Back in the day, war generals would fight side by side with their troops on the battlefield. Why does that no longer happen anymore?
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Generals generally don’t want to die in combat and for good reason – they’re the ones making decisions and, to do that, they need to know what’s going on. They can’t see the battlefield from the front lines, so they tend to stand on hills riding horses to get a view of things, with messengers coming in and out of that central location so they can give out new orders based on the changing situation.
At least that’s what they did before radio. Once radio became a thing, there’s no real need to put your generals in unnecessary danger where the opponent can destroy your entire command structure then and there.
1. It is much easier to kill generals and officers with modern weapons than it did centuries ago. For example, in WW2 Soviet general Ivan Chernyakhovsky was killed by artillery fire while inspecting the front. Prior to wide spread use of firearms a commander could be protected by bodyguards and armor. Even when firearms were widely available many didn’t have the range or precision to hit generals on the field until like the mid to late 1800s.
2. War has gotten more complex as time has gone on. A general and his staff have to coordinate many other formations over a wider frontline than in previous centuries. One division of soldiers (roughly 10,000 men) in the US army is expected to hold a frontline of around 25 miles. This means a lot of substituent formations have to conduct their own maneuvers and objectives planned by the general and his staff. You can delegate lower ranking officers like lieutenants, captains, majors, and colonels to local areas of fighting.
3. Technology has allowed for generals to get more real time updates on the fighting without being on the immediate frontline of the enemy.
I thought it was interesting when I heard on Behind the Bastards (inb4 a bunch of people sploosh for that podcast) talked about the American rebel army being looked down on for killing Army officers in combat.
Apparently the logic at the time was that you avoided killing officers, because if you happened to lose, without officers there wasn’t anyone to keep the troops in check and prevent or at least minimize raping and pillaging.
So even though it would be advantageous to kill officers to break up command and communication, it was avoided.
But, even more interestingly, but again logically, this did not apply to Naval warfare where officers *were* commonly targeted. Because after a navy battle, there’s not really a countryside to go rape and pillage.
Alongside most of these answers that clarify that the vast majority of the time they did not.
Officers that stood out and could be recognized on the front lines stopped being a thing after WW1.
Reason: during WW1 there were a lot of officers that died because if you can recognize your officer at a glance, then the enemy can too, and snipers exist now.
War used to last a day
Waterloo lasted 3 days and Napoleon was near the front the whole time
But the battle at Verdun lasted 11 months. With surviving troops being rotated every 2 weeks.
No single person could survive that environment. Not even dug into their fortresses.
>side by side with their troops on the battlefield.
This bit might be a bit misleading.
A lot of historical generals famously *led from the front*, but they didn’t really “fight side by side” the way your quote implies.
Alexander the great for example didn’t fight in the phalanx (how would he give orders if he was busy in the shield wall?). Well into his reign he did take personal command of half the companion cavalry, but its unclear how much he partook in wildly swinging his sword at people trying to kill him.
While Alexander and Hannibal of Carthage are two famous historical example both their deeds are heavily draped in myth and legend. But we know that leading from the front happened.
As an addendum not leading from the front is risky too. Since you still need to be close enough communicate effectively.
Look up Colonel “H” Jones VC of the Parachute Regiment for an example of a senior officer fighting alongside his troops *and* setting and example for why senior officers should *not* fight alongside their troops.
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