juan was born on pying Brussels and Ghent, he was no
an auspicious day, the anniversary both match in politics for the Protestant
of his father's birth and coronation, and leader, W i l l i a m of Orange (q.v.). H i s
of the battle of Pavia (1525), so crucial troops ran amok in A n t w e r p and
to the Habsburgs. H e was taken to Spain sacked the city (1576), and t o w n after
as a child and brought up near V a l - t o w n rose in renewed revolt against the
ladolid. O n his accession in 1556, Philip Spanish. In the complicated negotiations
II recognized his half-brother and which followed, D o n Juan made many
brought h i m into the royal circle. D o n concessions, but did little to improve his
Juan's great desire was to become a position. The States-General raised an
soldier and in 1568 he was given com- army of 20,000 under de Coignies, while
mand of a galley squadron operating D o n Juan was reinforced by a new army
against the pirates of Algiers: later in under his cousin Alexander Farnese
the same year the oppressed M o o r s (Parma, q.v.) and subdued the Protestant
(Moriscos) of the kingdom of Granada stronghold at N a m u r . A t G e m b l o u x , in
rose in rebellion. D o n Juan was given January 1578, the two armies faced each
command in the bitter war which fol- other, each with 20,000 men. T h e battle
lowed, conducting an accomplished cam- was a dramatic victory for the Spanish,
paign against the isolated mountain vil- largely a result of Parma's dashing

149
Juarez, Benito Juno, Andoche

cavalry attack, which drove the Dutch in M e x i c o City. Power eventually passed
from the field in ruins. D o n Juan moved to his foremost rival D i a z , but Juarez is
quickly and consolidated his hold on remembered as the nation's principal
the south : the D u t c h , w h o had lost 6000 hero.
men at G e m b l o u x for Spanish casualties
of about 20, were i n no state to resist. Juin, Alphonse Pierre (1888-1967) M a r -
But D o n Juan was starved of the money shal of France. T h e son of a gendarme
and supplies necessary for an extended and a classmate of de Gaulle (q.v.) at
campaign, and the opportunity was lost. Saint-Cyr, from which he passed out
H e was forced to remain inactive head of the list, Juin fought in M o r o c c o
throughout the campaigning season, and the First W o r l d W a r , was captured
while the Dutch rebuilt their forces. In commanding a division in 1940 and sub-
October 1578 he sickened and died, aged sequently, under V i c h y , became military
thirty-three. governor of M o r o c c o . Joining Free
D o n Juan suffered from Philip's France after the Allied invasion of N o r t h
deeply suspicious nature, fuelling the Africa, he commanded the French forces
king's doubts about h i m by his trans- in Italy, 1943-4. Appointed chief of staff
parent ambition. H i s victories were of the army after the liberation, he was
the product of great energy (and good later resident-general in M o r o c c o and a
fortune) rather than military genius, senior N A T O commander. H e was post-
although in the difficult conditions of humously created marshal.
the M o r i s c o campaign his plan was ex-
cellently conceived and executed. Juno, Andoche (duc d'Abrantès; 1771-
1813) French general. A s a sergeant of
Juarez, Benito (Pablo; 1806-72) M e x i - volunteers Junot became secretary
can revolutionary, guerrilla leader and during the siege of T o u l o n to N a p o l e o n ,
head of state. O f Indian descent, Juarez who was much attracted by his flamboy-
led the struggle against clerical and mili- ant temperament, took h i m to Italy and
tary influence in the young republic and Egypt and assisted his promotion (colo-
conducted three years of civil war, nel, 1796, general of brigade, 1798).
1858-61, to establish his power. When Since he later fought at Marengo and
the country was invaded by Napoleon was made fortress commander of Paris,
III in 1862 (see Bazaine), allegedly to Junot was bitterly disappointed not to
enforce payment of debts, actually to be created marshal in the 'great promo-
aggrandize his power, Juarez declared tion' of 1804. A n independent mission
war on France and fought the puppet to Portugal was initially successful
Emperor M a x i m i l i a n ' s army until the (hence his dukedom of 1807), but after
United States insisted o n its withdrawal his defeat by Wellington at V i m e i r o , 21
(1867). Then almost at his last gasp, August 1808, he retreated to France in
Juarez advanced from the Texan border disgrace, fell into a depression and com-
to re-enter the capital. H e had M a x i m i l - mitted suicide by jumping from a
ian executed, but was unable to restore window of his father's house. Junot is
the country to stability and, though often erroneously included in the list of
elected president, was threatened by marshals of the Empire, where perhaps
revolt on all sides. H e died of apoplexy he rightly belonged.

150
 K
K a l b Johann (1721-80) French soldier his defeat at San Pascual, 6 December
in American service. O n e of the most 1846, occupied L o s Angeles.
competent foreign professionals in the H i s nephew Philip Kearny (1814-62)
army of the nascent United States, K a l b was one of the most dashing cavalry
joined the French army in 1743 and leaders of the U n i o n army in the C i v i l
rapidly showed himself an officer of W a r . H e had lost his arm in the M e x i c a n
great accomplishment, both in the war war, served with the French cavalry at
of the Austrian Succession (1740-8) and Solferino and Magenta in 1859, being
the Seven Years' W a r (1756-63). H e paid awarded, the Legion of H o n o u r , and was
his first visit to N o r t h America as a killed with the A r m y of the Potomac at
French agent, making confidential re- Chantilly, when he entered the enemy's
ports on the growing rift that was be- lines by mistake and tried to fight his
coming apparent between the colonies way out.
and Britain. W i t h the outbreak of the
American War of Independence Keitel, W i l h e l m (1892-1946) German
(1775-83), anxious to serve in N o r t h field-marshal. In 1938, deciding to re-
America with the rebel cause, he arrived place the M i n i s t r y of W a r with an inter-
in America in 1777, with a letter of service command organization ( O K W -
recommendation from the American Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) which
agent in Paris, and was given a commis- he w o u l d r u n , Hitler asked Blomberg
sion by Congress as a major-general. H e (q.v.), the war minister w h o m he had
served under Washington, w h o m he re- just disgraced, for the name of a soldier
spected, and in 1780 was sent south by to act as its professional head. Blomberg
h i m to the relief of Charleston with a said his o w n assistant, Keitel, was unsuit-
force of 900 men. Under the command able, being 'merely the man w h o runs
of General H o r a t i o Gates (q.v.), K a l b my office'. 'That's exactly the person I
took part in the battle of Camden want,' was Hitler's answer and for the
(August 1780), which was badly con- rest of the war Keitel acted i n name as
ceived by Gates. In the battle Kalb's the Fiihrer's foremost general, in prac-
infantry were surprised and cut to pieces tice as his yes-man and mouthpiece.
by the British cavalry, and K a l b himself Lakeitel {Lakai - lackey) to the rest of
was mortally wounded while trying to the high command, he presided over the
rally his men. H e was a considerable court of honour which condemned to
loss to the American revolutionary death the military conspirators of July
cause. 1944. H e himself was condemned to
death at Nuremberg for 'planning and
Kearny, Stephen Watts (1794- waging a war of aggression, war crimes
1848) American general. A brigadier- and crimes against humanity' and
general at the outbreak of the war with hanged in 1946.
Mexico, Kearny conquered New
M e x i c o , invaded California and, after K e i t h , George Keith Elphinstone (ist

151
Kellermann, François Christophe Kesselring, Albert

Viscount K e i t h ; 1746-1823) British ad- but, forgotten by the O t t o m a n bureauc-

miral. A veteran of the naval side of the racy, he pursued his political and m i l i -
American W a r of Independence, Keith tary life in the province of Syria. After
served at the siege of T o u l o n , 1793,and the revolution of 1908, with the aims of
was sent to capture the Cape of G o o d which he was i n sympathy, he fell out
H o p e in 1795, making his fortune from with its leaders (see Enver) and devoted
the prize money w o n i n the operation. himself wholly to the army. H e took
H e helped to suppress the great mutinies part in the war of 1911-12 against Italy
of 1797, was second-in-command i n the in L i b y a , whither he had gone without
Mediterranean in 1798 at the time of the permission, became during the Second
French Egyptian expedition's breakout Balkan W a r of 1913 chief of staff of a
(see Brueys), for which he was unfairly corps o n the G a l l i p o l i peninsula, for
blamed, and i n 1801, with Abercromby which he prepared a detailed defensive
(q.v.), restored British power i n Egypt. plan, and in 1915 returned there as com-
F r o m 1803 to 1807 he commanded in mander of the garrison just i n time to
the N o r t h Sea and from 1812 to 1815 i n oppose the Anglo-French landings. H i s
the Channel. N a p o l e o n surrendered spirit inspired the defence and led eventu-
after Waterloo to a ship under his com- ally to victory. D u r i n g the rest o f the
mand ( H M S Bellerophon). war he commanded formations i n the
Caucasus (where he recovered Bitlis and
Kellermann, François Christophe (duc M u s h from the Russians) and i n Pales-
de V a l m y ; 1735-1820) M a r s h a l of tine. O n the T u r k i s h surrender i n 1918
France. T h e oldest of Napoleon's mar- he secured command of I X Corps in
shals, he was one of the few to have north-Eastern A n a t o l i a where, deter-
made a reputation independent of h i m mined to resist Allied efforts to partition
(he had w o n the battle of V a l m y before his country, he organized from the deli-
the emperor was a general). A n Alsatian, quescent corpse of the wartime army
he had begun life as a regular officer of the nucleus of a new army of national
the royal army, served i n the Seven resistance. Disowned by the O t t o m a n
Years' W a r and was promoted to high government, he led the fight against the
rank at the onset of the Revolution. invading Greeks, who had calculated o n
After V a l m y he w o n other successes annexing large parts of Anatolia while
against the Prussians and against the their fellow Allies were distracted by
Austrians i n Italy, was imprisoned other postwar problems, and brought
during the Terror, commanded again i n about the total defeat of their army. A t
Italy, 1795-7, and thereafter generally the end of the decisive twenty-one-day
held titular posts. A simple patriot and battle of the Sakaria, he was promoted
a good general, he was loaded with field-marshal and granted the traditional
honours both by Napoleon and by Louis title of Ghazi (Victorious) by the anti-
XVIII. Ottoman government. Thereafter his life
H i s son François Etienne Kellermann was taken up wholly with his rebuilding
(1770-1835) was a general of cavalry of Turkey as a state and nation. H i s
and led the decisive charge at Marengo. achievements as a soldier, however,
equal those as a statesman, besides
Kemal Ataturk, Mustafa (1881- having been the precondition for the
1938) T u r k i s h soldier and statesman. country's modern renaissance.
Educated i n the military schools of the
Ottoman empire, Kemal was arrested Kesselring, Albert (1885-1960) Ger-
and banished for sedition on the day of man field-marshal. By origin a Bavarian
his commissioning as lieutenant in 1904, gunner officer, Kesselring served dur-

152
Keyes, Roger John B r o w n l o w Kitchener, H o r a t i o Herbert

ing the First W o r l d W a r on the staff mander of the Atlantic fleet during the
of Prince Rupprecht (q.v.) and was First W o r l d W a r and a pioneer naval
embodied in the Reichswehr in 1920. aviator, K i n g was appointed commander-
In 1933 he transferred to the fledgling in-chief of the fleet immediately after
Luftwaffe and in 1939-40 com- Pearl H a r b o r and in M a r c h 1942 chief
manded the air fleets in the campaigns of naval operations, thus becoming the
of Poland and France and in the Battle only officer to hold both appoint-
of Britain. In 1941 he was appointed ments simultaneously. H e was also
commander-in-chief south, shared with a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
R o m m e l (q.v.) the direction of the N o r t h Committee throughout the war and
African campaign and eventually took ex-officio of the Allied C o m b i n e d Chiefs
over from h i m , directing the withdrawal of Staff Committee. H i s influence on
from T u n i s i a . In 1943 he assumed com- Roosevelt and on A l l i e d strategy was of
mand of land and air forces in Italy as immense but controversial importance,
commander-in-chief. H i s control of the for he placed success in the Pacific cam-
battle in the peninsula has been recog- paign first among America's priorities
nized by friends and enemies alike as a and warred w i t h his American and
brilliant passage of defensive strategy, A l l i e d rivals to secure resources for its
all the more so since the Allies enjoyed prosecution even at the expense of hon-
complete air superiority. In M a r c h 1945 ouring the 'Germany first' strategy. A
Hitler, whose confidence he had retained British observer described h i m as 'rude,
without compromising his o w n indepen- chauvinistic and conscious of only half
dence, an achievement unparalleled in the facts', but all testified to the bril-
the German high command, appointed liance of his logistic arrangements and
h i m commander-in-chief west i n succes- strategic direction in the war against
sion to Rundstedt (q.v.) and it was he Japan.
who negotiated the surrender w i t h the
Americans. Condemned to death for or- K i r b y s m i t h , E d m u n d (1824-93) A m e r i -
dering the execution of Italian hostages, can (Confederate) general. H i s name is
he was eventually reprieved. associated with the Confederate effort
along the Mississippi (though he c o m -
Keyes, Roger John B r o w n l o w (ist Baron manded a brigade at First Bull Run).
Keyes; 1872-1945) British admiral. In H e organized an invasion of K e n -
1915, as chief of staff in the eastern tucky in 1862, frustrated Banks's
Mediterranean, Keyes planned the naval (q.v.) Red River campaign in 1864
side of the G a l l i p o l i operation and in and was the last Confederate com-
1918, as commander of the Dover mander to surrender, 2 June 1865, at
Patrol, led the Zeebrugge R a i d . In 1940 Galveston, Texas.
C h u r c h i l l appointed h i m first director
of amphibious warfare (later combined Kitchener, H o r a t i o Herbert (ist E a r l
operations). Kitchener of Khartoum; 1850-
H i s son, Geoffrey Keyes (1917-41) 1916) British field-marshal. O n the out-
w o n the Victoria Cross for leading the break of war in 1914, Kitchener, then
raid on Rommel's headquarters in 1941, on leave from his post as British agent
in which he was killed. (governor) in Egypt, was appointed
secretary of state for war. H i s military
Khair-ed-Din see Barbarossa experience was unrivalled. A s a young
man in 1870 he had fought as a volun-
K i n g , Ernest Joseph (1878-1956) A m e r i - teer for the French against the Prussians.
can admiral. Chief of staff to the com- A s a junior R o y a l Engineer officer he

153
Kitchener, Horatio Herbert Kleist, Paul Ewald von

had taken part in the G o r d o n (q.v.) nearly two years of his premiership to
relief expedition and had later acted re-establish civilian control of strategy.
as sirdar (commander) of the Anglo- By then Kitchener was dead, drowned
Egyptian army, 1892.-1900, his command in the accidental sinking of H M S
culminating in the triumphant recovery Hampshire while en route to Russia. H i s
of K h a r t o u m from the Mahdists and loss, popularly regarded as a national
the victory of O m d u r m a n , 2 September tragedy, was not much regretted in
1898, which restored the Sudan to Egypt. government and by no friends, for he
In 1900 he had been sent as chief of staff had never had any.
with Roberts (q.v.) to South A f r i c a , to
impose order on an ill-directed cam- Kléber, Jean Baptiste (1753-
paign, had eventually succeeded h i m 1800) French general. Kléber began his
in command and, through methods career as an architect but was drawn to
thought by many then as now too rigor- the military life and briefly took a com-
ous, eventually broken the power of the mission in the Austrian army. A t the
Boer guerrillas. H e had next proceeded outbreak of the Revolution he enlisted
to India as commander-in-chief where in the volunteers of the H a u t - R h i n , his
he reorganized the three presidency native department, and was quickly pro-
armies into a single force and brought moted. A general of brigade after the
about the resignation of C u r z o n , the siege of M a i n z , 1793, he went on to w i n
viceroy, with w h o m he had come into victories over the Royalist Vendéens at
conflict over the extent of his authority. Cholet (see d'Elbée) and Le M a n s , and
In 1909-10 he had inspected the forces in 1794 played a decisive role against
of the colonies and dominions and sub- the Austrians at Charleroi and Fleurus.
mitted much-praised plans for improv- A s commander of the left wing of the
ing their efficiency and in 1911 he had A r m y of the Sambre-et-Meuse he de-
returned to Egypt as agent. feated them again at Altenkirchen and
It was thought highly fortuitous, there- Friedberg in 1796 and might then have
fore, that in August 1914 he should have had the chief command on the Rhine
been on home leave, and he was actually but declined. In 1798 Bonaparte took
plucked off the Channel packet to take him to Egypt, where he was the real
up his seals as war minister. But in victor of M o u n t T a b o r , and left h i m in
practice he was a failure at the W a r command in 1799, when he was obliged
Office. H i s judgement about the length to sign with the British and T u r k s the
of the war - at least three years - was humiliating convention of E l A r i s h . Out-
unfortunately correct, his success in rais- raged at their refusal to ratify it, he
ing volunteers and forming them into took up arms again, defeated the T u r k s
fighting divisions (outside the planned at Heliopolis and recaptured C a i r o ,
Territorial scheme) astonishing, and his where he was shortly afterwards assassi-
insistence on total support for France nated. A brilliantly gifted general, and
(hence his firmness with French, q.v., one of the military heroes of the Revol-
before the Marne) admirable. But he ution, he doubted, Hamletlike, his real
was a prima donna, unable to delegate abilities. Nevertheless, and although
to his subordinates, secretly con- they had been political opponents, N a p o -
temptuous of his political colleagues, leon babbled on his deathbed of meeting
and he progressively isolated himself him ' i n the Elysian fields'.
from them a l l , not least by overwork.
The most regrettable consequence was Kleist, Paul Ewald von (1881-
that G H Q in France became almost 1954) German field-marshal. It was his
autonomous and it took L l o y d George panzer group that broke the Ardennes

154
Kluck, Alexander von Kolchak, Alexander Vasilievich

front in M a y 1940 and drove the 'panzer during the 1941 battle in Russia, and
corridor' through the Allied lines to the constantly at cross-purposes with h i m .
sea. In June 1941 his Panzer G r o u p I led Promoted to command A r m y G r o u p
the advance of A r m y G r o u p South to Centre in December 1941, following
Kiev, less quickly than Hitler w o u l d Hitler's wholesale dismissal of generals,
have wished (but as fast as circum- he successfully directed its defensive
stances permitted). In September 1942 battle during the Russian counter-
he was given command of the newly offensive which followed Kursk in 1943.
created A r m y G r o u p A and directed its Summoned to replace Rundstedt (q.v.)
advance into the Caucasus, an operation as commander-in-chief west on I July
which suffered badly from 'overstretch' 1944, he organized the Avranches
and had to be called off as soon as the counter-attack on 6-10 August, during
Russians counter-attacked at Stalingrad. which he briefly lost contact with his
D u r i n g the slow retreat from Russia he headquarters and Berlin. H i t l e r , choos-
directed defensive operations in South ing to believe that he had been seeking
Ukraine (to w h i c h name that of his army terms from the Allies and that he was a
group was changed). H e died in Russian 'July conspirator', recalled h i m , but he
captivity. committed suicide on his way back to
Germany.
Kluck, Alexander von (1846-
1934) German general. A veteran of Koenig, Marie Pierre Joseph François
1866 and 1870 - he suffered a double (1898-1970). French general. A vet-
wound at Colombey during the siege of eran of the First W o r l d W a r , the R i f
Paris - it was K l u c k who in 1914 found campaign and the 1940 expedition to
himself on the right wing of the German N o r w a y , Koenig joined de Gaulle (q.v.)
invasion of France. H i s First A r m y was in Britain. A t Bir H a k e i m , during the
supposed to envelop the French army Gazala battles of 1941, he conducted a
from the west, having arrived in the heroic defence of the southern end of
vicinity of Paris by way of Brussels and the British line, which frustrated
Amiens. But the Schlieffen (q.v.) plan Rommel's (q.v.) strategy. After the lib-
which dictated this had not prescribed eration he was appointed commander of
whether it should leave the city on its the forces of the interior (resistance) and
left or right flank, a matter of some then of the army of occupation in
considerable importance, as K l u c k better Germany.
understood the nearer he approached.
Choosing initially to pass it to his left, K o l c h a k , Alexander Vasilievich (1875-
he opened a gap with his neighbour into 1920) Russian admiral and W h i t e
which the B E F strayed. Changing direc- leader. Commander of the tsarist Black
tion to close the gap, he was struck in Sea fleet, he assumed a leading role in
flank by the Paris garrison (see Galliéni the White campaign against the Bolshe-
and Maunoury) - the decisive act of the viks in Siberia in 1917. In November
battle of the M a r n e . In 1915 K l u c k was 1918 the White government at O m s k
wounded on a tour of the trenches and named him supreme ruler of Russia and
invalided. during the first half of 1919 his army,
with ample western aid, had consider-
Kluge, Gunther von (1882-1944) able success. In the summer, however, it
German field-marshal. A n outstandingly began to disintegrate and in November
successful Fourth A r m y commander 1919 O m s k fell to the Reds. In January
in Poland and France 1939-40, Kluge 1920, under pressure from the White
was the superior of Guderian (q.v.) leadership, he resigned in favour of

155
Konev, Ivan Stepanovich Koprulu, Fazil Ahmed

Denikin (q.v.), shortly afterwards fell A much more successful operation

into Bolshevik hands and was executed. was the capture of the town of Candia
on Crete (1669), which K o p r u l u con-
Konev, Ivan Stepanovich (1897- ducted in person. T h e siege and capture
1973) M a r s h a l of the Soviet U n i o n . of the city from the Venetians was an
Principal rival to Z h u k o v (q.v.) for pri- epic: the city, gallantly defended by the
macy among Russian field commanders garrison under Francisco M o r o s i n i
of the Second W o r l d W a r , Konev was, (q.v.), was under siege for three years.
like h i m , originally a private soldier in But eventually the newly w o n command
the tsar's army. A s a front (army group) of the seas enjoyed by the Ottomans,
commander, he took part in the defence and the weight and power of the besieg-
of M o s c o w , 1941, the K u r s k - O r e l ing armies, brought the city to the point
battle, 1943, the conquest of R o m a n i a of surrender. T h i s was a major reverse
and south Poland, 1944, and the capture for the Venetians, and in a sense for
of Berlin, 1945. H i s troops (First U k r a i n - France, for a French contingent had been
ian Front) were the first to make contact present for most of the siege. By this
with the advancing Americans on the victory K o p r u l u had recovered virtually
Elbe in A p r i l 1945. the whole of Crete for the sultan, and
cemented his relationship w i t h M o h a m -
med IV.
Koprulu, Fazil A h m e d (1635-76) Otto-
man grand vizier, soldier and states- In 1672 K o p r u l u launched a new
man. The eldest son of M e h m e d K o - attack, with a vast army, on the north-
prulu (q.v.), Fazil A h m e d became grand ern frontier: this time he attacked
vizier on his father's death i n 1661, fol- Poland, taking advantage of the disunity
lowing very much on the lines already of the country. H i s huge force of 200,000
established by M e h m e d . H e extermi- gained the province of Podolia, but it
nated all those who challenged his auth- also roused a section of Polish society,
ority, even including long-standing galvanized by the leadership of Jan Sobie-
friends and supporters of his father on ski (John III, q.v.), to unite against the
his death-list. H i s youth told against T u r k i s h menace. In November 1673 So-
h i m , and he was compelled to act more bieski routed a section of the T u r k i s h
firmly than w o u l d normally have been army at C h o c i m , and they withdrew. But
necessary to consolidate his position. H e in 1675 a new T u r k i s h force returned,
pressed forward at once with the cam- with some 60,000 T u r k s and 100,000
paigns begun in the previous decade, Tartars, only to be repulsed by Sobieski
pushing onwards into Hungary, and car- at the battle of Lvov ; and in the follow-
rying all before h i m . H e took N e u - ing year at the battle of Z u r a w n o (1676)
hausen (1663) and razed Z e r i n v a r : the he threw back a T u r k i s h army of some
momentum was halted only by an i m - 200,000, under Ibrahim Pasha, with only
perial army led by Montecuccoli (q.v.) 16,000 men of his o w n . Once again the
at the battle of the Raab (1664), where his great distances involved in a T u r k i s h
small but well-organized forces threw campaign in the north, coupled with the
back the T u r k s . There, as in Suleiman extraordinary difficulty of supplying so
the Great's (q.v.) campaigns, the dis- vast a force, meant that an invasion had
tance from a secure home base began to lost its impetus by the time it had
tell. But the Habsburgs were in no pos- reached its destination.
ition to take advantage of the T u r k i s h Despite these problems Fazil A h m e d
reverse, and the peace of Vasvar (1664) continued to press forward in the north,
confirmed the Turkish hold on and it was at the start of the 1676 cam-
Transylvania. paign that he died, leaving the conduct

156
Koprulu, M e h m e d Pasha Koprulu, M e h m e d Pasha

of the war to Ibrahim Pasha. H e was and then by purging all his enemies, as
worn out, it was said, by the strain of well as any possible sources of oppos-
constant campaigning, inordinate drink- ition. In a l l , some 50,000 were killed by
ing and eighty wives. H e had perhaps K o p r u l u in his struggle to secure his
greater military talent than his father, position, a large total even by the
his policy of constant warfare providing sanguine standards of T u r k e y .
him with ample opportunity to display H i s first priority in the state was to
his abilities, and certainly the energy of deal with Turkey's external enemies.
youth to sustain h i m o n campaign. H i s The Venetians, w h o had been steadily
policy of unceasing campaigns year after gaining ground in the eastern Mediter-
year, however, had valuable internal re- ranean, were halted at the naval battle
percussions. It drained the capacities of of the Dardanelles (1657), and he
the Janissaries to foment treason, and quickly recovered the islands of Tenedos
kept the administration of the state fully and Lemnos. Soon he had swept the
occupied. H e left the empire stronger Venetians out of the whole o f the
than it had been since the days of Sulei- Aegean, taking island after island in a
man, with its frontiers more secure and swift advance. O n land he took the offen-
its armies further advanced in Europe sive in the north, mounting an attack on
than ever before in living memory. Yet Hungary against George Rakoczy II;
he also brought about, in his campaigns although Rakoczy managed to defeat
in the north, the genesis of a conflict the T u r k s at the battle of L i p p a (1658),
with Russia, w h i c h was to have dire he was driven out of Transylvania. T h e
consequences for the O t t o m a n state in war surged backwards and forwards,
the long term. but the outcome was that the T u r k s
were confirmed in their possession of
Koprulu, Mehmed Pasha (1583- Transylvania, and brought, once again,
1661) O t t o m a n grand vizier, soldier face to face with the Habsburgs. Re-
and statesman. T h e founder of a virtual newed war on a large scale between the
dynasty of warrior-statesmen who domi- two main powers was virtually inevi-
nated the O t t o m a n empire in the seven- table. However, K o p r u l u d i d not live to
teenth century, K o p r u l u is believed to see the beginning of this new, and wider,
have been of A l b a n i a n origin, as were war. Already an o l d man when he came
many of the most successful O t t o m a n to power, his furious energy belied his
officials. Born at Adrianople, in Euro- age.
pean T u r k e y , he entered imperial service In the military sphere K o p r u l u ' s
as a court page, but as was c o m m o n in achievement was largely organizational.
the O t t o m a n court rose quickly to After a period in which strong central
become court marshal to the grand control had lapsed, K o p r u l u purged the
vizier. Subsequently he followed the administration of corrupt and incompe-
normal round o f administrative appoint- tent officials. H e embarked on an elabor-
ments in the provinces, but always man- ate programme of ship-building, and o n
aged to survive the devious intrigues land strengthened the fortifications of
which permeated O t t o m a n government. the Dardanelles (to protect Constanti-
Eventually, through a carefully fostered nople from naval assault), and those of
friendship with the sultan's mother, and the northern border. H e hardened the
the backing of a small clique of support- discipline of the largely irregular T u r k i s h
ers at court, he was appointed grand levies, which made them a more effective
vizier. H e at once consolidated his pos- force, and he even tackled the central
ition by buying the support of the Janis- question of O t t o m a n warfare : the disci-
saries, the elite corps o f T u r k i s h troops, pline of the Janissaries. A l t h o u g h highly

157
Kornilov, Lavrenti Georgievich Kosciuszko, Tadeusz Andrzej

trained and splendid shock troops, they Korsakov, Aleksander Mikhailovich

were a constant danger - like the Prae- ( R i m s k i ; 1753-1840) Russian general.
torian guard i n the R o m a n empire - to During the Allied 1799 campaign against
the stability of the state. Despite his France, Korsakov's army was intended
reliance o n the Janissaries for his sup- to support Suvorov's (q.v.) advance
port, he tried to tame them, by savage from Switzerland into Italy. Surprised
repression of the potentially disloyal, by by Massena (q.v.) he was overwhelmed
rewards lavishly distributed among the in the third battle of Z u r i c h , 25 Septem-
rank and file, and by giving them new ber. H e had fought previously i n H o l -
commanders, w h o m he felt he could land and Persia (1796).
trust. H i s attitude towards internal en-
emies was invariably savage: he treated Kosciuszko, Tadeusz Andrzej Bonaven-
a number of rebellious provincial gover- tura (1746-1817) Polish soldier i n the
nors i n Syria and A n a t o l i a with an iron service of the United States. Educated
hand. Koprulu's aim was to concentrate in both Poland and France, Kosciuszko
power at the centre, to revivify the tra- was forced to leave Poland under a
ditional methods of the O t t o m a n state. cloud when a love affair brought h i m
H i s achievement was therefore to give into conflict with the girl's powerful
to his successors a well-tuned adminis- father. In 1776 he went as a soldier of
trative and military machine. But it did fortune to the Americas, volunteering
need a strong central h a n d : without a for service i n the revolutionary cause.
firm and successful leader, the latent Although he had no active experience o f
centrifugal tendencies w o u l d emerge war, his knowledge of fortification and
again. T h e empire had to go forward. military engineering was impressive, and
O n his deathbed he recommended his by late 1776 he had been promoted to
young son Fazil A h m e d (q.v.), aged colonel of engineers for his effective
only twenty-six, as the new grand vizier. work i n fortifying Philadelphia. After
Such was the sultan's confidence i n his playing an active part i n the Saratoga
advice, that a stripling was given the campaign, he constructed the elaborate
supreme administrative power i n the fortifications for West Point (1778-9).
empire. In 1780 he was chief engineer i n the
southern theatre of war, and late i n the
Kornilov, Lavrenti Georgievich (1870- war was a prime organizer of the siege
1918) Russian general. A Cossack, of Charleston (1782).
K o r n i l o v was trained as an artillery of- After the war, Congress rewarded him
ficer, took part i n the Russo-Japanese lavishly, promoted h i m brigadier-
war and distinguished himself from the general and gave h i m citizenship. But he
outset of the First W o r l d W a r as a div- returned home to Poland, where he en-
isional commander under Brusilov (q.v.) tered the Polish army as a major-general
and then at the head of the Eighth A r m y . (1789). H e defeated a Russian invading
After the February revolution he re- army at Dubienka (1792), and when a
placed Brusilov as commander-in-chief patriotic rising broke out i n 1794, K o -
(August 1917) but fell out with Kerensky sciuszko, n o w living i n exile, returned
and led a counter-revolutionary march to lead it. In the field he was heavily
on Petrograd, where he was captured by outnumbered by a joint Russian and
the Bolsheviks. Escaping, he joined Deni- Prussian offensive and suffered several
k i n (q.v.) o n the D o n and i n M a r c h defeats. But at the defence of Warsaw
1918 led a makeshift army i n an assault his genius for positional warfare came
on Ekaterinodar. H e was killed and his into its o w n . H e conducted a brilliant
body burnt by the Bolsheviks. defence and forced the large enemy

158
Kruger, Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kutusov, Mikhail Larionovich

armies to withdraw. But in the open he pression in 1877 of the revolt of the
was less successful, and was wounded reactionary Satsuma, the clan to w h i c h
and taken prisoner at Maciejowice he himself belonged.
(1794). Imprisoned for two years in St
Petersburg, he was released on the acces- K u r o p a t k i n , Alexei N i k o l a i e v i c h (1848-
sion of Paul I and left for A m e r i c a . But 1925) Russian general. H i s brilliance
he decided to settle in Paris, where he as a junior commander and staff officer,
lived throughout the Napoleonic wars; in particular as chief of staff to Skobolev
with the Bourbon restoration, he de- (q.v.) during the Russo-Turkish war of
cided to move to Switzerland, where he 1877-8, earned h i m promotion to gen-
died. L i k e many of the other foreign eral at the age of thirty-four. In 1903,
soldiers in the American W a r of Inde- on the approach of war with Japan, he
pendence, he brought to the conflict was given command of the M a n c h u r i a n
higher standards of military skill than army but, plagued by the interference of
most of the American officers the viceroy, Alexeiev, and the disloyalty
possessed. of subordinates, he failed to make his
strategy work. After his defeat at
Kruger, Stephanus Johannes Paulus M u k d e n , F e b r u a r y - M a r c h 1905, he ex-
('Oom P a u l ' ; 1825-1904) South A f r i - changed places with one of his subordi-
can (Boer) statesman and war leader. nates and passed into deepening
T h o u g h chiefly remembered for his lead- obscurity.
ership of the Transvaal (and effectively
of all Boer resistance to the British) Kutusov, M i k h a i l L a r i o n o v i c h Golenish-
during the war of 1899-1902, Kruger chev (Prince of Smolensk; 1745-
had had long experience of war, both 1813) Russian field-marshal. T h o u g h
against the Matabele and Z u l u tribes remembered chiefly for his campaigns
and against the British in the First Boer against N a p o l e o n , most of Kutusov's
W a r , where, with Joubert (q.v.) and Pre- soldiering was done in the eighteenth
torius he negotiated the successful peace century. T h e son of a distinguished m i l i -
terms. T o o o l d to go 'on c o m m a n d o ' tary engineer, he was one of the first
again, he fled after the fall of Pretoria in members of the new Jäger corps, of
1900 to H o l l a n d . which he rose to be chief, fought in
Poland, 1764-9, against the T u r k s ,
Kuribayashi, Tadamichi (1885- 1770-4, when he lost an eye (he was
1945) Japanese general. T h e defender later to be shot again through the head),
of Iwo Jima, coveted by the Americans and also from 1788 to 1791, where he
as a forward base for their air offensive was present at the sieges of O c h a k o v ,
against Japan. Kuribayashi held out to Odessa, Benda and Ismail and the bat-
the end, dying with his soldiers. Its cap- tles of R i m n i k and M a s h i n . In 1805 he
ture cost 6800 American lives, and those resisted Napoleon's advance into Aus-
of all but 1000 of the 23,000 Japanese. tria, where he w o n the action of Dürren-
stein, and opposed the decision to fight
Kuroki, Baron Jamemoto (1844- at Austerlitz, where he was nevertheless
1923) Japanese general. H e com- wounded. In 1812, by popular demand
manded the First A r m y in M a n c h u r i a in but against the tsar's wishes, he was
the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5, w i n - appointed commander-in-chief of the
ning the battle of the Y a l u and taking western armies to oppose Napoleon's
an important part in those of the Liao- invasion of Russia (he had just con-
Y a n g and M u k d e n . A Samurai, his first cluded a successful Danubian campaign
military experience had been in the re- against the T u r k s ) . After falling back

159
Kutusov, Mikhail Larionovich Kutusov, Mikhail Larionovich

before it, he gave battle at Borodino, ers escaped. But, already feeble at the
one of the bloodiest of the Napoleonic beginning of the campaign, he did not
wars, and, though beaten, inflicted long survive to enjoy the laurels of vic-
such damage on the G r a n d A r m y that tory. After his death, historians chose
he thereby frustrated the enemy's to portray him as a simple muzhik.,
chance of victory. Moreover he kept the British general W i l s o n , however,
his army together and, when Napoleon found him 'polished, courteous, shrewd
was obliged to begin his retreat, fol- as a Greek, naturally intelligent as an
lowed, harried him and saw him off Asiatic, and well-instructed as a
Russian s o i l ; less than 50,000 foreign- European'.

160
 L
Lacy, Franz M o r i t z , G r a f v o n (1725- American revolution made his way
1801) Imperial soldier. W i t h L a u d o n thither. Returning to France to solicit
(q.v.), the leading Austrian subordinate official help, he arranged the R o c h a m -
commander i n the Seven Years' W a r beau (q.v.) expedition, took part i n its
(1756-63). L i k e his great rival L a u d o n , operations (1781) around Y o r k t o w n and
Lacy came from outside the Habsburg led Cornwallis (q.v.) to surrender. In
domains: born i n Russia, the son of an 1798 he was elected to the Estates-
army officer, educated i n Germany, he General, took a leading part in the proc-
entered the Austrian army i n 1743. lamation of the Rights of M a n and
D u r i n g the w a r , he served under D a u n was the organizer and first chief of
(q.v.) i n the campaigns o f manœuvre the N a t i o n a l G u a r d . H e commanded the
against Frederick the Great (q.v.). A t A r m y of the Centre and then o f
the end of the war, with Laudon's retire- the N o r t h during the early stages of
ment, the senior commands of the the Austrian-Prussian attack o n France,
army began to descend o n h i m . A field- 1792, but isolated himself by his desire
marshal by 1765, he acted as president to protect the royal family from personal
of the imperial w a r council {Hofskrieg- harm and had to flee abroad, where he
srat), the senior office i n the army. In was imprisoned. H i s subsequent career
that position he actively fostered reform was unfruitful. But Pershing (q.v.), dis-
of the army, with the positive support embarking in France in 1917 at the
of Joseph II when he ruled jointly with head of the American Expeditionary
his mother M a r i a Theresa after 1765. In Force, proclaimed as he stepped ashore,
the T u r k i s h war of 1787-92, although 'Lafayette, I am here.'
he began successfully, he failed to make
much headway against the T u r k s ; how- L a k e , Gerard (ist Viscount L a k e ; 1744-
ever, he was a sick man and not fit for 1808) British general. One of the lead-
field command. H e was replaced by ing 'Sepoy' generals. Lake became
L a u d o n , recalled from retirement, w h o commander-in-chief i n Bengal in 1800
reaped the benefit of his careful plan- and, during the w a r against the M a h -
ning. H i s career illustrates the greatly ratta confederacy, w o n the decisive vic-
improved quality of Austrian leadership, tories of L a s w a r i , 1 November 1803, and
to a considerable extent the result of the Farrukhabad, 17 November 1804. T h e
new ethos and institutions that Eugen former put paid to Sindhia, greatest o f
(q.v.) gave to the army. the M a h r a t t a leaders, the latter forced
his confederate H o l k a r to flee into the
Lafayette, M a r i e Joseph Paul R o c h Yves Punjab where at Amritsar i n December
Gilbert M o t i e r , marquis de (1757- 1805 Lake compelled his surrender.
1834) French general. T h i s aristocratic Before his Indian career, he had com-
officer of the royal army was a passion- manded under the D u k e of Y o r k (q.v.)
ate devotee of the ideas of the Philos- in Flanders, 1793-4, and during the 1798
ophes, and o n the outbreak of the rising i n Ireland, where he defeated the

161
Lally, Thomas Arthur, comte de Lannes, Jean

rebels at Vinegar H i l l , 2 June, and their the Piedmontese army in the Crimea
French supporters at Ballinamuck, 8 and is remembered for his creation of
September. the bersaglieri, the Italian army's light
infantry ; both were also generals.
L a l l y , Thomas A r t h u r , comte de (1702-
66) French soldier. L i k e the British A d - Lamoricière, Louis Christophe Léon
miral Byng (q.v.), Lally was executed Juchault de (1806-65) French general.
for a military misfortune, in Voltaire's As an officer of the newly raised
immortal phrase, 'Pour encourager les Zouaves (local infantry), Lamoricière
autres.' T h e son of an Irish Jacobite, played a major role in the French con-
Lally accompanied the Y o u n g Pretender quest of Algeria, contributed greatly to
in his rebellion of 1745. In 1758 he the victory of the Isly in 1844 and took
sent with an expeditionary force to India the surrender of A b d el-Kader (q.v.) in
to counteract the menace of Clive (q.v.), 1847. H e then entered politics, was minis-
a task in which he was entirely unsuccess- ter of war under Cavaignac (q.v.), op-
ful. In January 1761, despairing of relief posed the policies of Louis-Napoleon
from France, he surrendered the chief and was exiled after the latter seized
French town of Pondicherry to the Brit- power. In 1860 he accepted command of
ish. H e returned to France to face the army of Pope Pius I X , whose terri-
charges of treason, was convicted and, tories were threatened by the Piedmon-
after a long imprisonment, beheaded. tese army, and was defeated at its head
Such severity if exacted for military at the battle of Castelfidardo. H i s name
failings far more serious than that com- ranks with that of his chief Bugeaud
mitted by Lally - w h o had, after all, (q.v.) in the annals of the A r m y of Africa
defended the city for many months and was for a century commemorated
against huge odds - w o u l d have kept in a celebrated feature of the Zouave
the public executioners of England and uniform, the 'trou Lamoricière' (cf. the
France in regular employment. Lally, Sam Browne belt), conceived by h i m to
like Byng, was simply unlucky. allow the quick drainage of the volumi-
nous Zouave trousers after the river ford-
La Marmora, Alfonso Ferrero, ings that were so frequent a feature of
Marchese (1804-78) Italian general the conquest.
and statesman. A n officer of the Pied-
montese army, L a M a r m o r a played as a Langle de C a r y , Fernand Louis A r m a n d
junior leader so spectacular a part in the M a r i e de (1849-1927) French general.
war of 1848 against Austria that he was Commissioned from Saint-Cyr before
made major-general and minister of the Franco-Prussian war, in which he
war, in which post he embarked on a was wounded, in 1914 Langle de Cary
successful reform of the army. H e was commanded the Fourth A r m y , whose
twice premier, in 1859 and 1864-6, when operations he directed in the battle of
he left to command a corps against the the Ardennes and at the M a r n e , where
Austrians in the penultimate round of it occupied the line between those of
the war of independence. But he was Foch and Sarrail (qq.v.). H e was pro-
defeated at Custozza (see Archduke A l - moted to command the G r o u p of Armies
brecht), frivolously accused of treason of the Centre in December 1915, but
and obliged to retire. was relieved, probably because of his
H i s brother Alberto L a M a r m o r a advanced age, in the following M a r c h .
(1789-1863) served in the French a r m y ;
another brother Allessandro L a M a r - Lannes, Jean (duc de M o n t e b e l l o ;
mora (1799-1855) died on campaign with 1769-1809) M a r s h a l of France. A

162
Lanrezac, Charles Louis M a r i e Lattre de Tassigny, Jean M a r i e de

dyer's apprentice, Lannes enlisted as a Larrey, D o m i n i q u e Jean (baron; 1766-

volunteer i n the army of the Revolution 1842) French military surgeon. Chief
and, by reason of his remarkable bravery surgeon to N a p o l e o n , with w h o m he
and drive, rose quickly through the regi- campaigned from Egypt to Waterloo,
mental ranks. Bonaparte, to whose where he was wounded, he was not
A r m y of Italy he was transferred i n 1796, only a remarkable practitioner but a
made h i m a general of brigade and took brilliant organizer of medical services
h i m on the Egyptian expedition, where and an improviser of succour i n the
he was twice wounded. H e served Bona- field: his most famous improvisation
parte well during the coup of 18 Bru- was to boil soup for the wounded i n
maire (1799) and was promoted to com- the breastplates of unhorsed cuirassiers
mand the vanguard of the reserve army from the flesh of their mounts. H e was
in the M a r e n g o campaign (1800), in also a prolific author of memoirs, histo-
which he w o n the independent victory ries and clinical treatises. Calle d Provi-
of Montebello. Created marshal i n 1804, dence du soldat by the French army, his
he took a foremost part i n the cam- was the most beneficial influence o n the
paigns o f 1805-7, commanding the treatment o f the wounded between A m -
centre at Jena and Friedland. But at broise Paré and Florence Nightingale.
Essling, 21 M a y 1809, he was again
wounded and died after an amputation. Lasalle, Antoine Charles Louis (comte
H e was greatly regretted by Napoleon de; 1775-1809) French general. A
(whom he alone was permitted to ad- junior officer of the royal army (and the
dress with the familiar 'tu'), his tenacity great-great-nephew of a marshal), L a -
and disregard of danger making h i m a salle enlisted i n the cavalry of the army
perfect subordinate i n the types of battle of the Revolution and at once demon-
the emperor chose to fight. strated his extraordinary élan and disre-
gard for danger. H i s bravery i n Italy i n
Lanrezac, Charles Louis M a r i e (1852- 1796 at R i v o l i prompted Bonaparte to
1925) French general. In 1914 Lanrezac take h i m to Egypt, where he played a
commanded the Fifth A r m y . Convinced dashing part i n the battle of the Pyra-
that it was wrongly located and that it mids. In 1806 he forced the Prussian
risked envelopment by a German move- general Hohenlohe (q.v.) to capitulate
ment through Belgium, for w h i c h the at Prenzlow, and at M e d e l l i n i n 1808 he
French war plan made no provision, he saved the army by leading his cavalry
prevailed o n Joffre (q.v.) to allow h i m into a square of 6000 Spaniards. H e was
to transfer it to the line of the Sambre killed the following year at the head of
on which, with the British Expeditionary a charge at W a g r a m . Lasalle was the
Force, he fought the battle of C h a r l e r o i - beau idéal of the hussar general.
M o n s , 21-3 August. H i s handling of the
army i n combat was weak, however, Lattre de Tassigny, Jean M a r i e G a b r i e l
and his retreat overprecipitate in the de (1889-1952) M a r s h a l of France. H i s
view o f Joffre, who had ordered it. M o r e - career embraced t w o widely separated
over he d i d not conceal his (unjustified) military epochs: severely wounded by a
contempt for the British. Despite his sword-thrust i n mounted single combat
better showing at Guise, 29 August, he in 1914, he inflicted i n 1951 a rare defeat
was removed from command on 3 Sep- on the forces of the Vietnamese general
tember and limogé. Lanrezac is an inter- G i a p (q.v.), foremost exponent of
esting example of a general whose strat- people's war. D u r i n g 1940-2 he served
egic perception far outstripped his tac- the Vichy regime, but was imprisoned
tical nerve. for protesting at the G e r m a n invasion of

163
Laudon, Gideon Ernst, Freiherr von Lawrence, Stringer

the unoccupied zone, escaped and made and it was their capacity to act so effec-
his way to England. Appointed to com- tively i n concert that posed the greatest
mand the First (Free) French A r m y i n threat to Prussia. L a u d o n achieved no
Algeria, he led it i n the campaign of other smashing victory over Frederick:
Italy, southern France, Lorraine and indeed Kunersdorf had been so costly to
south Germany. In 1950 he went to both sides that he became inhibited i n
Indo-China as high commissioner and the risks he could take. Frederick es-
commander-in-chief, instructed to save caped envelopment by the united armies
the Corps expéditionnaire from impend- of L a u d o n , Lacy (q.v.) and D a u n , and
ing defeat and w o n three crucial vic- caught Laudon in the flank at Liegnitz
tories in the R e d River delta i n early (1760). It was the last substantial encoun-
1951, which deferred the collapse for ter between them. In 1763, at the war's
three years. But by then he was already close, L a u d o n retired, to be called back,
fatally i l l and his death, hastened by firstly to face the Prussians in the incon-
that o f his beloved only son Bernard i n clusive war o f the Bavarian Succession
action, occurred in Paris a year later. (1777-9), and i n old age, to repel a
T u r k i s h invasion of Bosnia (1789), i n a
L a u d o n , G i d e o n Ernst, Freiherr v o n campaign which led to the storming o f
(1717-90) Imperial soldier. L i k e so Belgrade. H e died i n the following
many o f the Habsburgs' most successful year.
generals, L a u d o n had no natural ties
with Austria. T h e son of a Swedish of- Lawrence, (Sir) Henry M o n t g o m e r y
ficer of Irish origins, he had first entered (1806-57) British general. A product
the Russian army i n 1732, and then of the East India Company's M i l i t a r y
sought to transfer into Prussian service; Seminary at Addiscombe, Lawrence
rejected, he turned to Austria as the last joined the Bengal Artillery i n 1823, took
resort. H e entered the army of Austria part i n the First Burmese, First Afghan
in 1741, and fought all through the and Sikh wars and was commanding at
war of the Austrian Succession (1740-8), L u c k n o w i n 1857 o n the outbreak of the
attracting favourable attention for his Great M u t i n y , o n the imminence of
courage and efficiency (he was still in which he had given warnings. T h r o u g h
his twenties). So high was his reputation his foresight the British garrison was
that by the Seven Years' W a r (1756-63) able to defend the Residency until relief
he held a general command. It was at came four months later - one of the
Laudon's hands, leading Austrian troops epic episodes of Victorian imperial
who had joined forces with a Russian history. H e was killed at an early stage.
army under Soltikov, that Frederick the H i s brother, John Lawrence (ist
Great (q.v.) met his most costly and Baron Lawrence; 1811-79), also served
shattering defeat. A t Kunersdorf (1759) in India, but o n the civilian side. T h e
the Austro-Russian army outnumbered crisis of 1857 blurred such distinctions
him substantially, but that was no and John, lieutenant-governor of the
novelty. This time, however, the co- Punjab, showed that he possessed the
ordination of the Prussian attack elements of generalship. H e disarmed
went a w r y ; i n the ensuing disaster the the local mutineers, raised an army of
Prussians lost 20,000 men, 178 guns 59,000 (mostly Sikhs) and with it cap-
and 28 colours in the space of six hours. tured D e l h i , seat of the mutiny. H e was
But Laudon's real quality was as a later governor-general of India.
subordinate commander of genius. H i s
relationship with the senior Austrian Lawrence, Stringer (1697-1775) British
commander, D a u n (q.v.), was excellent, soldier and drillmaster extraordinary.

164
Lawrence, Thomas Edward Leclerc, Charles Victor Emmanuel

Like so many army officers, Lawrence established a remarkable relationship

devoted a lifetime's service for a derisory with Abdulla, Sharif of Mecca, and
reward; the only factor which distin- Husein, his brother, embarking with the
guishes him from the myriad soldiers latter on a guerrilla campaign against
now forgotten was his extraordinary ca- the Turkish-held towns and their con-
pacity to train unpromising material necting railway. In 1918 they brought a
into effective troops. A life of service in so-called Arab Army to the assistance of
the British army, ending with the Cul- Allenby (q.v.) in the conquest of Pales-
loden campaign of 1745 and its bloody tine and Syria. At the peace conference,
aftermath, decided Lawrence to seek his Lawrence pleaded the Arab cause, with
fortune in India. In 1748 he was placed considerable success, but subsequently
in charge of the forces of the East India retired from public life into ostentatious
Company at Madras. In a few months obscurity, serving (under the name of
he had constructed from a heterogene- J . H . Ross and later T . E . Shaw) as an
ous mob of Indians and men of mixed aircraftman in the Royal Air Force from
blood a force capable of standing up to 1922 to 1935. During those years, he
French regulars and troops trained by wrote a number of books, of which
the French. Fostering an intense loyalty the most famous is Seven Pillars of
to himself among all his soldiers, officers Wisdom, an account of his adventures
and men, his methods involved the selec- with the Arabs hailed on its (posthu-
tion and training of under-officers to mous) publication as a masterpiece but
share the burden of command. His mili- now thought interesting chiefly as a
tary exploits were executed with his period piece of elaborate prose. Law-
much better-known colleague and friend rence himself was hailed in his own
Robert Clive (q.v.), but he independ- lifetime, particularly by Liddell Hart
ently played a decisive part in loosening (q.v.), as a master of guerrilla tactics,
the French grasp on India. In 1761 he and even as the true architect of vic-
was made commander of all the Com- tory in Palestine, but his military
pany's forces in India and given a royal renown has worn even less well than
commission in the rank of major- his literary reputation.
general; in 1766 he left India for retire-
ment in England. Lawrence laid the Leboeuf, Edmond (1809-88) Marshal
foundations of the native (sepoy) army of France. A Polytechnicien, Lebœuf's
which was to create the British empire achievements in the field of gunnery at-
in India ; but handled with none of the tracted the attention of Napoleon III,
care which Lawrence lavished on it, it who made him minister of war in suc-
was to break out in mutiny in 1857. cession to Niel (q.v.) and created him
marshal on the eve of the Franco-
Lawrence, Thomas Edward ('Lawrence Prussian war. Leboeuf was not a bad
of Arabia'; 1888-1935) British adven- minister nor an incompetent chief of
turer. The illegitimate son of an Anglo- staff to Napoleon in the field, but he
Irish gentleman, who had left his wife has never been forgiven his unwise as-
to raise a family elsewhere, Lawrence surance to the French parliament on the
had worked as an archaeologist in the declaration of hostilities that the army
Middle East from 1911 to 1914 and on was 'ready down to the last gaiter
the outbreak of war secured an appoint- button'.
ment there as a staff officer. In 1916 he
was sent with a mission to Jidda (in Leclere, Charles Victor Emmanuel
modern Saudi Arabia) to foster an Arab ( 1722-1802) French general. A
revolt against the Turks. He quickly brother-in-law of Napoleon, Leclere was

165
Leclerc, Philippe François M a r i e Lee, Robert Edward

the captor of Toussaint L'Ouverture son of a foremost family of Virginia -

(q.v.). H e died of yellow fever on H a i t i . his father, once leader of Washington's
(q.v.) Light Cavalry in the W a r of Inde-
Leclerc, Philippe François M a r i e , V i - pendence, had been governor - Lee
comte de Hauteclocque (1902-47) M a r - passed second out of his class at West
shal of France. Wounded in 1940, Point (as its superintendent, 1852-5, he
Leclere escaped from captivity to join de was to expel James M c N e i l l Whistler
Gaulle, one of whose most devoted and for stating in an examination that silicon
successful military lieutenants he was to was a gas, thus benefiting both the U S
become. Sent to West Africa under the army and the cause of art). H e w o n an
pseudonym Leclere, he led the garrison outstanding reputation in the M e x i c a n
across the Sahara from C h a d to T r i p o l i - war and, at the moment of secession,
tania and commanded it in the Desert was offered command of the Federal
campaign. In 1943 this Division Leclere armies. Though opposed both to seces-
was transferred to England and re- sion and slavery, he felt bound neverthe-
equipped to become the 2nd A r m o u r e d less to 'go with his state' and it was as
Division in order to take part in the commander of the Confederate A r m y of
invasion and liberation of France. A t its Northern Virginia that he entered his-
head, Leclere entered Paris on 25 August tory (he did not, contrary to general
1944. After the war he organized and belief, become generalissimo until Febru-
commanded the expeditionary force ary 1865). Between A p r i l 1861 and M a y
which restored French rule in southern 1862 he held local command in Virginia
Indo-China. H e was killed in an air and acted as adviser to President Davis.
accident and in 1952 was posthumously But from June 1862, with the A r m y of
created marshal. Northern Virginia, he campaigned con-
tinually in the eastern theatre, frustrat-
ing to the end every Federal effort to
Lee, Henry (1756-1818) American sol-
capture R i c h m o n d and twice undertak-
dier. 'Lighthorse H a r r y ' , the father of a-
ing invasions of the north. H i s greatest
more illustrious soldier, Robert E. Lee
tactical achievement was at Chancellors-
(q.v.), first served as a soldier at the
ville, 1-4 M a y 1863, where, with Jack-
start of the American W a r of Independ-
son (q.v.), he achieved the envelopment
ence (1775-83); by 1778 he commanded
and humiliation of the A r m y of the
three troops of cavalry and three compa-
Potomac under H o o k e r (q.v.). H i s princi-
nies, showing his expertise in the highly
pal setback was at Gettysburg, 1-3 July
mobile warfare by raiding British out-
1863, when his daring invasion of Penn-
posts and harrying weak points. In 1779
sylvania was halted and repulsed by
his men stormed the British position at
Meade (q.v.), its failure in some measure
Paulus H o o k , winning strong approval
being due to the dilatoriness of his princi-
from Washington (q.v.) for the skill and
daring of his attack. In the Southern pal subordinate, Longstreet (q.v.).
campaign, part guerrilla, part regular If Lee had a fault as a commander,
warfare, his dragoons were some of the and faults in either his character or ca-
most successful raiders against the Brit- pacity are difficult to find, it was a lack
ish lines of communication. After the of firmness with headstrong or sceptical
war he took a lead both in local V i r g i n - juniors. It was compensated by his abil-
ian politics and in the affairs of the ity to achieve creative partnerships with
nation.
most others, notably Jackson, whose
actions at Chancellorsville were a perfect
Lee, Robert Edward (1807-70) and intuitive accompaniment to his o w n .
American (Confederate) general. The After the failure of Gettysburg, the war

166
Leeb, Wilhelm Ritter von L e m a n , Gerard M a t h i e u

in the east ceased to offer Lee those Lefebvre, François Joseph (duc de
opportunities for manœuvre and quick Danzig; 175 5-1820) M a r s h a l of
decision which suited his talents. H e France. A sergeant of the Gardes fran-
nevertheless conducted the battles of çaises, Lefebvre was unlike many of his
1863 - the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, regiment in showing a personal loyalty
C o l d H a r b o r - with great defensive skill to the royal family during its time of
and during the protracted siege of Peters- troubles. But he was quite prepared to
burg (June 1864-March 1865) frustrated accept the Revolution and was pro-
all Grant's (q.v.) efforts to turn the pos- moted by its leaders in spectacular fash-
ition and strike at R i c h m o n d . It was ion : by 1793 he was a general of brigade,
only after his last railway supply line and as such contributed significantly to
had been cut that he was forced into the the victory of Fleurus, and actually com-
retreat which culminated in Appomat- manded the immortal Sambre-et-Meuse
tox, where he and Grant met face to for a few weeks in 1797. In the coup of
face to sign the surrender. Lee's great- 18 Brumaire (1799) he did Bonaparte
ness - which was universally recognized signal service, dispersing the Five H u n -
then as now - lay as much in his charac- dred (parliamentarians) with twenty-five
ter as his abilities and achievements. H e grenadiers. H e took Danzig for the em-
combined in his person 'profound peror in 1808, hence his dukedom, and
thought, indomitable w i l l and decision' commanded the O l d G u a r d during the
together with 'humanity, loyalty and a Russian campaign. H e was a simple,
complete lack of [personal] ambition'. brave, loyal soldier, and his wife Cather-
H i s last words were, 'Strike the Tent.' ine, the regimental laundrywoman he
had married in 1780, retained her forth-
Leeb, W i l h e l m Ritter von (1876- right style in the bosom of the N a p o -
1956) German field-marshal. A gunner leonic court.
officer of the army of Bavaria and a
member of one of its noble families, L e i g h - M a l l o r y , (Sir) Trafford (1892-
Leeb was selected to join the 100,000- 1944) British air marshal. A successful
man army after the peace of Versailles. Battle of Britain fighter group com-
D u r i n g the 1930s he and Rundstedt mander, and later head of Fighter C o m -
(q.v.) held the two highest command mand, L e i g h - M a l l o r y was appointed in
appointments in the army, but neither 1943 commander-in-chief of the Allied
was p r o - N a z i and after the B l o m b e r g - air forces for the coming invasion of
Fritsch (qq.v.) crisis both retired, only Europe. H i s conduct of air operations
to be recalled for the Polish campaign. during the campaign (albeit that the
In that and the French campaign Leeb Allies enjoyed, through the deployment
commanded A r m y G r o u p C (which was of 9000 aircraft, almost total air
deployed opposite the M a g i n o t Line in supremacy) was highly successful. H e
1940), and in Russia A r m y G r o u p was killed in an air crash on his way to
N o r t h , which made the advance to Lenin- take up a similar post in South-East
grad. H e was relieved of command in Asia.
January 1942, one of a host of generals
to suffer for the failure of Hitler's short- Leman, Gerard M a t h i e u (comte; 1851-
war strategy. Leeb was a considerable 1920) Belgian general. A native of
strategist in his o w n right, an advocate Liège, Leman was commanding the 3rd
of the power of the 'active defence' and Division in the city at the time of the
had explained his ideas in an important German assault on it, led by Ludendorff
book, Die Abwehr (Defence), published (q.v.) in August 1914. Its forts proving
in 1938. unexpectedly vulnerable to the fire of

167
Le Marchant, John Gaspard Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt Dessau

the attackers' super-heavy artillery, they and the investment of the island of
were taken or forced one by one to Rugen.
surrender. Leman stifled all thoughts of After the participation i n the Great
capitulation and held out for ten days, Northern W a r was ended, Leopold was
eventually blowing up the fort of given the task of building a large army
L o n c i n , with himself inside, as a last for Prussia. H e enjoyed the full confi-
gesture of defiance. H e was found uncon- dence of his master, Frederick W i l l i a m I
scious i n the ruins, offered honourable (q.v.), and their views o n the structure
captivity and returned after the w a r to and quality of the army coincided
die in his native city. exactly. Leopold built a force of infantry
more skilful than any other i n Europe.
Le M a r c h a n t , John Gaspard (1766- While outsiders might scoff that the Prus-
1812) British general. A cavalry of- sians were fit only for the parade
ficer, Le Marchant conceived the idea, grounds of Potsdam, i n fact their train-
while his regiment was stationed at ing made them the most flexible and
Windsor i n 1798, of improving the adaptable force o n the field of battle.
standard of education and training of Practicality was the prime watch-word
the younger officers. O u t of this for Leopold. H e demanded 'quick shoot-
scheme grew his plan for the foun- ing, quick loading, intrepidity and vigor-
dation of the R o y a l M i l i t a r y College ous attack'. If his infantry was an au-
(Sandhurst), of which he became tomaton, it was an ideal instrument for
lieutenant-governor, 1801-10. H e then advanced tactical manœuvre. H e pushed
went to command a cavalry brigade i n forward relentlessly in pursuit of perfec-
Spain and was killed at its head at tion. W o o d e n ramrods were replaced
Salamanca. with iron, a major technical advance for
it enabled a much brisker loading pro-
cedure and a faster rate of fire. H e
Leopold I, Prince of A n h a l t Dessau
altered uniforms, cutting off the o l d
(1676-1747) Prussian soldier. O n e of
full-skirted coats so that the files o f men
the prime architects of Prussia's military
could stand closer together. T h e ranks
greatness, the ' O l d Dessauer' spanned
were reduced from three deep to t w o , a
the military worlds of the seventeenth
reduction allowing a longer front : faster
and mid-eighteenth centuries. H e served
firing made up the loss in fire-power. By
in the war of the G r a n d Alliance (1688-
the time he had trained the infantry it
97), and was present at the siege of
was capable of three to four shots per
N a m u r (1692). In the war o f the Spanish
minute; this coupled with the sheer
Succession (1701-14) he served under
speed of a Prussian advance made them
Prince Eugen (q.v.) at Blenheim (1704)
a uniquely effective offensive weapon.
as commander of a Prussian corps; he
H e also oversaw the introduction of
fought with great courage and distinc-
an effective system of conscription i n
tion at T u r i n , T o u r n a i and Malplaquet,
Prussia, to provide the steady supply of
to the extent that he was made com-
recruits for his training m i l l . W i t h the
mander of all the Prussian forces at the
accession of Frederick the Great (q.v.)
front in 1710. In 1712 he showed his
in 1740, Leopold was a little piqued to
mastery of tactics when he surprised the
be excluded from much of the planning
garrison of the fortress of M ö r s and
for war, for he considered himself the
captured it without a shot being fired.
country's leading soldier, a position
H e was promoted to the rank of field-
Frederick intended to arrogate to h i m -
marshal, and in 1715 he led an army of
self. But he did have one last triumph on
40,000 against Sweden, with consider-
the battlefield - at Kesselsdorf his
able success at the siege of Stralsund

168
Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul E m i l von Liddell H a r t , (Sir) Basil H e n r y

immaculate infantry swept the Saxons Charles I was forced to agree to their
from the snow-covered field (1745). By demands, and the First Bishops' W a r
then i n his seventy-first year, he retired ended (1639). But the peace was merely
to Dessau; his three sons, Leopold II a truce and Charles intended to impose
(the Y o u n g Dessauer), Dietrich and an episcopacy by force. In the Second
M o r i t z , all served as generals under Bishops' W a r (1640-1) Leven's army of
Frederick the Great. 20,000 men, with many officers fresh
from the European w a r , marched into
Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul E m i l von (1870- England and took Newcastle; the Scots
1964) German general and colonial were eventually bought off. Charles, i n
guerrilla leader. Few of the kaiser's offic- an effort to conciliate the Scots, i n 1641
ers had the chance to live the life of raised a number of the leaders to the
soldiering and empire-building so freely peerage, among them Leven (formerly
available to the British and F r e n c h ; Leslie).
Lettow was one of them. H e was also Leven's next task, a congenial one,
an irregular soldier of genius. Son of a was to attack the rebellious Catholics
Prussian general, he had taken part i n in Ireland, a duty w h i c h he exercised
suppressing the Boxer Rising, fought with great vigour and cruelty (1642-4),
against the Hereros and Hottentots in until he was recalled to take command
German South-West Africa in 1904, and of the Covenanter army which was to
in 1914 was posted to command the intervene on the Parliamentary side i n
garrison i n German East Africa (Tanga- the English C i v i l W a r . T h e intervention
nyika). It never numbered more than of his army had a crucial influence o n
20,000, but he nevertheless repulsed a the successful outcome of M a r s t o n
major British landing (Tanga, N o v e m - M o o r (1644), but thereafter, although
ber 1914) and kept an international they were a powerful force in the N o r t h ,
force, which at its peak numbered they operated w i t h one eye on M o n -
130,000, i n play until after the Europeantrose's victories, in Scotland. After the
armistice. threat of M o n t r o s e declined they moved
south, and it was to Leven, at N e w a r k ,
Leven, Alexander Leslie, i s t Earl of that Charles surrendered i n 1646. T h e
(1580-1661) Scottish soldier. T h e end of the First C i v i l W a r marked the
epitome of the 'godly soldier', Leven end of Leven's command. H i s offers of
began his career i n the service of the help i n the Second C i v i l W a r (1648-9)
United Provinces, although it was i n the were brushed aside, and although he
army of Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.) that was present at Dunbar (1650), it was
he made his reputation. H e defended left to his kinsman D a v i d Leslie to take
Stralsund i n an epic siege against the command. H e was captured at A l y t h by
armies of Wallenstein (q.v.), 1628, and the English, trying to raise troops for
fought bravely at Lützen. H e venerated the defence of Dundee. H e was impris-
Gustavus Adolphus and continued to oned i n the T o w e r until 1654, when he
serve Sweden after his death, reaching retired to his estate.
the rank of field-marshal in 1636. O n
his return to Scotland, as an ardent Liddell H a r t , (Sir) Basil Henry (1895-
Protestant and signatory of the Coven- 1970) British military theorist, his-
ant, he helped to build up the C o v - torian and biographer. Born in Paris, son
enanter army into a formidable force. of the pastor of the English Congre-
Under his command the Covenanters gation church there, Liddell H a r t was
seized Edinburgh, as well as most of educated at St Paul's and Corpus Christi
the Royalist strongholds in Scotland. College, Cambridge, and commissioned

169
Liman von Sanders, Otto Lincoln, Benjamin

as a temporary officer in the King's O w n mand of the T u r k i s h troops on the fron-

Yorkshire Light Infantry i n 1915. Badly tier with Russia i n the Caucasus o n the
wounded o n the Somme, he occupied outbreak of war. In 1915, as commander
his convalescence by writing a pamphlet of the T u r k i s h Fifth A r m y , he success-
on platoon tactics, which was issued to fully opposed the British and French
the army in France in 1917, and later, at landings at G a l l i p o l i and i n 1916 fol-
official request, he rewrote the official lowed v o n der G o l t z (q.v.) i n higher
Infantry Training. Between 1922 and command. In 1918 he directed the T u r k -
1924 he served i n the newly created ish opposition to the advance of Allenby
A r m y Educational Corps, but his indi- (q.v.) into Palestine and Syria. Sanders's
vidualism made him an unsuitable regu- Levantine involvement invests his repu-
lar officer and he retired from the army tation with a romantic allure attaching
to become a journalist and author. H e to that of few German generals.
was successively military correspondent
of the Morning Posf, the Daily Tel- Lincoln, Benjamin (1733-1810) A m e r i -
egraph and The Times, 1924-39, and can soldier. A n amateur soldier, L i n c o l n
unofficial (but highly influential) adviser had the misfortune to be responsible,
to the war minister, H o r e Belisha, 1935- if not entirely to blame, for the great-
7. H i s success i n unseating numbers of est rebel disaster i n the American
over-age or under-talented senior offic- W a r of Independence. In 1777 he was
ers and initiating new policies (see Gort) appointed a major-general i n the C o n -
w o n h i m the intense dislike of the army tinental army, after competent service
establishment and, though he continued with the Massachusetts militia, and
to proffer excellent advice both privately in the following year he was given a
and i n published form to the end of his general command i n the South. H e was
long and productive life, he never again unlucky from the outset. A n attack o n
acceded to a position of power. Savannah, Georgia, October 1779, was
But his achievement was already repulsed by the British, his command
secure: i n a stream of books issued (together with 4000 French troops under
during 1925-40 he h a d , w i t h Fuller d'Estaing, q.v.) losing 800 casualties for
(q.v.), set out the principles o n which the loss of 150 British. In the following
modern mobile warfare, combining the year the British forces of General C l i n -
action of tanks, mechanized infantry and ton (q.v.) besieged Charleston. C l i n t o n
aircraft, w o u l d be fought, and had con- had a total of 14,000 men at the siege,
verted to his way of thinking forward- while L i n c o l n , defending, possessed only
looking soldiers everywhere, but above 5400. A naval squadron under A r b u t h -
all in Germany (see Guderian). President not entered Charleston harbour and
Kennedy superscribed his presentation bombarded the t o w n . After a month of
photograph, ' T o the Captain w h o siege L i n c o l n surrendered the t o w n ,
teaches Generals', and the inscriptions together with the huge stocks of w a r
on its companion portraits i n the sage's material it contained. Exchanged in 1781,
study - a gallery of modern victors - he was immediately subject to savage criti-
echo his salutation. H e was knighted in cism from a l l sides. T h e argument that
1966. he had sold the town too lightly had
some force: little pretence of a deter-
Liman von Sanders, O t t o (1855- mined defence had been made. O n the
1929) German general. A cavalry of- other hand he had been faced with over-
ficer, L i m a n von Sanders was sent as whelming odds, with n o prospect o f
head of Germany's military mission to relief, and capture had been inevitable.
her ally Turkey in 1913, assuming com- W i t h the highly ambiguous state of

170
Lin Piao Lossberg, Fritz von

affairs which had existed at Charleston, M a d e field-marshal i n the mass promo-

and the fact that tempers had cooled tion of 19 July 1940 (to celebrate vic-
during his imprisonment, no action was tory), he was commander-in-chief of the
taken against h i m . But he held no fur- German forces in the invasion of Greece,
ther military position during the w a r , and of A r m y G r o u p A in Russia, J u l y -
although he served Congress as secretary October 1942, during its advance into
of war. the Caucasus.

