One of the greatest generals and practitioners of military craft fought successfully over two thousand years ago. Between 335 and 325 B.C., Alexander the Great campaigned into Persia and India with the aim of conquering the known world. His...
Gabel, Christopher R. (Christopher Richard), 1954-; Wilbanks, James H., 1947-
With the publication of Great Commanders, the Combat Studies Institute continues its mission of publishing CGSC Faculty scholarship and adding to the body of historical literature the thoughts and research of these distinguished Professors. These...
The operational level of war lies at the heart of the United States Army's warfighting doctrine and the focus of this level of war is the operational art. In order to successfully prosecute war at the operational level, American military commanders...
On 9 September 1943 the United States Fifth Army landed at Salerno, commencing a lengthy and costly campaign that would transit the Italian Peninsula. Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark commanded this army. His many supporters, including Winston...
Between April and August 1943, the U.S. Army’s II Corps saw two of its division commanders relieved of their commands. Each relief appeared tied to battlefield setbacks. MG Orlando Ward of the 1st Armored Division was relieved after his division...
In September 1943 allied armies of the United States and Great Britain landed on the European mainland in its "soft underbelly" taking another step toward the defeat of Nazi Germany. Expecting to be in Rome by the end of that year, the Allies...
This monograph analyzes the concept of decisive terrain to determine if a commander can identify decisive terrain at the operational level of war. The monograph begins by examining the introduction of decisive terrain into doctrine and provides a...
This thesis is a historical analysis and assessment of Major General John Bell Hood's Division during the Battle of Chickamauga. In early July 1863, the Confederate Army suffered two major defeats, Vicksburg and Gettysburg, where the division...
The thesis is a historical analysis of Colonel John T. Wilder's infantry brigade in the Tullahoma and Chickamauga campaigns of the American Civil War. In 1863 General Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland, authorized Wilder to mount...
The Abbey of Monte Cassino, founded by Saint Benedict in A.D. 529, at the beginning of the Italian campaign was one of only two sites requiring special consideration in the interest of historical preservation. The monastery overlooked the only...
Human intelligence (HUMINT), which is the oldest of the intelligence disciplines, has through the course of the twentieth century, been less emphasized by the U.S. Army relative to the technical disciplines of signals intelligence (SIGINT) and...
From antiquity to the present there has been cultural tension over different views of what is right and what is wrong, and every culture desires to apply their values universally to the rest of the world. When a nation chooses to go to war and...
This monograph analyzes classical warfare and modern warfare to determine whether there is a theoretical shift occurring that is blending the tenets of both of these theories of war. Exploitation of the inherent strengths of each of these theories...
The requirement for review of current division night attack doctrine is found in the apparent inconsistencies, ambiguities, and omissions of current doctrine. Present division night attack doctrine is alleged to fall short of a coherent, organized...
Field Marshall Viscount Slim holds a special place in modern military history. He soundly defeated the Imperial Japanese Army in Burma in 1945, retaking the strategically important Burma Road, and safeguarding the Chinese Theater from sure...
The commander's role throughout military history has been to reduce the uncertainties of war for his own side and increase them for his enemy. Notwithstanding great advances in the arts and sciences of command and control, the best commanders have...
This study is a historical analysis of the effectiveness of Union cavalry during the Chickamauga campaign. General William S. Rosecrans' desire to develop Union cavalry in the Army of the Cumberland into an effective counter to superior Confederate...
This thesis is a historical analysis of Major General Joseph J. Reynolds and his division during the Battle of Chickamauga. Chickamauga was the division's first major engagement. Arriving on the battlefield the first day, amidst a fierce...
During the Thirty Years’ War, one of the most significant battles was the Battle of Breitenfeld. The battle had several lasting overtones and implications. On one level it was a religious struggle between Roman Catholics and the break-away...