I judged these 15 campaigns on their impact, and whether or not they succeeded with flying colors. Which sides met challenges in the face and spanked them to hell. Not just victories, but how they won those victories, and what were the odds and factors of their probable victory. How did they adapt to a changing situation that did not go along with their original plan? How daring were they? How did they react to a sudden dangerous situation?
(15) Tullahoma Campaign
One of the greatest military marvels of the Civil War; The Tullahoma Campaign is often overlooked and overshadowed by the simultaneous events of Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Within a month's time, the Union army advanced 100 miles at the price of 500 casualties, and managed to accomplish more in less than a month than what had taken them years before. According to Michael Bradley the campaign was also a "classic of improvisation. The plan was both audacious and complex involving 4 separate attack columns, and it went off like clockwork, in spite of incessant rain and bad roads.
Thomas rosecrans
For the North, Thomas Rosecrans and his Army of the Cumberland conducted a campaign of light attacks and aggressive maneuvers that drove the Confederate Army of Tennessee completely out of the state of Tennessee. The Union was now poised to take definitive control of the all-important trunk line from Virginia to Memphis and to open the door to the deep South. By a coincidence, the Tullahoma campaign and the battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg all ended on the same day. The results of the campaign for the Union formed the starting point for General William T. Sherman's capture of Atlanta and his subsequent march to the sea. For the South, losing the Tullahoma Campaign and the ultimate retreat from the state of Tennessee proved to be too much from which to recover. The results of the campaign fought by Union General William S. Rosecrans and Confederate General Braxton Bragg were strategically more significant than Gettysburg and tactically equivalent to Vicksburg.With the loss of manpower, agricultural staples, the industrial base of the region and most importantly, the Chattanooga railroad center, the Tullahoma Campaign was the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.All the more reason for discerning students of history to give this masterpiece of planning and execution its due consideration.
(14) Heraclius' campaign against Sassanid Persia
The Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius used religious appeals to build an army of "fanatics, zealots, martyrs and holy warriors" to defeat the Persian Empire. He was able to smash the Persian empire, recover the flags and standards lost by 100 Byzantine armies over the centuries, regain the lost colonies of Syria, Palestine and Egypt, sacked a dozen great cities, bring back the True Cross from Persia (Christendom's holiest relic) and rebuild the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre. During a six-year campaign, Heraclius had driven the Persians from Asia Minor back into their own territories. The Persian Sassanid dynasty soon passed into history. This campaigns innovative fusion of military and religious enthusiasm may have influenced the development of the Muslim jihad that would soon overrun much of the Empire, and became a precedent for the Western Crusades and ideals.
Battle between Heraclius and the Persian King Chosroes
(13) The Spanish Conquest of Latin America
The Spanish went in with a very small force of men, and conquered two empires comprising over one million people with ten cannon, twelve horses and one hundred and twenty soldiers. Hernan Cortez, alone had some "big cojones" the man burnt his own ships so as to motivate his men to succeed or die trying. Cortes also happened to be equipped with biological warfare, which killed far more than his army in the form of small pox and influenza. Cortez also had a huge army drawn from the Mexican tribes who were heavily taxed by the Aztecs, often enslaved, and sometimes sacrificed at Moctezuma's great temple. Without them, Cortez would have been toast. But without his incredible courage, Cortez never would have gained their support. The ambition to conquer an empire far from any support with a small group of Spanish soldiers is still an amazing feat.
(12) Sherman's March to the Sea
Destruction of Atlanta Railroad tracks by Sherman's Troops
Sherman, in a true stroke of military brilliance once said that he would "make every man, woman and child feel the cold, hard hand of war." By introducing the term Total War , and bringing the war, and to the enemy citizenry, he did more to crush the Confederacy than Grant ever did. Of course, war on civilians is nothing new: its one of the oldest tactics in the book. Nor was his destruction of Southern factories, railroads and plantations a revolutionary concept. What made Sherman the greatest general of his century was that his March to the Sea destroyed his enemy's will to fight, and he did it without high casualties. The casualty figures for Shermans own troops and casualties inflicted were the lowest of any war America has ever fought in with very recent exceptions, yet he did far more damage to the Souths ability to continue the war.