L i n Piao (1908-71(?)) M a r s h a l of the Longstreet, James (1821- 1904) A m e r i -

People's Republic of C h i n a . A graduate can (Confederate) general. A South
of the W h a m p o a M i l i t a r y Academy (see Carolinan and West Pointer, he was
Chiang Kai-shek and Blyukher), L i n commissioned brigadier-general by
Piao was taken up by C h u T e h (q.v.) the Confederacy i n time to command
before the L o n g M a r c h of the C o m m u - the 4th Brigade at Bull R u n and thereaf-
nist armies from south to north C h i n a , ter held divisional or corps command in
in w h i c h he commanded units of the the A r m y of Northern Virginia so con-
advance guard. H e was wounded fight- sistently that the soldiers called h i m
ing the Japanese i n 1937 and sent for 'Lee's O l d W o r k Horse'. H i s record is
treatment to Russia where, after recov- mixed. H i s mistakes at the battles of
ery, he took part in the defence of Lenin- Fair O a k s , Seven Pines and Second Bull
grad. After the Japanese surrender in R u n contributed to Confederate failure.
the Far East, he organized the occu- But he did well during the Seven Days'
pation of M a n c h u r i a by Communist battles, at Fredericksburg and in the W i l -
troops so that, when C h i a n g Kai-shek's derness, where he was gravely wounded
armies returned, they found h i m largely by a Confederate bullet. T h e South re-
in control of the territory. W h e n the membered h i m best, however, for his
civil war broke out, it was his troops dilatoriness at Gettysburg, both o n the
which w o n most of the battles which second and third days (he had disap-
gave the Communists the victory. H e proved of the Gettysburg campaign,
successively occupied K i r i n , Changchun which he thought foolhardy) and re-
and M u k d e n , and by November 1948 proached him so harshly for it that his
had taken complete control o f M a n c h u - postwar life was made a misery.
ria. H e emerged from the war as the
new state's most honoured soldier and Lossberg, Fritz von (1868-1943)
one of M a o Tse-tung's closest advisers, German general. A Guards officer and a
and in 1959 became minister of defence. former instructor at the Kriegsakademie,
In the late 1960s, however, he and M a o Lossberg was appointed in January
fell out, apparently over his refusal to 1915 deputy chief of the operations
further the aims of the Cultural Revolu- section of O H L (Oberste Heereslei-
tion within the a r m y ; L i n Piao disap- tung), German general headquarters
peared and was eventually reported to on the western front. But his immense
have died in an aeroplane accident. energy and tactical flair prompted
Falkenhayn (q.v.) to employ h i m as a
List, W i l h e l m (1880-1971) German roving chief of staff to subordinate
field-marshal. A Bavarian engineer of- armies at moments of crisis. Thus it was
ficer by origin, List commanded the that he served as chief of staff to T h i r d
Fourteenth A r m y during the Polish cam- A r m y during the French offensive in
paign and in France in 1940 the Twelfth, Champagne of September 1915, to
which made the crucial crossings o f the Second A r m y o n the Somme during the
Meuse between N a m u r and Dinant. British offensive of July 1916, to Sixth

171
Louis X I I Louis X I V

A r m y in Artois during the British spring placement. T h e Italian w a r , which

offensive of 1917 and to Fourth A r m y at became Louis's obsession, dominated his
Ypres during the British offensive reign and drained French power and
(Paschendaele) of that autumn. H i s ex- resources. A s the conflict i n Italy devel-
periences led h i m to conceive of a new oped into a more general conflict of
method of meeting these great offen- fundamental interests between France
sives, prepared by enormous artillery and the Habsburgs, a cast was given to
bombardments and delivered by infantry French diplomacy and military affairs
en masse; his authority as chief of staff which persisted for two centuries.
- by German army practice almost
greater than that of the commander he Louis X I V (1638-1715) K i n g of
served - gave h i m the power to imple- France. Until the battle of Blenheim i n
ment it. For the 'rigid defence of a single 1704, the reign of Louis X I V , one filled
line', w h i c h regulations stipulated, he with war, had seen no major reverse : i n
substituted the preparation of a position the second half of the seventeenth cen-
laid out i n great depth o n a reverse tury, French arms acquired the repu-
slope, behind which counter-attack (Ein- tation for an absolute superiority which
greif) divisions were placed to come to the Spanish had held before them. A l -
the a i d of those garrisons hardest though Louis never commanded an
pressed. T h e Hindenburg Line, back- army in the field, in a practical sense his
bone of the German defence i n France influence was crucial both i n the suc-
from 1917 to 1918, was largely laid out cesses and ultimate failure of French
on these principles and if any one sol- armies. H i s first experience of war came
dier, therefore, can be held responsible when he watched the rival armies of
for the frustration of the Allies' offen- Turenne and Condé (qq.v.) battle for the
sives of those years and for the millions control of Paris i n 1652; i n 1657-8 he
of casualties they suffered, Lossberg is joined the army i n Flanders, inspec-
he. O n the retirement of Ludendorff ted fortifications, was fired at, and ac-
(q.v.) as chief of staff at O H L (26 Octo- quired a passionate interest i n siege
ber 1918), Lossberg was nominated to warfare.
succeed h i m but, for political reasons, A t the heart of his military system
he was swiftly replaced by Groener was a strong central control, vested in the
(q.v.). T h e days of the pure technical king, and his small cabinet : in the whole
expert were by then over for the German of his reign he used only seventeen
army. ministers. T w o families - le Tellier and
Colbert - came to dominate military and
Louis X I I (1462-1515) K i n g of France. naval administration. O f the former, a
Passionate in his commitment to French father and son, M i c h e l le Tellier and
involvement in Italy, Louis succeeded his son Louvois (q.v.), built the army
Charles VII o n the throne of France i n that Turenne, Condé and their succes-
1498. H e was faced by Cordoba (q.v.), sors used to great effect. Colbert virtu-
when France and Spain were unable to ally recreated the French navy, as well
divide the spoils of the Italian cam- as the sound taxation-base which ena-
paigns, as agreed by the treaty of G r a - bled France to field large and well-
nada (1500). Until the eruption o n to equipped armies. Louis himself insisted
the scene of Gaston de F o i x (q.v.) as that the army and navy were careers
French commander (1511), Louis had open to talent, and that no officer, how-
no general able to overcome his en- ever well born, could command without
emies: after Foix's death in his first training and military discipline ; he him-
campaign, he found no competent re- self served briefly as a cadet under

172
Louis XIV Louvois, François le Tellier, marquis de

Turenne. H e supported one great m i l i - L'Ouverture, Pierre D o m i n i q u e called

tary genius - Vauban (q.v.) - against Toussaint (1743-1803) H a i t i a n revolu-
the bitter criticism of his comparatively tionary and general. H e took part in a
low birth, and he was quite willing to black slave rising in 1791 to preserve
accept officers from any source w h o royal authority in the island, then took
w o u l d serve h i m well : the privateer Jean
service with the Spanish, w h o controlled
Bart (q.v.) is a good example. the other half of the island, then aban-
Despite the sound logical principles doned them o n the French revolutionary
on which France's military structure government's proclamation of the abo-
was founded, the bitter experiences of lition of slavery. M a d e a general of div-
Louis's youth impeded the full develop- ision, he fought off a British invasion,
ment of the system. H e was intensely but then decided he wanted to rule inde-
suspicious after the experience of the pendently, expelled the French repre-
Frondes; he was bitterly jealous of the sentative and later the Spaniards. In
military talents of his brother, the duc 1801 N a p o l e o n sent an expedition to
d'Orleans, and prevented h i m from con- restore French rule but, failing to over-
tinuing i n active military command i n come Toussaint's guerrilla resistance, it
the main theatres of war. In later life he offered to negotiate. Its leader (see
was dubious of soldiers' prodigality with Leclerc) treacherously seized Toussaint
men's lives and equipment, and his gen- and transported h i m to France where he
erals in the war of the Spanish Succes- died in captivity. T h e black struggle
sion (1701-14) went into battle hedged was carried o n successfully by Jean-
about by so many prohibitions against Jacques Dessalines w h o ultimately pro-
risky and impetuous actions that they claimed himself Emperor Jacques I and
were virtually hamstrung; initiative was built the H a i t i a n Versailles of Sans
stifled, commanders feared to take de- Souci.
cisions o n their o w n account, and oper-
ated in the sure knowledge that the king Louvois, François le Tellier, marquis de
observed their every move and counted (1641-91) French administrator. W i t h
every louis expended. his father, M i c h e l le Tellier (1603-85),
Louis fought the w a r of Devolution Louvois was responsible for the creation
against Spain (1667-8) and t w o wars of a French army which reigned supreme
against the Dutch (1672-8,1688-97), cer in Europe for almost forty years. H e
_

tainly with glory and national expansion was, in Saint-Simon's phrase, ' A
in m i n d , but also with a firm resolve to haughty m a n , brutal i n a l l his ways.'
give France secure and defensible fron- Louvois was trained by his father to
tiers. T h e final war, the conflict over succeed h i m as the controlling force
the Spanish Succession, was not of his behind the development of the French
making and ended with virtual bank- military machine. H i s passion was for
ruptcy and starvation for France. But central control, as the only means to
the military machine continued to func- destroy fragmentation into many inde-
tion, provided streams of new recruits pendent and often conflicting entities.
and new equipment. T h e overall quality Under Louvois, a l l matters concerning
of both junior and senior officers was military affairs were recovered from i n -
high, the product o f Louis's encourage- dependent control into the hands of the
ment o f military education and training. war minister and his bureaucrats. Regu-
French military superiority was the prod- lations were laid d o w n - a n d , for the
uct of a system, rather than brilliant first time, enforced - governing almost
individualism: that system was the cre- every aspect of military life. T h e training
ation of Louis and his ministers. of officers was regulated, the special

173
L u c a n , George Charles Bingham Ludendorff, Erich

privileges enjoyed by the nobility within gade at Balaclava, contemptuously trans-

the army were abolished and a proper mitted by N o l a n , his A D C , and miscon-
career structure established. The basic strued by Cardigan, brought about its
organization of the army was reformed destruction. Lucan was nevertheless sub-
root and branch, and in 1663 Louvois sequently promoted to the rank of field-
created a new regiment, the Régiment marshal, almost the last British soldier
du Roi, to act as a model for the new to owe his rise wholly to worldly
army : its commander, Colonel Martinet, position.
has become a synonym for harsh and
effective discipline. The same process of Luckner, Nicolas (1722-94) M a r s h a l
reform was applied to the artillery and of France. A Rhinelander who had en-
engineers, culminating in 1673 with the tered French service, Luckner was cre-
establishment of the Royal-Artillerie. ated marshal in 1791 - last but one of
U n t i l 1677, when his father became the ancien régime - and appointed in
chancellor of France, Louvois worked June 1792 to command the A r m y of the
under h i m ; thereafter he was sole sec- N o r t h with orders to invade the Aus-
retary of state for war. A thoroughly trian Netherlands. After capturing
autocratic man, he quarrelled violently M e n i n and Courtrai he lost heart and
with Turenne (q.v.) and with his col- retreated. Accused of treason, he was
legue C o l b e r t ; but after 1675, when arrested, tried and guillotined.
Turenne died and Condé retired, he had
no direct competitors in the military Ludendorff, Erich (von; 1865-1937)
field. Both le Tellier, w h o pressured German general. In many superficial re-
Louis to withdraw the Edict of Nantes, spects the archetypal Prussian officer,
which had granted toleration to Protes- Ludendorff stands i n essentials apart
tants, and Louvois were stern Catholics, from the breed: its ethos of personal
and the use of troops in 'dragonnades' self-effacement, political moderation and
to pressure Protestants into conversion strategic orthodoxy was not his. A s a
was actively fostered by Louvois after result he became one of the very few
1685. Louvois created a system, which if German generals to wield real political
it did not function to its full efficiency power and to be instrumental in losing
without his driving personality, survived a major war. H i s origins were modest
h i m , and the extraordinary resilience of and he was commissioned accordingly
the French army in the war of the Span- into one of the dowdier regiments, but
ish Succession (1701-14) is a tribute to his brilliant intelligence and immense
him. mental and physical energy carried
him effortlessly into and through the
L u c a n , George Charles Bingham, 3rd Kriegsakademie and on to the general
Earl of (1800-85) British field-marshal. staff. Patronized by Schlieffen and the
T h o u g h slightly less quarrelsome than younger M o l t k e (qq.v.), he quickly
his brother-in-law, Cardigan (q.v.), he reached its summit and was head of the
was also the imperious and overbearing key mobilization section from 1908 to
nobleman, besides being professionally 1913. But in that year, and as a punish-
inferior to many officers over w h o m he ment for improper parliamentary lobby-
was preferred for command of the cav- ing to increase the size of the army, he
alry i n the expedition to the Crimea in was posted to an unimportant regimen-
1854. Once arrived, he and Cardigan tal command. O n the outbreak of war,
quickly put a private quarrel on to an however, he was temporarily assigned as
official basis, their staffs ceased to co- chief of staff to the task force detailed
operate and his orders to the light bri- to capture the vital Liège forts (see

174
Ludendorff, Erich L u x e m b o u r g , François H e n r i

Leman), for which operation he had 'von') but few found nobility in his
made the p l a n ; its success, to which his character.
courageous personal intervention greatly
contributed, retrieved his career. H e was Luxembourg, François Henri de
then sent as chief of staff to Hindenburg Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de (1628-
(q.v.) to direct the defence of East Prus- 95) French soldier. T h e wars of con-
sia in late August and, with the assist- quest begun by Louis X I V depended on
ance of Hoffmann (q.v.), transformed a superb army, well supplied, and gen-
the campaign into a brilliant victory erals of talent to command it. In the
(Tannenberg and the M a s u r i a n Lakes). galaxy of fine soldiers Turenne and
T h e Hindenburg-Ludendorff team Condé (qq.v.) shine brightest; but next
continued to w i n victories in the east in significance must come Luxembourg.
and, on the dismissal of Falkenhayn Born a hunchback and feeble in phy-
(q.v.) in 1916, was brought to the west sique, he had the good luck to be
to assume supreme command of the war brought up with his cousin Condé: he
effort. Ludendorff was to interpret his fought with outstanding courage with
commission so liberally that within a h i m at the battle of Lens (1648), where
year he was effectively wartime dictator the Imperial army under Archduke
of Germany. H e contrived the dismissal Leopold W i l h e l m launched the last as-
of the 'defeatist' Bethmann-Hollweg, i n - sault of the T h i r t y Years' W a r : he fol-
sisted on the institution of unrestricted lowed h i m into the revolt of the second
submarine warfare (which brought Fronde against the rule of C a r d i n a l M a z -
America into the war) and negated plans arin, and went into exile with h i m to
for a separate peace w i t h Russia by refus- Spain and thence into the army of Spain.
ing to accommodate Polish national as- W h e n Condé effected his return to
pirations. H e felt justified in taking these favour, Luxembourg followed in his
extreme decisions because he believed footsteps. Condé supported his protégé
the defeat of Russia, which impended procuring a commission for h i m as a
throughout 1917, w o u l d allow h i m , with lieutenant-general in 1668.
the troops released from that front, to In the D u t c h war (1672-8) L u x e m -
w i n outright victory in the west before bourg showed his real talent for war.
American troops arrived or the German H i s army pushed deep into H o l l a n d ,
economy, w h i c h he had mobilized threatening both Leyden and the Hague ;
totally for war, collapsed. H i s timings but he had undertaken a winter cam-
were wrong. H i s great spring offensive paign (against the normal practice of
of 1918 (on the Somme in M a r c h , on the times) and when a sudden thaw
the Lys in A p r i l , on the Aisne in M a y ) threatened to turn the terrain into a
all failed and he was then unable to quagmire, Luxembourg carried out a
stem the A l l i e d counter-offensives of brilliantly executed withdrawal to his
July-September (to which the A m e r i - base at Utrecht. M u c h of his army
cans made a significant contribution). melted away, however, when the contin-
O n 26 October he was dismissed, after gents supplied by France's German allies
he had vacillated for several weeks be- left h i m , as their governments made
tween making peace and seeking Gotter- peace with H o l l a n d . There were no
dämmerung. In later years he took up smashing victories in the campaign, but
extreme nationalistic politics, marched Luxembourg had shown his ability to
with Hitler in the M u n i c h putsch of handle an army in the field, to be enter-
November 1923 and was tried (and ac- prising when the occasion demanded,
quitted) for treason. D u r i n g the war L u - but not reckless : these were all qualities
dendorff had been ennobled (granted the which recommended h i m to Louis X I V .

175
Luxembourg, François H e n r i de Lyautey, Louis Hubert Gonzalve

In July 1675 he was made a marshal fought engagement, the French routed
of France and given command over the the smaller Dutch and English army.
Rhine army after the death of Turenne. But again the attitudes of caution i n -
Although Philippsburg was lost to stilled by Louis prevailed, and L u x e m -
Charles of Lorraine, Luxembourg was bourg did not move in for the k i l l . It
left in the stronger position strategi- was his last great victory, for he returned
cally, and he was to end the war with to France a hero, but also a man w o r n
another victory, over W i l l i a m of out by his campaigning. H e died at Ver-
Orange at St Denis, initiated by W i l - sailles early in January 1695. W i t h his
liam who was unaware that peace had death the tide turned back in favour of
been signed at Nijmegen (1678). But W i l l i a m III: he at last found that he
Luxembourg, who should have been could beat the French. Luxembourg was
high in Louis's favour, now fell into no great innovator or philosopher about
disgrace through his supposed i n - the nature and practice of w a r ; like his
volvement in a court scandal involv- patron, Condé, he was a fine, practical
ing witchcraft, poisons and black magic. general.
T h r o w n into prison for some months,
then acquitted, he was nevertheless ban-
Lyautey, Louis Hubert Gonzalve (1854-
ished from the court. But the royal dis-
1934) M a r s h a l of France. Lyautey's
pleasure d i d not last and he was re-
enormous reputation, comparable to
called, this time in the coveted position
that of Kitchener (q.v.) in Britain
of captain of the king's personal guard
(though the Frenchman was incompara-
(1681).
bly more agreeable in character), was
When the war of the G r a n d Alliance w o n exclusively in the empire. A subordi-
(1688-97) broke out Luxembourg was nate of Galliéni (q.v.) during the pacifi-
the obvious choice for the overall com- cation of northern Indo-China, he was
mand of the French armies, given that taken by him to Madagascar after its
Louis always kept his generals on a tight annexation by France in 1897. Faced
leash. After the French defeat at W a l - again by problems of pacification, he
court by George Frederick of Waldeck devised the system of quadrillage - the
(1689), the command was quickly given division of disaffected regions into zones
to Luxembourg, w h o restored French for progressive subjection - which
prestige with a fine victory over George became a model for colonial campaigns
Frederick at Fleurus (1690), although everywhere. H e applied it so successfully
Louis's caution prevented h i m from ex- in the border regions of Algeria, 1903-
ploiting it. Luxembourg followed Fleu- 10, that on France's decision to annex
rus with an uninterrupted run of vic- M o r o c c o (1912) he was appointed high
tories, as important for French morale as commissioner in the protectorate. H i s
Marlborough's record of success in the achievement in that country, where he
following war of the Spanish Succession remained until 1925, was to bring about
(1701-14). W i l l i a m of Orange, now W i l - not only its pacification but its apparent
liam III of England, revealed that he reconciliation to French rule - an
was no match for the skills of L u x e m - achievement latterly somewhat compro-
bourg. The French took M o n s and H a l , mised by the revolt of A b d el-Krim
followed by N a m u r (1692), and at Steen- (q.v.). A writer of great perception and
kirk (1692) W i l l i a m repeated his failure elegant style, his book, Le Rôle social
at St Denis fourteen years before by de l'officier (1891), is one of the most
attacking Luxembourg and losing the important documents in the intellectual
battle. T h e French riposte was the battle history of the modern French army. H e
of Neerwinden (1693) where, in a hard- was created marshal in 1921.

176
 M
MacArthur, Douglas (1880-1964) surrender of Japan aboard USS Missouri
American general. Commander of the in T o k y o Bay.
all-state 42nd R a i n b o w Division in Between 1945 and 1950, as chief of
France at the age of thirty-seven, occupation forces in Japan (and ' u n -
M a c A r t h u r returned to West Point as crowned emperor') he oversaw the intro-
superintendent in 1919, was chief of staff duction of constitutional government to
of the army, 1930-5 (in w h i c h capacity the country, but on the outbreak of war
he dispersed the Washington Bonus in Korea reverted to active command as
M a r c h ) , and, 1935-7, organized the head of United Nations forces there.
army of the Philippines, where he held T h e Inchon operation, 15-25 September
the rank of field-marshal, the only 1950, by w h i c h he rolled back the N o r t h
United States citizen to do so. H e retired Korean invasion of the South, remains
in 1937, but was recalled in July 1941 the last great exercise in modern am-
and appointed commander of U S (and phibious warfare, of which he was the
Philippines) troops in the Far East. undoubted master. However, his subse-
H e and his main body were in the quent advance to the Chinese border,
Philippines when it was attacked by the provoking Chinese intervention and a
Japanese in December and he conducted dispute with Washington over the aims
a dogged and costly defence of the of the war, led to his dismissal by
Bataan peninsula and Corregidor island T r u m a n in A p r i l 1951. Some expected
until ordered by Roosevelt on 11 M a r c h h i m to carry his disagreements with civil-
to leave for Australia. H e did so, but ian authority into the domestic politics
promised, 'I shall return.' After M i d w a y , of the United States. But before a ses-
which crippled Japanese naval striking sion of both houses of Congress on his
power (see Spruance), he began the re- return he asked only to be allowed
conquest of the Pacific territories with a like an old soldier 'to fade away'. H i s
brilliantly conceived and directed strat- name undoubtedly w i l l n o t : in Liddell
egy of 'island hopping'. Its nub was to Hart's view he was 'supreme . . . H i s
seize as bases for his advance small, combination of strong personality,
weakly held islands, leaving 'to wither strategic grasp, tactical skill, operative
on the vine' the larger islands which mobility and vision put him in a class
Japan had strongly garrisoned in expec- above Allied commanders in any
tation of attack. During 1943 he secured theatre.'
northern N e w Guinea and the Solomons
H i s father, A r t h u r M a c A r t h u r (1845-
and in October 1944 made good his
1912), w o n the Congressional M e d a l of
promise to return by landing on Leyte
H o n o u r at Missionary Ridge in the C i v i l
in the Philippines. In M a r c h and June
W a r and was military governor of the
1945 (by which time he was supreme
Philippines, 1900-1. H e was less hand-
commander of all Allied land forces in
some than his son, one of the most
the Pacific) he captured Iwo Jima and
physically striking of all Great
O k i n a w a and in September took the
Captains.

177
McClellan, George Brinton McCreery, (Sir) Richard

M c C l e l l a n , George Brinton (1826- success i n the Antietam campaign, Sep-

85) American (Union) general. A regu- tember 1862. Lincoln then relieved h i m
lar officer (West Point, class of 1846), (for having what he called 'the slows').
M c C l e l l a n had resigned from the army In a more considered explanation, which
before the C i v i l W a r , like many others, might stand as a final judgement, he
and made a successful career as vice- said, ' H e is an admirable engineer, but
president of the Illinois Central Railroad he seems to have a special talent for a
(to which Abraham Lincoln was attor- stationary engine.' M c C l e l l a n was out-
ney). Appointed major-general of O h i o raged by his dismissal and stood, unsuc-
Volunteers at the outbreak, and i n the cessfully, as Democratic candidate
regular army shortly after, w o r d of his against Lincoln in 1864.
little victory of R i c h M o u n t a i n , 11 July
1861, arrived in Washington just in time M c C l e r n a n d , John Alexander (1812-
to offset, very slightly, the bad news 1900) American (Union) general. A
from Bull R u n (see M c D o w e l l ) and to state militia, not regular, officer, M c C l e r -
recommend him as a promising senior nand took part in the Henry and Donel-
commander. H e was appointed first to son and the Vicksburg campaigns,
the A r m y of the Potomac, then as gen- briefly commanding a small army which
eral in chief to succeed Winfield Scott bore his name and with which he cap-
(q.v.). H i s success i n organizing the
tured Fort H i n d m a n in January 1863.
raggle-taggle armies of the Union during
H i s understanding of press relations was
1861-2 was genuinely remarkable. But
excellent and he thereby acquired much
the soubriquet 'The Y o u n g N a p o l e o n ' ,
credit to which he was not due. Grant
which Northern newspapers bestowed
(q.v.), under w h o m he served, rightly
on h i m and he accepted with satisfac-
doubted his real ability and tried to be
tion, was proved the exaggeration it was
rid of h i m . H e retired sick in November
by his utterly indecisive conduct of the
1864. H e personified in an extreme form
Peninsula campaign, M a r c h - J u l y 1862.
the type of ambitious political general,
H i s initial amphibious landing took the
'resenting dictation, disliking West Point-
Confederates by surprise, and, had he
ers and ever mindful of opinions i n his
pushed ahead rapidly towards Rich-
home state', w h o infested the Union
mond, his success might have been con-
army throughout the war.
siderable, for he greatly outnumbered
them. Instead, sensing danger every-
M c C r e e r y , (Sir) Richard (1898-1967)
where and calling always for reinforce-
British general. A 12th Lancer, M c -
ments, he crawled forward, thus allow-
Creery was appointed in August 1942
ing Lee (q.v.) to summon sufficient
chief of staff to Alexander (q.v.) i n
troops to block his advance and Jackson
Egypt. T w o months later he produced
(q.v.), in the Shenandoah Valley to put
the plan which Montgomery (q.v.)
Washington under apparent threat.
adopted during the latter stages of the
O n l y when forced to fight under a disad-
battle of A l a m e i n , his o w n scheme
vantage he himself had created during
having miscarried. Alexander wrote
the Seven Days' battles (25 June—I July)
later, ' H i s was the key decision of the
did he show the talent that might have
Alamein battle', and described h i m as
given h i m victory while it was his for
'one of those rare soldiers who are both
the taking. Pope (q.v.) was accordingly
exceptionally fine staff officers and fine
given charge of the next major campaign
commanding officers in the field'. H e
(Second Bull Run). O n his failure, how-
commanded X Corps in the Salerno land-
ever, M c C l e l l a n resumed command,
ings, September 1943, a n d , o n M o n t -
only again to throw away the chance of gomery's departure to lead the D - D a y

178
M a c d o n a l d , Jacques Etienne Joseph Mackensen, August von

armies i n November 1943, moved into commander-in-chief of the Neapolitan

his place at Eighth A r m y , which he d i - army i n 1797, he captured R o m e i n
rected for the rest of the Italian November 1798, only to be beaten and
campaign. captured by Championnet. H e escaped
from captivity i n 1800, was given com-
M a c d o n a l d , Jacques Etienne Joseph mand of the main body of the Austrian
Alexandre (duc de Tarente; 1765- army i n the 1805 campaign, was encir-
1840) M a r s h a l o f France. T h e son o f a cled by Napoleon at U l m and forced to
family of Scottish Jacobite exiles, M a c - capitulate (14 October). H e was con-
donald was born at Sedan, and had demned to death, a sentence later
served as an officer i n the D u t c h army, commuted to imprisonment, but was
the Légion irlandaise and the régiment not pardoned until 1819.
de Dillon before the Revolution. H e was
quickly promoted during it (general of M a c k a y of Scourie, H u g h (1640-
brigade 1795, of division 1796), i n 1798 92) Scottish soldier. M a c k a y was a
became governor of Rome and i n 1799 major-general i n the service of W i l l i a m
commander of the French A r m y of of Orange and accompanied h i m o n his
Naples. H e then fell into obscurity be- invasion of England in 1688. Appointed
cause of his loyalty to M o r e a u (q.v.), by W i l l i a m commander-in-chief i n Scot-
and did not re-emerge until 1809, when, land, M a c k a y was ambushed i n the Pass
for breaking the Austrian centre at of Killiecrankie by the Jacobite forces
W a g r a m , he was created marshal by under Dundee (q.v.), 1689, but w i t h
Napoleon o n the field of battle - a Dundee's death i n the battle, was able
unique distinction at the emperor's to recapture the initiative and subdue
hand. H e commanded a corps i n Russia, Scotland. H e afterwards took part i n
in the 1813 campaign and i n the defence W i l l i a m ' s last w a r w i t h France and was
of France, negotiated Napoleon's abdi- killed at the battle of Steenkirk (1692).
cation and held discreetly aloof during
the H u n d r e d Days. Mackensen, August von (1849-
1944) German field-marshal. M a c k e n -
M c D o w e l l , Irvin (1818-85) American sen served as a volunteer in the Franco-
(Union) general. Principally notable for Prussian w a r and subsequently as a regu-
being in command of the N o r t h ' s troops lar i n the ist (Death's Head) Hussars,
at First Bull R u n , where he was 'the of which he later became colonel and
first general in American history to com- whose uniform he then always wore. It
mand . . . 30,000 men', M c D o w e l l was was the G e r m a n - A u s t r i a n force under
trusted only with lesser commands there- his command [see Seeckt) which i n G a l i -
after and did consistently badly. H e was cia, o n 2 M a y 1915, achieved the great
relieved of command (III Corps) after breakthrough of the Russian front be-
Second Bull R u n , and, though exoner- tween Gorlice and T a r n o w . In 1916 he
ated by court-martial, not re-employed directed the invasion of R o m a n i a . H e
in the field. was one of the few German soldiers to
be promoted field-marshal during the
M a c k , K a r l Freiherr v o n Leiberich war a n d , i n his dotage, was much pa-
(1752-1828) Austrian general. Chief of raded by Hitler at national festivals.
staff of the Austrian army of the First 'Before 1914 he boasted of Scottish de-
C o a l i t i o n against France, M a c k pro- scent . . . after 1939 his name was said to
posed the 'plan of annihilation', which derive from a German village called
was brought to nought by Jourdan and Mackenhausen.'
Kléber (qq.v.) in 1794. Appointed H i s son Eberhard v o n Mackensen

179
M a c M a h o n , M a r i e Edmé Patrice M a u r i c e M a h a n , Alfred Thayer

(born 1889), also a i s t Hussar, became to political life. In 1924 he became minis-
colonel-general and commanded the ter of war in the cabinet of Poincaré and
Fourteenth A r m y which contained the retained the post under Briand and T a r -
A n z i o landing. dieu until 1931. D u r i n g his ministry he
raised the funds for and directed the
M a c M a h o n , M a r i e Edmé Patrice M a u - construction of the great line of forts i n
rice, comte (duc de Magenta; 1808- his native Lorraine to which his name
93) M a r s h a l of France and President. became attached. Designed to check a
Son of a family of Irish exiles and of a German invasion (to which i n 1940 it
peer of France, M a c M a h o n was edu- offered i n fact considerable resistance),
cated at Saint-Cyr, took part i n the i n - its building was a symptom of that
vasion and conquest of Algeria, and in national unwillingness to wage w a r
1855 as commander of the i s t Division that brought about defeat i n the Battle
captured the M a l a k o v tower ('J'y suis, of France.
j'y reste'), a principal strongpoint in the
defences of Sebastopol. In 1859 it was Magruder, John Bankhead (1810-
he w h o was chiefly responsible for the 71) American (Confederate) general. A
victory over the Austrians at Magenta regular infantry officer (West Point,
(hence his dukedom) and from 1864 to class o f 1830), Magruder resigned to
1870 he was governor-general of Algeria. join the Confederate army i n A p r i l 1861
In 1870 he was appointed to command and at B i g Bethel, 10 June, w o n the
the i s t Corps i n the war with Prussia. first, if very small, battle of the w a r .
H i s advance guard was destroyed at D u r i n g the Peninsula campaign he d i d
Wissembourg o n 4 August and his main well at Mechanicsville and Gain's Bluff,
body at Froeschwiller o n 6 August. Fall- less so during the Seven Days' battles,
ing back o n Châlons, he was given the and was sent to command i n Texas,
A r m y of Châlons to command, and, where his principal achievement was to
after the defeat of Bazaine (q.v.) at M e t z capture Galveston o n 1 January 1863.
moved to engage the enemy at Sedan, After the w a r he went to M e x i c o to
where he and his army were over- serve i n M a x i m i l i a n ' s army. H i s nick-
whelmed o n I September. H e was name was T r i n c e J o h n ' , and he indeed
wounded and taken prisoner. After his looked more of a military figure than he
release he organized the A r m y of Ver- was.
sailles, which retook Paris from the C o m -
mune, though he was not responsible M a h a n , Alfred Thayer (1840-
for the brutality of the repression. H e 1914) American admiral, naval his-
was called to replace Thiers as president torian and theorist. M a h a n ' s influence
of the republic in 1873, but his conserva- upon the use of sea power is well
tism brought h i m into continual conflict k n o w n ; what is not is that he himself
with the radical republicans and he re- had an active naval career behind h i m
signed in 1879. when he turned to writing. After graduat-
ing from Annapolis i n 1859, he served
M a g i n o t , André (1877-1932) French afloat during the C i v i l W a r and com-
minister of war. Elected member of the manded a sloop o n the South American
National Assembly for Bar-le-Duc in Station, 1883-4. He was by then a noted
1910, M a g i n o t held the post of undersec- naval writer and in 1885 was invited to
retary for w a r when hostilities broke lecture at the recently founded N a v a l
out i n 1914. M o b i l i z e d i n his reservist W a r College, where he was to serve
rank of sergeant, he was seriously (twice as president) for most of the rest
wounded i n the trenches and returned of his career. H i s lectures formed the

180
M a h d i , The Manchester, E d w a r d M o n t a g u , E a r l of

basis of his first and best-remembered leader and conqueror of the Sudan. Born
book, The Influence of Sea Power upon in Dongola province, he was for a time
History, 1660-178 3 (1890), which he fol- in the Egyptian civil service, then a
lowed with studies of sea power in the slave-trader, finally an inspired religious
wars of the French Revolution and revivalist and successful rebel. H e de-
Empire (1902) and the w a r of 1812 feated an Egyptian army under H i c k s
(1905), and of naval strategy (1911). H e Pasha o n 5 November 1883 at E l O b e i d
also wrote biographies of N e l s o n , Far- and i n January 1885 took K h a r t o u m ,
ragut (qq.v.) and other naval officers. the capital, after a long siege (see
M a h a n was the Clausewitz (q.v.) of Gordon). After his death, w a r and gov-
naval strategy: he advocated nothing ernment in the Sudan were carried o n
less than 'command of the sea' as the by his subordinate, k n o w n as the K h a -
proper object of naval power, which lifa A b d u l l a h el Taashi, whose army
was to be gained by the 'offensive was eventually defeated at O m d u r m a n
action' of a 'preponderating fleet'. C o m - in 1899 (see Kitchener).
merce raiding, coastal defence and the
'strategy of the fleet in being' (the posses- M a k a r o v , Stepan O s i p o v i c h (1848-
sion of a fleet merely to threaten, rather 1904) Russian admiral. A noted naval
than to exercise power) he rejected as inventor, M a k a r o v was appointed o n
ultimately fruitless and wasteful half- the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese w a r
measures. H i s ideas, to which the impres- to command the Pacific fleet at Port
sive scholarship, style and organization A r t h u r . H e was killed when his flagship
of his books lent great weight, had a Petropavlovsk struck a stray Japanese
strong and immediate influence on naval mine while returning from a sortie o n
policy in America, Germany and Britain, 13 A p r i l . Thereafter the Russian fleet
encouraging the first t w o to proceed stayed i n harbour, eventually to be
with the construction of fleets able to destroyed by land artillery.
challenge the R o y a l Navy's and the
latter to bear the cost of maintaining Manchester, E d w a r d M o n t a g u , E a r l o f
her existing preponderance ('the t w o - (1602-71) British soldier. Born into a
power standard'). M a h a n ' s geopolitical Northamptonshire aristocratic family,
ideas - o n the importance of geo- Manchester was one of the few peers to
graphical position and the relative support Parliament (he was one of the
strengths and weaknesses of land-locked five members w h o m Charles I attempted
and maritime states - also fertilized to arrest in January 1642) and at the out-
the thinking of writers like Haushofer break of the C i v i l W a r he commanded
and M a c k i n d e r o n which Hitler (q.v.) a regiment of foot under Essex. Present
was to draw for much of his with C r o m w e l l and Fairfax (qq.v.) at
Weltanschauung. the battle of Winceby (1643), it was
H i s father, Dennis H a r t M a h a n under his command that the siege of
(1802-71), was not without importance Lincoln was brought successfully to a
as a thinker: while professor (1832-71) close, an attack which he handled ef-
at West Point, he propagated the ideas ficiently but without great enterprise.
of Jomini (q.v.) among those who w o u l d Recognizing his lack of energy, C r o m -
fight the C i v i l W a r . H e was appointed well took over t w o of his brigades at
to West Point by Sylvanus Thayer, the battle of M a r s t o n M o o r (1644), a l -
whose name he gave to his son. though Manchester was notionally the
senior officer present; the bulk of the
Mahdi, T h e (properly Mohammed men under his direct command were
Ahmed; 1843-85) M o s l e m religious swept away i n the general confusion of

181
 M a n g i n , Charles M a r i e Emmanuel Mansfeld, Ernst, G r a f von

the battle. M o v i n g south to counteract tips, he was an ardent imperialist and

the king's manœuvres, his part i n the his book (one of several), La force noire,
second battle of Newbury was inglori- argued that France should create a great
ous. Once again, lack of energy on his army of colonial subjects to offset her
part frustrated attempts at co-ordination inferiority in numbers vis-à-vis her Euro-
on the Parliamentary side, and the R o y a l - pean neighbours.
ist armies escaped under cover of
darkness. Mannerheim, C a r l Gustaf E m i l , Baron
Manchester's failure at N e w b u r y , and von (1867-1951) Finnish field-marshal,
his general lack of success, allowed statesman and national hero. A member
C r o m w e l l to lay charges of neglect of a Finno-Swedish noble family, born a
against h i m before Parliament; he re- subject of the tsar, Mannerheim rose to
signed his commission before the the rank o f major-general i n his army
charges were heard. H e later opposed but, o n the outbreak of the Bolshevik
the trial and execution of K i n g Charles revolution, returned to Finland to com-
in 1649, which stood him i n good stead mand the local White forces against the
in 1660 at the Restoration. H i s last mili- Red, which he defeated after a bloody
tary enterprise was to raise a regiment civil w a r i n A p r i l 1918. Recalled to
of foot during the panic fear of Dutch active service in 1939, he directed first
invasion in 1667. A s a general he lacked the Winter W a r against the Russian in-
any deep grasp of tactics or strategy, vaders, November 1939-March 1940,
and remained essentially an amateur so skilfully that Finland, though de-
where many o f his contemporaries went feated, was granted reasonable terms,
on to become successful professionals. and later the so-called Continuation
H i s relations with his troops were W a r of 1941-4, i n concert with the Ger-
always good, and their loyalty to h i m mans against the Russians. A s president,
constant. 1944-6, he secured terms from Russia
which again left Finland independent.
M a n g i n , Charles M a r i e Emmanuel
(1866-1925) French general. A n officer M a n n o c k , E d w a r d (1887-1918) British
of colonial infantry, M a n g i n first at- fighter ace. Britain's leading fighter ace
tracted attention as commander of of the First W o r l d W a r , M a n n o c k shot
the troops o n the M a r c h a n d (q.v.) ex- down seventy-three enemy aircraft and
pedition to Fashoda (1898) and later for was awarded the Victoria Cross, Distin-
his part in the annexation of M o r o c c o guished Service Order and two bars and
under Lyautey (q.v.). During the French M i l i t a r y Cross and bar. T h e son of a
counter-offensive at Verdun, O c t o b e r - private soldier, he was w o r k i n g as a
November 1916, he planned and directed telegraph engineer in Turkey in 1914
the recapture of forts Douaumont and and did not learn to fly until November
V a u x , the loss of which had gravely 1916. H e seems to have been shot d o w n
disheartened France at the start of the by a bullet from a German infantry-
battle, and for that achievement was man's rifle.
given command of an army i n the i l l -
fated Nivelle (q.v.) offensive. Retired Mansfeld, Ernst, G r a f v o n (1580-
after its failure, he was not re-employed 1626) German soldier of fortune. A
until 1918 when, with the Tenth A r m y , leading mercenary leader at the outset
he brought off the counter-attack in the of the T h i r t y Years' W a r (1618-48),
second battle o f the M a r n e , 18 July, Mansfeld, although a Catholic, served
which put paid to German hopes of exclusively o n the Protestant side. A n
winning the war. A fighter to his finger- illegitimate son of the Prince of M a n s -

182
Mansfeld, Ernst, Graf von Manstein, Erich von Lewinski

feld, he entered the Austrian army and Mansfeld launched a frontal assault on
fought throughout E u r o p e ; but because Wallenstein's carefully located guns and
of his inauspicious birth, and the taunts infantry. H e lost heavily (leaving 4000
it brought, he gradually estranged him- men - a third of his force - dead on the
self from imperial service. A t the out- battlefield) and moved east into Silesia,
break of the Bohemian rising of 1618, and then turned abruptly south, intend-
the opening moves of what was to de- ing to take service w i t h the Venetians.
velop into the T h i r t y Years' W a r , he But he died en route and his army melted
was in the service of the Protestant Evan- away. Scarcely an admirable character,
gelical U n i o n . In October 1618, leading nor a great commander, he lacked the
an army of 20,000 provided by Charles organizational genius of Wallenstein, or
Emmanuel of Savoy and the Elector Pala- the brilliance of T i l l y . Yet he was one of
tine, he attacked the fortress town of the better Protestant commanders, a sad
Pilsen and sacked it w i t h great brutality. commentary on the level of generalship
H e wintered in Pilsen, and in the follow- in the Protestant interest before the erup-
ing spring moved south-east to Budweis, tion of Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.) into
hoping to repeat his success. But his Germany.
army was attacked and routed by an
imperial force led by de Bucquoi at Manstein, E r i c h von L e w i n s k i gen-
Sablat (June 1619). Mansfeld withdrew nant von (1887-1973) German field-
to lusher pastures in Germany, and his marshal. Commissioned into the 3rd
failure to support the Protestant armies Foot Guards (Hindenburg's, q.v., regi-
led to the defeat at the battle of the ment and a nursery of generals) in 1907,
White M o u n t a i n (1620), a disaster for Manstein first achieved prominence by
the Protestant cause. For two years his advocating, while chief of staff of A r m y
armies lived off the rich pickings of the G r o u p A in 1940, a plan to break
Rhineland provinces. through the Franco-British line i n the
In his first encounter w i t h the general west. It came to the ears of H i t l e r and
of the Catholic League, T i l l y (q.v.), at formed the basis of the plan the German
M i n g o l s h e i m (1622), Mansfeld was suc- army executed with such startling suc-
cessful, but he lost to T i l l y at Wiesloch cess in M a y . By his presumption he had,
later in the year. A t the battle of however, incurred the hostility of his
Wimpfen ( M a y 1622), he prudently with- seniors and he was posted to an unimpor-
drew when he saw that the combined tant appointment during the campaign.
forces of Spain and the Catholic League In September 1941, however, he
had beaten the Protestant troops of achieved command of the Eleventh
George Frederick of Baden. A s the cause A r m y w i t h which he captured the
of the Elector Palatine worsened and his Crimea and after the winter went on to
purse emptied, Mansfeld was forced to clear the Kerch peninsula and advance
transfer to D u t c h service, for his army into the Caucasus. Appointed to A r m y
had to be paid. H i s condition was par- G r o u p D o n (later South) i n November
lous, and only an English subsidy staved 1942, he conceived Operation Winter
off mutiny. H e remained a force in Ger- Storm, which might, but for the timidity
many, w i t h a fair record of success, but of Paulus (q.v.), have resulted i n the
his main aim was to preserve his army relief of Stalingrad. In February—March
rather than to achieve any decisive 1943, his counter-offensive at K h a r k o v
result. In 1626 he came up against the briefly recaptured the initiative. It was
new imperial mercenary general, W a l l e n - lost at Kursk, an operation of which he
stein (q.v.). The two armies met at was an advocate but which was delayed
Dessau. Underestimating his opponent, beyond the date when he thought it safe

183
Manteuffel, E d w i n Hans K a r l Freiherr M a o Tse-tung

to launch. H e was relieved in M a r c h shek (q.v.). The fifth of these 'annihil-

1944, his advocacy of 'fluid defence', ation campaigns' so nearly succeeded
which Hitler interpreted to mean retreat, that he decided in 1934 to leave south
having exhausted his credit with the for north C h i n a and set off, with 100,000
Führer. Manstein was regarded by friend men, on the anabasis now k n o w n as the
and foe as the most expert practitioner Long March.
of mobile tactics in the war. A t the end of it, a year later, his army
had shrunk to 20,000, but he had left
Manteuffel, E d w i n Hans K a r l Freiherr Communist cells along his 6000-mile
von (1809-85) Prussian field-marshal. route and found at the end of it a secure
Head of the military cabinet to W i l l i a m sanctuary in the hills of Yenan in Shansi.
I, Manteuffel was a diehard opponent There he made his peace with C h i a n g ,
of the dilution of the Prussian officer both agreeing to turn their arms against
corps with 'bourgeois elements'. H e com- the Japanese w h o , since the ' M a n c h u r i a
manded a corps in the Danish war, led incident' of 1931, had overtaken the war-
the A r m y of the M a i n against Austria's lords as the principal threat to the integ-
south German allies in 1866 and the rity of C h i n a . In practice it was C h i a n g
First A r m y in 1870, with which he took who fought the Japanese; M a o , in his
part in the battle of M e t z . Subsequently fastness far from the centre of oper-
he was engaged against Faidherbe and ations, built up an army of a million and
Bourbaki (qq.v.) in the provinces, and extended his territory until, by 1945, he
commanded the army of occupation ruled 95 million people. The two sides
after the capitulation, 1871-3. then reverted to open war, despite
A descendant, Hasso Eccard von American efforts to mediate between
Manteuffel (1897-1978), commanded them, and in an all-out campaign, begin-
the Fifth Panzer A r m y in the Ardennes ning in mid-1948, M a o ' s armies swept
offensive of December 1944. southward, winning or buying over
many of Chiang's men, until by October
1949 he had expelled the Nationalists
M a o Tse-tung (1893-1976) Chinese
statesman, soldier and military theorist. from the mainland.
Born the son of a prosperous peasant of M a o thereby established himself as
H u n a n , M a o served as a soldier in the one of the great military leaders of his-
army of the first Chinese revolution of tory, a reputation not diminished by the
1911-12, but later returned to his stud- only partially successful intervention of
ies, was converted to M a r x i s m while his 'volunteers' in the Korean war in
w o r k i n g as a librarian at Peking Univer- November 1950. M o r e important, the
sity and in 1921 took part in the found- intellectual foundations of his strategy,
ing congress of the Chinese Communist published in a flood of writing on m i l i -
Party at Shanghai. After the open break tary affairs, inspired and guided C o m m u -
between the nationalist Kuomintang and nist guerrilla leaders in a score of other
the Communists in 1927, he organized, countries, notably Vietnam (see Giap).
with C h u T e h (q.v.) a Red A r m y - one H i s ideas defy brief summary but they
of several - in Kiangsi. Although it was centre on the concept of 'protracted war'
not at the outset the army of politicized - one fought without hope of victory
peasants with w h o m alone (he had come within measurable time - and that of
to believe) a true revolution could be the unity of army and people. It is the
made, he worked to make it one, mean- duty of the army, in M a o ' s view, so to
while fighting off a succession of at- politicize the population among which
tacks, first by local forces, then by the it fights that it not only draws from it
full weight of the army of Chiang K a i - the men, supplies and information that

184
Marceau (-Desgraviers), François Severin Marlborough, John Churchill

it needs for combat, but transforms whose head - for he led it i n person -
the cultural and political structure of he was severely wounded in the assault
society step by step with the military on the M a i n de Massiges, 25 September
successes it wins. Revolution thus comes 1915, the French army's last attempt at
about not after and as a result of victory l'offensive à outrance.
but through the process of war itself.
Hence his best-known slogan, T o w e r M a r i o n , Francis (1732-95) American
flows out of the barrel of a g u n ' , and soldier. K n o w n as the 'Swamp F o x ' ,
the remarkable resilience of the C o m m u - M a r i o n ' s hit-and-run tactics against the
nist guerrilla movements both in C h i n a British during Cornwallis's (q.v.) ad-
and Vie t n a m. Attempts to apply his vance into the South proved effective.
ideas i n South America and Africa have M a r i o n had, like many Southerners,
been less successful [see Guevara), sug- fought in the Cherokee war of 1759, but
gesting that they may be of less universal it was not until the surrender of General
application than apostles of M a o claim. Benjamin L i n c o l n (q.v.) at Charleston
(1780) that he used his small body o f
M a r c e a u (-Desgraviers), François Sev- troops to harry the British, while living
erin (1769-96) French general. A ser- rough in the swamps of South C a r o l i n a .
geant of the régiment d'Angoulême, In August 1781 his marauders rescued
M a r c e a u was a member of the crowd the Americans trapped by the British at
which stormed the Bastille and rose Parker's Ferry. In the same year he was
quickly through the ranks of the N a - created a brigadier-general, and, with
tional G u a r d to command of a division the retreat of the British, resumed more
in the war against the Vendéens, in traditional military duties. H i s attacks
which he defeated Rochejacquelein showed h o w a tiny band of skirmishers,
(q.v.) at Le M a n s . After a short but w h o had the advantage of terrain on
brilliant passage of command in the their side, could unhinge the operations
A r m y of the Sambre-et-Meuse under of a much larger body of traditionally
Jourdan (q.v.), 1795-6, he was fatally deployed troops, even troops w h o had
wounded near Altenkirchen ; Kray (q.v.), been led to expect this type of attack.
his chief opponent, shed tears at his
deathbed. M a r l b o r o u g h , John C h u r c h i l l , i s t D u k e
of (1650—1722) British soldier. W r i t i n g
Marchand, Jean Baptiste (1863- ' O n W a r ' , Clausewitz (q.v.) stressed the
1934) French general and explorer. A daunting risks which a general faced
private soldier of the colonial infantry, when he chanced to fight a battle : 'If an
M a r c h a n d rose through the ranks to army was completely destroyed it was
take part as an officer in the French impossible to make another; and behind
conquest of West Africa and in 1897 the army there was nothing. T h i s called
was given command of an expedition for great prudence. O n l y when some
charged to extend French possessions to decisive advantage was likely to be
the N i l e . News o f his arrival at Fashoda, gained, could the risk be undertaken.
10 July 1898, provoked concern in Brit- It was in the creation of such chances
ain, and his expulsion by Kitchener that the art of the commander lay.'
(q.v.) outrage in France; this 'Fashoda In an age, after Vauban's (q.v.) decisive
incident' strained relations between the improvements to the art o f fortifi-
two countries for some time. M a r c h a n d cation, where the power of the defence
became through it a national idol. had acquired an unshakable domin-
D u r i n g the First W o r l d W a r he com- ance, attacking, offensive generalship
manded the 10th C o l o n i a l D i v i s i o n , at was a scarce commodity. T h e simplest

185
M a r l b o r o u g h , John C h u r c h i l l M a r l b o r o u g h , John C h u r c h i l l

distinction which cut off M a r l b o r o u g h gave a fillip to his career. Soon after
from almost all his contemporaries was James's arrival on the throne, the young
his passion for the decisive action, the M a r l b o r o u g h received the colonelcy of
stunning blow delivered to an enemy's the King's Dragoons ; shortly afterwards
army in the field. A n d because of the he was sent with a commission against
tendency for his enemies to avoid battle his former commander, the D u k e of
if possible, he had to use all his art to M o n m o u t h , who had invaded the west
persuade them that, for once, the chance of England. Although the command of
was there. H o w he had arrived at his the expedition eventually went, to M a r l -
attitudes to war is perhaps hard to estab- borough's fury, to L o r d Feversham, he
lish, for he left no statement of his theo- fulfilled his part, as the official dispatch
ries of war or of his practice. H i s early had it, ' w i t h all the courage and gal-
experience was broad. H i s elder sister lantry imaginable'. The reward was a
Arabella had established herself in colonelcy in the Life Guards. W h e n the
public as the maid of honour to the opposition to James II rose to a
Duchess of Y o r k , and in private as the crescendo in 1687 and 1688, M a r l b o r -
accomplished mistress of James, Duke ough temporized, but when the opposi-
of Y o r k , and later James II ; she organ- tion developed into a full-blown rebel-
ized a position for her brother as page lion, with the landing of a powerful
to the D u k e of Y o r k . Dutch force under W i l l i a m of Orange to
claim the throne, Marlborough's highly
In 1668 M a r l b o r o u g h joined the m i l i -
developed sense of self-interest caused
tary garrison of Tangier, and thus had
h i m to desert James at the crucial
his first experience of war against the
moment. L i k e L o r d Stanley at the battle
M o o r s and Barbary pirates of N o r t h
of Bosworth, he was determined to be
Africa. Returning to court he made a
on the winning side, and no scruples of
more valuable conquest in the form of
honour or debt to James, w h o had fos-
Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland,
tered his career, stood in his way. But
one of the mistresses of Charles II. The
he maintained his contact with the
king, once interrupting them in close
exiled James II, and his ambivalence
combat, overlooked Marlborough's
made W i l l i a m , and, moreover, Queen
poaching of royal game, remarking, ' Y o u
M a r y , distrustful of h i m . H e was created
do it to get your bread.' It so proved, for
Earl of M a r l b o r o u g h (1688), and in the
the duchess rewarded her ardent young
next year given command of the English
lover with £4500, which provided him
in Flanders. Although the campaign was
with a settled income for life.
largely uneventful, M a r l b o r o u g h w o n
H e served aboard ship with the Duke
glowing tributes from his commander,
of Y o r k at the battle of Sole Bay, and in
Waldeck, who said that he had displayed
1673 joined a detachment under the
in a single campaign more military apti-
D u k e of M o n m o u t h (q.v.) which fought
tude than most generals displayed in a
against the Dutch during the T h i r d
lifetime. W h a t he referred to was a
Dutch W a r (1672-4). H e went on to
hard-fought encounter at Walcourt,
fight under Turenne (q.v.), for Louis
where M a r l b o r o u g h delivered a shatter-
X I V , and fought with great courage and
ing blow to the French, charging at the
effect at the battles of Sinzheim and
head of his men. Later in the year he
Entzheim (1674): Turenne himself proph-
took a small force to Ireland and cap-
esied a rosy future for the 'handsome
tured the fortresses of C o r k and Kinsale
Englishman'.
in short order. Still, however, he yearned
Returning to the English service, M a r l -
for a major command and failed to
borough moved slowly upwards, until
achieve one.
the accession of his mentor, as James II,

186
Marlborough, John Churchill Marlborough, John Churchill

In 1692 his career was brought to a tain Parker, wrote with strict accuracy:
juddering halt, when he was sent to the ' U p o n all occasions he concerted matters
T o w e r , a victim of royal irritation and with so much judgement . . . that he
of his devious correspondence and con- never fought a battle he did not gain,
nections with James II. A l t h o u g h re- nor laid siege to a town which he did
leased, and after the death of his most not take.' In real terms, in the nine
implacable enemy Queen M a r y in 1695, years of war there were : four great bat-
allowed to return to court, M a r l b o r o u g h tles w o n , with another four encounters
was barred from military command. But gained, and twenty-six sieges which
in 1698 he and W i l l i a m III were recon- ended in the capture of the objective. O f
ciled in the great objective of securing a his great battles - Blenheim (1704), R a m -
firm set of allies for the war W i l l i a m illies (1706), Oudenarde (1708) and M a l -
believed might come over the vexed ques- plaquet (1709) - Blenheim is the most
tion of the succession to the throne of astonishing. For the first time in forty
Spain, the great issue in international years a French army had suffered a
politics. By the end of 1700, after Louis major defeat at the hands of a polyglot
X I V had torn up all agreements he had allied army, under the command of a
reached over the Spanish question, war general with virtually no experience. T o
was inevitable. M a r l b o r o u g h was to w i n at Blenheim, M a r l b o r o u g h had to
have the command of the English troops march for 250 miles across Germany,
in Flanders and over the army at home. with all the dangers of leaving his base
But the plans were upset by the death of in H o l l a n d unprotected. H e arrived on
W i l l i a m III, after his horse tripped on a the Danube with his troops compara-
mole hill ('the little gentleman in black tively fresh and eager for battle. T h i s
velvet', as the Jacobites toasted the i n - unique achievement was the result of
strument of their enemy's demise). plans and preparations of an unparal-
Anne, the loyal friend of the M a r l b o r - leled complexity. M a r l b o r o u g h had de-
oughs, both the earl and his wife, Sarah, signed special carts for carrying all the
now gave to h i m both the supreme role army's supplies. H e laid out at various
in the army and a decisive voice in policy points advance depots, so that at Heidel-
at home. H e was at last in a position of berg, for example, every man found a
real power. new pair of boots waiting for h i m . O n
For nine years M a r l b o r o u g h was to each day's march the camp was prepared
control the destiny of the nation, to in advance of the main body's arrival so
determine its alliances and foreign that 'the soldiers had nothing to do but
policy, to administer its armies on the pitch their tents, boil their kettles and
battlefield, and to act in a capacity as lie d o w n to rest'. The army rose at 3 am
'supreme commander' unparalleled in and marched to 9 am, making it hard
English history until recent times. It was for an enemy following to judge their
M a r l b o r o u g h ' s unique talent to be capa- progress in the half-light. By contrast
ble of operating, with almost equal suc- with the British army in its progress
cess, at all levels of activity, from mighty across Germany, the French shadowing
considerations of international relations, force under T a l l a r d lost almost a third
d o w n to infinitesimal detail as to the of its strength on the march, as well as
size of a soldier's rations and equipment. many horses. W h e n M a r l b o r o u g h met
In the war of the Spanish Succession the imperial army under Prince Eugen
(1701-14), which has immortalized h i m , on the Danube, his difficulty was in
his first m a x i m was, ' A t t a c k ! ' But his bringing the French and their allies, the
second was, 'Leave nothing to chance.' Bavarians, to battle. W h e n he d i d so,
The results were, as his admirer, Cap- on 13 August 1704, the enemy was

187
Marlborough, John Churchill Marlborough, John Churchill

confident of victory. Marlborough's the French commander Villars (q.v.)

tactic i n the battle was to push hard on had clearly learnt how to counter a
the enemy flank, draw h i m into thinking M a r l b u r i a n battle plan, and the victory,
that the main assault was to come there although it went to M a r l b o r o u g h be-
and to commit his reserves, and then to cause of the quality of his troops,
deliver a smashing blow in the centre. was costly in men's lives. The oppor-
In the victory w h i c h followed, M a r l b o r - tunities for a 'decisive advantage', in
ough and Eugen lost 13,000 and the Clausewitz's phrase, were becoming
French 34,000 killed or wounded, includ- slimmer. In 1711 the great general was
ing M a r s h a l T a l l a r d himself. brought d o w n by the collapse of his
N o n e of Marlborough's later tri- political support at home and the loss of
umphs were on this scale. Although Blen- royal favour. H e never fought another
heim established h i m as one of the great battle.
commanders in history, his problems There are good reasons for consider-
increased rather than diminished. As the ing M a r l b o r o u g h Britain's greatest sol-
years passed, the French became more dier, for there was no talent for war
wary about giving battle, and on many which he d i d not possess. H e had the
occasions withdrew from encounters imagination and the command of detail
which he had planned. Although he to plan a grand strategy ; he was an able
waged a most successful war, France generalissimo of allied armies, always
itself was untouched, and w i t h the ad- ready to flatter a foreign ruler for some
vantage of the interior lines of communi- political advantage. H i s capacity for i n -
cation found it easier to plan concerted novation really lay off the battlefield, in
strategy than the allies. A n d at home, as his immense gifts as an organizer and
political strife became more embittered, administrator (his battle plans were not
M a r l b o r o u g h , who had attempted to as original as those of some other c o m -
stand above party, was drawn increas- manders of equal genius). But his great-
ingly into the political arena. Finally est strength lay in his attention to the
relations with his allies (except the loyal economic underpinning of the war, and
Eugen, w h o shared his view of war) in his concern for morale and the wel-
demanded more and more of his ener- fare of his men. H e ensured that he
gies. T h e D u t c h i n particular proved a always possessed proper resources for
constant restraint on his plans. A l l his the campaign he had in mind ; his friend,
attempts at an embracing strategy, G o d o l p h i n , ensured that the English
which w o u l d batter France from all Treasury always kept him in funds. H e
sides, by land and sea, were frustrated. was thus able to pay his troops regularly
Thus the decisive victory at Ramillies and ensure proper channels of supply.
(23 M a y 1706) led only to the failed T h i s concern for supply was directly
T o u l o n expedition under Eugen and connected with his deep concern for his
stalemate in Flanders. Despite all his men's welfare. ' C o r p o r a l J o h n ' , as the
abilities M a r l b o r o u g h could not prevent soldiers called h i m , never wasted lives
the natural lethargy of eighteenth- unnecessarily, or asked them to perform
century warfare from overtaking his tasks that were not necessary. A s a result
campaigns. A t Oudenarde (11 July 1708) he could call for feats of courage and
he showed that in a battle where the pertinacity greater than those given to
enemy was met unexpectedly his good any other general. In this combination
eye for terrain and his capacity to i m - of military virtues Marlborough's great-
provise could bring, again, a splendid ness nestled, but most of all in his under-
victory. But by his final great field standing that the army was precious and
battle at Malplaquet (11 September 1709) that its value resided in the officers and

188
Marmont, August Frederic Louis Viesse Marshall, George Catlett

men who made it up. O f what other into an exile which lasted until his o w n
general w o u l d his men sing on his death.
supersession ?
M a r o t o , Rafael (1785-1847) Spanish
Grenadiers now change your song
(Carlist) general. Given command of the
A n d talk no more of battles w o n
army of Biscaya by D o n Carlos at the
N o victory shall grace us now
outbreak of the civil war, in 1835
Since we have lost our M a r l b o r o u g h .
M a r o t o defeated Espartero (q.v.) at
Y o u who have fought on Blenheim's field
Avrigoria. Promoted commander-in-
A n d forced the strongest towns to yield
chief in 1838 he recognized that the C a r l -
Break all your arms and turn to plough
ist cause was hopeless and negotiated
Since we have lost our M a r l b o r o u g h .
the treaty of Vergara.
Marmont, August Frederic Louis Viesse
de (duc de Raguse; 1774-1852) M a r - Marshall, George Catlett (1880-
shal of France. Gently born and well 1959) American general. Educated at
educated, M a r m o n t was commissioned the V i r g i n i a n M i l i t a r y Institute, fore-
into the army of the ancien régime and most of America's private military acad-
rose swiftly after accepting the Revolu- emies, M a r s h a l l fought in the First
tion. H e was a clever gunner, was pro- W o r l d W a r , was A D C to Pershing
moted captain at nineteen for services at (q.v.), 1919-24, served in C h i n a , 1924-
the siege of T o u l o n , attracted the atten- 7, and in 1935 was appointed chief of
tion of Bonaparte and at twenty-two staff, a post he held until the end of
found himself chef de brigade (though the Second W o r l d W a r . Although anx-
not general, a rank for which he had to ious to exercise a field c o m m a n d , and
wait until he was twenty-three). Bona- expected to act as Allied supreme com-
parte took h i m to Italy, M a l t a and Egypt mander in the invasion of Europe, he
and back to France for the coup of 18 was ultimately retained in Washington
Brumaire in which his handling of the as principal adviser to Roosevelt, his
artillery put Bonaparte in his debt - a services at the centre of strategic de-
debt whose size M a r m o n t overestimated cision being judged indispensable.
and could not forget. H e therefore con- Marshall's achievements were many:
ceived a grudge when not included he was instrumental in expanding the
among those created marshal in 1804. army before the outbreak of war, in
Nevertheless he was given a corps in the reorganizing it into three components
1805 campaign and created duke for his (army ground forces, army air forces,
achievements as governor of Dalmatia, and army service forces, the latter serv-
1806-8. H e w o n several small battles in icing the first two), in establishing the
the 1809 campaign, was defeated at Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, of
Salamanca in 1812 (a victory reckoned which he was first chairman, but above
Wellington's, q.v., masterpiece) and all in fostering unity of decisions and
wounded, but recovered to command a action between the Allies, particularly
corps in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814. the Americans and British, by w h o m he
In the latter he took his corps over to was deeply liked and respected. After
the enemy outside Paris, thus bringing the war he was ambassador to C h i n a ,
about Napoleon's first exile. Neither 1945-7, secretary of defence, 1950-1,
Bonaparte nor any Bonapartist ever and as secretary of state, 1947-9, spon-
forgave h i m and the w o r d raguser was sored the M a r s h a l l A i d programme,
coined to mean 'to betray'. Perhaps which allowed the ruined economies of
by way of compensation, he stuck to western Europe to ride out the early
Charles X in 1830 and followed h i m years of the C o l d W a r with Russia.

189
M a r w i t z , Georg von der M a u r i c e of Nassau, Prince of Orange

M a r w i t z , Georg von der (1856-1929) again in a major command - curiously,

German general. H a v i n g commanded a for he was among the ablest of the
cavalry corps in the invasion of Belgium marshals.
in 1914, it was M a r w i t z ' s Second A r m y
which held the Cambrai sector against Maunoury, Michel Joseph (1847-
which the British directed the first great 1923) M a r s h a l of France. O n the ap-
tank attack of history on 20 November proach of the German armies towards
1917. H i s counter-attack of 30 N o v e m - Paris in August 1914, following their
ber recovered most of the ground lost. victories in the battle of the Frontiers,
O n 8 August 1918 his army again suf- M a u n o u r y , who had commanded the ad
fered a major tank assault by the French, hoc A r m y of Lorraine, 19-27 August,
on what Ludendorff (q.v.) called 'the was given command of the new Sixth
black day of the German army'. A r m y which Joffre had formed north-
east of Paris from troops brought from
Masséna, André (duc de R i v o l i , prince eastern France. W i t h it, and under the
d'Essling; 1756-1817) M a r s h a l of orders of Galliéni (q.v.), he organized
France. Born at Nice (he was distinctly the counter-stroke into the flank of the
Italian in appearance and manner), M a s - German First A r m y (von K l u c k , q.v.),
séna was orphaned young, went to sea which halted the German advance, recov-
as a cabin-boy, and became a sergeant ered the initiative for the French and led
in the army at nineteen (regiment on to the victory of the M a r n e . D u r i n g
Royal-ltalien). H e retired in 1789, appar- the subsequent battle of the Aisne he
ently to set up as a smuggler at Antibes, was blinded while touring the trenches.
but re-enlisted in 1791. Self-confidence H e was posthumously created marshal
and quick wits ensured his rapid rise. (192.3).
Appointed general of division in the
A r m y of Italy in 1794, he became one of M a u r i c e of Nassau, Prince of Orange
Bonaparte's most trusted subordinates- (1567-1625) Dutch soldier, stadtholder
and, for his part in the battles of Areola, and military innovator. M a u r i c e suc-
R i v o l i and L a Favorita, w o n from h i m ceeded his father W i l l i a m the Silent
the title of 'enfant chéri de la Victoire'. (q.v.) in 1584 with little practical experi-
In 1797 he saved France from a major ence, and the pressing demands of war
disaster by his defeat of Suvorov (q.v.) upon h i m . Together with his cousins,
at Z u r i c h and in 1800 directed a heroic W i l l i a m Louis of Nassau and John of
defence of Genoa, which made possible Nassau, he secured the effective inde-
Napoleon's great victory at Marengo. pendence of the Netherlands from Spain,
H e was created marshal in 1804 ('one of but also created a uniquely efficient
eighteen' was his only comment) and, army. Until 1589 the remorseless pres-
for his successful command of the G r a n d sure from Parma (q.v.) had been forcing
A r m y ' s right in 1807, D u k e of R i v o l i ; the Dutch from their strongholds in the
he was made prince for his tenacity at south, and back into the northern prov-
Essling and his successful command of inces of H o l l a n d and Zealand. But in
the left at W a g r a m in 1809. Translated 1589 Parma was directed by Philip II
to the Peninsula, he lost his touch. (q.v.) to move south into France against
Repulsed by Wellington at Busaco, the armies of Henry IV (q.v.), and the
27 September 1810, he followed him to- Dutch had time to reorganize their resist-
wards Lisbon only to discover that the ance. The mainspring of the M a u r i t i a n
newly built lines of Torres Vedras barred reforms was an intellectual approach
his route. Starvation drove his army to the art of war. Intense interest had
away and N a p o l e o n did not employ him already been shown in the military

190
M a u r i c e of Nassau, Prince of Orange M a u r i c e of Nassau, Prince of Orange

practice of the Romans, and it was a playing chess. T h e attraction of siege

Dutchman, Justus Lipsius, who pro- warfare was that it could be processed
duced the definitive treatise on the topic according to a simple logical pattern,
in 1595 : M a u r i c e learnt much from h i m . and in his techniques, particularly in his
But whereas earlier attempts to employ use of mass artillery for concentrated
' R o m a n ' methods had been largely i m - fire during bombardments, he antici-
practical, antiquarian exercises, M a u r i c e pated the reforms of V a u b a n (q.v.). Be-
attacked the problem of tactical reform cause of his passionate intellectual inter-
with a unique thoroughness. H e reorgan- est in the art of war, M a u r i c e advanced
ized the system of pay so as to ensure the technological services - engineers,
that troops were paid with complete artillery - by sending his better officers
regularity, and he concentrated with pas- to study at university, especially at
sionate energy on the training of infan- Leiden, where he had himself been a
try. Unlike the Spanish tercios, M a u - student. It was John of Nassau w h o
rice's pikemen stood only five deep, in established a highly successful military
an oblong formation, flanked by solid academy at Siegen, and princes from all
platoons of musketeers. Each unit could over Protestant Europe were sent to
manœuvre independently, or as a mass. study the art of war under M a u r i c e and
W h i l e the tercio was limited in the evolu- his cousins - including the young
tions it could perform, M a u r i c e ham- Turenne (q.v.). A l t h o u g h M a u r i c e i m -
mered into the D u t c h army the entire proved the quality of the D u t c h cavalry,
gamut of manœuvre, drawn from the mostly by vigorous training, he was not
Romans, in particular from A e l i a n . a cavalry leader and their quality was
Whereas the tercio, and similar units definitely inferior to the new infantry.
which depended on their mass and The effect of these developments
weight to achieve their results, once com- could be seen in the campaign of 1591-
mitted, were hard to withdraw, the 2, where although the reforms had not
D u t c h system allowed a commander been completed, the D u t c h army now
great latitude in the handling of his showed itself superior to the Spaniards,
forces during an encounter. The effect and the capture of Zutphen in seven
of the M a u r i t i a n reforms was to allow days, and the fall of Deventer in eleven,
more men to be used effectively in a showed the effectiveness of his new siege
battle, for the men in the centre of a tactics. Wisely, he never allowed Parma
tercio never came even within a pike's to bring h i m to battle, and after Parma's
thrust of the enemy, passing a battle by death he was faced, until the advent of
simply leaning on the man in front. In Spinola (q.v.) in 1603, by inferior Span-
the smaller D u t c h formation every man ish commanders. T h e battle of T o u r n -
came into direct contact with the enemy, hout (1597) showed the professionalism
and each man knew exactly the part he of Maurice's army, as his cavalry and
had to play in a manœuvre. T o this infantry acted in unison to demolish a
highly successful infantry, M a u r i c e slightly smaller Spanish force under
added a vastly superior artillery, scrap- Varas, with Spanish losses of 2500 for
ping many of the old arms and standard- only 100 D u t c h . But M a u r i c e avoided
izing by calibre on a new set of weapons. battle, and his field reputation rests on
It was in the realm of artillery and siege his triumphs at T o u r n h o u t and at N i e u w -
warfare that his imagination had full poort (1600). There he beat the Spanish
play. In his passion for system and in a close battle, where once again it
order, he developed a style of war which was the co-operation between arms, with
eschewed pitched battles: it was said the artillery playing a crucial role, which
that he waged war as though he was w o n the day. But it was a pointless

191
M a u r i c e of Nassau, Prince of Orange M e a d e , George G o r d o n

victory, for M a u r i c e made no strategic pointer to the professional forces of the

gain. In his battles, or more properly, future.
encounters, with Spinola, M a u r i c e was
much less successful, and most of the M a x i m i l i a n I (1459-1519) H o l y R o m a n
gains made after Parma's death were emperor. It was one of M a x i m i l i a n ' s
lost. M a u r i c e took a different view of many opponents, Matthias Corvinus,
the likely outcome of the war from the w h o is reputed to have coined the phrase
States-General which insisted o n con- that what other states gained by w a r
cluding a twelve-year truce in 1609; the Austria gained by marriage. M a x i m i l i a n
period of peace was spent i n conflict did indeed follow a pattern of marriages
with the 'peace party', although the as a form of foreign policy, but they
issue became centred on a religious con- brought war and not peace. F r o m
troversy. M a u r i c e was eventually suc- his first marriage, to the daughter of
cessful, and the leader of his enemies, Charles the B o l d , Duke of Burgundy,
Johan van Oldenbarnveldt, was ex- he was forced to fight to sustain his
ecuted in 1619. M a u r i c e refused to allow claims. T h e Burgundian match sowed
a renewal of the truce i n 1621, and the seeds of permanent hostility with
engineered the D u t c h entry into the France, an effect redoubled when an-
early stages of the T h i r t y Years' W a r other marriage gave M a x i m i l i a n a claim
(1618-48). But Spinola had expected the to Brittany, and still another, a close
resumption of hostilities, and kept his personal involvement in the affairs of
army of mercenaries in being throughout M i l a n . O n the eastern front M a x i m i l i a n
the truce. Maurice had no more success tried a similar process of consolidation,
against h i m than he had had twenty uniting his enemies to h i m by ties of
years before and he died with Breda marriage. H e was elected emperor i n
under siege by Spinola's army. 1493, and became involved in battles to
But if he achieved no smashing suc- maintain his possessions in the Nether-
cesses in battle, his work as an organizer lands (1494), in an unsuccessful struggle
and reformer provided the United Prov- with the Swiss (1499), and an intermit-
inces with a professional army of high tent conflict with the French in Italy
capacity, and under his brother, Freder- until his death. M a x i m i l i a n was not an
ick Henry of Nassau, w h o was inspired military leader, although a field
stadtholder throughout the battles of the commander of great courage. H e created
Thirty Years' W a r , independence from a force of German infantry modelled on
Spain was finally ensured: the eighty- Swiss lines, Landes knechte, which were
years' war for Dutch liberty ended at never quite as good as their prototype.
the treaty of Munster (1648). But M a u - H e bequeathed to his son, Charles V , a
rice's contribution extends far beyond set of unresolved problems, including
the confines of the Netherlands, for his the nascent Protestantism, and few
reforms revolutionized the whole face of means, either financial or military, to
war. In the Swedish army of Gustavus apply to them.
Adolphus (q.v.), the M a u r i t i a n reforms
found their best exemplar, but all over M e a d e , George Gordon (1815-72)
Protestant Europe armies were remod- American (Union) general. Born in Spain
elled along the D u t c h lines. H i s most of American parents, it was this dis-
farsighted innovations, however, were qualification by foreign birth for presi-
not i n tactics or equipment, but i n the dential candidature which led L i n c o l n
fields of logistics, training and econom- to choose Meade as commander of the
ics. In the well-paid, well-drilled and A r m y of the Potomac in place of H o o k e r
well-disciplined Dutch army lay the (q.v.) after Chancellorsville. H e certainly

192
Mehemet Ali Melo, Francisco Manuel de

had no outstanding talents. But he was acceded to the O t t o m a n throne itself.

by no means an incompetent and held H e died insane.
doggedly to his position at Gettysburg,
a battle he had to fight only two days M e l a s , M i c h a e l Friedrich Benedikt
after assuming command, 28 June 1863. Freiherr von (1729-1806) Austrian gen-
F r o m M a r c h 1864 he ceased to exercise eral. A veteran of the Seven Years'
independent command, without relin- W a r , Melas was in command of the
quishing his appointment, since Grant army in Italy in 1799. W i t h Suvorov
(q.v.), though then general-in-chief, sta- (q.v.) he shared in the victories of Cas-
tioned himself at the A r m y of the sano, the Trebbia and N o v i against
Potomac's headquarters and directed its M o r e a u , M a c d o n a l d (qq.v.) and Jou-
operations. In the early stages of the bert, and was singly responsible for
war he had commanded a brigade (Penin- the victory of G r e n o l o , 4 November,
sula campaign), division (Antietam and against Championnet. A t M a r e n g o , 14
Fredericksburg) and corps (Chancellors- June 1800, he believed at the end of
ville). H e became customarily so bad- the morning that he had beaten N a p o -
tempered under the strain of command leon, but was counter-attacked while
in battle that his subordinates feared 'to leaving the field in the afternoon, lost
approach h i m even with information'. over half his army and subsequently
capitulated.
Mehemet (commonly Mohammed) Ali
( 1769-1849) O t t o m a n soldier and vice- M e l o , Francisco M a n u e l de (1608-
roy of Egypt. Mehemet was sent to 66) Portuguese scholar, writer and sol-
Egypt originally in 1798, with a contin- dier in the service of Spain. C o m m a n d -
gent of troops from his native A l b a n i a , ing in Flanders in 1639, and later in the
to fight Bonaparte. In the troubles fol- same year defending C o r u n n a against a
lowing the expulsion of the French he French fleet and driving them off with
was named viceroy (1804) and in great losses, M e l o did not achieve sub-
used his Albanians to overthrow and stantial success as a soldier. But he re-
massacre the Mamelukes who had made turned to the northern front and in 1643
themselves dominant in the country. H e invaded France at the head of 27,000
also w o n the gratitude of the O t t o m a n men. Besieging the t o w n of R o c r o i , he
sultan by sending soldiers to M e c c a to was met by the twenty-two-year-old
expel Wahabite fanatics from the city, Condé (then duc d'Enghien, q.v.) with
and his army and fleet to assist in the a force of 23,000. The French cavalry
suppression of the Greek independence charges failing to shake the main Span-
movement (the latter formed part of the ish force of infantry, Enghien deter-
T u r k i s h fleet destroyed at the battle of mined on the demolition of the solid but
N a v a r i n o in 1828 - see Codrington). H e unwieldy Spanish tercios by artillery
then, through his adopted son Ibrahim, fire. The Spaniards asked for quarter,
embarked on the conquest of Syria, over but mistaking Enghien's intentions when
the government of w h i c h he had fallen he advanced to accept their surrender,
into dispute with his O t t o m a n overlord, fired on h i m . The French, infuriated by
and in w h i c h he was confirmed by the this treachery, poured fire into the ter-
treaty of Koutaieh, 1833. Determined to cios and moved forward to finish the
establish himself as sovereign ruler of task at close quarters: 8000 Spaniards
Egypt, he renewed war with Turkey and were killed and 7000 captured, M e l o
in 1839 w o n so total a victory at N e z i b among them. T h e disaster to Spanish
(see M o l t k e ) that he might, but for the arms was scarcely his fault, since the
opposition of the great powers, have difficulty lay with the slow-moving,

193
Mershekov, Prince Alexander Sergeivich Mercy, Franz, Freiherr von

clumsy tercios. M e l o returned to Portu- alry from the field and harried the
gal, having entered the service of the routed T u r k i s h infantry.
new king of Portugal, John I V , founder Thereafter, M e r c y was invaluable i n
of the house of Braganza, and for ob- the mobile war which followed, with
scure reasons was imprisoned. It was the Austrian army pushing deeper into
during this period that his literary territory long held by the T u r k s : Bel-
output was at its peak. grade surrendered and Eugen's troops
occupied Serbia, Wallachia and the
Menshekov, Prince Alexander Sergeivich Banat of Temesvar. These gains were
(1787-1869) Russian general. By his consolidated by the treaty of Passaro-
lack of diplomacy while special ambassa- witz (1718), and M e r c y was given com-
dor to Turkey i n 1853, Menshekov mand over the new military frontier. H e
helped to bring on the Crimean W a r , created, with Eugen's active support, a
during which he commanded, and was network of strategic settlements to pro-
beaten, at the A l m a and Inkerman (see vide defence i n depth against any further
Raglan). T u r k i s h advance. Apart from a short
campaign i n Sicily (1719-20), the con-
M e r c y , Claudius F l o r i m u n d , G r a f von struction of the military frontier became
(1666-1734) Imperial soldier. A pro- Mercy's life work, and the means by
tégé of Eugen (q.v.), M e r c y entered the which the security of Austria from the
Austrian cavalry in 1682 and fought in east was secured. M e r c y was killed when
the campaign following the retreat of he was recalled to repel the French and
the T u r k s from Vienna (1683), and i n Italian invasion of Lombardy and the
that in support of the D u k e o f Savoy kingdom of Naples during the war o f
during the war of the G r a n d Alliance the Polish Succession (1733-8): his last
(1688-97). He quickly caught Eugen's battle, Parma (1734), was also his last
eye as an enterprising officer, and he led victory. Unlike so many able field com-
his horsemen into Cremona i n the sur- manders of cavalry, M e r c y had enor-
prise dash that captured the commander mous administrative and organizational
of the French army, Villeroi (1702). H e gifts. Under his aegis a new society devel-
accompanied Eugen in his campaigns in oped on the borders of the Austrian
the L o w Countries; he also served i n empire, a region which was to provide
the Rhineland and Bavarian campaigns her best regiments, and many of her
with considerable distinction. But he best officers, i n future wars.
made his name fighting, not against the
French and their allies, but against the M e r c y , Franz, Freiherr v o n (1590-
T u r k s . H e had fought in the campaign 1645) Imperial soldier. A dogged and re-
waged with some bitterness against the doubtable imperial general in the T h i r t y
Hungarians under Ferenc II Rakoczy. Years' W a r (1618-48), M e r c y entered the
After his defeat Rakoczy went to C o n - Austrian army i n 1606. H e was wounded
stantinople to enlist Ottoman aid and at Breitenfeld (1631), and thereafter faced
the rebellion merged into a wider war Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (q.v.) i n the
with the T u r k s . In 1716 the T u r k s ad- campaigns on the French frontier. In
vanced against the Habsburgs with an 1638 he left the imperial army to join
army over 100,000 strong. Eugen met M a x i m i l i a n I of Bavaria (1638) ; it was
them at the fortress of Peterwardein, Mercy's planning which frustrated the
with his cavalry under the command of French advance into Bavaria in 1643;
M e r c y . In the ensuing battle it was the in 1644 the battle of Tuttlingen con-
headlong charge of M e r c y ' s hussars and solidated his success. In the same year
cuirassiers which drove the T u r k i s h cav- he faced the duc d'Enghien (Condé) and

194
Methuen, Paul Sandford Miranda, Francisco

Turenne (qq.v.) ; i n the first battle of the regular army by the Germans i n
Freiburg the hard-fought encounter was A p r i l 1941, M i h a i l o v i c took to the hills
effectively a draw, for the Bavarians and organized a guerrilla force w h i c h
under M e r c y were able to construct a came to be called Chetniks. Royalist,
new position and were ready to fight O r t h o d o x and Serb nationalist in charac-
the exhausted French troops again. A t ter, the Chetniks soon fell out with the
the second battle t w o days later, 5 Communist partisans and eventually
August 1644, M e r c y repulsed the French into conflict with them. T h e British,
assault with heavy casualties o n both who made contact with M i h a i l o v i c in
sides. A t the third battle, avoiding a September 1941 and with T i t o (q.v.) i n
pincer movement devised by Enghien June 1943, discovered from the latter
and Turenne, he abandoned the field to that M i h a i l o v i c had made tacit peace
them, but left with his army intact. In with the Germans the better to wage
the following year he administered a internecine w a r , o n which they with-
sharp defeat to Turenne at the battle of drew their support from h i m . H e was
Mergentheim, surprising the French eventually rejected by his o w n
army : only Turenne's great skill averted government-in-exile, captured by T i t o
a catastrophe for France. But later i n and executed i n 1946. H e was a genu-
the same year (1645) the combined inely tragic figure, whose life is best
armies of Turenne and Enghien caught summed up by the words he used at his
M e r c y at A l l e r h e i m , and he was killed trial, 'I wanted much, I began m u c h ,
leading his men i n battle. A skilful, cou- but the gale of the w o r l d blew away me
rageous commander, Turenne's tribute and my w o r k . '
is his best epitaph. O n the spot where
he fell, Turenne had a stone erected Miles, Nelson Appleton (1839-
with the inscription, 'Sta viator, heroem 1925) American general. Regarded
calcas (Wait, traveller, for you trample with C r o o k (q.v.), as the greatest of the
on a hero).' U S A r m y ' s Indian fighters, M i l e s i n 1877
overcame both Crazy Horse and Sitting
Methuen, Paul Sandford, 3rd Baron Bull (qq.v.). H e had enlisted originally
Methuen (1845-1932) British field- as a C i v i l W a r volunteer and ultimately
marshal. A Scots Guardsman and a rose to be general-in-chief (the last
protege of Wolséléy (q.v.), Methuen had before the post was abolished i n 1902).
a successful career in the minor V i c -
torian colonial campaigns, but when sent Mina, Francisco Espozy (1784-
to South Africa in November 1899 to com- 1836) Spanish general. M a d e famous
mand the i s t Division he embarked o n by his leadership of guerrilla bands
a passage of disaster so unrelenting that during the Napoleonic occupation,
hindsight makes it comic. Checked at 1808-13, M i n a opposed K i n g Ferdinand
the M o d d e r river, 28 November, he was on his restoration and had to flee into
humiliatingly outgeneralled at Magers- exile. After his return he rejoined the
fontein, 11 December, when many of army to oppose the French intervention
his soldiers ran away. Finally, having of 1823, and defended Barcelona against
spent over a year chasing the elusive de M o n c e y (q.v.). After another period of
Wet (q.v.), Methuen was captured by de exile he returned to fight against the
la Rey (q.v.) i n the last month of an Carlists and was fatally wounded i n
almost extinct war. 1836.

