A Common Sense Approach to Strategy.
Abstract
Professional military education at all levels emphasizes the necessity for military commanders to study, understand and, in turn, properly apply the classic strategies and principles of war. Using the Civil War career of Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest as a case study, this paper points out that even though he was uneducated and had no prior military experience, Forrest was a genius in the strategies and principles of war. An analytical discussion of several of Forrest's campaigns is used to support this thesis. Given the fact that Forrest could not have read or been taught the classic strategies and principles, he undoubtedly adhered to some form of strategy formulation framework which intuitively led him to make the correct military decisions. The author postulates that framework as a basis for the analysis of Forrest's achievements and suggests that the same framework could prove beneficial at all levels of command ad a quick reference back-up for contemporary battlefield strategy decisions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA187008
Entities
People
- Rodney M. Payne
Organizations
- Air War College