(11) Winfield's Scott's Invasion of Mexico
Scott's offensive is regarded by many as the greatest in American military history. Scott landed about three miles south of the city on March 10, 1847, and encircled Vera Cruz in four days, laying siege to the Mexican city. By the end of the month the encircled city surrendered. The attack was the largest amphibious landing of any nation up to that date until D-day. He later began a 260-mile march toward Mexico City. Scott's invasion of Mexico was strategically brilliant and daring, cutting off his own supply lines to get his army out of the Yellow Fever zone around Veracruz he marches inland taking only enough supplies for a short campaign.
Landing of the Troops at Vera Cruz
European observers considered him insanely stupid, but Scott borrowed a page from Cortez and knew if he could break out of the mountains at Puebla and get into the Valley of Mexico he could live off the land. His plan worked and so surprised the Mexicans that they were unable to react before Scott reaches Mexico City. In a truly classic campaign, Scott managed to preserve his force and steadily advance. His forces achieved their object despite overwhelming obstacles, including extreme heat, insufficient supplies, widespread disease as well as intense enemy opposition in unfamiliar territory.
(10) The Tunisian Campaign 1941-1942
In May of 1941, Erwin Rommel, already famed as the "Desert Fox," launched an audacious campaign against the British forces defending the road to Alexandria, the Suez Canal, and the oil-rich Middle East. This campaign was unavoidably opportunistic. This was a campaign that depended on mobility, improvisation, and unorthodox tactics. It was a highly strategic conflict, in which logistics was a critical and often deciding factor. No achievements in this campaign were more spectacular than Rommels. He demonstrated his ability to take troops of inexperience and mixed quality and optimize their performance.
Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox
Despite this numerical and qualitative inferiority Rommel managed to contain and then threaten the British and Commonwealth armies in this offensive, winning a number of battles until in July 1942 he was poised to enter Egypt itself with its prize of the Suez Canal. In a classic blitzkrieg campaign, British forces were comprehensively outfought by his always under-to-un-supplied panzer armies. Within weeks they had been pushed back into Egypt. The struggle for Torbuk was as much a part of warfare in the Second World War as those factors given a higher status in history such as heroic people and momentous battles, indeed it was in this arena that the conflict was won or lost.
(9) D-Day Invasion (Operation Overlord)
Operation Overlord was, the largest amphibious assault ever conducted, and is one of the most fascinating and evocative battles fought in history. After nearly 2 years of planning and preparation, the Allies managed to land 180,000 +-10k men in 3,000 landing craft over the English channel into the beaches of Normandy, heavily rigged with hidden dangers. The Germans had been the forces that had pushed the allies of out the European continent, and now there was this force that clearly had no cover from the heavily entrenched German positions. The Allies was able to come up with schemes to cross through this hazardous fortress that was Europe once engulfed by the German war machine. The D-Day landings signaled the beginning of the end of Hitler's Germany, and the liberation of France.
(8) Stonewall Jackson's Shenadoah Valley Campaign
One of most brilliantly conceived and executed campaigns of the Civil war. In early 1862, Union troops under George B. McClellan had arrived within range of Richmond and threatened to take the Confederate capital. Robert E. Lee ordered Jackson to march north through the Shenandoah Valley, hoping to tie down Federal forces that might otherwise reinforce McClellan's troops. The strategy worked, and for two months the Confederates evaded and harassed their Union pursuers. Jackson's classic Shenandoah Valley campaigns showed how an aggressive use of this advantage could give the appearance of being nearly everywhere at once and in overwhelming force at the chosen point, yet being outnumbered himself. Jackson's speed and audacity effectively neutralized 60,000 union soldiers with 15,000 of his own.
