this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2024
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[–] Nobody@lemmy.world 56 points 9 months ago (23 children)

Napoleonic tactics worked fairly well in the 19th century. Mixed results in mid to late-19th.

It’s when they tried to apply them to WW1 that the body counts got ridiculous.

[–] Minotaur@lemm.ee 36 points 9 months ago (14 children)

It’s my understanding that they really didn’t. The American Revolution was won in part because the Americans more often “adopted Native tactics” (I.e. attacking from tree lines, on paths on unsuspecting units moving from place to place, aiming for officers, etc).

The big Napoleonic blocks were done, but often just out of honor and so officers had some sense of “control” over the battle so they could both easily pull out before it descended into a large brawl where they might actually be killed

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 32 points 9 months ago (2 children)

The American Revolution was won in part because the Americans more often “adopted Native tactics”

The American Revolution was won because Britain was fighting a real war against France, Spain and the Netherlands. And those countries basically used the US as a cheap way to distract the British.

[–] Minotaur@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago

See: “in part” in my comment.

Wars can be won or lost for multiple reasons

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