The Art of War

No man in the history of war has exerted a greater influence on the development of modern warfare than Napoleon Banaparte. No man has been more responsible for Napoleon’s influence than Antoine-Henri Jomini. It has been said with good reason that many a civil war general went into battle with a sword in the one hand and Jomini’s The Art of War in the other. Jomini’s writings were the means by which Napoleonic technique was transfused into military thought of the Civil War, which was so important in the development of the basic pattern of modern battlefield procedure. This massive work composed by Jomini was the premier military strategy composition of the 19th century. Even the works of Clausewitz were not studied quite as much as this teacher of the Napoleon method of warfare. In fact, it was Jomini who influenced the leadership of both the Union and the Cofnederacy during the American Civil War. The Art of War is one of the first and most enduring textbooks on modern war.