(7) German Blitzkrieg, 1940
The swift, sensational, and sudden offensive that was a turning point in modern military history. The Germans initially moved into the Netherlands and Belgium. This led them to move the British Expeditionary Force north. The reason being that the allies expected a Schieflen like attack wheeling behind Paris as occurred in the First War. Instead the Germans moved their Panzer Divisions through the Ardennes and cut off the British Army and units of the French and Belgium Army from the main mass of the French Army. The British and French units were either forced of the continent or surrendered en masse. After six weeks of fighting, both French and British field armies were surrounded and combat ineffective. The Germans had captured more than a million men, the British, Dutch, and Belgian armies were decimated, and the defenses of France shattered. The worst military defeat in modern times had been achieved in matter of six weeks. The invasion of France gave the Germans the opportunity to master modern war at all levels. Military strategists all over the world analyzed the invasion and tried to adapt their doctrine to the new style of waging war after the German Blitzkreig. To this reckless taking of initiatives and quality of leadership, Wehrmacht training had added great skill in all arms co-operation, and proved to be a formidable fighting force. Afterwards, the German Army of 1939-1942 was much superior to any of it's contemporaries as proved by it's lightning conquest of most of Europe in that period.
The dive bombing Stuka terrorized civilian populations during the German's blitzkrieg.
(6) Caesars Gallic Conquest
The conquest of Gaul is one of the best known episodes in Roman history.The conquest of Gaul is in my opinion one of the greatest the world has ever seen thanks to Caesar's military strategy and his motivational techniques that he used with his troops. During his ventures in Gaul, Caesar obtained everything he wanted from his superiority over his enemies. He knew that if all Gaul rose up together against him, it would be near impossible to defeat them with the army he had. He brilliantly managed to keep the tribes seperate, until Vercingetorix arose, and by then Gaul was too weak to pose a serious threat to Caesar. His besiegement of Alesia, where he conducted two sieges against two Gallic forces on opposite sides, one of which numbered a quarter of a million men, was uncanny. With incredible speed and brilliant tactics, Caesar crossed the Alps and suppressed the Gauls. During this course, he faced a wealth of enemies many of which were greatly skilled, and over many different grounds and in many perilous situations.
(15) Tullahoma Campaign
One of the greatest military marvels of the Civil War; The Tullahoma Campaign is often overlooked and overshadowed by the simultaneous events of Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Within a month's time, the Union army advanced 100 miles at the price of 500 casualties, and managed to accomplish more in less than a month than what had taken them years before. According to Michael Bradley the campaign was also a "classic of improvisation. The plan was both audacious and complex involving 4 separate attack columns, and it went off like clockwork, in spite of incessant rain and bad roads.
Thomas rosecrans
For the North, Thomas Rosecrans and his Army of the Cumberland conducted a campaign of light attacks and aggressive maneuvers that drove the Confederate Army of Tennessee completely out of the state of Tennessee. The Union was now poised to take definitive control of the all-important trunk line from Virginia to Memphis and to open the door to the deep South. By a coincidence, the Tullahoma campaign and the battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg all ended on the same day. The results of the campaign for the Union formed the starting point for General William T. Sherman's capture of Atlanta and his subsequent march to the sea. For the South, losing the Tullahoma Campaign and the ultimate retreat from the state of Tennessee proved to be too much from which to recover. The results of the campaign fought by Union General William S. Rosecrans and Confederate General Braxton Bragg were strategically more significant than Gettysburg and tactically equivalent to Vicksburg.With the loss of manpower, agricultural staples, the industrial base of the region and most importantly, the Chattanooga railroad center, the Tullahoma Campaign was the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.All the more reason for discerning students of history to give this masterpiece of planning and execution its due consideration.
