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| Sun Tzu |
"He who
knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious." - Sun Tzu
"The
general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing
disgrace...is the jewel of the Kingdom." - Sun Tzu
General George Washington was not
known as a great tactical commander, he was though known as a great strategic
commander and many have said that without Washington, the colonist may have
never won their independence. General Washington understood that he did not
need to win to defeat the British Empire, he merely needed not to lose.
In the Summer of 1776, after
defeating the British at Boston, he marched his army of 19,000 to New York in
the hopes of defending the city against a British Fleet known to be on its way.
When the British did arrive it was reported that the sheer number of British tall
ships in New York Harbor made it seem as if the forests of England had marched upon
America. 500 ships at a cost (in today's dollars) of $100 million each had set
sail against the unruly colonialists. Unchallenged the British landed on Staten
Island and settled in as more and more British ships arrived over the next few
months, building up their forces to over 32,000 Troops.
Without an American navy to
oppose them the British had a major tactical advantage on Staten Island. From
Staten Island they could attack Long Island or Manhattan. Washington not
knowing where they would strike divided his forces between the two Islands. 10,000
colonists took up positions on the Brooklyn Heights on Long Island, his
remaining forces dug in to defend Manhattan.
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| Admiral Howe |
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| Gen. Howe |
Washington was facing the Howe
brothers; General Howe and Admiral Howe (whom ironically both opposed the war
with America and advocated reaching terms with the colonies.) General Howe
fought in the French and Indian War proving himself an excellent tactical
commander. The soldiers he brought with him to New York had on average seven
years of military experiences. His officer core had much more. In comparison
Washington's ragtag army had an average of only six months of military service.
Washington was facing much greater force than the mere numerical advantage of
the British. Since Howe had fought in the French and Indian War and knew
America, Washington did not even have a home field advantage.
On August 22nd, 1776 General Howe
landed over 20,000 troops onto Long
Island against the 10,000 troops of the American army. Instead of assaulting
Washington's lines head on, he brilliantly out flanked Washington on Washington's
far left marching through the Jamaica pass (which was guarded by only four
Americans.) Howe's forces easily captured the four Americans and moved around
and behind Washington's defensive lines. Washington, out foxed by Howe, wisely
withdrew from his defenses and took up a new positions with his back to the
East River. Against his officers' advice
General Howe did not press his advantage against Washington. He feared a repeat
of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill) where he had
lost 1000 men assaulting the rebels head on. Instead he began to dig in himself
to siege the Rebels.
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| Battle of Long Island |
Washington had lost over 1000
troops to General Howe out maneuvering him. Washington was not going to allow
Howe to destroy what remained of his army. Washington realized that once the
winds changed in the favor of the British navy the British would sail into the
East River behind him. They would need to only bring up one or two of their ships-of-the-line
and he would be trapped.
Under the cover of night Washington
as silently as possible began the withdrawal of his men from Brooklyn, crossing
the East River to the safety of Manhattan Island. By morning an uncommon heavy
fog covered the crossing for his remaining forces to escape. Washington was
reportedly the last to set foot off Brooklyn as he and his army slipped away
from certain defeat.
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| Escaping across the East River |
Washington later reconsolidated
his forces on Harlem Heights on the Northern part of Manhattan Island. On
September 16th 1,800 colonists held off 5,000 British soldiers. In the Battle
of Harlem Heights Washington lost only 130 men compared to up to 390 British
loses. Howe did finally take the battlefield, but Washington's army once again
retreated to the Bronx on the mainland.
On October 28th, Washington with
3,100 troops faced up to 7,500 British in the Battle of White Plains. His men
were able to hold against frontal assaults by the British, but General Howe was
once again able to out flank Washington. Washington again chose to retreat his
army, this time across the Hudson River into New Jersey.
Washington knew, that no matter
what, the most important thing as commander was to keep his army intact. He
clearly understood that retreat was always the better option to defeat. He was
always willing to slink a away, lick his wounds, to fight another day. That
strategy finally won the American War for Independence for the Colonists.
In 1812 it was the Russians that
retreated against the invasion of Napoleon's Grande Army. The Tsar's Russian
army did not engage the French and instead gave up land for time. They withdrew
from the French further and further into the Russia. The Tsar's army followed a
scorched earth tactic leaving nothing of worth for the advancing French. Moscow
itself was set ablaze denying the French the ability to winter in the city.
Napoleon, over stretched, the harsh Russian winter upon him, was forced to
withdrawal and abandon his invasion of Russia. Napoleon had entered Russia with
over 600,000 men, he left Russia with only a little more than 100,000.
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| The French Forced Retreat from Russia |
In 1836 General Sam Houston also
faced a much larger advisory in the War of Texas Independence. Dictator Santa
Anna fielded an army of 6,000 men against the Texas rebellion. At first the
Texans held him up for 12 days at the Alamo, buying Houston much needed time to
raise his own army. After the fall of
the Alamo Houston was still not strong enough to face Santa Anna. He
strategically retreated his forces away from the Mexican border towards the
American border forcing Santa Anna to stretch out his supply lines. Houston confounded
the Mexicans by also destroying anything the advancing Mexican army could use
to resupply themselves, he slaughtered live stock and burnt crops, repeating
the scorch earth tactic of the Tsar's army. For almost two months Houston did
not engage Santa Anna and let me chase him East. Finally on April 21th Houston
turned his army against Santa Anna camped at San Jacinto north of Galveston (the
at the time Capital of the Texas rebellion.) After destroying a bridge to
prevent the Mexicans from receiving any reinforcements Houston attacked the
1,600 Mexicans with only 900 men. His early morning attack caught the Mexicans so
off guard the battle lasted only 18 minutes. 630 Mexicans were killed 208
wounded, and 730 prisoners taken. The Texans lost only 9 killed and 30 wounded,
which included General Houston who took a shot to his ankle. Most importantly
the Texans captured Santa Anna who had attempted to escape in disguise -
Checkmate.
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| General Houston Accepts Santa Anna's Surrender |
General Washington, the Tsar's Army,
and General Houston all used retreat as a means of keeping their armies intact,
stretching out the supply lines of their opponents, and only hitting their
advisories when it was tactically to their advantage. Their strategy of retreat
finally lead to their victories.
These conflicts prove how Sun
Tzu's teachings ring true. "Know yourself and know your enemy." There
is no shame in retreat, there is shame in throwing away the lives of your men. Patients
and knowing our own weaknesses is often the greatest path to victory.
