W.J. Wood - Leaders and Battles: The Art of Military Leadership

Permissions for use of illustrations and quoted material in LEADERS AND BATTLES by William Wood

Quote from The New Army with New Punch by Robert S. Dudney reprinted with permission from U.S. News and World Report, Inc. September 20, 1982. Copyright 1982.

Quotation from John Browns Body by Stephen Vincent Benet is from Selected Works of Stephen Vincent Benet. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc. Copyright renewed 1955, 1956 by Rosemary Carr Benet. Reprinted by permission of Brandt & Brandt Literary Agents.

The Taking of Lungtungpen section reprinted from Soldiers Three and Military Tales, Part II by Rudyard Kipling. New York: Charles Scribers Sons, 1899.

Illustrations.

by Charles Willson Peale is from Don Higginbothams Daniel Morgan: Revolutionary Rifleman. University of North Carolina Press, 1961.

Maps of Battle of Cowpens and Stony Point reprinted with permission from the Boatner Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, copyright David McKay, 1976.

Reproduction of Le Bataille dAuerstadt (1806) by Gobaut with permission from Roger Viollet, Paris.

Zulus rallying to renew an attack is taken from A History of Warfare by Field Marshal Montgomery. New York: World Publishing Company, 1968; reprinted from Louis Creswickes South Africa and the Transvaal War, 190002.

Portrait of Henry Bouquet is from The Battle of Bushy Run by Niles Anderson. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, 1975.

Reproduction of Black Watch at Bushy Run by C. W. Jeffries courtesy of Public Archives, Canada.

Portraits of Custer, Reno and Benteen courtesy of Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association.

Drawing by John W. Thomason, Jr. of Marshal Lannes is reprinted from The Adventures of General Marbot with the permission of Charles Scribners Sons. Copyright renewed 1963 by Leda B. Thomason.

Photo of General von Lettow-Vorbeck and photo of Natives Hives to Attract Wild Bees at Tonga from Duel for Kilimanjaro by Leonard Mosley. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1963.

Drawing of Marshal Lannes on is by John W. Thomason, Jr. reprinted from The Adventures of General Marbot with the permission of Charles Scribners Sons. Copyright 1935 Charles Scribners Sons; copyright renewed 1963, Leda B. Thomason.

Maps by Martin Wilkerson (except for Cowpens and Stony Point):

Jacket painting by Robert Wilson, copyright Hubert Hendricks, Spartanburg, SC.

Have you ever read an account of a battle and wondered why the author seemed so incisive and the leaders so bumbling? I have, many times, and have found that it doesnt require military genius to find the answer. It takes simply an awareness that the indoor sport of Monday-morning quarter-backing can be played outdoors to allow the author to occupy what could be called an omniscient observation post. From his cozy O.P. the writer is able to see all and know all. Then, you may ask, what about the leaders who are under scrutiny? In fairness, they could not have seen everything, let alone have known everything, so why did they act as they did?

There are no pat answers to the question. Yet the reader is entitled to a clear answer, and that is why this book was written. The idea of a book which would show the general reader that leadership in battle is a practical art had been gnawing at my mind for years. Only recently has the idea been propelled into action by two persuasive prime movers. The first stimulus was James Fallows illuminating book, National Defense,

The second prime mover, a close ally of the first, was the growing awareness that a new Army is beginning to emerge from the troubles that plagued it during the 1970s, such as too many school dropouts, too few re-enlistments, the departure of officers and non-commissioned officers with essential skills, and rapidly deteriorating weapons and equipment. The new Armys emergencereally a rebirthhas been described in an article by Robert Dudney:

The old battlefield doctrine of depending on massive firepower alone to crush foes is being scrapped in favor of a blend of maneuver, deception, and speed. The goal: Disorient an enemy that may be larger and more heavily armed. Known as AirLand Battle, the concept emphasizes small, stripped-down units that can move swiftly. Battlefield commanders will have a rare degree of freedom to exploit enemy weaknesses, and their troops will be trained to fight for long periods without rest [and the Army Chief of Staff adds] Its an awful lot for any organization to digest. Its going to take some of the greatest leadership weve ever had to get through this period.