Mihailovic, Draza (1893-1946) Yugo- Miranda, Francisco (1750-1816) South

slav guerrilla leader. After the defeat of American revolutionary; 'el precursor'

195
Mitchell, William Model, Walther

('the forerunner'). M i r a n d a ' s nickname bureaucratic war with their staffs, a cam-
sums up his achievement: to have been paign which culminated i n his accusing
the prophet and instigator of the inde- the navy and war departments of 'incom-
pendence of Spain's American colonies, petence, criminal negligence and almost
which Bolivar (q.v.) consummated. A treasonable administration of the na-
Venezuelan, he emigrated in 1771 to join tional defence'. F o r that he was court-
the Spanish army, but was cashiered, martialled and sentenced to suspension
fled to the United States and became of his rank for five years. H e resigned i n
inflamed with the ideals of the N o r t h 1926 and devoted the rest of his life to
American revolutionaries. H e went to propaganda i n the cause of independent
France i n 1792 to fight for the Revolu- air power. T h o u g h not a truly original
tion there, received a command in the thinker like Douhet (q.v.) nor a success-
A r m y of the N o r t h , captured Antwerp ful bureaucratic in-fighter like Trench-
but was dismissed for his failures at ard (q.v.), he is rightly regarded by the
Maastricht and Neerwinden. L u c k y to modern U S A i r Force as its John the
escape with his life from the Terror, he Baptist.
attempted to w i n English support for an
invasion of Spanish America, twice led Mitscher, Marc Andrew (1887-
(unsuccessful) invasions of his o w n and 1947) American admiral. Mitscher's
in 1810 was brought by Bolivar from record of success in command of aircraft
L o n d o n to Caracas, where he was made carriers is without parallel: it was from
a general. In 1811, o n Venezuela pro- his Hornet that Doolittle (q.v.) took off
claiming its independence, he became to bomb T o k y o o n 18 A p r i l 1942, and
dictator, but, rather than see the country later the air groups which shared i n the
suffer a Spanish reconquest, then made great strategic triumph of M i d w a y . In
terms. Bolivar delivered h i m to Spain 1944 he commanded Task Force 58, prin-
and he died i n prison in Cadiz. A man cipal air striking force of the U S Navy
of words and postures rather than of in the Pacific, which i n the battles o f
real achievements, he bears comparison T r u k , the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf,
none the less with G a r i b a l d i (q.v.) as a Iwo Jima and O k i n a w a destroyed 795
revolutionary type. Japanese ships and 4425 planes.

Mitchell, William ('Billy'; 1879- M o d e l , Walther (1891-1945) German

1936) American airman. Originally a field-marshal. Becoming k n o w n during
signal corps officer, he transferred in the second half of the Second W o r l d
1917 to the air service and by the end of W a r as the 'Führer's fireman' for his
the First W o r l d W a r was in charge of its success in stemming enemy irruptions
operations on the western front. H e then and stabilizing the front anew, M o d e l ' s
toured Europe visiting foreign air forces greatest success was in sealing off the
and o n his return home in 1921 was Russian breakthrough after the action
promoted, as brigadier-general, assistant k n o w n as the Destruction of A r m y
chief of the air service. A tireless protago- G r o u p Centre (22 June—1 July, 1944).
nist of the strategic and tactical impor- H e was then brought west to replace
tance o f air power, he encouraged his Kluge (q.v.) in an attempt to check,
airmen to venture o n intercontinental with A r m y G r o u p B, the Anglo-
flights and fostered experiments to prove American advance from N o r m a n d y , i n
the ability of aircraft to sink armoured which he again had considerable success.
ships. H e also ceaselessly advocated the He was responsible army group
creation of a separate air force, independ- commander during the A r n h e m and
ent of the army and navy, while waging Ardennes battles, but after the Allies'

196
Mola, Emilio Moltke, Helmuth Karl Bernhard von

crossing o f the Rhine was encircled in quences of thorough-going military i n -

the R u h r pocket. H o l d i n g that 'a field- competence, have encouraged his devo-
marshal does not become a prisoner' tion to the pursuit of that excellence i n
(an oblique and contemptuous reference staff duties through which he was to
to Paulus, q.v.), he shot himself o n 21 make the Prussian army a military
April. wonder of the w o r l d . H e had, however,
already shown by his performance at
Mola, Emilio (1887-1937) Spanish gen- the Kriegsakademie (1823-6) that he was
eral. O n the outbreak of the C i v i l W a r a born staff officer. W h a t subsequent
in 1936 M o l a concentrated the garrisons events were to reveal was that he was
of Burgos, Saragossa and Huesca, hostile also a commander of genius.
to the government, and led them i n four After t w o decades spent o n staff duty,
columns against M a d r i d , while warning during which he had written much, par-
in blood-curdling daily radio broadcasts ticularly o n railways, of whose military
that he had a 'fifth c o l u m n ' i n the city. importance he had an early appreci-
It is from these broadcasts that the term ation, married an English lady, been ap-
'fifth columnist' derives. H e was killed pointed i n 1857 chief of the Great G e n -
in an aeroplane crash before the fall of eral Staff (not at the time a post of
the city. influence) and acted during the Danish
war of 1864 as chief of staff of the
Moltke, Helmuth Karl Bernhard (Graf) Austro-Prussian forces, he took the field
von (1800-91) Prussian field-marshal, in 1866 against Austria as effective
architect of victory i n 1866 and 1870, commander-in-chief. It was the sureness
father of modern staff systems. T h o u g h of his touch against the Danes which
German by birth, M o l t k e served first in had prompted W i l h e l m I (long his
the army of Denmark, where his family patron) to entrust the armies to h i m
had settled, but, seeking wider horizons, and, though he meddled i n details, he
transferred i n 1821 to Prussian service. generally left M o l t k e a free hand. H i s
H a v i n g thereby lost seniority, being trust was repaid w i t h i n six weeks by the
already poor but possessing a literary decisive victory of Königgrätz (Sadowa),
gift, he combined soldiering with writing which left Prussia the master of Ger-
during his first years of duty. In 1834 he many. Four years later, by methods very
got leave to visit the T u r k i s h empire, similar to those by which he had
publishing in 1839 what is now regarded brought about Sadowa - rapid mobiliz-
as a German classic, an account of his ation of reserves, surprise concentration
travels i n A l b a n i a , A n a t o l i a , M e s o - of overwhelming strength by the choice
potamia and Syria, during which he of convergent lines of march, and the
took service i n Sultan M a h m u d ' s army brilliant use o f railways for movement
in the war against Mehemet Ali (q.v.) and supply - M o l t k e completely out-
and commanded the artillery i n its generalled the French field army i n the
disgraceful defeat at N e z i b (24 June Sedan campaign and then fought a bitter
1839) (the artillery was the last portion irregular w a r i n the provinces while
of the T u r k i s h army to r u n away). holding Paris under siege. F o r his
Such picaresque experiences, though achievements he was created count and
familiar to thousands of British and promoted field-marshal. T h e complete-
French officers of the period, set ness of his victory ensured that, though
M o l t k e apart from his Prussian contem- he remained chief of staff until 1888, his
poraries, whose lives are i n the main services as a commander were not again
stories of monumental dullness. It may required during his lifetime.
also, by exposing h i m to the conse- In the hope of perpetuating his

197
Moncey, BonAdrien Jeannot de Monck, George, Duke of Albemarle

mastery, Kaiser W i l h e l m II, grandson of M o n c k , George, D u k e of Albemarle

his patron, appointed M o l t k e ' s nephew, (1608-70) English soldier and sailor.
H e l m u t h Johann L u d w i g von M o l t k e Perhaps the most successful 'political'
(1848—1916), to be chief of the Great general in the English C i v i l W a r and its
General Staff in 1906, in succession to aftermath, M o n c k stood apart, both geo-
Schlieffen (q.v.). H i s hope was quite mis- graphically and intellectually, from the
placed. 'The lesser thinker' (as the intellectual ferment of the age. H e had
nephew self-deprecatingly referred to served with the D u t c h and fought
himself) collapsed under the strain of against Spain from 1629 to 1638, and
defeat after the M a r n e and was replaced his main activity during the C i v i l W a r
by Falkenhayn (q.v.). H e had admittedly was concerned with the periphery of
inherited an unworkable plan (see the conflict - Scotland and Ireland. A t the
Schlieffen), but, ignoring his uncle's start of the war he was fighting for the
most famous aphorism ('No plan sur- king, but, taken prisoner at N a n t w i c h ,
vives the first five minutes' encounter he was persuaded to join the Parliamen-
with the enemy'), had persisted in trying tary army after a stay of two years in
to realize it after it had palpably broken the T o w e r of L o n d o n . As a general he
d o w n . A great-great-nephew, H e l m u t h could not compare w i t h the best of the
(1907-44), was a principal conspirator Parliamentary commanders, as his
against Hitler and executed for his com- campaign m Ireland (1646-9) served to
plicity in the July plot. indicate, but he had a genius for naval
warfare. In 1652 he was appointed one
M o n c e y , B o n A d r i e n Jeannot de (duc de of the commanders of the English fleet
Conegliano; 1754-1842) M a r s h a l of in the First Dutch W a r (1652-4). W i t h
France. A junior officer of the royal Blake (q.v.) he had considerable success,
army, M o n c e y rose quickly under the especially in the battle of the G a b b a r d
Revolution and commanded the A r m y Bank (1653); he had a strong influence
of the Pyrenees, which occupied Navarre in the formulation of the fighting instruc-
and forced the Spaniards to sign peace tions, which established the line-ahead
in 1795. Denounced as a royalist, he did formation for warships in battle, increas-
not regain an appointment until 1800, ing their effective fire-power by bringing
when he fought in the Marengo cam- more of their guns to bear, a process
paign and commanded the A r m y of Italy analogous to the growth of linear for-
in succession to Brune (q.v.). Napoleon mations in land warfare.
made h i m inspector-general of gendarm- In 1654 M o n c k returned to Scotland,
erie and created h i m marshal in 1804. H e which he had ruled most effectively since
had a successful passage in the invasion the battle of Dunbar (1650). H e was
of Spain in 1808, for which he received successful in winning the allegiance of
his dukedom. In 1814, as commander of many of the more prosperous and econ-
the N a t i o n a l G u a r d of Paris, he bravely omically active Scots for the English
defended the city against the Allies. connection, so uprisings against English
T h o u g h his refusal to sit in judgement rule by dissidents were easily crushed by
on Ney (q.v.) temporarily lost him the h i m . In Scotland he was outside the
favour of the restored Bourbons after squabbles which followed the death of
the H u n d r e d Days, he eventually re- C r o m w e l l (1658), although with a power-
gained all his honours; during the French ful army his w o u l d inevitably be a deci-
intervention in Spain in 1823 he con- sive voice. But on N e w Year's Day,
quered Catalonia (see M i n a ) .
1660, he marched south, brushing L a m -
bert's opposing forces aside. In L o n d o n
he summoned Parliament and began

198
Monmouth, James Scott, Duke of Montalambert, Marc René, marquis de

secret negotiations with Charles II for (1672-4) ; i n 1678 he was made captain-
his restoration to the throne. A grateful general of the army in England and beat
king created h i m D u k e o f Albemarle, the rebellious Scottish Covenanters at
and he occupied a l l the leading military Bothwell Bridge (1679). But after this
offices i n the state. W i t h the outbreak success he became involved i n the vari-
of the Second D u t c h W a r (1665-7), ous political manœuvres designed to ex-
M o n c k was i n command of the English clude his uncle James from the throne
fleet, which achieved notable success on the grounds that he was a Catholic,
against a strong D u t c h fleet brilliantly thus making himself the prime candi-
led by de Ruyter (q.v.). T h e Four Days' date. After the death of Charles II, M o n -
battle and the battle of the N o r t h Fore- mouth landed i n open revolt against
land (1666) were tributes to his skilful James II ; but he was only able to gather
leadership; he had no responsibility for an army of villagers and a few local
the disaster when the English fleet was gentry, i n total some 8000 infantry and
destroyed at anchor in the M e d w a y , a 1000 horsemen; they faced a royal army
possibility he had foreseen and coun- of some 3000 under the E a r l of Fever-
selled against. sham and M a r l b o r o u g h . T h e result was
By the time of his death M o n c k had thus a rout of M o n m o u t h ' s force at Sedge-
served Charles I, Parliament and Charles moor (1685); it was then scattered and
II ; but he was not a plotter or conniver. subjected to savage reprisals by both the
H i s government of Scotland showed a army and the civil authorities. T h e unfor-
brilliant understanding of the political tunate M o n m o u t h was found i n a ditch,
needs of the situation. H e flattered the taken to L o n d o n and executed, although
Scots and took great pains to conceal the it took five strokes of the executioner's
naked use of English power. H e encour- axe to sever his head. It was a w i l d ,
aged trade and commercial development, foolish adventure, a perfect reflection of
and gently showed the ben-efit of the its instigator.
English connection. In Ireland he was less
successful, and he left mass-acres and Montalambert, M a r c René, marquis de
burnt towns i n the wake of his army. In (1714-1800) French military engineer.
essence M o n c k was the reverse of the Although Montalambert had consider-
fanatic, and his pursuit of a sen-sible able practical experience of war, in the
middle course at last achieved the political service of Sweden and Russia as well as
stability both i n England and Scotland, of France, his greatest military achieve-
which represented the popular w i l l . ment was intellectual : to have proposed
a system of fortification different from
M o n m o u t h , James Scott, D u k e of and, given the changed circumstances of
(1649-85) R o y a l bastard, and pre- warfare, superior to that of the prince
tender to the English throne. The illegiti- of military engineers, Vauban (q.v.). It
mate son of Charles II, M o n m o u t h was was k n o w n as the polygonal system and
viewed as a possible successor to the consisted in protecting the main body
English throne, given the overt C a t h o l - of a fortress by smaller detached forts
icism of his uncle James, Duke of Y o r k , (caponnières). T h o u g h rejected by the
later James II. Charles acknowledged engineers of his o w n army, it was
his bastard, found h i m an heiress and widely adopted abroad, notably by the
gave h i m the title D u k e of M o n m o u t h . Prussians, and inspired the thinking
In 1668 M o n m o u t h was made captain of the great nineteenth-century engineers
of the king's bodyguard, and he com- Todleben and Brialmont (qq.v.). H e also
manded the English contingent on the conceived a special sort of coastal fort,
Continent i n the T h i r d Dutch W a r high and heavily armed, w h i c h was built

199
Montcalm, Louis Joseph, marquis de Montcalm, Louis Joseph, marquis de

in numbers o n the shores of Europe and Lake O n t a r i o . H e wintered at Fort

America and of which Fort Sumter was Ticonderoga, and in the autumn of 1757
an example. H i s most important publi- appeared before Fort W i l l i a m Henry o n
cation was La Fortification perpendicu- Lake George with a siege train of thirty
laire (1776-86). cannon, w h i c h he had transported by
river and hauled over land. T h e post fell
M o n t c a l m , Louis Joseph, marquis de quickly, and the massacre which ensued
(1712-59) French soldier. M o n t c a l m , a at the hands of M o n t c a l m ' s Indian allies
soldier trained i n the rigorous formal horrified h i m . H e made great efforts to
disciplines of eighteenth-century war- stop the slaughter of helpless prisoners,
fare, transferred to the N e w W o r l d , took but the news of the massacre served
root and virtually invented a new form only to increase the awe and horror
of warfare. H e never had many men with which he was beginning to be re-
under his command, nor the sophisti- garded by British and Americans alike.
cated devices of European warfare. In reply the British forces were substan-
W h a t he used to achieve what amounted tially reinforced, and a major effort was
to a minor revolution was the wilderness made to destroy the French threat. In
of N o r t h America as an active strategic the spring of 1758 an expedition was
principle. Earlier commanders had successfully mounted against the French
looked upon the vast forests as hostile outpost at Louisburg, an important stra-
wastes, barriers to the proper exercise tegic loss for the French. In July 1758 an
of w a r , refuge for Indians and social expedition sent against Fort T i c o n d -
outcasts. M o n t c a l m recognized that they eroga was rebuffed by M o n t c a l m
could guarantee to his operations the himself, whose 3000 troops drove off
quality so often lacking i n European Abercrombie's 12,000 men. But later i n
war - total surprise. H i s background the same year another strategic base was
was entirely conventional: he entered lost to the French with the destruction
the army at twelve, fought under Broglie of Fort Duquesne, w h i c h was resettled
(q.v.) i n the w a r of the Austrian Succes- as Fort Pitt, a British forward post ; Fort
sion (1740-8), then in northern Italy Frontenac fell i n the same autumn
where he was wounded and captured at (1758).
Piacenza (1746). In 1747, after his ex- W i t h the loss of these bases M o n t c a l m
change, he was raised to the rank of was forced back o n the city of Quebec
brigadier i n command of a cavalry regi- itself, where possibly the worst of his
ment. In 1756 he was promoted to enemies, the provincial governor
major-general and sent to Canada with Vaudreuil, opposed h i m i n every de-
a limited commission. cision. In the summer of 1759 the British
The British and American settlers captured Fort N i a g a r a ; a day later (26
were mounting a series of attacks o n the July) General Amherst (q.v.) with 11,000
French forts and commercial interests - men captured Ticonderoga: the French
M o n t c a l m ' s task was to recover the pos- were n o w firmly pinned back into
ition. H i s approach was to concentrate, Quebec. T h e final expedition against the
with a l l his available force, o n a single virtually impregnable fortress city was
point with as much secrecy as possible. undertaken by Wolfe (q.v.). T h e famous
H e used Indians and scouts to prepare ascent of the Heights of A b r a h a m , led
for his advance, and to lay false tales of by C o l o n e l W i l l i a m H o w e (q.v.), was a
his intentions. Late i n August 1756 he last-ditch attempt to assault the city
descended o n Fort Oswego, destroyed before the onset of winter forced the
the garrison and settlement, and gave expeditionary force to withdraw. In the
France, once again, complete control of event Wolfe managed to locate his 4800

200
Montecuccoli, Raimundo Montecuccoli, Raimundo

men in front of the walls of Quebec. army under Peter Melander, beaten by
M o n t c a l m attacked w i t h 4500 men, but Turenne (q.v.) at the battle of Zusmars-
without the artillery which w o u l d cer- hausen and pursued by the eager French
tainly have swung the battle in his and Swedish armies.
favour: Vaudreuil refused him permis- When the peace of Westphalia
sion to use the fortress guns. In the brought an end to a generation of war,
battle both Wolfe and M o n t c a l m met Montecuccoli travelled and went to
noble and heroic deaths. France lost a Sweden, where he formed a close friend-
soldier still in his prime, with an open ship with Queen Christina. By now a
mind and an active intelligence, great field-marshal for his success in the
tactical skill and a real understanding of Thirty Years' W a r , Montecuccoli was
the new strategy he had advanced so recalled to face the invading Swedes in
effectively. T h e French and Indian war the First N o r t h e r n W a r (1655-60), and
had a profound effect on the British dispatched to aid K i n g John Casimir
army, which learnt for the first time the of Poland. H i s o l d enemy, George
new dimensions of war in an empty Rakoczy, entered the war against h i m ,
continent. but Montecuccoli resoundingly beat h i m ,
before moving swiftly to northern Ger-
Montecuccoli, Raimundo (1609-80) many (1657) to join the Great Elector
Italian soldier in the imperial service. (q.v.) against Charles X of Sweden.
The eldest son of a noble Italian family, They battered the Swedes in a series of
Montecuccoli began his career in 1625, rapid victories, and by 1660 the Swedes
in the midst of the T h i r t y Years' W a r , were ready for peace. The immediate
serving under his uncle, Ernest of M o n - call on Montecuccoli was for defence
tecuccoli. H e fought well at Breitenfeld against the T u r k s , who were moving
(1631) against Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.) forward into Hungary (1657-62). W h e n
and at Lützen (1634). H e distinguished a great T u r k i s h host advanced in 1663
himself at Nordlingen and at the storm- under G r a n d Vizier Fazil A h m e d
ing of the town of Kaiserlauten, where K o p r u l u (q.v.), Montecuccoli met and
he led his heavy cavalry through a defeated it at the battle of the Raab
breach in a w a l l , a heroic dash which (1664). Here, his brilliant management
earned h i m his colonelcy. But at of his much smaller army routed the
Wittstock (1636) he was captured and much larger T u r k i s h force.
held prisoner by the Swedes in Stettin Honours were now heaped upon him
and W e i m a r ; his release in 1642 cost as the saviour of Europe: so complete
them a heavy defeat, for he trounced a was his victory that the T u r k s remained
Swedish corps at T r o p p a u . When his at peace for two decades. Montecuccoli
native state of M o d e n a went to war, he was created president of the Imperial
involved himself on its behalf (1642-4), W a r C o u n c i l , the supreme military body
but afterwards rejoined the Austrian of the Habsburg state, as well as director
army, fighting with the Archduke of artillery. In these positions he was
Leopold in his campaign against the able to indulge his passion for military
Hungarian Protestants under George R a - experiment and reform. Montecuccoli
koczy I (q.v.). But it was against the was remarkable by virtue of his success
Swedes that he was to achieve consistent as an 'intellectual' soldier as well as a
success. In 1647 he beat a well-led Swed- brilliant battlefield general. H i s reforms
ish force at Triebel and was created a had been long considered. D u r i n g his
general; the following year he fought a captivity he had studied military science,
masterly rearguard action which covered read Euclid and Tacitus, and discovered
the retreat of the shattered imperial the architectural writings of Vitruvius.

201
Montecuccoli, R a i m u n d o Montgomery, Bernard L a w

Convinced of the primacy of fire-power, the emperor's request, an academy of

he introduced, against much opposition, sciences. In 1679 Leopold I created h i m ,
a new and lighter musket, substantially undoubtedly the premier soldier of the
increased the proportion of musketeers Empire, a prince; he died, as the result
to pikemen, and created the grenadiers of an accident, on a visit to L i n z in the
as an elite infantry group. But he following year. H i s great text on war,
matched the increase in fire-power with Dell'arte militare is an outstanding work
a much tighter fire discipline, and of military science, and his shorter
greater capacity for the units to manœu- Memorie delia guerra ed instruzione
vre, so that their offensive quality was d'un generale (Venice 1703) was widely
improved. H e also systematized the read by contemporaries. H e was one of
whole range of military organization, the major architects of war in the later
from the method of pay and provision- seventeenth century, creating the army
ing, to the detailed construction and which Prince Eugen (q.v.) was to use to
manufacture of artillery. good effect in the war of the Spanish
In 1673 Montecuccoli was called on Succession (1701-14). Montecuccoli had
to lead the imperial armies against the a clear view of the economic factors
French under Turenne. If anything, his involved in the great wars in which he
skill had increased during the period of participated, expressed clearly i n his
peace. The two men, Montecuccoli and best-known saying: 'For war you need
Turenne, were a match for each other; three things, 1. M o n e y , 2. M o n e y , 3.
if Turenne was the better tactician, M o n - Money.'
tecuccoli displayed an impressive capac-
ity for manœuvre. T h e campaign was M o n t g o m e r y , Bernard L a w (ist Vis-
one of position, each commander feint- count Montgomery of A l a m e i n ; 1887-
ing against the other in a series of moves 1976). British field-marshal. A bishop's
across southern Germany. A t the battle son, educated at St Paul's (where, in
of T u r c k h e i m the honours went to 1943, he was to establish his headquar-
Turenne, who surprised the imperial ters for the Overlord operation), M o n t -
army and pursued it across the Rhine. gomery joined the R o y a l Warwickshire
But only once was he able to manœuvre Regiment from Sandhurst, having failed
the wily Montecuccoli into a position of to pass out high enough for the better-
real danger, at Sasbach near the Swiss paid Indian army on w h i c h , like most
border (1675). But Turenne was killed unmoneyed cadets, he had set his sights.
by a chance cannon ball, and Montecuc- H e had nearly failed to pass out alto-
coli was able to seize the initiative, driv- gether, his conduct at the R M C having
ing the French back across the Rhine been excessively violent, and he persisted
and pursuing them into Alsace. Here he in such behaviour as a young officer, his
met another worthy opponent, Condé part in smashing up the Bombay Yacht
(q.v.), who had left the command of the C l u b on his first posting to India being
Dutch theatre of the war to meet this viewed more gravely than his fellow van-
new threat. Condé advanced in force, dals' because, unlike them, he did not
and the imperial armies drew back have the excuse of being drunk (he was
across the Rhine. The final military act a life-long teetotaller). T h e war re-
of Montecuccoli's career was the siege deemed his reputation: he was gravely
of the great fortress of Philippsburg, wounded at the head of his platoon in
executed with all his usual skill. France in 1914, doing so well i n the
In retirement, Montecuccoli found succession of staff jobs he held thereafter
ready acceptance among the intellectual that he was a lieutenant-colonel and bat-
circles of Vienna, and even founded, at talion commander by the armistice. In

202
Montgomery, Bernard Law Montmorency, Anne, duc de

1939 he was commanding the 3rd Div- of July. However, his overestimation of
ision, which he took to France and evacu- the completeness of the Allied victory
ated efficiently from D u n k i r k , and he and his insistence o n advancing into Ger-
next commanded first V then X I I Corps many at the highest speed on a narrow
in England. O n the death by accident of front culminated i n the tactical and stra-
General G o t t , w h o should have suc- tegic reverse of A r n h e m in September.
ceeded Auchinleck (q.v.) in command of In December he played a major part in
Eighth A r m y in the Western Desert, stemming the German counter-offensive
Montgomery was chosen in his place in the Ardennes. After the war he was
and arrived there in August 1942. chief of the Imperial General Staff and
H e found a dispirited and under- deputy commander of N A T O . It is diffi-
equipped army waiting to be attacked cult to isolate in what Montgomery's
by an apparently invincible enemy, greatness as a soldier lay: he got on
R o m m e l (q.v.). W i t h generous reinforce- badly with colleagues and allies w h o
ments of men and material, and by his often found h i m rude; he was original
o w n skills at self-propaganda, he trans- neither in thought nor action - though
formed its physical and mental state, distinctly an original in manner; but his
blunted Rommel's drive to C a i r o in the belief in himself and in his relationship
battle of A l a m H a i f a , 31 August-7 Sep- with the divine power and his total dedi-
tember (by a plan he probably inherited cation to efficiency at every level in the
from Auchinleck), and o n 23 October formations he commanded made h i m
launched his o w n counter-offensive at one of the most successful practical gen-
E l A l a m e i n . After twelve days of heavy erals of the century.
fighting, of a highly methodical and or-
thodox k i n d , and at the cost of 13,000 M o n t m o r e n c y , A n n e , duc de (1493-
casualties, the Eighth A r m y at last broke 1567) French soldier. O n e of the lead-
through (see McCreery) and drove the ing soldiers of sixteenth-century France,
Germans and Italians westwards, to- whose long career spanned the Italian
wards the Anglo-American First A r m y wars to the French wars of religion
which had just landed in Algeria. M o n t - (1562-98), Montmorency served three
gomery's conduct of the battle has been French monarchs. Brought up with Fran-
criticized, as has his lack of speed in the cis I, he became marshal of France in
pursuit. But it was Britain's first victory 1522, after successful campaigning in
of the war and he may rightly not have northern Italy. In 1524 he helped to
wished by rashness to put it in jeopardy. repulse the imperial assault o n the south
In July 1943, the war in N o r t h Africa of France, and in the following year was
being over, he led the army to Sicily and captured with Francis I at the disastrous
then in September to Italy. After he had battle of Pavia: he was released, and
reached the river Sangro, he returned from this point became Francis's chief
home to help plan the invasion of adviser and main architect of French
Europe (Overlord), for which he had policy. In 1536 he again crossed swords
been named land commander under E i - with Charles V : the emperor advanced
senhower (q.v.). O n D-Day he was per- from north Italy into France and pen-
haps unlucky not to capture Caen, etrated as far as Aix-en-Provence, before
which then became the chief focus of Montmorency pushed h i m back across
fighting, but the Tightness of his strategy the frontier. In 1538, after peace terms
of attracting German armour to that were agreed, he was created constable
Bank, while the Americans o n the other of France, the highest military office in
built up their strength for a break-out, the state. F o r a time out of favour, he
was confirmed by its success at the end was recalled to court on the accession of

203
Montrose, James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, James Graham, Marquis of

Henry II (1547), with his influence fully in the creation of the N a t i o n a l Covenant
restored. (1638), which provided a united body of
T h e first real test of his capacities opposition to the king, and, eventually,
came in 1557 at the battle of Saint Quen- an army to resist h i m . W h e n the First
tin, when he was forced hurriedly to Bishops' W a r came (1639), Montrose
raise an army to meet a Spanish invasion held a senior command under Leven
of northern France. H i s army was (q.v.) ; he struck quickly to frustrate the
caught, literally, mid-stream while cross- gathering of Scottish support for Charles
ing the Somme in an effort to outflank and captured Aberdeen. W h e n the town
the Spaniards besieging the city; almost was recaptured, he took it again; and a
half his army of 26,000 were killed or third time, after he had been forced to
made prisoner, among them M o n t m o r - withdraw to gather reinforcements in
ency himself. By the outbreak of the the face of a superior enemy. In the
French wars of religion (1562), Second Bishops' W a r in the following
Montmorency was already an old man year, Montrose commanded the cavalry
and uncertain as to which cause he under Leven, but saw no action, for the
should support. But he rallied to the English collapsed at the approach of the
Catholic cause, and at the battle of skilled and effective Scottish army. But
Dreux (1562), at which a Protestant and while he was clearly a gifted soldier, he
a Catholic army fought each other virtu- was no match for his political enemies
ally to a standstill, he was captured - among the Covenanters, led by the i n -
for the second time in his career. So too famous A r g y l l (q.v.), w h o feared his
was Condé, the Protestant commander; attractive personality and moderate po-
Montmorency was released in 1563. Per- litical and religious views. Imprisoned
haps the most interesting aspect of briefly as a result of Argyll's conniving,
Dreux was that here, for the first time, Montrose after his release became a natu-
the cavalry used the caracole, turning ral leader of the Royalist cause in Scot-
themselves into mounted pistoleers. In land. But Charles did not trust h i m , and
only in 1644, after all his other ploys had
1567, in the second war of religion,
failed, and the Scots had entered the
Montmorency attacked Condé, who had
English C i v i l W a r (1642-6) on the
only 3500 men with h i m , with a force of
Parliamentary side, did the king accept
16,000. Condé, with amazing skill and
h i m . Created captain-general i n Scotland
luck, held off the constable's army, and
(February 1644), but given only 100 men,
in the course of the battle Montmorency
he soon recruited a small army of 2000
was killed. H e died just in time, for new
and invaded Galloway, catching the C o v -
styles were developing i n war, for which
enanting forces entirely off guard. The
he had no aptitude.
recurrent scenario of the Scottish cam-
paign soon emerged : a brilliant lightning
M o n t r o s e , James G r a h a m , M a r q u i s of
stroke from Montrose, frustrated by
(1612-50) Scottish soldier. Never com-
lack of resources to maintain his gains.
manding more than a handful of men,
H e took the town of Dumfries, but
fighting invariably against superior
could not hold it against a large force
odds, Montrose's career is, rightly, the
under A r g y l l . After the Royalist disaster
material from which heroic legends are
at M a r s t o n M o o r , he decided to chance
created. After an education which devel-
everything, including his life, for he had
oped his substantial artistic and intellec-
been proclaimed a traitor to the Coven-
tual abilities, he rapidly revealed himself
ant, in an attempt to slip through enemy
as one of the leaders of Scottish resist-
lines in disguise to reach a small force
ance to Charles I's aim to impose episco-
pacy on Scotland. H e was instrumental of Macdonalds, who had come over

204
M o n t r o s e , James G r a h a m , M a r q u i s of M o n t r o s e , James G r a h a m , M a r q u i s of

from Ireland in support of the royal and the best army to face h i m so far;
cause. The gamble succeeded, and he marching west, he met A r g y l l again at
placed himself at the head of a force of Kilsyth, and again the Campbell was
i i o o men. W i t h this tiny band of i l l - forced ignominiously to flee from the
disciplined Highlanders, he routed a battlefield. Glasgow fell to M o n t r o s e ,
Covenanter army six times his size at and Edinburgh hurried to submit: he
Tippermuir (1644), using the tremend- was now the master of Scotland.
ous attacking force of his w i l d clansmen The king now demanded that he
to overcome the superior organization should abandon his tried strategy, and
and equipment of his enemy. H e captured move south to face an army advancing
Perth, but the essence of his strategy from England under D a v i d Leslie, a kins-
was to use the Highlands as his base, man of Leven. In unfamiliar terrain,
and to strike at his enemies where they betrayed by his supposed allies,
least expected it. Aberdeen fell to him Montrose's forces were surrounded at
for the fourth time in his career, and he Philiphaugh (1645) and forced to surren-
led Argyll's pursuing army in a wearying der; they were all put to the sword or
chase, turning and beating him at Fyvie, saved for later execution. M o n t r o s e ,
before slipping into the mountains. who had stayed with his cavalry, es-
D u r i n g the winter, he taunted A r g y l l by caped to reform his shattered forces.
attacking h i m in his stronghold at Inver- But Charles, for reasons of dubious pro-
ary, and ravaging his enemy's lands. But priety, now repudiated Montrose in an
the Covenanters believed that he had effort to bring the Scots to his aid in the
overreached himself, and set to trap h i m English C i v i l W a r . Montrose, left to
deep in enemy territory. A g a i n , M o n - fend for himself, without legal sanction,
trose, by an epic march through the made peace and went into exile. Be-
mountains in the depths of winter, trayed by one monarch, he received the
avoided the trap. A t Inverlochy (Febru- same treatment from his son. Returning
ary 1645), he attacked the Campbells to Scotland to raise an army for Charles
and slaughtered them, once again the II, Montrose was repudiated by his new
attacking power of Montrose over- master who like his father sought an
coming vastly superior opponents. alliance with the Covenanters. Defeated
H i s victories had unhinged the whole at Carbiesdale (1650), he escaped the
strategy of the Covenanters. The Scot- battle, only to be betrayed afterwards
tish army in England now looked fear- into the hands of his enemies. There-
fully at Montrose's depredations in their after, as an acknowledged traitor, his
homeland; in Scotland all efforts were fate was certain, and after unnecessary
concentrated on defeating h i m . M o n - indignities, he was hanged at the M a r k e t
trose responded with even greater audac- Cross in Edinburgh from a gibbet thirty
ity. W i t h 700 men he snatched the feet high. H e had fulfilled his o w n pro-
stronghold of Dundee from the Coven- phetic hopes for himself, expressed in a
anters, and then escaped with all his men. poem he had written at the age of
A t Auldearn (1645), he outflanked their seventeen :
army under H u r r y , snatching a victory So great attempts, heroic ventures shall
from a likely defeat; Alestair M a c d o n - Advance my fortune, or renown my fall.
ald, in a defence reminiscent of H o r a t i o
in his epic 'holding of the bridge', held Montrose was a superb natural soldier,
back the whole weight of the enemy one of the finest leaders to emerge
infantry, severing their pikes with his during the English C i v i l W a r . Although
broadsword. A t A l f o r d , two months he never commanded a great army
later (July 1645), he outfought Baillie in the field, each of his small battles

205
Moore, Sir John Morgan, Daniel

revealed a military talent of the highest of division in the A r m y of the N o r t h

order. H e enjoyed above all a unique and, after the arrest of Pichegru (q.v.),
inventiveness, an ability to react to cir- its commander. Successively commander
cumstances and to take advantage of of the armies of the Rhine and Moselle,
opportunities which terrain or natural Sambre-et-Meuse and Italy, 1796-9, he
features could give to h i m . H e worked assisted Napoleon in the coup of 18
always with inferior, ill-equipped and Brumaire and, returning to command of
frequently disunited forces ; yet he man- the A r m y of the Rhine, inflicted on the
aged to mould them, in the heat of Austrians the major defeat of H o h e n -
battle or in headlong forced marches, to linden (3 December 1800). Subsequently
his o w n w i l l . his immensely ambitious wife, a member
of Josephine Bonaparte's circle, per-
M o o r e , Sir John (1761-1809) British suaded h i m to intrigue against Napoleon
general and military reformer. A Glas- and he was banished. After the Russian
gow doctor's son, M o o r e had made the campaign he returned to Europe from
grand tour in the entourage of the Duke America and became an adviser to Tsar
of H a m i l t o n before joining the army, in Alexander I, at whose side he was killed
which he served as a junior officer in at the battle of Dresden. M o r e a u rivalled
America and as a commander at T o u l o n Napoleon in his military talents, which
and Corsica, 1793-4; in the West Indies, were very great indeed, but not i n politi-
1796; Ireland (where he helped to put cal canniness.
d o w n the 1798 rising); H o l l a n d , 1799;
Egypt, 1801; and Sicily and Sweden, Morgan, Daniel (1736-1802) A m e r i -
1802. In 1808 he was sent with an expe- can soldier. A n outstandingly able
ditionary force to Spain and i n August commander in the American W a r of Inde-
was promoted to command all British pendence(1775-83),Morgan wascommis-
troops there. Napoleon had just under- sioned as captain in the Virginian rifle-
taken its conquest and his armies much men at the outbreak of the revolution.
outnumbered M o o r e ' s , who was forced H e took part in the abortive expe-
into a terrible winter retreat through the dition led by Benedict A r n o l d (q.v.) to
northern mountains to C o r u n n a . In the Quebec: in the attack at the end of
successful action he fought to cover its December 1775 M o r g a n ' s men pen-
evacuation from the port, he was killed, etrated well into the city until forced
his death prompting Thomas Wolfe to to surrender to the garrison of Governor
write one of the most famous poems in Carleton. M o r g a n was exchanged in
the English language. Although not a 1776 and was able to take part in the
great general, his experiments w i t h light campaign that led to Burgoyne's (q.v.)
infantry tactics and his success in train- surrender at Saratoga (October 1777).
ing soldiers in them ensured his abiding In 1779, stricken with i l l health, he re-
influence on the British army, in which signed his commission and retired to
he was much loved and whose light Virginia. But after the success of C o r n -
infantry and rifle regiments rightly wallis's (q.v.) Southern campaign (1780)
regard h i m as their founder. and the extreme danger of the rebel
cause in the South, he rejoined Gates
Moreau, Jean Victor (1763-1813) (q.v.) under w h o m he had served at
French general. The son of a barrister, Saratoga, as a brigadier-general com-
for which career he was training at the manding a corps. Gates was decisively
outbreak of the Revolution, M o r e a u beaten at Camden by Cornwallis (1780),
rose through the ranks of the N a t i o n a l a defeat which M o r g a n did something
G u a r d to become in 1794 general to redeem when, pursued by the troops

206
M o r o s i n i , Francisco Moultrie, William

of C o l o n e l Banastre Tarleton, he cess than any Venetian admiral of the

rounded o n his pursuers at Cowpens epoch. H e was elected doge of Venice
(1781) and completely destroyed them. on the wave of popular acclaim. A t the
O f 1100 men under Tarleton's com- age of seventy-five he mounted his last
mand, only 160 escaped from the battle. campaign i n the year of his death, cruis-
M o r g a n ' s judgement of when and where ing into the Turkish-held Aegean. Such
to fight, his timing and control in the were his power and reputation that the
battle were of the highest order. A l - T u r k s withdrew rather than risk battle.
though the forces engaged o n both sides M o r o s i n i was a fine tactician, economi-
were tiny, it was a considerable cal in his use of both men and ships.
achievement.
M o r t i e r , Edouard Adolphe Casimir
M o r o s i n i , Francisco (1618-94) V e n - Joseph (duc de Trevise; 1768-
etian admiral. O n e of the most distin- 1835) M a r s h a l of France. O f bourgeois
guished families of Venice, the M o r o s i n i origin and the son of an English mother,
had a long tradition of service as ad- M o r t i e r ' s career began i n the N a t i o n a l
mirals of the Venetian republic. Francisco G u a r d . H e quickly showed himself a
M o r o s i n i was the most successful o f his fine fighting officer, was promoted gen-
illustrious dynasty. H e served as com- eral of brigade i n 1799 a n d , for his
mander of the Venetian fleet from 1657 conquest of Hanover i n 1803, marshal
and ravaged the T u r k i s h possessions in in the great creation of 1804. A corps
the eastern Mediterranean, rousing the commander i n 1805, where he fought
T u r k s to fury and an immediate re- valiantly at Dürrenstein i n 1806-7, and
sponse. In 1667 he was sent to organize in Spain 1808-11, he commanded the
and stiffen the defence of C a n d i a i n Y o u n g G u a r d i n Russia and was the last
Crete, which was under siege by a large to leave M o s c o w . H e defended Paris i n
T u r k i s h army. T h e city held out until 1814 and w o u l d have commanded the
September 1669, but a French contingent O l d G u a r d in 1815 had he not fallen i l l
which formed a vital part of the defence with sciatica. H e made his peace with
was withdrawn by Louis X I V and M o - the Bourbons after Waterloo, and later
rosini had no option but to surrender. transferred his loyalty to Louis-Philippe,
It was an epic defence, but the loss of at whose side he was killed by Fieschi's
C a n d i a meant the end of Venetian d o m i - infernal machine i n the boulevard d u
nation of the Aegean and Crete itself. Temple.
M o r o s i n i could not be blamed for the
loss, despite efforts by his enemies to do M o u l t r i e , W i l l i a m (1730-1805) American
so. In 1684 he redeemed the defeat o f soldier. L i k e so many senior officers o f
Candia by an immensely successful ex- the American W a r of Independence,
pedition into the Peloponnese. H i s forces M o u l t r i e had fought in the Indian wars ;
were victorious throughout southern when the revolt against the British devel-
Greece and recovered Venetian posses- oped, he joined the rebellion in his home
sions lost i n Dalmatia. T h e Peloponne- state of South C a r o l i n a . In M a r c h 1776
sus was captured in 1686 ; M o r o s i n i then he took command of a small post o n
advanced through the isthmus of C o r - Sullivan's Island, w h i c h commanded the
inth and captured Athens i n the follow- approaches to Charleston, the capital
ing year. (It was i n this campaign that a of South C a r o l i n a and the only substan-
Venetian shell destroyed the Acropolis, tial port available i n the South. Building
used as a T u r k i s h powder store, and left a wooden blockhouse and stockade, and
the ruins k n o w n today.) H e returned field fortifications of sand, M o u l t r i e
to Venice w i t h a greater record of suc- emplaced his artillery to command

207
Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert

the sea lanes. F r o m this tiny redoubt resentment at the unjust treatment
he drove off the full squadron of A d m i - meted out to his father ; it was the great-
ral Parker (q.v.), after inflicting substan- est triumph of his life when he too
tial damage on the British ships (June became First Sea L o r d in 1955.
1776). In recognition of this extraordin- Mountbatten lived in two worlds, the
ary feat, the tiny post was renamed Fort more so after his marriage to E d w i n a
M o u l t r i e , he received the official thanks Ashley in 1922. H e r huge wealth, a great
of Congress and a post as a brigadier- London house, and eventually the Broad-
general in the Continental army. H e con- lands estate in Hampshire, provided a
tinued to command in the South, repel- style of life to which no naval officer
ling General Prevost's attempt to take could aspire. Mountbatten was a tal-
Port R o y a l and himself capturing the ented and hardworking officer, but he
town of Beaufort, South C a r o l i n a , in inspired great and often justified sus-
the following month (February 1779). picion among his superiors. H e was
But he was forced to surrender when never trusted. H i s equals and inferiors,
Charleston was captured by Clinton's by contrast, tended to idolize h i m . H e
(q.v.) army (May 1780), and he was a passed up the navy at a slightly acceler-
prisoner on parole until early in 1782, ated pace, serving much of his time in
when he was exchanged. H e participated the glamorous and highly visible M e d i -
in the final campaigns of the war, and terranean fleet. L o r d Louis had a very
after its close served as a distinguished 'modern' approach to naval matters. H e
governor of South Carolina. H i s epic became expert in communications, and
defence of Sullivan's Island was an did much to improve fleet wireless teleg-
'amateur' action, for no seasoned artil- raphy, until in 1933 he was given his
leryman believed it was possible to hold first command, a destroyer, HMS
such a position against a full naval bom- Daring. There and in a succession of
bardment. H e defiantly proved them other ships, the Mountbatten technique
wrong. was always the same. H i s ship had to be
the best in the fleet: in 1935, H M S
Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Wishart under Mountbatten's command
V i c t o r Nicholas, Earl (1900-79) Some was ' C o c k of the Fleet'. H e drove his
may be born with a silver spoon in crews hard, but equally lavished care on
their mouths; few are christened in a them that a poor captain could never
golden font with names of the Tsar of have afforded.
Russia and the Queen of England. Prince Mountbatten's great passion was fast
Louis (of Battenberg) had a glittering cars, driven furiously. H e approached
pedigree, and a driving ambition to suc- his naval career with the same obvious,
ceed by the standards of other men in and unBritish, desire to win at all costs.
his chosen career, as a naval officer. W a r in 1939 proved h i m to be outstand-
The two qualities were often at odds ing in public relations and 'man manage-
with each other. In a sense, his passion ment', but a poor sea captain under
for the British navy was also an inherit- wartime conditions. H i s ship H M S
ance. H i s father and namesake was Kelly spent an excessive time in port
First Sea L o r d until in the First W o r l d undergoing repairs to minor damage
W a r a campaign of abuse about his which resulted from poor ship handling.
German origins forced h i m into retire- M o r e serious damage - and twenty-
ment. Transforming the German Batten- seven dead from the crew - came when
berg into its English equivalent, M o u n t - Mountbatten recklessly exposed the
batten, could not save h i m . L o r d Louis Kelly to submarine attack. After a major
Mountbatten bore a deep sense of refit, the Kelly was transferred to the

208
Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert

Mediterranean fleet, and again under disaster. The qualities which M o u n t b a t -

Mountbatten's command, was sunk by ten had revealed both in success and
German bombers off Crete in M a y 1941. failure showed h i m well equipped for
Characteristically, Mountbatten be- the problems of supreme command
haved with great bravery, staying on the rather than the day to day issues w h i c h
bridge of the doomed ship until it sank. occurred at lower levels. L i k e Eisen-
T h i s episode was the core of the M o u n t - hower, the other great success of the
batten legend : the happy ship under the war in this role, Mountbatten revelled
command of a great and courageous in a game where there were no rules
sailor. It was the plot of N o e l Coward's save those he created. In October 1943,
film In Which We Serve (1942) a patri- he left England to take up his new post
otic drama which was received with as Supreme Commander in A s i a .
some cynicism by sailors but thrilled the The reality of the tasks was less gran-
wartime public at home, and stimulated diloquent than the title. The Supreme
w a r m responses in the United States. Commander had a difficult relationship
Off-screen, Mountbatten's wartime with General Stilwell (q.v.), the United
career posed more of a problem. H e States plenipotentiary in C h i n a , and
was not a great seaman, nor a notable many problems w i t h his o w n , British,
strategist. H e had w o n no victories, but subordinates. But Mountbatten ground
had w o n admiration for his courage in them d o w n . Over time, Stilwell was re-
defeat. M o s t of all he had a lively and called, and L o r d Louis engineered the
creative intelligence which sought out replacement of his more difficult British
the unconventional, indirect solutions to commanders. H e also took to the gran-
problems. Moreover, he had the social deur of life as Supreme Commander. In
and political connections essential for 1944 he moved his quarters from Delhi
success. H e went to the United States to to Kandy in Sri L a n k a , to be closer to
oversee the refit of his new command, the area of operations in Burma, M a l a y a
the carrier H M S Illustrious, and i n - and Indo-China. But the vast staff cre-
stantly became a Press and R a d i o celeb- ated to sustain this new enterprise was
rity. H e was summoned back to L o n d o n almost 10,000 men and women, and
by C h u r c h i l l himself, to work in that there were many complaints about the
essentially C h u r c h i l l i a n conception, opulence and luxury of the lifestyle. It
Combined Operations. T h i s was dedi- was also suggested that Mountbatten
cated to 'hitting back' at the Germans surrounded himself with a travelling
by launching small-scale raids on the group of like-minded cronies, w h o went
European mainland. T h e task involved with h i m from command to command.
liaison between the services, and creat- That too was true.
ing a w o r k i n g unit in an area riven by Mountbatten performed best in uncon-
inter-departmental rivalry. ventional circumstances. H i s armies
Combined Operations revealed drove the Japanese from Burma and the
Mountbatten's great talent. H e was a other former colonies, French and Brit-
fixer, using diplomacy, flattery, threats ish, but this owed little to the Supreme
and cajolery to achieve his ends. H e was Commander. After the end of the war,
also unstoppable, as all those who stood however, the decisions were essentially
against h i m were to find. H e rarely had political rather than military, and
angry scenes w i t h those who opposed Mountbatten showed that he, unlike the
h i m : he outmanoeuvred or outsmarted other commanders, recognized the prob-
them. C o m b i n e d Operations did not, in lems posed by dealing with local armies
fact, achieve very much, and one oper- of liberation, u n w i l l i n g to return to colo-
ation - at Dieppe in 1942 - proved a nial rule. H e produced solutions which

209
Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Mountjoy, Charles Blount, Baron

worked, except i n one case - in Indo- before i n his career, his ideas struck
C h i n a - where the commander on the home with the less senior officers) ; but
ground disobeyed his direct orders. In he gained the high ground. T h e course
Indonesia, similarly, his instincts were of reform has followed more or less
to have the Dutch 'negotiate' with the along the lines laid down by
Indonesians. Mountbatten.
A t the end of the war, he wished to In 1965, he retired, to indulge his
return to being a simple sailor. In fact, hobbies. W i t h Mountbatten, this i n -
he became the last Viceroy of India, cluded planning his grand State Funeral,
accomplishing the first act of de- rewriting (and even recreating) history
colonization. H i s role i n India is being to set himself at the centre of the
increasingly criticized, w i t h the benefit picture, and to enjoy his new appoint-
of hindsight. T h e reality is that he acted ment as Colonel i n Chief of the Life
decisively, pursuing a course that he Guards. H e died by violence at sea,
alone determined, under enormous pres- blown up not by a shell or torpedo
sure both from the British government from an enemy ship, but by a terrorist
and the factions in India. H i s role was not bomb. It was an unexpected end to an
military, but he displayed all the quali- improbable life.
ties o f a great commander, i n a way It is hard to pin d o w n Mountbatten's
which he had never done during war- significance as a military leader. In
time. It was the zenith of his achieve- retrospect, his weaknesses and petty
ment. H e was still only i n his forty- qualities seem to dominate. But what
eighth year. he possessed were the classic military
After India, he returned to the navy. virtues: courage, implacable determin-
There he proceeded upwards towards ation, energy and enthusiasm, and good
the summits of his profession, handi- luck allied with charm. H e created
capped still by the deep suspicion that roles for himself and filled almost all of
he was a 'champagne sailor'. By 1950, them with success. T h e art of being a
he had a seat on the Board of Admiralty ; Supreme Commander is an aspect o f
in 1952 he was appointed to command invisibility: w o r k i n g and manipulating
the Mediterranean fleet. In 1955, he behind the scenes, massaging egos, re-
became First Sea L o r d , where he insisted buking without hurting or offending,
in moving his office back to the room and taking brutal, unpleasant decisions
which his father had used more than without inner doubts. In all these arts,
forty years before. A s a sailor he could Mountbatten excelled, and i n conse-
go no higher. But his final appointment quence, he was a great Supreme C o m -
harked back to the days at Combined mander, i n war, and even more so, i n
Operations, where he had fumed at peace.
senseless inter-service rivalries.
In 1958 he became the second holder Mountjoy, Charles Blount, Baron
of the new post as Chief of the Defence (1562-1606) English soldier. A politi-
Staff; the first Chief had foundered on cal and military rival of the Earl of
the rocks of military and naval vested Essex, M o u n t j o y succeeded where Essex
interests. Over six years Mountbatten failed. H e served first against the Span-
accomplished a root-and-branch recon- ish i n the Netherlands, and he accompa-
struction of British defence, adapting it nied Essex and Raleigh on an expedition
to the political, military and economic to the Azores, hoping to catch the
conditions of the day. Even he could not annual Spanish treasure fleet. H i s eyes,
overcome the entrenched conservatism however, had been on an appointment
of his most senior colleagues (as so often in Ireland, which had been i n a state o f

210
Mukhtar, Ahmed Muley Hacen

rebellion since 1594. In August 1598 the M u c h of this warfare was in the tra-
Irish leader H u g h O ' N e i l l , Earl of dition of the border warfare endemic on
Tyrone (q.v.), defeated the English army the frontier for centuries, but by means
under Sir Henry Bagnal at Y e l l o w F o r d , of his campaigns M u l e y Hacen was able
and a sustained offensive became essen- to protect his frontiers more successfully
tial. The appointment went to Essex, than his predecessors.
however, and relations between the two H i s first major enterprise was to
men reached a l o w ebb. But Essex failed launch an attack on a strong fort at
disastrously and was recalled : M o u n t j o y Zahara near R o n d a (1481), the first
took over his command. In 1601 a Span- move in a massive attack on the Catholic
ish force of 4000 men under Juan d ' A q - monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. It was
uila arrived at Kinsale, and it was there a dangerous move to make, for the inher-
that M o u n t j o y met the combined Span- ent strength of the kingdoms of Castile
ish and Irish army (Tyrone had brought and A r a g o n was much greater than that
all his forces south from Ulster and at- of Granada. But he believed (correctly)
tempted to relieve the Spanish w h o m that they w o u l d soon be in a position to
M o u n t j o y had besieged in the city). In attack his kingdom and thus dispose of
open battle the Spanish-Irish army was the last independent M o s l e m state in the
completely outmanoeuvred by M o u n t - peninsula. However, his o w n position
joy's cavalry, and the Irish fled. O ' N e i l l was complicated by an involved dynastic
returned to his strongholds, but the back- struggle with his brother and his son,
bone of the rebellion was broken. H e B o a b a d i l ; it was a situation w h i c h the
surrendered to M o u n t j o y six days after Christians soon used for their advan-
Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603 and tage. But meanwhile M u l e y Hacen had
was given clemency by James I on beaten Ferdinand at L o j a (1482) and the
M o u n t j o y ' s urgent appeal. In 1603 a Christians had retired to prepare a
grateful monarch created M o u n t j o y Earl stronger attack.
of Devonshire. A delicate peace was arrived at,
whereby Boabadil (who had been cap-
M u k h t a r , A h m e d (1839-99) T u r k i s h tured in 1483 and sworn fealty to the
general. D u r i n g the Russo-Turkish war Catholic kings) was to occupy the
of 1877-8 M u k h t a r defended Erzerum throne of Almeria while his father contin-
and Kars, for which he received the title ued in Granada itself. In reality the Chris-
ghazi (victor), a trifle surprisingly, for tians held the balance as soon as they
the honours in that theatre of war went were strong enough to press ahead with
to the Russians. the conquest. They were soon able to
raid the kingdom with impunity, for
M u l e y Hacen (Abul H a s s a n ; d. 1484). M u l e y H a c e n , o l d and almost blind,
Granadine sultan and warrior. The last could no longer undertake the defence
ruler of a truly independent kingdom of of the k i n g d o m : he abdicated in favour
Granada, in the most fertile region of of his brother A b d u l l a h el Z a g a l , who
southern Spain, M u l e y Hacen came to promptly murdered h i m . H e was buried
the throne in 1466 and was faced immedi- on the peak of the highest mountain of
ately with extreme danger from many his k i n g d o m , which now bears his name.
external enemies, M o s l e m rulers as well Under his rule Granada had a final
as the Christian kingdoms to the north. flowering, both in military and cultural
H e attacked along his western borders terms, before its final humiliation at the
with C o r d o b a (1470), moved against hands of the Christians. H i s son's reign
M a l a g a (1474) and launched attacks to after A b d u l l a h was brief and entirely
the east against M u r c i a three years later.
ignominious.

211
Münnich, Burkhard Christoph, Graf von Murat, (Prince) Joachim

Münnich, Burkhard Christoph, G r a f von O n his return to St Petersburg Münnich

(1683-1767) German soldier in the serv- became involved in the complicated dyn-
ice of Russia. A leading exponent o f astic manoeuvring which followed the
Russia's expansion i n the East, Münnich death of the Empress A n n a , and he
came to Russia i n 1721, after service in ended i n exile i n Siberia (1741). H e was
the French and Polish armies. In 1728 he released from constraint nineteen years
was appointed commander-in-chief of later to spend his last years in the service
the Russian army by Peter II and pro- of Catherine the Great. H i s problems in
moted yet again by the Empress A n n a the war with Turkey were a result not
to field-marshal and president of the so much of faulty generalship, but the i n -
war council i n 1732. In 1733 he com- evitable consequence of campaigning so
manded the force of 30,000 Russians far from his base ; but he was lucky not
which entered Poland i n the w a r o f the to have been attacked by the T u r k s when
Polish Succession (1733-8), and captured at his weakest. H i s reputation thus owes
Danzig i n the following year. But his as much to the inertia and indolence of
main interest lay i n Russia's expansion his enemies as to his o w n abilities.
against the T u r k s .
In 1736 he led an army of 58,000 into M u r a d (1750-1801) Egyptian M a m e -
the Crimea. T h e campaign was not a luke chief. M u r a d ' s army was defeated
success. H i s army was riddled with dis- by Napoleon at the battle of the Pyra-
ease, and no proper lines of supply could mids but after a dispute with his Otto-
be developed : Münnich lost 30,000 men man overlords he held aloof from the
before he retreated. In the following fighting at Heliopolis and later allied
year, when he raided deep into the himself with Desaix (q.v.) against them.
Turkish-held Ukraine, he was again H e died of plague while marching to
struck by epidemics and was forced to relief of the French i n C a i r o .
withdraw. A t the battle o f Bendery
(1738) he was forced by firm T u r k i s h M u r a t , (Prince) Joachim (grand-duc de
opposition to abandon an attempt to Berg et de Clèves, roi de N a p l e s ; 1767-
cross the Dniester river, and he with- 1815) M a r s h a l of France. T h e son of
drew again, leaving half his army sick, an innkeeper, M u r a t was educated for
dead or dying, together with much of the church, though a less likely candi-
his artillery. O n l y in the following year date for the priesthood is difficult to
did he succeed i n bringing the T u r k s to imagine. O n his expulsion from the semi-
battle, and achieved a decisive victory. nary of Toulouse he joined the cavalry
A t K h o t i n (1739) his army o f 68,000 and, after five years in the ranks, was
beat 90,000 T u r k s , advanced through commissioned in 1792. In 1795 he
M o l d a v i a , scattering the T u r k s as they brought the guns to the Tuileries with
went, and prepared to launch an offen- which Bonaparte fired the 'whiff o f
sive o n Constantinople. But the Austri- grapeshot' o n 13 Vendémiaire, ended
ans, Russia's allies in the war, now made the royalist counter-revolution and estab-
a separate peace with the T u r k s , and lished himself as a major political figure.
Russia was forced to open hurried nego- H e was to enjoy the young general's
tiations for a settlement if they were not bountiful favour thereafter, becoming a
to face the T u r k s alone. T h e Russians general of brigade in the A r m y of Italy
retained the crucial port of A z o v , and in 1796 and of division during the Egyp-
Münnich's reputation (despite the early tian expedition (on which he was se-
reverses) was high i n St Petersburg. H e verely wounded). In 1800 he also became
had paved the way for Russia's further Napoleon's brother-in-law, by his mar-
expansion i n the south-east. riage to Caroline Bonaparte. But it was

212
Muraviev, Nicholas Nikolaievich Murray, Lord George

on the field of battle, and at the head of expedition to K h i v a (later to be annexed

light cavalry, that he continued to justify to the Russian empire), fought i n the
Napoleon's esteem for h i m . 1828 w a r with T u r k e y , took part i n the
M u r a t commanded a major cavalry repression of the Polish insurrection of
formation i n each of the great cam- 1830-1, and i n 1832 successfully under-
paigns from 1800 to 1807 and, though took a mission to Mehemet A l i (q.v.) of
his contempt for staffwork and for most Egypt to urge h i m to w a r against
of his fellow marshals (he had been pro- T u r k e y , during which he commanded
moted i n 1804) made h i m dangerous to the soldiers aboard the fleet sent to
employ i n independent operations, his Constantinople. In the C r i m e a n W a r
superb courage and tactical sense in he led the expedition to Kars, which,
action always cancelled out his strategic after a heroic defence, fell to h i m o n 26
mistakes: at Essling, i n 1807, he led a November 1855. H e was consequently
mass cavalry charge w h i c h transformed authorized to append Karski to his
the battle from a certain disaster for the name.
French into a semi-victory. H e had been H i s brother M i k h a i l M u r a v i e v (1795-
created a sovereign grand duke after 1866) acquired notoriety for his harsh-
Austerlitz and, after a short sojourn i n ness i n helping to repress the Polish
Spain (during which he suppressed the insurrection of 1831.
Dos de Mayo rising), he became king of A cousin, Nicholas M u r a v i e v (1810-
Naples (1 August 1808). H e was thus 81), was i n 1857 the conqueror of the
spared the necessity o f fighting Welling- A m u r region of Siberia from C h i n a , for
ton and was provided with enlarged op- which he was authorized to append
portunities for designing the extravagant Amurski to his name.
uniforms i n which he always paraded.
H e commanded the cavalry o n the Rus- Murray, Lord George (1694-
sian expedition and the whole of the 1760) Jacobite soldier. A n able c o m -
G r a n d A r m y after Napoleon's departure mander, certainly the best leader pos-
('A vous, roi de Naples'), but thereafter sessed by the Jacobites in the rebellion
devoted himself chiefly to his k i n g d o m . of 1745, M u r r a y ' s skills could not over-
H e changed sides i n 1814 in order to come their enormous organizational de-
keep it and back again i n 1815 for the ficiencies. M u r r a y began his career as an
same reason. H e lost it to the Bourbons officer i n the British army in 1712, but
after Waterloo none the less a n d , at- his obvious Jacobite sympathies and his
tempting his o w n H u n d r e d Days, was barely concealed support for them
captured and executed. V a i n to the last, during the 1715 rising made h i m a
he ordered the firing-squad, 'Spare my marked man. H e fled to the Continent
face, aim at the heart.' A l t h o u g h by no and remained i n exile for nine years,
definition a great general, or even a returning to Scotland in 1724 and gain-
particularly good soldier, M u r a t was the ing a pardon i n the following year. But
supreme personification of the beau sa- in 1745 he revealed himself i n his true
breur who magnetizes his men's loyalty colours, this time as a commanding gen-
by excelling all i n bravery and w h o eral of the Jacobite army. Edinburgh
(sometimes) wins a k i n g d o m with his was captured, and M u r r a y routed an
sword. H e had many imitators i n what English army under Sir John Cope at
remained of the era of cavalry warfare. Prestonpans (September 1745). T h e
Scots moved south, spreading panic,
M u r a v i e v , (Prince) Nicholas N i k o - until indecision paralysed them at
laievich (1794-1867) Russian general. Derby. There was great uncertainty as
A s a young officer M u r a v i e v led an to whether they should march o n

213
M u r r a y , James M u r r a y , James

L o n d o n , given that there had been no to N o r t h America in 1757 as a

popular uprising i n their favour (as they lieutenant-colonel and commanded a bri-
had expected), or whether they should gade at the capture of Louisburg by
return to Scotland. T h e latter course Abercrombie i n the following year;
was followed, and M u r r a y organized Wolfe (q.v.), one o f his fellow officers
the withdrawal. in this outstandingly successful cam-
M u c h o f the spirit and fighting zeal paign, arranged for his appointment to
had left the clansmen and an atmosphere the Quebec expedition, and again
of gloom persisted. T h i s partially lifted Murray showed great competence
when, again under M u r r a y ' s able direc- during the assault. Once the city had
tion, they trounced another Hanoverian been taken he was made military gover-
army, under General H a w l e y , w h o had nor of the area around Quebec; after
taken Edinburgh i n their absence. But the treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada
Falkirk (January 1746) was the last Jaco- to Britain, he was appointed governor
bite victory. Cumberland's (q.v.) army of the province. H a v i n g adopted a sens-
caught up with them at C u l l o d e n , near ible policy of reconciliation with the
Inverness, destroying the army and the French Canadians, w h o m he had hoped
Jacobite cause. M u r r a y had been against to turn into loyal supporters of the Brit-
the decision to fight at C u l l o d e n , believ- ish crown rather than a constant threat
ing that the Highlands, territory they in any future war, he left this post i n
knew well, w o u l d give them natural ad- 1768, his enemies having accused h i m of
vantages over their enemy, in particular mismanagement of the province's af-
reducing the advantage his artillery gave fairs. H e took up the less important
to h i m . But Culloden (April 1746) spelt post of governor of M i n o r c a i n 1774.
the beginning of the end for traditional There he was attacked by a strong
Scotland; M u r r a y , w h o had retreated French and Spanish force i n 1782 and
into the interior, took ship for the C o n t i - forced to surrender. H i s position was
nent and died in exile. H a d the army not nearly so defensible as that of G i b r a l -
been securely his to command, the out- tar, which Sir George Elliott had been
come both of the English campaign and successfully defending for three years
the Scottish sequel might have been en- against a large army under de C r i l l o n ,
tirely different. but he was court-martialled (unjustly);
he was acquitted, however, and pro-
M u r r a y , James (1721-94) British sol- moted to general. A n able subordinate
dier. B o r n a Scot, M u r r a y entered the of Wolfe, he achieved less prominence
British army i n 1740 and made his repu- than some o f his colleagues i n the
tation serving i n Canada. H e was sent Quebec campaign.

