Bhishma: Is it true that you have mastered all the possible forms of war?
Drona: As well as you, Bhishma.

—Jean-Claude Carrière and Peter Brook (translator), The Mahabharata

Alexander V. Suvorov Russian Field Marshal, 1729-1800 Soviet poster of 1942. The caption is from Suvorov's The Science of Victory: "Hit, stab, give chase, take prisoner!" Source: Longworth, The Art of Victory. Wanted to buy: an original or reproduction of this poster. Write me.

Alexander V. Suvorov (1729-1800) was the one man who, at the end of the 18th century, could have stopped Napoleon. He did beat Napoleon's generals Moreau, Macdonald, and Joubert. His aphorisms on war show appreciation for the need for speed (Sun Tzu: "Speed is the essence of war") and overcoming paradigms, or preconceived ideas.
• On speed: "The enemy doesn't expect us, reckons us 100 versts away, and if a long way off to begin with, 200, 300 or more– suddenly we're on him, like snow on the head; his head spins. Attack with what comes up, with what God sends; the cavalry to begin, smash, strike, cut off, don't let slip, hurra!" (Tsouras, 1992, 31) "Swiftness and impact are the soul of genuine warfare." (Tsouras, 1992, 399)
• A good solution now ("Attack with what comes up, with what God sends") is better than a perfect solution tomorrow (or even an hour from now). Suvorov's approach looks slipshod and reckless- "Attack with whatever arrives"- but suppose a cavalry company charges an enemy infantry regiment that is still in its camps, eating breakfast with its arms stacked. The company might well scatter the soldiers, destroy their camp, and put the regiment out of action. Now suppose one waits an hour for an entire cavalry brigade to arrive, to "do the job right" (or a perfect job). Sounds good- but by now the enemy regiment has had time to form itself into a square. Now a brigade cannot do what a company could have done an hour ago. This, I think, is what Suvorov meant- and his officers and enlisted soldiers understood his principles.
• "A hard drill makes an easy battle." ("Train hard, fight easy.")
• "The bullet's an idiot, the bayonet's a fine chap." (Underlying principle of the Western Way of War: "Get in the enemy's face.") "Stab once and throw the Turk off the bayonet. Bayonet another, bayonet a third; a real warrior will bayonet half a dozen and more. Keep a bullet in the barrel. If three should run at you, bayonet the first, shoot the second and lay out the third with your bayonet. This isn't common but you haven't time to reload..." (Tsouras, 1992, 23)
• On overcoming paradigms: what if a scaling ladder was too short to reach the top of a wall? "Bayonet into the wall– climb on to it, after him another and a third. Comrade help comrade!" (Tsouras, 1992, 35)
• This short phrase illustrates two important concepts of modern management practice, and of self-directed or self-managing work teams. "Don't wait for someone to tell you what to do. Develop an innovative solution and work as a team to make it happen."
• Suvorov's funeral illustrated this principle (!), and it was a final testimony to the organization he had developed. His pallbearers could not get his casket through a narrow hallway in the chapel. As they tried to figure out what to do, some soldiers pushed their way past the priests and officials, declared, "Suvorov must pass everywhere!", lifted the casket above their heads (thus reducing the procession's width), and carried it through the hallway.
• On bureaucracies and large headquarters staffs: "Large staffs- small victories." (Tsouras, 1992, 402)
Suvorov article in Military History by Russell Isinger

Alexander Suvorov wrote his Science of Victory (Nauka Pobezhadt) for enlisted soldiers as well as officers. Suvorov recognized that victory depended on the morale, training, and initiative of the front-line soldier. Suvorov's own career easily places him in the top rank of history's great military commanders. He would have easily been a match for Alexander the Great or George S. Patton. (Patton was easily Suvorov's intellectual, if not spiritual, reincarnation.) He was probably more than a match for Napoleon or Frederick the Great. He not only got away with violating Sun Tzu's guidelines for waging war, he won victories by doing so. Philip Longworth (1965) summarizes his career, "He won far too frequently to be called lucky: he never lost."

Few people outside of Russia know about Suvorov, but he is legendary in Russia. Russians revere Suvorov as Britons do King Arthur: "…one Russian legend has it that Suvorov never really died, that he rests in a deep sleep to awaken when Russia is threatened by grave military danger" (Menning, 1986).

