Ulysses S. Grant: Father of the Operational Art of Warfare

Abstract

In 1982, the United States Army formally introduced the concept of the operational level of war into its basic manual on doctrine, Field Manual 100-5. Over 120 years earlier, General Ulysses S. Grant was planning and executing campaign strategies, first to open the Mississippi River, then in the race to destroy the Army of Virginia and bring about the defeat of the Confederacy. Grant was the first, and may have been the best, military mind ever to comprehend the importance of combining all elements of national power against an enemy's ability to fight. Todays operational commander, must understand that for a victory on the battlefield to count, it must play a part in satisfying strategic goals set down by national authority. Anything less, is a waste of time, and lives. Ulysses S. Grant, Operational art of warfare

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 17, 1994
Accession Number
ADA283443

Entities

People

  • David R. O'brien

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Battlefields
  • Center Of Gravity
  • Civil War
  • Civil War (United States)
  • Marine Corps
  • Military History
  • Military Operations
  • Mississippi River
  • New Brunswick
  • Security
  • United States
  • United States Military Academy
  • Virginia
  • War
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.