George Cyrus Thorpe, in his study Pure Logistics: The Science of War Preparation, examines the issues of logistics based on the considerations of Clausewitz. Therefore, it is essential to understand the views on logistics held by this Prussian war theorist, general, and writer.
The career of General C. P. G. von Clausewitz
Carl Phillip Gottlieb von Clausewitz was born on June 1, 1780, into a family of impoverished Prussian nobility in Burg near Magdeburg. At the age of 12, he joined the Prussian army as a cadet. Between 1793 and 1794, he took part in the war against France. Over the next five years, he performed garrison duties. In 1804, he graduated with top honors from the school for young officers in Berlin, receiving the position of adjutant to the young Prince August as a reward. After Prussia’s defeat in the war with France, he was taken prisoner. Upon his return from internment in 1808, he participated in the reorganization of the Prussian army. In 1810, he was appointed professor at the military academy, also responsible for the military education of the heir to the throne, and married Countess Marie von Brühl.
C. P. G. von Clausewitz did not accept the military cooperation between Prussia and France; he left the Prussian army and joined the Russian army. He participated in the Battle of Borodino. After returning to Berlin, he was reinstated to the rank of colonel. He was wounded in the Battle of Lützen, where he led a cavalry charge. During the 1815 campaign, Clausewitz served as Chief of Staff of the III Prussian Corps, which, among other things, prevented the French forces from uniting at Waterloo. Between 1816 and 1818, he served on the staff in Koblenz. In 1818, he was promoted to the rank of major general and appointed director of the military academy (Allgemeine Kriegschule) in Berlin. It was during this time that his most important theoretical works were written. From 1830, he served in East Prussia and subsequently organized a sanitary cordon to stop the spread of a cholera epidemic. Seemingly healthy, he returned to Wrocław, but soon died of cholera on November 16, 1831.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2009.