Word: ridgway
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Nevertheless, it was clear that Lieut. General Matthew Ridgway and his Eighth Army had the situation, such as it was, well in hand. Bolstered by an aggressive defense in depth, they had broken the powerful offensive of three Chinese Communist armies down the mountainous spine of central Korea...
...campaign in the Korean peninsula bore striking resemblance to the Duke of Wellington's "Peninsular Campaign" against Napoleon's armies in Spain. The Iron Duke, like Matthew Ridgway, was pitted against enemy armies of overwhelming numerical superiority, capable of getting steady overland reinforcements. Wellington's troops, like the Eighth Army, were supplied by overwhelming seapower. Wrote Wellington, describing his "war of maneuver": "If they advance against me, I shall retire before them, accepting battle if they give me a favorable opportunity, for the missile action of my lines is superior to the shock action of their columns...
This time the play did not click. U.N. troops gave up unimportant sectors, but held where they had to, as at Chipyong. Then General Ridgway shifted his strength eastward from Seoul. The U.N. line snapped back. Armored counterattacks relieved Chipyong, smashed north from Wonju. North of Ichon, U.N. troops bashed in the west flank of the Red drive...
This week the Reds broke contact over most of a 70-mile front, fell back to lick their wounds. Matthew Ridgway, who is not given to boasting, claimed a clear-cut victory: "We have defeated the Communist counteroffensive in the central sector. The Communists have taken a fearful beating, and have disengaged...
Some observers had the same shivery feeling that accompanied the Chinese breakthrough of last November and the wholesale U.N. retreat that followed. But the situation this time was quite different. Largely as a result of General Ridgway's morale-boosting, the Eighth Army was no longer suffering from "bugout fever" (an overquick tendency to retreat in case of trouble). Instead of being strung out in vulnerable "pursuit formation," Ridgway had been advancing carefully, compactly, on constant guard against surprise attacks and flank threats. Moreover, when they struck in November, the Chinese were fresh, confident, unhurt. Now they had been...