[lit-ideas] Re: Sherman's difficulties with the Press
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:26:13 -0700
If I said Patton was the greatest American General you probably wouldn't
question it, but:
"The influential 20th century British military historian and theorist Basil
Liddell Hart <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Liddell_Hart> ranked
Sherman as one of the most important strategists in the annals of war, along
with Scipio Africanus <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Africanus> ,
Belisarius <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belisarius> , Napoleon Bonaparte
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_of_France> , T. E. Lawrence
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence> , and Erwin Rommel
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Rommel> . Liddell Hart credited Sherman
with mastery of maneuver warfare
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneuver_warfare> (also known as the
"indirect approach"), as demonstrated by his series of turning movements
against Johnston during the Atlanta Campaign. Liddell Hart also stated that
study of Sherman's campaigns had contributed significantly to his own
"theory of strategy and tactics in mechanized warfare
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armoured_warfare> ", which had in turn
influenced Heinz Guderian's <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Guderian>
doctrine of Blitzkrieg <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitzkrieg> and
Rommel's use of tanks <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank> during the Second
World War <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II> .[59]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman> Another WWII-era
student of Liddell Hart's writings about Sherman was George S. Patton
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton> , who "'spent a long
vacation studying Sherman's campaigns on the ground in Georgia and the
Carolinas, with the aid of [LH's] book,'" and later "'carried out his [bold]
plans, in super-Sherman style.'"[60]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman> "
Sherman's name has cropped up time and time again in the books I've read as
the premier strategist of modern warfare. The above is from the Wikipedia
article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman
Lawrence Helm
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of David Ritchie
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 5:43 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Sherman's difficulties with the Press
Tell me more about why, in your view, Sherman was so good. I know
comparatively little about him.
On generals and the press you should try Phillip Knightley, "The
First Casualty." I don't think he's related to Keira who, Wikipedia
tells me, is the daughter of Sharman MacDonald "Scottish award-
winning playwright" and Will Knightley; the NYT says Phillip has been
employed as a consultant on films, but doesn't say whether he's an
uncle or something.
Those of you who, impatient with military history talk, demand more
drama, will be interested to learn that Keira is the result of a bet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharman_Macdonald
Ah, the thea-tah!
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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