Great commanders of modern times and The campaign of 1815. by Morris
"In peril on the sea" by Montague T. Hainsselin is a collection of military-historical essays written in the late 19th century. It surveys the evolution of the art of war through portraits of major commanders and concludes with studies of the 1815 campaign. The emphasis is on strategy, logistics, and leadership, with sustained attention to figures such as Turenne, Marlborough, Frederick the Great, Napoleon, Wellington, and Moltke. The opening of the volume
presents front matter and a preface explaining that these essays, first published in a military periodical, are reissued with minor corrections; the writer, a civilian, defends his right to assess warfare, asserts Napoleon’s clear strategic superiority over his 1815 opponents, and flags two contentious Waterloo points (the timing of La Haye Sainte’s fall and the Guard’s assault). An “Introduction by a Soldier” argues that studying great generals never loses relevance, then spotlights Gustavus Adolphus as the father of modern strategy, summarizing his campaigns from Scandinavia and Poland to the Thirty Years’ War (securing Baltic bases, bold river-line advances, Leipzig, the Lech crossing, and Lützen). Chapter I turns to Turenne: it outlines the constraints of 17th‑century war (bad roads, many fortresses, cavalry‑heavy tactics), sketches his rise, and highlights campaigns that showcase strategic maneuver over sieges (notably the 1646 Danube–Lech operations, the 1658 Dunes with English support, the 1674–75 Rhine/Vosges winter stroke, and his death mid‑campaign). It also credits his reforms that made the French army a modern instrument and offers a balanced appraisal of his strengths (strategic genius, steadiness, humane command) and limits (cautious tempo, second-order tactician). Chapter II begins Marlborough’s story—early service under Turenne, political entanglements, and his first Low Countries campaigns—ending as the narrative sets the stage for the decisive 1704 turn. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Morris, William O'Connor, 1824-1904 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 06011163 |
| Title | Great commanders of modern times and The campaign of 1815. |
| Original Publication | London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd, 1891. |
| Note | "Reprinted from "Illustrated naval and military magazine." |
| Contents | Great commanders of modern times: Preface. Introduction. Turenne. Marlborough. Frederick the Great. Napoleon. Wellington. Moltke -- The campagin of 1815. |
| Credits | Brian Coe, Karin Spence and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | D: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere |
| Subject | Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786 |
| Subject | Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852 |
| Subject | Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 -- Military leadership |
| Subject | Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815 |
| Subject | Turenne, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de, 1611-1675 |
| Subject | Marlborough, John Churchill, Duke of, 1650-1722 -- Military leadership |
| Subject | Moltke, Helmuth, Graf von, 1800-1891 |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77267 |
| Release Date | Nov 19, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 221 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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