Great Captains of History: A Reading List

Napoleon concludes his Military Maxims with:

Maxim LXXVIII. Peruse again and again the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, Engene, and Frederick. Model yourself upon them. This is the only means of becoming a great captain, and of acquiring the secret of the art of war. Your own genius will be enlightened and improved by this study, and you will learn to reject all maxiums foreign to the principles of these great commanders.

Presumably, this is elaborated in The Edinburgh monthly magazine, vol 14, (1823) pg 176. There, the translation is:

Make offensive war like Alexander, Hannibal, Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, Prince Eugene, and Frederic. Read again and againthe history of their 88 campaigns; model yourself upon them. That is the only way to become a great commander, and to obtain the secrets of their art.

[...]

“Alexander conducted eight campaigns—in Asia and India; Hannibal, seventeen—one in Spain, fifteen in Italy, and one in Africa; Caesar, thirteen—eight against the Gauls, and five against Pompey's legions; Gustavus Adolphus, three—one in Livonia against the Russians, and two in Germany against the House of Austria; Turenne, eighteen—nine in France, and nine in Germany; Prince Eugene, thirteen—two against the Turks, five in Italy against France, and six on the Rhine, or in Flanders; Frederic, eleven—in Silesia, Bohemia, and on the Elbe. The history of these 88 campaigns would be a complete treatise on the art of war.”

These 88 campaigns are necessary for a good education, but probably insufficient. That is to say, if we omitted one of these campaigns, we would always have an incomplete education; but if we only studied these 88 campaigns, we probably won't have a complete education, either. After all, what of the 14 campaigns of Napoleon (2 in Italy, 5 in Germany, 2 in Africa and Asia, 2 in Poland and Russia, 1 in Spain, and 2 in France)? Or the undefeated Suvorov? Or the American civil war? Or World War 2?

But still, these 88 campaigns are a good starting point. I'd like to write a bibliography surveying these campaigns. (The curious reader may wonder whether Napoleon's recommendations stand up to scrutiny; there is some statistical arguments supporting aspects of the claim.)

I will probably update this with more books as I read them, and link to blog-posts studying these campaigns and battles as I get to them.

Caution: On the term "Campaign"

The word "campaign", classically, refers to one year ending in Winter. Sometimes there was combat in Winter, but usually it was a time of recovery and reorganizing. So the numbers of "[number] N campaigns in [region] Y" should be taken with a gram of salt.

Alexander — 8 campaigns (in Asia and India)

• Battle of the Granicus River (Asia Minor)
• Siege of Halicarnassus (Asia Minor)
• Battle of Issus (Syria)
• Siege of Tyre (Syria)
• Siege of Gaza (Egypt)
• Battle of Gaugamela (Egypt)
• Siege of the Sogdian Rock (Bactria/Afghanistan)
• Invasion of India

Primary sources — well, that notion is kind of fuzzy with ancient warfare. Callistenes was the official "court historian" of Alexander, but his work has been lost. The extant ancient sources includes:

• Arrian
• Polybius
• Curtius Historiae Alexandri Magni, presumably based mostly on Cleitarchus
• Diodorus's Bibliotheca historica Book 17 relates the conquests of Alexander, based almost entirely on Cleitarchus and Hieronymus of Cardia
• Plutarch, but this should be taken with a ton of salt (I don't even consult it);
• Justin, which compresses Trogus's lost works on Alexander, focusing more on moralistic points (I don't consult it)

Other resources I've found valuable includes Engel's Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army, and for the mechanics of pike, the article "Pike Drills" Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal (1867), pp.536–544, provides useful details.

I would be remiss to omit Kathleen Toohey's Battle Tactics of Alexander the Great.

Hannibal — 17 campaigns (one in Spain, fifteen in Italy, and one in Africa)

The campaign in Spain...refers to Hannibal's early career conquering Iberia?

The 15 campaigns in Italy refer to the Second Punic War. In particular, the battle of Trebia, and the battle of Cannae, are noteworthy.

The African Campaign presumably refers to the Battle of Zama.

Polybius's Histories is the only surviving primary source about the Second Punic war. Although Livy wrote about the war, he is more poet than historian, and shouldn't be relied upon for military history. Hans Delbrück's History of the Art of War (vol I) discusses the Second Punic war in good detail. Cannae has been one of the most studied battles in 19th century (and early 20th century) Prussia.

Caesar — 13 campaigns (eight against the Gauls, five against Pompey’s legions)

Major Douglas C. Sanders, "Julius Caesar and the Gallic Campaign: A Road map to the Use of the Instruments of Power". PDF

Kurt Raaflaub and John Ramsey, "Reconstructing the chronology of Caesar's Gallic Wars". Histos 11 (2017) 1–74, Eprint.

Jameson Minto, Logistics during Caesar’s Campaigns in Gaul.

Gustavus Adolphus — 3 campaigns (one in Livonia against the Russians, two in Germany against the house of Austria)

• The Livonian campaign almost certainly refers to the Ingrian war (1610-1617)
• The other two campaigns against Austria (well, the "Holy Roman Empire") probably refer to the Thirty years war

I would think the Swedish-Polish war worth studying, but perhaps not.

Turenne — 18 campaigns (nine in France, nine in Germany)

Also known as Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne.

• Four "Famous Campaigns" which brought an end to the Thirty Years' Wars in Germany
  • Battle of Freiburg (3, 5, 9 August 1644)
  • Battle of Mergentheim (2 May 1645)
  • Battle of Allerheim (3 August 1645)
  • Battle of Zusmarshausen (17 May 1648)
• Fronde, a series of Civil Wars in France between 1648-1653
  • Specifically the Second Frond (1650-1653)
  • The Franco-Spanish War (for Turenne, 1653-1659)
• The Dutch War (presumably constitue the other 5 German campaigns)

Prince Eugene — 13 campaigns (two against the Turks, five in Italy against France, and six on the Rhine or in Flanders)

The two Turkish campaigns appear to refer to the "Great Turkish War" (Eugene was involved in the Battle of Zenta) and the "Austro-Turkish War of 1716-18".

The Italian campaigns, presumably, refer to the early years in the War of Spanish Succession.

The remaining campaigns on the Rhine or in Flanders refers to the later years in the War of Spanish Succession.

Nicholas Henderson, Prince Eugen of Savoy: A Biography. Phoenix publisher, 2002.

Derek McKay, Prince Eugene of Savoy (1977).

Frederick the Great — 11 campaigns (in Silesia, Bohemia, and on the Elbe).

• The Silesian Wars
  • The War of Austrian Succession (16 December 1740)
• The Seven Years War
  • Battle of Leuthen
• War of Bavarian Succession
• Battle of Mollwitz (Bohemia, 10 April 1741)

Closing Remarks/Apology

I'm working my way through collating my notes on Alexander the Great, so I probably have more references for his campaigns than the more modern generals.

But I would err on the side of studying military history mildly sequentially, since — like philosophy — military endeavours are like on-going philosophical dialogs which builds on the contributions of the past. For example, Napoleon contributed nothing new to military theory, because he merely mastered the techniques of the past and adapted them to his situation.

As old Clausewitz put it, "After all, the main point of all criticisms of strategy, difficult though this may be, is to put oneself in the position of the decision-maker. (Hofschroer [tr.], On Welligton: A Critique of Waterloo, §4, pg 38) And the decision-maker only has prior history to consult.

I hope, next time, to discuss Alexander the Great's first major battle, the battle of Issus. (The battle of Grannicus appears to be more a work of propaganda than an actual battle worth studying.)