Suppose you have a hypothetical general in the 1400s to the 1740s, which I'm going to call the Early Modern Era for the sake of making it easier to say. I know people usually call Napoleonic Wars in the Earl Modern era, but Napoleon kind of redid the whole war thing, so I'm not going to count that.
This general is an above average in most aspects of what a general needs to do. What is expected of a general of this time?
I think it was expected him to be of noble birth. Not to say there weren't merit promotions, but that's the norm.
An officer, including a general, was expected to a polite gentleman.
The leader of the army was expected to be charismatic. Since the King usually isn't there, it falls to a general doesn't it?
A general is expected to know which battles should be fought.
A general should be able to keep his army fed. Sometimes this isn't exactly doable when the government gives you a terrible position (like the Continental Army in the American Revolution), but if your faction produces enough food to eat and enough powder to shoot, there isn't much of an excuse to run out of it (which many armies managed to do).
An officer, including generals, should be able to figure out which of his subordinates are loyal and competent.
This hypothetical general is better than most of his peers at all that. But what does he really shine in? He's a master tactician.
On the battlefield, he can dissect the enemy and anticipate ambushes (line fighting was more common than ambushes, but it can happen). He'll never fall for a fake retreat. He anticipates enemy artillery locations. In field battles in both plains and rough terrain (forests or even lightly wooded areas), he's a master at making wins on the defense and offense. When on the defense, he can easily prevent a beachhead made by attackers. The general is also a master of cavalry tactics.
Now obviously, there is only one of him. Should he ride on a horse and go to the front? This gives him maximum visibility and reaction time. It also means he could fall to friendly fire (which many a frontline general did). As there is only one of him for his kingdom, that's kind of a big deal On the other hand, directing from the back means that there is a delay. Scouts have to make observations, go to the general, and then go back with the relevant orders since no one invited the radio and I don't even think semaphores are in use on land at this time either.
This general is an above average in most aspects of what a general needs to do. What is expected of a general of this time?
I think it was expected him to be of noble birth. Not to say there weren't merit promotions, but that's the norm.
An officer, including a general, was expected to a polite gentleman.
The leader of the army was expected to be charismatic. Since the King usually isn't there, it falls to a general doesn't it?
A general is expected to know which battles should be fought.
A general should be able to keep his army fed. Sometimes this isn't exactly doable when the government gives you a terrible position (like the Continental Army in the American Revolution), but if your faction produces enough food to eat and enough powder to shoot, there isn't much of an excuse to run out of it (which many armies managed to do).
An officer, including generals, should be able to figure out which of his subordinates are loyal and competent.
This hypothetical general is better than most of his peers at all that. But what does he really shine in? He's a master tactician.
On the battlefield, he can dissect the enemy and anticipate ambushes (line fighting was more common than ambushes, but it can happen). He'll never fall for a fake retreat. He anticipates enemy artillery locations. In field battles in both plains and rough terrain (forests or even lightly wooded areas), he's a master at making wins on the defense and offense. When on the defense, he can easily prevent a beachhead made by attackers. The general is also a master of cavalry tactics.
Now obviously, there is only one of him. Should he ride on a horse and go to the front? This gives him maximum visibility and reaction time. It also means he could fall to friendly fire (which many a frontline general did). As there is only one of him for his kingdom, that's kind of a big deal On the other hand, directing from the back means that there is a delay. Scouts have to make observations, go to the general, and then go back with the relevant orders since no one invited the radio and I don't even think semaphores are in use on land at this time either.