Clausewitz Carl von - Clausewitz: his life and work

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Donald Stoker, 2014

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stoker, Donald J.
Clausewitz : his life and work / Donald Stoker.
pages cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9780199357949
1. Clausewitz, Carl von, 17801831. 2. Napoleonic Wars, 18001815CampaignsRussia
Biography. 3. Prussia (Kingdom). ArmeeOfficersBiography. I. Title. II. Title:
Clausewitz, his life and work.
DD422.C5S76 2015
355.02092dc23
[B]
2014016786

eISBN 9780199357963

To my students who fought the Global War on Terror.

Sound tactics win battles.

Sound operational art wins campaigns.

Sound strategy wins wars.

Sound policy wins the peace.

For all of these, judgment is the key.

I have incurred many debts in the course of writing this book, not the least to my wife Carol, who has had to take up the parental slack during my all too frequent absences. Thank you, my love. My daughter Sarah has also been understanding. Thank you, Sarah.

I am deeply beholden to Michael Leggiere of the University of North Texas, an old friend from graduate school. Mike answered my endless queries, graciously pointed me to sources, and allowed me to read parts of three books he was writing (most of us only write one at a time). He also took the time to read the entire manuscript and make valuable suggestions and corrections. Thanks, Mike. I owe you one. Alexander Mikaberibzde helped me navigate the Russian microfilm collection on the Napoleonic periodin which I found a drop of new material on Clausewitzand also answered many questions. Niels Nielsen translated Clausewitzs works on 1813 and 1814, as well as some other things, and checked many of my own translations. Marc Guarin provided a translation of Clausewitzs Strategie. I am grateful for the help of both and we hope to soon publish these three works, none of which exists in a complete English translation. Regina Kuehn helped refresh my slumbering German and deciphered some of the colloquialisms I encountered. Nils Bartholdy and the staff of the Rigsarkivet, Copenhagen, supplied the Clausewitz-related documents I requested. The staff of the British Library proved very helpful with my inquiries on the Sir Hudson Lowe papers, in which I found a previously unpublished letter by Clausewitz, and the British National Archives provided a copy of a heretofore forgotten map that Clausewitz helped draw in 1813. Vanya Eftimova Bellinger and Christopher Bassford kindly supplied illustrations from their own collections (I look forward to reading Vanyas biography of Marie von Clausewitz). Other professional help and advice came from George Baer (who was always encouraging), Harold Blanton (who read much of the manuscript), John Dunn, the late Michael Handel (to whom I am indebted for my first analytical introduction to Clausewitzs work), Peter Hofschrer, Michael Jones (who also read parts of the text), Kevin McCranie, Alfred Mierzejewski, Dan Moran (with whom I had an informative lunch), and Charles White. The staff and leadership of the College of Distance Education of the U.S. Naval War College were also helpful and encouraging. My thanks go out to Stan Carpenter, Fred Drake, Rose Drake, Jay Hickey, Doug Smith, and Walt Wildemann. Chiaki Gayle receives my special thanks as she provided much needed assistance photocopying and scanning critical material. The ideas and opinions expressed in this book are solely my own and do not represent those of the U.S. government, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Naval War College.

Two of the other keys to this works completion were Zooey Lober and Irma Fink. They are the interlibrary loan gurus at the Naval Postgraduate Schools Dudley Knox Library. They worked very hard to track down what were sometimes very obscure sources. Thank you again, ladies.

The idea for a short biography of Clausewitz originated with my agent at POM, Inc., Dan Green. Tim Bent at Oxford proved supportive and worked over the draft manuscript with his customary competence and thoroughness. As always, I benefited from the diligent, hardworking professionals at Oxford University Press, particularly Lauren Hill, Jonathan Kroberger, Keely Latcham (who worked particularly hard to help pull together the maps and illustrations), Alana Podolsky, Christian Purdy, and Elyse Turr. Sunoj Sankaran provided excellent copy editing. Thank you all. SDG