214
 N
N a d i r Shah (1688-1747) Shah, tyrant of his few failures. In 1743 war with
and conqueror. F r o m humble origins as Turkey was resumed with a T u r k i s h
a simple T u r c o m a n tribesman, N a d i r invasion: N a d i r defeated them at the
rose to become shah of Persia and to battle of Kars (1745) and occupied A r -
recreate a Persian empire stretching menia. But in 1747, after concluding a
from the heart of India to the borders of most satisfactory peace with the T u r k s ,
Turkey. In seventeen years, from 1730 he was murdered by his o w n bodyguard.
to 1747, he waged a series of wars which H i s death was greeted with rejoicing by
expanded the somewhat elastic bound- his subjects, for he was a man given to
aries of Persia i n every direction. Defeat- the most abominable cruelty as a ruler.
ing the T u r k s at the battle of H a m a d a n H i s conquests soon collapsed - the
(1730), he smashed the T u r k i s h army empire he had established had no lasting
sent against h i m and occupied Iraq and qualities, and much of his power was
Azerbaijan. N e x t he marched east and illusory.
destroyed a threat to his eastern frontier.
H e flirted with Russia against T u r k e y , N a g u m o , C h u i c h i (1886-1944) Japa-
beat the T u r k s again at Baghavand nese admiral. H a v i n g commanded the
(1735) - after some earlier reverses - carrier force since before the war, it was
and secured a favourable peace (1736) Nagumo's First A i r Fleet which carried
in return for remaining neutral i n any out the attack on Pearl H a r b o r , 7 Decem-
new conflict between Russia and ber 1941. In 1942 he supplied air cover
Turkey. for the capture of the D u t c h East Indies,
Elected shah in 1736, N a d i r con- raided Ceylon i n M a r c h and i n June
quered Afghanistan in the following fought the American carrier fleet at the
year, taking Kandahar after a nine- battle of M i d w a y (see Spruance). H i s
month siege (1738). After the conquest superiority ought to have given h i m the
of Afghanistan he moved into India, victory, but a tactical misjudgement at
avoiding a defending M o g u l army i n the the height of the battle put his ships at
Khyber Pass and attacking them from the mercy of American dive-bombers,
the rear. H e then moved south, seizing which destroyed three out of his six
Peshawar and Lahore, and securing the carriers i n a few minutes. T h i s disaster
key points i n northern India. H e enticed reversed the balance o f naval power i n
the M o g u l emperor M o h a m m e d II into the Pacific and initiated Japan's decline.
battle at K a r n a l , defeated h i m and occu- N a g u m o committed suicide in June 1944
pied D e l h i . Returning to Persia with a when Saipan, of which he was ground
huge fortune and d o m i n i o n over all of commander, fell to the American
India west and north of the Indus, N a d i r marines.
next attacked the khanates to the north
of Persia (1740), incorporating them in N a n a Sahib (properly D a n d u P a n t h ;
his empire, but he failed to subdue the 1825-59?) Indian general. Adopted son
mountain tribes of Georgia (1741), one of the last peshwa of the Mahrattas,

215
Napier, (Sir) Charles James Napoleon (Bonaparte)

Baji R a o , N a n a Sahib was denied the volumes, 1828-40). H e was also his
succession and its attached pension by brother's biographer.
the British o n his foster father's death. A first cousin, (Sir) Charles N a p i e r
T h e outbreak of the M u t i n y of 1857 (1786-1860), led a career in the R o y a l
gave h i m the opportunity to avenge his N a v y not incomparable to that of C o -
grievance i n a particularly terrible chrane (q.v.) : as captain of a frigate in
f o r m : persuading the Cawnpore muti- the Azores in 1833, he accepted com-
neers not to join the main body at mand of the Portuguese constitutional-
D e l h i , he laid siege to the entrenchment ists' fleet and with it destroyed that of
that the British commander Wheeler the Miguelite party ; during the civil war
had improvised and, when its garrison on land he directed the defence of
was induced to surrender by promises Lisbon in 1834, for which he was created
of safe conduct, massacred men, Count Cape St Vincent, but was struck
women and children alike. H i s army off the (British) N a v y List. H e was subse-
was subsequently defeated by Havelock quently restored but during the Crimean
at Fatehpur, A o n g and Cawnpore itself W a r , as admiral commanding the Baltic
(12-16 July 1857) and he fled to N e p a l : fleet, declined to attack Cronstadt, des-
the date of his death is not k n o w n . pite his success at Bomarsund (see Bara-
British revulsion at news of the mas- guay d'Hilliers), and fell into disgrace.
sacre principally motivated the counter-
atrocities of the campaign of Napier, Robert Cornelis (ist Baron
suppression. Napier of M a g d a l a ; 1810-90) British
field-marshal. Educated at Addiscombe,
Napier, (Sir) Charles James (1782- Napier joined the East India Company's
1853) British general. H e had a distin- army as an engineer officer and took an
guished career as a junior officer in the active part in almost all its campaigns
Peninsula, was British military resident between 1845 and 1859: in the Sikh
in Cephalonia, 1822-30, where he met wars he fought at M u d k i , Ferozeshah
Byron and was offered but declined com- (wounded), Sobraon, M u l t a n (wounded)
mand of the Greek forces in the W a r of and G u j r a t ; during the M u t i n y he took
Independence, and commanded in the part in the first relief of L u c k n o w , d i -
N o r t h of England during the Chartist rected the defence until the second relief
disturbances of 1839. But he made his and then the capture of the town from
name in India after 1841, principally for the mutineers, in the final stages defeat-
his conquest of the province of Scinde ing and capturing Tantia T o p i (q.v.).
where, on 17 February 1843, 2800 sol- H e went on the 1860 expedition to
diers under his command defeated C h i n a and in 1867, having been com-
30,000 Baluchis at M i a n i . H e subse- mander of the Bombay army since 1865,
quently pacified and administered the was ordered to raise the Abyssinian expe-
province, in the process managing to ditionary force to free British subjects
quarrel with everyone of importance in who were being held captive by the E m -
India and at home, while retaining never- peror Theodore. The expedition, culmi-
theless his reputation as the greatest nating in their release at M a g d a l a , 13
Indian general of his day. A p r i l 1868, was a brilliant success, a
H i s brother, General (Sir) W i l l i a m model among Victorian minor colonial
Francis Patrick Napier (1785-1860), campaigns. For it he was ennobled and
served very bravely in the Peninsula, promoted commander-in-chief in India.
commanding the 43rd Light Infantry at
Salamanca, but derives his reputation Napoleon (Bonaparte) (1769-1821)
from his great History of the war (six Emperor of the French. Born at

216
Napoleon (Bonaparte) Napoleon (Bonaparte)

Ajaccio, Corsica, into a family of the Italy French. Setting out first to separate
island's minor nobility, he was sent to and then to defeat in detail his two
France for his education at the age of enemies, he beat the Austrians under
ten on a government bursary given as a Beaulieu (q.v.) at Montenotte, 12 A p r i l ,
reward for his father's adherence to the and the Piedmontese at M o n d o v i , 21
newly imposed French regime. T h e A p r i l . O n 10 M a y he beat Beaulieu again
schools he attended, at Brienne and at L o d i (from which w o r d of his bravery
Paris, though military in name, offered in leading a column across a bridge over
a gentleman's rather than a soldier's the river A d d a spread through Europe)
training. H i s military education, for and advanced to make the Piedmontese
which he had prepared himself by his surrender and conclude peace at M i l a n
voracious private reading, did not really on 21 M a y . The Austrians remained at
begin until, as a young artillery officer, w a r ; but his victory over the newly ar-
he came under the influence of the Baron rived Wiirmser (q.v.) at Castiglione, 5
du T e i l , brother of the well-known August 1796 (see Augereau), kept them
writer on tactics, at A u x o n n e . M o r e - on the defensive and he inflicted another
over, he was not, despite the outbreak severe defeat on them at A r e o l a , 15-17
of the Revolution and the declaration of November. O n 14 January 1797 he de-
war upon it by the dynastic powers, to feated Alvinczy (q.v.), who had replaced
acquire any direct military experience Wiirmser, at R i v o l i , one of the greatest
until its fourth year when, on his victories of the twenty years of war, and
family's expulsion from Corsica by the went on to invade Austria, despite the
anti-republican Paoli, he was found by efforts of the Archduke Charles (q.v.) to
patrons the post of artillery commander stop h i m . W h e n he was within 25 miles
in the siege of T o u l o n , then also in of Vienna (6 A p r i l ) , the Austrian em-
rebellion against the republic. For his peror sued for peace.
part in bringing the siege (September- H e was now a substantial enough
December 1793) successfully to an end, figure in national circles to choose for
he was promoted general of brigade and himself his next strategic scheme. Hence
given command of the artillery of the the Egyptian expedition (1 July 1798) by
A r m y of Italy. Because of an association which, through the menace it w o u l d
with Robespierre, however, his career offer in the direction of India, he hoped
suffered a setback during the Thermidor- to bring Britain also to make peace. But
ean reaction and then by his refusal to it was a project which French naval
fight during the Vendée war. It did not inferiority made over-rash ; he was lucky
revive until October 1795, when Barras, to get his army to Egypt without inter-
who had k n o w n him at T o u l o n , used ception (see Nelson) and its marooning,
him to put d o w n the royalist rising of as a result of the battle of the N i l e (see
13 Vendémiaire in Paris. As a reward he Brueys), was not offset by the brilliance
was given command of the A r m y of of his victories over the M a m e l u k e rulers
Italy, which he joined in M a r c h 1796. of the country (battle of the Pyramids,
H e found it ragged, hungry and dispir- 21 July 1798) or their T u r k i s h overlords
ited, and its veteran generals (see A u - (Mount T a b o r , 17 A p r i l 1799 and
gereau, Masséna, Sérurier) by no means A b o u k i r , 25 July). Conscious of the
ready to accept his unproved leadership. campaign's growing pointlessness, and
Yet he almost at once inspired the dispirited by his failure to capture Acre
imagination of them all and within eight- (see Sidney Smith), he left the army to
een months had led them to victory Kléber (q.v.) and escaped home.
against the Austrians and the Piedmon- H e arrived just in time to provide
tese and made the whole of northern Sièyes, the increasingly distracted leader

217
Napoleon (Bonaparte) Napoleon (Bonaparte)

of the Directory, with the political Yet, despite the vast scale of these
' s w o r d ' for which he had been searching wars, and the military lustre which they
to restore the authority of the republic. added to his name, Napoleon the E m -
T h r o u g h his organization of the coup of peror was in many respects less the sol-
18 Brumaire (9 November 1799) against dier than had been General Bonaparte.
the renascent royalists, he rose to the H e took a diminishing share in the direc-
position of first consul and achieved that tion of the battles themselves, which he
effective control of France which he was left increasingly to his subordinates, i n -
to hold until 1814. H i s wish now was teresting himself more in the strategy
for peace and though in pursuit of it he which made his victories possible, but
and his subordinates were to w i n great looking chiefly to the political results
victories over the Russians (Zurich, 25 which they w o u l d yield. Given his re-
September 1799 - see Masséna) and the sponsibilities as absolute ruler of the
Austrians (Marengo, 14 June, and most powerful state in Europe, it is only
Hohenlinden, 3 December 1800 - for natural that that should have been so.
the latter, see M o r e a u ) , these were battles But from 1809 onwards, his anxieties or
of diplomatic calculation rather than ag- ambitions led him to persist in military
gression, fought to regain or protect terri- endeavours or undertake adventures
tory, not to conquer it. H i s strategy which his soldier's judgement should
was rewarded by the Russians' with- have warned h i m were fruitless or
drawal from the anti-French coalition dangerous.
and the conclusion of peace with the
The long drawn-out campaign in Por-
Austrians (February 1801) and the Brit-
tugal and Spain (November 1807—April
ish ( M a r c h 1802).
1814) typifies the first; the invasion of
The peace was shortlived. In M a y Russia in 1812 the second. N a p o l e o n
1803 he resumed against Britain the hos- visited Spain only once, for long enough
tilities which were to last until 1814 and to send packing the army of M o o r e
in which she was to be joined (or re- (q.v.) ; thereafter he left command in the
joined) passim by the Austrians, Rus- country to his marshals, none of w h o m
sians, Prussians, Spanish and Portu- could bring to an end either the guerrilla
guese. W i t h i n a year of the resumption, war waged by the Spaniards or the
Napoleon (the Bonaparte was now semi-amphibious campaign conducted
dropped) was to proclaim himself em- by the British under Wellington (q.v.).
peror and within two years to embark H e went to M o s c o w himself, though he
on the most spectacular of his cam- had not intended to go so far, but his
paigns: against Austria in 1805 (victories arrival in the capital did not bring the
of U l m , 17 October, and Austerlitz, 2 peace he had expected, nor did his pres-
December), against Prussia in 1806 (vic- ence on the Russian battlefields (Smo-
tories of Jena and Auerstadt, 14 Octo- lensk, 7 August, Borodino, 7 September)
ber) and against the Russians, w h o had bring decisive victory. As a result of
also fought at Austerlitz, in 1807 (drawn these military mismanagements, he lost
battle of Eylau, 8 February, victory of two armies, one slowly in Spain, the
Friedland, 14 June). After a two-year other almost overnight in the eastern
peace, instituted by the treaty of Tilsit snows. W i t h what remained to h i m , he
with Russia, he again went to war with was able to play out the war on foreign
Austria, suffered the first serious defeat territory for another year (victories of
of his career at Aspern-Essling, 21-2 Lützen, 2 M a y 1813, battle of Bautzen,
M a y 1809 (see Archduke Charles), but 20-1 M a y , victory of Dresden, 26-7
redressed it by the shattering victory of August) but his Austrian, Russian and
W a g r a m , 5-6 July. Prussian enemies eventually so outnum-

218
Napoleon (Bonaparte) Napoleon (Bonaparte)

bered h i m that at Leipzig (the 'Battle of ever, miscalculated, for Wellington's

the N a t i o n s ' , 16—19 October) his inex- stout resistance and Blücher's loyalty in
perienced troops were overwhelmed and marching to his aid resulted in an en-
he was forced to fall back on France. velopment - one of his o w n favourite
T h e return of adversity rekindled N a - manoeuvres - from which he could not
poleon's tactical flair. A t H a n a u , 30-1 extricate his army. It and his career were
October, his defeat of Wrede (q.v.) w o n destroyed together. H e placed himself in
him the time to make an ordered retreat the hands of the British, w h o sent h i m
to the Rhine. A n d through a series of under guard to the loneliest island of
small but brilliantly timed blows against the Atlantic, St Helena.
his pursuers on the soil of France itself It was impossible, none the less, for
(against Schwarzenberg, q.v., at Brienne, Napoleon to be forgotten, as man, em-
29 January 1814, and L a Rothière, 30 peror or soldier. Indeed as a soldier,
January; against Blücher, q.v., at C h a m - his influence was to persist, in only
paubert, M o n t m i r a i l , Château-Thierry slowly diminishing strength, into the
and Vauchamps, 10-14 February; again twentieth century. M u c h of what is
against Schwarzenberg at Montereau, 18 called the 'Napoleonic military inno-
February, and finally against Blücher at vation' can be shown to have roots in
Craonne, 7 M a r c h , L a o n , 9-10 M a r c h the work or thoughts of others: to G u i b -
and Rheims, 13 M a r c h ) , he seemed set, ert, Bourcet and du T e i l , for example, he
if not to regain the initiative, at least to owed most of his ideas on mobility and
stave off defeat indefinitely. By n o w , on the combination of all arms in a
however, his enemies had learnt to see single formation. H e was also the benefi-
through the fog of his strategic wizardry ciary of certain economic and industrial
to the lack of substance beyond and developments which w o u l d have eased
pressed forward undeterred. H e and his the path of anyone wishing to make war
lieutenants were defeated outside Paris on a ' N a p o l e o n i c ' scale at that particular
(Arcis-sur-Aube, L a Fere-Champenoise, time - notably the recent improvement
20 and 25 M a r c h ) and one of them, in the European road network and the
M a r m o n t (q.v.), was persuaded to allow increased productive capacity of the
the allies entrance. Abdication and exile French arms industry, while his ability
to Elba followed. to raise armies depended upon the rigor-
The H u n d r e d Days - encompassing ous registration and administration of
his return from exile, resumption of the population introduced by the Revolu-
power and hostilities against the allies, tion. But it is true of any innovator that
attack on and defeat by the British and he is in the debt of his predecessors.
Prussians in Belgium and final flight into Napoleon was a genuine original in his
captivity - began on 1 M a r c h 1815. The ability to see what was new and impor-
army, the loyalty of whose officers and tant in his o w n w o r l d , and to adapt and
veterans he had never lost, rallied to integrate his discoveries, discarding at
him as soon as he landed at Fréjus from the same time what was no longer of
Elba (but see Ney), and his initial deploy- any value. H i s supreme synthetic achieve-
ment of it into Belgium caught the allies ment was the bataillon carré, the corps
separated and off guard. O n 16 June he of all arms (corps d'armée), so disposed
defeated both the Prussians and the Brit- on the march that it might instantan-
ish, at Ligny and Quatre Bras, and, ex- eously deploy into battle formation no
pecting the Prussians, as prudence dic- matter in which direction it encountered
tated, to fall back into Germany, moved the enemy. H i s supreme operational
to destroy the British, w h o m he cornered achievement was to integrate, once his
at Waterloo on 18 June. H e had, how- corps d'armée were on the march, the

219
Narvaez, R a m o n M a r i a Nelson, Horatio

prodrome, action and follow-up of a Negrier, François Oscar de (1839-

battle, so that it was fought exactly 1913) French general. After escaping
when and where he chose, and yielded from M e t z in 1870, Negrier commanded
exactly the results he wanted from it. a battalion under Faidherbe (q.v.), later
H i s failure was in creating no machinery campaigned against dissident tribes in
through which the 'Napoleonic secret' Algeria and in 1884 led the offensive to
could be transmitted to future, less tal- expel the Chinese 'Black Flags' from
ented commanders than he. It w o u l d upper T o n k i n (Vietnam). H i s success
take J o m i n i , Clausewitz (qq.v.) and was compromised by the loss of his
many others years of work to isolate in major prize, the citadel of Langson, after
what exactly his secret lay and the he had been wounded. News of the cita-
genius of a Prussian (see M o l t k e ) to del's fall brought d o w n the government
create a body - the Great General Staff of the imperialist Ferry, but the offensive
- which could translate it into depend- nevertheless greatly contributed to the
able battlefield routines. By the time it French conquest of Indo-China.
learnt to do so, the force of the secret
had been dissipated by its overwide dis- N e l s o n , H o r a t i o (ist Viscount N e l s o n ,
semination, through catchphrases about D u k e of Bronté; 1758-1805) British
'seizing the initiative' and 'maintaining admiral. A N o r f o l k parson's son, Nelson
the offensive', and 'Napoleonic' battles entered the navy in 1770, served much
- w h i c h is what the M a r n e and the in the West Indies until 1787 (when he
Aisne (see Joffre and M o l t k e the married a w i d o w ) , was on half-pay,
Younger) were intended to be - which 1787-93, and then appointed to com-
resolved themselves into pointless stale- mand the Agamemnon (sixty-four guns)
mates. A twentieth-century Napoleon, in the Mediterranean. The next twelve
one surmises, w o u l d have grasped at years were to bring him greater glory
some other method than warmaking to than any other sailor has ever w o n .
achieve his objects. D u r i n g the campaign in Corsica, 1794,
he was blinded in the right eye at the
Narvaez, Ramon Maria (1800-68) siege of C a l v i , but recovered to act as
Spanish general. Springing to p r o m i - commodore of an independent squad-
nence for his bravery as a young officer ron, 1795-7. Under Jervis (see St V i n -
under M i n a (q.v.) in the resistance to cent) he played a major part in the great
the French invasion of 1823, Narvaez victory of Cape St Vincent, 13 February
inflicted a crushing defeat on the Carlist 1797, for which he was knighted and
forces at Majaceite, 1838, in the First promoted rear-admiral. Later in the
Carlist W a r . H e was later drawn wholly year, at Santa C r u z , Tenerife, he lost his
into politics, becoming the chief rival of right arm in a rash attempt to capture
Espartero (q.v.). the port by coup de main but, healed
and reappointed the following A p r i l , he
Navarre, Henri Eugène (1898- went in M a y to command the blockad-
1993) French general. Succeeding Salan ing squadron off T o u l o n . T h e French
(later to lead the 'revolt of the generals' fleet therein escaped, while he was
against de Gaulle) in command in Viet- making good storm damage to his ship
nam, Navarre conceived and imple- Vanguard, and got Bonaparte's army
mented the Dien Bien Phu operation. Its safe to Egypt, but, after a nerve-racking
failure, marked by the fall of the 'aero- and brilliantly conducted pursuit,
terrestrial base' on 7 M a y 1954, effec- Nelson caught it in A b o u k i r Bay (see
tively ended the first Indo-China war, Brueys) and destroyed it (battle of the
1946-54, and French rule in the area. N i l e , I August 1798). H i s success was

220
Nelson, Horatio Ney, Michel

due to his recognition that the French two columns, led by himself and C o l l i n g -
had discounted the possibility of an w o o d (q.v.), which then laid themselves
attack from inshore because of its risks, along the Franco-Spanish ships but
which he nevertheless was prepared to upwind of them so that their escape was
take: for his victory he was created impossible. Nelson was not only a great
Baron Nelson of the N i l e . H e was next tactical innovator and naval strategist of
ordered to Naples, which had fallen into genius; he was an extraordinary human
French hands, recovered the city, for being, whose effect on his close subordi-
which he was made D u k e of Bronte in nates was mesmeric and on the sailors
Sicily by the Neapolitan k i n g , and then in his ships almost as intense: 'The
took up residence at his court in Pal- power to arouse affection and the glow
ermo, from which he directed the naval indicating the fire w i t h i n are noted by
blockade of Egypt and M a l t a and began all w h o ever looked Nelson in the face.'
a famous romance with the British Moreover, just as Napoleon's achieve-
ambassador's wife Lady H a m i l t o n . ment supplied Clausewitz (q.v.) w i t h the
H o m e to England in 1800, Nelson led raw material for his theory of war,
an expedition which destroyed the immo- Nelson's intuitive understanding of the
bilized Danish fleet in Copenhagen har- nature of naval strategy expressed in his
bour on 2 A p r i l 1801 ; it was during this campaigns provided the foundation for
battle that he raised his telescope to his the theories of M a h a n (q.v.).
blind eye to avoid seeing his superior's
signal to break off the uncompleted N e y , M i c h e l (duc d'Elchingen, prince de
action (see Parker). It was for this battle la M o s c o w a ; 1769-1815) M a r s h a l of
also that he was created viscount, having France; 'the bravest of the brave'. T h e
just before it been promoted vice-admi- best-loved and remembered of N a p o -
ral, the highest rank he was to hold. H e leon's marshals, Ney was an Alsatian
had now separated from his wife and ('the son of the barrel cooper of Sarre-
was established in a ménage à trois with louis') w h o had enlisted as a trooper of
the H a m i l t o n s . O n the collapse of the hussars in 1787. Being able and brave -
peace of Amiens in 1803, he left them to how brave he w o u l d shortly demon-
command the blockade of the French strate - he was commissioned soon after
fleet in T o u l o n , from which Villeneuve the outbreak of the Revolution, but his
(q.v.) successfully broke out - a neces- climb to the heights was slower than
sary preliminary to Napoleon's plan for that of some others, e.g. Brune and Soult
the invasion of England — and escaped (qq.v.) who were both generals by 1794.
to the West Indies in A p r i l 1805. Nelson H e was not promoted general until
failed to intercept h i m , both turned back August 1796, after much service as a
and Villeneuve made a junction with the cavalry leader on the Sambre, Meuse
Spanish fleet and took shelter in C a d i z . and Rhine, and was still only a general
Fearing supersession, Villeneuve then led of division in 1799. H i s part in the vic-
his and the Spanish fleet to sea, where tory of Hohenlinden (see Moreau) deci-
they were intercepted by the British and sively elevated h i m , however, from the
overwhelmed in the battle of Trafalgar, ruck of the merely competent and,
21 October 1805. Nelson himself re- having briefly and provisionally com-
ceived a fatal musket shot from the manded the A r m y of the Rhine in 1799,
mizzen top of the Redoutable and died in 1802 he was given the A r m y of Swit-
at the moment of victory. Its complete- zerland, with which he induced peace
ness was due to his carefully prepared between Switzerland and France. H e
and highly unorthodox plan of 'breaking was created marshal in the great promo-
the enemy line from the w i n d w a r d ' in tion of 1804. In 1805 he commanded 6th

221
Nicholas Nicholaievich, Grand Duke N i c h o l s o n , John

Corps, employed Jomini (q.v.) as his the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-8, grand-
A D C , lending h i m the money to publish son of Tsar Nicholas I, nephew of Alex-
his Traité des grandes opérations, and ander II and uncle of the last tsar, N i c h o -
blocked the escape of M a c k (q.v.) from las II, he was very widely experienced in
U l m to Elchingen (hence his first title). the administration and command of the
In 1807 the fighting of his corps at Eylau Russian army, though up to 1914 he
and Friedland in each case greatly con- had seen action only during 1877 and
tributed to the victory. then briefly. Nicholas II appointed h i m
H e was next in Spain where, like all commander-in-chief on 1 August 1914
Napoleon's marshals, he did badly, fell at the entreaty of his advisers, appalled
out irretrievably with Masséna (q.v.) by the tsar's expressed intention of exer-
and was sent home early in 1811. In cising command in person, and he held
1812 he commanded 3rd Corps in the the post throughout the period from
invasion of Russia and the rearguard in Tannenberg to Gorlice-Tarnow. W h e n
the retreat; it was his conduct then that in August 1915 Nicholas II made good
w o n h i m from Napoleon the title He his threat to exercise supreme command,
brave des braves' (the soldiers called G r a n d D u k e Nicholas was sent to the
him He rougeaud' - 'ginger' - for his red Caucasus where, against his showing in
hair and redhead's temper). H e was the Poland, he proved very successful, cap-
last Frenchman to leave Russian soil. In turing from the T u r k s the whole of A r -
1813 and 1814 he served the emperor menia. A t the outbreak of the February
well in the campaigns of Leipzig and revolution, the tsar reappointed h i m
France (he was wounded for the sixth commander-in-chief, an immensely
time at Lützen), but at the first restor- popular move, but the provisional gov-
ation he rallied to the Bourbons. Sent to ernment cancelled it at once. H e took
recapture Napoleon on his return from no part in the C i v i l W a r , left Russia in
E l b a , and promising to 'bring h i m back 1919 and died i n exile.
in an iron cage', he changed sides as
soon as he felt Napoleon's spell and was N i c h o l s o n , John (1822-57) British gen-
given command by h i m of the left wing eral. T h e son of an Irish doctor, N i c h o l -
in the invasion of Belgium. H e led it at son was appointed originally to the
Quatre Bras; at Waterloo he effectively Bengal army, with which he fought in
commanded the whole army, which he the First Afghan W a r , but subsequently
led in person, to no detectable plan. H e transferred to political service under
had four horses shot under h i m and left Lawrence (q.v.) in the Punjab. H i s
the field only after he had failed in manner of administration of the Bannu
every effort to get himself killed. A r - district - personal, impartial, direct and
rested by the Bourbons for treason, he when necessary absolutely ruthless -
was tried by his peers, w h o included became legendary both with the British
five fellow marshals, and shot in the and the Indians, some of w h o m later
Luxembourg gardens on 7 December. deified h i m as N i k a l s a i n (the sect is said
H e himself gave the firing party its to survive to this day). O n the outbreak
orders. Three of his four sons became of the M u t i n y in 1857, he disarmed the
generals of the Second Empire, a grand- sepoy regiments in the Punjab without
son a general of the T h i r d Republic. hesitation and persuaded his superiors
to let h i m form a ' M o v a b l e C o l u m n ' to
Nicholas Nicholaievich, Grand Duke put d o w n mutiny wherever it arose; it
(1856-1929) Russian general. Son of was at its head that he destroyed at
G r a n d D u k e Nicholas Nicholaievich T r i m m u Ghat and the river R a v i large
(1831-91), w h o commanded during parties of sepoys hastening towards

222
N i e l , Adolphe Nungesser, Charles Eugène Jules M a r i e

D e l h i . H e himself then went there to 1914 and 1916, Nivelle then recaptured
reinforce the beleaguered besiegers on Fort Douaumont, whose loss in the open-
the ridge and led the main assault o n ing phase of the battle of V e r d u n had
the city, 14 September 1857, i n which he greatly depressed the French, by a clever
was killed. N i c h o l s o n was not G o d but and novel tactical combination of infan-
he believed that G o d and he were in try and artillery. C l a i m i n g that his
communion, which made h i m the most method was of wider application ('I
effective anti-mutineer of 1857. have the secret'), he was chosen i n D e -
cember 1916 to replace Joffre (q.v.) as
N i e l , Adolphe (1802-69) M a r s h a l of commander-in-chief on the western
France. A Polytechnicien, N i e l led one front and at once undertook the plan-
of the assaulting columns i n the capture ning of an offensive (generally k n o w n
of Constantine in 1833, and i n 1854 by his o w n name) which was to achieve,
helped to capture Bomarsund (see A d m i - on his w o r d , 'rupture' (breakthrough).
ral Napier) from the Russians (in the So convincing were his arguments, deliv-
little-known Baltic campaign of the ered as fluently i n English (his mother's
Crimean W a r ) . H e commanded the 4th nationality) as i n French, that L l o y d
Corps at Solferino and Magenta in 1859, George, whose confidence in H a i g (q.v.)
and in 1867 became a reforming minister was less than total, agreed to subordi-
or war, introducing the successful Chas- nate the British armies to his operational
sepot rifle to the French army and set- authority, thereby provoking one of the
ting up the gardes mobiles reserve. most spectacular c i v i l - m i l i t a r y rows of
the war. T h e Nivelle offensive, delivered
Nimitz, Chester Williams (1885- on the C h e m i n des Dames ridge above
1966) American admiral. A n Annapo- the river Aisne o n 16 A p r i l 1917, proved
lis graduate, N i m i t z served as chief of a bloody fiasco and was the precipit-
staff o f submarines during the First a t o r y cause o f the refusal of fifty-six
W o r l d W a r . In the Second W o r l d W a r French divisions to undertake further
he was appointed to command the attacks (the '1917 mutinies'). H e was
Pacific fleet shortly after Pearl H a r b o r , relieved within the month and replaced
and it was he w h o accepted battle at by Pétain (q.v.).
C o r a l Sea and M i d w a y (May and June
1942). T h e Americans' crushing victory N o g i , Maresuke (1849-1912) Japanese
in the latter battle, besides dooming general. A Samurai, N o g i was one of
Japanese naval power i n the long run, the first officers of the Europeanized
led immediately to his success i n w i n - army, fought i n the suppression of the
ning back the Solomons and i n the fol- revolts of the Samurai clans of the
lowing year the Gilberts and then (Febru- A i s u k i and Satsuma, took part i n the
ary 1944) the Marianas. T h e battles of capture of Port A r t h u r in the Sino-
the Philippines (Leyte G u l f ) , Iwo Jima Japanese war of 1894-5 and became gov-
and O k i n a w a crowned his success. ernor of Formosa, which he pacified. In
N i m i t z was a skilful inter-service diplo- 1904 he was appointed to command the
matist, as he needed to be with T h i r d A r m y and directed the siege and
MacArthur (q.v.) as a principal capture of Port A r t h u r . H e then took
collaborator. part i n the battle of M u k d e n . O n the
death o f Emperor M u t s u h i t o , he and his
Nivelle, Robert Georges (1856- wife committed ritual suicide.
1924) French general. Promoted very
quickly from command of an artillery Nungesser, Charles Eugène Jules M a r i e
regiment to that of a corps between ( 1892-1927) French fighter ace. T h i r d -

223
Nungesser, Charles Eugène Jules M a r i e Nungesser, Charles Eugène Jules M a r i e

ranking of French fighter aces of the ously wounded several times in combat
First W o r l d W a r , Nungesser was cred- but survived to the armistice, only to
ited with forty-five victories. H e had disappear in the Atlantic, trying to fly it
learnt to fly before the war, was seri- from east to west.

224
 o
O ' C o n n o r , (Sir) R i c h a r d Nugent (1889- Irish-Spanish governor of Chile, he was
1981) British general. Commissioned educated in England and on his return
into the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), took up the cause of independence. Ini-
he was serving in 1940 as commander of tially defeated by the Spanish at Ranca-
the 7th Division in Palestine. A t the gua, 7 October 1814, he and San M a r t i n
behest of Wavell (q.v.), he was pro- (q.v.) together w o n in February 1817 the
moted to command Western Desert victory of Chacabuco, which confirmed
Force (later the Eighth Army) and with Chile's independence. Its security was as-
it launched, in December 1940, against sured by the naval victories of Cochrane
the Italian invaders of Egypt under (q.v.), sailing his flagship O'Higgins,
Graziani (q.v.), one of the most success- whose namesake was proclaimed dic-
ful surprise counter-offensives of the tator. H e was overthrown in 1823.
war, driving them back into L i b y a and
taking 130,000 prisoners. H e was later O k u , Yasukata ( C o u n t ; 1846-1930)
himself taken prisoner while reconnoi- Japanese field-marshal. H e commanded
tring too far forward and held until the a division in the war with C h i n a , 1894-
capitulation of Italy in 1943. H e then 5, and, in 1904-5, the Second A r m y
commanded VIII Corps in the liberation against the Russians, whose right flank
of north-west Europe. he turned at the battle of Liaoyang.

O ' D o n n e l l , Josef (conde de L a B i s b a l ; O m a r Pasha (formerly M i c h a e l Lattas;

1769-1834) Spanish general. A descend- 1806-71) T u r k i s h general. A Croat, he
ant of Irish emigres, he was one of the deserted the Austrian army to enter O t t o -
few Spanish soldiers to w i n a victory man service, becoming a M o s l e m to do
against Napoleon's invaders (La Bisbal, so. H e found quick promotion and was
1810). In 1822 he defended M a d r i d widely employed to suppress revolts
against Bessières (q.v.) in the second within the empire - A l b a n i a 1843;
French invasion, but was accused of Kurdistan 1846; Bosnia 1850-2. A t the
treason by his officers and fled to outbreak of war with Russia, October
France. 1853, he defeated the Russians at Olten-
H i s son Leopold O ' D o n n e l l (1809-67) itza, helped to raise the siege of Silistria
was a political opponent of Espartero the following year, but was disgraced
(q.v.), minister of war 1854-6, and for his failure to relieve Kars in 1855
successful soldier. H e captured Tetuan (see Muraviev). Nevertheless he was re-
(Morocco) for Spain in 1859, for which employed in the invasion of Montene-
he received a dukedom. H e had already gro, 1861, and in the repression of the
corruptly made himself a fortune as Cretan revolt, 1866-8. In 1867 he was
captain-general in C u b a , 1844-8. promoted commander-in-chief.

O ' H i g g i n s , Bernard (1778-1842) C h i l - Orléans, Ferdinand Philippe Louis

ean soldier and liberator. Son of an H e n r i , duc d ' (1810-42) French general.

225
Orlov, Aleksey Grigoryvich, Count Oudinot, Nicolas Charles

Eldest son of Louis-Philippe (king of the defensive operations; no inkling was

French, 1830-48). Educated at the Poly- given to England's allies of this change
technique, he took a considerable part of plan. T h e direct result was Eugen's
in the conquest of Algeria. H e is best (q.v.) defeat by Villars (q.v.) at Denain
remembered fo re-raising the light infan- (1712). In 1714 Ormonde was removed
try battalions of the French army, origi- from his command o n the accession
nally k n o w n (1842) as the Chasseurs of George I, for his avowed support
d'Orléans. of the Stuarts made it impossible to
leave h i m in so sensitive a position. In
O r l o v , Aleksey Grigoryvich, C o u n t 1715 he was impeached by his W h i g
(1737-1808) Russian soldier. The youn- enemies and he fled to France, thereafter
ger of the t w o O r l o v brothers (his elder meddling i n Jacobite conspiracies. W i t h
brother Grigory was a lover of Cather- the failure of his schemes he retired
ine the Great), he was instrumental in from active sedition and settled in
organizing the military coup which re- Spain.
placed Peter III with his wife Catherine
on the Russian throne, and i n arranging O s m a n , Pasha (1837-1900) T u r k i s h
for the murder of Peter after his depos- general. H e commanded an army in the
ition. Immediately after the coup, a grate- war with Serbia i n 1876 and subse-
ful empress raised O r l o v to the rank of quently against the Russians at Plevna,
major-general, and he was given com- from which he so menaced their advance
mand of the Baltic fleet. H e sailed with into Bulgaria that they were forced to
it into the Mediterranean and defeated halt and attack the city. H i s engineer
the T u r k s at the naval battle of Chesme Tewfik had so fortified it that all their
(1770), off the island of Chios. M u c h of assaults failed and it eventually fell only
the credit belonged to Samuel Greig, a after a long siege conducted by Todleben
Scottish naval officer in O r l o v ' s com- (q.v.), the foremost military engineer of
mand w h o controlled the action, but- the day. Osman attempted to break out,
O r l o v was welcomed i n St Petersburg as was wounded and captured. After the
a hero and further honours were show- war he reformed the Ottoman army, of
ered upon h i m . A more congenial em- which in 1897 he became commander-
ployment was the seduction aboard his in-chief.
ship, at L i v o r n o i n Italy, of a potential
female pretender to the throne, after O t t , Peter K a r l , Freiherr v o n (1738-
which she was carried away to imprison- 1809) Austrian general. In the Italian
ment i n Russia. After this dramatic campaign of 1800 he caught Masséna
finale to a career full of action, O r l o v (q.v.) off guard, drove h i m into Genoa
retired to breed racehorses. and forced his capitulation after a long
siege (4 June). O n 9 June, however, his
O r m o n d e , James Butler, D u k e of (1665- army was defeated by Lannes (q.v.) at
1745) British soldier. A H i g h T o r y Montebello.
who ended his life as an avowed Jaco-
bite, Ormonde served i n the wars of O u d i n o t , Nicolas Charles (duc de
W i l l i a m III as a soldier, and i n Ireland Reggio ; 1767-1847) M a r s h a l of France.
as lord-lieutenant under Queen Anne. In The son of a brewer of Bar-le-Duc,
1711, after the change of administration he was a private soldier of the royal
which resulted i n Marlborough's dis- army until the Revolution, when he
missal, Ormonde took command of the advanced rapidly to command of a bri-
English troops serving in the Nether- gade in 1794. H e served as chief of staff
lands, with orders to engage only i n to the A r m y of Switzerland i n 1799

226
O u t r a m , (Sir) James O y a m a , Iwao

and of Italy i n 1800; under the Empire Bengal. Joining forces with Havelock
he was promoted marshal (1809) and (q.v.), to w h o m he subordinated himself,
reached command of a corps (2nd, i n they together effected the first relief of
Russia). But it is as a fighting soldier L u c k n o w . H e commanded the garrison
that he is remembered: N a p o l e o n in until the second relief by Campbell (q.v.)
1807 introduced h i m to the tsar as the and then held the city in check until the
'Bayard' of his army. H e was wounded third relief and final recapture, in w h i c h
twenty-two times in action. he took a major share. F o r his part he
H i s son, Charles V i c t o r O u d i n o t was promoted lieutenant-general and
(1791-1863), captured Rome from created baronet.
Garibaldi (q.v.) i n 1849.
O y a m a , Iwao (marquis; 1843-1916)
O u t r a m , (Sir) James (1803-63) British Japanese field-marshal. A Samurai, he
general. T h e son of a naval surgeon, he took an active part i n the restoration o f
joined the Indian army i n 1819, served the emperor i n 1868 and i n the suppres-
widely on the frontiers of Bengal, pacify- sion of the reactionary Satsuma revolt
ing unsubdued territory, raising troops of 1877. In the interim he had observed
from the tribes and carrying on a variety the Franco-Prussian war, and as minister
of warlike operations: in 1842 C . J . of w a r (1880) and chief of staff (1882)
Napier (q.v.) called him the 'Bayard of did much to advance the Europeaniza-
India' (though they were later to quar- tion of the Japanese army. In 1894 he
rel). In 1854 it was he w h o , as resident commanded the Second A r m y against
at L u c k n o w , organized the annexation the Chinese and captured Port A r t h u r
of O u d h , an act which led directly to from them (for which he was promoted
the M u t i n y of 1857. In that year he was 'marshal o f the empire'). In 1904-5, as
directing operations i n Persia (battle of commander-in-chief, he directed the
Khushab), but was recalled to take com- battles of Liaoyang, the Sha-Ho, San-
mand of the t w o divisions i n Lower depu and M u k d e n .

227
 p
Palafox y Melzi, José de (duque de Sara- caracole where the cavalryman became
gossa; 1780-1847) Spanish general. In merely a mounted pistoleer. Pappenheim
the uprising of M a y 1808 against the served the Catholic League, led by M a x i -
French invaders he was proclaimed milian I of Bavaria, and soon gained a
captain-general of A r a g o n by the people reputation of being a ruthless pillager.
of Saragossa, which he defended i n t w o H e was a difficult subordinate, as W a l -
long sieges: 15 June-15 August 1808, lenstein (q.v.) discovered, since he was
and 20 December 1808-20 February always pursuing his o w n ends rather
1809. A t the end of the second he was than the objectives laid d o w n by his
forced to capitulate to Lannes (q.v.). H e commander. In 1623 he was promoted
was subsequently a prominent anti- colonel of his o w n regiment, the Pappen-
Carlist. heim Cuirassiers; his men worshipped
h i m , partly for his tremendous courage
Palikao, Charles Guillaume M a r i e A p o l - as a leader, partly because they lived
linaire Antoine C o u s i n - M o n t a u b a n , well on the pickings of his conquests.
comte de (1796-1878) French general H e fought through the Bohemian cam-
and politician, Palikao bore simply the paign at the start of the T h i r t y Years'
name C o u s i n - M o n t a u b a n until i860, W a r (1618-48) and m northern Italy. In
when he was put at the head of the 1626 he was summoned back from Italy
French military expedition to C h i n a (the to crush a peasant uprising i n Upper
British was led by Sir James H o p e Austria, which he achieved with sum-
Grant, q.v.) and there earned the title mary brutality. H e captured the town of
by which he was afterwards k n o w n . O n Wolfenbüttel i n 1627, and went on to
the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war even greater success when he stormed
(1870) he became prime minister, and sacked Magdeburg (which T i l l y ,
formed the A r m y of Châlons after the q.v., his commander, d i d not believe
initial defeats and put Paris i n a state of could be taken) : 25,000 of the inhabit-
defence. H e was swept from power by ants were slaughtered.
the capitulation of N a p o l e o n III. A t Breitenfeld (1631), however, Pap-
penheim discovered that the Swedes of
Pappenheim, Gottfried H e i n r i c h , G r a f Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.), and in particu-
zu (1594—1632) German mercenary in lar his splendid Finnish cavalry, were
the imperial service. Pappenheim was much tougher enemies than any he had
born a Lutheran, but became a Catholic, met before. H i s horsemen charged re-
and, by profession, a mercenary cavalry peatedly, only to be driven back by
commander of considerable talent. H i s musket salvoes and cavalry charges. Pap-
early experience as a soldier was gained penheim's men broke under the pressure
in Poland, where he learnt the tra- and fled, although they regrouped later
ditional tactics of the Polish cavalry, using under his furious orders and covered the
sword, lance and a mad gallop at the retreat of T i l l y ' s army, which had done
enemy, rather than the more fashionable little .better. In A p r i l 1632 T i l l y was

228
Parker, (Sir) Hyde Parma, Alessandro Farnese, duque d i

killed, and Pappenheim, who had of Lepanto (1571), where Parma fought
become an imperial general, came under with great skill and daring in the bitter
the orders of Wallenstein. Despite pursu- hand-to-hand struggles w h i c h d o m i -
ing his o w n ends and resisting attempts nated the battle. After Lepanto he reluc-
at co-ordinated action with Wallen- tantly returned to the boredom and idle-
stein's army, he was summoned to join ness of married life in Parma. In 1577
Wallenstein at Lützen, arriving on 27 D o n Juan, w h o was governor of the
September 1632. H e was then dispatched Netherlands, asked Philip II to send
to Halle, some way off, with a substan- Parma to serve under h i m , and it was
tial body of cavalry. W h e n it became Parma's timely arrival with reinforce-
clear that the Swedes intended to attack ments and his zest in battle which pro-
Wallenstein in his positions at Lützen, duced a decisive victory for the Spanish
an urgent message was sent to Pappen- over the D u t c h rebels at G e m b l o u x . It
heim to rejoin the main camp. A r r i v i n g was Parma w h o led the cavalry charge,
at a crucial moment after battle was headed by lancers, which smashed the
joined, the power of the attack by his Dutch infantry and harried them in their
fresh troops began to turn the battle headlong retreat. H i s appointment to
against the Swedes. But a stray cannon- the Netherlands was a masterstroke. H e
ball mortally wounded h i m and he was knew the country w e l l , for he had spent
carried off the battlefield in a cart. H i s much of his youth and childhood there
cavalry, without their charismatic (his mother was the regent for some
leader, panicked and then withdrew. twenty years). M a n y of his friends and
The advantage swung back to the acquaintances were now the leaders of
Swedes. A t that moment Gustavus him- the rebel camp, and he had great insight
self was killed leading his horse, and into the attitudes and motives behind
Pappenheim heard, before he died, the the rebel cause.
news that his greatest opponent had After D o n Juan's death in 1578,
preceded h i m . Parma stepped up to take his place.
Because of his special knowledge of the
Parker, (Sir) H y d e (ist Baronet; 1739- country, he tried a new approach. By
1807) British admiral. Son of another personality he had none of Alva's (q.v.)
admiral of the same name, he distin- stern hatred of rebels or savage enmity
guished himself in American waters for heretics, attitudes which had done
during the W a r of Independence (see so much to harden the spirit of revolt
M o u l t r i e ) , but is chiefly remembered for between 1567 and 1573. H e knew that
hoisting at Copenhagen, 2 A p r i l 1801, much of the opposition to Spain was
the signal to 'discontinue action' to disunited and that many loyal subjects
which Nelson (q.v.) turned his blind had been forced into opposition by the
eye. excesses of Alva's C o u n c i l of B l o o d .
Thus, on the one hand, he waged a
Parma, Alessandro Farnese, duque di military campaign of consummate s k i l l ;
(1545-92) Spanish soldier and adminis- on the other, wooed the natural leaders
trator. T h e son of Charles V ' s illegiti- of Flemish society, hoping to detach
mate daughter Margaret of Austria, them from the hardline opposition in
Parma, like his cousin D o n Juan (q.v.), the north. In M a y 1579 he signed a
was educated for a high position by peace agreement with the southern
Philip II, in honour of his father's Catholic nobles at Arras ; he made many
wishes. Similar in character, impatient concessions, and hindered his capacity
with external restraints, the two cousins to make war in the short term. But he
also shared the experience of the battle had neutralized the opposition in the

229
Parma, Alessandro Farnese, duque di Parma, Alessandro Farnese, duque di

south and was able to concentrate his However, the opportunity to carry the
assaults on the core of Protestant oppos- campaign into the north was lost, to
ition, which had counteracted his peace Parma's fury, for Philip's preoccupation
of Arras with a union of Utrecht among with the conquest of England, and his
themselves. H e had a small army, only insistence on Parma's intervention in the
27,000 men, but he deployed it skilfully, French wars of religion, turned his
concentrating on reducing the cities still armies south. This proved the salvation
in rebel hands, and waging war with of the Protestant cause, allowing M a u -
traditional brutality against his avowed rice of Nassau (q.v.), Orange's son and
enemies. Maastricht fell after a siege of successor, to consolidate his position
four months (which cost h i m 4000 men) and retrain and regroup his men. M a u -
and 8000 of its inhabitants were mas- rice was a great organizer, and the suc-
sacred. T o u r n a i fell in 1581 and Parma cess of his methods was seen in the
established his headquarters there. campaign which he launched in 1589
Bruges, Ghent and Ypres surrendered in while Parma was occupied in France.
1584, and finally, late in the same year, H e took Breda in a surprise assault, and
the great siege of Antwerp was begun. in the following year, 1591, Zutphen
and Deventer, after sieges of amazing
Throughout these years of campaign-
brevity. Although Parma turned back to
ing Parma followed a deliberate strat-
meet h i m , he was ordered south again,
egy : to undertake only those operations
and M a u r i c e , in a brilliant campaign,
for which he had adequate strength and
took Hulst and Nijmegen (1591). Parma,
to isolate each centre of enemy resist-
seeing all his successes squandered by
ance. Thus, it was only in 1583, after
Philip's policy, lost heart. H e was
the arrival of reinforcements from Spain
wounded in the arm during a skirmish
and a careful policy of re-equipment,
at Caudebec, and soon after fell i l l and
that he moved decisively on to the offen-
died. H i s plans for the conquest of the
sive. H e cut communications between
Netherlands died with h i m .
Brussels and Antwerp and secured the
small ports through which the Protestant Philip II was never willing to allow
towns had been supplied. H i s aim was his soldiers free rein, and it was his
to strangle A n t w e r p , by cutting it off interference and suspicions which frus-
from its hinterland and from the sea. trated Parma's campaigns. L i k e his
T h e inhabitants, led by Philip de cousin, D o n Juan, Parma fell under
M a r n i x , had created a series of elaborate Philip's disfavour. H e was blamed for
fortifications designed by an expert engi- the failure of Philip's pet scheme, the
neer, Gianibelli. Parma constructed a invasion of England, in 1588. Support
barrage of boats to sever the city from from Spain dwindled, and he was forced
the sea, and invested it with all his avail- to pay his army from his o w n pocket
able forces. Finally, in August 1585, star- when threatened with mutiny. H e never
vation forced the city's surrender: citi- faced M a u r i c e of Nassau i n a major
zens with fearful memories of the Span- battle, and it is difficult to k n o w who
ish fury and the massacres of 1576 found w o u l d have had the best of such an
the terms moderate. Parma's aim was encounter. In many ways they were
the strictly limited one of bringing the alike: a strong grasp of strategy when
south back to obedience, not of waging the difficulties of early modern warfare
a crusade against heretics. H i s campaign made such planning almost impossible,
had been helped by the murder of W i l - an offensive spirit (stronger in Parma's
liam of Orange (q.v.), the Protestant case), and immense skill in the predomi-
leader, in M a y 1584, which dealt a tem- nant warfare or siegecraft. But Parma's
porary body blow to the rebel cause. claim to be the greater soldier is strong.

230
Paskievich, Ivan Fedorovich Patton, George

H e lacked Maurice's genius for training given command, landed i n the south of
men, and his grasp of logistics, but he France and advanced, more or less unop-
compensated for it by a subtlety i n his posed, up the Rhone valley to Alsace
approach, which enabled h i m to succeed (Operation Anvil-Dragoon), and subse-
with inferior forces, both i n numbers quently defeated the German A r m y
and equipment. H e also brought to the G r o u p G in the battle of the Saar, 15-26
war an Italian cunning in his diplomacy, M a r c h 1945.
dividing his enemies by political manœu-
vre, using the results of military intelli- Patton, George (1885-1945) American
gence to undermine the opposition. But general and tank commander. Educated
most of all he brought a love of battle at West Point and commissioned into
into a war dominated by the stately the cavalry, Patton first made his name
progress of siege and manoeuvre. If any- in the fighting on the western front by
thing characterized h i m , it was the head- the American Expeditionary Force i n
long charge at G e m b l o u x , which was 1918. H e instantly recognized the p r o m -
his first contribution to the war for the ise of the tank, was promoted to
Netherlands. command a tank regiment and highly
decorated for his exploits. Between the
Paskievich, Ivan Fedorovich (count o f wars, when the American army showed
Erivan, Prince of W a r s a w ; 1782- itself even more hostile to the concept
1856) Russian general. A U k r a i n i a n , he of armoured warfare than the British or
entered the army i n 1800 through the French, he continued to believe i n the
Imperial Corps of Pages and was pro- tank as the weapon of future land war-
moted lieutenant-general for his conduct fare. H i s first chance to experiment w i t h
at Leipzig, 1813. In the Persian war of armoured forces o n a large scale came
1825-8 he w o n the battle of Ganja ( K i - with the invasion of N o r t h Africa in
rovabad), captured Erivan (for which he November 1942, i n which he acted as
was allowed to append 'Erivanski' to Eisenhower's (q.v.) deputy. H e com-
his name) and obliged Persia to sign the manded the U S II Corps in the Tunisian
treaty of T u r k o m a n c h i . H e took a major campaign and was promoted to lead the
part, after the death of Diebitsch (q.v.), Seventh A r m y in the invasion of Sicily.
in the suppression of the Polish rebellion Once landed on the island, he became
(1831) and of the Hungarian insurrec- impatient with the subordinate role he
tion of 1848-9. In 1854, after war with had been allotted and embarked on a
Turkey had broken out again, he i n - self-declared race with Montgomery
vaded Bulgaria and laid siege to Silistria, (q.v.) for the capture of Palermo. Shortly
but was obliged to raise it by threat of afterwards, an overpublicized incident,
Austrian intervention (9 June). H e was, in which he accused a shell-shocked sol-
from 1825 to 1850, the 'dominating influ- dier of cowardice, led to his suppression.
ence in the Russian army'. H i s talent and dynamism ensured, how-
ever, that he was restored to command
the T h i r d A r m y during the invasion of
Patch, Alexander M c C a r r e l l (1889-
north-west Europe and he proved an
1945) American general. Appointed to
excellent choice. N o other American - or
command American troops on Guadalca-
indeed British - commander of the Liber-
nal in the Solomon Islands, South Pa-
ation A r m y had his flair for seizing an
cific, 9 December 1942, Patch achieved
opportunity and when i n July 1944 he
the distinction of winning the first
was offered the chance of breaking
American land victory of the Second
out of the N o r m a n d y bridgehead and
W o r l d W a r . O n 15 August 1944 the
encircling the German defenders, he
Seventh A r m y , of which he had been

231
Pau, Paul Marie César Gérald Paulus, Friedrich

embraced it enthusiastically. T h e ad- civil servant, Paulus belonged to that

vance w h i c h followed carried h i m to 'aristocracy of character' that W i l h e l m
the Seine and, almost without securing II called on in the 1890s to supplement
permission, he crossed it to harry the the aristocracy of birth with which
remainder of the German army to the hitherto his army had been officered.
West W a l l , not scrupling to acquire A n efficient regimental ( I I I t h Infantry)
the necessary supplies by subterfuge. and staff (Alpenkorps) officer during the
H e argued at the time, and latterly, that First W o r l d W a r , he fought with the
had he been given the administrative Freikorps on the eastern border during
priority granted to Montgomery, advanc- the postwar troubles, was accepted by
ing on the northern front, he w o u l d the 100,000-man army, received general
have reached the frontier of the Reich staff training, transferred to the panzer
before the winter broke, and perhaps arm at its formation and in 1939 was
ended the war. Rationed for supplies, appointed chief of staff to the Tenth
his advance halted and he was forced to (later Sixth) A r m y under General R e i -
fight a stalemate battle throughout the chenau (q.v.). In M a y 1940 he was ap-
autumn. H i s quick reactions neverthe- pointed Oberquartiermeister I (deputy
less were crucial i n reversing the i l l - chief of the general staff) under H a i d e r
effects of the German Ardennes offen- (q.v.) and in January 1942 replaced Rei-
sive of December 1944 and in the spring chenau (promoted to replace R u n d -
counter-offensive he rediscovered his stedt, q.v., at A r m y G r o u p South) at the
secret of lightning advance to reach head of Sixth A r m y in Russia. D u r i n g
Czechoslovakia, covering a greater dis- the summer campaign he directed its
tance than that of any other A l l i e d army advance to Stalingrad and the battle for
commander. H e was killed in a road that city and maintained its defence after
accident in Germany in December 1945. it was encircled by the Russian counter-
offensive. However, when called upon
Patton was not a great thinker, and
by Manstein (q.v.) in early December to
does not stand beside Fuller, Liddell
organize a break-out to meet his rescue
H a r t or Guderian (qq.v.) in the history
column, he failed to do so, claiming
of the development of tank warfare. But
that he had inflexible orders from Hitler
he was one of its greatest practitioners
not to leave the V o l g a . O p i n i o n differs
and kept the idea of armoured attack
as to what latitude he had been left by
alive in the American army during one
Hitler, w h o made h i m a field-marshal
of its most defensive-minded periods.
on 30 January 1943 and declared
his name 'infamous' when he aban-
Pau, Paul Marie César Gérald (1848-
doned his hopeless resistance the
1932) French general. Passing out of
following day. In captivity he joined
Saint-Cyr in 1869, he lost a hand in the
the Russian-sponsored Free Germany
battle of Froeschwiller against the Prus-
Committee, later broadcast appeals to
sians in the following year. O n 10
the German armies to cease fighting
August 1914 Joffre (q.v.) recalled h i m
and after the war settled in the Soviet
from retirement to command the newly
zone of Germany. Hitler's judge-
created A r m y of Alsace, with which he
ment on his surrender was that it
recovered part of the province lost to
proved Germany paid 'too much atten-
Germany in 1871 - the only French gen-
tion to the development of the intellect
eral to capture territory from the enemy
and too little to the development of
in 1914.
character', in which, as applied to
Paulus, there may well have been some
Paulus, Friedrich (1890-1957) German
truth.
field-marshal. A s the son of a minor

232
Pélissier, A i m a b l e Jean Jacques Pérignon, Catherine D o m i n i q u e

Pélissier, A i m a b l e Jean Jacques (duc de to Southern morale as that defeat, and

Malakof; 1794-1864) M a r s h a l of militarily more injurious, for it put the
France. O n e of the bravest spirits of the N o r t h i n command of the Mississippi
conquest of Algeria, Pélissier actually and cut the Confederacy in half.
managed to see action in the last days of
the First Empire, as well as i n the i n - Penn, Sir W i l l i a m (1621-70) British ad-
vasions of the M o r e a and Spain. A strong miral. A leading British admiral, first i n
supporter of N a p o l e o n Ill's coup d'état, the service of Parliament and then of
he went to the Crimea as commander of Charles II, Penn was responsible for codi-
the i s t Corps, then replaced Canrobert fying British naval tactics. H e served
(q.v.) as commander-in-chief. It was due Parliament at sea throughout the C i v i l
to his energy that the M a l a k o v , strong- W a r (despite a brief period of imprison-
point of the Russian defences of Sebas- ment for suspected Royalist sympathies).
topol, was eventually taken (8 Septem- In 1654 he offered to deliver the fleet to
ber 1855). H e was created marshal and Charles II for use i n a restoration at-
duke for the achievement. tempt, but the plan came to nothing,
and in the following year he led the
Pellew, E d w a r d (ist Viscount E x m o u t h ; expedition which captured Jamaica. A t
1757-1833) British admiral. H e was the Restoration he was knighted and
the first frigate captain of the French appointed a commissioner for the navy :
revolutionary w a r to capture (1793) a his secret diplomacy with Charles II had
French frigate (for which he was reaped its due reward. W o r k i n g closely
knighted), and in 1797 he w o n a cel- with James, D u k e of Y o r k (q.v.), later
ebrated fight, with another frigate cap- James II, he aided h i m i n his attempts
tain, over the French battleship Droits to reform the fleet and naval adminis-
de l'Homme. In 1804 he went as admiral tration and was the creator of the code
to command the fleet i n the East Indies of naval tactics which formed the basis
where, i n 1807, he destroyed the local of the ' D u k e of Y o r k ' s Sailing and
Dutch fleet. H e was appointed Fighting Instructions'. A s a sailor and
commander-in-chief i n the Mediter- tactician, he was not the equal of his
ranean i n 1811 and in 1816 w o n inter- colleagues Blake and M o n c k (qq.v.).
national renown and a viscountcy for H i s son W i l l i a m Penn (1644-1718)
his bombardment of Algiers, o n the was responsible for the foundation of
ruler's refusal to abolish the enslavement the state of Pennsylvania.
of Christians.
Percival, Arthur Ernest (1887-
Pemberton, John Clifford (1814- 1966) British general. Appointed to
81) American (Confederate) general. command i n M a l a y a in A p r i l 1941, he
Although a Pennsylvanian, he went was obliged to order the retreat to Singa-
south in 1861 and was promoted pore Island from the mainland o n 27
lieutenant-general in command of the January 1942, under pressure from Japa-
central Mississippi in October 1862. nese attackers (see Yamashita) w h o m
Thus it was he w h o had to face Grant his o w n troops outnumbered, and to
(q.v.) during the Vicksburg campaign, surrender o n 15 February, the greatest
in which he was completely outgener- humiliation suffered by the British army
alled, though his subsequent defence o f in the Second W o r l d W a r .
the fortress during a starvation-siege
was brave and well conducted. Its surren- Pérignon, Catherine D o m i n i q u e , mar-
der o n 4 July 1863, the day following quis de (1754-1818) M a r s h a l o f
Gettysburg, was almost as severe a blow France. A nobleman and an officer of

233
Perry, Matthew Calbraith Pescara, Fernando Francesco de Avalos

the royal army. Pérignon passed via the anti-American bandit Pancho V i l l a . It
N a t i o n a l G u a r d into the service of the was for his success in that mission that
Revolution. H e saw some fighting in he was chosen i n 1917 to command the
the Pyrenees, 1793-5, and in Italy, where U S Expeditionary Force in Europe. Very
he was wounded and taken prisoner at early on he surprised the W a r Depart-
N o v i , 15 August 1799. Released the next ment by announcing that he w o u l d need
year, he held a variety of civil offices a million men, an estimate he later ad-
under the Empire. Napoleon created him vanced to three million. M e a n w h i l e he
marshal i n 1804, but he rallied so alarmed his French and British allies by
promptly to the Bourbons that his name his insistence that U S units should be
was struck off during the H u n d r e d Days held out o f battle until sufficient had
(and restored afterwards). H e was one been assembled for a whole American
of the peers who voted for the execution army to intervene decisively. T h e Allies'
of Ney (q.v.). extreme plight in the face of the German
offensive of July 1918 forced h i m to
Perry, Matthew Calbraith (1794- compromise fractionally (hence the
1858) American admiral. A pioneer ad- American battle honour of Belleau
vocate of the usefulness of steam power W o o d ) , but he held so firm to his princi-
to navies, he captained (1837) the ple that the first major American offen-
Fulton, one of the first steam warships. sive of the war was not launched until
In the M e x i c a n war he commanded a September (Saint-Mihiel). T h e next and
squadron and i n 1852 was sent to Japan last was the bloody Meuse-Argonne
to negotiate the treaty w h i c h opened the battle. It was characterized by great brav-
country to commerce. ery, tactical rigidity and limited military
H i s brother Oliver Hazard Perry (but great moral) achievement, at-
(1785-1819) built the flotilla o n the tributes equally those of Pershing and of
Great Lakes with w h i c h he contested the inexperienced but courageous sol-
their control with the British during the diers under his command. After the w a r
war o f 1812 and w o n the victory of he was promoted 'General of the
Lake Erie, 10 September, 1813. Armies', a unique rank, superior to that
of 'General of the A r m y ' created for
Pershing, John Joseph ('Black J a c k ' ; M a r s h a l l (q.v.) i n the Second W o r l d
1860-1948) American general. A poor War.
boy, he worked as an assistant teacher
to raise money for his o w n education Pescara, Fernando Francesco de Avalos,
and eventually w o n a nomination to marchese di (1490-1525) Imperial sol-
West Point. H e showed outstanding dier. A leading imperial commander i n
bravery i n the C u b a n campaign of 1898 the Italian wars between Charles V (q.v.)
and, in the Philippines, 1901-3, a remark- and Francis I (q.v.), Pescara learnt the
able tactical and political flair by his craft of w a r under Prospero C o l o n n a ,
pacification of the ferocious M o r o s of one of the more successful condottieri in
M i n d a n a o . For that achievement he was the imperial service, and eventually took
promoted by President Theodore R o o - over the command of the armies i n Italy
sevelt from captain to brigadier-general after Colonna's death i n 1523. Pescara
and appointed governor of M i n d a n a o was taken prisoner at Ravenna i n 1512,
(1906-13). In 1916 he was sent to com- when Gaston de F o i x (q.v.) over-
mand the expedition which the whelmed the Spanish army of Cardona.
American government, invoking the Released, he broke his agreement never
legal justification o f 'hot pursuit', dis- to fight against France again and re-
patched into M e x i c o to track d o w n the joined C o l o n n a . H e beat the Venetians

234
Pétain, H e n r i Philippe O m e r Pétain, H e n r i Philippe O m e r

at Vicenza, captured Padua (1514) and Champagne offensive of 25 September

M i l a n (1521) ; Genoa fell to h i m in 1522. 1915. In February 1916, when the de-
After Colonna's death, the nominal com- cision was made to contest the German
mand of the imperial armies went to attack o n V e r d u n , he was sent to direct
Lannoy, the viceroy of Naples, but Pes- the defence ; his brilliant organization of
cara exercised effective control of the the lines of supply to the fortress and
troops. It was Pescara rather than his iron nerve i n maintaining resistance
Lannoy w h o should be credited with the ('they shall not pass') made h i m a na-
smashing victory of the imperial forces tional figure. In M a y he was promoted
over the French at Pavia (February to command A r m y G r o u p Centre and i n
1525), a battle i n which the French king M a y 1917 he replaced Nivelle (q.v.) as
Francis I was captured. Apart from the commander-in-chief o n the western
king, the French lost 8000 men, to casual- front. H i s first task was to quell the
ties on the imperial side of 1000. Pescara mutinies which Nivelle's miscarried of-
died later i n the year, after he had foiled fensive had precipitated and then to re-
a plot by the Milanese to lure h i m over build the army's fighting spirit through
to the French side. A competent and a series of carefully engineered and l i m -
imaginative general, his greatest advan- ited attacks (e.g., the M a l m a i s o n , N o -
tage over his enemies was the quality of vember 1917). In the following spring,
the Spanish troops under his command, however, he failed to offer whole-
and the greater concentration of fire- hearted co-operation to the British
power in his forces (a benign legacy of during the first of the German 'war-
C o r d o b a , q.v.). It was this factor which winning' offensives and, at their request,
determined the outcome of Pavia, as was subordinated to an international
much as the excellent plan he produced commander-in-chief, Foch (q.v.), though
for the conduct of the battle. remaining i n supreme command of the
French. H e was created marshal in N o -
Pétain, H e n r i Philippe O m e r (1856- vember 1918.
1951) M a r s h a l of France. Son of a pros- Between the wars Pétain held every
perous peasant family of the Pas-de- major post at the head of the army,
Calais, Pétain gained admission to besides directing the campaign which
Saint-Cyr and was commissioned into crushed A b d e l - K r i m (q.v.). H e was
the infantry. H i s ability ensured his acting as an ambassador to Spain when
appointment to influential positions, recalled, i n M a y 1940, to become deputy
such as the professorship of tactics at prime minister, and then head of the
the Ecole de guerre, but the unfashion- government (16 June) with the task of
ableness of his views - he opposed the seeking terms from the victorious Ger-
doctrine of offensive à outrance - mans. H e then interpreted it as his duty
slowed his promotion. H e was only a to establish a new regime (Etat français)
colonel i n 1914 (of the 33rd Regiment, to replace the T h i r d Republic, thus pre-
in which de Gaulle, q.v., was serving as senting a l l French officers with a crisis
a lieutenant) and, o n the outbreak of of loyalty which only a few solved by
war, was given command of a brigade choosing to follow de Gaulle (q.v.) into
without being promoted. H i s success at exile. A t the end of the w a r he gave
its head, however, rapidly brought h i m himself up to stand trial, was con-
command of the X X X I I I Corps i n the demned to death, reprieved and impris-
second battle of Artois, M a y 1915, when oned alone o n the Ile d ' Y e u , where he
his leading troops reached the crest of died. Petain's military abilities remain
V i m y Ridge, and then (vice Castlenau, unquestioned : he understood the nature
q.v.) of the Second A r m y during the of mass warfare as practised between

235
Peter the Great Peter the Great

1914 and 1918 and had grasped the i m - The path to the creation of a western
portance of preponderating fire-power style of army, created by western special-
before it broke out. H e also understood ists, was open. In 1699 he conscripted
the common soldier. But he was scepti- 32,000 commoners into the army, and i n
cal and pessimistic by nature and there- 1705 extended this ad hoc arrangement
fore in practice a less inspiring and resil- into a regular system of recruitment;
ient leader than the ebullient Foch. every twenty households were to provide
one recruit. By the end of his reign,
Peter the Great (1672-1725) Tsar of Russia possessed a regular army of
Russia. T h e effect of the reign of Peter 210,000 plus over 100,000 irregulars and
the Great i n Russia was to create a new supplementary troops. T h e financial
'European' state, and nowhere was this burden of this huge force, almost three
effort of modernization more obvious times what contemporaries regarded as
than i n the military sphere. C o m i n g to 'normal' for a state with Russia's popu-
the throne as a minor, and excluded lation, was enormous : it occupied almost
from all power and influence, Peter 85 per cent of Russian revenues. T o
spent his early years in simple surround- support it, Peter revised the whole of
ings; slighted and ostracized by many the tax system to increase his revenues.
Russians, he found his friends among Russian plants were established to manu-
the 'foreign' colony near his house at facture small-arms and artillery : foreign
Preobrazenskoye. F r o m childhood, Peter experts were introduced to teach the
was possessed o f a monumental energy : Russians drill and military arts, as well
he walked at six months, talked volubly as shipbuilding and the skills of military
as a child and practised the most compli- technology. Russian designs, some of
cated games involving model forts and them by Peter himself, were adopted for
using his companions as well-drilled sol- flintlock muskets for the infantry, field
diers. In 1687 these informal regiments artillery and fortifications. In 1716 a set
became the Preobrazensky and the Semy- of army regulations was introduced em-
onevsky Guards. In 1689 a revolt by bodying the best of western practice,
the streltsy (professional musketeers) a l - stating that the objective of an officer
lowed Peter to engineer a coup and seize was 'to k n o w the soldier's business from
effective power. In the reign which fol- first principles and not to rely o n rules
lowed, only one year saw undisturbed . . . ' . The whole service class' was reorgan-
peace. D u r i n g the first eleven years o f ized to provide officer material for the
his reign comparatively little progress administration and armed forces (1718).
was made, save for a campaign against The effects o f all this activity are
the T u r k s which resulted i n the capture harder to gauge. In the Great Northern
of A z o v (1696) and the birth of Russian W a r (1700-21) the Russians were suc-
naval power (see A p r a x i n ) . F r o m 1697 cessful against the Swedes, but Peter's
to 1698 Peter travelled abroad, mainly great victory over Charles X I I at Poltava
to H o l l a n d and England, where he ap- (1709) was w o n by overwhelming superi-
plied his voracious appetite for learning ority of numbers over a Swedish army
to the problems he w o u l d engender i n on the verge of starvation, deep i n
the modernization of Russian society, enemy territory, and with their com-
and i n particular the creation of her mander wounded and i n great pain.
military power. In 1698 the streltsy re- Against a much larger T u r k i s h army i n
belled again, and Peter o n his return M o l d a v i a i n 1711, at the battle of the
from Europe crushed them with a Pruth, Peter allowed himself to be
savagery reminiscent o f the bloodbaths trapped and brought to the verge of
of Ivan the Terrible (q.v.). disaster. O n l y the ineptitude of T u r k i s h

236
Philip II Philip II

G r a n d Vizier Baltaji M e h m e t , and the his advisers, and this precept vitiated
cunning of Peter's negotiator Shafirov, many of the most successful enterprises
allowed h i m to extricate himself. Peter of his reign. H i s best generals - A l v a ,
was no great military commander, a l - Parma (qq.v.), and many others - were
though some of his subordinates were always constrained i n their operations
exceptionally able. H i s military achieve- by the detailed scrutiny which Philip
ment was, as i n the Russian state, to gave to the voluminous reports he re-
make the giant stride which brought quired them to submit. H e confided i n
Russia from eastern backwardness to no one, and kept a l l his servants o n a
the beginnings of a modern, European, short rein. Generals were starved of
army. If such a development was revolu- money and reinforcements, confidence
tionary within Russia's army, it was was suddenly withdrawn without
doubly so within her navy: by the end reason: Philip saw i n every successful
of Peter's reign, the Russian navy had general a potential rebel. A l l the military
displaced the Swedes as the masters of enterprises of importance i n his reign
the Baltic and could be reckoned as one had a religious tinge to them. In the
of the major European forces. Peter case of the Netherlands, he was deter-
threw himself body and soul into the mined to blot out heresy ; with the Otto-
creation of the military might of Russia : mans, a desire to further the crusade
he greeted the birth of a son with delight against Islam; and as far as England was
as 'another recruit!'. Yet he was not a concerned, a wish to return an erring
militarist boor, like Frederick W i l l i a m I sheep to the fold of the True Faith. A n d
of Prussia; his passion was the childish yet religion masked political and econ-
enthusiasm he had shown at Preobrazen- omic, as well as personal, motives. W i t h
skoye. H e could often be found march- the D u t c h he longed to gather for the
ing alongside common soldiers, serving state some of the immense wealth of a
guns with his seamen, leaping into a prosperous mercantile province; the
ditch to use his enormous strength (he battle with the T u r k s was w a r for the
was over61/2feet tall and massively built) economic domination of the Mediter-
in freeing an artillery piece. H e died as ranean. In the case of England, the issue
the result of a chill gained after plunging was more personal. Once the husband
into an icy Finnish river to rescue some of Queen M a r y , Philip felt that he had
drowning soldiers; a characteristic end. prior rights, which Elizabeth spurned ; it
was the English w h o financed and stiff-
Philip II (1527-98) K i n g of Spain. 'I d o ened D u t c h resistance, raided his colo-
not propose, nor desire', Philip wrote to nies and shipping, and acted generally
the Pope in 1566, 'to be the ruler of as a gadfly. But i n this, as in all his
heretics.' O n that cardinal principle his military enterprises, he failed. T h e
life and his work were based, and it Dutch had by his death acquired effec-
provided the inspiration behind the mili- tive independence in the northern prov-
tary activity of his reign. F r o m 1543, inces. T h e expeditions against England,
when he acted as regent in Spain for his from the great A r m a d a of 1588, found-
father, Charles V , Philip was at the heart ered; his interventions i n the French
of government and politics. In a long wars of religion were ineffectual. Even
life he spent only three years (1548—51) the T u r k s , w h o had been decisively
outside S p a i n ; and speaking only Span- beaten at Lepanto (1571), were, by
ish fluently, he seemed to subjects and Philip's death, once more in a command-
foreigners alike the most straitlaced and ing position on land and sea.
Castilian of monarchs. H i s father had The reasons for the failures of Philip's
advised h i m early i n life never to trust enterprises are complex, but at root lay

237
Piccolomini, Ottavio, principe Piccolomini, Ottavio, principe

the quality of his o w n personality. F r o m return in 1631 he made use of his privi-
his office i n the palace monastery of the leged position with Ferdinand II to press
Escurial, in his later years, he continued for Wallenstein's reinstatement as the
the habits of a lifetime. H e ruled and only answer to the menacing dominance
decided everything, from the frankly of the Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus
trivial to matters of supreme urgency. (q.v.). A t Lützen (1632) Piccolomini also
H i s soldiers depended o n his instruc- turned the battle into an imperial vic-
tions, and his understanding of the situ- tory, after the death of Gustavus had
ation gleaned from their reports. Yet he unhinged the Swedish advance. Wallen-
was no soldier: he had experience of stein sent Piccolomini with his cavalry
one battle (Saint-Quentin, 1557), and to batter the Swedes. H i s cuirassiers
acquired a distaste for war. ' H e fears charged again and again, seven times in
war as a burned child dreads the fire', a l l ; not with the ambling caracole, still
wrote a Catholic contemporary. H e had common practice, but full-blooded sabre
no sense of the exigencies and needs of charges, at the gallop. Piccolomini had
five horses shot under h i m and six
war, and acted always as his dutiful
musket wounds i n his b o d y ; but he
generals' arch-critic rather than their aid
fought o n . O n l y the grim determination
and support. Thus some, though not a l l ,
of the Swedes to avenge their king's
of the explanations for the failures of
death, and Wallenstein's mental and
the reign can be found buried i n the
physical exhaustion allowed them to
dark recesses of Philip's nature.
snatch their army from seemingly cer-
tain ruin. After Lützen, Piccolomini
Piccolomini, Ottavio, principe (1599-
became disillusioned by Wallenstein's
1656). Italian soldier in the imperial serv-
blatant self-interest and his determi-
ice. Scion of one of the most ancient
nation to carve out a kingdom for h i m -
families of Italy, Piccolomini served the
self. H e took a leading part i n the group
Habsburgs, i n one capacity or another,
of officers w h o refused to support his
throughout his military career. He-
bid to move against Ferdinand II, and
served against the Protestants in Bo-
was active in the plot which caused W a l -
hemia at the outbreak of the T h i r t y
lenstein's murder i n 1634. But the su-
Years' W a r (1618-48), and i n the assault
preme command which Piccolomini had
on G a b o r Bethlen, Prince of Transylva-
hoped for went to Matthias Gallas.
nia, w h o laid siege to Vienna i n 1619; i n
1623, however, he returned to Italy in In a spirit of some disillusion Piccolo-
the service of the Spanish Habsburgs. mini re-entered Spanish service and tri-
H i s stay south of the A l p s was short- umphed over the French at Thionville
lived, for i n 1627 he was recruited by (1639), where he smashed the army be-
Wallenstein (q.v.) and soon became cap- sieging the t o w n ; a grateful Philip I V
tain of his elite bodyguard. created h i m D u k e of Amalfi for this
Piccolomini had already revealed him- signal service. Once again he was lured
self, both in the marauding campaign back, with large inducements, to serve
against the Hungarians and in Italy, as a the Emperor Ferdinand III ; at the second
cavalry commander of skill and daring. battle of Breitenfeld (1642) he met with
H i s knowledge and experience of Italian one of his few reverses. Although his
politics (for the Piccolomini retained cavalry was successful against the Swed-
great influence in the affairs of Tuscany) ish army of Torstensson (q.v.), his infan-
made h i m a natural choice for a com- try failed under the repeated Swedish
mand in Italy. T h i s meant that he was assaults and many of his men were cap-
absent when Wallenstein was dismissed tured. N o w less favoured in Vienna he
as imperial commander, but o n his returned to the Netherlands, to be sum-

238
Pichegru, Charles Picton, (Sir) Thomas

moned for the last time i n the imperial its name he put d o w n the sansculotte
cause i n M a y 1648, when Ferdinand III insurrection i n Paris of 12 G e r m i n a l (1
appointed h i m commander-in-chief to A p r i l 1795). H e was n o w commander o f
save the imperial armies, shattered by almost all the armies of the republic -
repeated French victories. Piccolomini N o r d , Sambre-et-Meuse, Rhine. H i s am-
had some success, but the odds against bition next led h i m , however, to enter
h i m were extreme, as enemy armies an anti-republican conspiracy w i t h the
pressed forward from both north and émigrés; he was uncovered, tried and
south o n the Habsburg domains. Peace deported to Cayenne i n 1797. H e es-
resolved the problems, however, and caped, served as chief of staff to Korsa-
Piccolomini, a skilled negotiator, played kov (q.v.) during the 1799 campaign i n
an important role as the head of the H o l l a n d , but foolishly returned to Paris
imperial delegation at the congress of in 1803 to join C a d o u d a l , the Vendéen
Nuremberg, which settled the final leader, i n an anti-Bonapartist coup, was
points outstanding between France rearrested and found strangled i n prison
and the empire. Raised to the dignity o f in unexplained circumstances.
an imperial prince i n 1650, he spent the
remainder of his life i n Vienna. Piccolo- Pickett, George Edward (1825-
mini was a field commander of cavalry 75) American (Confederate) general.
rather than a great commander of H i s name is indissolubly linked w i t h the
armies, a courageous, indomitable sol- disastrous 'Pickett's Charge', the high
dier, but no great thinker or innovator. moment of the battle of Gettysburg,
although he d i d not command the
Pichegru, Charles (1761-1804) French attack, nor his troops form a majority
general. O f humble birth but some edu- of those taking part i n it. H e was a
cation, Pichegru was first an usher at close personal friend of Longstreet (q.v.)
the military school of Brienne, then and his favourite divisional commander
served i n the ranks of the artillery until (though he had passed bottom out of
the Revolution opened the road of pro- West Point i n 1846). H e commanded at
motion to h i m through the N a t i o n a l the battle o f Five Forks i n the last days
G u a r d . H a v i n g soldiered i n America and of the Confederacy.
acted as president of a revolutionary
'club' i n Besançon, he was fluent i n the Picton, (Sir) Thomas (1785-1815) Brit-
language of revolution, attracted the ish general. H e commanded the 3rd D i v -
attention of Saint-Just and Robespierre ision i n Portugal, 1810-13, pursued
and with their support quickly became a Masséna after the latter had abandoned
general of division (4 October 1793). In his watch outside the lines of Torres
December he was appointed to com- Vedras, d i d well at Fuentes d ' O n o r o , 5
mand the armies of the Rhine and the M a y 1811, conducted the siege o f Bada-
Moselle i n succession to H o c h e (q.v.) joz, M a r c h 1812, was severely wounded
and i n February 1794 the A r m y of the in the storming, w h i c h he led, and was
N o r t h i n succession to Jourdan (q.v.). chiefly responsible for the success at the
H e fought three brilliant campaigns i n battle of V i t t o r i a . In the 1815 campaign
that year, first against the Austrian Cler- he commanded the 5th D i v i s i o n , was
fayt (q.v.) in Belgium, then o n the Rhine, wounded at Quatre Bras, but neverthe-
lastly i n H o l l a n d , where his cavalry less stayed at duty during the retreat
charged across the ice to capture the (though a junior officer overheard h i m
imprisoned D u t c h fleet. T h e Conven- groaning with pain i n the night) and
tion, which had overthrown his patrons, was shot through the head i n the early
named him Sauveur de la patrie and i n afternoon of Waterloo. A quick-fingered

