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Old 07-04-2006, 02:50 AM
LittleOldLady LittleOldLady is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2005
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Default Re: Military History Thread: 5 Greatest Military Wins/Strategy/Manueve

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D-Day and the succeeding month or so would certainly be a good candidate as the greatest logistical achievement in military history.

I haven't read about it in years and have forgotten everything I ever knew about the battle but military leaders have long been obsessed with achieving their own Cannae.

Trafalgar still lives on in tradition and legend.

But in the end I think rather than trying to rank them it would be more fun to focus on particular battles/campaigns and explore them.

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If we are looking at major logistical achievements in warfare, the invasion of England by William of Normandy is something to consider. He, of course, had the same logistical problem as Eisenhower, just going in the opposite direction. The Bayeux Tapestry (my copy of which was destroyed) shows the logistical arrangements in a sort of cartoon fashion, panel by panel.

The ensuing battle of Hastings was one of history's pivotal battles. Well, in any case, it was pivotal in my life 900 years later. Harold Godwinson allowed himself to be outsmarted by WIlliam, and thus lost a battle which he was well on the way to winning. I had the opportunity to visit the battlefield at Senlac (which was renamed Battle as if there were no other battle except the one fought in that place). WHile no doubt over more than 900 years there must have been changes in the topography, nonetheless, the famous escarpment was still there, and one could imagine what that day must have been like.
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