The Staff Ride
This summer I had the good fortune to discover and participate in a profound educational experience: a staff ride. This was a tool first developed by the Prussian military in the early 19th century and has since been used as a tool of instruction in the advanced military schools such as the Army War College. A staff ride takes place on a battlefield, but it is much more than and different from a tour under the guidance of an expert historian. It does involve walking the actual terrain of the battle, but it also demands active participation and discussion. A group walks the battlefield, stopping at points where significant engagements took place. Some participants must play the role of the key players in battle. They introduce themselves (in character), explain a bit about their background and experience, and most importantly explain why they took the actions they did during the battle. Then they must field questions from their colleagues that require them to elaborate on their thinking and actions. So the inquiry is not aimed only at historical questions such as what happened and why, but also at questions that consider how things might have been different. Did this commander make the right choice? What were his alternatives and why might he have rejected them? Did he have adequate information that would have allowed for the exploration of other alternatives? And the inquiry hopefully leads in the direction of timeless questions of leadership. How much latitude ought a superior give to a subordinate? How ought a leader to motivate and manage a talented yet stubborn subordinate?
Last June I participated in a staff ride at the Battle of Hubbardton—the only revolutionary battle to take place wholly on Vermont soil. The battle took place on July 7, 1777. It followed the recapture of Fort Ticonderoga by the British and preceded by two months the crucial American victory at Saratoga. As John Williams describes it in The Battle of Hubbardton: The American Rebels Stem the Tide: “[The battle] occurred when the British and their German allies overtook the American rear guard that was protecting the main body of General Arthur St. Clair’s retreating Northern Army. The rear guard delayed the pursuing British and was just about to continue its withdrawal—as a rear guard should—when the British attacked, forcing the Americans to turn upon them in self-defense.”
Two questions: If you could be part of a staff ride of any battle(s), what would it(they) be? And given the utility of such an exercise in terms of understanding leadership, it struck me that many members of our political class might benefit from a staff ride (especially those with no military experience). What staff ride ought they be required to take part in?
- Comment (10)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments :
Feb '11
Re: The Staff Ride
I'm interested in the France vs Germany campaign of 1940---the outcome of which was not nearly as inevitable as Americans and Brits tend to assume---and would like to participate in a staff ride in the Ardennes. This guy did just that.
Apr '11
Re: The Staff Ride
I'd send our political class through the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Retreat to Boston, to impress upon them:
Then I'd send them through the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, mostly because I'd like to see the #$%^& suits stumbling about in the monsoon jungle.
For myself, I'd like to do staff rides of the three campaigns in VDH's The Soul of Battle:
Sep '11
Re: The Staff Ride
As Mr. Lind notes, walking the terrain can be a real eye opener!
Sep '11
Re: The Staff Ride
Grendel: I'd send our political class through the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Retreat to Boston, to impress upon them:
Then I'd send them through the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, mostly because I'd like to see the #$%^& suits stumbling about in the monsoon jungle.
For myself, I'd like to do staff rides of the three campaigns in VDH's The Soul of Battle: · Oct 10 at 8:31am
I love these 3 choices from VDH's book! The March to the Sea might be a bit aggressive for your average slug like me!
May '10
Re: The Staff Ride
I do my own "staff rides" with my wife. We did Gettysburg and Antietam a few years ago. I want to do Shiloh next spring. I knew it was worthwhile when we got up to the top of Little Round Top...she looked up toward the Wheatfield and said, "What was Sickles thinking?" I screamed "Yes!"
Nothing like walking the battlefield.
PS...she cries now when looking at the pictures of the bodies at Bloody Lane at Antietam...She's been there...it's spooky now..
Mar '11
Re: The Staff Ride
I have not done a staff ride--it sounds very intriguing. I have been to Little Big Horn and I concur that being on the site of the battle is a very enlightening experience.
Apr '11
Re: The Staff Ride
Nothing (how do naval historians do it?!?!).
You can't do a staff ride with fifth graders, but I once led a class in a wild charge-scramble up a very steep, wooded ridge. At the crest, as they gasped for breath, I described how Col. Bouquet had disposed his Britsh regulars (Americans and Highlanders) across the gentle slopes in front of us, and asked why he hadn't worried about an Indian assault from our rear. Still panting, the kids had no trouble seeing how the commander had incorporated the terrain into his defenses.
After walking the battlefield (Bushy Run in PA) for several weeks, I had taken documents and maps to tell the State Historian the official write-up of the battle made no tactical sense. I admit I walked in with a bit of young-buck-setting-the-numbskulls-at-HQ-straight attitude, but the SH was a retired officer, gentleman, and scholar. He listened, worked through the documents, and said "Oh, my. I'll have to change that". We had a congenial chat over coffee, any attitude dissolved in the shared satisfaction of getting it right.
Sep '10
Re: The Staff Ride
Omaha beach at Normandy would be my first choice. And if I were taking politicians along, I'd emphasize how most of the original plan was rendered essentially useless after the first 15 minutes of contact, and how most of the officers were killed, so that US Army lieutenants and NCOs became the leaders there; and how these "common" men from small towns and cities in America, improvising under murderous fire, defeated the well planned front line defense of the Third Reich.
Jul '10
Re: The Staff Ride
I love a good staff ride. It's wonderful to walk the ground in any case, but to do it with others is better; it's a self-corrective. Thus the staff ride I'd like to take is of the Battle of Guildford Court House, in North Carolina. I am very slowly working towards writing a biography of Nathanael Greene--one of the great American generals in our history--and this is probably the most important battle of his life. It's a confusing battleground, and until recently most interpretations of it have been unsatisfying. I'd like to walk it with others and hear what they think.
As for a battlefield staff ride with members of the political class: I would take them to a great American defeat. Little Big Horn would be good, but I'd take them to the one I know the best, the Battle of Camden in South Carolina, where in about thirty minutes the Carolinas were thrown open to the British army. Since it was a defeat, no-one has chosen to commemorate it by ruining the ground with monuments and dioramas and parking lots and such like.
Sep '11
Re: The Staff Ride
Has anyone on the thread had to play the role of one of the figures in the battle on their staff ride?
Robert, I am looking forward to learning more about The Battle of Guildford Court House. Good luck with your biography!