Did Americans mislearn Napoleonic tactics?

Episode Nine of Strategy Matters aligns with the third case study in the Strategy and Policy Course at the Naval War at the U.S. Naval War College. In this episode, we shift our focus on the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars to explore how the military and political upheavals of 1793–1815 shaped strategic thinking in the early American republic. Although the United States stayed largely out of the European conflicts, American leaders watched them closely, and the era profoundly influenced how they understood war, strategy, and national power. Host Brendan Neagle is joined by three guests from the Strategy and Policy Department: Dr. George Satterfield, an expert on European military history, Dr. Jon Romaneski, a military historian focused on early U.S. military history, and Dr. Vanya Eftimova Bellinger, scholar of Clausewitz and co-host of Strategy Matters. The episode closes with key takeaways from each guest on Napoleon’s enduring relevance for contemporary strategic thought.

The opinions expressed on this podcast represent theviews of the presenters and do not reflect the official position of the Department of War, The US Navy, or US Naval War College.

Guests:

Dr. George Satterfield, Ph.D. holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Illinois (2001) and an M.A. in history from Illinois State University. Before joining the Strategy and Policy Department, he taught history at the post-secondary level in New York and New Jersey. In 2006, he was a faculty member at Hawaii Pacific University, and at the same time, he won a distinguished book award for his book “Princes, Posts, and Partisans: The Army of Louis XIV and Partisan Warfare in the Spanish Netherlands, 1673-1678 (Leiden: Brill, 2003).” Professor Satterfield has expanded his interests to include modern European history, general military and naval history, counterinsurgency and NATO.

Lieutenant Colonel Jon Romaneski, U.S. Army, is a military professor in the US Naval War College’s Strategy and Policy Department. He is a U.S. Army Aviation officer whose previous command and staff positions include extensive time in Europe, the U.S. Military Academy, Fort Carson, Colorado, and Fort Cavazos, Texas. His most recent assignment was his battalion command tour in Fort Wainwright, Alaska. He has a BA in history from James Madison University and a PhD in military history from the Ohio State University.

Dr. Vanya Eftimova Bellinger, Ph.D. earned a Ph.D. in history at King’s College, London. Bellinger is the author of “Marie von Clausewitz: The Woman Behind the Making of On War” (Oxford University Press USA, 2015). She is the winner of the 2016 Society for Military History Moncado Prize for her article, “The Other Clausewitz: Findings from the Newly Discovered Correspondence between Marie and Carl von Clausewitz.” She is the first scholar to work with the newly discovered correspondence between the Clausewitz couple. Before transitioning to academia, Bellinger worked as a journalist and international correspondent for various European outlets.