239
Pilsudski, Joseph Pizarro, Francisco

grenadier relieved h i m of his gold Pizarro, Francisco (1474-1541) Spanish

spectacles as he fell, a gesture by which conquistador. The success of the Spanish
this iron-hearted o l d disciplinarian of conquerors of South America was i n
the Peninsula might well have been large measure due to an extraordinary
amused. audacity, a quality most conspicuously
displayed by Pizarro. After early service
Pilsudski, Joseph (1867-1935) Polish with Balboa on his voyages of discovery,
marshal, founder and head of the Pizarro determined to strike out o n his
modern Polish state. Born a subject of o w n . In 1522 he established a syndicate
the tsar and the son of an ancient Polish with Hernando de Luque and Diego de
noble family, he took up nationalist poli- Almagro, a soldier, for the exploration
tics from his earliest youth and was of the unknown west coast of South
twice imprisoned. After 1905, when he America. Their small party pushed
had failed to interest Japan in support- south, but were stricken by illness and
ing a Polish rebellion, he transferred his by disasters which left Pizarro quite iso-
activities to Austrian G a l i c i a , where he lated with only sixteen companions. T h e
began to organize an army-in-exile. O n main result of this exploration was that
the outbreak of war in 1914 he put it firm reports of a fabulous empire far to
under Austrian orders to fight the Rus- the south seemed to be confirmed. P i z -
sians, but refused to operate outside arro's scheme was to mount an exp-
'Polish' territory. After the overthrow of edition into this u n k n o w n region under
the tsar, he and the Central Powers fell his command, but his plans were
out and he was imprisoned by the Ger- thwarted by the total opposition of the
mans, July 1917-November 1918. Re- governor of Panama. Pizarro was deter-
leased, and recognized by the German mined to pursue his plan, however, and
puppet government in Warsaw as head in 1528 sailed to Spain to appeal to the
of state, he gathered the various patriot Emperor Charles V in person. H i s plans
armies and organized a large, strong were sanctioned and he was given wide
national army, later (1919) to be armed powers over any conquests on the west
by the French. Its first battles were with coast. But it proved difficult to find the
Czech, Ukrainian and German forces support for an expedition, and he. was
over border disputes, but in 1920, follow- forced to set out with only 3 ships, 180
ing an extension of Polish boundaries to men and 27 horses (1531). Although his
the line of the 1772 frontier with Russia, partners were angry at the power
it entered into serious fighting with the granted to h i m personally, the force
Red A r m y . Pilsudski's advance to Kiev made a united assault over the moun-
(7 M a y 1920) was repulsed by tains (a major feat in itself) into the
Tukhachevsky and Budenny (qq.v.) and Inca empire. They were faced by a well-
he was forced back to the outskirts of trained army of 30,000 under Atahualpa
Warsaw, where with French aid (see (q.v.), the victors i n a bitter civil war
Weygand) he w o n a decisive victory against their leader's brother, Huascar.
(16-25 August). In his subsequent ad- Atahualpa disregarded the threat from
vance (battles of the Niemen and the so small a force and was lured into a
Szczara) he recovered all the territory meeting with Pizarro at Cajamarca
under claim. H e resigned as head of (1532). T h e Spanish seized h i m , render-
state in 1923, but in 1926, impatient ing the Inca army leaderless; once his
with the pettiness of the parties, he or- uses were exhausted, and his huge
ganized a coup and thereafter personally ransom paid, Atahualpa was murdered.
administered power almost until his Pizarro, like Cortes, was adept at ex-
death. ploiting factional strife among his en-

240
Plumer, Herbert Charles Poniatowski, Prince Josef A n t o n

emies for his o w n advantage. A brother, slapdash G o u g h (q.v.) to make headway

and rival, of Atahualpa, M a n c o Capac, in the T h i r d Battle itself, the main effort
was appointed Inca, and potential oppo- was transferred to his Second A r m y
sition neutralized. The capital, C u z c o , (such success as the battle achieved was
was occupied peacefully in 1533, and w o n by it). In the following A p r i l he
two years later Pizarro built his o w n succeeded in holding Ypres against the
city at L i m a . A rebellion by M a n c o second of Germany's great 'war-
Capac was brutally crushed in 1536, and winning' offensives. A s much as G o u g h
the last pretence of Inca independence was disliked by his soldiers, Plumer was
suppressed. But the Spaniards fell out liked and trusted. H e was arguably the
among themselves: A l m a g r o declared best British general of the First W o r l d
war on Pizarro and succeeded in taking W a r , though his white moustache, red
C u z c o . But in 1538 Pizarro defeated h i m face and dumpy figure provided the
in battle and had h i m executed. A l m a - model for the cartoonist D a v i d L o w ' s
gro's son and his other supporters had famous C o l o n e l B l i m p .
their revenge, however, when they ar-
ranged for his assassination. The effect Polk, Leonidas (1806-64) American
of all these squabbles was state interven- (Confederate) general. Three months
tion from Spain, and although Pizarro's after graduating from West Point, Polk
faction continued to resist royal auth- left the army to take episcopal orders
ority, they were beaten and royal su- and was bishop of Louisiana when war
premacy finally established in 1569. In between N o r t h and South broke out.
Pizarro bravery and brutality were Commissioned a major-general, 'more
found in equal measure; his skill as a as a symbol than a military leader', he
soldier had no great subtlety, either in nevertheless defeated Grant (q.v.) at Bel-
tactics or planning. mont, M i s s o u r i , on 7 November 1861.
H e commanded the Confederate right at
Plumer, Herbert Charles (ist Viscount Shiloh, leading four charges in person,
Plumer of Messines; 1857-1932) Brit- and was killed by a shell at Pine M o u n -
ish field-marshal. A n officer of the Y o r k tain in the Atlanta campaign. 'There
and Lancaster Regiment, Plumer first died a gentleman and a high church
made his name as a commander of dignitary,' a fellow general wrote,
mounted infantry in South Africa. H e adding a little unfairly: ' A s a soldier he
became quartermaster-general after the was more theoretical than practical.'
Boer W a r and in December 1914 was
appointed to command II Corps (from Poniatowski, Prince Josef A n t o n (1763-
M a y 1915, Second Army) in the Ypres 1813) M a r s h a l of France. A l t h o u g h his
salient. T h a t , until 1917, was a quiet father was a general in Austrian service,
sector, the main British offensives of his o w n birthplace Vienna, and he him-
1915-16 being fought in Artois and self served first in Austrian regiments
on the Somme, but in June 1917, as a (he was wounded by the T u r k s on the
preliminary to the coming offensive at river Save in 1788), he both was and felt
Ypres itself (Third Battle, or Paschen- himself to be Polish and went home at
daele) he organized the efficient and once when called to defend his country
cheap capture of Messines ridge by a in 1789. H e commanded a division
limited advance following the explosion against the Russians in 1792 and again,
of several enormous mines. The victory under Kosciuszko (q.v.), in 1794. He
typified his approach to the problems of lived then in inactivity until 1807 when
trench warfare, which he thoroughly Napoleon offered h i m rank and office
understood and, after the failure by the in the G r a n d Duchy of W a r s a w , which

241
Pontiac Pope, John

had been taken under French protection. W i t h his acute understanding of the
H e campaigned against the Archduke possible, however, Pontiac realized that
Ferdinand (q.v.) in 1809, commanded in a long-drawn-out war the inherent
the 5th (Polish) Corps i n the Russian disunity among the tribes w o u l d surface
campaign and the right of the army at once more and his forces w o u l d melt
Leipzig the following year (16-18 O c t o - away. Bargaining from a strong position
ber). Napoleon created h i m marshal on with Sir W i l l i a m Johnson, the leading
the eve of that battle ; the day after, he expert i n Indian affairs, at Oswego in
was wounded in a skirmish and, plung- 1766, he reached an acceptable treaty of
ing mounted into the river Elster to peace for the Indian federation. By this
escape his pursuers, was drowned (while agreement the Indians were given guaran-
his companion M a c d o n a l d , q.v., got to tees that a firm frontier w o u l d be estab-
safety). lished, beyond which the white men
w o u l d not pass. It could not be policed,
Pontiac (1720-69) Chief of the Ottawa however, and renewed conflict eventu-
Indians and war leader. Creator of the ally became inevitable.
great Indian confederation against the Pontiac had achieved a remarkable
British at the end of the Seven Years' success, only to be murdered by an
W a r (1756-63), Pontiac became the chief Indian at St Louis, M i s s o u r i , three years
of his tribe by 1755. After contact with later. H i s grasp of the strategic situation,
British and American settlers, he came and his immensely powerful personality,
to hate and distrust them, seeing in their made possible the synchronized attacks
steady penetration eastwards the begin- over a vast area, and even in defeat he
nings of real control and colonization, managed to maintain a unified front
quite unlike the loose alliance system against the enemy. After his death the
which the French had operated. W i t h confederation which he created fell apart
French backing he united the forest for lack of any strong personality at its
tribes - an enormous feat i n itself - in a centre, a fact which the white men o n
joint plan against the British : each tribe the frontier were quick to exploit. But
w o u l d rise against the British, attack his strategy - of separate but co-
and destroy their commerce, forts and ordinated attacks spread over a vast dis-
trading posts, massacring all the inhabit- tance - was a genuine innovation for the
ants. In M a y 1763 this elaborate strategy period, a brilHant exploitation o f the
was accomplished. O f twelve fortified advantages which the vast wilderness of
posts attacked by the tribes, all but four N o r t h America could give to the Indian
fell to them, and the line of defence for tribes.
the colonies vanished. Pontiac's o w n sur-
prise attack o n Detroit was betrayed, Pope, John (1822-92) American
and despite settling d o w n to besiege the (Union) general. A West Point graduate,
fortress i n approved fashion, he had commissioned into the Topographical
neither the men nor the equipment to Engineers, Pope was promoted from cap-
capture it. But he w o n a definite victory tain to brigadier-general (of volunteers,
at the battle of Bloody R u n (July 1763), not the regular army) at the outbreak of
although he was worsted i n an engage- the C i v i l W a r . H e led the A r m y of the
ment with the R o y a l Americans under M i s s o u r i in the advance to C o r i n t h (see
Bouquet (q.v.) at Bushy R u n a week Halleck), A p r i l - J u n e 1862, and was then
later. H e resorted to the more normal chosen by Lincoln to command the new
guerrilla warfare with very great suc- A r m y of V i r g i n i a . Asked by a reporter
cess: the frontier reeled under the re- where his headquarters w o u l d be, he
peated Indian attacks. answered, ' i n the saddle'. T h i s promise

242
Portal, Charles Potemkin, G r i g o r i Alexandrovich

of dynamic generalship was belied in with Turkey and her expansion i n the
practice, for he was shortly and soundly east, around the Black Sea, into the
beaten by Lee and Jackson (qq.v.) in the Crimea and the Caucasus. Potemkin
second battle of Bull R u n . H e was at served i n the T u r k i s h w a r o f 1768-74
once relieved, the reward, his army and achieved considerable success; he
(whom he had annoyed) said, for 'keep- also attracted attention at court. In 1774
ing his headquarters where his hindquar- he became Catherine's fifth lover, and
ters should have been'. when this relationship ended after a pas-
sionate three years he continued as her
Portal, Charles (ist Viscount Portal of confidant and chief adviser. Potemkin's
H u n g e r f o r d ; 1893-1971) British air vision was of a Russian empire stretch-
marshal. Former head of Bomber C o m - ing towards India, and he set about
mand, Portal was appointed chief o f the creating the basis for this advance. H e
air staff in 1940 and held the post to the constructed an arsenal at Kherson, i n
end o f the war. H i s principal contribu- 1778, which increased Russia's offensive
tion to its winning was i n proffering potential, and fortified Sebastopol, after
advice to C h u r c h i l l , w h o greatly re- Russia's peaceful annexation of the
spected his judgement, and in arguing Crimea in 1783. H e rebuilt A p r a x i n ' s
the British case at inter-Allied confer- (q.v.) Black Sea flotilla, and sought by a
ences w i t h the Americans, by w h o m he process of 'plantation' to colonize the
was much liked and trusted. H e had a Ukraine. M o s t o f this activity was only
rapport w i t h A r n o l d (q.v.) similar i n partly successful, the product o f a furi-
closeness to that between M a r s h a l l and ous energy which characterized a l l his
D i l l (qq.v.). activities. But he lacked real, sustained,
administrative talent. In 1784 Catherine
Porter, David Dixon (1813-91) raised h i m to the rank of field-marshal;
American (union) admiral. A half- in 1787 he took her o n a splendid tour
brother o f Farragut (q.v.), Porter com- of her newly w o n possessions. Where
manded the river fleet under Grant (q.v.) the policy of settlement had failed, he
in the Vicksburg campaign, in which his simply built fake villages and c o m m u n i -
brother W i l l i a m D a v i d (1809-64) also ties and filled them with peasants, only
served. Their father D a v i d (1780-1843) to serve the purpose of letting her see
had commanded the frigate Essex with the progress that had been made (the
panache i n the w a r o f 1812 and, after phrase 'a Potemkin village' has entered
dismissal for unauthorized action literary currency).
against Spanish ships while o n anti- W i t h the outbreak o f the second
piracy patrol in the Caribbean, had trans- Russo-Turkish war (1787-92), Potemkin
ferred, together w i t h D a v i d D i x o n , to took command. The war was not a great
the M e x i c a n navy (1826-9). success and failed to produce the
dramatic gains i n Georgia and Bessa-
Potemkin, Grigori Alexandrovich, rabia for which he had hoped. A s the
Prince (1731-91) Russian statesman French Revolution began to affect inter-
and soldier. Potemkin, a dominating national politics and alliances, the focus
figure, began his career as a soldier in a of attention turned to the west and a
Guards regiment, but his real triumphs hurried peace was made with Turkey.
occurred in the boudoir of Catherine Potemkin died while travelling to the
the Great, first as her lover and then as peace conference at Jassy (in Romania).
her main adviser for some seventeen H i s great achievement, w i t h the sus-
years. In the military sphere his career tained support o f Catherine the Great,
was closely bound up with Russia's wars was to give Russian policy its strong

243
P o u n d , (Sir) Alfred Dudley Pickman Powell, C o l i n Luther

southern and eastern bent. T h e lure of political symbol as a military

Constantinople, which figured so commander.
strongly i n Russian eyes i n the next cen- Powell's father and mother were
tury, was virtually his creation. A gigan- native Jamaicans w h o emigrated i n the
tic, Promethean character, his ambitions mid-192os to the H a r l e m district of N e w
were o n a similar scale. Y o r k C i t y where they married, later set-
tling i n the South Bronx where both
P o u n d , (Sir) Alfred Dudley Pickman worked for garment firms, his father
Rogers (1877-1943) British admiral. eventually rising to foreman. This multi-
Executive head of the R o y a l Navy cultural upbringing left Powell with an
during the first years of the Second ease at all levels of society, and a habit
W o r l d W a r , Pound had sailed as flag of peppering his speech with Y i d d i s h
captain i n the battleship Colossus at words when necessary. T h e pronunci-
Jutland i n 1916, was postwar head of ation of his name, originally K A H - l i n i n
the plans division, and commanded the Caribbean fashion, changed to K O A H -
Mediterranean fleet between 1936 and lun after 1941 i n imitation of Captain
1939, when he was promoted admiral of C o l i n P. Kelly Jr, a famous American
the fleet and First Sea L o r d . In that post fighter pilot of the Second W o r l d W a r .
he 'virtually worked himself to death', Ability and achievement showed
attending to administrative duties i n the strongly i n Powell's wider family, which
Admiralty by day and sleeping there i n believed i n education as a means of bet-
a camp-bed by night, during which he terment. Later i n life, he w o u l d count
often rose to intervene directly i n the among his cousins t w o senior judges, an
conduct of operations i n progress. This ambassador and a television station
habit, as his senior subordinates had owner. Powell himself showed a me-
warned, eventually contributed to a dis- chanical aptitude which led to a lifelong
aster, i n the handling o f the defence of hobby o f repairing o l d cars, but was
the ill-fated convoy P Q 17 i n July 1942. academically undistinguished. H i s par-
H e was, moreover, acting as chairman ents put h i m through City College, N e w
of the Chiefs of Staff Committee until Y o r k , where he scraped a degree major-
M a r c h 1942 (when he was succeeded by ing i n geology. H e joined the university
Alanbrooke, q.v.), although his sleepi- A r m y Reserve Officers T r a i n i n g Corps
ness and the slow growth of a brain ( R O T C ) i n 1956 for no better reason
tumour, of which he was aware, made than that he liked the uniform. O n gradu-
him increasingly ineffective in that role. ation his parents allowed h i m to volun-
H e nevertheless died i n harness. teer as an infantry officer rather than
wait to be drafted, before finding a
Powell, Colin Luther (1937- ) proper job. But like many young men
American general and Chairman of before h i m , Powell had found his vo-
the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Per- cation. H e remained in the army, opting
sian G u l f W a r of 1991. T h e first black for the elite airborne forces. In 1962,
American to reach the United States' shortly after his marriage, he began the
highest military appointment, Powell first of t w o tours in Vietnam which
was also the youngest Chairman of the earned him the rank of major and eleven
J C S , the most famous since O m a r Brad- medals and decorations.
ley (q.v.), and the only one never to W i t h the U S A r m y desegregated only
attend either West Point or Annapolis. in 1948, and the emerging C i v i l Rights
H e represents the embodiment o f the movement in America, race w o u l d
military version of the American dream, always be an important factor i n
and w i l l always be seen as much as a Powell's career. In 1969 he returned to

244
P o w e l l , C o l i n Luther P o w e l l , C o l i n Luther

college to earn a master's degree in busi- By this time Powell was both a celeb-
ness administration from George Wash- rity and a symbol, who worked hard to
ington University. H i s first major break promote awareness of race issues, includ-
came in 1972 when against fierce compe- ing the neglected role of black soldiers
tition he was made a White House in American military history. H e had
Fellow in the Office of Management also established a formidable reputation
and Budget under Casper Weinberger, as a political soldier. W h e n Reagan's
followed by a rapid rise through army vice-president George Bush ran for the
staff and command appointments. In the presidency in 1988 there was some early
murky bureaucratic w o r l d of official speculation that Powell might be his
Washington, Powell established a re- vice-president. Instead, Powell returned
markable reputation not only for compe- to active service w i t h the army. In O c t o -
tence, but for the almost impossible com- ber 1989 President Bush appointed h i m
bination of both loyalty and probity, to a two-year term as C h a i r m a n of the
keeping himself carefully neutral be- J C S , a position which had been strength-
tween the two main political parties. ened in 1986 to make its holder the
F r o m 1976 he served i n the office of the principal presidential military adviser.
Secretary of Defense under Democrat In December 1989 the American interven-
President Jimmy Carter, but in 1983 tion in Panama (Operation Just Cause)
Weinberger, now Secretary of Defense showed to the full Powell's military phil-
under Republican President R o n a l d osophy of using overwhelming force to
Reagan, made Powell his M i l i t a r y Assist- achieve a quick and decisive victory.
ant. Powell's military philosophy The culmination of Powell's military
matched that of Weinberger; both be- career came with the Iraqi invasion of
lieved that America should avoid the K u w a i t in August 1990, which led to the
use of force, but that if used it should American decision to commit combat
be as strong and decisive as possible. forces first in defence of Saudi A r a b i a
The beginnings of this approach were and then in J a n u a r y - M a r c h 1991 to
seen i n the American intervention in expel the Iraqis from K u w a i t in Oper-
Grenada in 1983 (Operation Urgent ation Desert Storm. Powell functioned as
Fury) and the punitive bombing raid on the critical link between President Bush
T r i p o l i in 1986, in both of which Powell and the American armed forces in hold-
played a small role. ing together a coalition of almost thirty
Even in Reagan's scandal-prone but countries and managing the direction of
indestructible 'Teflon Presidency', the war, including an often fraught re-
Powell's ability to walk between the rain- lationship with the American commander
drops was highly prized. Despite his in the Persian Gulf, the flamboyant and
minor involvement in the bizarre 'Iran- sometimes prickly General N o r m a n
Contra Scandal' of 1986, in which the Schwarzkopf (q.v.). The Persian G u l f
Reagan government illegally sold arms W a r was an overwhelming American
to its arch-enemy Iran in order to fund a victory, and a testimony to Powell's
further illegal war in Nicaragua, Powell skill. T h i s was reinforced by a carefully
was able to show that he had acted crafted media image for which Powell
under direct orders, managed to be out always denied direct responsibility,
of the country commanding troops when which portrayed him as advising caution
the scandal broke, and was never called after the Iraqi invasion of K u w a i t , and
to account for his actions in public. In as a man of peace reluctant to go to
1987 he was appointed as N a t i o n a l Sec- war. In the euphoric aftermath of the
urity Adviser to the President, and a year victory President Bush, to quell rumours
later promoted to full general. of disagreement between himself and

245
Price, D a v i d Putnik, R a d o m i r

Powell, appointed him to a second term soldier, for his early military career coin-
as Chairman of the J C S four months cided with one of Spain's rare passages
early in M a y 1991. of internal and external peace, he seized
Powell completed his appointment as the opportunity presented by the humili-
Chairman of the J C S under the new ating defeat of the army in M o r o c c o at
Democrat President B i l l C l i n t o n , and re- A n u a l , 21 July 1921 (see A b d el-Krim)
tired from the army in 1993, still care- to take dictatorial powers. H i s principal
fully neutral in his political allegiances, aim was to suppress internal disorders,
but amid great speculation that he might both anarchist and separatist, but de-
return to politics once more. T h e boy pressed by his failure to establish secure
from the South Bronx who made it to government he resigned in 1930, after
the top, Powell remains a role-model taking the unusual step of polling the
for black Americans, and the epitome of officers of the army as to whether or
a successful political general. not they wished h i m to continue in
power.
Price, D a v i d (1790-1854) British admi- H i s son José Primo de Rivera (1903-
ral. Appointed commander-in-chief in 36), was the founder of the Falange, the
the Pacific at the outbreak of the Spanish fascist movement, and was shot
Crimean W a r , though he had never by republicans at the outbreak of the
before captained more than a single Civil War.
ship, he arranged with the accompany-
ing French squadron to attack Petropav- Putnik, R a d o m i r (1847-1917) Serbian
lovsk on the Kamchatka peninsula, but voivod (commander-in-chief). H e took
shot himself w i t h his pistol at the open- part in the wars of 1876-7 with T u r k e y ,
ing of the action. It is surmised that this by which Serbian independence was
bizarre suicide was committed in recog- definitively established, and of 1885-6
nition of how wholly unfitted he was to with Bulgaria. Appointed voivod at
exercise a major command. the approach of the Balkan wars of
1912-13, he commanded the Serbian
P r i m y Prats, Juan (conde de Reus, army in the fighting. A t the outbreak
marques de Los Castillejos; 1814- of war with Austria in July 1914, he
70) Spanish general and politician. again took the field and w o n the victory
Rapidly promoted during the Carlist of the Jadar, a brilliant success for a
wars, he w o n great success in Spain's commander so outnumbered. After
M o r o c c a n war, 1856-60, and led the being forced to surrender Belgrade in
Spanish troops in the joint Franco- November, he counter-attacked (battle
Spanish expedition to M e x i c o , 1861-2. of K o l u b r a , 3-9 December), recaptured
O n his return, his career became wholly the capital and expelled the Austrians
political and chiefly dedicated to finding from the national territory. In O c t o b e r -
a ruler suitable to the establishment of a November 1915, however, the Serbian
true constitutional monarchy in the king- army was overwhelmed by vastly
d o m . H i s offer of the throne to Leopold superior German-Austrian forces (see
of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1870 Mackensen) and its survivors, carry-
precipitated the Franco-Prussian war. ing the desperately sick voivod on
H e himself was shortly afterwards their shoulders, made a terrible
assassinated. retreat through the mountains to the
Adriatic, whence they were evacuated
Primo de Rivera, Juan, marques to Corfu. A m o n g the Serbs' many
d'Estella (1870-1930) Spanish general national heroes, he stands with the
and dictator. A politician rather than a foremost.

246
 R
Radetzky v o n Radetz, Joseph Wenzel, zky', and idolized by Habsburg loyalists,
G r a f (1766-1858) Austrian field-mar- he stands among the very greatest of
shal. H i s career i n a remarkable manner Austrian generals.
embraced t w o worlds, beginning i n one
of Austria's familiar frontier campaigns Raeder, E r i c h (1876-1960) German ad-
against the T u r k s i n the Balkans and miral. D u r i n g the First W o r l d W a r he
ending with the suppression of national- served as chief of staff to H i p p e r (q.v.)
ist insurrection w i t h i n the Habsburg and was present at the battles of the
empire, a prodrome of the conflicts Dogger Bank and Jutland. Promoted ad-
which w o u l d lead to its break-up i n miral i n 1928 as commander-in-chief of
1918. A s a young cavalry officer, he Germany's tiny post-Versailles navy (al-
distinguished himself in the French revo- lowed no submarines or ships larger
lutionary wars, was wounded at than cruisers), he built the 'pocket' bat-
M a r e n g o , acted as chief of the general tleships and, after Hitler's seizure of
staff (a less influential post then than power, the first of a new generation of
later), 1809-12, was chief of staff to U-boats. H e was promoted grand admi-
Schwarzenberg (q.v.) i n 1813, when he ral in 1939. Raeder's a i m was to create
helped to plan the Leipzig campaign, a new H i g h Seas Fleet (see Tirpitz), but
and campaigned successfully i n the 1814 the coming of war found it not yet built
invasion of France. Between 1815 and and he was obliged to make his main
1829 he was again chief of the general effort with his U-boats. Their success,
staff and persisted i n attempts to reform and the failure of his surface ships i n
the army which merely w o n h i m en- their rare sorties, lost Raeder Hitler's
emies. Afterwards he served chiefly i n support and he was replaced by Dönitz
Italy, and was commander-in-chief there (q.v.), commander of the submarine
when the 1848 rebellion i n M i l a n force, in January 1943.
erupted. H e withdrew from the city into
the 'Quadrilateral' ( M a n t u a , Verona, Pe- Raglan, Fitzroy James Henry Somerset
schiera, Legnano) and when King (ist Baron R a g l a n ; 1788-1855) British
Charles Albert (q.v.) of Sardinia took field-marshal. Younger son of the 5th
the field at the head of the united Italian Duke of Beaufort, he acted as aide-
patriot armies, he first conducted a de-camp to Wellington in the Peninsula,
brilliant delaying manoeuvre, then at was on his staff at Waterloo, where he
Custozza (24-5 June) and N o v a r a (23 lost an a r m , and served as secretary at
M a r c h 1849) completely crushed h i m . the Horse Guards (army headquarters),
H e next starved Venice into surrender 1827-52, when he succeeded the Duke
and i n the following year prevented a as commander-in-chief and was enno-
resumption of revolt i n M i l a n . H e was bled. Promoted field-marshal i n 1854,
eighty-four and was not to retire until he was sent to the Crimea to take charge
he reached ninety-one. Adored by his of the British army there, w o n the battles
soldiers, w h o called h i m 'Vater Radet- of the A l m a and Inkerman, but became

247
Rakoczy, George I Reichenau, Walter von

the scapegoat for the terrible suffer- R a p p , Jean (comte ; 1772-1821 ) French
ings of the army on the heights of general. Intended by his family for the
Sebastopol during the winter of 1854-5. Protestant ministry, Rapp enlisted i n -
H e died ten days after the failure of stead in the cavalry in 1788, was commis-
the attack o n the Redan and the sioned i n 1794, was taken by Desaix
M a l a k o v (18 June). H i s self-reproaches (q.v.) to Egypt and became aide-de-camp
were more severe than those of his to Napoleon in 1805. R a p p was a simple
critics. fighting soldier but one of extraordinary
bravery : he was wounded at least twelve
Rakoczy, George I (1593-1648) H u n - times in action between 1793 and 1812
garian soldier and monarch. A s Prince and in 1813 sustained a year-long de-
of Transylvania, Rakoczy existed i n an fence of Danzig against the Russians.
uneasy no-man's-land between the Otto-
mans, his theoretical overlord, and the R a w l i n s o n , Henry Seymour (ist Baron
Habsburgs. H e came to the throne i n R a w l i n s o n ; 1864-1925) British gen-
1630, succeeding G a b o r Bethlen, w h o eral. H e commanded the Fourth A r m y
had taken over the throne from R a - on I July 1916, the first day of the
koczy's father, Z s i g m u n d . Rakoczy had battle of the Somme, when 57,000 of its
taken an active part i n Gabor's wars largely volunteer soldiers were killed or
with Ferdinand II and participated i n wounded. O n 8 August 1918, the Fourth
the T h i r t y Years' W a r (1618-48) o n the A r m y , by then a veteran formation and
Protestant side. By the treaty of equipped with nearly 500 tanks, w o n
N i k o l s b u r g (1621) much of Habsburg the remarkable victory of Amiens
Hungary was ceded to Transylvania. A s against the Germans.
what amounted to a minor Protestant
power, Rakoczy allied himself with the Reichenau, Walter von (1884-
Swedes after their entry into the w a r 1942) German field-marshal. A Guards
and continued his campaign against the artillery officer of the imperial army,
Habsburgs. H i s power as an irritant was Reichenau's early and fervent conver-
considerable, and i n 1645 he was bought sion to N a t i o n a l Socialism made h i m
off by the treaty of L i n z , which exacted notorious among his fellow generals
further recognition of Transylvanian before Hitler's seizure o f power. T h e
independence and imposed freedom of latter twice tried to appoint h i m
religion for Protestants i n Habsburg commander-in-chief, first i n succession
Hungary. to Hammerstein-Equord i n 1934, then
to Fritsch (q.v.) after the B l o m b e r g -
Ramsay, (Sir) Bertram H o m e (1883- Fritsch crisis of 1938; o n both occasions
1945) British admiral. A s flag officer he deferred to the objections of R e i -
at Dover i n 1940, he was i n charge of chenau's enemies (who included, i n
the D u n k i r k evacuation. F r o m A p r i l 1934, Hindenburg). By the time the next
1942 he worked o n amphibious land- opportunity arose (see Brauchitsch), he
ings, o f which he was to be Britain's had decided to fill the post himself.
chief practitioner during the Second Reichenau was a man of overbearing
W o r l d W a r . H e planned the N o r t h A f r i - personality and ruthless disposition: as
can, Sicily, D - D a y and Walcheren land- commander o f the Sixth A r m y i n Russia
ings, and was naval commander-in-chief (June-December 1941) he issued a 'Sever-
for the cross-channel invasion. H e was ity Order' which encouraged acts o f
killed i n an air crash o n his way to 'vengeance' against Russians i n general.
confer with Montgomery (q.v.) during Previously he had commanded the Tenth
the Ardennes battle. A r m y i n Poland and captured W a r s a w ,

248
Rennenkampf, Paul Karlovich von Richard III

and the Sixth i n Belgium, where he re- did not have Alva's military s k i l l , and
ceived the capitulation of K i n g L e o p o l d . the Spanish were forced back, losing
H e replaced Rundstedt (q.v.) at the head town after t o w n to the D u t c h . T h e only
of A r m y G r o u p South i n Hitler's great success was the capture of the island of
purge of senior commanders i n Decem- Zierikzee, when a strong Spanish force
ber 1941 and commanded it i n the ad- landed at l o w tide and stormed the
vance to Stalingrad (see Paulus). H e died defenders; the leader o f the Sea Beg-
in an aeroplane crash while on his way gars was killed i n the encounter. But this
to hospital for treatment of a heart did little to stem the D u t c h advance,
attack, it not being established which of and when Requesens died the Spanish
these calamities was the cause of his cause was i n a state of crisis. T h e new
death. governor, D o n Juan (q.v.), was some-
thing i n the nature o f a vain hope. But
Rennenkampf, Paul Karlovich von the hope was fulfilled, for D o n Juan
(1853-1918) Russian general. Of and his cousin Alexander Farnese
Baltic-German descent, he had fought i n (Parma, q.v.) began to rebuild the for-
the Russo-Japanese w a r , when he and tunes of Spain.
Samsonov (q.v.) had quarrelled so vio-
lently o n M u k d e n railway station that Richard III (1452-85) English king and
they had come to blows. It was unfortu- soldier. Whatever the black legend
nate therefore that i n 1914 they should created by the Tudors may say of the
have been given command respectively character o f R i c h a r d III, it does nothing
of the First and Second armies, between to conceal his skill as a soldier. O n e o f
which perfect co-operation was neces- the foremost practitioners of arms i n
sary if the planned invasion o f East Prus- his day (the 'deformed' shoulder was,
sia were to succeed. Separated by the in fact, the overdeveloped a r m and
M a s u r i a n lakes, and communicating en shoulder of an expert swordsman), with
clair by wireless (which was intercepted his brother, E d w a r d I V , R i c h a r d was i n
by the Germans), the t w o generals control of the Y o r k i s t cause; i n 1470
allowed themselves to be defeated i n they were forced into exile when the E a r l
turn, Samsonov at Tannenberg (26—31 of W a r w i c k , ' T h e Kingmaker', switched
August), Rennenkampf at the M a s u r i a n his support to the Lancastrian cause and
lakes (9-14 September). These great placed Henry V I once again o n the
victories made Hindenburg (q.v.) a Ger- English throne. In 1471 R i c h a r d and
man national hero and led o n to those E d w a r d returned ; i n the ensuing battles
of the M a s u r i a n Winter Battle and of Barnet, where W a r w i c k was killed,
Gorlice-Tarnow (see also Ludendorff, and Tewkesbury, i n A p r i l and M a y ,
Hoffmann, Mackensen). Rennenkampf R i c h a r d commanded the Y o r k i s t right
was removed from active command and with great success and ruthlessness. T h e
was eventually shot by the Bolsheviks. Lancastrian cause was i n ruins. It seems
likely that after Tewkesbury R i c h a r d was
Requesens, Luis de Z u n i g a y (1528- instrumental i n arranging the murder
76) Spanish soldier. T h e unfortunate of Henry V I , n o w both a danger and
successor of the D u k e of A l v a (q.v.) i n an inconvenience. E d w a r d , n o w k i n g ,
the Netherlands, he inherited the full relied heavily o n his brother, heaping
measure of the hatred created by Alva's riches and offices upon h i m . In 1480 he
savage rule. L i k e A l v a , he could do little was created lieutenant-general of the
to control the ravages of the Sea Beg- N o r t h and was successful i n achieving
gars, w h o routed yet another Spanish the pacification of what had been largely
fleet off Walcheren (1574). Requesens Lancastrian territory. W h e n E d w a r d I V

249
Richthofen, M a n f r e d Freiherr von Roberts, Frederick Sleigh

died prematurely i n 1483 Richard was Rickenbacker, E d w a r d V e r o n (1890-

created protector to the young E d w a r d 1973) American fighter ace. T h e lead-
V . H e immediately executed his rivals, ing American ace of the First W o r l d
the W o o d v i l l e faction centred o n the W a r , credited with twenty-six victories,
queen dowager, Elizabeth W o o d v i l l e , Rickenbacker had made a reputation for
and had the young king declared a himself before 1914 as a racing driver
bastard. H e n o w took the throne as and it was as chauffeur to General
Richard III, crushing a revolt by the Pershing (q.v.) that he first served i n
Duke of Buckingham and executing all France. H e did not make an operational
its leaders. flight until M a r c h 1918. In later life he
A more serious danger was posed by became chairman of a major American
Henry T u d o r , an associate of Bucking- airline and during the Second W o r l d
ham w h o had fled abroad. In August W a r , when he returned to the service,
1485 Henry landed with 3000 French survived twenty-one days o n a raft i n
mercenaries i n Wales, the base of his the Pacific Ocean.
power. T h e t w o opposing forces met at
Bosworth i n Leicestershire, R i c h a r d w i t h Roberts, Frederick Sleigh (ist E a r l R o b -
10,000 men, Henry w i t h half that erts of Kandahar, Pretoria and Water-
number. But Richard's army dwindled f o r d ; 1832-1913) British field-marshal.
as first the troops of the D u k e of N o r t h - Born at Cawnpore, the son of a general,
umberland, and then those of L o r d he was educated at Eton and Sandhurst
Stanley, revealed that they had sold out and then, i n order to enter Indian serv-
to Henry T u d o r . In the fight which fol- ice, Addiscombe, from which he was
lowed Richard was cut d o w n i n a 'death gazetted to the Bengal Artillery i n 1851.
or glory' b i d to reach Henry and k i l l H e w o n the V i c t o r i a Cross i n 1858
h i m . H a d Richard had the chance to saving the life of a loyal Indian trooper
display his military talents o n a wider, from mutineers, served o n the staff o f
European field, his military reputation Robert Napier (q.v.) i n Abyssinia, com-
w o u l d stand much higher. manded the illustrious Punjab Frontier
Force 1878-80 and with it, and later
Richthofen, Manfred Freiherr v o n other troops, fought the Second Afghan
(1892-1918) German fighter ace; 'the W a r virtually singlehanded. H i s march
Red Knight'. Germany's leading fighter from the capital of Afghanistan, K a b u l ,
ace of the First W o r l d W a r , Richthofen to relieve a beleaguered British garrison
was credited with eighty victories, more at Kandahar made h i m famous through-
than claimed by any other pilot of any out the Empire and he was appointed to
nationality. A regular cavalry officer, he command the M a d r a s army. Promoted
learnt to fly i n 1916, eventually rose to field-marshal in 1895 (though n o w
command a group of fighter squadrons, k n o w n everywhere by his soldier nick-
Jagdgruppe I, brought together by the name 'Bobs') he was sent i n 1900 to
high command as an intervention force assume command i n South Africa after
intended to secure air superiority over a the disasters of Black Week, with K i t c h -
chosen section o f the front, and, after a ener (q.v.) as his chief of staff. H e re-
charmed career of destruction, was shot mained there until the Boers' main
d o w n by small-arms fire from an Austral- forces were beaten i n October (though
ian artillery battery. much of the credit for that must go to
H i s brother Lothar v o n Richthofen the unlikable but efficient Kitchener),
( 1894-1922) also became an ace, cred- returning home to become commander-
ited with forty victories, and died i n an in-chief - the last, as it turned out, for
accident after the war. in 1904 the post was abolished. Roberts

250
Robertson, (Sir) William Robert Rodney, George Brydges, Baron

devoted his declining years to advocat- Rochejacquelein, H e n r i d u Vergier,

ing conscription. A tiny man of great comte de (1772-94) French (Vendéen)
charm, he was the most popular of V i c - general. A former royal cavalry officer,
torian generals a n d , i n a small colonial he put himself (at the outbreak of the
campaign, by no means a bad one. royalist Vendée uprising i n 1793) at the
head of his peasants, commanding them,
Robertson, (Sir) W i l l i a m Robert (ist 'If I advance, follow me ; if I retreat, k i l l
Baronet; 1860-1933) British field- m e ; i f I fall, avenge me.' After the dis-
marshal. H i s autobiography, From ablement of d'Elbée (q.v.) at Cholet he
Private to Field-Marshal relates the was named generalissimo and was killed
story of his remarkable life. Born the son in the course of a successful guerrilla
of a village tailor and employed first as a campaign he had organized.
domestic servant, he enlisted as a trooper H i s brother Louis de Rochejacquelein
in the 16th Lancers, by superhuman (1777-1815) was killed i n the Vendée
hard w o r k passed the examination to rising he led during the H u n d r e d Days.
become an officer and eventually secured His brother August (1784-1868),
entry to the Staff College - the first wounded i n the skirmish in which Louis
ranker to d o so. Thereafter his immense died, had formerly served N a p o l e o n ,
energy and ability carried h i m to the had been wounded also i n Russia, and
top of the army. A s chief of the Imperial later served in the Spanish (1823) and
General Staff, 1915-18, he zealously T u r k i s h (1828) expeditions.
propagated the 'Western' strategy of
attacking in France (instead of G a l l i p o l i Rodney, George Brydges, Baron (1718-
or Salonika) and was ultimately dis- 92) British admiral. In a naval career
missed by L l o y d George, the leading marked by conspicuous success, Rodney
'Easterner'. H e was universally k n o w n as helped to maintain British maritime
' W u l l y ' and dropped his aitches to superiority through the wars of the m i d -
the end of his life. eighteenth century, at a time when it
was under strong threat from France. H e
Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste Donatien de served under H a w k e in the w a r of the
V i m e u r , comte de (1725-1807) Mar- Austrian Succession (1740-8) and took
shal of France. A s a junior officer he part in the fierce engagement against the
took part in the capture of M i n o r c a i n French under de l'Entenduere off Finis-
1756 (see Byng) and the battle of terre (1747). T w o years later he was
M i n d e n . Sent by Louis X V I with an appointed governor of Newfoundland,
expeditionary force to assist the leaving his post to go to sea again in the
American colonists in the W a r of Inde- Seven Years' W a r (1756—63). M o s t o f
pendence, he helped bring about the ca- his naval career was n o w to be associ-
pitulation of C o r n w a l l i s (q.v.) at Y o r k - ated with the Americas. H e took part in
town o n 19 October 1781. In 1790 he the successful expedition against Louis-
accepted the Revolution, was appointed burg under Boscowan (1758). In 1762 he
to command the army of the N o r t h , took his squadron o n a dramatically
created marshal (last of the ancien successful cruise in the West Indies.
régime), but fell out with Dumouriez H e captured M a r t i n i q u e , France's last
(q.v.) and resigned i n 1792. Arrested i n outpost i n the West Indies and a rich
1793, he survived the Terror. sugar island, followed by Grenada, St
H i s son, Donatien M a r i e Joseph Lucia and St Vincent. O n his return to
de Rochambeau (1750-1813) replaced England after one of the most economi-
Leclerc (q.v.) as governor of H a i t i and cally rewarding expeditions of the w a r
was killed at Leipzig. (for Havana had also been taken, with

251
Rodney, George Brydges, Baron Rogers, Robert

extensive booty), he was created a Rogers, Robert (1731-95) American

baronet, and in 1771 a rear-admiral. soldier. Founder of a group of some 600
In the American W a r of Independence backwoodsmen, who used the Indian
(1775-83), Rodney dealt hammer blows techniques of ambush and woodcraft,
against the French and Spanish fleets k n o w n as Rogers' Rangers. Born the
that threatened Britain's long lines of son of a farmer, Rogers soon took to
communication with her troops in the less restrictive life of a trapper. In
N o r t h America. H e brought desperately 1755 he was commissioned by the gover-
needed troops and supplies to Gibraltar nor of Massachusetts to form a small
(1780), where Sir George Elliott, with force to attack the French in N o v a
7000 men, was resisting a prolonged Scotia. Although the expedition was a
Franco-Spanish investment. O n the way success, Rogers had been forced to flee
he managed to defeat a smaller Spanish across the state boundary for one of his
squadron under Langara in a night numerous peccadilloes, in this case, coun-
action off Cape St Vincent ; he captured terfeiting. But in the following year he
six ships, a fortune in prize money for was back in Massachusetts; he now
Rodney and his crews. After the relief formed the company of Rangers w h i c h
of Gibraltar, he sailed for the West bears his name.
Indies. H e fought a set of battles without The basic aim of the Rangers was to
any decisive result with the French force fight fire with fire; thus they terrorized
under de Guichen, and, after the French the French posts and the Indian villages
retired, captured the rich D u t c h island as the French and their allies d i d the
of St Eustatius, which was one of the American settlements. Rogers' men were
sources by which the United States mercenaries, selected for their k n o w n
received supplies and revenue through skill as woodsmen and Indian killers.
contraband. Rodney's share of the They took scalps, tortured their prison-
prizes on this expedition, added to his ers, and emulated their enemies in every
earlier rewards, meant a substantial respect. They were also remarkably suc-
fortune. In 1782, in the final great cessful in military terms. M a n y British
battle of his career, he fought the sub- officers were seconded to the Rangers to
stantial French fleet under de Grasse off learn the secrets of irregular warfare:
Domenica. Diverging, quite without Rogers therefore had an influence o n
authority, from the accepted manual of British tactical practice.
naval tactics, he burst through the French
H e was active throughout the war
line, breaking it into small disunited
with the French and Indians (1756-60),
segments. Seven ships were captured,
and raided deep into French territory. In
including the French flagship; his
1758 he was promoted to major and
fellow commander H o o d captured two
given command over nine independent
more in pursuit of the remnants of the
Ranger companies. Peace did not suit
French fleet. It was an equal battle: the
Rogers and his career assumed a d o w n -
British had thirty-four ships ; the French
ward path, involving imprisonment for
twenty-nine. The result was the establish-
debt and innumerable minor frauds;
ment of complete British naval superi-
when the American W a r of Independ-
ority off the American coast. Rodney
ence broke out, he attempted to w o o
was the model of the successful admiral.
both the British and the American
H i s exploits were profitable, through
rebels. Washington imprisoned h i m as an
prize money; he was popular with his
enemy spy (1776) and when he escaped
crews as a result. But he was a clear
he therefore threw in his lot with the
naval thinker, ready to improvise tactics
British. Once again he set about raising
as needed.
a Ranger company, and under M a j o r

252
Rokossovski, Konstantin Rommel, Erwin

French it fought well against the A m e r i - centre of influence i n the G e r m a n army.

cans. Rogers, finally undone by his dis- H e showed himself from the first
honesty and general shiftiness, was moment of the First W o r l d W a r , how-
forced to leave N o r t h America and died ever, a natural fighter, transferred, after
in poverty i n L o n d o n . F o r all his many trench warfare had set i n , from the 124th
vices, he was an excellent mercenary Infantry Regiment to the wider-ranging
organizer and an expert i n forest war- Württemberg M o u n t a i n Battalion a n d ,
fare. H e developed the technique of the as one of its company commanders, w o n
lightly armed, rapidly moving, raiding the Pour le mérite, the highest imperial
party to a high degree, and was an award for bravery, in the battle of C a p o -
innovator in the tactics of skirmishing. retto, October 1917. H i s success against
the Italians, of w h o m he captured 9000
Rokossovski, Konstantin Konstanti- with 200 men of his o w n , seems to have
novich (1896-1968) M a r s h a l of the formed his attitude to leadership, for it
Soviet U n i o n . A Pole, the son of a stone was by placing himself at the front and
mason, he fought both i n the tsarist penetrating without regard for security
army and the R e d A r m y , 1915-20. H e into the Italian position that he achieved
was arrested during the great purge i n the triumph that was his.
1938 but survived to command an army Rommel's outlook was perfectly at-
in Z h u k o v ' s (q.v.) M o s c o w counter- tuned to blitzkrieg and when promoted
offensive of December 1941. Promoted (partly through a lucky association with
to command D o n Front (army group), Hitler as commander of his headquarters
he helped to encircle the German Sixth escort i n 1939) to lead 7th Panzer D i v -
A r m y (see Paulus) at Stalingrad and to ision in the attack into France across
bring about its surrender. H e next com- the Meuse i n M a y 1940, he required no
manded the Central Front at K u r s k , the period of preparation to work himself
battle which i n July 1943 destroyed the i n . T h o u g h he betrayed an uncharacteris-
German army's striking power in tic flash of panic when counter-attacked
Russia, and then directed the advance of by the British at Arras o n 21 M a y , his
his front (renamed Belorussian) into race to the sea was overall as headlong
Poland, where it played a major part in and successfully dramatic as, o n a
the battle called the Destruction of A r m y smaller scale, had been his adventure i n
G r o u p Centre, June-July 1944. In early the mountains of Caporetto twenty
1945 he invaded and occupied East years before. O n Hitler taking the de-
Prussia. H e was subsequently installed cision in 1941 to send help to his stricken
as commander of the army of postwar Italian allies in N o r t h Africa (see O ' C o n -
Poland, where he was widely detested nor), R o m m e l was chosen to lead the
for his failure to come to the aid of the expeditionary force - the Afrika Korps
Polish H o m e A r m y i n its death-struggle - and in a typically ferocious counter-
with the Germans i n the Warsaw up- offensive reversed the tide soon after his
rising of August 1944. arrival. D u r i n g the next year he gener-
ally retained the initiative, though Brit-
R o m m e l , E r w i n (1891-1944) German ish strength increased throughout, and
field-marshal. T h e most widely celeb- in the summer of 1942 was poised to
rated battlefield general o f the Second strike at C a i r o . But, checked at A l a m
W o r l d W a r , a brilliant and daring tac- Haifa, 31 August-7 September, he suf-
tician and an inspiring leader of men, fered a major defeat i n October at A l a -
R o m m e l , the son of a schoolmaster, was mein by the greatly reinforced Eighth
born i n Württemberg, and so, o n both A r m y under M o n t g o m e r y (q.v.). H e con-
those counts, far from the traditional ducted a skilful withdrawal to T u n i s i a ,

253
R o o n , Albrecht Theodore E m i l von Rose, H u g h Henry

where an Anglo-American army had R o o n , former military tutor to Friedrich

landed i n his rear, and, by his stalwart K a r l (q.v.) to succeed the liberally i n -
defence of the M a r e t h Line, delayed the clined General v o n Bonin as minister
inevitable surrender of the A x i s forces of war. A n 'intelligent conservative', he
in N o r t h Africa until M a y 1943. brought about that integration of the
By that time he had been summoned Landwehr with the regular army which
to Berlin, allegedly to recover his health was to make the Prussian army the first
but probably to prevent his capture, and which could quickly mobilize large num-
was next appointed, after a limbo bers of trained, disciplined, effective re-
period, to command A r m y G r o u p B serves, as it d i d with such shattering
under Rundstedt (q.v.) i n France. H i s success in 1866 and 1870. These adminis-
task was to repel the coming A l l i e d trative achievements of his comple-
cross-Channel invasion, but he quickly mented those of the elder M o l t k e (q.v.)
fell out with his superior, w h o underesti- on the staff and operational side.
mated the effect of A l l i e d tactical air-
power, as to h o w best that might be R o o t , Elihu (1845-1937) American
done - Rundstedt wishing to reserve the military reformer. A s secretary for w a r ,
armour for a counter-stroke, R o m m e l 1899-1904, he established the post o f
to deploy it at the water's edge. T h e chief o f staff and created a general staff
compromise imposed by Hitler was satis- for the army, reforms similar to those
factory to neither, but the argument was achieved by Haldane (q.v.) slightly later
probably irrelevant, for A l l i e d air-power in Britain. Competition for control be-
proved irresistible. A t the height of the tween the secretary, the general-in-chief
struggle to contain the A l l i e d bridge- (a post he abolished - see Miles) and
head, 17 July 1944, his o w n car was the headquarters bureaux was thereby
strafed by a British fighter and he was eliminated. H e subsequently became
gravely wounded. Before he had fully prominent in the field of disarmament
recovered Hitler had come to suspect and was awarded the N o b e l Peace Prize
his implication i n the bomb plot of 20 (1912).
July (though he was no more than a
silent accomplice) and offered h i m the Rose, Hugh Henry (ist Baron
alternative of suicide or public disgrace. Strathnairn; 1801-85) British field-
H e chose the former, was said to have marshal. Born and educated in Berlin, son
succumbed to his wounds and accorded of a diplomat, Rose joined the army i n
a hero's funeral. R o m m e l possessed 1820 but served in semi-diplomatic posts
neither the innovative imagination of for much of his career: i n 1840 he was
Guderian (q.v.) nor the large-scale oper- attached to the O t t o m a n army during
ational mastery of Manstein (q.v.), but its campaign against Mehemet A l i (q.v.)
was nevertheless regarded at home and in Syria (see M o l t k e ) ; he was consul-
abroad as one of Germany's greatest general i n Syria, 1841-8, and i n 1853
generals and deserves his reputation. temporarily replaced Stratford Canning
as ambassador to Constantinople, where
R o o n , Albrecht Theodore E m i l v o n his action i n sending for the British fleet
(1803-79) Prussian field-marshal. After on the arrival of Menshikov (q.v.) pre-
the Napoleonic wars the Prussian army cipitated the crisis which led to the
underwent a serious decline, its regular Crimean W a r (in which he served). O n
element dwindling to an ineffective size, the outbreak of the Indian M u t i n y he
while its citizen Landwehr reserve volunteered for duty there and, at the
became politically unreliable. In 1859 head of a contingent of the Bombay
Prince (later Kaiser) W i l h e l m appointed army, virtually extinguished the upris-

254
Rosecrans, W i l l i a m Starkey Rundstedt, K a r l R u d o l f G e r d von

ing i n central India, defeating both the the blockading by the Japanese of the
rani of Jhansi and Tantia T o p i (q.v.). Russian Pacific fleet i n Port A r t h u r {see
H e succeeded C o l i n Campbell (q.v.) as M a k a r o v ) . It was composed o f ships o f
commander-in-chief. very unequal quality and its voyage (begun
15 October 1904) of 20,000 miles was a
Rosecrans, W i l l i a m Starkey (1818- nightmare of bad seamanship. A t the
98) American (Union) general. A West start the Russians mistook some British
Pointer, he h a d , like so many fellow trawlers i n the N o r t h Sea for Japanese
graduates, left the army before the war torpedo-boats and sank several, an inci-
and was i n business when it broke out. dent which almost brought Russia to
In October 1862 he was appointed to war with Britain and denied the admiral
succeed Buell (q.v.) i n command of the coaling facilities i n Africa and A s i a ,
A r m y of C u m b e r l a n d , led it during the except at the widely separated French
Stones River and T u l l a h o m a campaigns, colonial stations. A r r i v i n g off the Jap-
and by his conduct of the latter forced anese home islands i n M a y 1905, by
Bragg (q.v.) out of Chattanooga, Tennes- which time Port A r t h u r had fallen (see
see, long an object of U n i o n strategy. In N o g i and Stössel), he chose to make for
his pursuit of Bragg, however, he ne- the haven of Vladivostok by passing be-
glected security, was forced to fight tween them and K o r e a . Intercepted by
against his w i l l and lost the ensuing T o g o (q.v.) i n the straits of Tsushima,
battle (Chickamauga, 19-20 September 27 M a y 1905, his fleet, whose speed was
1863) by an error of judgement. H e was that of its slowest battleship (14 knots),
then besieged within Chattanooga by was headed off by the Japanese steaming
Bragg until dismissed in October. at 21 knots, encircled and destroyed. O f
his eight battleships and eight cruisers,
Ross, Robert (1766-1814) British gen- all but one cruiser were sunk or cap-
eral. H e is remembered for his leader- tured; Rozhdestvenski himself was
ship o f the military expedition (the naval made prisoner. Tsushima ranks with
side was commanded by Cochrane, q.v.) Trafalgar, M i d w a y and Leyte G u l f
to Washington during the war of 1812. among the most crushing naval defeats
H i s victory (24 August 1814) at Bladens- of history, but as a battle it was hope-
burg (which name his descendants were lessly one-sided. In some sense it was to
authorized to add to the family's) gave Rozhdestvenski's credit that he shep-
h i m possession o f the A m e r i c a n capital, herded his fleet as far as he d i d .
to w h i c h , in retaliation for the burning
of Y o r k i n Canada, he set fire. T h e Rundstedt, K a r l R u d o l f G e r d v o n
gutted presidential mansion was subse- (1875-1953) German field-marshal.
quently painted white to disguise the After service o n the staff during the
soot marks, whence its modern everyday First W o r l d W a r , Rundstedt rose stead-
name. Ross was mortally wounded at ily up the narrow ladder of promotion
the battle of Baltimore, 12-14 Septem- in the 100,000-man army to reach its
ber, where the resistance of the local very top as one of the t w o army group
militia inspired Francis Scott Key to commanders. H e retired i n 1938 on
compose ' T h e Star-Spangled Banner'. reaching the age limit, though also be-
cause he had differed with H i t l e r in his
Rozhdestvenski, Zinovy Petrovich treatment of Blomberg and Fritsch
(1848-1909) Russian admiral. A for- (qq.v.), but was recalled in 1939 to help
mer chief of the naval staff and squadron plan the Polish campaign, i n w h i c h he
commander, he was selected i n 1904 to commanded A r m y G r o u p A . H e com-
take the Baltic fleet to the Far East after manded it again during the attack o n

255
Rupert of the Rhine, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Prince

France in 1940 and it was on his advice spirit is too active to be wasted in the
that H i t l e r issued the controversial 'stop softness and entangling of pleasure . . .
order' to the panzers outside D u n k i r k he w i l l prove a sword to all his friends
on 26 M a y . H i s army group operated if his edge be set right.' F r o m the age of
on the southern sector of the Russian fifteen he had been engaged in the prac-
front during Operation Barbarossa, tice and organization of w a r : in 1637 he
making slow progress because of its took part in the epic siege and capture
sparse allocation of armour, and he was of Breda, and until his capture at the
relieved in the great purge of command- battle of V l o t h o (1638) he was one of
ers in December 1941. Recalled from the most promising officers in the D u t c h
retirement in M a r c h 1942, he acted as army. D u r i n g his three years of imprison-
Commander-in-Chief West until 2 July ment at L i n z , he studied military theory,
1944, when he was removed again (for charmed his captors, and developed his
suggesting that the only sensible strategy considerable talents as an artist. H i s re-
against the Allied invasion of N o r m a n d y lease was secured primarily through the
was to make peace) but again re- good offices of Charles (1641). W h e n
appointed (vice M o d e l , q.v.) in Septem- Charles issued his call to arms at N o t -
ber to the same post, which he held until tingham, Rupert was present and was
M a r c h 1945. Hitler then 'very politely' given command of the Royalist horse,
requested his resignation. The secret of by far the most impressive part of his
Rundstedt's relationship with the Führer army. The raw material he had to w o r k
lay in his relationship with his fellow with was excellent, men of quality who
regular officers, by w h o m he was ad- were well mounted, and, if they had
mired as the 'last Prussian' and the little experience of war, were natural
'Black Knight of the German A r m y ' . riders. M u c h of the strength of the
H i t l e r perceived and, i n his case, re- Dutch army lay in its high standards of
spected his nobility of character - hence training, and Rupert attempted to instil
his unparalleled reappointment of h i m on discipline and co-ordination among his
three occasions. A s a general, Rundstedt troops; however, as subsequent events
was competent but quite unoriginal: in proved, he was not entirely successful.
his dispute with R o m m e l (q.v.) before In his first action, at Powick Bridge,
D - D a y on how best to repel the coming he roundly beat an equal force of Parlia-
A l l i e d invasion, his orthodox views were mentarian horse: it 'rendered the name
almost certainly the wrong ones. of Prince Rupert very terrible indeed . . .
[all] talked loud of the incredible and
Rupert of the Rhine, Prince (1619- irresistible courage of Prince Rupert and
82) German soldier, in British service. the King's horse'. A t the battle of Edge-
Nephew of K i n g Charles I of England hill (October 1642) the plan of battle
and the son of the ill-fated Elector Palat- was devised by Rupert, and its execution
ine (expelled from his territory after was generally satisfactory. But although
the battle of the White M o u n t a i n in his cavalry carried all before them, once
1620), Rupert acquired an enviable repu- launched, they proved impossible to re-
tation first as a commander of cavalry, strain. Thus they were a decisive
and latterly as an admiral. H e gained weapon, but one which could be used
his military training under Frederick only once in a battle: this was to prove
Henry of Orange, and served in his body- almost fatal at Edgehill and disastrous
guard. In 1636 he visited England with in subsequent encounters. After the
his brother, and much impressed the battle Rupert urged an immediate ad-
k i n g : the English ambassador at the vance on L o n d o n to finish the war at
Hague also saw his early promise: ' H i s a stroke; Charles, fatally, preferred a

256
Rupert o f the Rhine, Prince Rupprecht, C r o w n Prince of Bavaria

more cautious strategy. In the war of O n its first outing at Naseby the Parlia-
manœuvre he conducted his small forces mentarian N e w M o d e l A r m y had shown
brilliantly and, as at the capture of Bris- it was more than a match for the best
tol (1643), with a relentless attacking Royalist forces; the Royalist cause was
spirit. In early 1644 he began a march doomed. Rupert fell back o n Bristol,
north into Lancashire, and across the but despite his attempts to organize a
Pennines into Yorkshire, creating devas- defence, he was forced to surrender to
tation in his wake, and by a sudden Fairfax (September 1645), a reverse
feint relieved the Royalist garrison o f which Charles, prompted by Rupert's
Y o r k . A t M a r s t o n M o o r (1644) Rupert many enemies at court, could not
devised the plan of battle. In the ensuing forgive. H e was dismissed from his
action the Royalist horse, although command, with bitter words : 'seek your
shaken by the Parliamentarian attack, subsistence beyond the seas, to w h i c h
were successful and the battle seemed to end I send you a pass.' H e left England,
have swung i n their favour. But to return with Charles II at the
C r o m w e l l ' s Ironsides remained intact Restoration; i n the Second D u t c h W a r
while the Royalist horse had dispersed (1665-7) he commanded the fleet w i t h
itself i n pursuit. A t the crucial moment M o n c k (q.v.) with considerable success;
in the battle they were launched against in the T h i r d D u t c h W a r (1672-4) he
the unshielded Royalist infantry. It was took over command from James, D u k e
a massive Parliamentary victory, and of Y o r k , in 1673, and manoeuvred his
Rupert's rapid advance i n the north was ships as skilfully as he had done his
frustrated. cavalry thirty years before.
In November 1644 Rupert was ap- A s a commander, Rupert was one
pointed lieutenant-general of all the of the outstanding generals of the Eng-
king's armies, a belated recognition that lish C i v i l W a r : where he failed, it was
he was, beyond doubt, the most able due less to his planning than to the
leader on the Royalist side; if he had execution by his subordinates, a con-
failed at M a r s t o n M o o r , he had been stant problem o n the Royalist side.
successful almost everywhere else. But H a d he possessed the bevy of able sub-
his promotion brought to a head the ordinate commanders on w h o m Fairfax
deep personal antagonisms in the R o y a l - or C r o m w e l l could latterly rely, the
ist camp, and his enemies struggled to war might have had a different
undermine his position. T h e Royalist conclusion.
C o u n c i l of W a r began to fall apart. It
was the king's o w n insistence, egged on Rupprecht, C r o w n Prince of Bavaria
by his civilian advisers w h o disliked (1869-1955) German soldier. Because
Rupert, that forced the army to give Bavaria retained a semi-autonomy
battle at Naseby (1645) to the much within the G e r m a n empire after 1871,
larger Parliamentary army under Fair- its army, amounting in 1914 to three
fax (q.v.). Rupert produced a well co- corps, remained separately organized
ordinated plan for the joint action of from the Prussian and formed, for the
infantry and cavalry, but despite his invasion of France, the sixth of the seven
best efforts he could not regroup his German armies deployed i n the west.
horse after their initial success, until Rupprecht commanded it, but unlike the
with much delay he led them back to the German C r o w n Prince and the D u k e o f
battle. In the space of an hour the battle Württemberg, his fellow princely army
had been lost, the product not so much commanders, he not merely understood
of bad planning by Rupert, as a divided but excelled at his duties and by 1917
command and spiteful petty jealousies. had risen to command an army group.

257
Ruyter, M i c h i e l Adriaanzoon de Ruyter, M i c h i e l Adriaanzoon de

Jacobites recognized his father as legiti- N o r t h Foreland (28 July 1666) before
mate king of England. proceeding to the coast of H o l l a n d and
destroying 160 anchored merchantmen.
Ruyter, M i c h i e l Adriaanzoon de (1607- Peace negotiations were set in motion,
76) Dutch admiral. In the golden age but in June 1667, in a brilliantly effective
of the Dutch navy, de Ruyter stands as and audacious coup, de Ruyter led a
one of her greatest admirals. First going surprise raid into the Thames estuary,
to sea at the age of nine, he gained advancing up the M e d w a y to within
valuable early experience in the D u t c h twenty miles of L o n d o n and destroying
merchant service, then embarking on its much of the English fleet; A n g l o - D u t c h
most expansive phase; by 1635 he was a peace negotiations begun at Breda the
merchant captain, but in 1641 he served previous A p r i l were brought to a speedy
briefly as rear-admiral of a fleet assisting conclusion.
Portugal against Spain before rejoining The crowning achievements of de
the merchant service. The next ten years Ruyter's career, however, were in the
were spent fighting the Barbary pirates T h i r d Dutch W a r (1672-4), which
on the N o r t h African coast. In 1652 the England and France engineered against
First Dutch W a r (1652-4) against Eng- H o l l a n d . In M a y 1672, at the battle of
land broke out and de Ruyter accepted Sole Bay, de Ruyter, with seventy-five
a regular naval command, serving under ships, surprised a French and English fleet ;
the great Maarten T r o m p (q.v.); in the withdrawal of the thirty-five French
1653, after the battle of Texel in which ships enabled de Ruyter to engage the
T r o m p was killed, he attained the rank English fleet, and although the arrival of
of vice-admiral. After the conclusion of English reinforcements forced the Dutch
peace, de Ruyter took a Dutch fleet to to retire, it was not before they had
the Baltic in 1659 to support the Danes inflicted heavy damage. In 1672 Prince
against Sweden in the First Northern Rupert attacked de Ruyter's fleet in its
W a r (1655-60), and in 1664-5 patrolled coastal anchorage at Schoonveldt C h a n -
the Guinean coast of Africa, skirmishing nel, but de Ruyter was ready and drove
constantly with the English who had off the English, again with heavy loss.
seized the West African slave ports from Later that year he forced the English
the D u t c h West India Company in the fleet, by a series of minor engagements,
previous year. to retire to the Thames, but he was
In 1665 this prolonged harrying came unable to impose a blockade because of
to a head when the D u t c h recaptured an outbreak of plague on board his
the slave trade ports, de Ruyter attacked ships. In August 1673, while the allied
Barbados, and the Second Dutch W a r fleets were blockading the Dutch coast,
(1665-7) was declared. De Ruyter, now W i l l i a m of Orange ordered de Ruyter to
lieutenant-admiral of H o l l a n d , and close the protection of an East Indies convoy.
associate of de Witt (q.v.) in his plans After a closely fought engagement the
for strengthening the Dutch navy, played French retired, leaving the English to
a leading part in the war. In the Four fight a more sustained defensive action;
Days' battle (June 1666) he beat back this having proved effective, the French
M o n c k and Prince Rupert (qq.v.), the returned and the D u t c h were forced to
leading British admirals, into the mouth retreat, but not before de Ruyter had
of the Thames, an engagement which brought the convoy i n , thus breaking
cost M o n c k a quarter of his eighty ships. the blockade and frustrating as he did
De Ruyter threw a blockade across the so the allied plan for a seaborne invasion
Thames, but M o n c k broke the blockade of the United Provinces: this is usually
and defeated de Ruyter at the battle of k n o w n as the battle of Texel (August

258
Ruyter, M i c h i e l A d r i a a n z o o n de Ruyter, M i c h i e l A d r i a a n z o o n de

1673). De Ruyter's long career ended in at the naval battle of Messina. W i t h the
1676 when fighting, yet again, against T r o m p s , de Ruyter had raised the power
the French, he received a mortal wound of the D u t c h navy to supreme heights.

