Military Academy in 1830, and for the next forty years taught engineering and operational strategy to a host of future Civil War generals. In the first part of the nineteenth century, the American military thinker Dennis Hart Mahan introduced Jominian logic to the United States after spending four years in France analyzing Napoleonic warfare. Like other Enlightenment philosophers, Jomini tried to reduce war-a very complex human phenomenon-to a rational science. He argued that his principles had brought victories to Hannibal, Caesar, and Napoleon therefore, no matter how warfare changed, they would always prevail. Yet, claiming that his precepts were perennial truths, he shunned these advances. Jomini, who lived to be ninety years old, witnessed the rapid rise of railroads, telegraph, and other technologies. Third, the enemy must be maneuvered into a vulnerable position one should then launch a massive and concentrated attack upon this critical point. Second, before engaging the enemy, rivers, mountains, and other topographical features must be used to gain added leverage. First, keeping in mind the military objective, one should carefully select a theater of war that provides all the offensive advantages. In The Art of War (1838), Jomini outlined several Principles of War, of which three were essential. After joining the French Army and fighting in several major campaigns, including Napoleon's war against Russia (1812), Jomini ascertained that battle successes were often based on a few pre‐engagement principles. Yearning to repeat Sir Isaac Newton's discoveries, Antoine Henri Jomini (1779–1869) suggested that all operational decisions could be rationally determined. Prussia's Heinrich von Bülow (1757–1808), for instance, declared that triangle‐based geometrics governed all military maneuvers and therefore all strategic decisions. Under the influence of the Enlightenment and its credo that life was governed by rational laws, some scholars tried to translate military strategy into a precise science. They have been a part of strategic thinking since China's war philosopher, Sun Tzu (500 B.C.), admonished commanders to surprise the enemy by making a noise in the west and striking in the east.Ī modern list was developed around 1800, when Napoleon Bonaparte began fighting his way across Europe. Objective, Offensive, Mass, Economy of Forces, Maneuver, Unity of Command, Security, Surprise, and Simplicity are the principles of war most often found in military manuals.