BOOK REVIEW : SUPPLYING WAR.

I have had this book since its original publication in 1977. It is one of my favourite books which gets re-read regularly and undoubtedly strongly influenced my passion for military logistics in the horse drawn era. The book covers the development of logistics from the campaigns of the 1650s through to Western Europe in 1944 but with strong emphasis on Napoleons invasion of Russia in 1812, the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, Germany's invasion of France and Belgium in 1914 and Germany's invasion of Russia in 1941.

 The level of detail is fantastic, even down to a calculation of the number of standard forage wagons needed to provide the daily rations for the horses of just one of the German armies invading Belgium in 1914. (984 !!!!!) The book provides a significant alternative point of view on why the selected campaigns failed, or indeed even managed to get going at all, which demonstrates clearly that generalship, strategy and tactics are virtually irrelevant if the logistical foundations are lacking. On the other hand, Napoleons advance to Moscow was actually a triumph of horse drawn wagon based logistics, it only went wrong on the retreat.

It is a common belief that logistics were a minor issue during the horse drawn era and that some how or other armies just got by and in any case logistics only became a significant constraint on military operations with the advent of motor transport and modern quick firing weapons. This book clearly demonstrates the fallacy of that view but also convincingly shows that horse drawn wagons could in fact indefinitely support huge campaigns  provided only that the distance from railhead to front line remained modest. This is further reinforced by the book, Retreat from Gettysburg, that I reviewed previously.

If you have any interest in logistics especially in the horse dependant world, this book is a must read as indeed I think it should be for all the 18th and 19th century wargamers out there who's current table top battles take no account what so ever of logistics thereby rendering the results fundimentally flawed.