Both Suvorov and Stalin forbade their troops to retreat, but they used different methods to get them to obey. Stalin ordered "blocking units" to shoot soldiers who gave ground. Suvorov prevented retreats by instilling his troops with pride, morale, and self-confidence. The Russians under Suvorov never considered retreat because they knew themselves to be better than the enemy!

Suvorov's ranking in military history

 

Top rank: the greatest commanders of all time. Rarely if ever lost a battle, and usually won without losing many troops. Achieved seemingly impossible victories.	Alexander III of Macedonia, "The Great." Alexander V. Suvorov Alexander the Great inherited a powerful military organization from his father, Philip II. Suvorov had to develop one, with Russian peasants as his raw material. Alexander the Great has the advantage of combining military and civil authority into one person: himself. He did not have to deal with the interference of incompetent sovereigns like Tsar Paul, nor was he answerable to nominal superiors like Potemkin. Suvorov achieved what he did despite such interference. Final choice: Alexander V. Suvorov, greatest military commander of all time. This is not to say that Alexander the Great would not have achieved what he did without his advantages, but he definitely had a head start on Suvorov. It is quite likely that neither could have beaten the other decisively had they been on opposite sides at any time in history. They thought alike and they inspired confidence and commitment among the soldiers they led.
Subset: Possibly in the top rank, but not enough information	Hannibal (lost only once, at Zama, largely because the Romans acquired his Numidian cavalry). Horatio Nelson: crushed French and Spanish fleets in overwhelming victories. Shorter track record than Alexander the Great and Marshal Suvorov George S. Patton, Jr. (intellectual reincarnation of Alexander the Great and of Suvorov: his principle of speed mirrored theirs, and he inspired confidence and high morale among his men)
Second rank: famous commanders. Sometimes lost battles but usually won. Often sustained serious casualties.	Napoleon Bonaparte (amazing victories, but he made serious mistakes on occasion, e.g. the invasion of Russia) Frederick II, "The Great," of Prussia (usually won but not always; heavy casualties eventually destroyed his army of veterans. Like Alexander the Great, he inherited a good army from his father.) Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington Helmuth Karl Bernhard, Graf von Moltke (1800-1891)

Suvorov appears in Lord Byron's Don Juan. If you're interested, the entire poem appears at Bob Blair's page (and may be available on line from Project Gutenburg). Don Juan was, of course, the famous lover/ swashbuckler, and Byron gives him a role in the siege of the Turkish fortress of Ismail.
 
 

