The Geographies of War by Jeremy Black

Author:Jeremy Black
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / General
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2023-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

The Need to Map

The significance of geography is such that commanders require an understanding of mapping. For most of history, and still to this day, the relevant maps have overwhelmingly been mental maps, the understanding of place in the mind’s eye, which were really means to help consideration and exposition. Thus, the plan of an ambush or a fort might be drawn with a stick, a finger in the earth (dirt) or in powdered sand, sketched in the air, or described with words. These methods did not leave records, written or otherwise, that survive, which is a crucial point when looking at the geography of war, and notably so for pre-modern warfare, with changing types of information apparently a key instance of modernity. Nevertheless, rather than being unfit for purpose, pre-modern armed forces carried out complex operations that would have required a foreknowledge of terrain, routes, climate and supply possibilities, and a reasonable assessment of timing.

How that knowledge was conveyed is less clear, but oral report was the key means. Thus, in Roman sources, although there are not references to the use of maps on campaigns, there are many references to scouts being sent out to learn about the locality, which suggests that an aural and visual approach to geography was employed, rather than a written system. So also more generally for ancient, medieval, and early-modern warfare. Reconnaissance was both about the terrain and concerning opposing moves, the two for long run together, whereas now the former is generally apparent in advance through the availability of maps, or, at least, many aspects of it and notably so of the physical terrain.

Oral report went on being significant in the last two centuries, but sometimes with disastrous effect, as during the Crimean War (1854–6), when, as a result of misunderstanding verbal orders, the cavalry of the British Light Brigade charged directly into Russian cannon at Balaclava in 1854, taking heavy casualties accordingly. Oral report was very differently used in the forward-control of artillery by spotters.

Any emphasis on mental mapping and oral report can lead to the conclusion that the alternative standard approach to war and cartography is teleological, in that it adopts a progressivist account, one predicated on the assumption that producing maps in physical copy is the desirable outcome and, indeed, a necessary means for war. Instead of this approach, a needs-based assessment to mapping is appropriate, one that considers the idea of fitness for purpose in terms of the maps, their formats, and their usage.

Such an approach, moreover, valuably complements that of considering the survival of artefacts, not least by asking what purpose is served. For maps in this context, there is the question not only of why they were retained, but, in particular, linked to that, their potential value on a recurrent and/or long-term basis, which is a crucial dimension of fitness for purpose. The military is especially focused on the question of usefulness.

So, indeed, with the issue of accuracy. That was not a fixed quantity, but again a relative one focused on use.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.