Jackson and McClellan: A Study in Leadership and Doctrine

Abstract

Central of the waging of war of the tactical level is the inter play between leadership and doctrine. Within a doctrinal context, the Army must develop leaders capable of winning the next war. This study examines the balance between leadership and doctrine and identifies the characteristics that distinguish the great leader from the also-ran. The vehicle for this examination is a comparison of two American Civil War generals, Stonewall Jackson and George McClellan. Purporting to support the same doctrine, the two men achieved remarkably dissimilar results on the battlefield. This analysis demonstrates that the reasons for that difference lay primarily in the realm of leadership rather than in the implementation of doctrine, and identifies the leadership principles KWY to success at the tactical level of war.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 15, 1988
Accession Number
ADA194033

Entities

People

  • Kent Thomas

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil War
  • Civil War (United States)
  • Classification
  • Contracts
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Governments
  • Identification
  • Military History
  • National Governments
  • New York
  • Recognition
  • Schools
  • Students
  • Training
  • United States
  • United States Military Academy

Readers

  • Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Theoretical Analysis.