From the Seventh Canto VIII       "Fierce loves and faithless wars" -- I am not sure            If this be the right reading -- 't is no matter;       The fact's about the same, I am secure;            I sing them both, and am about to batter       A town which did a famous siege endure,            And was beleaguer'd both by land and water       By Souvaroff, or Anglicè Suwarrow,       Who loved blood as an alderman loves marrow.       IX       The fortress is call'd Ismail, and is placed            Upon the Danube's left branch and left bank,       With buildings in the Oriental taste,            But still a fortress of the foremost rank,       Or was at least, unless 't is since defaced,            Which with your conquerors is a common prank:       It stands some eighty versts from the high sea,       And measures round of toises thousands three.       X       Within the extent of this fortification            A borough is comprised along the height       Upon the left, which from its loftier station            Commands the city, and upon its site       A Greek had raised around this elevation            A quantity of palisades upright,       So placed as to impede the fire of those       Who held the place, and to assist the foe's.  XI       This circumstance may serve to give a notion            Of the high talents of this new Vauban:       But the town ditch below was deep as ocean,            The rampart higher than you'd wish to hang:       But then there was a great want of precaution            (Prithee, excuse this engineering slang),       Nor work advanced, nor cover'd way was there,       To hint at least "Here is no thoroughfare."  ...      XLVI       But to the tale: -- great joy unto the camp!            To Russian, Tartar, English, French, Cossacque,       O'er whom Suwarrow shone like a gas lamp,            Presaging a most luminous attack;       Or like a wisp along the marsh so damp,            Which leads beholders on a boggy walk,       He flitted to and fro a dancing light,       Which all who saw it follow'd, wrong or right.  ... LI       New batteries were erected, and was held            A general council, in which unanimity,       That stranger to most councils, here prevail'd,            As sometimes happens in a great extremity;       And every difficulty being dispell'd,            Glory began to dawn with due sublimity,       While Souvaroff, determined to obtain it,       Was teaching his recruits to use the bayonet. LII       It is an actual fact, that he, commander            In chief, in proper person deign'd to drill       The awkward squad, and could afford to squander           His time, a corporal's duty to fulfil:       Just as you'd break a sucking salamander            To swallow flame, and never take it ill:       He show'd them how to mount a ladder (which       Was not like Jacob's) or to cross a ditch.  LIII       Also he dress'd up, for the nonce, fascines            Like men with turbans, scimitars, and dirks,       And made them charge with bayonet these machines,            By way of lesson against actual Turks:       And when well practised in these mimic scenes,            He judged them proper to assail the works;       At which your wise men sneer'd in phrases witty:       He made no answer; but he took the city.  ... LV       Suwarrow chiefly was on the alert,            Surveying, drilling, ordering, jesting, pondering;       For the man was, we safely may assert,            A thing to wonder at beyond most wondering;       Hero, buffoon, half-demon, and half-dirt,            Praying, instructing, desolating, plundering;       Now Mars, now Momus; and when bent to storm       A fortress, Harlequin in uniform.  ...     [Here, Don Juan and his companion Johnson meet Suvorov] LVIII       Suwarrow, who was standing in his shirt            Before a company of Calmucks, drilling,       Exclaiming, fooling, swearing at the inert,            And lecturing on the noble art of killing, --       For deeming human clay but common dirt,            This great philosopher was thus instilling       His maxims, which to martial comprehension       Proved death in battle equal to a pension; --       LIX       Suwarrow, when he saw this company            Of Cossacques and their prey, turn'd round and cast       Upon them his slow brow and piercing eye: --            "Whence come ye?" -- "From Constantinople last,       Captives just now escaped," was the reply.            "What are ye?" -- "What you see us." Briefly pass'd       This dialogue; for he who answer'd knew       To whom he spoke, and made his words but few.       LX       "Your names?" -- "Mine's Johnson, and my comrade's Juan;            The other two are women, and the third      Is neither man nor woman." The chief threw on            The party a slight glance, then said, "I have heard       Your name before, the second is a new one:            To bring the other three here was absurd:       But let that pass: -- I think I have heard your name       In the Nikolaiew regiment?" -- "The same."       LXI       "You served at Widdin?" -- "Yes." -- "You led the attack?"            "I did." -- "What next?" -- "I really hardly know."       "You were the first i' the breach?" -- "I was not slack            At least to follow those who might be so."       "What follow'd?" -- "A shot laid me on my back,            And I became a prisoner to the foe."       "You shall have vengeance, for the town surrounded       Is twice as strong as that where you were wounded.       LXII       "Where will you serve?" -- "Where'er you please." -- "I know            You like to be the hope of the forlorn,       And doubtless would be foremost on the foe            After the hardships you've already borne.       And this young fellow -- say what can he do?            He with the beardless chin and garments torn?"       "Why, general, if he hath no greater fault       In war than love, he had better lead the assault."       LXIII       "He shall if that he dare." Here Juan bow'd            Low as the compliment deserved. Suwarrow       Continued: "Your old regiment's allow'd,            By special providence, to lead to-morrow,       Or it may be to-night, the assault: I have vow'd            To several saints, that shortly plough or harrow       Shall pass o'er what was Ismail, and its tusk       Be unimpeded by the proudest mosque.       LXIV       "So now, my lads, for glory!" -- Here he turn'd            And drill'd away in the most classic Russian,       Until each high, heroic bosom burn'd            For cash and conquest, as if from a cushion       A preacher had held forth (who nobly spurn'd            All earthly goods save tithes) and bade them push on       To slay the Pagans who resisted, battering       The armies of the Christian Empress Catherine.