259
 s
Saint-Arnaud, A r m a n d Jacques Leroy French at Brest : St Vincent, with fifteen
de (1801-54) M a r s h a l of France. Son ships of the line, intercepted the twenty-
of a prefect of the First Empire, Saint- seven Spaniards. H i s aggressive tactics,
A r n a u d enlisted in the gardes du corps and the energy of his subordinate Nelson
of Louis X V I I I (1817) but left the army (q.v.), brought a complete victory. A
to fight in the Greek W a r of Independ- grateful king created h i m Earl of St V i n -
ence, 1827-31. In 1836 debts obliged cent ; Parliament voted h i m a pension of
him to join the Foreign Legion in A l - £3000. Thereafter, although his harsh-
giers, where he attracted the attention ness prevented mutiny in his fleet (1797),
of Bugeaud (q.v.) and made a reputation and when he took command of the C h a n -
as a man of blood and iron in the taking nel fleet (1800), his ferocious energy
of Constantine (1837) and the fighting raised it to a peak of efficiency, he w o n
against A b d e l - K r i m (q.v.). As minister no more stunning victories. H e held no
of war in 1852 he crushed the resistance command after 1807, but was given the
to the coup d'état w h i c h made prince- title of A d m i r a l of the Fleet by George
president Louis-Napoleon emperor and IV at his coronation in 1820.
for it received his baton. In 1854 he was
given charge of the A r m y of the Orient, Samsonov, Alexander Vasilievich
commanded (with Raglan, q.v.) at the (1859-1914). Russian general. H a v i n g
A l m a but, stricken with cholera, handed commanded a cavalry division in M a n -
over to Canrobert (q.v.) and was soon churia, where he had quarrelled with
dead. Rennenkampf (q.v.), between 1909 and
1914 Samsonov was military governor
St Vincent, John Jervis, ist Earl of of Turkestan. Summoned in August to
(1735-1823) British admiral. A staunch command the Second A r m y and to
W h i g , St Vincent owed at least some of co-operate with Rennenkampf in an
his progress in the navy to his politics. invasion of East Prussia, he revealed
H e entered the navy in 1749, and four the position of his units to the Germans
years after he entered Parliament in 1783 by broadcasting orders en clair and
he rose to flag rank. But he was also a was defeated in the shattering battle of
highly competent officer and a stern dis- Tannenberg (26-31 August) by H i n d e n -
ciplinarian. Appointed to take command burg and Ludendorff (qq.v.). H e himself
of the Mediterranean fleet in 1795, after hid and committed suicide on 29 August.
a successful cruise in the West Indies, he
improved the performance of the fleet San M a r t i n , José de (1778-1850) South
and sealed the French into T o u l o n . American soldier and statesman. A l -
Forced to leave the Mediterranean as a though born in Argentina, his upbring-
result of Napoleon's conquests in Italy, ing and early career were spent in Spain,
which removed his bases, he shadowed which he served as a regular artillery
the Spanish fleet at Cadiz. In February officer for twenty-two years. O n the
1797, the Spanish fleet sailed to join the outbreak of revolt in Buenos Aires, how-

260
Santa A n n a , A n t o n i o Lopez de Sarrail, M a u r i c e Paul Emmanuel

ever, he returned home and embarked teenth century, Santa C r u z was the son
on a plan to liberate the southern half of a Spanish naval officer. A l t h o u g h he
of the subcontinent, as Bolivar (q.v.) gained his first experience in the galley
was doing i n the northern. H i s scheme warfare of the Mediterranean, he is best
was methodical: he took t w o years to k n o w n as an exponent of the quite
raise and train a small army with which different techniques of sailing ships
he intended to clear the Spaniards first in the Atlantic. H e commanded the
out of Chile and then Peru. Early in reserve at Lepanto (1571), and entering
1817 he crossed the Andes, defeated the the battle at a critical moment, played
Spaniards at Chacabuco, 12-15 Febru- an important part in the great victory.
ary, entered Santiago, where he installed H i s first major participation in an A t -
O ' H i g g i n s (q.v.) as ruler, and went on lantic campaign was in support of
to w i n the battle of the M a i p o (5 A p r i l ) , the D u k e of Alva's conquest of Portugal
which confirmed Chile's independence. in 1580, and i n 1582 he defeated a French
H i s invasion of Peru was less decisive. fleet under F i l i p p o Strozzi at the battle
T h e defeat of the Spanish fleet by C o - of Terceira off the Azores ; i n the follow-
chrane (q.v.) allowed h i m to transport ing year another French fleet under
his army thither by sea and in July 1821 A y m a r d de Chaste went d o w n in battle
to capture L i m a , but the Spanish with- w i t h Santa C r u z .
drew into the mountains and he was After the Portuguese conquest had
unable to secure Bolivar's co-operation been assured, Santa C r u z turned his
in crushing them. Disappointed i n his entire attention to the conquest of Eng-
relations with the Liberator and resent- land, w h i c h became an obsession w i t h
ful of being thought a potential tyrant, h i m . In 1583 he proposed the invasion
he retired permanently to France. of England, and Philip II, despite his
essential caution, was fired by the idea.
Santa A n n a , A n t o n i o Lopez de (1794- Santa C r u z began the slow business of
1876) M e x i c a n soldier and politician. assembling a huge fleet, hampered by
H i s extravagant and erratic political lack of supplies and manpower. In 1587
career defies summary. A s a soldier, he Drake 'singed the K i n g o f Spain's beard'
began life in the Spanish colonial army, by sacking the port of C a d i z , w h i c h
after independence defeated a Spanish disrupted the preparation of the great
invasion at T a m p i c o i n 1829, fought A r m a d a for the invasion of England.
against the Texans i n 1836, lost a leg But the fleet was painstakingly repaired,
resisting the French at Vera C r u z i n although some items, such as water
1838, and on the outbreak of war with casks for the many troops to be carried
the United States, by then president, led on the ships, could not be made up.
his army in a disastrous march across Santa C r u z ' s sudden death was a further
the northern desert to be defeated by setback to the fleet, for he was replaced
Zachary T a y l o r (q.v.) at Buena V i s t a , by the D u k e of M e d i n a Sidonia, w h o
22-3 February 1847. Retreating south, was no sailor. It has been suggested that
he was brought to battle by Scott (q.v.) if Santa C r u z , a great seaman, had been
outside M e x i c o C i t y , defeated in the in c o m m a n d , the outcome of the
battle of Churubusco, 20 August, A r m a d a of 1588 might have been
obliged to seek terms, and banished by different.
his fellow countrymen.
Sarrail, M a u r i c e Paul Emmanuel (1856-
Santa C r u z , A l v a r o de Bazán, marques 1929) French general. In a republican
de (1526-88) Spanish admiral. T h e army w h i c h , though Catholic and con-
greatest of Spain's sailors i n the six- servative at heart, prided itself o n its

261
Saxe, H e r m a n n M a u r i c e , comte de Saxe, H e r m a n n M a u r i c e , comte de

political silence ('La grande muette), Sar- although it was not published until after
rail, the radical and anti-clerical, natu- his death. But he found that the French
rally stood out. Moreover his politics army was not capable of the necessary
advanced his career and increased his mechanical precision, in fire and man-
prominence. Assistant to General André, oeuvre, which was to become the
minister of war during the Dreyfusard hallmark of the Prussians. As he him-
reaction (see Dreyfus), he replaced the self wrote: ' O u r infantry, though the
incompetent Ruffey at the head of T h i r d bravest in Europe, is not fit to stand
A r m y in August 1914 and commanded a charge where infantry less brave,
it at the M a r n e and in the fighting but better drilled and in a better
(1914-15) in the Argonne. Relieved for formation, can close with i t . . . '
squandering lives by Joffre (q.v.), whose Saxe's standing in the French army
power at the time outweighed that of was high, and at the end of the war
his political protectors, he was, as a of the Polish Succession (1734-8) he
sop to them, given command of the ex- was a lieutenant-general. A t the begin-
pedition to Salonika where, in 1916, he re- ning of the war of the Austrian Succes-
captured M o n a s t i r from the Bulgarians sion (1740-8) Saxe was attached to the
and, in 1917, dethroned the neutralist army of French 'volunteers' sent to the
K i n g Constantine of Greece. H e was re- aid of the Bavarians: it was Saxe who
moved again in 1918 and, after a post- devised and executed the successful
war spell as high commissioner in Syria, attack which led to the capture of
which culminated in a revolt of the Prague (1741). But the Austrian riposte
Druses, finally retired. H i s name remains forced the French to withdraw (1742).
a synonym for a 'political' general. Saxe was closely involved in the plan to
send a French force to the aid of Prince
Saxe, H e r m a n n M a u r i c e , comte de Charles Edward's (q.v.) rising in Scot-
(1696-1750) German soldier, in French land. But a series of violent storms
service. The natural son of Frederick- wrecked the French fleet off D u n k i r k
Augustus I of Saxony and A u r o r a von and the attempt was abandoned. In 1744
Königsmark, Saxe gained his first experi- France declared war, and he was given
ence of war under Prince Eugen (q.v.) in command of one of the subsidiary
the Malplaquet campaign (1709); in armies in Flanders, together with the
1711 he was given the title G r a f von rank of marshal of France. W h e n the
Sachsen by his father, although he is main French armies moved off into the
usually k n o w n in the French form, for it Rhineland, the Flanders campaign was
was in the service of Louis X V that he left to Saxe. W i t h his relatively small
made his reputation. In 1719 Frederick army he out-manceuvred the combined
Augustus, having settled on a military forces of Britain, Austria and the Nether-
career for h i m , purchased the colonelcy lands, to the extent that he was at once
of a German regiment in the French given the main command. In 1745, now
army. Saxe's handling of his regiment, controlling an army of 70,000, he
and in particular his development of a marched to besiege T o u r n a i ; the allied
high degree of proficiency in musketry, army under Cumberland (q.v.), 50,000
and the inculcation of a strong offensive strong, marched to meet h i m . A t F o n -
spirit in officers and men, soon attracted tenoy (1745) Saxe selected a strong natu-
the favourable attention of the court. ral position, strengthened it with field
While France was at peace, Saxe devoted fortifications, and made every effort to
himself to the study of war, a process of steady his wayward and somewhat unre-
research and analysis which culminated liable troops. The opposing forces were
in the writing of Mes Reveries in 1732, now nearly equal. But it required Saxe

262
Scharnhorst, Gerhard Johann David Scheer, Reinhard Karl Friedrich

himself, stricken with dropsy, to rise aristocratic ' v o n ' , transferred (1801) to
from his bed and to rally his men into a the Prussian service, in w h i c h he was
counter-attack, before the battle turned granted it and appointed to the military
in the French favour. The turning point school in Berlin. D u r i n g Napoleon's i n -
came when Saxe began to batter the vasion of 1806 he was wounded at Auer-
English square with concentrated artil- stadt, but recovered to fight at Eylau the
lery fire (the French infantry showed following year. Promoted general, he,
themselves inferior to the British). But with Gneisenau (q.v.), Stein and Harden-
the strategic effect of Fontenoy was that berg, began work under the noses of the
all the great cities of Flanders - Ghent, French conquerors of Prussia to rebuild
Brussels, A n t w e r p , M o n s , N a m u r - fell the spirit of the army, to accumulate a
to the French. Saxe's later victories, at secret reserve of trained soldiers, larger
Rocourt (1746), where the English than the treaty with France allowed,
army was largely absent, having and to awaken the national feeling of
returned home to face the Scottish the Prussian people for an eventual war
invasion, and Lauffeld (1747), after they of liberation. H e was obliged at French
had returned, were monuments to his insistence to quit the Prussian service in
superior skill as a general, w o r k i n g 1810, but reappeared as chief of staff
with poor raw material. to Blücher (q.v.) in 1812, served in the
In recognition of his supreme talents, awaited war of liberation and was
Saxe was created marshal-general of fatally wounded fighting the French
France, an honour held only by Turenne at Lützen. H i s military achievements,
and Villars before h i m . The last major including his scheme for universal mili-
campaign of the war by h i m resulted in tary service, survived h i m , his liberal
the capture of Maastricht (1748), and tentatives did not.
after the war ended he spent his remain-
ing years in great state at C h a m b o r d , Scheer, Reinhard K a r l Friedrich (1863-
amused by his sequence of mistresses, 1929) German admiral. A former chief
troops of entertainers and a curious of staff of the H i g h Seas Fleet, Scheer
menagerie; his regiment was kept in was chosen to succeed the dying Pohl as
the park of the château. In fact Saxe's its commander in January 1916. Always
greatest influence came after his death, an advocate of an offensive strategy vis-
with the publication of his military à-vis the British G r a n d Fleet, he pro-
writings. H e understood perfectly the voked an encounter between the two on
strengths and weaknesses of the French 31 M a y 1916. The battle of Jutland,
army, and he devised his battles to suit though a German success in the ratio
them. In his use of field fortification and of major ships sunk (one German
the development of the columnar form battlecruiser : three British) left Jellicoe
of infantry attack, both designed to sus- (q.v.) strategically the master as before.
tain inferior, or poorly trained soldiers, T h o u g h continuing to argue for, and
he was a great innovator and pioneer. occasionally to risk, major fleet sorties,
Scheer therefore sought to strike at Brit-
Scharnhorst, Gerhard Johann D a v i d ain through a campaign of unrestricted
(von; 1755-1813) Prussian general and U-boat attack, for which he secured gov-
military reformer. A Hanoverian, Scharn- ernmental permission in February 1917.
horst distinguished himself as an artil- The British defeated it by the adoption
lery officer in his o w n army under the - too long delayed - of convoy. Scheer,
Duke of Y o r k (q.v.) at Hondschoote on who was promoted to command the
6 September 1793, but finding promo- naval general staff in August 1918, was
tion eluding h i m for his want of the planning a final fleet sortie when the

263
Schlieffen, Alfred, Graf von Schomberg, Friedrich, Graf von

naval mutinies, which were the precur- Paris within his six-week margin and be
sor of internal political collapse, broke able to transfer his victorious armies
out. eastwards in time to meet and beat the
Russians before they had invaded East
Schlieffen, A l f r e d , G r a f von (1833- Prussia. T h e plan, which he bequeathed
1913) German field-marshal. Chief of to his successor M o l t k e the younger
the Great General Staff, author of (q.v.) in a M i l i t a r y Testament, acquired
the Schlieffen Plan. A G u a r d Cavalry after his retirement the force of holy
officer - he commanded the i s t G u a r d writ and, only slightly amended, was
Uhlans, 1876-83 - Schlieffen epitomized put into operation in August 1914. U n -
that peculiar nineteenth-century phenom- fortunately it contained a flaw, which
enon, the 'pure staff officer'. H e at- Schlieffen recognized but could neither
tended the Kriegsakademie in 1858-61, solve nor admit - it provided no formula
served on the staff in the wars of 1866 for neutralizing the powerful garrison of
and 1870 and from 1883 until his retire- Paris - and on that flaw it came to grief
ment in 1906 was continuously with the in September (see K l u c k , Galliéni and
Great General Staff in Berlin, first as M a u n o u r y ) . Despite the catastrophe his
head of various sections, after 1891 plan brought about, his name remained
(when he succeeded Waldersee, q.v.) as revered among German general staff
chief. 'Continuously' is moreover almost officers, whose professional association
exact, for the early death of his wife left was named the Schlieffenverein in his
h i m free to devote himself entirely to memory.
his w o r k , which occupied the whole
of every day of his year. O n Christmas
Schomberg, Friedrich, G r a f von (1615-
Eve for instance he set his subordinates
90) G e r m a n mercenary. A G e r m a n sol-
tactical problems w h i c h he expected
dier of fortune, Schomberg fought for
to receive completed on B o x i n g Day.
France, England and Portugal, and died
The problem with which Schlieffen in the service of W i l l i a m III. In 1637 he
became obsessed after 1891, however, fought for the French i n the T h i r t y
was that of achieving victory on both Years' W a r (1618-48), commanding an
eastern and western fronts in the event army against the Spanish in the south of
of simultaneous war with France and France. H e smashed a Spanish army be-
Russia, an eventuality made almost un- sieging the fortress of Leucate, and
avoidable by the young kaiser's non- drove it back beyond the border. T h i s
renewal of Bismarck's reinsurance trea- began a long-standing connection with
ties with the tsar. The scheme on which the Iberian peninsula. H e entered Portu-
he eventually hit was one of extreme but gal, beat the Spanish at Villaviciosa
calculated r i s k : estimating that Russia (1665) and executed a palace revolution
w o u l d take six weeks longer than France against the feeble Afonso V I , placing
or Germany to mobilize, he decided Pedro II on the throne. Under Pedro, he
to leave only a single army in the east carried out a thorough reorganization
(see H i n d e n b u r g , Ludendorff and Hoff- of the Portuguese army. H e re-entered
mann), to cover the c o m m o n Franco- the French army and again defended the
German frontier with three more, and south against Spain. In 1674 his army
to use the remaining and strongest four repelled a Spanish attack on Roussillon,
to envelop the left flank of the French and then moved to the Flanders front.
army (which he rightly guessed w o u l d H e held Maastricht against W i l l i a m of
attack into Germany) by a great wheel- Orange (1676). But the repeal of the
ing movement through Belgium. H e ex- Edict of Nantes (1685) made French serv-
pected to fight a decisive battle east of ice less attractive, and in 1688 he took

264
Schörner, Ferdinand Schwarzkopf, H . N o r m a n

command of a force for W i l l i a m of contributed largely to the victory o f

Orange, n o w W i l l i a m III, against the Leipzig, 16-19 October, and followed
Jacobite army of James II i n Ireland. H e the emperor relentlessly into France the
was killed during the battle of the Boyne following year. H i s victories of Arcis-
(1690). sur-Aube and L a Fère-Champenoise i n
late M a r c h brought about Napoleon's
Schörner, Ferdinand (1892-1973) first abdication.
German field-marshal. A Bavarian, w h o H i s son Friedrich K a r l Schwarzenberg
served i n the Leib-Kegiment (Body- (1800-70) was a remarkable military ad-
guard) during the First W o r l d W a r , venturer w h o served with the French i n
Schörner achieved a quicker promotion the invasion of Algeria, 1830, with the
than perhaps any other German soldier Carlists i n Spain, 1832, i n Switzerland
of the Second W o r l d W a r , chiefly during the Sonderbund w a r of 1846 (see
through his ostentatious N a z i s m and Dufour) and i n his o w n army against
sycophancy to Hitler, manifested i n his the Poles, 1846, the Italians, 1848, and
meticulous execution of pointless orders. the Hungarians, 1849.
H e remained unprotestingly i n com-
mand o f the surrounded A r m y G r o u p Schwarzkopf, H . N o r m a n (1934- )
N o r t h on the Baltic coast for six months, American general and theatre c o m -
July 1944-January 1945, was then trans- mander in the Persian G u l f W a r of 1991.
ferred to A r m y G r o u p Centre in Czecho- This charismatic and articulate giant o f
slovakia, where he so fed the Führer's a man was both born and named to be
groundless optimism by his promises of a warrior. Descended from German i m -
victory that he was promoted field- migrants, his father, also H . N o r m a n
marshal i n A p r i l . Despite his failure to Schwarzkopf, chose a military career
relieve Berlin i n the last days of the w a r , only to find that West Point required
he was named by H i t l e r i n his w i l l his h i m to be k n o w n by his disliked first
successor as commander-in-chief, a post name o f Herbert. Schwarzkopf senior
he held nominally for eight days. saw active service i n the First W o r l d
W a r before leaving the army i n 1919
Schwarzenberg, K a r l Philip, Fürst z u for the superintendentship of the N e w
(1771-1820) Austrian field-marshal. Jersey state police. H e gained fame for
First noted for his powers of decision at his handling of the L i n d b u r g kidnapping
Hohenlinden, December 1800, where he in 1932, and after 1936 as a radio person-
saved the right wing of the army from ality presenting the Gangbusters show.
destruction (see M o r e a u ) , Schwarzen- Returning to active service i n 1941, he
berg repeated the feat during the U l m spent most of the Second W o r l d W a r i n
campaign, when he led a division Persia, retiring i n 1947 with the rank of
through the encircling French lines. H e brigadier-general. Left to raise t w o
fought at W a g r a m , was sent to Paris daughters and a son alone his wife
to arrange the marriage between M a r i e - became an alcoholic, a fate a l l too
Louise and N a p o l e o n , w h o formed a common i n the military. Schwarzkopf's
w a r m impression of h i m and insisted on o w n account of his career before and
his commanding the Austrian corps during the Persian G u l f W a r , It Doesn't
which took part in the invasion of Take A Hero, deals with this and
Russia i n 1812. In 1813, having been other intimate matters i n a disarmingly
promoted field-marshal, he was put i n folksy way. But despite his professed
command of the allied army which admiration for the memoirs of the great
brought N a p o l e o n to battle i n Bohemia, commanders of the past, it has
was defeated at Dresden, 27 August, but disappointingly little to say regarding

265
Schwarzkopf, H . N o r m a n Schwarzkopf, H . N o r m a n

his military philosophy and the serious major-general he was appointed ground
issues of command. forces commander for the American i n -
The youngest child of the family, H e r - tervention in Grenada (Operation
bert N o r m a n Schwarzkopf Jr was born Urgent Fury). In 1988 he received his
in N e w Jersey, and educated at a nearby final posting, to Central C o m m a n d
military school. After the Second W o r l d ( C E N T C O M ) in the United States. In-
W a r the family was reunited w i t h their cluding army, air force and marines
father, first in Tehran and then on army forces, C E N T C O M had been formed
duty in Europe. Schwarzkopf completed in 1982 w i t h the improbable mission of
his education at Valley Forge M i l i t a r y defending the M i d d l e East from a Soviet
Academy, showing remarkable ability as invasion, despite the absence of any
a scholar. Just before entering West formal treaties or agreements between
Point in 1952, he legally changed his the United States and the Persian G u l f
name to ' H . N o r m a n ' , so dropping the countries, and was seen as something of
hated 'Herbert' and 'Jr' and confound- a retirement posting. Schwarzkopf took
ing army regulations. But as a relentless C E N T C O M seriously, looking with his
and painfully earnest over-achiever - staff at the new threat posed by Iraq
w h o was also over-weight and over- under its dictator Saddam Hussein to
clever - he continued throughout his life the o i l fields of the Gulf. W h e n i n
to be afflicted with a variety of insulting August 1990 Iraqi troops occupied
nicknames, of which 'the Bear' was the K u w a i t and threatened Saudi A r a b i a ,
most c o m m o n , replaced after the Persian Schwarzkopf could offer President
G u l f W a r by the more affectionate George Bush a viable plan to defend the
'Stormin' N o r m a n ' . region. W i t h Saudi agreement, Schwarz-
kopf and his C E N T C O M forces left
In 1957 Schwarzkopf was commis-
for the M i d d l e East to begin Operation
sioned into the infantry, choosing that
Desert Shield.
great forcing-house of American military
talent, the airborne forces. H i s career F r o m August 1990 to the end of the
prospered, and in 1962 the army sent Persian G u l f W a r Schwarzkopf re-
h i m to gain a master's degree in mech- mained in Saudi A r a b i a as the senior
anical engineering at the University American commander. A r a b political
of Southern California, w i t h a view sensibilities required that a Saudi officer
to becoming a West Point instructor. of the royal house, General Prince
In 1965 Schwarzkopf volunteered from K h a l i d bin Sultan, should be overall com-
West Point for his first tour in Vietnam, mander, while American needs for wider
as a military adviser. H e married in political support led to almost thirty
1968, followed by a second tour in countries contributing in some way to
Vietnam a year later including ex- Desert Shield. Against this, the United
perience with headquarters staff and States provided the vast majority of
command of a battalion. forces used and dominated the coalition.
Schwarzkopf emerged from Vietnam As the commander in fact if not in name,
with a determination that next time the Schwarzkopf had to walk a tightrope
army would do better. H e persevered between American requirements and
with his career in the United States and those of his A r a b and coalition partners.
Europe, rising through brigadier-general Inevitably his relations with Prince
in 1978 to full general ten years later, K h a l i d and with Washington (in the
one of a generation of officers trying to person of General C o l i n Powell q.v.,
turn the army around from the humili- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
ation of Vietnam and the corruption were often tense. Complaints were heard
which had accompanied it. In 1983 as a of Schwarzkopf's temper and ego, or

266
Schwarzkopf, H . N o r m a n Seeckt, H a n s v o n

insenstitivity to A r a b problems w h i c h , Scott, Winfield (1786-1866) American

given the political stakes, were a counsel (Union) general. Scott was the most i m -
of perfection against w h i c h no real com- portant military figure produced by the
mander could ever measure up. United States between Washington and
By October 1990 Desert Shield was Lee (qq.v.); though too o l d to take the
complete and Saudi A r a b i a safe from an field in 1861, he proposed the strategy
invasion that had never looked likely. which eventually w o n the war (the ' A n a -
According to Schwarzkopf's memoirs, conda P l a n ' of seizing the line of the
he successfully resisted calls from W a s h - Mississippi and crushing the South by
ington for an early offensive to liberate concentric advances). H e had been com-
K u w a i t , demanding extra reinforce- manding general of the U S A r m y since
ments which w o u l d mostly arrive in the 1841 and was a national hero for his
new year. Schwarzkopf's plan for Oper- victories in the M e x i c a n war (battles of
ation Desert Storm, the liberation of M o l i n o del Rey and Chapultepec, capture
K u w a i t , was one of the most remarkable of Vera C r u z and M e x i c o City), 1846-7.
pieces of military science in recent his- H e had been nominated for president by
tory, seeking to reconcile A r a b require- the W h i g Party in 1852 and as a young
ments that K u w a i t should be liberated, officer had w o n a gold medal from C o n -
and Iraq humbled but not completely gress for his bravery in battle in the war
destroyed, with American requirements of 1812. T h o u g h k n o w n as ' O l d Fuss and
for a crushing victory at m i n i m u m Feathers' to impatient C i v i l W a r officers,
human cost to themselves. The plan who usually found h i m asleep at his
drew self-consciously on the lessons of desk, he was still a wiser strategist and
the great attacking victories of the past, might even have proved a better battle-
but was based heavily on fire-power and field commander than M c C l e l l a n (q.v.),
treated the Iraqi enemy with a respect who succeeded h i m in November 1861.
that, in the event, they scarcely deserved.
Starting in January 1991 with a devastat- Seeckt, H a n s von (1866-1936) German
ing initial air attack, the plan culminated general. A Guards officer (Kaiser Alexan-
in a four-day ground offensive at the der Garde-Grenadiere), he served as
end of February which expelled the chief of staff to Mackensen (q.v.), 1915-
Iraqis from K u w a i t . Saddam Hussein 18, being responsible for the planning of
survived in charge of Iraq, but with the G o r l i c e - T a r n o w breakthrough and
both his army and his political power the second invasion of Serbia. After the
severely weakened. American casualties collapse of the monarchy he became
in the war were negligible, with fewer Chef des Truppenamts (i.e. commander-
than two hundred killed in action. in-chief) and oversaw the reduction of
Schwarzkopf had masterminded the the army to 100,000 men, as dictated at
single largest military operation since Versailles. H e succeeded none the less in
the Second W o r l d W a r . By winning one rebuilding its spirit by making each regi-
battle in one campaign he found himself ment the 'tradition-bearer' of several of
lifted by American gratitude into the the o l d , which he intended w o u l d be
pantheon of the great military command- reborn in better times, and by teaching
ers of history that he so much admired. the officers that they were the guardians
Entrusted with restoring American pride of Germany's past and future greatness.
after Vietnam, he had not failed. H e However, his political message to the
retired from the army a few months army — that it must remain 'above party'
after the war to earn a personal fortune - unintentionally prepared the way for
from his memoirs and lecture tours, a its acceptance of Hitler by deprecating
genuine American hero. the process of party politics itself.

267
Selim I Selim I

Selim I (1470-1520) T u r k i s h sultan, Chaldiran was a complete T u r k i s h vic-

tyrant and soldier. Although he reigned tory; the Persian capital was taken and
for only eight years, Selim (nicknamed the land ravaged. But the T u r k s had no
'the G r i m ' ) extended the frontiers of the means to maintain themselves i n hostile
Ottoman empire and virtually destroyed territory, and they were forced to
the power o f Persia. H i s interests lay i n retreat.
the east rather than the west, partly the The experience of the campaign af-
product of a political decision to restore fected Selim considerably, and o n his
the erosion of territory by Turkey's return to Istanbul he instituted a
M o s l e m neighbours, and partly the thorough overhaul of the Janissary com-
result of an extreme religiosity which mand and training. But he was pre-
set h i m against the 'heretical' Shiite sect vented from renewing his Persian w a r
predominant i n Persia. T h e first act of by troubles i n Iraq and Egypt. In 1516
his reign, after his father Bayezid had he moved against the M a m e l u k e sultan
abdicated i n his favour, was to murder of Egypt, Kansu al G a u r i , w h o had en-
all his relatives w h o could challenge his tered into an alliance with the Persians.
accession to the sultanate. Thereafter he The T u r k s were once again strong i n
turned to the problem of Persia. T h e infantry and artillery, whilst the M a m e -
Persians had supported his brother luke army, like the Persian, was com-
A h m e d i n the contest for the throne, posed largely of cavalry. Despite the
and Selim was implacable i n his hatred high quality of the M a m e l u k e horsemen,
of them. H e first annihilated the Shiite the T u r k i s h infantry and artillery re-
sect i n his o w n domains, to safeguard sisted their attack. Kansu al G a u r i was
his rear, and then concluded a set of killed and his troops fled from the battle-
agreements with the western powers to field. The battle of M e r j - D a b i k , like that
secure his other borders. of C h a l d i r a n , revealed the value of fire-
In 1515 Selim marched east with some power and the elaborate training of the
60,000 men ; a proportion of these were Janissaries. T h e Mamelukes hastily
skilled Janissaries, certainly the best i n - elected Kansu's nephew, T o u m a n Bey,
fantry i n A s i a , and the sipahis, equally as their new leader. H e recognized the
well-trained and disciplined cavalry. T h e crucial role artillery had played and
remainder were the levies and irregular bought ships' guns from Venetian vessels
troops which made up the bulk of any to create a strong field fortification
Ottoman army. A s the army marched which might offset the T u r k s ' advan-
east, the Janissaries complained about tages i n skill and equipment. But at the
the likely length of the campaign and battle of Ridanieh (1517) the T u r k i s h
the rigours o f the march : Selim immedi- armies outflanked the fixed fortifi-
ately executed the grumblers and their cations and used their o w n guns, better
officers. W i t h this stern warning before located, to harry the M a m e l u k e cavalry,
them the resolve of the army hardened, which charged but swiftly met the same
and when i n August 1515 the T u r k i s h fate as their forces at M e r j - D a b i k : 7000
forces met the Persian army, morale was Mamelukes were killed, but the T u r k s
high. T h e Persian army, under Shah lost almost as many, some 6000, many
Ismail, was almost entirely composed of of w h o m were virtually irreplaceable i n -
T u r c o m a n tribal levies, a courageous fantry. C a i r o was occupied, and the i n -
but ill-disciplined cavalry army. Slightly habitants w h o resisted, massacred. T h e
inferior i n numbers to the T u r k s , their last vestiges of M a m e l u k e opposition
charges broke against the Janissaries, were brutally crushed.
w h o had taken up fixed positions behind T a k i n g the titles of sultan of Egypt
rudimentary field works. T h e battle of and caliph of Islam, the latter acquired

268
Sérurier, Jean M a t h i e u Phibilert Seydlitz, Friedrich W i l h e l m , Freiherr

from the last of the Abbasid rulers of H e was created marshal i n 1804 (reck-
Baghdad, Selim moved o n into A r a b i a oned as one of the four - with Keller-
and visited the H o l y Places of M e c c a mann, Lefebvre and Pérignon, qq.v. -
and M e d i n a . O n his return he crushed honorary marshals), and thenceforward
revolts by religious sectarians i n Syria held the entirely honorary post of
and A n a t o l i a with little difficulty. H e governor of Les Invalides until 1815.
was now unchallenged throughout Asia
M i n o r , and his thoughts turned to the Seydlitz, Friedrich W i l h e l m , Freiherr
Mediterranean. In 1520 he accepted the von (1721-83) Prussian soldier. E m -
homage of the dey of Algiers, the noted bodying the very essence of the bold
pirate Khair-ed-din (Barbarossa, q.v.), cavalryman, Seydlitz was born to his
an act which was to have far-reaching profession. T h e son of a cavalry officer,
consequences under his son Suleiman w h o died when he was seven, Seydlitz
(q.v.). Later i n the same year he made had to find his o w n way i n the w o r l d .
plans to attack the island of Rhodes, Becoming a page at the court of
assembling a great fleet and large army Margrave Frederick William of
for the purpose. But death overtook h i m Brandenburg-Schwedt, a small Prussian
and the campaign was left to Suleiman. territory, i n 1740 he entered the mar-
Selim was an outstandingly successful grave's cuirassier regiment and fought
soldier and ruler. H e brought the O t t o - in the w a r o f the Austrian Succession
man empire a huge increase of rich terri- (1740-8), until his capture at the battle
tory, great prestige (with the title of of Chotusitz (1742), a bitter encounter
caliph), and unification by the draconian with the Austrians under Charles of L o r -
suppression of the slightest opposition. raine. A t this battle the quality of the
But equally significant were his reforms Prussian cavalry had been of crucial i m -
of the Janissary system and his purges portance, and when Seydlitz was ex-
of their higher ranks, while the enlarge- changed he was given a superior post.
ment o f the navy spelt eventual d o o m A t the battle of Soor (1745), again
for Venetian power in the eastern M e d i - against Charles of Lorraine, Seydlitz's
terranean. O f the great succession of mastery o f his men and their effective-
O t t o m a n rulers who succeeded M e h m e d ness i n the battle brought h i m to the
the Conqueror, Selim was the most con- notice of Frederick the Great, w h o in
sistently successful. H e used the great 1753 gave h i m command of the 8th
strength in infantry and fire-power Cuirassiers, w h i c h by a process of con-
which his father Bayezid II had left h i m stant drilling Seydlitz turned into a
to shatter the traditional cavalry armies model regiment.
of the Persians and Mamelukes. It was H i s methods, albeit very conventional
left to his son to turn the great army in their content, were used in other regi-
against the west. ments and the results were excellent : by
the outbreak of the Seven Years' W a r he
Sérurier, Jean M a t h i e u Phibilert (comte ; had been instrumental in increasing the
1742-1819) M a r s h a l of France. A n of- effectiveness of the Prussian cavalry, in
ficer of the ancien régime and a veteran particular fostering a uniquely aggressive
of the Seven Years' W a r (1756-63), Séru- spirit in battle. In the Seven Years' W a r
rier accepted the Revolution and rose, (1756-63), with Prussia beset by many
under the sponsorship of Barras, to enemies, speed o f transit and manœuvre
become general of division in 1795. H e was at a premium. A t the battle of Prague
held commands in the A r m y of Italy, (1757) it was the cavalry which enabled
1793—9, under Bonaparte and helped Frederick to exploit a fault i n the Aus-
him in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire. trian position, by pressing o n the flank

269
Seydlitz, Friedrich W i l h e l m , Freiherr Shaka Z u l u

while his infantry pushed forward into a wounded in the bitter hand-to-hand
gap in the centre. A t K o l i n a month struggle, and was absent from duty until
later (June 1757) it was the cavalry on 1761. H e returned to serve, not with
both sides which decided the d a y : the Frederick, but on the western front. H e
Austrians broke the back of the ex- joined Prince Henry of Prussia and beat
hausted Prussian infantry, and Seydlitz's the Austrian army of Serbelloni at
cavalry fought a magnificent rearguard Freiburg (1762), almost the last major
action which prevented the Prussian re- engagement of the war. Here he com-
treat becoming a rout. Frederick, i n manded both infantry and cavalry, and
gratitude, created h i m a major-general. showed that his talents were not at all
A t Rossbach (November 1757) it was one-sided.
Seydlitz's intervention, charging full-tilt W h e n peace came Seydlitz was pro-
with his thirty-eight cavalry squadrons moted general of cavalry (1767), as well
into the right flank of the Austro- as inspector-general of the Silesian cav-
French army under Hildburghausen and alry, a force he had done so much to
Soubise (as Prussian infantry pressed train to a peak of efficiency. Seydlitz
heavily on the left) which gained a had the qualities inherent i n a l l great
smashing victory (21,000 Prussians beat- cavalrymen: a simple, up-and-at-them
ing 64,000). But i n the charge Seydlitz approach, untempered by any great
was wounded and was out of action theory of the art of war. L i k e a l l great
until the following year: he was one of cavalry officers, he was a superb horse-
only 500 Prussian casualties i n a battle man, and much of the extraordinary
which had cost the enemy 8000. loyalty owed h i m by his men came
Seydlitz returned to service at the simply from the fact that he led from
battle of Z o r n d o r f (1758), where Fred- the front, was the first in any charge,
erick faced the Russian army of 45,000 the first to tackle the enemy. But his
under Fermor, and again played a de- rigid training gave them a control and
cisive part. T h e Russian infantry held discipline which made them much more
against the Prussian assault until Seyd- valuable than horsemen w h o were spent
litz charged to disrupt their formation ; it at the first charge. Certainly much of
was a costly struggle for both sides, but the success achieved by the Prussian
a Prussian defeat had been averted. A t armies must be to his credit and lasting
H o c h k i r k (1758), as at K o l i n , the cavalry glory.
protected the Prussian retreat after a
wasting fight which caused 9500 Prus- Shaka Z u l u (1787-1828) T h e by-blow
sian casualties. These successive battles, of a Z u l u chief, w h o came upon his
involving heavy Prussian losses, bled the mother bathing i n a stream, Shaka was
army of its best men, particularly in the an outcast both from his father's people,
cavalry where men were difficult to and from his mother's, the Langeni.
train. A t Kunersdorf (1759), a battle Even his name (Shaka was an intestinal
which Frederick mishandled, the Austri- beetle) was a mark of shame and con-
ans and Russians held against Prussian tempt. But this rootlessness allowed h i m
attacks (delivered piecemeal, for the for- to develop his military ideas outside the
mations had broken up i n the marshy rigid conventions of traditional warfare
terrain), the Austrian hussars harrying in southern Africa, as well as a ruthless-
the struggling Prussian infantry. Once ness quite alien to normal custom. A s a
again the cavalry were thrown in to military and political innovator, he had
cover the retreat, but on this occasion no equal in his o w n time. Even the great
they could not stem the strength of the leader of the M t h e t h w a confederation,
enemy attack. Seydlitz was again severely Dingiswayo, w h o had had the vision to

270
Shaka Z u l u Shaka Z u l u

see Shaka's talents and allowed h i m to in 1817, he showed the fate which w o u l d
remould his army, could not compare befall all w h o opposed h i m . T h e power-
with his protégé. ful N d w a n d w e army (much larger than
Shaka gave system and order to the his o w n forces at that time) was devas-
often haphazard conditions of trad- tated by his tactic of outflanking their
itional warfare. T h i s consisted of little main force with fast moving skirmishers
more than hurling insults and a few while the main body of his army
spears at an enemy: wars were w o n by smashed through their centre. T h i s was
guile and ambush rather than set-piece the tactic of the 'horns' and the 'chest' :
battles. Indeed, Shaka's developments Shaka likened his army to the buffalo,
were so original that for decades they the most dangerous animal of the veldt.
were thought to have been inspired by T h e 'horns' enveloped an enemy, while
western models. T h i s was not so, for all the chest 'ate h i m up'. T h i s was the
his changes came from a clear under- phrase which Shaka used of his enemies.
standing of the potentials in Z u l u soci- By 1824, all the surrounding peoples
ety. It was well ordered, w i t h a rigid had been 'eaten u p ' , or fled to the north
system of age groups organized on m i l i - or south.
tary lines. Z u l u s were used to discipline. Shaka's ruthlessness was at first delib-
Shaka's first change was to turn his few erate, but it eventually became uncon-
soldiers (at first numbered in the hun- trolled. W h e n his mother N a n d i died,
dreds rather than the thousands) into a over 7000 people were killed for failing
force for fighting at close quarters: he to display adequate grief. H e decreed
abandoned the throwing spear as a prin- that no crops should be planted as a
cipal weapon, for a short handled, broad- sign of mourning, w h i c h meant star-
bladed spear intended for stabbing. T o vation in the following year, and any
this he gave the name iKlwa, w h i c h w o m a n found pregnant should be killed
sounded (it was said) like a blade being (and her husband w i t h her). In the year
withdrawn from a body. T h e new between his mother's death in the
weapon was accompanied by a savage summer of 1827 and his o w n i n Septem-
hardening programme : his soldiers were ber 1828, Shaka began the long-expected
not allowed to wear sandals, and were attack on his last remaining enemy, the
forced to march over sharp thorns to European settlers in Cape C o l o n y . T h i s
prove their imperviousness to pain; the last plan was foiled only by his murder
penalty for failure was death. W i t h his at the hands of his half-brothers, who
small force he conquered local clans on feared that they w o u l d shortly suffer
behalf of Dingiswayo, who in 1816 pro- from his vengefulness. O n the day before
vided h i m with men and resources to he died, Shaka ordered the massacre of
capture the chieftaincy of his father's some 400 women, on the grounds that
people, the Z u l u . they were engaged in witchcraft. H i s
Dingiswayo was assassinated in 1817, murderers, led by his brother Dingane,
and over the next ten years, Shaka made rightly feared they might be next.
himself supreme in the former Shaka created the Z u l u empire over
M t h e t h w a territories, and over a much some eleven years. The process is be-
larger area of southern A f r i c a . W i t h an lieved to have cost two million lives.
army of some 40,000 Shaka simply ab- For much of the eleven years, his ruth-
sorbed surrounding peoples, exterminat- lessness was a matter of policy. It was
ing all who attempted to resist. H e took the only plausible means to enforce disci-
revenge on his mother's clan, slaughter- pline over a huge area with very limited
ing all those w h o had once slighted h i m ; communications : fear replaced adminis-
at his first major battle, at G q o k l i H i l l tration. In his last years, the terror was

271
Shaposhnikov, Boris M i k h a i l o v i c h Sherman, W i l l i a m Tecumseh

sustained by his increasingly w i l d fears Later i n the year he embarked o n a

and hatreds. H i s legacy to his people campaign i n the Shenandoah Valley,
was a military machine unique in Africa, which rivalled that of Jackson (q.v.)
and one capable of defeating even for its brilliance and brought about the
well-armed European troops. Fanciful destruction of the army of Early (q.v.).
commentators called h i m T h e Black O n I A p r i l 1865 he defeated Pickett
N a p o l e o n , and allowing for different (q.v.) at Five Forks and a week later
societies and customs, the comparison prevented Lee (q.v.) from withdrawing
is apt. Shaka was without doubt the beyond Appomattox, thus determining
greatest commander to come out of that the C i v i l W a r should, effectively,
Africa. be ended there and then. In later years
he succeeded Sherman (q.v.) as general-
Shaposhnikov, Boris Mikhailovich in-chief (1884-8). Sheridan was a cavalry
(1882-1945) M a r s h a l of the Soviet leader and tactician of the first class.
U n i o n . A tsarist general staff officer,
Shaposhnikov volunteered for the R e d Sherman, W i l l i a m Tecumseh (1820-
A r m y i n 1918, joined the operations sec- 91) American (Union) general. N a m e d
tion of the Supreme M i l i t a r y Soviet and after a famous fighting chief of the
planned the strategy of the campaigns Shawnee, Tecumseh (q.v.), Sherman was
against Denikin (q.v.) and the Poles. H e unusual among Northern generals i n
was later head of the Frunze (q.v.) having lived long i n the South and i n
M i l i t a r y Academy and three times coming from an established family: his
chief of staff, 1928-31, 1937-40, 1941- foster-father was a member of the cabi-
November 1942. H e was removed o n net and ex-senator, his wife the daughter
the first occasion for having written of a secretary of the interior, his brother
praise of Trotsky (q.v.) ; o n the second a successful politician and secretary of
and third because of ill-health. H i s intel- state-to-be. But his rise, unlike that of
lectual influence o n the R e d A r m y and, so many U n i o n 'political' generals, owed
allegedly, o n Stalin, was very great, nothing to influence. After twelve years
through his writing, his lectures in civilian life (as head of Louisiana
and his associations. State University), he was out o f touch
with the army, which he had entered
Sheridan, Philip Henry (1831-88; from West Point in 1840, but he com-
American (Union) general. T o o young manded a division with distinction at
to have climbed far in the army at the Shiloh, took a major part i n the V i c k s -
outbreak of the C i v i l W a r , Sheridan got burg and Chattanooga campaigns under
command of a cavalry regiment i n M a y Grant (q.v.), and, o n Grant leaving the
1862 and thereafter his achievements car- west i n M a r c h 1864, succeeded h i m i n
ried h i m rapidly upwards. A divisional command there. It was in the subsequent
commander at Perryville and Stones Atlanta campaign, M a r c h to the Sea and
River, his leadership in the Chattanooga campaign in the Carolinas that he made
campaign, when his division captured his name and his reputation for a ruth-
Missionary Ridge and nearly made less and (in modern terms) original style
Bragg (q.v.) and his staff prisoners, of warmaking.
prompted Grant (q.v.) to appoint h i m Sherman took the view that it is i n
commander of the cavalry corps of the resources rather than soldiers that a
A r m y of the Potomac. Leading it in a raid state's power to make war resides and
in M a y 1864, he clashed with the corps he accordingly set out to deprive the
of Jeb Stuart (q.v.) at Y e l l o w Tavern, South of as much material as he could.
where the latter was fatally wounded. H a v i n g seized the rail centre of A t l a n t a ,

272
Shun C h i h Sivaji

thus again bisecting the territory of the Sigismund was forced to promise to
South (see Scott and his Anaconda Plan), uphold freedom of worship for Swedish
he cut a swathe of devastation 60 miles Lutherans, but it was impossible to con-
wide and 400 miles deep to the sea at trol both kingdoms, and Sigismund's
Savannah, where he arrived on 10 De- regent in Sweden, his uncle Charles, rose
cember 1864. H e then turned north to in rebellion against h i m . Charles de-
repeat the treatment in N o r t h and South feated an invading army from Poland at
C a r o l i n a . J.E.Johnston (q.v.) tried i n - Stängebro (1598) and the Swedish parlia-
effectively to oppose h i m and was event- ment declared Sigismund deposed. A n
ually forced to surrender at G o l d s b o r o , intermittent war continued until
13 A p r i l 1865. Sherman's best-known Charles's death in 1611. Sigismund was
dictum, ' W a r is hell', accurately en- no soldier himself, but he was lucky in
capsulates his strategic outlook, and his commanders, notably the great cav-
unfortunately prefigures that of a alry commander C h o d k i e w i c z (q.v.).
multitude of generals in the twentieth T h e Poles had some success in Russia
century. H i s army's speed of advance during the chaos w i t h i n that country,
on its marches (450 miles in fifty days the T i m e of Troubles, 1604-13, but the
through the Carolinas) bears comparison, early victories against Charles were re-
even though it was little resisted, with versed when Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.)
that of later mechanized forces. After (Charles's son) invaded Polish L i v o n i a
Grant's election to the presidency (1868), and recaptured the areas his father had
Sherman succeeded h i m as general-in- sought, although the Poles under
chief, a post he held for fifteen years. Koniecpolski resisted strongly. O n l y
M o d e r n scholarship has come to regard gradually were the Swedes able to
him as one of the greatest generals of match the power and dash of the Poles,
the industrial w o r l d . and the war was concluded by the treaty
of Altmark (1629), which freed
Shun C h i h (1638-61) M a n c h u em- Gustavus for action in Germany and
peror. T h e ninth son of A b a h a i , leader secured the Baltic coast. By Sigismund's
of the M a n c h u tribes, Shun C h i h suc- death the initiative had passed
ceeded to the throne in 1643 at the age decisively to Sweden. T h e perennial
of five. In 1644 his paternal uncle, problem of Poland was the number of
D o r g o n , captured Peking: the M i n g enemies she faced - Russia, T u r k e y ,
dynasty was ended and the young Prussia, Sweden. But by embroiling
king was proclaimed emperor. Under Poland in what was essentially a private,
D o r g o n , M a n c h u power was extended dynastic squabble Sigismund drained his
further and further into the south, and country of wealth and men.
by his death in 1650 the whole of north-
ern C h i n a was firmly ruled by M a n c h u Sitting B u l l (1834-90) American Indian
Peking. The generals of Shun C h i h con- (Sioux) chief. H e a d of the Sioux war
tinued the conquests, and by 1659 the council in 1875, when war broke out
rest of the M i n g supporters were driven afresh between the tribe and the U S
out to the island of Formosa. But Shun A r m y , he and Crazy Horse (q.v.) were
C h i h himself was a peaceable man, and the leaders at the battle of the Little Big
he ended his life as a Buddhist priest. H o r n in w h i c h Custer (q.v.) and his 7th
Cavalry were destroyed.
Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632) K i n g
of Poland. Under his rule the crowns of Sivaji (1627-80) Indian soldier and
Sweden and Poland were temporarily statesman, founder of the M a r a t h a state.
united, from 1592 to 1599. A Catholic, One of the greatest exponents of the

273
Sivaji Slim, W i l l i a m Joseph

skills of guerrilla warfare, Sivaji began Sixt von A r m i n , Friedrich (1851-

his career as the head of a small rebel 1936) German general. A survivor of
band, fighting against the sultan of B i - the massacre of the G u a r d Corps at
japur. H i s successes rallied widespread Saint-Privat in 1870 [see Hindenburg),
H i n d u support, and in 1659 the sultan he rose to command Fourth A r m y ,
sent an army of 20,000 men against h i m , which on 25 A p r i l 1918 achieved the
under the command of his best general, remarkable surprise capture of Kemmel
Afzal K h a n . Sivaji retreated into the H i l l , south of Ypres, in the second of
mountains and sent emissaries to the the great German 'war-winning' offen-
general for a parley. H e then murdered sives of that year.
him and destroyed his leaderless army. A descendant, Hans-Heinrich Sixt von
W i t h the arms of the 20,000 defeated A r m i n (1890-1952), was captured at Stal-
Bijapuris, and many new recruits to the ingrad commanding the 113th Division
rebel cause, Sivaji was now a major and died in captivity.
force. The M o g u l emperor Aurengazeb
sent several detachments against h i m , Skobolev, M i k h a i l Dimitrievich (1843-
all of which Sivaji managed to destroy 82) Russian general. Son of a distin-
piecemeal. Infuriated, Aurengazeb sent guished general, D i m i t r i Ivanovich
a substantial army against him under Skobolev (1821-80), he was promoted
Jai Singh, after he had taken the main major-general at thirty-four for his lead-
M o g u l port of Surat. W i t h 100,000 men ership of the expedition to K h o k a n d in
against h i m , Sivaji was forced to surren- Turkestan, to which region he returned,
der, and was sent into house arrest at after playing a leading part in the
Agra. H e pretended sickness and great T u r k i s h war of 1877-8 (siege of Plevna,
remorse at his disloyalty; he succeeded battle of Senova), to complete the
in escaping (1666) most dramatically, conquest (1881). Apparently destined
concealed in a huge b o w l of sweets he to rise to the first place in the army,
had sent out for distribution to the poor.- he died of a heart attack in the midst
Returning to the Deccan, he reverted to of an orgy in M o s c o w , aged thirty-
guerrilla war, raising the flag of revolt eight.
against the M o g u l s .
By 1668, Sivaji had recaptured all the S l i m , W i l l i a m Joseph (ist Viscount
territory he had lost and extended his S l i m ; 1891-1970) British field-marshal.
dominions into a unitary M a r a t h a state. O f humble origins, Slim was commis-
H e started to extend the navy he had sioned from the ranks during the First
begun in 1659, and in 1674 he pro- W o r l d W a r , after which he transferred,
claimed an independent H i n d u king- with a regular commission, to the Indian
d o m . In doing so, and in the careful army (6th Gurkhas). A brigade com-
diplomacy and alliance system he cre- mander at the outbreak of the Second
ated with his small M o s l e m neighbours, W o r l d W a r , he rose quickly to command
he set a barrier to the southward exten- a division and in 1942 was sent to Burma
sion of the M o g u l empire. The strength to take command of I Corps at the very
of the M a r a t h a state lay in its arid and outset of the Japanese attack. Between
mountainous terrain, which was imposs- M a r c h and M a y he conducted its retreat
ible for an enemy to dominate, and in of 900 miles from Rangoon to Imphal in
the superb army of light cavalry he cre- India. There the British remained on the
ated. For over a century the warlike defensive until, in December 1943, he
Marathas were to dominate central was given command of the Fourteenth
India, and posed a dangerous enemy for A r m y and at once undertook an attack
the Europeans in their advance. into the A r a k a n (February 1944).

274
Smith, (Sir) W i l l i a m Sydney Soubise, Charles de R o h a n

T h o u g h only partially successful, it, and Sokolovsky, Vasili D a n i l o v i c h (1897-

the tonic effect of Slim's magisterial lead- 1968) M a r s h a l of the Soviet U n i o n .
ership, d i d much to restore the army's A veteran of the C i v i l W a r , he was
morale, which was seriously tested but appointed chief of staff, Western
ultimately further strengthened by the Front (army group), on the German
fight to repel Japan's final effort to invasion in 1941 and, o n the transfer
invade India via Imphal and K o h i m a of Konev (q.v.), continued to serve
( M a r c h - J u l y ) . H e then mounted his o w n Z h u k o v (q.v.). Between them they were
counter-offensive, aimed at nothing less responsible for the planning and execu-
than the outright reconquest of Burma, tion of the M o s c o w counter-offensive
got safely across the obstacle of the great of December 1941. H e commanded
Irrawaddy river by a brilliant deception an army on the Briansk Front, 1942,
and brought the Japanese to a battle of and the Western Front in the K u r s k -
decision at M e i k t i l a , 15-31 M a r c h 1945. O r e l battle, 1943, and later reverted
By 2 M a y he had, by the novel and bold to the post of chief of staff of First
use of air supply to provision his rapidly Belorussian (Rokossovski, q.v.), and
moving columns, taken Rangoon. Slim then First U k r a i n i a n (Konev) Fronts.
thus became the only general of the H e was a postwar chief of the general
Second W o r l d W a r to defeat a major staff.
Japanese army on the Asian mainland
and liberate a conquered territory by Somerville, (Sir) James Fownes (1882-
ground fighting alone. T h a t in itself is 1949) British admiral. Appointed in
enough to ensure h i m a lasting repu- 1940 to command Force H , the fleet of
tation. But he was, besides being unques- battleships and aircraft carriers based in
tionably a great soldier, also someone Gibraltar, it was Somerville w h o very
regarded by subordinates and equals as reluctantly was obliged to carry out the
a great man, a judgement borne out by bombardment, at its moorings in M e r s -
the sharp intelligence and w a r m human- el-Kabir, of the French Mediterranean
ity of his memoirs. fleet, after it had refused to sail for
harbours out of A x i s reach (see Darlan).
Smith, (Sir) W i l l i a m Sydney (1764- In M a y 1941 he also played the decisive
1840) British admiral. T h o u g h princi- role in the sinking of the Bismarck and
pally notable for his heroic and ingen- in October fought the 'Tiger' convoy
ious defence of Acre against Napoleon through to M a l t a . H e was the most
in 1799, Smith had also fought at active British surface fleet commander
Toulon (see Napoleon) and been of the war.
knighted for services to the king of
Sweden during his war with Russia, Soubise, Charles de R o h a n , prince de
1790-2. H e subsequently assisted Aber- (1715-87) French soldier. M a r s h a l of
cromby (q.v.) in Egypt, was wounded at France, Soubise made his greatest mark
A b o u k i r , relieved Gaeta and recaptured on military history as the general com-
C a p r i for the king of Naples, 1806, and manding the French army so overwhelm-
destroyed a T u r k i s h fleet at Abydos ingly defeated by Frederick the Great
in 1807. F r o m 1812 to 1815 he was (q.v.) at Rossbach (5 November 1757).
second-in-command to Pellew (q.v.) in The allied army of the Austrians and
the Mediterranean. A great showman French had 64,000 men, the Prussians
and a compulsive quarreller (with, inter less than one-third of that number. It
alia, Nelson and M o o r e , qq.v.) he was was a great disaster for French arms
one of the most famous sailors of his and spelt the end of Soubise's reputation
day. as a general.

275
Soult, Nicolas Jean de D i e u Spinola, A m b r o g i o d i F i l i p p o

Soult, Nicolas Jean de D i e u (duc de Spaatz, C a r l (1891-1974) American

Dalmatie; 1769-1851) M a r s h a l o f airman. Appointed an observer o f strat-
France. A private soldier of the ancien egic air operations i n Britain before
régime (enlisted 1785), Soult rose to America's entry into the war, he became
become ' G r a n d O l d M a n ' of the French in M a r c h 1942 commander o f the 8th
army and to acquire the title o f A i r Force, destined for European oper-
maréchal-général (1847), previously ations, and i n February 1943 commander
granted only to Turenne, Villars and of the N W Africa A i r Force. In January
Saxe (qq.v.). Commissioned under the 1944 he was promoted to command o f
Revolution, he was a general of brigade the U S Strategic A i r Forces and took
by 1794, took a prominent part i n the direction o f the strategic offensive
victory of Z u r i c h (see Masséna) and cam- against Germany. In the preliminaries
paigned in north and south Italy, 1800- to D-Day his planes concentrated o n
2. H e was made marshal i n the 'great softening the defences of France. There-
creation' o f 1804 and at Austerlitz (2 after they were devoted to a programme
December 1805) executed the decisive of bombing o f synthetic o i l production
stroke against the Austrians and the Rus- and internal communications. By the
sians, the capture of the Pratzen Heights, end o f the war both had been brought
which drew from Napoleon one o f the to a halt. H e then transferred to the
warmest compliments paid to any of his Pacific, where he opened the strategic
subordinates (he called h i m He premier bombing of J a p a n ; his fire bomb raids
manœuvrier de l'Europe'). H e also on her cities, of which the sixty largest
played an important part in the victories suffered 60 per cent destruction, inflicted
of Jena and Eylau. greater damage than his t w o nuclear
Thereafter Soult served chiefly i n raids o n Nagasaki and H i r o s h i m a i n
Spain, graveyard o f Napoleonic gen- August 1945.
erals' reputations. Nevertheless, though
he failed to prevent M o o r e (q.v.) evacuat- Spee, M a x i m i l i e n G r a f v o n (1861-
ing his army from C o r u n n a and was 1914) German admiral. T h e commander
beaten by Beresford at Albuera (16 M a y in 1914 of the German commerce raiding
1811), he w o n a number o f victories squadron i n the southern oceans,.Spee
against Spanish armies, and when, destroyed Cradock (q.v.) at Coronel i n
having escaped from the country to fight November but was himself destroyed by
at Bautzen, he was sent back to defend Sturdee (q.v.) at the Falkland Islands
the Pyrenean frontier against Wellington in December. T h e commerce raider
(q.v.), he waged a skilful delaying cam- which was given his name was scuttled
paign, 1813-14. D u r i n g the H u n d r e d by its captain after his defeat by A d m i r a l
Days he acted as chief of staff, an H a r w o o d in the battle of the River Plate,
appointment in which he was i l l at ease 13 December 1939.
and which Napoleon had cause to
regret, and was banished after the Spinola, A m b r o g i o d i Filippo (1569-
second restoration until 1819. Restored 1630) Italian soldier of fortune i n the
to favour under the July monarchy, service o f Philip III. The son o f an an-
he was minister of war, 1830-4 and cient and noble Genoese family, Spinola
1840-5, and represented Louis-Philippe entered Spanish service with his brother
at the coronation o f Queen V i c t o r i a , Frederick i n 1602. Together they raised
where he met his old adversary, W e l - an army o f 9000, staking the bulk of
lington, who is said to have seized his their family resources, with the intention
arm with the words, 'I have y o u at of making their fortune as independent
last.' mercenaries. But Frederick was killed

276
Spinola, A m b r o g i o d i F i l i p p o Spruance, R a y m o n d Arnes

early in 1603 and their grand plan was (1618-48), capturing the cities of M a i n z
frustrated : meanwhile he was employed Kreuznach and Oppenheim. For this suc-
in the Spanish Netherlands with his cess, which secured the line of c o m m u n i -
men, in expectation of an invasion of cations between the Austrian and
England. H i s first successful action was Spanish armies, he was created captain-
the capture of Ostend (1604), after an general. In the same year (1621) war
epic defence of almost three years, and resumed with H o l l a n d and he besieged
it was only Spinola's remorseless pres- Bergen; in 1625 he crowned his career
sure on the city and its inhabitants with the capture of Breda, once again
which finally gave the Spanish victory. using the technique of strict isolation of
After this success Spinola demanded the besieged town with a flexible field
from Philip II of Spain the command of army to defeat the efforts of Frederick
all the armies in the L o w Countries. In Henry of Nassau to bring relief. T h e
the next two years a regular pattern siege lasted over ten months and the
emerged: Spinola, w i t h great dash, re- loss was a bitter blow to the Protestant
duced the Protestant strongholds one by cause. But after Breda, lack of money
one, despite the best efforts of M a u r i c e and the hatred of powerful enemies at
of Nassau (q.v.), the D u t c h general, to the Spanish court prevented h i m from
prevent h i m . Spinola believed in attack, exploiting his victories. T h e armies of
and even his sieges had little of the Frederick Henry now took the field
patient reduction so loved by his contem- against a debilitated enemy, and Spinola
poraries. Using his field army to protect went to Spain to plead for more supplies
his siege works, he tempted the D u t c h and fresh troops. Blamed unfairly by his
to meet h i m in open battle. H e had a enemies for the loss of the t o w n of
good eye for a weak point, and many of G r o l l , and finding no answer to his plea
his sieges were ended by a sudden as- for proper support, he refused to return
sault on a town's most vulnerable (and to his command in Flanders. Instead he
often unsuspected) sector. H e had went to Italy where he died at the siege
almost no reverses, despite the fact that of Casale. H i s withdrawal from the
in M a u r i c e of Nassau he was faced by a northern theatre of war and his death
soldier of the highest quality. Despite prevented his participation in the war
his successes on behalf of Spain, how- after the Swedish invasion of Germany.
ever, he received little in the form of Spinola was a brilliant battlefield c o m -
gratitude. In 1606, before the Spanish mander, whose daring often outfaced
bankers acting for the C r o w n w o u l d his more cautious opponents. H e was
agree to pay his men, he was forced to no great technical innovator, but pos-
pledge his o w n fortune - it was this sessed a mastery of the professional m i l i -
steady drain on his finances which was tary skills. H i s men were used to rapid
to beggar h i m before his death. The fact movement and sudden pell-mell actions.
that he had to pay the expenses of his H e was adept at applying the m a x i m u m
men during the twelve-year truce with force in an unexpected corner to w i n a
the D u t c h (1609-21) meant that he could surprise victory. Better supported, he
achieve little in the way of radical re- might have achieved the same degree of
equipment or extension of his forces. success as Parma (q.v.) in undermining
But by keeping his army in being he was the fragile independence of the United
able to achieve a high degree of training Provinces of the northern Netherlands.
and general efficiency.
These were the qualities which en- Spruance, R a y m o n d Arnes (1886—1969)
abled Spinola to seize the Palatinate at American admiral. T h e disablement
the outbreak of the T h i r t y Years' W a r of A d m i r a l Fletcher's carrier flagship

277
Stark, John Steuben, Friedrich W i l h e l m Augustus

Yorktown during the battle of M i d w a y disaster for British arms (1777). In 1780
on 4 June 1942 gave the direction of oper- Stark was a member of the court-martial
ations to Spruance, commanding the which condemned M a j o r André, the
Enterprise and Hornet. H e completed British officer w h o had been instru-
this smashing victory and thereby estab- mental i n organizing the defection of
lished his reputation as a naval tactician Benedict A r n o l d (q.v.).
of the first rank. It was a reputation he
enlarged by his command of the assault Steinmetz, Friedrich von (1796-
on T a r a w a in November 1943, i n the 1877) Prussian general. T o the Prus-
Marshalls campaign, at T r u k and above sian army of 1870, Steinmetz stood as
all in the battle of the Philippines Sea, the last reminder of its W a r of Liber-
19-21 June 1944, which destroyed the ation against the French i n 1813-14, i n
last of Japan's naval-air striking power. which he had indeed served as a lieuten-
H e went o n , as commander of the Fifth ant and since when he had always w o r n ,
Fleet, to direct the first large-scale against regulation, the low-crowned
carrier raid o n T o k y o and the naval oilskin-covered cap distinctive of those
assault on Iwo Jima, February 1945. heroic days. H e had w o n the Pour le
Spruance must be reckoned among the mérite i n Denmark in 1848 and had
great fighting admirals of history. achieved against Austria i n 1866 the
most talked-of success of the w a r : the
Stark, John (1728-1822) American sol- victory at N a c h o d , which laid the basis
dier. A commander of militia i n the for the crushing victory of Königgrätz.
American W a r o f Independence (1775- A t heart Steinmetz remained, however,
83), Stark had served i n the French and a man of the simple, instinctive warfare
Indian wars from 1754 to 1759 with of his youth and had no time for or
Rogers' (q.v.) Rangers and had risen to understanding of the precisely calculated
the rank of captain. A colonel at the methods of M o l t k e (q.v.). A s a result,
outbreak of the American Revolution, his leadership of First A r m y at the onset
he fought at Bunker H i l l , i n the disas- of the invasion o f France very nearly
trous invasion of Canada and i n Wash- put paid to the overall strategy. H i s
ington's attack on N e w Jersey. H e attack at Spicheren on 6 August was a
resigned i n M a r c h 1777, but took up costly tactical success and strategic blun-
a command again when Burgoyne (q.v.) der, and he was dismissed after Grav-
made his assault into N e w Y o r k . Stark elotte, 18 August, to the governorship o f
defeated first a detachment of 700 Bruns- distant Posen.
wick mercenaries and then a second
group of 650 Brunswickers, his troops Steuben, Friedrich W i l h e l m Augustus,
against these seasoned mercenaries being Freiherr von (1730-94) Prussian sol-
2000 N e w England militia, plus the dier i n the service of the United States.
'Green M o u n t a i n Boys' under their com- The drill-master of Washington's C o n t i -
mander Seth Warner for the latter en- nental army, Steuben brought a touch
counter. Supplies desperately needed by of Prussian professionalism into the
Burgoyne were captured and the A m e r i - American W a r of Independence (1775—
cans had only seventy casualties for 83). Born the son of a Prussian army
almost a thousand British. F o r this officer, he entered the Prussian service
achievement Stark was raised to be at the age of sixteen. D u r i n g the Seven
brigadier-general i n the Continental Years' W a r (1756-83) he rose to the
army of Washington. H i s action led rank of captain and was, for a short
directly to Burgoyne's surrender at period, even attached to the general staff
Saratoga with 5700 men, a humiliating of Frederick the Great. A t the end of the

278
Stilwell, Joseph Strachau, Sir R i c h a r d John

war he was retired from the army and as American representative to C h i a n g

became court chamberlain at a small Kai-shek (q.v.), w h o made h i m his chief
Prussian court of Hohenzollern H e c h i n - of staff. Stilwell was also given com-
gen. In 1777 he left the court abruptly mand of all U S forces i n C h i n a , though
under a cloud and failed to obtain a these consisted initially only of airmen
military post with any of the great under the dynamic Chennault (q.v.).
powers, or even with the East India D u r i n g the British retreat from Burma
Company. H e was therefore not much he brought t w o Chinese armies, Fifth
of a catch for the American agents, and Sixth (equivalent to t w o western
Benjamin F r a n k l i n and Silas Deane, corps), to their aid and tried to keep
who sent h i m off to Washington at his open the Burma road along which sup-
camp in Valley Forge with fulsome plies from India went to C h i a n g K a i -
recommendations. shek. H e was, however, defeated and
Their instincts were correct, however, forced to take refuge in India. In 1944
for Steuben turned out to be a superb he returned to the offensive with C h i -
instrutor for the colonial troops and nese and American troops (Merrill's M a -
turned an army of civilians into soldiers. rauders) and took part i n the second
H e formed a model drill company and Chindit operation (see Wingate) but, fol-
trained them, if not to the standard of a lowing a difference of opinion between
Potsdam parade ground, at least able to himself and C h i a n g as to h o w best to
fulfil normal military evolutions. H e counter a renewed Japanese offensive in
took an intense interest and pride in C h i n a itself, he was relieved o n 18 O c t o -
the growth of his pupils' understanding ber 1944. T h i s was the last of a series of
of military skills; appointed inspector- quarrels he had had with almost every-
general of the army, with the rank one of note in South-East A s i a , including
of major-general, his tactical manual W a v e l l , Slim, Wingate (qq.v.), M o u n t -
(Regulations for the Order and Dis- batten and Chennault. N o t for nothing
cipline of the Troops of the United was he universally k n o w n as Vinegar
States) became the training guide for Joe - though his victories were also
the entire army. It was thanks to ready witness to his ability and
Steuben's tireless efforts that American integrity.
troops were able to match the profes-
sional skills of British regulars i n the Stössel, A n a t o l i M i k h a i l o v i c h (1848-
later battles of the war. In 1780 he was 1915) Russian general. H i s direction o f
given, as he fervently desired, a field the defence of Port A r t h u r , M a y 1904-
command ; but his skills, it was revealed, January 1905, in the Russo-Japanese
lay on the drill ground rather than war (see Nogi) was so uninspired that
the battlefield. A raucous, larger-than- he was tried by court-martial after the
life character, he recognized both the war and sentenced to death (later
weaknesses and the potential of his raw commuted).
recruits; after the w a r , loaded with
honour and rewards by Congress and Strachan, Sir Richard J o h n , 4th Baronet
the state of N e w Y o r k , he succeeded in (1760-1828) British admiral. H i s squad-
dissipating his resources, but eventually ron captured four of the French ships
contrived a life pension. which had escaped from Trafalgar
off Cape Ortegal, where he was lying
Stilwell, Joseph (1883-1946) American in wait for them, o n 3 November
general. H a v i n g spent thirteen years of 1805. In 1809 he was naval commander
his inter-war service i n C h i n a , Stilwell of the disastrous expedition to W a l -
was the obvious general to send i n 1941 cheren.

279
Staussenberg, Artur Freiherr Arz von Student, K u r t

Straussenberg, Artur Freiherr Arz v o n Stuart, James Ewell Brown ('Jeb';

(1857-1935) Austrian general. C o m - 1833-64) American (Confederate) gen-
mander of V I Corps against the Russians eral. T h e outstanding cavalry leader o f
in 1915, he led the First A r m y i n the the C i v i l W a r , whose raids seriously
invasion of R o m a n i a , August 1916, and alarmed and discommoded the U n i o n
in M a y 1917 succeeded C o n r a d (q.v.) as armies and brought valuable inform-
chief of staff. It was he w h o planned the ation to the Confederates o n several oc-
great breakthrough of the Italian front casions: in August 1862 he captured
at Caporetto i n November and the papers from Pope (q.v.), which allowed
abortive offensive o n the Piave i n June Lee (q.v.) to begin the manoeuvre of
1918. Second Bull R u n with confidence ; i n the
following December he destroyed much
Stuart, Charles E d w a r d , Prince (1720- Federal property in the Fredericksburg
88) T h e Y o u n g Pretender. F o r a l l the district. H e also commanded cavalry and
romance of 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', other formations i n battle, e.g. Jackson's
Charles E d w a r d was a foolish young corps at Chancellorsville, and with his
man, w h o brought the disaster of C u l - o w n cavalry corps fought the battle of
loden (1746) upon his o w n head. T h e Brandy Station, 9 June 1863. But his
rebellion of 1745, despite the fact that operations were not always success-
the Scots reached Derby, was doomed ful or useful; he failed to keep Lee
from the outset; L o r d George M u r r a y informed during the Gettysburg man-
(q.v.), the only commander of ability on œuvre, with grave consequences. H e was
the Jacobite side, argued in vain for a mortally wounded in the Wilderness
rapid descent o n England before the campaign, 11 M a y 1864. H i s panache
Hanoverian forces could recover from and his magnificent appearance - like
the shock o f a rising in the N o r t h . T h e M u r a t (q.v.) he liked velvet and feathers
victories - Prestonpans and Falkirk - - ensured the survival of his reputation.
were the w o r k of M u r r a y . It was Charles
himself w h o insisted on attacking the Student, K u r t (1890-1978) German
army of the D u k e of Cumberland (q.v.) general; pioneer of parachute warfare.
at C u l l o d e n , when saner voices argued A Jäger officer, Student was seconded to
for a retreat into the Highlands and a the air corps i n 1913 and saw service
war of attrition. O n 16 A p r i l 1746 the over the battlefields of Tannenberg,
English guns raked the Jacobite ranks, Champagne and Verdun. Under the
and after a charge, easily repulsed, the Weimar republic he was for ten years
battle was lost. Charles began his heroic aviation adviser at the defence ministry,
journey of escape, finally arriving in then assisted in the formation of the
France in September 1746. Thereafter, Luftwaffe and finally turned to the cre-
his progress was rapidly d o w n h i l l as ation of a force of military parachutists.
disappointment engulfed h i m . H e lived H e led it in the invasion of H o l l a n d i n
the rest of his life a shabby figure, first 1940, which his troops' bold descents
in France and then in Italy, falling re- did much to expedite, and in which he
peatedly into bouts of drunkenness. was badly wounded. In M a y 1941 he
Undoubtedly the '45 was a vain hope, planned and executed the airbone i n -
but with more support both i n Scot- vasion of Crete, an operation ultimately
land and England, effective French successful (see Freyburg) but so costly in
support, and a more modest submission the lives of his highly trained soldiers
by Charles to military minds more that Hitler embargoed further parachute
expert than his, the chance of success offensives. T h e parachute divisions (offi-
was there. cially part of the Luftwaffe) remained in

280
Sturdee, (Sir) Frederick Charles Doveton Suffren de Saint-Tropez, Pierre André de

being, their number eventually rising to campaign he commanded a division at

ten, but were used henceforward - with U l m and Austerlitz, in that of 1806-7 at
the single exception of a battalion-sized Saalfield, Jena, Pultusk and Ostralenka.
drop during the Ardennes offensive of F r o m 1808 to 1814 he was in Spain,
1944 - in a ground role. They retained where he gained his marshal's baton
none the less their elite reputation and and title, testimony to his unique achieve-
w o n particular renown for the stout- ments as a soldier and administrator (of
ness of their resistance in Italy, 1943-4, Catalonia). M o s t of the small battles he
and for repelling, as part of Student's fought against the Spanish armies were
own First Parachute Army, the victories. H e rallied to N a p o l e o n during
British armoured-air-borne offensive of the H u n d r e d Days but was not usefully
A r n h e m i n September 1944. It was par- employed.
ticularly unfortunate for the British that
Student should have been on the spot, Sucre, Antonia José de (1795-
for it was his expert appreciation of the 1830) South American soldier. A V e n -
situation w h i c h did much to negate the ezuelan by birth, Sucre had enlisted in
value of the surprise they had w o n . In the republican army at the outbreak of
recognition of his success, he was subse- war with Spain and in 1821 was lieuten-
quently promoted commander of A r m y ant to Bolivar (q.v.) i n the campaign in
G r o u p G in the L o w Countries, a post Q u i t o province. In 1824 he led the army
he held to the end of the war. of Peru, which the Spanish were attempt-
ing to subdue, to victory at Junin (6
Sturdee, (Sir) Frederick Charles Doveton August) and Ayacucho (9 December)
(ist Baronet; 1859-1925) British admi- and dictated the treaty under w h i c h
ral. A t the outbreak in 1914 Sturdee was Spain withdrew. H e was subsequently
serving as chief of the naval war staff, elected president of upper Peru (Bolivia),
but was selected in November to take a but resigned and later was assassinated.
squadron into the South Seas and to
find and destroy the von Spee (q.v.) Suffren de Saint-Tropez, Pierre André
squadron (see also Cradock). H i s battle de (1729-88) French admiral. A n admi-
cruisers annihilated the German ships at ral of enterprise, Suffren was one of the
the battle of the Falkland Islands, 7 De- most redoubtable enemies of Britain in
cember. H e was created baronet for the the American W a r of Independence, first
victory. H e commanded the 4th Battle in A d m i r a l d'Estaing's fleet, w h i c h ar-
Squadron at Jutland and, after the war, rived off N e w Y o r k in 1778, and later in
was the moving spirit in restoring India, where he displayed a tactical
Nelson's Victory to its Trafalgar imagination far i n excess of most of his
condition. contemporaries. Early in 1781 he was
sent to support French ambitions in
Suchet, Louis Gabriel (due d ' A l b u f e r a ; I n d i a ; in A p r i l he attacked a British
1770-1826) M a r s h a l of France. Born flotilla under C o m m o d o r e Johnstone on
at Lyons, son of one of the city's silk the way to the Cape of G o o d H o p e . H e
manufacturers, Suchet joined the army damaged the British ships and Johnstone
through the revolutionary N a t i o n a l was forced to withdraw. Early in 1782
G u a r d , served as a soldier and junior he arrived off India and provided sup-
officer at the siege of T o u l o n , 1794, and port for Hyder A l i , the sultan of M y s o r e ,
in the A r m y of Italy, 1796-1801, in w h o was a bitter enemy of the British.
which he was promoted general of bri- H e began an epic series of battles with
gade, 1798, and acted as chief of staff, Sir E d w a r d Hughes (q.v.), which marked
July 1799-January 1800. In the 1805 a new epoch in naval warfare, and

281
Suleiman I Suleiman I

managed to keep his fleet i n fighting create, and also, in its professional infan-
t r i m , despite the lack of proper port try, artillery and cavalry, of the highest
facilities. By keeping the fleet at sea, he quality. In 1521 Europe experienced the
posed a constant, mobile threat to the first of Suleiman's invasions. Angered
British, w h o were likewise kept at sea by the insolent treatment of his envoys
and therefore unable to provide useful in Hungary, Suleiman declared w a r o n
support to their land forces. Suffren the Christian princes of Transylvania
tried a new tactic, w h i c h was applied w h o d i d not accept his rule. Belgrade
with some success by his captains: an fell i n August 1521, and there the armies
enemy fleet was scattered and each sec- waited. In 1522 Suleiman turned his
tion 'marked' by French vessels, which attention to the siege of Rhodes, the
by concentrated fire-power were thus great stronghold of the Knights of St
able to destroy the enemy fleet piece- John, and supervised the final six
meal. These actions caused a strain o n months of the siege himself. A l m o s t
Hughes's superior forces and the hon- 200,000 T u r k s invested the fortress and
ours o f the battles should go to Suffren. its tiny garrison, but i n December 1522
In August 1782 he captured the impor- terms were agreed and the island passed
tant port of Trincomalee. T h e conflict into T u r k i s h hands. T h e capture o f
was ended with the signature of the Rhodes meant that the last great Christ-
treaty of Paris (1783). ian stronghold i n the eastern Mediter-
ranean was gone, and the advantage at
sea passed to the T u r k s . F o r four years
Suleiman I (1495-1566) T u r k i s h sultan
Suleiman with his new admiral Bar-
and soldier. T h e tenth O t t o m a n sultan
barossa (q.v.) built up the T u r k i s h fleet,
and undoubtedly the greatest, Suleiman,
extending its ambit ever further into
' T h e Magnificent' as he was admiringly
the western Mediterranean. M e a n w h i l e
k n o w n i n the west, has been compared
border warfare i n Hungary was i n -
w i t h Charlemagne as a great leader i n
creasing and Suleiman prepared for an
war and peace: i n his long reign he
advance i n the north. H e reached an
fought thirteen great campaigns, leading
agreement with the Poles, thus removing
his troops i n person. Building o n the
the danger of their intervention, and i n
work o f his father and grandfather, Sulei-
A p r i l 1526 an army o f almost 80,000
man established the O t t o m a n empire,
moved north from Constantinople. By
territorially and legislatively, o n the
July they were past Belgrade, and al-
firmest foundations. H e reformed and
though they were delayed for two weeks
codified military organization and
by the gallant, if hopeless, defence of
administration, improved the quality of
the fortress of Peterwardein, by the end
his officers and provincial rulers by
of August the T u r k i s h host faced the
more elaborate training and stricter
army of Hungary, under K i n g Louis, o n
discipline, and made his court a centre of
the plain of M o h a c s . In a hard-fought
culture renowned throughout Europe
battle (29 August 1526) the H u n g a r i a n
and A s i a . In Turkey he was k n o w n as
cavalry shattered the T u r k i s h feudal
Suleiman the Lawgiver for the quality of
levies (timariots), but themselves broke
his justice and his reforms to the legal
against the steady lines of the Janissaries
system. But it is as a soldier that he is
and reeled under the co-ordinated attack
generally remembered.
of the T u r k i s h cavalry. A defeat soon
Unlike his father Selim I (q.v.) Sulei-
became a rout, and the Hungarians left
man's preoccupations were with the
15,000 dead on the field, including their
Christian west. H i s grandfather Bayazid
king and much of his nobility. Early i n
and Selim I had created an army that
September, Buda, the Hungarian capital,
was larger than any the west could

282
Suleiman I Suleiman I

was taken without resistance, but, as it Egypt. The pattern of the war with
was late in the year, the T u r k s then Persia was unsatisfactory for the T u r k s :
withdrew leaving a puppet king on the Suleiman advanced, but the Persians re-
Hungarian throne. treated without giving battle. Although
The T u r k s now faced the Habsburgs much of the territory lost during the
directly in the conflict for H u n g a r y ; European wars was retaken, in ten years
in 1529 Suleiman mounted a new ex- of campaigning in Persia Suleiman was
pedition, this time with more than 80,000 never able to meet and destroy the Per-
men at his disposal, aiming to take sian army. O n each occasion, as he re-
Vienna. The great army set off in M a y , treated, the local populations rose and
recaptured Buda early in September and expelled any T u r k i s h garrison. Soon
arrived at the gates of Vienna before the after Suleiman's final assault on Persia
end of the month. T h e garrison of in 1553, agreement was reached to pro-
17,000, ably led by Count Salm and vide a stabilization of the frontier, fixed
W i l h e l m von Roggendorf, had strength- by the treaty of Amasia (1555).
ened the city's defences and prepared to But neither on the east nor the west
resist (their resolve having been stiffened was a stable frontier possible. The treaty
by the fate of the Buda garrison, which of peace signed with Ferdinand had not
was massacred). But the T u r k s had ar- lasted, and in 1541, after years of inter-
rived too late in the year, and no T u r k - mittent strife, Suleiman mounted a new
ish army was capable of sustaining a expedition which annexed Hungary to
long campaign far from home. A slow the O t t o m a n empire. The pattern - of
retreat began in mid-October and the peace settlement, border strife and re-
Austrians harried them across Hungary newed conflict on a major scale - per-
inflicting heavy losses, the T u r k s losing sisted until Suleiman's death. After the
much of their baggage and a number great expedition of 1529, Suleiman had
of guns. Suleiman was determined to never been able to concentrate his atten-
redeem the debacle. But his next ex- tion either on the eastern or the northern
pedition, in 1532, although it ravaged frontier. Once again, in 1566, he had to
southern Austria, achieved little positive mount a new campaign against the Aus-
result, and the same uneasy balance of trians, although he was by now an o l d
power continued in Hungary, neither man crippled with gout; he died during
side willing to abandon its position. the siege of Szigetvar, on 6 September.
Once again, a heroic defence, that of After his death the war was ended by
Güns, held up the T u r k i s h advance, so the treaty of Adrianople (1568), but
that the impetus of their assault was there could be no real solution to the
lost. problem of a turbulent and uncertain
After the failure of this attempt to military frontier. If Suleiman was unable
win all of Hungary, Suleiman and the to resolve these problems, he d i d , how-
ruler of Austria, Ferdinand, reached an ever, find solutions to many of the tra-
agreement to divide the country. Sulei- ditional problems of the O t t o m a n state.
man was now anxious to secure his H e was plagued, as all sultans were, by
western frontier, for he faced dangers Janissary revolts, but he suppressed
in the east. T h e Persians, despite the them with comparative ease. H i s pattern
shattering blows dealt to them by Selim of constant campaigning, although it cre-
ated discontent among the Janissaries,
I, were fomenting religious strife in A n a -
also drained off much of their disruptive
tolia, and the Persian Shah Thamasp
energy. A t sea, the state of constant
was able to capture many of the towns
war, ably waged first under Barbarossa,
lost by his predecessor. Suleiman also
and then under his successor T o r g h o u d ,
faced revolts in Iraq and an uprising in

283
Sullivan, John Suvorov, Alexander Vasilievich

gave Turkey supremacy over almost all regulars and T o r i e s ' (American sym-
her enemies; only when they united, as pathizers) in the American W a r of
at Lepanto (1571), after Suleiman's Independence. H e had considerable
death, could the T u r k s be decisively de- experience i n wars with the French
feated. Despite this plethora of military and Indians, and later settled in South
activity, it w o u l d be wrong to see h i m Carolina. Escaping from the siege of
as an exclusively belligerent figure. Charleston (1780), when C l i n t o n cap-
Unlike those of his father, most of Sulei- tured 5400 American troops, Sumter
man's wars were defensive in purpose, went to N o r t h C a r o l i n a , where he was
seeking to maintain and consolidate made a brigadier-general i n the state
what was already i n his possession. militia. H e harried the British, winning
encounters at Catawba and H a n g i n g
Sullivan, John (1740-95) American sol- R o c k , but failed in another skirmish at
dier. Appointed i n June 1775 as a Fishing Creek. H e beat stronger British
brigadier-general in the Continental formations under Wemyss and Tarleton
army of Washington, Sullivan partici- in November 1780. N o n e of these were
pated in the siege of Boston (1775), but great battles, but he used the traditional
was then sent to Canada to control the skills of woodcraft and ambush to keep
American army under A r n o l d which had the enemy i n a constant state o f sus-
failed at Quebec. Faced with much pense. After the war he entered politics,
superior British forces, Sullivan speedily and he survived to be the last remaining
extracted his men and rejoined Washing- general of the W a r of Independence.
ton to concentrate the American forces.
H e was captured at the battle of L o n g Suvorov, Alexander Vasilievich (Count
Island, where H o w e (q.v.) took over Suvorov R i m n i k s y , Prince Itolsky;
1000 American prisoners ; fortunately he 1729-1800) Russian field-marshal. A l -
was exchanged and commanded the though his reputation i n the west derives
right wing of Washington's army at from his victories against the armies of
Trenton (1776), where Washington, the French Revolution i n 1799, Suvo-
having crossed the Delaware in a snow- r o v a campaigning days were by that
storm, took the Hessian garrison by sur- date nearly over. A veteran of the Seven
prise. A t the battle o f Staten Island Years' W a r (1756-63), he was promoted
(1777) a night attack launched by Sulli- general during the war with Poland in
van was failure. H i s best-known exploit, 1768 and w o n the important victory of
however, was an expedition which fi- Kosludscki against the T u r k s in the Bal-
nally destroyed the power of Chief kans, 1773. In Catherine the Great's
Joseph Brant and his British allies at Second T u r k i s h W a r , 1787-92, he w o n
N e w t o w n (1779). T h e M o h a w k s had two further important victories, Focsani,
terrorized the north of N e w Y o r k and I August 1789, and the R i m n i k (22 Sep-
rendered life impossible for civilians: tember) for which he was created count.
Sullivan, by destroying their villages as In the following year (22 December) he
well as burning their crops, earned the stormed Ismail in Bessarabia, which he
gratitude of Congress for this swiftly allowed to be sacked with great cruelty,
executed reprisal. H e was forced by i l l - as he d i d Warsaw during the T h i r d
health to retire i n 1779. Partition of Poland, 1794-5. Catherine's
death i n 1796 led to his eclipse, but i n
Sumter, Thomas (1734-1832) American 1799 he was recalled to take command
soldier. K n o w n as the ' C a r o l i n a Game- of the Russian armies campaigning in
cock', Sumter served as a skilled guer- Italy, where he w o n three victories in
rilla commander against the British quick succession: against M o r e a u (q.v.)

