Denis Mahan and the Foundations of American Theory

During the first half of the nineteenth century, no military thinker arguably had more impact on the United States Army than Denis Hart Mahan. By the time he graduated at the top of his class at West Point in 1824, Mahan had become a protégé of Superintendent Sylvanus Thayer, whose wide-ranging reforms would win him recognition as “Father of the Military Academy.” In 1830, Mahan accepted appointment as Professor of Civil and Military Engineering at West Point and carried his mentor’s work forward in the decades that followed. Mahan’s writings and influence on the officers who, after surviving “Old Cobbon Sense’s” classroom, would dominate the Army nearly to the end of the 19th century made him one of the most important figures in the evolution of American warfare. This talk will describe Mahan’s life, his role in shaping the military academy, the ideas that he promoted in the army, and his place in the American military experience.

Submit your questions for Dr. Rafuse to dolequestions@ku.edu for the question-and-answer portion of the program.

This program is closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.

This special program will be live-streamed to the institute’s YouTube channel and to its website, www.doleinstitute.org. Due to continuing concerns regarding the novel coronavirus pandemic, the program will only be available online. Follow the Dole Institute on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for updates regarding this and future programming.

Ethan S. Rafuse received his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and since 2004 has been a member of the faculty at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, where he is a professor of military history.