From the Eighth Canto Suvorov triumphant: the fall of Ismail CXXVII       But let me put an end unto my theme:            There was an end of Ismail -- hapless town!       Far flash'd her burning towers o'er Danube's stream,            And redly ran his blushing waters down.       The horrid war-whoop and the shriller scream            Rose still; but fainter were the thunders grown:       Of forty thousand who had mann'd the wall,       Some hundreds breathed -- the rest were silent all!  ... CXXXIII       Suwarrow now was conqueror -- a match            For Timour or for Zinghis in his trade.       While mosques and streets, beneath his eyes, like thatch            Blazed, and the cannon's roar was scarce allay'd,       With bloody hands he wrote his first despatch;            And here exactly follows what he said: --       "Glory to God and to the Empress!" (Powers       Eternal! such names mingled!) "Ismail's ours."       CXXXIV       Methinks these are the most tremendous words,            Since "Mene, Mene, Tekel," and "Upharsin,"       Which hands or pens have ever traced of swords.            Heaven help me! I'm but little of a parson:       What Daniel read was short-hand of the Lord's,            Severe, sublime; the prophet wrote no farce on       The fate of nations; -- but this Russ so witty       Could rhyme, like Nero, o'er a burning city.       CXXXV       He wrote this Polar melody, and set it,            Duly accompanied by shrieks and groans,       Which few will sing, I trust, but none forget it --            For I will teach, if possible, the stones       To rise against earth's tyrants. Never let it            Be said that we still truckle unto thrones; --       But ye -- our children's children! think how we       Show'd what things were before the world was free!    Poster from http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/lirsk/bildseit/kukryn.htm, used by permission. Background figures are (left to right) Alexander Nevsky, Suvorov, and Red Army commander Chapev) "Wir schlagen uns tapfer, wehren uns verzweifelt - die Enkel von Suvorov, die Kinder Chapaevs."                1941

Vauban, Sebastian. French field marshal of the late 17th century, and famous military engineer. Return Suvorov taught his soldiers the "through attack" (or "attack through") with the bayonet for infantry, and the equivalent with lance or sabre for cavalry. The attackers did not stop to trade blows (as is usually portrayed in the movies), but instead tried to rush through the enemy line whether or not they hit their opponents. It is easy to imagine the effect on the enemy's organization and morale. The drills for this tactic sometimes caused serious injuries and even fatalities, although the soldiers turned their weapons away when they closed with the opposing drill line. The casualties resulted from collisions, especially between galloping cavalry. The drills also, however, removed the soldiers' (and horses') natural fear of massed bayonets so, in battle, they triumphed over opponents not so drilled. See Philip Longworth, The Art of Victory, if you can find a copy; it is out of print. Return "squander his time..." Byron cites one of Suvorov's success secrets, but derides it as a waste of the Marshal's time! Modern management experts agree that, for training to be effective, upper managers, including and especially the CEO, must show their commitment to its importance. They should, in fact, participate themselves! Suvorov was about 200 years ahead of them. Return "judged them proper..." Only after the soldiers have been well trained does Suvorov assign them to important work. The same lesson applies to modern business. Return

Timour or Zinghis: Tamerlane and Genghis Khan respectively. Suvorov was not as bloodthirsty as Byron paints him- in fact, at the storming of the Praga Fortress, he destroyed the bridge between the fort and the nearby city to prevent his soldiers from sacking the city. Ismail was looted, but Suvorov himself declined to take part in the spoils. The casualties at Ismail were horrific on both sides (one third of the Russian enlisted troops and two thirds of their officers), probabily due to the ferocity of the Turkish Janissaries who were defending the fortress; many preferred death over surrender. The Russians' persistance despite such losses attests to Suvorov's organizational development skills. Return

Levinson (1994, ASQC Quality Press) The Way of Strategy applies lessons from Clausewitz, Machiavelli, Miyamoto Musashi, and Sun Tzu to modern business management.
Levinson (editor, 1998, ASQ Quality Press) Leading the Way to Competitive Excellence: The Harris Mountaintop Case Study uses Alexander the Great as its archetypical symbol for innovative thinking.
Unfortunately, I hadn't read much about Suvorov before I wrote these books. Many of his principles are applicable to modern business management!

Bibliography

Longworth, Philip. 1965. The Art of Victory. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston

Menning, Bruce W. 1986. "Train Hard, Fight Easy: The Legacy of A. V. Suvorov and his 'Art of Victory.'" Air University Review, November-December 1986, 79-88. (Furnished by the U.S. Army War College Library, Carlisle, PA)

Tsouras, Peter G. 1992. Warriors' Words– A Dictionary of Military Quotations. London: Cassell Arms and Armor Press