284
Suvorov, Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov, Alexander Vasilievich

at Carsano, 27 A p r i l , against M a c d o n a l d the A l p s to Austria. H e fell into disgrace

(q.v.) on the Trebbia, 17-19 June and and died shortly afterwards. But he was
against Joubert at N o v i on 15 August. almost instantly rehabilitated and is re-
As a result he recovered from the French garded today as an incarnation of the
all the territory w o n by Bonaparte in his Russian military spirit - brave, shrewd
fabled campaign of 1796-7. However, and tenacious (see Dragomirov). H e was
on 25 September his subordinate Korsa- also coarse and brutal but (perhaps be-
kov (q.v.) was defeated by Masséna at cause of that) was immensely popular
Z u r i c h , and he had to abandon Italy with his soldiers.
and make a punishing retreat through

285
 T
T a n t i a T o p i (1819-59) Indian soldier. Tecumseh (1768-1813) American In-
A M a h r a t t a - which nation still smarted dian leader. A Shawnee, he, with his
from their recent subjugation by the Brit- brother Teuskwatawa, attempted to
ish - and a subordinate of N a n a Sahib, unite the western Indians against the
w h o had his o w n grievance against expansion of the white settlers, but
them, Tantia T o p i instigated the mas- during his absence his brother was
sacre at Cawnpore, 27 June 1857, manoeuvred into battle by an American
formed an army of the local mutineers, army under H a r r i s o n and completely
was defeated by Havelock (q.v.) at defeated (Tippecanoe, 7 November
Bithur but raised fresh troops. H e de- 1811). Tecumseh threw in his lot with
feated W i n d h a m at Cawnpore, 27-8 the British during the war of 1812 and
November, and then marched on Jhansi, was killed i n action at the battle of the
whose rani, subsequently to be made a Thames, 5 October 1813.
heroine of Indian nationalism, was be-
sieged in her castle by Sir H u g h Rose Tedder, A r t h u r (ist Baron T e d d e r ;
(q.v.). H e succeeded i n defeating Tantia 1890-1967) British air marshal. C o m -
without raising the siege. Tantia lived mander of the Desert A i r Force during
to fight another day at G w a l i o r , 19 June the Eighth A r m y ' s battles with R o m m e l
1858, but was then decisively defeated,- (q.v.), Tedder designed a scheme of
captured and executed. H e was the only 'pattern bombing', which greatly as-
leader of the mutineers of 1857 to show sisted the victory of Montgomery (q.v.)
real military talent. at A l a m e i n . In 1943 he became A l l i e d
air commander i n the Mediterranean
T a y l o r , Zachary (1784-1850) American and in 1944 deputy supreme c o m -
general, twelfth president of the United mander for the invasion of Europe to
States. A regular soldier since 1808, Eisenhower (q.v.), w h o called h i m 'one
T a y l o r took command of the army in of the few great military leaders of
Texas i n 1845 and, on the outbreak of our time' - perhaps an exaggerated
war with M e x i c o , w o n the battle of Palo expression of inter-Allied regard, but
A l t o (8 M a y 1846), captured Monterey justified apparently by Tedder's remark-
(24 September) and defeated Santa A n n a able grasp of strategic essentials. T h e
(q.v.) at Buena Vista (22-3 February two worked perfectly i n harness
1847), thus ending the war i n the throughout the campaign to liberate the
northern half of the country. H e was Continent.
elected president i n 1848 but died after
only a year in office. Terauchi, C o u n t Seiki (1879-1946)
H i s son R i c h a r d T a y l o r (1826-79) Japanese general. A former war minis-
rose to the rank of lieutenant-general i n ter, Terauchi was commander-in-chief
the Confederate army, and defeated in N o r t h C h i n a , 1938-42, and then in
Banks (q.v.) in the R e d River campaign the South-West Pacific, with headquar-
of 1864. ters in M a n i l a . H e had overall command

286
T h o m a s , George H e n r y T i l l y , Johann Tserclaes, G r a f v o n

of the Japanese troops fighting the need for a methodical approach to cam-
Americans in the Pacific islands, the paigning, to leave nothing to chance,
Chinese in South C h i n a and the British and Parma's o w n brand of tactical
in B u r m a . T a n a k a , the commander of magic in the management of infantry.
the I m p h a l - K o h i m a offensive of 1944, H e served Parma until the latter's death
and K i m u r a , Slim's (q.v.) opponent in in 1592; thereafter the army in Flanders
central B u r m a , were his subordinates. fell back steadily under pressure from
M a u r i c e of Nassau (q.v.). T i l l y next
Thomas, George Henry (1816-70) took service in the imperial army organ-
American (Union) general ; 'the R o c k of ized to fight the T u r k i s h threat under
Chickamauga'. A regular officer (West the grand vizier, Sinan Pasha. H e fought
Point, class of 1840), Thomas was a through the campaign and was present
Southerner by birth and a former c o m - at the battle of Kerestes (1596), a disas-
rade of Lee (q.v.), but remained loyal trous defeat for the Austrians. T i l l y con-
none the less to the U n i o n in 1861. H e tinued in the service of R u d o l f II until
commanded a division at Shiloh and 1610, when he was invited by M a x i m i l -
was second-in-command of the A r m y of ian I, D u k e of Bavaria, to head the army
the O h i o at Perry ville, but his reputation of the Catholic League which had been
and nickname derive from his leadership founded in February 1610. T h e Bavarian
at Chickamauga, 19-20 September 1863, army, w h i c h formed the basis of the
where he commanded the left and held army of the League, had already been
the line after Rosecrans (q.v.) had fled partially reformed by M a x i m i l i a n ; for
from the field. Promoted to command ten years T i l l y worked to make it the
the A r m y of the Cumberland, he re- most powerful force in southern Ger-
mained with it throughout the battles many. In 1618 the Bohemian revolt
and campaigns of L o o k o u t M o u n t a i n , against imperial authority broke out,
Missionary Ridge, A t l a n t a , F r a n k l i n and and in 1620 M a x i m i l i a n reached an
Nashville. agreement to intervene, in return for
the estates and territories of Frederick, the
T i l l y , Johann Tserclaes, G r a f von Elector Palatine, w h o had accepted the
(1559-1632) Flemish mercenary, in the c r o w n of Bohemia from the rebels. T i l l y
service of the Catholic League. W i t h A l - invaded with his army of 25,000 well-
brecht von Walienstein (q.v.) T i l l y was trained and well-armed men : the Protes-
the main support of the Catholic cause, tants had nothing to equal h i m . A t the
a thoroughgoing professional soldier battle of the W h i t e M o u n t a i n (1620)
brought up in the campaigning atmos- T i l l y and an imperial army under de
phere of the L o w Countries, possibly Bucquoi routed the Bohemians. N e x t ,
the equal of Parma (q.v.) and Spinola T i l l y turned back into Germany and
(q.v.) in his adept use of the tercio. B o r n methodically began to conquer the Prot-
in Brabant, he was educated in Germany estant states which supported Frederick.
because his father had been forced to Although he lost to the Palatinate army
flee from Alva's (q.v.) C o u n c i l of B l o o d . under Mansfeld (q.v.) at M i n g o l s h e i m
But after A l v a left the Netherlands, the (1622), he went o n to shatter the Protes-
policy of repression relaxed and the Tser- tant forces at Wimpfen and Höchst
claes family, which was entirely loyal to (1622) to gain control of the Palatinate;
the Habsburg regime, was allowed to in September 1622 he took Heidelberg
return. Entering a W a l l o o n regiment, and ravaged the city after a siege of
T i l l y served under Parma in the brilliant eleven weeks; and in the autumn of the
campaign which led to the capture of following year he smashed the last sub-
Antwerp in 1585, learning from h i m the stantial German army, under Christian

287
Tilly, Johann Tserclaes, Graf von Tilly, Johann Tserclaes, Graf von

of Brunswick, at the battle of Stadtlohn of Magdeburg, hoping to make it a

where he reduced a Protestant army of strongpoint in his defensive scheme
12,000 to a shattered remnant of 2000. against the Swedes. But when the city
In every case the quality of T i l l y ' s troops fell, the troops of his subordinate Pap-
told against the less experienced oppo- penheim (q.v.) ran amok and sacked
nents who faced h i m . O n l y Mansfeld the city. T i l l y , who had not believed
remained as a potential threat, but T i l l y that the city would fall, could not con-
had beaten h i m at Wiesloch (a satisfac- trol the carnage (May 1631). A l l but
tory revenge for Mingolsheim) and he 5000 of the citizens and defenders of
was not inclined to take the field. Magdeburg - of a total of 30,000 - were
In the summer of 1625 the Danes slaughtered. Deprived of his base, T i l l y
entered the war and the Emperor Ferdi- was ordered into Saxony by his new
nand II recruited Albrecht von Wallen- master the emperor. T h e attack served
stein (q.v.) to fight for h i m with an no purpose, save to unite the Swedish
army of 20,000. The relationship be- and Saxon armies against the c o m m o n
tween the two men was ambiguous: enemy. The Swedish and imperial
T i l l y , a loyal servant of M a x i m i l i a n , armies met at Breitenfeld, near Leipzig,
Wallenstein, an adventurer happy to on 17 September 1631. Pappenheim,
serve the emperor only so long as it w h o had overcome T i l l y ' s caution and
advanced his o w n ends. Although the encouraged h i m to give battle, tried to
two men co-operated, they worked with outflank the Swedes, only to discover
a wary eye on each other as well as on that it was difficult to overcome the
the enemy. Christian of Denmark, after curious linear formation w h i c h the
some initial success, met the same fate Swedes favoured. T i l l y was successful
as the German Protestants. A t Lutter with the smooth attack by his tercios on
(1626), T i l l y routed the Danes, who lost the Saxon army, and drove them off; he
almost half their a r m y ; they were no now attacked the exposed Swedish left
match for T i l l y ' s expert veterans. In the flank with his 20,000 infantry and 2000
following year the Danes were forced horse. Conventionally, the Swedes
back beyond their o w n borders by the should now have been annihilated by
steady advance of T i l l y and Wallenstein. the overwhelming power of this attack
In the summer of 1630 the much more - cries of ' V i c t o r i a ' were even heard
powerful Swedish army intervened, from the imperial ranks. But the Swedes,
freed from a long involvement in a war again using the flexibility of their for-
with Poland. T i l l y had now, reluctantly, mation, formed a new, if thin, front
assumed command of the combined i m - against the massive imperial assault. The
perial and league armies - the princes of tercios aligned themselves for a new, and
Germany had become alarmed at Wallen- it was believed the final, advance of the
stein's ambitions and forced his dis- battle. As they were making ready, the
missal as their price for co-operation small Swedish force comprising musket-
with the emperor. T i l l y had not wanted eers, pikemen, cavalry and field artillery
to assume command of the force, not attacked them, thrusting forward into
out of affection or respect for Wallen- the gaps in the imperial ranks created
stein, but because the joint command by artillery and small-arms. T h e impe-
was hedged about with innumerable po- rial army was thrown into confusion,
litical constraints and complications. H e and the main body of Swedish cavalry
was also now seventy-one years old and attacked it in the flank, delivering a body-
many questions were raised as to his blow. The imperial guns were captured
competence to assume so large a com- and poured a withering fire into T i l l y ' s
mand. T i l l y besieged the strategic town ranks. It was a catastrophe for the i m -

288
T i l l y , Johann Tserclaes, G r a f von T i p p u Sultan

perial cause, a total reversal of the ex- of m i n d , unable to accustom himself to

pected result. the new tactics and devices the Swedes
It was now that T i l l y revealed his had introduced. In his seventy-fourth
indomitable courage and professional- year when he died, he had outlived the
ism. H e rallied his shattered forces, re- style of war to which he was accus-
grouped them and sought replacements tomed. A n honourable and moral m a n ,
of the men and material which had been there was a professional integrity and
lost. By the beginning of October he honesty about h i m which made h i m
was in the field with a new army, wiser stand out from his murky contemporar-
perhaps and much more wary of the ies, both for his real excellence as a
Swedish power. But he had no means commander and his devotion to the
with which to counter the new tactics of cause that paid h i m .
the Swedes. M o r e important, he had
lost many of his hardened regulars at T i m o s h e n k o , Semën Konstantinovich
Breitenfeld (7000 dead and 6000 pris- (1895-1970) M a r s h a l of the Soviet
oner), and the new drafts d i d not have U n i o n . O f peasant birth, Timoshenko
the quality of the troops he had trained served in the ranks of the cavalry, 1915-
himself. In any event one burden was 16, joined the Red A r m y in 1917, rose
taken from h i m , for the emperor had re- to command a cavalry division against
employed Wallenstein and T i l l y was Denikin (q.v.) in Poland and against
able to play his part once more as the Wrangel (q.v.) in south Russia. A front
defender of the Catholic League. H e sat (army group) commander in the war
with his army just inside the borders of with Finland, 1939-40, he became
Bavaria on the river Lech, ready to face deputy commissar for defence at its close
Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.) as he moved and instituted a regime of strict disci-
slowly through southern Germany. The pline and restraining to repair the de-
position which T i l l y had chosen was a ficiencies in the Red A r m y which the
strong one, protected by the terrain and war had disclosed. A t the outset of the
in particular the fast-flowing river. H e German invasion he commanded West-
had stripped the countryside of every ern Front (Voroshilov and Budenny,
tree and every boat, and believed that qq.v., commanding respectively the
the Swedes w o u l d not cross to attack North-Western and South-Western) and
his entrenched position. But Gustavus had therefore to resist the enemy's ad-
did attack, across a thin bridge of boats vance along the central axis w h i c h led
and covered by artillery fire, the smoke to M o s c o w . After giving much ground,
from burning damp straw misleading he was transferred to replace Budenny,
T i l l y as to the exact point of attack. failed to prevent the German advance in
The Catholic camp, pitched too close to 1942 into the Crimea and to Stalingrad,
the river, now became an impediment and was eventually transferred to
rather than a bastion for T i l l y ' s men, Stalin's staff and then to the dormant
and they were forced back into Bavaria. north-western sector. H e was the only
T i l l y himself, mortally wounded in the one of the prewar marshals to retain his
fighting, was carried off to Ingolstadt, standing throughout the war, chiefly
where he died on 20 A p r i l 1632 ; Gusta- through his achievements as an iron
vus had sent him a famous surgeon, at disciplinarian of demoralized troops.
T i l l y ' s request, but to no avail. It was
recorded that in Wallenstein's camp at T i p p u Sultan (1749-99) Indian sultan
the news of T i l l y ' s death there was and soldier. The son of H y d e r A l i of
'more joy than sorrow'. T i l l y was a M y s o r e , T i p p u was trained by the
hard-bitten soldier, of a traditional cast French officers who had organized and

289
T i r p i t z , Alfred T i t o , Josip Broz

equipped his father's army. In 1767 he Tirpitz was largely responsible for its
commanded a corps of cavalry i n his transformation from a coastwatching
father's first war with the Marathas, squadron into a H i g h Seas Fleet capable
and continued i n almost constant action. of challenging the British. H e success-
H e had been beaten with rods by his fully communicated to Kaiser W i l h e l m
father for failure at the battle of II his o w n enthusiasm for direct naval
C h i n k u r a l i (1771), and was estranged competition with Britain, secured, as
from h i m . But i n the Second M y s o r e naval secretary from 1898, the necessary
W a r (1780-3) the breach was repaired funds to build new ships and, from 1906,
and T i p p u defeated a British force under commissioned large classes of excellent
Braithwaite at the Coleroon river (1782), dreadnoughts and battlecruisers. H e was
succeeding his father on the throne of granted the ' v o n ' i n 1900 - a dignity
M y s o r e later in the same year. H e imme- much appreciated by a service which
diately made peace with the British and felt itself to be the army's social inferior
his other enemies, for the French had - and in 1911 was promoted grand admi-
now withdrawn with the general conclu- ral (Grossadmiral), the first to hold the
sion of peace i n Europe by the treaty of rank. During the First W o r l d W a r , how-
Paris (1783). In 1784 T i p p u made an ever, he failed to persuade the kaiser to
agreement with the British and assumed risk a 'blue water' strategy and resigned
the title o f sultan. In 1787 he tried again in M a r c h 1916.
for a French alliance, but failing to re-
ceive it, entered on a new war with the T i t o , Josip Broz (1892-1980) Yugoslav
British, alone. H e attacked the client guerrilla leader and head of state. Born
British state of Travancore, and waged Broz, son of a Croatian peasant, he was
an effective campaign against the British captured by the Russians i n 1915 while
under Cornwallis (q.v.), w h o , a good serving in the Austro-Hungarian army,
general himself, took t w o years to defeat but after the October revolution joined
T i p p u . But at the treaty of Seringapatam the R e d A r m y . H i s life for the next
(1792), he lost heavily, both i n money twenty-five years was that of an inter-
and territory. H e still sought allies national Communist agent: in 1920 he
against the British, however, and i n returned to his native country, the
1799, after hearing of his negotiations former Yugoslavia, suffering imprison-
with revolutionary France, L o r d M o r n - ment for subversion between 1928 and
ington, the governor-general, was or- 1933; he then went to M o s c o w to work
dered to exterminate this persistent in the Comintern's Balkan secretariat ; i n
enemy. H e sent two armies, one under 1936 he organized recruiting i n Paris for
General H a r r i s , the other under A r t h u r the International Brigades i n Spain, and
Wellesley (the future Duke of Welling- then until the German invasion of Russia
ton, q.v.). In M a y 1799 Seringapatam worked secretly at home again - after
was stormed and T i p p u died bravely in August 1939 towards the aim of keeping
the attack, cut d o w n i n the bitter fight- Yugoslavia out of the western camp.
ing. K n o w n as the 'Tiger of M y s o r e ' , he
W i t h the change of the Soviet line i n
had an outstanding military talent, but
June 1941, he raised and led Communist
a savage trait i n his character, which
partisans and between August and Sep-
gained his subjects' respect if not their
tember, with the co-operation of M i -
affection.
hailovic (q.v.), cleared Serbia of Ger-
mans. T h e t w o then fell out, however,
Tirpitz, Alfred (von; 1849-1930) the Germans returned, and T i t o led his
German admiral. O n e of the earliest partisans into hiding i n Montenegro and
entrants (1865) to the Prussian navy, Bosnia. H e was for the next t w o years

290
Todleben, Franz Eduard Ivanovich Tojo, Hideki

constantly o n the move, while sustaining used earthworks to bring about the
a major guerrilla war, but from N o v e m - collapse of the T u r k i s h defence. H i s
ber 1943 he enjoyed recognition by the theories were to exert a powerful influ-
western Allies as well as Russia as the ence o n tactics until the moment when
legitimate leader of Yugoslav national the development of the tank robbed
resistance. F r o m August 1944 he was entrenchments of their usefulness.
able to go over to the offensive and in
October, w i t h T o l b u k h i n (q.v.), he en- Togo, Heihachiro (Count; 1849-
tered Belgrade. H i s achievement, unique 1934) Japanese admiral. A Samurai,
among those of partisan leaders of the T o g o joined the infant Imperial Japa-
Second W o r l d W a r , i n liberating his nese N a v y i n 1863 and studied in Eng-
country virtually singlehanded, ensured land, 1871-8. In 1894, as captain of a
his inheritance of power in postwar Y u - cruiser, he sank a Chinese troopship
goslavia and eventually permitted h i m , en route to K o r e a , thus precipitating
alone among East European Communist the Sino-Japanese wa r. In the Russo-
politicians, to establish his independence Japanese w a r he was first responsible
from Soviet influence. H e ranks among for the blockade of Port A r t h u r , then,
the very greatest guerrilla generals of on the approach of the Russian Second
history. Pacific Squadron (see Rozhdestvenski),
for its interception, w h i c h he achieved
Todleben, Franz Eduard Ivanovich in the straits of Tsushima, M a y 1905.
(Graf; 1814-84) Russian military engi- T h e extent of the Russian loss i n the
neer. A Balt, Todleben was educated at battle made his victory one of the most
the school of military engineering i n St tactically crushing of all time. It was also
Petersburg and commissioned i n 1836. strategically decisive, giving Japan c o m -
Posted o n the outbreak of war with mand of the whole north-eastern Pacific.
Turkey in 1853 first to Silistria and then H i s flagship Mtkasa is, like Nelson's
to the C r i m e a , he became, though a Victory, preserved i n drydock, while the
junior officer, the 'animating genius' of 'z' attack flag he flew on it at Tsushima
the defence of Sebastopol. T h e city, was hoisted by N a g u m o (q.v.) o n the
strongly protected to seaward, was quite carrier Akagi as the signal to start the
undefended o n its landward side, from attack o n Pearl H a r b o r in December
which the British and French w o u l d 1941.
attack. T a k i n g advantage of the slow-
ness of their advance, Totleben (the alter- T o j o , H i d e k i (1884-1948) Japanese
native spelling is common) designed and general and politician. O n e of the most
constructed a line of massive earthworks aggressive of the Japanese imperialists,
four miles long, of w h i c h the most impor- T o j o succeeded the more cautious
tant strongpoints were the Redan and Konoye as prime minister i n October
the M a l a k o v (see M a c M a h o n ) . H e him- 1941 and at once embarked on the policy
self directed the defence until wounded which culminated i n the attack o n Pearl
on 20 June 1855; his account of the H a r b o r . A s the course of the war pro-
siege became a nineteenth-century m i l i - gressively turned against Japan, he made
tary textbook. In essence, his idea was himself minister of war and chief of
that fortification need not be, as hitherto staff, but after the fall of Saipan i n July
thought, rigid and permanent, but could 1944, w h i c h brought the home islands
be elastic and temporary, adapted to an within range of the advancing A m e r i -
army's manœuvres and allowing it to cans' bombers, he resigned. A t the sur-
advance or retreat as necessary. A t render in August 1945 he shot him-
Plevna (see Osman) in 1877 he himself self, but was nursed back to health a n d ,

291
T o r r i n g t o n , A r t h u r Herbert, E a r l of Torstensson, Lennart

after trial and conviction as a war forms were not yet complete, Torstens-
criminal, hanged by the Americans. son took over the most thoroughly
modern artillery of the day. A revolution
T o r r i n g t o n , A r t h u r Herbert, E a r l of had been effected i n both the concept
(1647-1716) British admiral. A n Eng- and the effectiveness of artillery, hither-
lish admiral under W i l l i a m III, T o r - to unreliable, inaccurate and unwieldy
rington lost to the French admiral in the field. M a u r i c e o f Nassau had first
Château-Renault (q.v.) at Bantry Bay classified guns by the weight of their
(1689) and lost control of the sea lanes projectile, and by 1630 Gustavus A d o l -
with Ireland. H e failed again against phus had reduced the sixteen assorted
Tourville (q.v.) at the battle of Beachy types of cannon i n commission at the
H e a d (1690), i n which his fifty-nine beginning of his reign to three main
ships faced seventy-five French vessels. types: the 24-pounder, the 12-pounder
H e had wished to avoid a fight against a and the 3-pounder, each designed for a
superior enemy to preserve his 'fleet i n specific role in the field. Above a l l , Gus-
being' as a continuing threat, but he tavus Adolphus strove for mobility, en-
was ordered to fight by the A d m i r a l t y . visaging an artillery which could be
H e lost twelve ships, and was subse- brought into action wherever it was
quently court-martialled. Although needed and form part of a unified fight-
acquitted, his career suffered. ing force with other branches o f the
army. Greater mobility meant, above
Torstensson, Lennart (1603-51) Swed- all, decreased weight; the massive 48-
ish artillerist. Torstensson, at the age o f pounder siege guns requiring from
fifteen, became page to Gustavus A d o l - thirty-three to thirty-nine horses were
phus (q.v.), and accompanied h i m o n abandoned, the army's heaviest weapon
the campaigns i n L i v o n i a i n 1621-3; now being the 24-pounder. Improve-
possibly as a result o f some early p r o m - ments i n the quality o f gunpowder
ise shown at this time he was sent, i n meant that both the thickness and the
1624, to study under the great M a u r i c e length of the barrel could be reduced
of Nassau (q.v.) i n the Netherlands. without detriment to performance,
M a u r i c e was one of the first great com- range o r safety. Above a l l , vast natural
manders to realize the full potential of resources of copper, then the principal
artillery, using it to great effect i n siege component o f gunmetal, i n Sweden
warfare, and doing much to standardize made the creation of a large artillery
calibres and train officers i n its special- force and experiment in pioneering tech-
ized uses. U p o n his return to Sweden in niques an economic possibility ; this was
1626, Torstensson served for three years not the case elsewhere.
in the Prussian campaigns. H i s peculiar By the time Torstensson took over
talent as an artillery-man coincided with the management of the artillery, the
Gustavus Adolphus's large-scale reform famous 'leather g u n ' (a thin copper
of the army ; previous innovations in the barrel bound with rope and covered i n
field of artillery had proved so dramati- leather) had largely been w i t h d r a w n ;
cally successful that the six companies although representing a technological
which had made up the artillery section breakthrough, it had sacrificed too much
of the Swedish army were being amalga- to mobility. Its brilliant successor was
mated to form the First Artillery Regi- the regimental gun, a 3-pounder which
ment, the first, indeed, i n Europe. T h e could be moved by a single horse, or, if
new position of command was given to necessary, t w o to three men. It was,
Torstensson, aged only twenty-seven. moreover, capable o f rapid fire, since it
Although Gustavus Adolphus's re- was designed to take the newly devel-

292
Torstensson, Lennart Tourville, Anne Hilarion de Cotentin

oped artillery cartridge, the charge being died and Torstensson was persuaded to
wired to the shot for ease and speed of take command of the Swedish army i n
loading. It remains to say that artillery G e r m a n y ; his health was poor, and he
pieces were plentiful i n the Swedish took the new post only with extreme
army, the guns to men ratio at the begin- reluctance. H e was promoted to field-
ning of the German campaign being an marshal and d i d much to restore disci-
impressive 9.4 per 1000. pline i n the now rather unruly army. In
A t the battle of Breitenfeld (September the spring o f 1642 he was victorious at
1631) Torstensson showed what his the battle of Leipzig, and his armies
well-trained and disciplined field artil- overran most of Saxony and, the follow-
lery could d o . T h e Swedish gunners ing year, Bohemia and M o r a v i a . T h a t
proved themselves a superior and formid- same year Oxenstierna ordered h i m to
able force, firing three rounds to the attack Jutland, and in 1644 Torstensson
imperialists' one; Pappenhein) (q.v.) be- outgeneralled Gallas, with a combined
lieved them to be a major factor in Danish and imperial army, forcing h i m
deciding the issue of the battle. Increased to retreat into Bohemia. A s he advanced
mobility paid off brilliantly when the on Prague, however, he was intercepted
regimental guns were able to accompany by an imperial and Bavarian army under
their infantry forward i n the final W e r t h . They met at Jankau on 15 M a r c h
counter-attack. A s a result of his direc- 1645 and Torstensson gained a brilliant
tion of the field artillery at Breitenfeld, victory, his artillery achieving unparal-
Torstensson was promoted to general i n leled feats of m o b i l i t y ; its readiness to
1632. A t the battle of the Lech in A p r i l move from one sector to another during
1632 Swedish batteries under the com- the course of the battle was ultimately
mand of Torstensson provided a massive the decisive factor. T h i s was his last
barrage and show o f force w h i c h forced battle, however, as the following year
the enemy to take cover and misled h i m he resigned o n the grounds of ill-health.
as to the point of attack : powder-smoke, H i s genius as an artillery general, ad-
reinforced with the burning of damp vances in the technology of warfare, and
straw, concealed the real preparations the flowering o f Sweden as a major
and the army was able to make a success- power under the great Gustavus A d o l -
ful crossing of the river, which brought phus, combined to elevate h i m into the
them into Bavaria. A t the end of August select band of great Swedish field com-
1632 the Swedish army attacked Wallen- manders during the T h i r t y Years' W a r .
stein's (q.v.) camp at the Alte Veste; H e has been called the father of field
because of the nature of the terrain the artillery.
artillery was rendered impotent, and it
was Torstensson's further misfortune to
Totleben see Todleben.
be captured as he fought 'within a pater-
noster' of the king. Thus he was not
T o u r v i l l e , Anne H i l a r i o n de C o t e n t i n ,
present at Lützen, at w h i c h Gustavus
comte de (1642-1701) French admiral.
Adolphus was killed, though his artillery
A N o r m a n by birth, from a family w i t h
showed their wonted mobility in moving
an ancient and established maritime con-
to give support to other arms at crucial nection, T o u r v i l l e learnt his seamanship
moments. T h e following year he re- on a Maltese frigate of the Knights of St
turned to Sweden after an exchange of John in the near-piracy of Mediterranean
prisoners. warfare. Entering the French navy i n
In 1635 Torstensson became chief-of- 1666, he took an active part i n the wars
staff to Baner during his successful cam- with the D u t c h and developed a great
paign in eastern Germany ; in 1641 Baner respect for D u t c h seamanship, which he

293
Toussaint Trenchard, H u g h Montague

investigated i n detail. H e was created a the pursuit and destruction of the Bis-
lieutenant-general in 1682 and expanded marck, pride of Hitler's navy, whose
the French fleet, building new dockyards escape into the north Atlantic threatened
and shore establishments, and ensuring all British commerce o n the N o r t h
a steady flow of recruits for the navy by American routes. T h e sinking was the
founding naval schools. One of the con- most important surface battle fought by
tinuing difficulties of the French navy the R o y a l N a v y i n home waters during
was a chronic shortage of manpower, the Second W o r l d W a r .
since only the traditional maritime dis-
tricts provided any real quantity of sail- Townshend, (Sir) Charles Vere Ferrers
ors. Tourville extended the sweep of ( 1861-1924) British general. A s a
recruitment inland, but made up for young officer of the Indian army, T o w n -
their deficiencies i n practical experience shend sprang to fame by his defence of
by an (albeit rudimentary) scheme of the romantic frontier fortress of Chitral
training. in 1895. H i s career prospered, he trans-
In the war of the G r a n d Alliance ferred to the British army and as a gen-
(1688-97) Tourville cracked the English eral he added to his reputation i n 1915
blockade of Brittany, and was promoted by his remarkably speedy pursuit of the
to be vice-admiral of the Mediterranean T u r k s up the Tigris i n Mesopotamia.
fleet and commander-in-chief. Beating The advance overreached, however, and
the combined English and Dutch fleet at in December he and his army were be-
the battle of Beachy H e a d (1690), he sieged in Kut-el-Amara. The siege lasted
seized command of the Channel, but no until A p r i l 1916, when starvation and
use of this temporary dominance was cholera (of which von der G o l t z , q.v.,
made, much to the irritation of Tourville also possibly died) obliged h i m to surren-
and his commanders ; i n 1692, however, der. While he retired to comfortable cap-
his fleet of forty-four men-of-war en- tivity in a villa on the shore of the Black
gaged ninety-nine English and Dutch Sea, from which he returned i n 1918 to
warships at the battle o f L a Hogue. a hero's welcome and a seat i n Parlia-
Terribly outnumbered and heavily out- ment, his men entered o n an even more
gunned, the French fleet was smashed bitter privation i n T u r k i s h prison
despite all Tourville's skill. But Louis camps, which very few survived. Justly,
X I V , uncharacteristically, d i d not hold his reputation is now quite demolished.
the defeat against h i m , and he was cre- H e was a dashing and lucky captain,
ated a marshal of France. H e retired but a bad general and no gentleman.
from the navy i n 1697. Tourville was a
naval commander of outstanding ability, Trenchard, H u g h Montague (ist Vis-
both i n battle and in the realization that count T r e n c h a r d ; 1873-1956) British
a fleet could survive only with a proper a i r m a n ; 'the Father of the R o y a l A i r
infrastructure o f supplies and man- Force'. Trenchard's life demonstrates
power. In this respect he continued the how o n rare occasions a revolution - i n
great work of Colbert i n the creation of this case a technical one - may elevate a
an outstanding French navy. man of humdrum career to the heights
of power almost overnight. A t the age
Toussaint see L'Ouverture. of thirty-nine, Trenchard was a major
without prospects. H e had failed i n
Tovey, John C r o n y n (ist Baron T o v e y ; youth to get into the navy, had failed to
1885-1971) British admiral. Com- get into W o o l w i c h (for the artillery o r
mander o f the H o m e Fleet, 1940-3, engineers), had apparently not even tried
Tovey was responsible i n M a y 1941 for to get into Sandhurst and had passed

294
Trenchard, H u g h Montague T r o m p , Sir Cornelis van

the militia examination, last hope of a most important legacy to the service he
candidate for an army commission, only had largely created was the doctrine (not
at the third attempt. After twenty years his o w n - he apparently drew no pro-
of routine soldiering in the colonies, and found conclusions from his early experi-
seeing no prospect of promotion, Trench- ence with the Independent A i r Force -
ard was contemplating resignation when but one which he espoused and fostered)
a friend, who had recently taken up that air power was a war-winning
flying, suggested he should do the same. weapon in its o w n right (see Douhet).
Glimpsing in the idea the last chance of
distinguishing himself from a thousand T r o c h u , Louis Jules (1815-96) French
similarly qualified (or unqualified) sol- general. Aide-de-camp to Bugeaud and
diers, he took it up, graduated easily Lamoricière (qq.v.), T r o c h u opposed
and found himself, by virtue of his age Louis-Napoleon's seizure of power,
alone, one of the most senior officers of though he had also been his military
the fledgling R o y a l Flying Corps. In assistant, but continued nevertheless to
August 1915 he succeeded to command be promoted by h i m , commanded a bri-
of its units in France and began at once, gade in the Crimea and led a division at
by force of character rather than per- Solferino and Magenta during the
suasion or inspiration, to imbue it with Franco-Austrian war of 1859. H i s publi-
his o w n aggressive spirit. H e strove to cation of a secret and over-frank official
create ever larger units and to give them report as a sensational book, L'Armée
more intrusive and offensive roles over française en 1867, led to his supersession
the German front, w h i c h , by the end of but was proved justified when in 1870
the war, the R F C dominated. By then it the field army collapsed before the Prus-
had combined (1 A p r i l 1918) with the sians for exactly the reasons of which in
R o y a l N a v a l A i r Service to form the it he had given warning. Summoned to
R o y a l A i r Force, of which Trenchard lead the Government of N a t i o n a l De-
was made first chief of staff. But he had fence on 4 September, he directed the
also, before the armistice, resigned the defence of Paris under the Prussian siege,
post over differences with the first air stifling internal unrest, organizing sor-
minister, L o r d Rothermere, and re- ties (Champigny, Villiers, Bourget,
turned to France to command the inter- Buzenval) and promising throughout
A l l i e d Independent A i r Force, which was that a secret scheme of his o w n (He plan
subordinate to Foch (q.v.) and had as its Trochu') w o u l d eventually secure relief.
role an entirely original one, that of the But, on the Prussians opening a bom-
strategic bombing of Germany. bardment of the city (5 January 1871),
After the war Trenchard again he was obliged to resign and his col-
became chief of the air staff and fought leagues to sue for terms.
hard in committee (his nickname was
'Boom') to preserve its independence Tromp, Sir Cornelis van (1629-
from the navy and army alike. In that 91) D u t c h admiral. G r o w i n g up in the
he was perhaps oversuccessful, the subor- shadow of his father's reputation (see
dinate role he forced on the Fleet A i r T r o m p , Sir Maarten), but less successful
A r m severely stunting the growth of than he had been, T r o m p ' s career is
British naval aviation almost until the notable for the feud which developed
outbreak of the Second W o r l d W a r . H e between h i m and the greatest Dutch
retired in 192.9, having been named the admiral of the day, de Ruyter (q.v.).
first marshal of the R o y a l A i r Force, a Beginning his career on his father's ship,
rank equivalent to field-marshal or admi- his rise was r a p i d : he was a captain
ral of the fleet, in 1927. Perhaps his by 1649 and a rear-admiral after a

295
T r o m p , Sir Cornelis van T r o m p , Sir M a a r t e n van

successful encounter with the English duct was investigated and he was se-
off Leghorn, during the First D u t c h W a r verely rebuked. But he was sent north to
(1652-4). In 1654 he crowned his fruitful assist the Danes, once again fighting the
Mediterranean cruise with an attack on Swedes, who had taken up the French
the Algerian pirates. D u r i n g the First alliance offered to them. W i t h the
Northern W a r (1655-60), he was sent Danish admiral Niels Juel he beat the
with de Ruyter to the aid of the Danes Swedes at Jasmund (1676) ; thereafter he
(1659), and together they succeeded in took service with the Elector of Branden-
releasing Copenhagen from the grip of a burg, returning to H o l l a n d as the lead-
Swedish blockade. Even at this stage, ing D u t c h commander, for de Ruyter
however, relations between the two men had been killed in 1676. In 1691 he was
were not easy. created lieutenant-admiral-general of the
In 1663 T r o m p returned to the Dutch republic, but was a sick man,
Mediterranean in command of a fleet, unable to take up his command. A
but achieved only small success. Largely proud and sometimes irresponsible man,
inactive until 1665, with the outbreak he inherited his father's seamanship, if
of the Second A n g l o - D u t c h W a r (1665- in a lesser degree.
7) he was immediately appointed vice-
a d m i r a l ; and in the following year Tromp, Sir M a a r t e n van (1598-
commanded the whole D u t c h home 1653) Dutch admiral. In de Ruyter
fleet. But when de Ruyter returned from (q.v.) and the two van T r o m p s , the N e t h -
his attack on the West Indies, T r o m p erlands possessed a trio of outstanding
was forced to relinquish command to naval commanders. Maarten van
him as the senior and more experienced T r o m p , the son of a naval officer, at the
a d m i r a l : their latent hostility became age of twelve had been captured by
overt. After the battle of the N o r t h pirates, w h o held h i m prisoner for two
Foreland (1666), where he lost twenty years after killing his father. In 1617 he
ships in an assault by M o n c k (q.v.), joined the Dutch navy and one of his
de Ruyter blamed the defeat on T r o m p first acts was to take part in a punitive
for failing to support h i m adequately. expedition against the Barbary pirates,
T r o m p resigned his command in pique, w h o threatened Dutch trading vessels in
refusing a tempting offer from the the Mediterranean. The pattern of his
French to enter their service. The feud life now repeated itself. H e joined the
smouldered until, in the midst of the Dutch merchant service in 1619, and in
T h i r d D u t c h W a r (1672-4), W i l l i a m 1621 again fell into the hands of pirates;
of Orange managed to effect a recon- he was not able to rejoin the navy for
ciliation. The two admirals now fought over a year, by which time H o l l a n d was
together with considerable success at the at war, and the opportunities for an
battle of Schoonveldt (1673), where the ambitious naval officer correspondingly
fleet under Prince Rupert (q.v.) was re- improved. In 1624 he was promoted cap-
pulsed with heavy losses to the English. tain, attracting such favourable atten-
After the treaty of Westminster tion that by 1629 he commanded the
(1674), which ended the conflict (al- admiral's flagship. But a new admiral,
though the war between France and H o l - van D o r p , w h o m van T r o m p found un-
land continued), T r o m p harried the congenial, was appointed and he re-
French coast. H e then sailed o n , quite signed his command in 1634. After a
against orders, on an independent mis- period of unemployment ashore, he was
sion into the Mediterranean, hoping for appointed director of equipment in the
glory and success. The voyage achieved admiralty of the M a a s . But his talents
little, and on his return home his con- had been noted, and on van Dorp's resig-

296
T r o m p , Sir M a a r t e n van T r o t s k y , Lev D a v i d o v i c h

nation he was created lieutenant-admiral D u t c h , leaving over 1600 D u t c h dead,

of H o l l a n d . including T r o m p himself. H i s greatest
Early in 1639 T r o m p executed a suc- talent was as a brilliant shipmaster, and
cessful punitive raid on the privateers of a master of infighting. But the English
D u n k i r k , but it was in October that he tactics and equipment were superior and
achieved a complete command of the T r o m p ' s skill could not overcome the
sea over the Spanish. A r r i v i n g off advantage this gave them.
Beachy H e a d with eighteen ships, to face
a Spanish fleet of forty-five warships Trotsky, Lev Davidovich (1879-
and thirty merchantmen, which were car- 1940) Russian revolutionary, military
rying over 13,000 infantry for an assault leader and creator of the Red A r m y . A
on the Netherlands, T r o m p completely Jew, born Bronstein, Trotsky was edu-
outsailed the Spanish under Oquendo in cated at Odessa, arrested for revolution-
a six-hour battle and forced them to a r y activity in 1898 and imprisoned, but
take refuge in Calais Roads. H e sum- he escaped and fled to England, where
moned reinforcements, and in the ensu- he lived from 1902 to 1905. H e returned
ing battle of the D o w n s the Spanish to Russia during the 1905 revolution,
were utterly defeated. For his service he was again arrested and again escaped
was ennobled by Louis XIII of France, and thereafter lived abroad until 1917,
and two years later (1642) knighted by making his living chiefly as a journalist.
Charles I (q.v.) on the occasion of the H e was then able to re-enter Russia and
marriage of his daughter to W i l l i a m II played a part almost as important as
of Orange. Lenin's in the October coup w h i c h
M u c h of T r o m p ' s activity was in sup- brought the Bolsheviks to power. H i s
policy of ' N o peace, no war' vis-à-vis
port of D u t c h commercial interests,
the Germans, however, resulted not in
hence the ceaseless war against pirates
the demoralization of their armies and
and privateers. In 1646 he assisted the
an easy peace, as he had predicted, but
French in the assault o n D u n k i r k ; but
in their imposition of the cruelly extor-
the navy was being steadily run d o w n , a
tionate treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Trotsky
process accelerated after the peace of
was in consequence ousted from his post
Westphalia (1648). However, by 1651
of commissar for foreign affairs and
the threat to trade had become so great
made commissar for defence. C i v i l war
that a substantial programme of new
had just broken out [see D e n i k i n and
building and revitalization was under-
Kornilov) and it became his task to
taken, with T r o m p ' s active encourage-
create, arm and train the Red A r m y
ment. In the First D u t c h W a r (1652-4),
which w o u l d save the Bolshevik revolu-
T r o m p met his match in A d m i r a l Blake
tion from defeat. After its victory he
(q.v.), although he succeeded at the
retained the direction of defence until
battle of Dungeness (1652) with a fleet
1923, when he was ousted by Frunze
of eighty ships, twice that of Blake.
(q.v.) at the end of a long and bitter
When odds were more equal, at the
ideological struggle between proponents
battle of Beachy H e a d (1653), T r o m p of the regular army concept and those
was badly beaten. H e had no more luck who favoured, like h i m , a militia system.
off the Gabbard Bank, when he lost H e was propelled by Stalin into increas-
twenty ships in a battle with Blake and ing obscurity and eventually to exile and
M o n c k (q.v.). The English blockaded death, but despite every effort by the
H o l l a n d , but T r o m p slipped through. dictator to deprive h i m of the title, T r o t -
T h e direct result of this skilful evasion sky remains acknowledged as the Carnot
was the battle of T e x e l , where in a hard (q.v.) of Soviet Russia.
twelve-hour battle M o n c k defeated the

297
Tukhachevsky, Mikhail Nicolaevich Turenne, Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne

Tukhachevsky, M i k h a i l Nicolaevich these two great generals are inextricably

(1893-1937) M a r s h a l of the Soviet linked - because of the political turmoil
U n i o n . Born into an impoverished but of their age they fought against each
aristocratic family, Tukhachevsky was other as well as side by side - and
educated in the C o r p s of Pages and at although it is Condé, premier Prince
the Alexandrovski M i l i t a r y Academy, of the B l o o d , notoriously supercilious
commissioned in 1914, but taken pris- and with a distinct penchant for self-
oner early in 1915. Despite many at- publicity, who was accorded the acco-
tempts to escape, he d i d not succeed in lade of He grand', an examination of the
returning to Russia until October 1917, exploits of the rather more self-effacing
when he put himself at the disposal of Turenne reveals h i m to be the subtler
the Bolsheviks and was taken up by and more consistently successful soldier.
Trotsky (q.v.). H i s motives in siding Turenne was the son of the duc de
with the revolution were patriotic rather B o u i l l o n , a minor princeling w h o had
than ideological : he yearned for the re- his seat in the small but strategically
establishment of Russian greatness and placed city of Sedan; his mother was
saw i n Bolshevism the best chance of Elizabeth of Nassau, sister of the great
achieving it. After successfully filling M a u r i c e of Nassau (q.v.), and Turenne
junior commands against K o l c h a k (q.v.), was born, and remained for the greater
he was appointed in A p r i l 1920 to su- part of his career, a Protestant, a rare
preme command in the west and under- phenomenon among the high-ranking
took the great drive on Warsaw (see servants of Louis X I V . T h e young
Pilsudski) ; he thus accomplished his am- Turenne was sent to the Netherlands to
bition of achieving by the age of thirty study the military arts under the tutelage
either fame or death. Despite defeat in of his uncle and after his return to
the war with Poland, he remained France was given command of an infan-
among the leaders of the Red A r m y of try regiment in 1630. France's involve-
which he became chief of staff i n 1926. ment in the T h i r t y Years' W a r (1618-
H i s influence upon its development into 48) provided great opportunity for rapid
a modern, regular, mechanized force advancement, and having served his
was very great, but his cultivation of an apprenticeship on the Rhine and been
independent 'professional' outlook wounded in the assault on Saverne
made h i m suspect to Stalin and in 1937 (1636), Turenne found himself in 1638
the N K V D , acting partly on evidence at the head of a force sent to reinforce
fabricated by the German Sicherheitsdi- Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (q.v.) in the
enst (which suspected Tukhachevsky of investment of Breisach. T h e surrender
friendship for France), arrested and ex- of the city gave the French the key to
ecuted h i m . H e was the first important the Rhine, and Turenne's reputation was
victim of the great purge. further confirmed in the two subsequent
campaigns he fought against the
Turenne, H e n r i de la T o u r d'Auvergne, imperial-Savoyard army, which culmi-
vicomte de (1611-75) M a r s h a l of nated in the capture of T u r i n (1640).
France. Although generally acknow- In 1642 Turenne faced a potential set-
ledged to be one of the great French back to his career when it came to light
commanders, Turenne is often denied that certain leading members of his
the unique glory which his achievements family had been involved in the C i n q
deserve ; the effulgence of his reputation M a r s conspiracy against Louis XIII. Nev-
is inevitably diffused by constant com- ertheless in 1643 he was created a mar-
parison with his slightly younger contem- shal of France and given the command
porary Condé (q.v.). The careers of of France's Weimar army after its defeat

298
Turenne, H e n r i de la T o u r d'Auvergne Turenne, H e n r i de la T o u r d'Auvergne

by Franz von M e r c y (q.v.) at Tuttlingen the Bavarians, and henceforth deter-

(1643). Turenne had succeeded to the mined to wage a war of manœuvre.
command after the capture of von Rant- A t the battle of Zusmarshausen (1648)
zau, and the army he took over was a Turenne's army caught up with and vir-
broken force of only 10,000 men. H e tually annihilated the imperial rearguard
was joined at Breisach by a small army and the Franco-Swedish forces reached
under the due d'Enghien (later Condé), the Inn, the nearest the French had come
who had enjoyed a meteoric rise since to Austria. M a x i m i l i a n fled from Ba-
his brilliant defeat of the Spanish at varia, and Turenne's success was a cru-
R o c r o i earlier in the year. Despite the cial factor i n the emperor's decision to
fact that he brought an army of only sue for peace, which was concluded in
7000 and that he was only twenty-two, the peace of Westphalia (1648).
Enghien's princely rank entitled h i m to After the end of the T h i r t y Years'
overall command, a situation apparently W a r the widespread resentment in
resented not at all by Turenne. France against the increased burdens of
In the campaign the t w o generals taxation and the accumulation of royal
fought against the Bavarian army under power under Richelieu, and subse-
M e r c y , Turenne revealed himself the quently M a z a r i n , broke into the open
master of the unlikely manoeuvre, which revolt k n o w n as the Fronde (1648-53).
was later to stamp h i m as the most Turenne, largely prompted by his pas-
original and daring commander of his sion for Condé's sister, the Duchess of
age; at the first battle of Freiburg (1644) Longueville, w h o was heavily involved
he undertook a long march to hit the like all her family (except for Condé
entrenched Bavarians in the rear, and, himself) in the rebel cause, prepared to
similarly, at the third battle of Freiburg intervene with his army. But M a z a r i n
later i n the same month took most of anticipated the threat, sent a new gen-
the army by mountain paths to attack eral and paid off the troops. Turenne
the Bavarian entrenchments from fled to H o l l a n d , but returned to Paris in
behind. Despite heavy French losses the 1649. In 1650 M a z a r i n imprisoned
Bavarian retreat left most of the Rhine Condé, w h o m he distrusted, along with
valley in French hands, and Enghien was his brother C o n t i and his brother-in-
able to depart for a series of mopping- law, the duc de Longueville; Turenne,
up operations, capturing the fortresses feeling himself threatened, fled to join
of the middle Rhine Valley. In 1645 the duchess in Champagne, where he
Turenne was surprised and defeated by assumed military leadership of the
M e r c y at the battle of Mergentheim, but Second Fronde. Plans to invade France
later in the year, and once again re- from the Spanish Netherlands with a
inforced by Enghien, the French inflicted combined Spanish-Frondeur army fell
a crushing, though costly, defeat on through, largely due to the mutual sus-
M e r c y , w h o was killed in the intense picions of Turenne and the Spanish lead-
and desperate struggle; Turenne later ers, and Turenne waged ineffectual war
erected a generously worded monument in Champagne until he was soundly de-
on the spot where his great adversary feated by a much larger and better-
fell in battle. In 1646 Turenne undertook trained royalist force at Rethel (1650).
a secret forced march d o w n the Rhine Turenne himself narrowly escaped cap-
to Wesel, then turning south-east to join ture. In 1651 public pressure forced the
a Swedish army under Wrangel (q.v.) princes' release under a general amnesty
near Giessen; he had been alarmed by and M a z a r i n fled to Germany. Turenne
the heavy losses sustained by the French was recalled to Paris at Condé's insti-
in their successful campaigns against gation; later in the year civil war broke

299
Turenne, Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne Turenne, Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne

out again, Condé this time led the rebels, into their ranks; casualties were heavy,
signing an alliance with Spain : the hated and in the resulting disarray, Paris
M a z a r i n was recalled from exile by the opened her gates and allowed Condé
queen regent. Turenne, conscious of the and the rebel army to enter in triumph.
cardinal's malevolent scrutiny, was care- The treachery had come from within the
ful to remain aloof and to dissociate royal family itself; the king's cousin,
himself from this third rebellion and Anne-Marie-Louise (Mademoiselle), had
from Condé's faction; i n addition, the obtained written permission from her
young Louis X I V had now been declared father, the intriguing and treacherous
legally of age, and Turenne was genu- Gaston d'Orléans, to enter the Bastille
inely loyal enough to balk at the pros- and order the training and firing of the
pect of taking up arms against the king's cannon as she thought fit. But although
person, rather than against government Condé had evaded capture, the rebel
in the hands of an Italian cardinal and a cause began to fragment : he himself fled
Spanish queen regent. Moreover, in the to join the Spanish w h o , with the i m -
same year, his brother, the duc de Bouil- perial troops of the D u k e of Lorraine,
lon, heavily embroiled, needless to say, were preparing to invade France's
in the rebel cause, came to terms with north-eastern frontier. Turenne hurried
the court, and Anne of Austria was free north and, although heavily outnum-
to affirm her faith, once again, in bered, fought a brilliant campaign across
Turenne's loyalty by putting h i m in com- northern and eastern France, preventing
mand of one of the two divisions of the the junction of the armies of Condé and
royal army, each 4000 strong, which Lorraine and gaining precious time for
had been assembled in the Loire to negotiations between parlement and
oppose Condé. In the campaign of court in Paris. In October 1652 Louis
1652-3 Turenne used his meagre re- was able to re-enter his capital, and the
sources with great skill ; unable to defeat Fronde came to an end, although war
Condé and his Spanish backers outright, with Spain continued.
he out-thought and out-manoeuvred his
Turenne was the hero of the hour,
enemies; he was able to save the young
and never lost the gratitude and respect
king from capture by blocking the bridge
of the king for being the saviour of the
at Bléneau, and also to ensure that the
royal cause. Meanwhile Condé had de-
court did not have to take refuge far
fected to the Spanish camp, and was put
from Paris, an achievement which was
in command of a Spanish army in n o r t h -
to prove important when Louis was at
eastern France. Despite having super-
last able to re-enter his capital.
ior forces he found that once again
In July 1652 Turenne, with a strongly Turenne's adroit dispositions foiled any
reinforced royalist army, caught up with plans to draw the French into direct
Condé outside the walls of Paris, which combat under unfavourable conditions.
had declared itself neutral. Under the In 1657 M a z a r i n and C r o m w e l l agreed
anxious surveillance of the king and M a - to combine their separate wars against
zarin, w h o watched from a nearby h i l l , Spain, and concluded a strategy whereby
the bitter struggle for the capital took a joint force, aided by the English fleet,
place outside the gate of St Antoine, w o u l d attack the coastal towns of M a r -
after which the battle was to be named. dyk, D u n k i r k and Gravelines. M a r d y k
F r o m the outset the fight went in favour quickly succumbed to Turenne's army,
of Turenne and the royalist army, but and he proceeded straight to D u n k i r k ,
just as decisive victory seemed within despite the Spanish attempts to halt h i m
their grasp, the cannon of the eight- by opening the dykes. H i s investment of
towered Bastille fortress began to fire the city was threatened, however, by the

300
Turenne, H e n r i de la T o u r d'Auvergne Turenne, H e n r i de l a T o u r d'Auvergne

arrival of a Spanish Netherlands relief invasion of H o l l a n d (1672) and the subse-

force under D o n John of Austria and quent Rhineland campaign, revealed
Condé himself. Turenne's victory at the himself a commander and tactician of
ensuing battle of the Dunes was deci- consummate genius. Although his forces
sive; he used the change of the tide o n in H o l l a n d never exceeded 20,000 men
the beach, where the right flank of the he was so successful i n using his slender
Spanish infantry was drawn up, to carry resources that by 1673 he broke the
out a cavalry envelopment of the Span- German coalition of the Emperor
ish left flank, on the inland side. K n o w - Leopold I and the Elector of Branden-
ing that he had little to fear from the burg for a time and could have reached
Spanish o n the beach, whose sole anxi- Bohemia had not Louvois refused h i m
ety was to escape fire from the offshore reinforcements; instead, Turenne was
English fleet and to avoid the suddenly called back to cover Alsace, and the
encroaching tide, he was able, at a cru- imperial forces were able to break the
cial moment, to concentrate the main French control o f the L o w e r Rhine.
weight of his cavalry o n the Spanish M a n y German princes rallied to the
left. T h e battle, w h i c h lasted only four imperial flag, and although by seizing
hours, resulted i n casualties o f only 400 the initiative, at Sinzheim (1674), and
men for Turenne and 6000 for the Span- by skilful manoeuvre throughout the
ish, w h o had fought against Condé's summer, Turenne managed to prevent a
advice and without the bulk of their concentration of allied forces, it seemed
artillery. It was a brilliant manifestation after the inconclusive battle of Entzheim
of Turenne's ability to use and incorpo- that the sheer weight of numbers must
rate i n his battle plan local or natural gain Alsace for the allies. In October
phenomena. It allowed h i m to go o n to 1674 their forces were swollen to 57,000
capture Ypres and to threaten the great by the arrival of the armies of the Great
Flemish cities of Brussels and Ghent and Elector (q.v.), and they were quartered
it secured advantageous peace terms for for the winter -in all the towns from
France (in the treaty of the Pyrenees, Belfort to Strasbourg. They were appar-
1659) just as his threat to Austria had ently secure i n their possession of
done at the end of the T h i r t y Years' Alsace. But Louvois's reform of the
W a r . In 1660 Turenne was appointed French supply system meant that
'marshal-general of the camps and Turenne was able to maintain active
armies of the k i n g ' , an extraordinary operations throughout the winter, a n d ,
honour w h i c h implied that, had it not having placed the fortresses o f M i d d l e
been for his Protestant faith, he might Alsace i n a state of defence i n order to
have been made constable of France. In deceive the enemy, he led his 28,000
1668, after the death of his wife, he men i n an epic march of secrecy and
abjured his religion, but by n o w L o u - feint. H e turned southwards behind the
vois's reforms had incorporated the cov- mountains of the Vosges into Lorraine,
eted title into the fold of royal privilege, and then split his forces into many
and Louis took command of his armies smaller bodies further to deceive enemy
himself. spies; they then crossed the mountains,
T h e D u t c h war of 1672-8 saw thick with snow, reassembled near Bel-
Turenne at the height of his powers. fort, and marched speedily into Alsace
Although constantly undermined by L o u - from the south. A t the battle of T u r c k -
vois (q.v.) with w h o m he had a long- heim (1675) Turenne, despite the exhaus-
standing feud, holding only a secondary tion of his troops, was able to deliver so
command, and invariably outnumbered, heavy and vigorous a blow o n the flank
often by t w o to one, Turenne, i n the of the main allied army, that they could

301
Tyrconnell, Richard T a l b o t , E a r l of Tyrone, H u g h O ' N e i l l , E a r l of

offer only perfunctory resistance. The spirator against the state. A s a leading
enemy recrossed the Rhine and Alsace Catholic, he gravitated towards the
was saved. In the summer of the same group around the brother of K i n g
year Turenne prevented Montecuccoli Charles II, and when James ascended
(q.v.) from retaking Strasbourg, but on the throne as James II, Tyrconnell was
27 July, while preparing to attack the created lieutenant-general of the army
retreating German army in a defensive in Ireland (1686) and lord deputy of
position, he was killed by a cannonball. Ireland. H e was active i n encouraging
Turenne's unique genius was as a field the 'Catholicization' of the army and
commander; unlike other great com- navy, replacing ardent Protestants w i t h
manders - Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.) or Catholics pliable to the king's w i l l . A s a
C r o m w e l l (q.v.) - he d i d not possess, in result, and because of his powerful pos-
his army, a force moulded for the exer- ition in Ireland, he was considered by
cise of his o w n brand of military genius. the supporters of W i l l i a m III one of the
Often placed in command of inferior most dangerous of their adversaries. H e
fighting troops, and usually outnum- died before the final d o o m of the Jaco-
bered, he lived on his wits, and the bite cause in Ireland was accomplished,
result was spectacularly successful. A l - but it was already clear that he had lost
though the only Frenchman to figure in the campaign.
Napoleon's list of the seven great com-
manders of history, Turenne's real m i l i - Tyrone, H u g h O ' N e i l l , E a r l of (1540-
tary heir was not a Frenchman but an 1616) Irish soldier and rebel. Leader by
Englishman, the D u k e of M a l b o r o u g h talent and family connection (the
(q.v.), who served under h i m in his cam- O ' N e i l l s were the greatest family i n
paign in H o l l a n d and w h o admired h i m Ulster) of the Irish opposition to Eliza-
intensely. The great campaigns of his beth I. Appointed by Elizabeth to a vari-
maturity were remarkably low i n casual- ety of influential posts i n the island after
ties, and he inspired great loyalty in his he succeeded his uncle as E a r l of Tyrone
troops; when, in 1647 his German cav- in 1568, he soon established himself as
alry mutinied after having been ordered the most powerful man i n the murky
away from a successful campaign i n Ba- w o r l d of Irish politics. In 1593 he i n -
varia, Turenne rode with them far into herited the chieftainship of the O ' N e i l l s
Germany and brought them back to and the cornerstone of his power was
French service by the sheer force of his secured. Thereafter his relations w i t h
personality. A n d few generals could England deteriorated, and i n 1598 he
have split their forces up secure in the came out in open revolt. H e defeated an
knowledge that they w o u l d later re- English army at the battle of the Black-
group, as he did in the Belfort march. water River, and all Ireland rose in rebel-
A l l these qualities combine to make h i m lion. H e outwitted the E a r l of Essex,
the greatest field commander and tac- sent with a substantial army to subdue
tician of his age. h i m , leading him in an aimless pursuit
through the marshy, inhospitable Irish
Tyrconnell, R i c h a r d T a l b o t , E a r l of landscape. But late in 1601 the Irish
(1630-91) Irish Jacobite soldier. T y r - army, reinforced by 4000 Spanish
connell held Ireland for James II in the troops, was routed at Kinsale by M o u n t -
Jacobite uprising against W i l l i a m III and joy (q.v.), a much more competent com-
the Glorious Revolution of 1688. H e mander than Essex. O ' N e i l l retired to
had fought with the Royalists in Ireland regroup his forces, but the rebellion was
during the English C i v i l W a r and had doomed as many of his lukewarm sup-
been imprisoned by C r o m w e l l as a con- porters left h i m . In 1603 he submitted to

302
T y r o n e , H u g h O ' N e i l l , E a r l of Tyrone, H u g h O ' N e i l l , E a r l of

M o u n t j o y , and received good treatment he sailed w i t h some one hundred north-

from James I, being allowed to retain ern chieftains for S p a i n ; b l o w n ashore
his extensive estates despite his treason. in the Netherlands, the party ended up
But he engaged in constant intrigues to in Rome. Tyrone lived there until his
recover his former power, and in 1607 death, outlawed by the English.

303
 U
Udet, Ernst (1896-1941) German technical office, he also came to believe
fighter ace. Second-ranking of German himself a failure and committed suicide.
aces of the First W o r l d W a r , credited Ironically his life had been spared early
with sixty-two victories, Udet had learnt in his fighting career by Guynemer
to fly before 1914. H e rejoined the Luft- (q.v.), w h o had chivalrously withdrawn
waffe after its reformation i n 1934, but from a single-combat when the
though he rose to become head of its German's gun jammed.

304
 V
Vasilevsky, Aleksander M i k h a i l o v i c h of military engineering when the king
( 1895-1977) M a r s h a l of the Soviet awarded h i m a company of the Picardy
U n i o n . A veteran of the C i v i l W a r , regiment.
Vasilevsky replaced Shaposhnikov (q.v.) After the W a r of Devolution (1667-8)
as chief of staff of the Red A r m y in in which he played a leading role in the
1942, directed operations at Stalingrad, siege and capture of D o u a i , T o u r n a i
1942-3, and commanded the T h i r d Be- and Lille, he was presented with a great
lorussian Front in its advance into East opportunity to air his theories on the
Prussia in 1945. In August he directed role of fortifications when he assisted
Russia's belated military effort against and advised Louvois (q.v.) in his reform
Japan in the Far East. of the army. A chain of fortresses was
conceived w h i c h w o u l d be fully equipped
V a u b a n , Sebastien le Prestre de (1633- as bases for an army on the march, and
1707) French military engineer and which could not be taken except by the
theorist ; M a r s h a l of France. In a century immensely time-consuming business of
in which siege warfare was the most full-scale siege. V a u b a n was largely re-
common form of encounter with the sponsible for their construction, and
enemy, France was indeed fortunate in spent the next years building thirty-three
possessing the engineering and innovat- new fortresses and remodelling three
ing genius of V a u b a n . In 1651 the third thousand others; in addition he created
W a r of the Fronde (1651-3) broke out, the great fortified naval bases of Brest,
and the young Vauban threw in his lot D u n k i r k , Le H a v r e , Rochefort and
w i t h the Frondeurs, accepting a cadet- T o u l o n in response to Colbert's plans
ship from their military leader, Louis II for the creation of a strong French navy.
of B o u r b o n , Prince of Condé (q.v.). In H e engaged in minute correspondence
1653 he was taken prisoner, and perhaps with the king on the subject of fortifica-
because he had already shown great apti- tion, and his long series of essays written
tude in the throwing up of field forti- at this time became standard texts on
fications, his royalist captor, M a r s h a l the subject for the next hundred years.
H e n r i de la Ferte-Senneterre, induced Vauban's successful career as an
h i m to change sides, promptly granting active soldier also continued without ap-
h i m a commission in his o w n regiment. parent let or hindrance. In the D u t c h
In 1655 V a u b a n became a 'king's ordi- war of 1672-8 he evolved and used for
nary engineer', being drafted to a corps the first time (at Maastricht in 1673) his
specializing in fortification and siege- system for dealing with the sophisticated
craft, and fought in Turenne's (q.v.) war Dutch scheme of defensive fortification
of siege and manoeuvre against the Span- which had been developed by their great
ish, now led by Condé, temporarily in engineer Simon Stevin and perfected
Spanish service. In 1658, Vauban was over a generation. The technique was
chief engineer at the siege of Gravelines, almost invariably successful, and over
and w o n recognition for the importance the years such apparently successful

305
Vendôme, Louis Joseph, duc de Verdy du Vernois, Julius v o n

bulwarks as Philippsburg (1688), M o n s In the succeeding campaigns V e n -

(1691), N a m u r (1692) and Charleroi dôme used his forces with great enter-
(1693) fell to Vauban. A t Philippsburg prise : he took Vercelli in 1704, and again
he introduced ricochet gunfire, whereby held Eugen in the battle of Cassano
cannonshot was made to bounce for- (1705). In M a y 1706 he was transferred
ward over parapets, thus possibly hitting to the northern front, the graveyard of
several targets before its energy was many French military reputations, where
spent. A t about this time, too, he pio- he n o w faced M a r l b o r o u g h (q.v.), w h o
neered the use of the socket bayonet, had just beaten Villeroi at Ramillies.
w h i c h , unlike its predecessor, the plug Vendôme met his match at Oudenarde
bayonet, made it possible for the musket (July 1708) where M a r l b o r o u g h and
to be fired while the bayonet was fixed ; Eugen had joined forces, when he was
this latter development had the supple- held back from fulfilling his battle plan
mentary effect of rendering large contin- by the doubts of his joint-commander,
gents of pikemen obsolete. In 1702, after the duc de Bourgogne. H e recovered
a long, distinguished and successful mili- with great speed from the long wasting
tary career, Vauban retired from the battle, and the failure was not entirely
army owing to ill-health; on 14 January his. N o n e the less he was in disfavour at
1703 he was created, fittingly, a marshal court as a result, and his temporary
of France. N o t only had he revolution- disgrace was completed when he failed
ized the role of the military engineer to outsmart Eugen and M a r l b o r o u g h
and been a great innovator from the use and relieve Bouffiers (q.v.) besieged in
of artillery to the wider education of Lille. But in 1710 he was recalled to
junior officers; he was a prolific writer take command i n Spain, where the
and left behind him a vast body of litera- French cause had languished after Ber-
ture, providing food for military thought wick (q.v.) had been summoned north
for succeeding generations. H e died in in the panic after Ramillies. Vendôme
retirement on 30 M a r c h 1707. took firm charge of the situation, recap-
tured M a d r i d , beat the British under
Vendôme, Louis Joseph, duc de (1654- Stanhope at Brihuega (admittedly he
1712) French soldier. A great-grandson substantially outnumbered the British
of Henry I V of France (q.v.), Vendôme forces), and the next day beat the other
was possibly the ablest of Louis X I V ' s part o f the allied army under G u i d o von
latter 'crop' of generals, although he Starhemburg at the battle of V i l l a v i -
was not of the quality of Turenne or ciosa. D y i n g before he could complete
Condé (qq.v.). H e served with distinc- the conquest of Spain for Philip V , his
tion i n the early wars of Louis X I V , work was completed by Berwick.
especially in Flanders, fought with great
effectiveness under Luxembourg (q.v.) Verdy d u Vernois, Julius v o n (1832-
at Steenkirk (1692), and took command 1910) Prussian general. O n e of the
in Catalonia in 1695, capturing Barce- many officers of Huguenot descent in
lona i n 1697. In the war of the Spanish the Prussian army, he and Bronsart von
Succession (1701-14), he replaced the Schellendorf were the principal agents
senescent Villeroi (who had been cap- (known as the 'Demigods') of M o l t k e
tured by Eugen, q.v., in the battle of (q.v.) in the direction of strategy in the
Cremona, 1702) on the Italian front. war of 1870, Verdy du Vernois being
Vendôme had a powerful army and he particularly responsible for the intelli-
fought Eugen to a costly drawn battle at gence department. H e became in later
Luzzara (1702), but could not snatch the life one of the most prolific and influen-
initiative from h i m . tial of Prussian military authors and was

306
V i c t o r Amadeus II, D u k e o f Savoy Villars, Claude Louis Hector, duc de

minister of war in succession to Schellen- an officer of the N a t i o n a l G u a r d during

dorf, Waldersee (q.v.) procuring i n turn the Revolution and was promoted gen-
their appointments. eral of brigade i n 1793. H e served o n
the Spanish frontier and i n the A r m y o f
V i c t o r Amadeus II, D u k e o f Savoy Italy, 1795-1800, was promoted general
(1666-1732) Italian ruler and poli- of division by Bonaparte and took a
tician. In V i c t o r Amadeus the dukedom notable part i n the battle o f M a r e n g o .
of Savoy possessed a skilled opportunist, Chief o f staff to Lannes (q.v.) during
who began a tradition o f cunning per- the 1806 campaign, he got command o f
fidy which served the house o f Savoy the i s t Corps i n 1807, led it at Friedland
well i n its struggle to become supreme and was created marshal. Posted to
in northern Italy (and eventually to unite Spain, he defeated a number o f Spanish
the whole peninsula). H e juggled neatly generals, including D o n Gregorio de la
between the t w o power blocs, the Bour- Cuesta ('arguably the worst general o f
bons o f France and the Habsburgs o f all time') at A l b a c o n o n 26 July 1809.
Austria and Spain. In the w a r o f the Against the British he was less lucky : he
G r a n d Alliance (1688-97) he supported was beaten by Wellington (q.v.) at Talav-
the Habsburgs and allowed his allies to era and by G r a h a m at Barossa. In Russia
fight his battles for h i m , but i n 1696 he retrieved his reputation by his brave
welched o n them by making a separate defence of the crossing o f the Beresina.
peace w i t h Louis X I V at T u r i n . In the H e fought at Dresden and Leipzig i n
war o f the Spanish Succession (1701-14) 1813, took part i n the defence of France,
V i c t o r Amadeus began o n the French 1814, remained faithful to the Bourbons
side, but transferred his support to the during the H u n d r e d Days and acted as
Habsburgs in 1703, and enjoyed the com- minister o f war, 1821-3.
fort o f his cousin Eugen's (q.v.) army i n
support of his territory. In the treaty V i l l a r s , Claude Louis Hector, duc de
made at Utrecht (1713) he received (1653-1734) French soldier. Arguably
Sicily, the title of king and some o f the the most competent o f the generals to
Spanish territories i n Italy. In 1720, after serve under both Louis X I V and Louis
the w a r of the Quadruple Alliance X V . Villars, the son o f a soldier-
(1718-20) i n w h i c h he played a suitably diplomat, had a touch o f genius i n the
inglorious part, he was rewarded for the management o f cavalry. Entering the
loss o f Sicily (which was allocated to army i n 1669, he quickly established a
Austria) by being given the kingdom o f reputation as an enterprising officer (al-
Sardinia and the title of king o f Sardinia. though promotion was slow, for he d i d
The house o f Savoy-Piedmont was not have the ear of the w a r minister
thereby established, a monument to po- Louvois). A s commissary-general o f cav-
litical turpitude ; however, the last laugh alry in the L o w Countries, Villars led the
did not lie with V i c t o r Amadeus II. In French cavalry with considerable success
1730 he abdicated i n favour o f his son against the enemy at W a l c o u r t (1689)
Charles Emmanuel, thought better o f it early in the w a r o f the G r a n d Alliance
and tried to regain his throne. H i s son (1688-97). In 1693 he was appointed
imprisoned h i m for the remainder of his lieutenant-general, and after the w a r ,
life. his star more i n the ascendant, was ap-
pointed as ambassador to Vienna. A t
V i c t o r , Claude-Victor Perrin (called the outset o f the w a r of the Spanish
Victor; duc de Bellune; 1766- Succession (1701-14) Villars was at the
1841) M a r s h a l o f France. A private sol- peak o f his powers. Ordered to protect
dier of the royal army, V i c t o r became Alsace from attack, he immediately took

307
Villars, Claude Louis Hector, duc de Villars, Claude Louis Hector, duc de

the offensive, crossed the Rhine and at- fiers (q.v.), who was serving as Villars's
tacked Louis of Baden, who had taken second-in-command, that the French
the fortress of Landau and was prepar- were able to retire in good order. After
ing to descend on Strasbourg. A t Fried- Malplaquet, a punishing battle for both
lingen (October 1702) his adventurous sides, although the allied armies of M a r l -
use of his cavalry outflanked Louis of borough and Eugen had had much heav-
Baden and gave victory to the French. ier losses than the French, M a r l b o r o u g h
H e was created marshal of France and was under pressure not to fight so costly
given command of the army in Ger- an action again and Villars felt likewise.
many. Forced to serve w i t h the Elector They fenced delicately with each other,
of Bavaria, w h o m he could stomach M a r l b o r o u g h taking a few fortresses
neither personally nor militarily, he w o n and undermining Villars's supposedly
the battle of Höchstadt (1703), beating impassable ' N e Plus U l t r a ' line of fortifi-
the Austrians under Styrum despite his cations by some deft manœuvres. But
antipathy for his allies, who vetoed his in 1712 M a r l b o r o u g h was recalled, and
plan for an advance on Vienna. H e left Villars defeated Eugen's army at Denain
his command and turned to harrying (1712), Eugen arriving too late for the
the rebel Camisards in the south of battle. N o w on the offensive, his
France. But after Marlborough's victory natural stance, Villars recaptured the
at Blenheim (1704) he was recalled, fortresses of D o u a i , Quesnoy and
given a dukedom and sent to face the Bouchain ; and moving d o w n the Rhine,
marauding allied armies. A g a i n he chose Landau and Freiburg (1713). Eugen and
to attack, across the Rhine and deep Villars met for peace talks, which were
into southern Germany, the equivalent concluded with the treaty of Rastatt
of his thrust the previous year (1705) (1714).
into Alsace, which had also unhinged
By his energy at the end of the war,
allied plans for an advance. But he was
Villars had eased France's position at
unable to follow up the results of these
the treaty settlement, and after the death
enterprising strokes because he was
of Louis X I V (1715), he became a lead-
transferred to face Eugen in northern
ing member of the C o u n c i l of Regency
Italy. H i s daring advances in the north
for Louis X V , but he was never popular
had not helped to avert the disastrous
at court. In the war of the Polish Succes-
battle of Ramillies (1706), and he was
sion (1733-8) the septuagenarian Villars
not in high favour at the court of Louis
was trundled out from retirement,
XIV.
given the extraordinary title of marshal-
However, after Vendôme (q.v.) failed general and sent to outwit the Austrian
to beat the allies at Oudenarde and Lille army in northern Italy. Here he dis-
(1708), Villars was sent for as the only played his wonted skill, but age had not
man who might retrieve the situation. improved his temper : finding it no more
In 1709 he was appointed commander possible to w o r k with the unscrupulous
in Flanders (where he had experienced Charles Emmanuel of Sardinia than he
his first taste of victory at Senef, 1674), had with the Elector of Bavaria, he de-
with a badly shaken army. H e was in manded his recall. H e died at T u r i n on
structed by Paris to avoid a major his way home. By temperament an offen-
combat, but after he was ordered to sive general, he fought in an age where
relieve M o n s , a major battle became caution was considered more virtuous.
inevitable. A t the battle of Malplaquet, Freed from the restraint w h i c h , in
Villars was wounded severely (as was common with many of the best French
Eugen on the opposing side) and it was generals who were his contemporaries,
o w i n g to the calm good sense of Bouf- he suffered under - the critical eye of

308
Villeneuve, Pierre Charles Jean Baptiste Voroshilov, Kliment Efremovich

Louis X I V - his achievement might have France, 1815-18. Appointed governor i n

been still greater. 1823 of N e w Russia, as its southern
provinces were then called, he captured
Villeneuve, Pierre Charles Jean Baptiste Varna during the war with T u r k e y ,
de (1763-1806) French admiral. Pres- 1828-9, and as governor of the Cauca-
ent at the battle of the N i l e (1798), sus, 1844-8 subdued two-thirds of
where he commanded the rear division, Daghestan.
Villeneuve was in 1805 admiral of the
T o u l o n fleet. In order to draw the Brit- Voroshilov, K l i m e n t Efremovich (1881-
ish away from home waters, which N a - 1969) M a r s h a l of the Soviet U n i o n . A n
poleon (q.v.) had to cross to invade experienced party worker, Voroshilov
England, he broke through the blockade, had helped to organize the Cheka (Bol-
sailed to the West Indies with Nelson shevik political police) before going to
(q.v.) in pursuit, recrossed the Atlantic, command the Fifth Red A r m y in the
fought off a minor British fleet under Ukraine in 1918. H e was an early col-
Calder and entered C a d i z . There he was laborator of Stalin in the First Cavalry
joined by the Spanish fleet under A r m y , fought against D e n i k i n and W r a n -
Gravina (q.v.) and blockaded again by gel (qq.v.) and in the Polish campaign
Nelson. Warned that he was to be re- was a main opponent of Trotsky (q.v.)
placed, Napoleon's invasion plans and succeeded that other enemy of T r o t -
having been frustrated by Nelson's sky, Frunze (q.v.), as commissar for war
return from American waters, he deter- in 1925. In 1934 his title was changed to
mined to fight before his successor could commissar for defence, but he remained
arrive. H e took his and the Spanish fleet effective political head of the Soviet ser-
to sea and was utterly defeated at Trafal- vices until M a y 1940, when Timoshenko
gar, 21 October 1805. T a k e n prisoner, (q.v.) took over the task of reorganizing
but released, he committed suicide at the Red A r m y after its failure in the
Rennes while on his way to an audience Finnish war. A t the outbreak of war
with the emperor. with Germany he directed the N o r t h -
Eastern Front, but was not a success in
Vorontsov, M i k h a i l Semenovich (1782- operational command and was relieved.
1856) Russian field-marshal. Born and H e continued nevertheless to enjoy
brought up in L o n d o n , where his father Stalin's favour and was president of
was ambassador, Vorontsov fought the U S S R , 1953-60. A political, not a
against both the T u r k s and the French, professional, soldier, his achievement
1803-13, and actually commanded was to sustain the subjection of the
against Napoleon (q.v.) at Craonne in army to the party throughout the first
1814. After Waterloo, he commanded twenty years of the Communist state's
the Russian army of occupation in existence.