(14) Heraclius' campaign against Sassanid Persia
The Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius used religious appeals to build an army of "fanatics, zealots, martyrs and holy warriors" to defeat the Persian Empire. He was able to smash the Persian empire, recover the flags and standards lost by 100 Byzantine armies over the centuries, regain the lost colonies of Syria, Palestine and Egypt, sacked a dozen great cities, bring back the True Cross from Persia (Christendom's holiest relic) and rebuild the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre. During a six-year campaign, Heraclius had driven the Persians from Asia Minor back into their own territories. The Persian Sassanid dynasty soon passed into history. This campaigns innovative fusion of military and religious enthusiasm may have influenced the development of the Muslim jihad that would soon overrun much of the Empire, and became a precedent for the Western Crusades and ideals.
Battle between Heraclius and the Persian King Chosroes
(13) The Spanish Conquest of Latin America
The Spanish went in with a very small force of men, and conquered two empires comprising over one million people with ten cannon, twelve horses and one hundred and twenty soldiers. Hernan Cortez, alone had some "big cojones" the man burnt his own ships so as to motivate his men to succeed or die trying. Cortes also happened to be equipped with biological warfare, which killed far more than his army in the form of small pox and influenza. Cortez also had a huge army drawn from the Mexican tribes who were heavily taxed by the Aztecs, often enslaved, and sometimes sacrificed at Moctezuma's great temple. Without them, Cortez would have been toast. But without his incredible courage, Cortez never would have gained their support. The ambition to conquer an empire far from any support with a small group of Spanish soldiers is still an amazing feat.
(12) Sherman's March to the Sea
Destruction of Atlanta Railroad tracks by Sherman's Troops
Sherman, in a true stroke of military brilliance once said that he would "make every man, woman and child feel the cold, hard hand of war." By introducing the term Total War , and bringing the war, and to the enemy citizenry, he did more to crush the Confederacy than Grant ever did. Of course, war on civilians is nothing new: its one of the oldest tactics in the book. Nor was his destruction of Southern factories, railroads and plantations a revolutionary concept. What made Sherman the greatest general of his century was that his March to the Sea destroyed his enemy's will to fight, and he did it without high casualties. The casualty figures for Shermans own troops and casualties inflicted were the lowest of any war America has ever fought in with very recent exceptions, yet he did far more damage to the Souths ability to continue the war.
(11) Winfield's Scott's Invasion of Mexico
Scott's offensive is regarded by many as the greatest in American military history. Scott landed about three miles south of the city on March 10, 1847, and encircled Vera Cruz in four days, laying siege to the Mexican city. By the end of the month the encircled city surrendered. The attack was the largest amphibious landing of any nation up to that date until D-day. He later began a 260-mile march toward Mexico City. Scott's invasion of Mexico was strategically brilliant and daring, cutting off his own supply lines to get his army out of the Yellow Fever zone around Veracruz he marches inland taking only enough supplies for a short campaign.
Landing of the Troops at Vera Cruz
European observers considered him insanely stupid, but Scott borrowed a page from Cortez and knew if he could break out of the mountains at Puebla and get into the Valley of Mexico he could live off the land. His plan worked and so surprised the Mexicans that they were unable to react before Scott reaches Mexico City. In a truly classic campaign, Scott managed to preserve his force and steadily advance. His forces achieved their object despite overwhelming obstacles, including extreme heat, insufficient supplies, widespread disease as well as intense enemy opposition in unfamiliar territory.
(10) The Tunisian Campaign 1941-1942
In May of 1941, Erwin Rommel, already famed as the "Desert Fox," launched an audacious campaign against the British forces defending the road to Alexandria, the Suez Canal, and the oil-rich Middle East. This campaign was unavoidably opportunistic. This was a campaign that depended on mobility, improvisation, and unorthodox tactics. It was a highly strategic conflict, in which logistics was a critical and often deciding factor. No achievements in this campaign were more spectacular than Rommels. He demonstrated his ability to take troops of inexperience and mixed quality and optimize their performance.
Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox
Despite this numerical and qualitative inferiority Rommel managed to contain and then threaten the British and Commonwealth armies in this offensive, winning a number of battles until in July 1942 he was poised to enter Egypt itself with its prize of the Suez Canal. In a classic blitzkrieg campaign, British forces were comprehensively outfought by his always under-to-un-supplied panzer armies. Within weeks they had been pushed back into Egypt. The struggle for Torbuk was as much a part of warfare in the Second World War as those factors given a higher status in history such as heroic people and momentous battles, indeed it was in this arena that the conflict was won or lost.
