George S. Patton's Top 3 Legendary Tactical Moves
Warfare Genius
9,581 views
In August 1943 George S. Patton struck two soldiers in Sicilian field hospitals and was nearly finished as a commander. On D-Day he was in England, the figurehead of an army that did not exist. Nineteen months after the slapping incidents, he put a regiment across the Rhine before Montgomery, for a few dozen casualties.
Eisenhower reprimanded him and ordered him to apologize, and the American press turned the story into a national scandal. Command of the army that would land in Normandy went to Omar Bradley, who had served under Patton in Sicily. Patton was given FUSAG instead: dummy landing craft, inflatable tanks and fake radio traffic, built to convince the Germans the real invasion would come at the Pas de Calais.
This mini documentary breaks down the three moves that followed: the Third Army's breakout through Avranches and across France in August 1944, the ninety-degree turn north to relieve Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and the silent assault crossing of the Rhine at Oppenheim on the night of 22 March 1945.
Three moves, one conviction. The enemy plans around how fast you can move and what you are expected to do. Move faster than his plan allows, and do the thing he has already ruled out.
WHAT THIS EPISODE COVERS
The slapping incidents at the 15th and 93rd Evacuation Hospitals, August 1943
FUSAG, Operation Fortitude and the phantom army in southeast England
Operation Cobra and the capture of Avranches
Seven divisions over the Pontaubault bridge in 72 hours
The German counterattack at Mortain and the Argentan halt order
The 79th Infantry Division's Seine crossing at Mantes, the first Allied bridgehead over the Seine
XIX Tactical Air Command, Otto Weyland and the unguarded Loire flank
The surrender of Botho Elster's march group at Beaugency
The fuel crisis of 30 August 1944 and the halt on the Meuse
Colonel Oscar Koch's warnings and the contingency plans drawn up before the Ardennes offensive
The Verdun conference of 19 December 1944 and the promise to attack on the 22nd
III Corps, the 4th Armored Division and Cobra King's arrival at the Bastogne perimeter on 26 December
Chaplain James O'Neill and the weather prayer
The feint at Mainz, the 5th Infantry Division and the boat crossing at Nierstein and Oppenheim
"Tell the world we're across": beating Operation Plunder by a day
RESEARCH AND SOURCES
Figures and quotations in this script were drawn from the following:
Martin Blumenson, Breakout and Pursuit (U.S. Army Center of Military History), for Cobra, Avranches and the August pursuit
Hugh M. Cole, The Lorraine Campaign (CMH), for the Third Army frontage and the fuel crisis
Hugh M. Cole, The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge (CMH), for the Verdun conference and the relief of Bastogne
Charles B. MacDonald, The Last Offensive (CMH), for the Oppenheim crossing
Omar N. Bradley, A Soldier's Story (1951)
George S. Patton Jr., War As I Knew It (1947), used as memoir testimony rather than neutral record
James H. O'Neill, "The True Story of the Patton Prayer" (1950)
A NOTE ON THE NUMBERS
Several figures that circulate widely were checked and corrected here. The Oppenheim crossing cost the assault regiment about 20 casualties according to the official history, and the whole 5th Infantry Division 34 killed and wounded according to Bradley. It was not the 28 often quoted. Patton's famous Verdun "48 hours" is shorthand: the documented promise was an attack on 22 December with three divisions. The popular "400 miles in August" does not appear in the official histories and is not used. A widely shared quote in which Rundstedt calls Patton "your best" could not be traced to a primary source and has been left out. Eisenhower's assessment of Patton is quoted as it appears in secondary accounts of his 1946 review.
FURTHER READING
Carlo D'Este, Patton: A Genius for War, HarperCollins, 1995
Martin Blumenson, The Patton Papers, Houghton Mifflin, 1972–1974
Rick Atkinson, The Guns at Last Light, Henry Holt, 2013
Ladislas Farago, Patton: Ordeal and Triumph, Obolensky, 1964
What is your favorite tactical move by George S. Patton? And which commander should I cover next? Let me know in the comments.
If you enjoy the content, why not subscribe for more breakdowns of the commanders who changed how wars were won.
