1.5 The work of military theorists and its impact on the conduct of war

Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

• ideas of Enlightenment theorists such as Du Teil and Gribeauval put into practice
• Gribeauval: lighter artillery with standardised parts - Valmy
• Du Teil: light, mobile artillery against infantry - Toulon
• Saxe: flexible and fast-moving forces made up of column formations - Jena
• De Bourcet: division of armies when advancing to battle and then concentration at the battle itself - Austerlitz
• Jomini: stressed the role of the commander in deciding the theatre of war - Wellington at Waterloo
• Napoleonic warfare was studied by military theorists and commanders for years to come

Wars of the mid-nineteenth century onwards

• increasing size of armies and growing nationalism = Clausewitz more compelling than Jomini
• …