(9) D-Day Invasion (Operation Overlord)
Operation Overlord was, the largest amphibious assault ever conducted, and is one of the most fascinating and evocative battles fought in history. After nearly 2 years of planning and preparation, the Allies managed to land 180,000 +-10k men in 3,000 landing craft over the English channel into the beaches of Normandy, heavily rigged with hidden dangers. The Germans had been the forces that had pushed the allies of out the European continent, and now there was this force that clearly had no cover from the heavily entrenched German positions. The Allies was able to come up with schemes to cross through this hazardous fortress that was Europe once engulfed by the German war machine. The D-Day landings signaled the beginning of the end of Hitler's Germany, and the liberation of France.
(8) Stonewall Jackson's Shenadoah Valley Campaign
One of most brilliantly conceived and executed campaigns of the Civil war. In early 1862, Union troops under George B. McClellan had arrived within range of Richmond and threatened to take the Confederate capital. Robert E. Lee ordered Jackson to march north through the Shenandoah Valley, hoping to tie down Federal forces that might otherwise reinforce McClellan's troops. The strategy worked, and for two months the Confederates evaded and harassed their Union pursuers. Jackson's classic Shenandoah Valley campaigns showed how an aggressive use of this advantage could give the appearance of being nearly everywhere at once and in overwhelming force at the chosen point, yet being outnumbered himself. Jackson's speed and audacity effectively neutralized 60,000 union soldiers with 15,000 of his own.
(7) German Blitzkrieg, 1940
The swift, sensational, and sudden offensive that was a turning point in modern military history. The Germans initially moved into the Netherlands and Belgium. This led them to move the British Expeditionary Force north. The reason being that the allies expected a Schieflen like attack wheeling behind Paris as occurred in the First War. Instead the Germans moved their Panzer Divisions through the Ardennes and cut off the British Army and units of the French and Belgium Army from the main mass of the French Army. The British and French units were either forced of the continent or surrendered en masse. After six weeks of fighting, both French and British field armies were surrounded and combat ineffective. The Germans had captured more than a million men, the British, Dutch, and Belgian armies were decimated, and the defenses of France shattered. The worst military defeat in modern times had been achieved in matter of six weeks. The invasion of France gave the Germans the opportunity to master modern war at all levels. Military strategists all over the world analyzed the invasion and tried to adapt their doctrine to the new style of waging war after the German Blitzkreig. To this reckless taking of initiatives and quality of leadership, Wehrmacht training had added great skill in all arms co-operation, and proved to be a formidable fighting force. Afterwards, the German Army of 1939-1942 was much superior to any of it's contemporaries as proved by it's lightning conquest of most of Europe in that period.
The dive bombing Stuka terrorized civilian populations during the German's blitzkrieg.
(6) Caesars Gallic Conquest
The conquest of Gaul is one of the best known episodes in Roman history.The conquest of Gaul is in my opinion one of the greatest the world has ever seen thanks to Caesar's military strategy and his motivational techniques that he used with his troops. During his ventures in Gaul, Caesar obtained everything he wanted from his superiority over his enemies. He knew that if all Gaul rose up together against him, it would be near impossible to defeat them with the army he had. He brilliantly managed to keep the tribes seperate, until Vercingetorix arose, and by then Gaul was too weak to pose a serious threat to Caesar. His besiegement of Alesia, where he conducted two sieges against two Gallic forces on opposite sides, one of which numbered a quarter of a million men, was uncanny. With incredible speed and brilliant tactics, Caesar crossed the Alps and suppressed the Gauls. During this course, he faced a wealth of enemies many of which were greatly skilled, and over many different grounds and in many perilous situations.
talk about making typos. Re-type that and just maybe I'll be able to respond