#GeorgePatton #WorldWarII #MilitaryHistory #BattleOfTheBulge #RhineCrossing
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George S. Patton's Top 3 Legendary Tactical Moves
Warfare Genius
9,581 views
In August 1943 George S. Patton struck two soldiers in Sicilian field hospitals and was nearly finished as a commander. On D-Day he was in England, the figurehead of an army that did not exist. Nineteen months after the slapping incidents, he put a regiment across the Rhine before Montgomery, for a few dozen casualties.
Eisenhower reprimanded him and ordered him to apologize, and the American press turned the story into a national scandal. Command of the army that would land in Normandy went to Omar Bradley, who had served under Patton in Sicily. Patton was given FUSAG instead: dummy landing craft, inflatable tanks and fake radio traffic, built to convince the Germans the real invasion would come at the Pas de Calais.
This mini documentary breaks down the three moves that followed: the Third Army's breakout through Avranches and across France in August 1944, the ninety-degree turn north to relieve Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and the silent assault crossing of the Rhine at Oppenheim on the night of 22 March 1945.
Three moves, one conviction. The enemy plans around how fast you can move and what you are expected to do. Move faster than his plan allows, and do the thing he has already ruled out.
WHAT THIS EPISODE COVERS
The slapping incidents at the 15th and 93rd Evacuation Hospitals, August 1943
FUSAG, Operation Fortitude and the phantom army in southeast England
Operation Cobra and the capture of Avranches
Seven divisions over the Pontaubault bridge in 72 hours
The German counterattack at Mortain and the Argentan halt order
The 79th Infantry Division's Seine crossing at Mantes, the first Allied bridgehead over the Seine
XIX Tactical Air Command, Otto Weyland and the unguarded Loire flank
The surrender of Botho Elster's march group at Beaugency
The fuel crisis of 30 August 1944 and the halt on the Meuse
Colonel Oscar Koch's warnings and the contingency plans drawn up before the Ardennes offensive
The Verdun conference of 19 December 1944 and the promise to attack on the 22nd
III Corps, the 4th Armored Division and Cobra King's arrival at the Bastogne perimeter on 26 December
Chaplain James O'Neill and the weather prayer
The feint at Mainz, the 5th Infantry Division and the boat crossing at Nierstein and Oppenheim
"Tell the world we're across": beating Operation Plunder by a day
RESEARCH AND SOURCES
Figures and quotations in this script were drawn from the following:
Martin Blumenson, Breakout and Pursuit (U.S. Army Center of Military History), for Cobra, Avranches and the August pursuit
Hugh M. Cole, The Lorraine Campaign (CMH), for the Third Army frontage and the fuel crisis
Hugh M. Cole, The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge (CMH), for the Verdun conference and the relief of Bastogne
Charles B. MacDonald, The Last Offensive (CMH), for the Oppenheim crossing
Omar N. Bradley, A Soldier's Story (1951)
George S. Patton Jr., War As I Knew It (1947), used as memoir testimony rather than neutral record
James H. O'Neill, "The True Story of the Patton Prayer" (1950)
A NOTE ON THE NUMBERS
Several figures that circulate widely were checked and corrected here. The Oppenheim crossing cost the assault regiment about 20 casualties according to the official history, and the whole 5th Infantry Division 34 killed and wounded according to Bradley. It was not the 28 often quoted. Patton's famous Verdun "48 hours" is shorthand: the documented promise was an attack on 22 December with three divisions. The popular "400 miles in August" does not appear in the official histories and is not used. A widely shared quote in which Rundstedt calls Patton "your best" could not be traced to a primary source and has been left out. Eisenhower's assessment of Patton is quoted as it appears in secondary accounts of his 1946 review.
FURTHER READING
Carlo D'Este, Patton: A Genius for War, HarperCollins, 1995
Martin Blumenson, The Patton Papers, Houghton Mifflin, 1972–1974
Rick Atkinson, The Guns at Last Light, Henry Holt, 2013
Ladislas Farago, Patton: Ordeal and Triumph, Obolensky, 1964
What is your favorite tactical move by George S. Patton? And which commander should I cover next? Let me know in the comments.
If you enjoy the content, why not subscribe for more breakdowns of the commanders who changed how wars were won.
#GeorgePatton #WorldWarII #MilitaryHistory #BattleOfTheBulge #RhineCrossing
you can maybe cover Admiral Yi Sun Shin