309
Waldersee, Alfred G r a f v o n (1832-
w to serve the emperor, raising a cavalry
1904) German field-marshal. F o r a regiment at his o w n expense to serve i n
brief interval (1888-91) between the a war against Venice (1618). W h e n the
reigns of M o l t k e and Schlieffen (qq.v.), Bohemian revolt broke out Wallenstein
Waldersee held the post of chief of the remained loyal to Ferdinand II, only to
Great General Staff, which he had long see his estates confiscated by the rebels.
intrigued to get. H e had been M o l t k e ' s But revenge came quickly. H e raised a
principal assistant and his opposition to regiment of horse and served with great
the policies of Bismarck and enthusiasm courage in the campaign for the recovery
for preventive war against Russia (which of Bohemia. After the battle of the White
terrified Bismarck and M o l t k e alike) had M o u n t a i n (1620), his estates were re-
established h i m as the favourite general stored to h i m and he was appointed
of W i l h e l m II, while the latter was still governor of Bohemia by a grateful em-
heir-apparent. In office, their ambitions peror. In this new position he bought up
clashed and he was quickly dismissed. the lands of his vanquished enemies at
In 1900 the kaiser nevertheless procured knock-down prices, and within three
for h i m the command of the Allied relief years held virtually the whole of north-
expedition to Peking, urging o n h i m the east Bohemia as his private estate. T h e
role of 'another A t t i l a ' , but the Boxers- emperor created h i m first prince, and
had abandoned the siege before he ar- then duke, of Friedland (1625), and he
rived. H e consoled himself with a exercised within his lands many of the
M a d a m e Butterfly romance. privileges of an independent monarch.
H e was by the outbreak of the war with
Wallenstein, Albrecht Eusebius Wenzel Denmark, which marked a new stage i n
v o n , D u k e o f Friedland and M e c k l e n - the T h i r t y Years' W a r , the richest man
burg (1583-1634) Czech adventurer. in the empire, and was able to make the
L i k e some mighty personification of A m - penurious emperor an enormously attrac-
bition in a morality play, Wallenstein tive offer: that he should equip at his
over-reached himself and came crashing o w n expense a huge mercenary army of
d o w n , the vast territories he had briefly 24,000 men for the service of the empire :
united under his rule quickly falling asun- he was to recover his outlay from the
der. H i s ambition for power is evident profits of the war. Ferdinand accepted
throughout his life. Born and educated a his offer, since he had no other means
Bohemian Protestant, he abjured his of creating so large a force. Wallenstein
faith for the sake of advancement i n the chose his o w n officers and bound them
Habsburg service, his apostasy also to him in close financial ties. H e showed
bringing h i m a rich wife in 1609, w h o his practical administrative genius by
conveniently died five years later leaving using the technical and agrarian re-
him the sole possessor of huge estates in sources of his duchy as the commissariat
M o r a v i a , and one of the richest men in for his army, creating workshops and
the kingdom of Bohemia. H e continued small 'factories' to manufacture almost

310
Wallenstein, Albrecht Eusebius Wenzel Wallenstein, Albrecht Eusebius Wenzel

all his needs. Wallenstein thus differed operating under the imperial flag : all he
from the normal mercenary leader, not could capture was his. After the death
only in the scale of his operations, but of Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.) at Lützen
in the thoroughness of his preparations. in 1632, he virtually disregarded his duty
H e had, of course, ambitions beyond to Ferdinand. H a v i n g demanded as a
those of the normal soldier of fortune. prior condition for his return the right
After his first success, a decisive vic- to make alliances and treaties, he now
tory over Mansfeld (q.v.) at Dessau exercised this power on his o w n
(1626), Wallenstein took the opportunity account. H e negotiated with the Saxons
to harden his terms for service. H e de- and Swedes, with Brandenburg and
manded an army of 70,000, and full France, in a complicated and oversubtle
powers to recruit officers in his o w n diplomacy that left h i m trusted by none.
name rather than that of the emperor. Ferdinand was well informed by a loyal
Ferdinand reluctantly agreed, and W a l - group of Wallenstein's generals - Picco-
lenstein dutifully rid h i m of the Hungar- lomini (q.v.), Gallas, Aldringen,
ian menace on his doorstep. Forcing Hatzfeldt - of his conniving and en-
G a b o r Bethlen to peace at Pressburg couraged a counter-plot against h i m . In
and leaving Vienna secure, he turned January 1634 the 'loyalists' struck and
west and drove the Danes back into informed Wallenstein that they w o u l d
their o w n borders, for which Ferdinand serve h i m only so long as he was in
awarded h i m the duchies of M e c k l e n - imperial service; only a few weeks later
burg and Pomerania (1629). Wallenstein Ferdinand signed orders for his dismissal
was now one of the leading powers in and apprehension - dead or alive. Gallas
northern Germany, his aim to carve out was appointed in his stead. Still manoeu-
a kingdom from the debris of the war. vring to save his position, Wallenstein
H e became less tractable, less willing to professed his loyalty - at the same time
take the field save in his o w n interest. that he sought French and Saxon assist-
Thus the siege of Stralsund (1628) was ance against the empire. H e left Prague
dictated by his o w n needs rather than for Eger, to be closer to the Swedes with
those of his master. H i s power alarmed w h o m he hoped to ally. But a group of
the princes of Germany, Catholic and officers, headed by t w o of his Scottish
Protestant alike, and they put pressure colonels, Walter Leslie and John
on the emperor to dismiss h i m . Shortly G o r d o n , murdered all his few remaining
after the Swedes arrived in northern Ger- adherents; Wallenstein himself was run
many (1630), Ferdinand was forced to through with a pike, crying for quarter.
dismiss his general and reluctantly to H i s cupidity, treachery and general
place his troops under T i l l y (q.v.). W a l - moral turpitude have long obscured his
lenstein vowed vengeance on his enemies qualities of genius. H i s ambitions were
and negotiated with the Swedes for a reasonable, for many of the ruling fami-
joint attack on the emperor and the lies of Europe had started out with a
princes of Germany. Arrangements pedigree no longer than his, and often
moved ahead for the armies to act to- much less ability. H e saw war more
gether; the emperor received news of clearly than most in terms of its econ-
these discussions, however, and hur- omic realities. H e equated money with
riedly reappointed Wallenstein, on the power, and his capacity as a mercenary
terms dictated by his over-mighty commander to pay his men was his sole
general. call on their loyalty. H i s methods of
A double-edged sword for the empire, war finance and the administration of
almost as dangerous as the Swedes, W a l - his duchy as his powerhouse were re-
lenstein was now virtually a privateer markable; in his financial agent, Hans

311
Waller, Sir W i l l i a m Washington, George

de Witte, he found an assistant of great ican soldier and first president of the
capacity. H i s political skills d i d not United States. As the 'father of his
match his talent for organization, and it country' Washington's reputation is
was this failing which brought h i m secure regardless of his military talents ;
d o w n . As a general, he was a clever indeed, it has become fashionable to see
tactician and a cunning improviser: his him as an inferior commander, with
attempts at Lützen to disguise the weak- little flair and originality. But the very
ness of his left wing were intelligent, qualities for which his enemies at the
and he tried to leave nothing to chance. time criticized h i m so bitterly - an un-
But the generals facing h i m after Gusta- willingness to fight unless he was confi-
vus's death were of inferior quality, and dent of success and an active support
his real ability as a field commander is for foreign adventurers and soldiers
something of an enigma. within the Continental army - are as-
pects of his considerable qualities as a
Waller, Sir W i l l i a m (1597-1668) Brit- military leader, if not as a field com-
ish soldier. L i k e so many of the more mander. The officers of the Continental
effective commanders in the English army 'quarreled like cats and dogs', ac-
C i v i l W a r (1642-6), Waller had fought cording to John Adams, and Washing-
with Mansfeld (q.v.) for the Elector Pala- ton was responsible to a Congress c o m -
tine at the start of the T h i r t y Years' posed of self-interested, warring fac-
W a r (1618-48). A staunch Parliament tions. H e was thus faced with a cam-
man, he became a colonel in the Parlia- paign both in front and behind h i m ,
mentary forces at the outbreak of civil against the British and against his rivals
war and moved against the Royalists in and enemies in the revolutionary camp.
the south-west. En route he took Ports- In the British he faced a professional
mouth and several other towns, but his army of considerable competence, of-
advance was stopped by H o p t o n (q.v.) ficered to a high standard and well
and his Royalist army at Roundway equipped. The problems of control and
D o w n (1643). The men were well co-ordination which were to bedevil Brit-
matched (both had served with M a n s - ish efforts were not obvious at the time.
feld). T a k i n g his revenge when he beat Even the costly battle of Bunker. H i l l
H o p t o n ' s force at Cheriton in Kent (1775), although it provided a great
(1644), Waller joined with Essex for a propaganda buttress for the rebel cause,
campaign i n the M i d l a n d s , but was was a clear demonstration of the British
beaten by Charles I at Cropredy Bridge steadiness under fire; the Continental
near Banbury (June 1644). Waller sup- army, which Washington commanded,
ported the demands for a more profes- although large in size, was a poorly
sional army and actively advanced the organized militia and in no way equalled
formation of the N e w M o d e l A r m y . H e their opponents. The initial successes
resigned his commission under the Self gave way to a British recovery.
Denying Ordinance, which debarred A t the battle of L o n g Island (1776) a
M P s from holding military posts. British army under H o w e (q.v.) outman-
Always a moderate, he was active in his oeuvred half Washington's army under
opposition to the creation of a military Putnam and pushed on to N e w Y o r k ,
dictatorship under C r o m w e l l , and lan- which Washington defended with the
guished in prison for his outspoken atti- remainder of his force. Washington
tudes. H e supported the Restoration of began a long retreat, and the encounters
Charles II in 1660. as he moved south through N e w Jersey
usually ended in British victories. But
Washington, George (1732-99) Amer- Washington had good judgement as to

312
Washington, George Washington, George

when he should give battle: thus, he gress from control over appointments to
crossed the Delaware and w o n the battle the Southern command, but the disasters
of Trenton (1776), but skilfully retreated forced them to call for his assistance.
when confronted by a much larger force H e sent one of his most competent subor-
under Cornwallis (q.v.). But while he dinates, Nathanael Greene (q.v.), to take
was retreating, he met and defeated a control. H i s strategy - of forcing C o r n -
British force hurrying to join C o r n w a l l i s wallis, n o w commanding the British i n
at Princeton (1777), capturing a large the south, to pursue his force and dis-
quantity of equipment in the t o w n . C o r n - sipate his strength - was successful,
wallis ruefully referred to h i m as the and i n 1781 C o r n w a l l i s withdrew into
'old fox', while Frederick the Great con- V i r g i n i a . In August, Cornwallis was or-
sidered these snap attacks and skilful dered to occupy Y o r k t o w n on the V i r -
retreats to be military masterpieces. ginia Peninsula, an isolated position
Washington was at his best when a l l the unless it could be reinforced from the
tactical and strategic options were open sea. Washington, encamped near N e w
to h i m ; forced to a battle o n the enemy's Y o r k against a large force under the
terms, he had less success. In the cam- British commander-in-chief, Clinton,
paign for the defence of Philadelphia planned a joint operation against the
(1777) he lost to H o w e at Brandy wine, British at Y o r k t o w n , involving the
and after the fall of the city failed at French fleet under de Grasse, w h i c h was
Germantown. T h e Continental army cruising i n the West Indies, as well as
was forced to take up winter quarters in his army and French troops under R o -
conditions of acute distress at Valley chambeau (q.v.). T h e trap was sprung.
Forge. C o n t r o l of the sea was snatched from
T h e year 1778 marked a turning point the British at the battle of the Capes
of the war. T h e Americans acquired a (1781), and Cornwallis's position
powerful ally, France, which w o u l d act became untenable as Washington's
as a counterweight to British naval armies invested the t o w n from the land-
power ; since the battle for Philadelphia, w a r d side. Hopelessly outnumbered, and
Washington had been acutely aware of w i t h no sign of relief from C l i n t o n , C o r n -
the dangers which the lack of naval wallis surrendered (19 October 1781).
power posed. T h e British could use the Five days later C l i n t o n arrived from
sea as a refuge, as well as the means by N e w Y o r k with a powerful force. After
which they could shift troops and sup- Y o r k t o w n the war dragged o n , with
plies rapidly from one theatre of war to steady American gains from the demoral-
another. T h e winter in Valley Forge had ized British: peace was made at the
also been used to transform the C o n t i - treaty of Paris (1783).
nental army into a disciplined fighting Washington, w h o had served without
force, the work of Steuben (q.v.), w h o pay for the whole of the war, returned
operated with Washington's complete like Cincinnatus to his farm. H i s m i l i -
support. T h e results of this training were tary achievement was considerable. H e
seen at the battle of M o n m o u t h (1778), had welcomed foreign soldiers, however
where for the first time the army stood dubious their origins, w h o could provide
up to a prolonged battle against a good professional backbone to his amateur
British general (Clinton). Late in the army: the American representatives in
year the focus shifted to the south, Paris, Benjamin F r a n k l i n and Silas Dean,
where the British waged a successful became active recruiting sergeants. H e
campaign resulting in the capture of Sa- had sustained them against Congres-
vannah (1778) and Charleston (1780). sional criticism, and supported them
Washington had been excluded by C o n - against less able American officers.

313
W a v e l l , A r c h i b a l d Percival Wellington, i s t D u k e of

Washington fought and defeated his crit- regard for him was qualified) to the Far
ics in Congress and the army, who railed East i n July 1941, he again had to pre-
against his inactivity and lack of success : side over a worsening situation and then
he insisted o n the slow building of an over a disaster. H e ceased to exercise
army capable of defeating the British, command i n June 1943, when he was
and of an officer corps combining both made viceroy of India. Wavell was an
courage and professional skill. H e was aloof and unnervingly silent man -
loyal to his supporters, and had a good hence Churchill's suspicion o f his
eye for a talented officer : most of those powers of decision - but a highly intelli-
who failed were forced o n h i m by politi- gent soldier and a sensitive soul, w h o
cal pressure. In the military arts he was wrote poetry and compiled one of the
no great tactician and lacked the experi- best-known of modern anthologies,
ence to detect and counter obvious man- Other Men's Flowers. H a d he had any
oeuvres i n battle by his enemies. But he real enthusiasm for making war, w h i c h ,
did have a head for the main strategic despite a great deal of prewar writing
implications of the w a r : that it w o u l d on the subject, he admitted he had not,
be of long duration, that the terrain and he might have been a general of the first
the great distances to be covered must class.
be used to wear d o w n the British resolve
and co-ordination. T h e Y o r k t o w n cam- Weichs, M a x i m i l i a n Freiherr v o n
paign is a classic example of Wash- (1881-1954) German field-marshal.
ington's strategic capacity: first, the Commander of the Second A r m y i n the
recognition of the opportunity to invasion of France, M a y 1940, and of
achieve a decisive result; second, the Yugoslavia, A p r i l 1941, Weichs suc-
speed and energy with which the compli- ceeded Bock (q.v.) at the head of A r m y
cated plan was put into effect. Washing- G r o u p B in Russia in July 1942. H e was
ton, as Jefferson said, 'often failed i n sent back to the Balkans as commander-
the field' ; but by a combination of luck in-chief south-west i n August 1943 and
and skill he persevered and nurtured remained there until the end of the war.
his army from its rough origins until it
was capable of winning the war. H e Wellington, A r t h u r Wellesley, i s t D u k e
was a great commander. of (1769-1851 ) British field-marshal,
commander-in-chief and prime minister.
W a v e l l , A r c h i b a l d Percival (ist Earl The fourth son of an impoverished Irish
Wavell; 1883-1950) British field- peer, L o r d M o r n i n g t o n , A r t h u r Welles-
marshal. Appointed to command i n the ley (the family had recently changed the
M i d d l e East i n 1939, it was his troops form from Wesley) was educated at Eton
(see O ' C o n n o r ) which counter-attacked, and, at his o w n insistence, at a French
defeated and eventually utterly humili- military school i n Angers. Obtaining a
ated the Italian army under Graziani commission by purchase, his promotion
(q.v.), which had invaded Egypt from from the age of sixteen to twenty-four
L i b y a i n September 1940. T h e victory - was r a p i d : ensign, 73rd Regiment, 7
until A l a m e i n , Britain's only victory of M a r c h 1787; lieutenant, 76th, 25 Decem-
the war - became k n o w n as Wavell's ber 1787; exchanged next to the 41st,
offensive. Under Churchill's orders he then to the 21st Light Dragoons, then to
was obliged to break it off to send the 58th Regiment; captain, 1791; ex-
troops o n the ill-fated expedition to changed to the 18th Light Dragoons, 31
Greece, and he shortly after had to deal October 1792; major, 33rd Regiment,
with the arrival of R o m m e l (q.v.) i n the 30 A p r i l 1793; lieutenant-colonel com-
desert. Transferred by Churchill (whose manding the 33rd, 30 September 1793.

314
Wellington, ist Duke of Wellington, ist Duke of

So rapid a series o f exchanges, between vive and to w i n stemmed from his skilful
such a variety o f regiments, though not and prudent use o f seaward c o m m u n i -
irregular, was unusual; so too was his cations. T h e French, w h o lived off the
election as a member o f the Irish Parlia- land, were obliged to keep their large
ment while he was a lieutenant. Both army dispersed so as to forage. Welling-
testify to strong personal and family ton could keep his small army concen-
ambition, and to the importance of influ- trated because the navy supplied h i m
ence in promoting a contemporary m i l i - either with victuals o r the cash to pur-
tary career. chase produce from the peasantry. A s a
T h e Wellesleys were not however an result he never fought at a disadvantage ;
important enough family to push A r t h u r and when threatened by an overwhelm-
much beyond the point he had n o w ing force could retire into a strong
reached. H e commanded his regiment coastal position and wait while the
successfully in the Netherlands i n 1793 ; enemy starved, as he d i d in the Torres
but it was not until his brother L o r d Vedras campaign of 1810-11. Before the
M o r n i n g t o n obtained i n 1798 the construction of those famous lines out-
governor-generalship of Bengal, whither side L i s b o n , he had fought and w o n a
the 33rd had been ordered, that his succession of battles: Talavera, 28 July
career gained real impetus. India was, 1809, and Busaco, 26 September 1809;
for neither brother, the posting he w o u l dafter the French withdrawal from them,
have desired, being a military and politi- he followed to w i n at Albuera (16 M a y
cal backwater. But through the spread 1811) and to conduct successful sieges
of French ambition it was now about to against the French-held fortresses of
become important. A r t h u r was to be C i u d a d Rodrigo (8-19 January 1812)
immensely successful i n defeating the and Badajoz (16 M a r c h - 6 A p r i l 1812).
Indian allies of the French and defeating Entering Spain through the strategic pas-
other enemies of the British adminis- sage these successes opened, he brought
tration: first T i p p u (q.v.) at Seringap- the retreating French army to battle at
atam (1799) i n the south, then the Salamanca (23 July 1812), defeated it and
Mahrattas at Assa ye and A r g a u m (1803) captured M a d r i d on 12 August. H i s cam-
in the west. H e was promoted major- paign, starved of funds, then lost impe-
general in 1802 and returned home i n tus ; but in the following year he defeat-
1805 established as the leading 'Sepoy ed the French again at V i t t o r i a (21 June)
General'. and on 3 August w o n a battle called ' T h e
Pyrenees', which signalled the arrival o f
Elected to the Westminster Parlia-
the British army on the border of France.
ment, he served as Irish chief secretary,
A series of actions, San Sebastian (8
1807-8, interrupting his political
September 1813), the Bidassoa (7 O c t o -
progress to campaign against the Danes
ber), the Nivelle (10 November) and the
(victory of Kioge, 19 August 1807). But
N i v e (9-13 December) carried h i m into
his real military career was now about
France. O n French soil he was to w i n
to begin. It had a false start in the
the victories o f Orthez (27 February
Portuguese campaign of 1808, i n which
1814) and Toulouse (10 April) before
he beat a French army at V i m i e r o , but
Napoleon departed for E l b a .
from 1809, following M o o r e ' s (q.v.)
abortive C o r u n n a campaign, he led the H i s greatest victory was, of course, to
British army, and its Portuguese allies, come. Appointed to command the Brit-
into five years of campaigning against ish force assembled to join the allies
the French i n the Peninsula which were converging o n the escaped emperor i n
to become a personal and national epic. M a r c h 1815, Wellington (he had been
Always outnumbered, his ability to sur- created duke i n 1814) positioned it

315
Wellington, ist Duke of Weygand, Maxime

between Brussels and the sea. O n N a p o - ing by his enemy's mistakes; that is
leon's approach, he marched to meet universally conceded. T h e facts of his
h i m , intervened in the French-Prussian career demand recognition also of his
battle of Ligny on 16 June at Quatre remarkably sure and long-sighted strat-
Bras but did not encounter the full force egic judgement, his superbly economic
of the enemy until 18 June, when N a p o - management of his armies, his personal
leon came forward to attack h i m in the charisma, and the perfect timing of his
Waterloo position. N a p o l e o n thought offensive strokes. H e is Britain's greatest
the British abandoned by the Prussians general.
and therefore easy prey. Wellington in
fact had a w a r m understanding with Westmoreland, W i l l i a m C . (1914- )
Blücher (q.v.) and was never a general American commander in V i e t n a m , 1964
to trifle with. H e had disposed his army to 1968. Westmoreland, who was edu-
in his favourite 'reverse slope' position, cated at T h e Citadel and West Point,
just behind the crest of the long ridge was commissioned into the field artillery
which crosses the Waterloo field, hold- in 1936, commanded the artillery of the
ing two fortified places, Hougoumont N i n t h Division in N . W . Europe (1944 to
and L a Haye Sainte in extra strength. 1945) and was commanding general of
Napoleon tried five major attacks on his the 101st Airborne Division in the post-
line and was unsuccessful in a l l . After war years. Appointed commander of the
the last, Wellington ordered a general U S M i l i t a r y Assistance C o m m a n d , Viet-
advance and drove the French from the nam, in 1964, he was responsible for the
field. H e followed up the retreat of the victories that secured the frontiers of
French army to Paris where, after N a p o - South Vietnam from open invasion in
leon's exile, he was appointed generalis- 1964-5, and thus for the aggressive
simo of the allied armies of occupation. counter-strategy of 'Search and De-
A t the close of the occupation in 1818, stroy'. H i s command was, however,
Wellington was made master-general of compromised by the Communist 'Tet'
the ordnance, with a seat i n L o r d Liver- offensive of 1968 and he was relieved.
pool's cabinet. Promoted commander- A n honourable and conscientious sol-
in-chief in 1827, he resigned both offices dier, he lacked the touch of grand and
on Canning's succession to the premier- good fortune which distinguished the
ship. In January 1828, however, he was plodder from the victor. Appointed
himself prevailed upon to take office as A r m y Chief of Staff in 1969, he d i d much
prime minister, and survived two un- to rebuild the U S A r m y after Vietnam.
happy years in power. A H i g h T o r y , he H i s later years have been spent i n de-
nevertheless introduced Catholic emanci- fending his o w n reputation and achiev-
pation, but was beaten over parliamen- ing recognition for his men.
tary reform. H e thereafter withdrew
slowly from politics. In 1842 he was Weygand, M a x i m e (1867- 1965) French
reappointed commander-in-chief, for general. H i s parentage remains a matter
life, but his influence over the army at of intriguing speculation: he was cer-
the end of his career is generally consid- tainly illegitimate and born at Brussels,
ered unfortunate, he having become un- the son, some say, of K i n g L e o p o l d II,
shakably conservative. H e died in 1852 others, of Emperor M a x i m i l i a n of M e x -
in Walmer Castle, which he occupied as ico. Despite his foreign birth, Weygand
lord warden of the Cinque Ports. was accepted into the French army,
Wellington's military reputation has commissioned from Saint-Cyr into the
waxed and waned. H e was a brilliant cavalry and, in September 1914, plucked
defensive tactician and a master of profit- by Foch (q.v.) from command of a

316
W i l l i a m the Silent W i l l i a m the Silent

hussar regiment to be his chief of staff. leader and the virtual creator of an inde-
Promoted general in 1916, he remained pendent Netherlands. A trusted friend
Foch's chief collaborator throughout of Charles V (q.v.), he roused the dislike
the war, acting in 1918 as French repre- and suspicion of Charles's son Philip
sentative on the inter-Allied committee from their first meeting, an antipathy
at Versailles of w h i c h Foch was the which was to have profound effects on
generalissimo. Sent to Warsaw in 1920, his attitude towards the D u t c h . W i l l i a m
he did much to train and equip the was forced reluctantly towards rebel-
young Polish army for its war against lion, k n o w i n g the strength and power of
Russia (see Pilsudski). H e subsequently Spain, but unlike C o u n t Egmont (q.v.)
held a succession of senior military posts was realist enough to recognize that
until 1935, when he retired. revolt might be necessary. Against the
Recalled to service (he used those tumultuous D u t c h , Philip II in 1567 sent
words as the title of his memoirs) in the D u k e of A l v a (q.v.) to root out
1939, Weygand was brought home from nationalism, rebellion and the Protestant
an appointment in the Lebanon by Rey- heresy with fire and sword. H e arrested
naud on 19 M a y 1940 to fight the battle the bulk of the active D u t c h nobles,
which Gamelin (q.v.) had failed to do. confiscated estates and purged the ad-
In many respects the two were versions ministration, and establishing the infa-
of the same military type, Gamelin mous C o u n c i l of B l o o d , dispatched a
having been factotum to Joffre (q.v.), torrent of victims to the executioner's
with the difference that Weygand, like block.
his o l d warrior chief, had preserved his W i l l i a m was not among them, for he
fire into o l d age. Hopeless though the had, prudent as ever, left the country
situation he inherited was, he tried to with the intention of raising an army of
organize a 'Weygand line' south of the revolt. T h e first opportunity was missed
Somme to bar the G e r m a n advance into when W i l l i a m failed to attack before
the interior, fought the Battle of France, A l v a had tightened his hold on the
5-13 June, and only when resistance country. The war began well for the
was revealed to be hopeless advised D u t c h , with W i l l i a m ' s brother, Louis of
Pétain (q.v.) to sue for an armistice. Nassau, an able soldier, beating a small
H e was subsequently Vichy minister of German-Spanish force under Aremberg
war, June—September 1940, and then at Heiligerles (1568). But at Jemmingen
delegate-general in N o r t h Africa, where two months later (July 1568), against
he so strongly opposed German interests A l v a , Louis's army was shattered, losing
that at Hitler's insistence he was dis- almost 7000 men out of 15,000, and
missed (18 November 1941). Arrested Louis himself escaping only by swim-
by the Gestapo in 1942, he was impris- ming the river Ems to the safety of the
oned by the French after the liberation, far bank. W i l l i a m himself now invaded
but exonerated and released in 1948. A the Netherlands with 25,000 m e n ; but
patriot and a fighter, he might, given the country was by now effectively ter-
better luck and different times, have rorized by A l v a and there was no great
died a hero of his adopted country. popular uprising, on w h i c h he had de-
pended. H e sparred with A l v a , who had
W i l l i a m the Silent (1533-84) Soldier, the best of the encounters, and was
statesman and stadtholder of the Nether- forced eventually to retreat, the great
lands. Burdened with the nickname 'the gamble having failed. A l v a wrote confi-
Silent' in English, a misreading of the dently to P h i l i p : ' W e may regard the
Dutch schluwe, meaning prudent or cun- Prince of Orange as a dead m a n ' ;
ning, W i l l i a m was in fact a passionate however, he reckoned without W i l l i a m ' s

317
W i l l i a m the Silent W i l l i a m the Silent

extraordinary determination and spirit. citizens repulsed the Spanish and then
For three years resistance was largely in opened the dykes, flooding the Spanish
the hands of the Sea Beggars, privateers camp. A t sea the Sea Beggars destroyed
sailing under W i l l i a m ' s commission; the Spanish fleet off Enckhuysen, and
they raided Spanish shipping and har- took its admiral, Bossu, prisoner. M o s t
ried the coastal regions. W i t h i n the important of a l l , A l v a had failed to
Netherlands, opposition to A l v a was defeat the revolt and was recalled, to be
increasing; terror had become counter- replaced by Requesens, w h o had none
productive, and the huge cost of the of his savage determination and military
Spanish occupying army, paid for by the skill. But the pattern of the w a r settled
Netherlands, caused enormous dis- d o w n : the south difficult for the D u t c h ,
content. Alva's attempt to impose a rigid the north a trap for the Spanish. A n
Spanish system of taxation created, invading army under Louis (1574) was
firstly, a campaign of passive resistance beaten at Mookerheyde and Louis was
and then outright rebellion. A s one con- killed. But i n the autumn of the same
temporary wrote: 'If the Prince of year the long Spanish siege o f Leyden
Orange had kept his army i n reserve ended in failure, when the dykes were
until this time, he w o u l d have succeeded opened and after agonizing delays the
in what he undertook.' Sea Beggars under Boisot (q.v.) relieved
The spark came with the surprise cap- the starving city. T h e lack o f success
ture of Brill by the Sea Beggars (April weakened the discipline of the Spanish
1572), followed by Louis of Nassau w h o armies, and a regular series o f mutinies
immediately seized the initiative and broke out, the most notorious resulting
took Flushing. One by one the towns of in the sack and massacre at Antwerp
the Netherlands rose i n revolt and mur- (1576): W i l l i a m used these divisions to
dered or expelled the Spanish garrison. recruit waverers to his cause. But the
Louis, firm i n the attack where W i l l i a m military situation was always precari-
was cautious, thrust into the southern ous, and when i n 1577 Philip II sent
Netherlands with an army o f French fresh troops and a fine young com-
Huguenots and mercenaries. But W i l - mander, Alexander Farnese, to join D o n
liam consolidated his position i n the Juan (Requesens's successor), the delic-
north, where the bulk of his real support ate balance was upset.
lay. H i s strategic judgement was impec- Farnese (later D u k e of Parma, q.v.)
cable, for i n a long w a r the advantage routed the D u t c h army at G e m b l o u x ,
lay with the Spanish unless he could and the southern allies of W i l l i a m n o w
make ' H o l l a n d his fortress'. A l v a re- began to turn against h i m , spurred by
sponded w i t h his traditional weapon, Parma's adroit diplomacy. Once again
terror, and sent his armies north under the rebel cause looked bleak, and increas-
the command of his son D o n Fadrique ingly, to W i l l i a m ' s distaste, a split devel-
and Julian Romero (William's adju- oped between Calvinists and Catholic
tant i n former times) with orders to Netherlanders. Parma systematically re-
crush the revolt i n blood. They burnt duced the rebel strongholds i n the south
Naarden and slaughtered every living and was diverted from moving into the
thing within i t ; at Zutphen they killed northern provinces only by orders to
the population and hung the soldiers of intervene i n the French wars of religion.
the garrison by their feet over the smoul- In 1580 Philip II declared W i l l i a m an
dering ruins. Finally, i n the following outlaw and put a price o f 25,000 é c u s
year, H a a r l e m fell, with similar butch- on his head: t w o years later Jean Jau-
ery. But the Spanish advance was reguy almost earned the reward, w i t h a
checked at A l k m a a r , where the enraged close-range pistol shot that nearly killed

318
W i l s o n , (Sir) H e n r y Hughes W i l s o n , (Sir) H e n r y Hughes

W i l l i a m . There were several subsequent ation with his opposite number Foch
attempts o n his life, but no one could (q.v.), and on assuming the directorate
come near h i m . In M a y 1584, however, of military operations i n 1910, drew up
a certain Balthasar Gérard arrived penni- the plans for the deployment of a British
less at W i l l i a m ' s court with some infor- Expeditionary Force o n the left w i n g of
m a t i o n ; W i l l i a m took pity on his pov- the French army i n the event of war
erty and gave h i m twelve crowns. W i t h with Germany. O n its outbreak, he
these Gérard purchased a pair of pistols, became deputy chief of the general staff
and with a single shot dispatched his of the B E F , but was consistently denied
benefactor - as he had long planned to transfer to an active command by his
do. fellows, w h o rightly suspected both his
The loss of W i l l i a m was not that of a competence and integrity, and, appropri-
great field commander, for his son and ately enough, was eventually shunted
successor M a u r i c e (q.v.) or even his into the post of chief liaison officer at
brother Louis were superior to h i m , but French headquarters.
of a leader w h o saw the real nature of Adopted by L l o y d George as an ally
the war and its likely duration and conse- in his campaign against H a i g (q.v.) i n
quences. H i s was a rebellion o n a finan- 1917, he was i n November made by
cial and military shoestring, against the h i m British representative on the Su-
most formidable army i n Europe. W i l - preme W a r C o u n c i l , the body the prime
liam improvised strategy, armies, policy, minister had contrived to help stalemate
as the situation demanded. But although Haig's strategic excesses, and then, o n
the war went from disaster to disaster, L l o y d George's successful removal of
first against A l v a , and latterly, against Haig's principal ally Robertson (q.v.),
Parma, he never lost his self-possession succeeded h i m as chief o f the Imperial
and capacity to sustain the flagging spir- General Staff. W i l s o n had the ultimate
its of his supporters. H e recognized the satisfaction of seeing Foch made general-
crucial importance of propaganda and issimo, a move he had w o r k e d long
flooded the Netherlands with pamphlets and hard to bring about, but was
arguing his case and taking advantage denied to the end the supreme direction
of the mistakes o f his enemies. O n l y of British strategy which he had always
a man of his unique personal and craved for himself. After the armistice
moral qualities could have forged the he prosecuted the anti-Sinn Fein cam-
instrument of D u t c h resistance which paign i n Ireland with great enthusiasm
finally, after a war of eighty years, estab- and, on retirement from the army, en-
lished a secure and independent D u t c h tered Parliament as a member for
nation. Ulster, his home province. H e was shot
by Sinn Fein gunmen o n the steps of
W i l s o n , (Sir) Henry Hughes (ist Bar- his house i n Eaton Square and died
onet; 1864-1922) British field-marshal. sword i n hand (he was returning from
A successful military intriguer rather an investiture), undoubtedly the last,
than a commander (it was said of h i m if indeed not the only, British field-
during the First W o r l d W a r that 'he got marshal to do so.
into a state of sexual excitement when- H i s namesake, F i e l d - M a r s h a l (Sir)
ever he saw a politician'), Wilson's rise Henry M a i t l a n d ('Jumbo') Wilson
dated from his appointment as comman- (1881—1964), British commander-in-
dant of the Staff College i n 1906. A n chief, Greece, 1941, Persia, 1942, and
early and enthusiastic advocate of m i l i - the M i d d l e East, 1942-3, and A l l i e d
tary co-operation with France, he supreme commander, M i d d l e East, 1944,
formed a w a r m friendship and collabor- though often confused with h i m -

319
Windisch-Graetz, Alfred Candidus Witt, Johan de

understandably, for 'Jumbo' stood out nation of charlatanry and obscurantism.

only in silhouette - was no relation. H e did himself no good w i t h senior
officers of conventional outlook by
Windisch-Graetz, Alfred Candidus Ferdi- eating onions as if they were fruit and
nand Fürst zu (1787-1862) Austrian wearing an O l d Testament beard. But
field-marshal. Chiefly notable for the then he is perhaps best seen as a prophet
firmness of his repression of the 1848 of d o o m : his strategic ideas supplied the
revolution in A u s t r i a : he put d o w n the French (see Navarre and Castries) with
uprising in Prague, 17 June, after subject- the germ of the plan for the Dien Bien
ing the city to bombardment, in Vienna, Phu operation.
31 October, and in Budapest, 5 January
1849. T h e n faced by a rebel Hungarian Witt, Johan de (1625-72) D u t c h poli-
army under D e m b i n s k i , he defeated it at tician and statesman. T h e architect of
K a p o l n a , 26-7 February, but was him- Dutch policy during the period of war
self defeated by Georgey (q.v.) at with England, Spain and France, de W i t t
Gödöllö and removed from command. was largely responsible for the creation
of the successful D u t c h fleet. T h e head
Wingate, O r d e Charles (1903-44) Brit- of the party opposed to the house of
ish general. T h e most controversial Brit- Orange, his every action had to be tem-
ish soldier of the Second W o r l d W a r , pered by the knowledge that a bitter
Wingate established himself as an eccen- opposition could be mounted against
tric early o n by his enthusiasm for the h i m . Appointed grand pensionary of the
training of Zionist settlement guards Netherlands, the leading political figure,
('Special N i g h t Squads') during the A r a b he ended the unsuccessful war with Eng-
revolt i n Palestine in 1936; in conse- land, which was disliked by many Dutch-
quence, his name is reverenced in the men, w h o favoured a Protestant alliance.
modern state of Israel and he is regarded H e used the ensuing period of peace to
as one of the founders of its army. rebuild the D u t c h navy, building ships
Posted to Burma in 1942, after leading a capable of supporting the burgeoning
guerrilla force ('Gideon') against the Ital- Dutch empire, rather than simply being
ians i n Abyssinia, he conceived the idea designed for Channel and Atlantic use.
of reactivating the offensive in that Trade was always at the forefront of
torpid and dispirited theatre of war not
de Witt's policies: he intervened in the
by leading frontal assaults (which con-
First Northern W a r (1655-60) on the
sistently failed) but by the creation of
Danish side to safeguard D u t c h shipping
air-supplied bases deep within Japanese-
to the Baltic, and entered into a war
held territory. T h e forces he raised,
with England (1665-7) for commercial
which came to be called Chindits, under-
dominance of shipping and the herring
took two 'deep penetrations', in Febru-
trade. Under de Ruyter (q.v.) the D u t c h
ary 1943 and M a r c h 1944. Both, but
fleet showed its superiority, burning the
particularly the second and larger, were
English dockyards at Chatham (1667)
extremely harrowing and costly in lives,
and establishing mastery at sea (he d i d
and their military value has been de-
however lose to M o n c k , q.v., at N o r t h
bated ever since in a spirit of bitterness
Foreland, 1666). After the close of the
attaching to no other British operation
war de W i t t entered into an alliance
of the war. It is explained by Wingate's
with England against France. But this
extraordinary character, which ap-
brought invasion by France and cavalry
peared to his admirers (who included
raids into central H o l l a n d , the fall of
Churchill) a blend of the mystical and
Utrecht, and even a threat to Amster-
the magnetic, to many others a combi-
dam. A popular demand was raised for

320
Wittgenstein, L u d w i g A d o l f Peter, Prinz Wolfe, James

the Prince of Orange once again to take the army i n 1741. T h r o w n into the thick
command in H o l l a n d ' s time of need; of the war of the Austrian Succession
the de Witts (Johan and his brother (1740-8), he served as adjutant of his
Cornelis) were arrested, expelled from regiment at Dettingen (1743) although
office and torn to pieces by an enraged only sixteen at the time, and such was
Orangist mob w h o believed them to be the reputation he gained i n a brief
traitors. In fact the policy of the de period, in Europe and in the C u l l o d e n
Witts exactly reflected H o l l a n d ' s needs, campaign, that he was a major by 1748
their rule laying the real basis of D u t c h and a colonel by 1750. H i s keenness as a
maritime and colonial power. regimental commander became legen-
dary, and his soldiers were renowned as
Wittgenstein, L u d w i g A d o l f Peter, Prinz some of the best trained in the army. In
von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg 1757 he took part in the failed exp-
(1769-1843) Russian field-marshal. Son edition to Rochefort on the French coast.
of a Prussian general in Russian service, Other reputations suffered from the re-
Wittgenstein fought at Austerlitz, com- verse, but Wolfe had carried out his role
manded a corps in 1812, which burnt with such energy that he was appointed
(too late) the Beresina bridges, was de- to the much more important Louisburg
feated i n 1813 by N a p o l e o n at Lützen, 2 expedition in N o r t h America (1758),
under the command of Amherst (q.v.).
M a y , and Bautzen, 20-1 M a y , and took
Here, success was complete, and Wolfe,
a major part in the battle of Leipzig.
now a brigadier, gathered most of the
H e also campaigned in France in 1814.
laurels for the expedition, leading his
In 1828 he opened the war against
men i n romantic and gallant assaults on
Turkey, but was replaced by Paskievich
the French positions. Promoted to acting
(q.v.).
major-general on his return to L o n d o n ,
Pitt decided to give h i m command of
Witzleben, Erwin von (1881-
the expedition which was to be mounted
1944) German field-marshal. Com-
against Quebec (1759). T h i s was to be
mander, 1939-40, of the First A r m y ,
Wolfe's first and only independent cam-
which broke the M a g i n o t L i n e in the
paign. H i s conduct of the siege was not
Battle of France, Witzleben was among
the twelve generals promoted field- encouraging and it was on the point of
marshal by Hitler at the victory celebra- failure when the last desperate throw,
tions in Berlin on 18 July 1940. H e acted an assault by a force led by H o w e (q.v.),
as commander of A r m y G r o u p D and one of Wolfe's long-standing friends, up
commander-in-chief West, 1940-2, when the precipitous Heights of A b r a h a m , es-
he retired through ill-health. L o n g an tablished him with 4800 men on the
anti-Nazi, he joined the military con- plain in front of Quebec. M o n t c a l m
spiracy against Hitler and was hanged (q.v.), lured out at last from his strong-
for his part in the bomb plot of 20 July hold, lost the brief encounter w i t h the
1944. H a d it succeeded, he w o u l d have British, and both Wolfe and M o n t c a l m
been proclaimed commander-in-chief of died as a result of the exchange of fire.
the army. Whether it w o u l d have ac- Wolfe was a safely dead hero, and
cepted his by then fumbling leadership many of the less attractive features of
is debatable. his personality were forgotten. H a d he
lived, he might have been the brilliant
Wolfe, James (1727-59) British sol- general which the British so desperately
dier. Promise as much as performance needed in the American W a r of Inde-
was the salient feature of Wolfe's short pendence; but perhaps (more likely) he
career. T h e son of a soldier, he joined w o u l d have been yet another of the

321
 Wolseley, Garnet Joseph Wrede, K a r l P h i l l i p

insubordinate generals whose wild mate commander-in-chief (the post was

schemes were to ruin the British cause. abolished i n 1904, see Roberts), seal o f
But such questions are academic, for his success i n dragging the army into the
even i f Quebec had not killed h i m , the twentieth century.
raging consumption from which he suf-
fered most certainly w o u l d have. Wrangel, Friedrich Heinrich Ernst (Graf
v o n ; 1784-1877) Prussian field-marshal.
Wolseley, Garnet Joseph (ist Viscount H e commanded the federal German
Wolseley; 1833-1913) British field- troops i n Schleswig-Holstein i n 1848,
marshal. A shopkeeper's son - a more crushed the revolution i n Berlin i n the
unpromising start i n life for a Victorian same year a n d i n 1864 was supreme
soldier with a career to make could not commander of the Austro-Prussian army
have been wished upon h i m by the harsh- in the war with Denmark.
est o f bad fairies - he was commissioned
into the 12th Foot i n 1852. A great deal Wrangel, Petr N i k o l a e v i c h , Baron
of foreign service - Second Burma W a r , (1878-1928) Russian (White) general.
C r i m e a , Indian M u t i n y , Second C h i n a O f noble Swedish descent, Wrangel
W a r - came his way early o n , allowing served i n a Cossack regiment i n the
him the opportunity to display excep- Russo-Japanese war, transferred to the
tional abilities which offset his social Horse Guards and during the First
origins; after a long spell of staff duty W o r l d W a r rose to command a division,
in Canada, 1861-70, he had established again o f Cossacks. H e was one o f the
himself as one o f the most efficient and first to take the field against the Bolshe-
forward-looking officers i n the army. A viks, allied himself with Alekseev and
collaborator o f C a r d w e l l (q.v.) i n the D e n i k i n (qq.v.) and took a leading part
reform o f the army, 1871-3, a cause in the defence o f Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad)
very much his o w n as well, he got com- against Voroshilov (q.v.). After the re-
mand o f the expedition to Ashanti, treat o f Denikin i n A p r i l 1920, he was
1873-4, for w h i c h he gathered round appointed commander o f the White
himself a group o f the cleverest young volunteer army, then i n the Crimea,
officers i n the army (to become k n o w n reorganized it and went over to the
as 'the R i n g ' and to be bitterly resented offensive. However, the signing o f the
by non-members) and returned home a Russo-Polish peace [see Pilsudski) set
triumphant victor, hailed as 'the very free Bolshevik troops, w h o over-
model of a modern major-general' (W.S. whelmed his army and obliged h i m
Gilbert) and as 'our only general'. W i t h to evacuate it, w i t h western help, from
that reputation he was sent to South the Black Sea. H e then returned to his
Africa t o repair the disaster of Isandhl- civilian profession of mining engineer.
wana, 1879, and to Egypt i n 1882 to
relieve G o r d o n (q.v.). It was as a re-
Wrede, K a r l Phillip (Prinz v o n ; 1767-
former, however, that the rest o f his
1838) Bavarian field-marshal. After
service was chiefly spent, locked i n
Hohenlinden [see M o r e a u ) , Wrede cov-
combat with the reactionary
ered the retreat o f the Austrian army,
commander-in-chief, H R H the D u k e o f
but, through a diplomatic reversal,
Cambridge ('There is time for every-
fought for France against it i n 1805 and
thing. There is even a time for change. 1809. H e led the Bavarian contingent o n
A n d that is when change can n o longer the Russian campaign and commanded
be resisted.'). T o the disgust o f the the A r m y o f the Inn i n 1813, but then
duke's cousin (Queen Victoria) he eventu- changed sides, attempted to bar N a p o -
ally succeeded h i m i n 1895 as penulti- leon's line of retreat after Leipzig a n d

322
Würmser, Dagobert Sigismund W u San-kuei

was defeated at H a n a u , 30-1 October to enter C h i n a , and thus becoming d i -

1813. In the invasion of France he took rectly responsible for overthrowing his
part in the battles of L a Rothière, Rosny, masters, the M i n g emperors, W u took
Bar-sur-Aube and Arcis-sur-Aube. H e service with them and for nearly three
was created prince and promoted field- decades devoted himself to exterminat-
marshal in 1815, represented Bavaria at ing the last remains of M i n g resistance.
the congress of Vienna and became In 1659 he was given command in the
commander-in-chief of the Bavarian south of C h i n a , never susceptible to the
army in 1822. Contemporaries regarded rule of Peking, and established what
him as one of the vainest men alive. amounted to an independent kingdom
in Y u n n a n . In 1673 he came out in open
Würmser, Dagobert Sigismund (Graf revolt against the M a n c h u C h i n g dy-
v o n ; 1724-97) Austrian general. A n nasty and proclaimed a new dynasty,
Alsatian, Würmser originally joined the C h o u , led by himself. H e advanced
the French army but transferred to the into central C h i n a , defeating the armies
Austrian in 1747, took part in the siege sent to oppose h i m ; but he d i d not press
of M a i n z , 1793, recaptured M a n n h e i m his campaign because his son was held a
in 1795 and, at the head of the Austrian hostage by the M a n c h u . The war turned
army in Italy in 1796, was beaten by against h i m and he died of dysentery.
Bonaparte at Castiglione, 5 August (see T h e rebellion he had started, k n o w n
Augereau), besieged in M a n t u a and to history as the Revolt of the Three
obliged to capitulate, 2 February 1797. Feudatories, lasted until 1681 : with its
suppression M a n c h u power was firmly
W u San-kuei (1612-78) Chinese gen- established in C h i n a .
eral and warlord. A l l o w i n g the M a n c h u s

323
 Y
Yamagata, (Prince) A r i t o m o (1838- cember 1941. Overriding the objections
1922) Japanese general, creator of the of the naval general staff, he then went
modern Japanese army. One of the earli- on to bring what remained of the U S
est Japanese visitors to Europe, where Pacific fleet - principally its aircraft car-
he went as a young officer in 1869, he riers - to battle, but the second engage-
returned impressed by the Prussian mili- ment to which this strategy led,
tary system and alarmed by the dangers M i d w a y , 4-5 June 1942, ended in crush-
of liberalism. H e was responsible for ing defeat and thereafter the train of
introducing both conscription and a gen- events he had feared - a transfer of the
eral staff o n the Prussian model, and for initiative to the Americans and a rapid
keeping control of the new army and outbuilding of Japanese strength was set
navy safe from civilian hands by making in motion. H e persisted nonetheless in
their chiefs directly responsible to the the struggle, launching the Guadalcanal
emperor and by prescribing that the min- offensive in August 1942, but shortly
isters of war and marine be chosen only after it had ended in failure he was
from the list of serving generals and trapped in flight by a specially trained
admirals. H e himself held all the most and briefed American fighter unit
important ministries at one time or an- (acting on wireless intercepts) and shot
other, including the premiership, 1890 d o w n . This was the only instance of a
and 1898, and commanded the First direct attempt on an enemy leader's life
A r m y in the war with C h i n a , 1894-5. (except on that of R o m m e l - see Keyes)
undertaken by the Allies during the war
Y a m a m o t o , Isoruku (1884-1943) Japa- and testimony of the awe in which the
nese admiral. A seaman of the stature of Americans held Yamamoto. They contin-
T o g o (q.v.), some w o u l d say of Nelson ued to respect his reputation as the first
(q.v.), he had been educated in America, great practitioner of air-sea warfare.
later served there as naval attaché and
before 1941 was strongly opposed to Yamashita, Tomokjuki (1888-
Japan going to war with her. Obliged 1946) Japanese general. H i s lightning
nevertheless to plan for and instigate conquest of British M a l a y a , December
hostilities, he prepared for the only cam- 1941-February 1942, w o n for h i m the
paign he thought might bring Japan title 'the Tiger of M a l a y a ' . In 1944 he
victory: one designed to give Japan was put in command of Japanese forces
possession of the whole of the western in the Philippines only a week before
Pacific and to destroy American land, the Americans landed, conducted a ten-
sea and air power within it, all in the acious defence and, when defeated, took
space of twelve months. Should the war to the mountains and held out to the
last longer, he warned, Japan w o u l d lose end of the war. H e was afterwards
it. Success required that the war should hanged as a war criminal.
begin with a surprise attack, which he
launched against Pearl H a r b o r on 7 De- Yeremenko, A n d r e i Ivanovich (1893-

324
Y o r c k von Wartenburg, Hans D a v i d Y o r k and A l b a n y , Prince Frederick

1970) M a r s h a l of the Soviet U n i o n . A tive beginning of the Prussian W a r o f

veteran of the First Cavalry A r m y of Liberation, i n which he led his corps at
Budenny (q.v.), Yeremenko commanded Bautzen and Leipzig. In the invasion of
armies under Z h u k o v (q.v.), both i n the France i n 1814 he fought i n the battles
M o s c o w counter-offensive of December of M o n t m i r a i l and L a o n .
1941 and i n the Stalingrad encirclement
of November 1942. H e subsequently Y o r k and A l b a n y , Prince Frederick,
commanded the Second Baltic Front D u k e o f (1763-1827) British field-
(army group), the M a r i t i m e Territory marshal and commander-in-chief.
A r m y , which reoccupied much of the George Ill's second son, he was trained
Crimea i n 1944, and the Fourth U k r a i n - for the army and in 1793 took the British
ian Front, which fought its way into contingent to the allied army of the First
Czechoslovakia at the end of the war. C o a l i t i o n i n Flanders. Neither there
( T h e G r a n d O l d D u k e of Y o r k , he had
Y o r c k v o n Wartenburg, Hans D a v i d ten thousand men . . . ' ) nor at the Helder
L u d w i g (1759-1830) Prussian field- in 1799 d i d he prove any sort o f general.
marshal. Something of a soldier of for- A s commander-in-chief, however, from
tune - he had fought for the Dutch i n 1798 until his death, he proved an effi-
the East Indies after being cashiered cient administrator and, despite a scan-
from his o w n army for disobedience - dal over the dabbling of his mistress i n
he regained his Prussian commission i n the commissions trade, which obliged
1794, fought i n the Jena campaign h i m to surrender office between 1809
(1806), but, as second-in-command o f and 1811, not apparently a corrupt one.
the corps requisitioned by Napoleon for H e was called 'the soldiers' friend',
his invasion of Russia, took it over to though probably not by the soldiers
the tsar by the convention of Taurrogen themselves.
(30 December 1812). T h i s was the effec-

325
 z
Zeitzier, K u r t (1895-1963) German defence of Leningrad, then to organize
general. Appointed chief o f the general the M o s c o w counter-offensive, Decem-
staff of the army ( O K H ) , from the staff ber 1941, which halted and turned back
of A r m y G r o u p D , i n September 1942 the advance of A r m y G r o u p Centre o n
(see Haider) he was the strongest advo- the capital. F r o m then until 1944, as
cate of Operation Citadel, and, at a first deputy commander-in-chief of
time when Hitler's powers of decision Soviet armed forces, he planned and d i -
had been shaken by his mistakes over rected most of Russia's major military
Stalingrad, was able to carry opinion operations, including the Stalingrad
for its execution. T h e battle it precipi- counter-offensive and the K u r s k - O r e l
tated (Kursk, July 1943), though not as battles.
long o r harrowing as Stalingrad, proved In 1944 Z h u k o v returned to a field
an even greater disaster, for it destroyed command at the head of the First U k r a i n -
Germany's strategic armoured reserve ian and First Belorussian fronts with
and transferred the power of the initia- which he conducted the crossing of the
tive to the Russians. H e was replaced i n Vistula and the advance to Berlin where,
July 1944 by Guderian (q.v.). in M a y 1945, he supervised the signing
of the German army's capitulation. Soon
Zhukov, Georgi Konstantinovich displaced from high command by Stalin,
(1895-1974) M a r s h a l of the Soviet for w h o m he had become an overmighty
U n i o n . Russia's leading soldier of the subject, he was reinstated after the dic-
Second W o r l d W a r , he had joined the tator's death and was minister of defence,
imperial army i n 1916, distinguished 1955-7, when he was again removed by
himself in the ranks of the cavalry (10th Krushchev. Z h u k o v appeared to c o m -
N o v g o r o d Dragoons), fought i n the bine i n his person all the qualities of
C i v i l W a r in the First Cavalry A r m y , great generalship - strategic decision,
risen steadily upward i n the R e d A r m y tactical judgement, political persuasive-
and delivered the counter-offensive ness, physical and moral courage, a mag-
against the Japanese i n M a n c h u r i a , netic influence over others and - that
July-August 1939 (battle of K h a l k i n - most needed during Russia's w a r with
G o l ) . Appointed chief of staff of the Hitler - an apparent insensitivity to the
R e d A r m y , January 1941, he was trans- frightful cost of the operations w h i c h he
ferred at the start o f the German i n - instituted. In many ways, he was the
vasion to assist Voroshilov (q.v.) i n the complete twentieth-century soldier.

326
 Glossary
Army: A major military formation and as many as twelve form a battal-
(q.v.), in modern war comprising at ion (q.v.).
least two corps (q.v.) and commanded Corvette: A minor naval vessel, smaller
by a full general. than a frigate (q.v.).
Army group: The largest military com- Cruiser: T h e gun-firing warship next in
mand, first formed during the First size after a battleship (q.v.), developed
W o r l d W a r comprising at least two for reconnaissance, commerce protec-
Armies. tion and raiding; see also
Arquebus; Arquebusier: A n early form Battlecruiser.
of musket; the soldier w h o fired it. Cuirassier: A heavy cavalryman w h o
Battalion: T h e principal unit (q.v.) of wore a cuirass (breast- and backplate).
infantry 600-1000 strong, com- Destroyer: A fast warship, smaller than
manded by a lieutenant-colonel, a cruiser (q.v.), developed to fight tor-
often loosely called a regiment pedo boats, c. 1890, and later
(q.v.). submarines.
Battery: The basic unit of artillery, com- Division: The principal army formation
prising 4-8 guns; in a fort, the place (q.v.), comprising infantry or cavalry
from which guns were fired. (or more recently tanks, or a mixture
Battlecruiser: A large cruiser, carrying of infantry and tanks) with such sup-
guns but not armour of a battleship's porting troops as artillery, engineers,
weight, developed before the First signals ; it is traditionally commanded
W o r l d W a r to scout for the battleship by a major-general and numbers
(q.v.) ; see also Capital Ship. 12,000 to 20,000.
Battleship: T h e largest gun-firing war- Dragoons: Originally (c. 1700) mounted
ship ; see Capital Ship. infantry, later (1750 onwards) heavy
Brigade: A group of 2-4 regiments of cavalry.
cavalry or 3-8 battalions of infantry; Dreadnought: T h e name given to the
the smallest formation (q.v.), in that R o y a l Navy's first ' a l l big gun' battle-
it also contained troops of other arms ship, launched 1906, and later attach-
besides those forming its principal ing to all battleships of the type.
bulk (e.g. a cavalry brigade usually Enfilade: Fire which hits a formation
included a complement of horse (q.v.) in flank (q.v.) ; hence 'to
artillery). enfilade'.
Capital ship: A late nineteenth- and Flag officer: A n admiral, but usu-
twentieth-century term, meaning ally only when in c o m m a n d ; the
Battleship or Battlecruiser. flag lieutenant is his personal staff
Chasseur: See Jäger. officer.
Column: A military or naval formation Flank: T h e side of a military formation
(q.v.), greater in depth than breadth. (q.v.); a column (q.v.) has longer
Company: A sub-unit (q.v.) of infantry flanks than a line (q.v.).
traditionally commanded by a cap- Fleet: T h e largest naval formation
tain, 100-250 strong; as few as four (q.v.), commanded by an admiral.

327
 Glossary

Flotilla: A naval formation (q.v.) of formed regiments of Jäger zu Pferd).

small ships. Janissary: The regular soldiers of the
Formation: (i) a body of units (q.v.) of Ottoman empire. They were dis-
several arms - infantry or cavalry, banded in 1826.
with artillery, engineers or others in Kriegsakademie: The staff college of
support - and thus capable of operat- the Prussian army, founded at Berlin
ing independently of the main a r m y ; in 1810; model for all other staff
brigades, divisions and corps are for- colleges.
mations, (2) a pattern or method of Landesknecht: German (mounted) mer-
drawing up naval or military or air cenary soldier of the sixteenth-
units for battle, e.g. column or line seventeenth century.
(qq.v.). Light troops: Infantry or cavalry
Frigate: A naval s h i p ; i n sailing days, equipped and trained to operate as
smaller than a ship of the line (q.v.) skirmishers or scouts; see Jäger and
but larger than a corvette (q.v.), nowa- Rifleman; the light infantry company
days next i n size and speed after a of a battalion (q.v.) was formed from
destroyer (q.v.). the nimblest and most intelligent men
Galley, Galleas: Oared fighting ships, and, w i t h the grenadier (q.v.) c o m -
with auxiliary sails; the galleas was pany, stood on the flank - hence
more of a sailing-ship than the galley 'flank companies', i.e. the best of the
and carried more guns. T h e term gal- battalion.
leon, now loosely applied to almost Limoge: 'Relieved of c o m m a n d ' (French
any sort of sailing or oared warship, slang); French generals of the First
was properly applied in the sixteenth W o r l d W a r dismissed in the field
century to the larger sailing warship. for incompetence were sent, so
Gendarme: Originally a mounted man- popular belief had it, to command at
at-arms, later a (mounted) policeman, Limoges, headquarters of the military
under state rather than municipal district furthest from the zone of
control. operations.
Grenadier: A n infantryman equipped Line: (1) A military or naval formation
and trained to throw grenades; the (q.v.), greater in breadth than depth,
grenadier company (q.v.) of a battal- (2) the ordinary infantry and cavalry,
ion (q.v.) was usually composed of as opposed to that of the guard or the
the tallest men and used as a shock light troops (q.v.).
force when required. Mameluke: M e m b e r of a military body,
Group of Armies: See A r m y G r o u p . originally of Caucasian slaves, which
Howitzer: A n artillery piece, firing ex- seized power i n Egypt i n the thirteenth
plosive shells at a high angle. century and ruled under O t t o m a n
Hussar: A light cavalryman, originally suzerainty.
(c. 1700) recruited into Western Maria Theresa Akademie: T h e princi-
Europe from Hungary. pal Austrian military cadet school,
Jäger: Literally 'hunter' (German) ; the founded at Wiener Neustadt.
name was given to the soldiers of the Monitor: A coastal warship, armed with
light infantry regiments of the Ger- guns of battleship (q.v.) size for shore
man and Austrian armies, on which bombardment; a United States Ship
were modelled the French Chasseurs so named fought the first (1862) ship-
(C. à pied = light infantry, C . alpins to-ship action (with the Confederate
= mountain infantry, C . à cheval and Merrimac) of modern naval warfare.
C . d'Afrique = light cavalry; in i m i - Mortar: A smooth-bore artillery piece,
tation of the latter, Kaiser W i l h e l m II firing explosive bombs at an even

328
 Glossary

higher angle than does a howitzer Sepoy, Spahi: F r o m the Persian w o r d for
(q.v.); formerly much used in siege a soldier (sipahi); sepoys were the
warfare, it is now an infantry support native infantry of the British Indian
weapon. A r m y , spahis the native cavalry of the
Oblique order: A method of moving Armée d'Afrique of French N o r t h
troops on the battlefield so as to mass Africa.
on an enemy's flank (q.v.), allegedly Ship: In sailing days, the principal vessel
invented by Frederick the Great. of war, of 64, 74, 80, 90, 98, 100 and
Pander: ' A r m o u r ' (German); today ap- eventually even 120 guns, arranged in
plied to formations of tanks and, broadside batteries. Ships were classi-
loosely, to tanks themselves. fied fourth- to first-rate (terms often
Platoon: A sub-unit (q.v.) of infantry, used) and were also k n o w n as ships
commanded by a lieutenant; usually of the line, being 'fit to lie in the line
three form a company (q.v.). of battle'. H M S Victory is a first-rate.
Polytechnique: T h e Ecole Polytechnique Sloop: A naval vessel smaller than a
founded in Paris in 1794 was until corvette.
the twentieth century the French Squadron: A sub-unit (q.v.) of cavalry,
army's principal source of artillery commanded by a captain, about 100
and engineer officers. strong; or a group of ships, detached
Regiment: T h e principal unit (q.v.) of from, or forming a division w i t h i n , a
cavalry, about 500 strong, c o m - fleet (q.v.) (e.g. the Battlecruiser
manded by a lieutenant-colonel; a Squadron of the G r a n d Fleet at
unit of infantry, comprising 2-4 battal- Jutland).
ions (q.v.), commanded by a colonel, Staff: T h e general's or admiral's assist-
but an administrative rather than a ants. In the British army, their duties
tactical body. are usually organized into operations
Rifleman: Originally (c. 1800) a soldier and intelligence (G), administrative
equipped with a rifle instead of a and personnel (A) and supply (Q) cat-
smooth-bore musket; the rifle regi- egories, G standing for general staff,
ments were used as skirmishers - see A for adjutant-general and Q for
Light T r o o p s . quartermaster-general ; in the
St-Cyr: T h e French cadet school for the American army, the staff is divided
infantry and cavalry (and today for into G-1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 categories, G-3
all arms), founded at St-Cyr, near being the equivalent of the British op-
Paris, as the Ecole spéciale militaire erations and intelligence section. M o s t
in 1802; now at Coetquidan in armies have a triple d i v i s i o n : in the
Brittany. German army the key officer was the
Samurai: The feudal warrior class of 2a, in the French army the Deuxième
Japan. bureau was the intelligence section.
Sandhurst: T h e British cadet school for Staff College: A school for training offic-
the infantry and cavalry (Royal M i l i - ers, usually of the rank of captain or
tary College), founded in 1798, estab- major, in the duties of the staff (see
lished in its present buildings in 1810 Kriegsakademie) ; in particular, the
and amalgamated with W o o l w i c h Staff College, Camberley, principal
(q.v.) in 1947 to form the R o y a l M i l i - source of staff officers for the British
tary Academy Sandhurst for cadets of army, opened 1861.
all arms. Sub-unit: A division of a unit (q.v.), such
Saumur: T h e training centre of the French as a squadron or a company (qq.v.).
cavalry (Ecole d'application de cava- Tercio: A regular regiment of Span-
lerie) ; not a cadet school. ish infantry, sixteenth century; the

329
 Glossary

Spanish Foreign Legion is still so or- captain, his deputy or lieutenant (cf.
ganized. locum tenens) and the sergeants.
Tirailleur. A French sharpshooter; see When formed, as the companies were
Light T r o o p s . in the sixteenth century, into a larger
Troop: A sub-unit (q.v.) of cavalry or group or column (colonne), they were
artillery. put under the authority or 'regiment'
Uhlan: German or Austrian lancer, re- of a colonel (colonnello). W h e n a
cruited originally in Poland. number of regiments were grouped to
Unit: A body of soldiers all of the same form an army, its superior officers
arm (e.g. artillery or infantry), divided assumed 'general' instead of 'regimen-
into sub-units (q.v.) and directly subor- tal' rank. Combinations of these titles,
dinate to a formation (q.v.); battal- with the use of the suffix 'major',
ions, batteries and regiments (qq.v.) yield most of the ranks of modern
are the principal units. armies; it should be explained that
Van: The head of a column (q.v.) of the 'major-general' was originally
troops or ships. 'sergeant-major-general', hence his
Voltigeur: A French light infantryman. juniority to the lieutenant-general. A n
West Point: Principal cadet school of the exception to these rules are Austrian
United States A r m y , founded in 1802. ranks, which include oddities like
Woolwich: T h e British cadet school 'Feldzeugmeister' = campaignmaster
(Royal M i l i t a r y Academy) for the artil- (general), in effect, a general of artil-
lery and engineers, founded 1746 (see lery or infantry, and ''Feldmarschal-
Sandhurst). leutnant' = field-marshal lieutenant
(major-general). ' M a r s h a l ' was origi-
nally a state rather than a military
A N o t e o n Titles and Ranks rank and remains so in France, where
Titles: These have been left, except it is regarded as a 'dignité d'état',
where inappropriate, in the original separate from as well as superior to
language, but the following key gives the military hierarchy.
the English equivalents : The rank structure is thus more logi-
K n i g h t : Ritter (G.), Chevalier (F.) cal than it might appear. It usually
Baron : Freiherr (G.) runs: lieutenant (first and second),
V i s c o u n t : Vicomte (F.) captain, major, lieutenant-colonel,
E a r l , C o u n t : G r a f (G.), Comte (F.), colonel, brigadier(-general) - a fairly
Conte (I.), Conde (S.) modern innovation, major-general,
M a r q u i s : M a r k g r a f (G.), Marchese (I.), lieutenant-general, general, marshal
Marques (S.) or field-marshal. The Germans, Austri-
D u k e : D u c (F.), H e r z o g (G.), Duce (I.), ans and Russians also have or had a
Duque (S.) 'colonel-general', who was superior
Archduke : Erzherzog (G.) to a general, and the Spaniards a
Prince: Prinz, Fürst (G.), Principe (S. captain-general, which was their high-
and I.) est rank.
Electoral Prince, Elector: Kurfürst (G.) N a v a l ranks derive from the title of
T h e O t t o m a n titles Pasha, Dey and the headman of the soldiers embarked
Bey, suffixed to the name, were territo- on a ship - captain - and his lieuten-
rial but, strictly, not hereditary. ant, but 'admiral' comes from the
Ranks: M o d e r n military ranks derive Arabic amir (commander) al (of the)
from the titles of the three officers of bahr (sea), the head of the great
the late mediaeval mercenary com- fleets w i t h which the M u s l i m s estab-
pany: the headman, hauptmann or lished their power in the Eastern

330
 Glossary

Mediterranean. 'Commander' and an appointment rather than a rank),

'Commodore' were added later rear-admiral, vice-admiral, admiral,
(they have the same etymological admiral of the fleet. T h e French, and
derivation) to fill out the hierarchy. later the Germans, had a slightly dif-
The 'vice-admiral' was deputy to a ferent system i n w h i c h capitaine de
commanding admiral, the 'rear- corvette or Korvettenkapitän was
admiral', junior to both, commanded equivalent to lieutenant-commander,
the rear of a fleet when it was the capitaine de frégate or Fregattenkapi-
practice to divide it into three. Thus tän to commander and capitaine de
was established the conventional vaisseau or Kapitän zur See to cap-
order: lieutenant (usually junior and t a i n ; lieutenant de vaisseau or Leut-
senior), lieutenant-commander, com- nant zur See was equivalent to
mander, captain, commodore (strictly lieutenant.

331
 The Thirty Years' War 1618-48

B A LTIC SEA
J] D E N M A R K J \

NORTH SEA & i&Z/lr

&be Stettin •)
x Wittstock 16361
UNITED PROVINCES) A. \ * CONTENTS
POLAND ^ —
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( Wolfenbiittel 1641 x(Magdeburg

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CONTENTS

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230
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□ battles and sieges of the War of the Austrian Succession 1740-48

a battles and sieges of the Seven Years' War 1756-63
 ^ The American War of Independence 1775-83

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33 5
 Europe 1789-1815

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1797
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M ED! TERRA NEA N SEA
1805/ (
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The American Civil War 1861-5 i PENN Antietam 1862 J
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Shenandoah Valley ‘ MARY ’ *
ILLINOIS INDIAN A OHIO 1862 & 1864 x V V ^ L A N j • > U
• Cincinnati k Parkersburg / • Washington* 1 DELAWARE
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? v ir g in ia ^ v S m T " 0” ” "!!
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• Louisville \ #6 * 1862x 1862 Peninsular Campaign &
MISSOURI \ ^ V IR G IN IA ^Scven Days
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 The First World War

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33 9
 The Second World War ^
ARCTIC OCEAN

’ \ Reykjavik * 0
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340
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