Αναλύσεις και σχόλια για Ιστορία, Εξ. πολιτική και άλλα ζητήματα
Η μασονία ελέγχει τον κόσμο… ιδού η λίστα…
Note from the Author: This essay pertains to the defensive strategy employed by the Confederacy in the late war of rebellion. I am suggesting an alternative strategy that the South was fully capable of employing. I would like to stress that what you read is solely my opinion.
President Jefferson Davis proclaimed his strategy to be one of "offensive-defensive." The strategy in fact was one of defending all resources, stockpiling supplies and taking the offensive when the supply situation warranted or the opportunity was provided by the enemy. With the exception of a few notable offensive forays his strategy would evolve into one of passive defense. Whether intentional or not President Davis, with his statement on strategy, acknowledged two of the eminent military theorists of the nineteenth century. There can be no doubt that Prussian General Carl Von Clausewitz or French General Antoine Jomini would not have endorsed the evolved defensive strategy of the Confederacy. They agreed that a passive defense was doomed to defeat.
Graduates of West Point and V.M.I. in the early and mid nineteenth century would not have been familiar with Clausewitz's great work "On War" as it was not translated into English until after the Civil War. Jomini's works were translated prior to the war and some if not all of the graduates should have been familiar with his theories. Many of the theories of Clausewitz and Jomini originate from the Napoleonic Wars and we know for a fact the graduates were familiar with Napoleon. Jomini is considered the offensive minded of the two theorists though it is definite that he concurs with Clausewitz that offense must emanate from solid defense.
