
Military Heritage of America
By R Ernest Dupuy
Military heritage from the past must guide the generations of the future if American arms in the future are to successfully meet the tests of war.
Like its cultural heritage, America’s military heritage has roots going back to the Old World.
From Alexander’s phalanx to the thin red line, Caesar to Napoleon, each military icon has influenced the next, at times seemingly having come full-circle.
Emerging from this rich background, it is in the eighteenth century that America’s chapter properly begins.
Involved in no less than eight conflicts between the French and Indian War and Korea, each has left its mark on, and contributed to, the American military that exists today.
Originally published in 1956, Military Heritage of America set out to provide Americans with a military history from an American point of view.
Bringing together the lessons and innovations from two centuries of war and peace into a single, comprehensive volume, this is an essential read for military and civilian alike.
Colonel R. Ernest Dupuy (1887-1975) was a newspaperman as well as a National Guardsman as a young man. He saw action in both World Wars. He was an artillery battery commander in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns. Twenty-five years later, as acting director of the SHAEF public relations division, it was his voice that announced the Normandy landings. After his retirement in 1947, he specialized in writing military history, and authored or co-authored many books on the U.S. Army, West Point, and military affairs.
Colonel Trevor N. Dupuy (1916-95) graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1938, and in World War II spent more combat time in Burma than any other American. Brave Men and Great Captains was the third of fifteen book collaborations between father and son. Retiring from the Army in 1958, he devoted himself to writing, to military analysis, to computer simulation, and to lecturing. He wrote many books and articles on military history and military affairs.