Overview

Winner of the Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award 2023 (Reference) “’The God of War’ is near to revealing himself, because we have heard his prophet.” So wrote Jean Colin, naming Napoleon the God of War and Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, comte de Guibert, as his prophet. Guibert was the foremost philosopher of the Military Enlightenment, dedicating his career to systematizing warfare in a single document. The result was his magnum opus, the General Essay on Tactics, which helped to lay the foundation for the success of French armies during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It is presented here in English for the first time since the 1780s, with extensive annotation and contextualization.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jonathan Abel
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   137
Weight:   1.293kg
ISBN:  

9789004473157

ISBN 10:   9004473157
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   08 December 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments List of Diagrams List of Tables and Figures On the Translation and Sourcing Introduction   Jonathan Abel book 1: Elementary Tactics To My Patrie Preliminary Discourse Plan of a Work Entitled “France, Political and Military” Introduction Education of Troops section I: Infantry Tactics I Infantry Ordinance, Its Formation; Principles That Must Determine Both II School of the Soldier, Manual of Arms, [and] Formations of Ranks and Files III On the March IV Fire V Evolutions VI Doubling the Ranks. Ordinance and Means That Must Serve the Infantry to Fight Cavalry VII Conversion Movements VIII Formations in Column IX Formations en bataille X Changes of Front section II: Essay on Cavalry Tactics Introduction to Essay on Calvalry Tactics I Advantages of Cavalry; [the] Inconveniences That Render It Too Numerous in Armies II Cavalry Armor and Equipment III Speed of Movements, the First and Most Advantageous of the Properties of Cavalry IV Cavalry Ordinance V School of the Cavalier VI Analogy between Cavalry Movements and Those of Infantry VII Formations en bataille VIiI Charge Movements section III: Light Troops I Origin of Light Troops; Their Too-Great Number, [a] Prejudicial Abuse II It Is Possible to Create a System of War That Renders Light Troops Little-Necessary III Line Troops May Advantageously Undertake the Service, or at Least a Part of the Service, Confined to Light Troops IV On the Constitution of Light Troops section IV: Essay on Artillery Tactics I On the Artillery in General, Its Advantages [That Are] Too Elevated by Some and Too Abased by Others, [and] Its Real Utility II Modern Constitution of Our Artillery [and] Parallel of the Old System with the New III Inconvenience of Too-Numerous Artillery IV Artillery Movements V Artillery Execution book 2: Grand Tactics Avant-propos I Army Marches II Opening of Marches III On the Disposition of March Orders IV Disposition of Troops in March Orders V Disposition of the Artillery in March Orders VI On the Disposition of Baggage in Marches VII On Orders of Battle VIII Parallel Order IX Oblique Order x Formation of Armies; [the] Necessity of Assembling Camps Destined to Be Schools of Grand Tactics in Peacetime xI Project of a Camp of Instruction; Composition and Division of the Army That One Proposes to Assemble There xII Maneuvers That Must Be Executed in the Camp of Instruction xIII Application of the Preceding Maneuvers to Terrain and to Circumstances xIV Application of the Tactics Exposed Above to Defensive Orders of Battle. [The] Necessity of Making This Application Known to the Troops and to the General Officers xV Continuation of Objectives That Must Be Put into Practice in the Camp of Instruction xVI Rapport between the Science of Fortifications and Tactics, and with War in General xVII Rapport between Knowledge of Terrain and Tactics xVIII Rapport between the Science of Subsistence and War, and Particularly with Campaign War. Examination of the Manner by Which We Make Our Armies Subsist Appendix A: The French Army in the Eighteenth Century Appendix B: Glossary of Terms Bibliography Index

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Jonathan Abel, Ph.D. (2014), Military History Center at the University of North Texas, is Assistant Professor of Military History at the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. He is the author of Guibert: Father of Napoleon’s Grande Armée (University of Oklahoma Press, 2016).

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