Trevor N. Dupuy
Encyclopedia
Trevor Nevitt Dupuy was a Colonel, United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, retired, soldier and noted military historian.

Biography

Born in New York, the son of noted military historian, R. Ernest Dupuy, Trevor followed in his father's footsteps. Trevor Dupuy attended West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

, graduating in the class of 1938. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he commanded a U.S. Army artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

, a Chinese artillery group, and an artillery detachment from the British 36th Infantry Division
British 36th Infantry Division
The 36th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army during the Second World War. The division was subsequently converted to a British Army formation and redesignated the 36th Infantry Division. It served in India and during the Burma Campaign...

. He was always proud of the fact that he had more combat time in Burma than any other American, and received decorations for service or valour from the U.S., British, and Chinese governments. After the war Dupuy served in the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 Operations Division from 1945 to 1947, and as military assistant to the Under Secretary of the Army from 1947 to 1948. He was a member of the original Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe is the central command of NATO military forces. It is located at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons...

 (SHAPE) staff in Paris under Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

 and Matthew Ridgway
Matthew Ridgway
Matthew Bunker Ridgway was a United States Army General. He held several major commands and was most famous for resurrecting the United Nations war effort during the Korean War. Several historians have credited Ridgway for turning around the war in favor of the UN side...

 from 1950 to 1952.

It is as a military historian and a theorist that Trevor Dupuy would make a lasting mark on the world. He is perhaps best known for his massive book The Encyclopedia Of Military History (co-written, like many of his books, with his father R. Ernest Dupuy). Starting from the beginning of history and going up the present day the book tries to cover all the major (and minor) military conflicts in world history. Usually each entry (arranged chronologically and by region) gives little more than the names of the commanders and (often) very rough estimates for the size of the forces involved in the campaigns. Dupuy was not afraid of expressing an opinion and he classified some of his subjects as Great Captains (such as Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...

, Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...

 and Napoleon). Like most Western reference works it spends far more time dealing with wars in Europe and the United States than the rest of the world, but it does at least try to cover the entire world. The Encyclopedia Of Military History has been revised (and updated) several times, most recently in 1993. It can be found in the reference section of most American libraries.

After Dupuy left active service in the Army in 1952, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 appointed him as a Professor of Military Science
Military science
Military science is the process of translating national defence policy to produce military capability by employing military scientists, including theorists, researchers, experimental scientists, applied scientists, designers, engineers, test technicians, and military personnel responsible for...

 and Tactics
Military tactics
Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...

, where he helped found the Harvard Defense Studies Program (directed from 1958 to 1971 by Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...

). He left Harvard in 1956 to become director of the program in military studies at The Ohio State University. After retiring from active military duty in 1958, he served as a visiting professor in the International Relations Program at Rangoon University (now Yangon University) in Burma. From 1960 to 1962 Dupuy worked for the Institute for Defense Analyses
Institute for Defense Analyses
The Institute for Defense Analyses is a non-profit corporation that administers three federally funded research and development centers to assist the United States government in addressing important national security issues, particularly those requiring scientific and technical expertise...

, a government-funded think tank.

In 1962 he formed the first of his research companies dedicated to the study and analysis of armed conflict, the Historical Evaluation and Research Organization (HERO), and served as President and Executive Director until 1983. From 1967 to 1983 he was also President of T. N. Dupuy Associates Inc. (TNDA), which became the parent organization for HERO. In 1983, TNDA sold its assets (including HERO) to a new corporation he formed called Data Memory Systems, Inc. (DMSI). Trevor was the president and largest stockholder in DMSI. In 1990, Dupuy resigned from DMSI, sold his stock and reactivated TNDA. In 1992 TNDA was closed out, and he established the non-profit The Dupuy Institute (TDI).

Dupuy's main contribution to military operation analysis is the assessment method Quantified Judgment Method or QJM, where the outcome of a battle is predicted using a fairly complicated multiplicative-additive formula in which various factors relating to the strength and fire power of the fighting parties as well as the circumstances are taken into account. Dupuy and his associates adjusted the parameters of his model by using known statistical facts of several recorded battles.

Dupuy committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 by gunshot at his home in Vienna, Virginia
Vienna, Virginia
Vienna is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687. Significantly more people live in zip codes with the Vienna postal addresses bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to...

 on June 5, 1995. He had learned three weeks earlier that he had terminal pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...

. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...

. During his lifetime he wrote or co-wrote more than 50 books.

When he died, he had been married 5 times, with his last wife being Zhang Yun. He spawned 9 children - 6 boys and 3 girls.

Quotes

  • "My personal feeling is that if I have done anything worthwhile, it is in military theory and the relationship of the elements of historical experience to theory."

  • “I was brought up by my father to be both a soldier and a military historian. To him the two were inseparable, and that is the way it has always been for me.”

Books and Publications

  • To the Colors: The Way of Life of an Army Officer (with R.E. Dupuy), Chicago, 1942
  • Faithful and True: History of the 5th Field Artillery, Schwabisch-Hall, Germany, 1949
  • Campaigns of the French Revolution and of Napoleon, Cambridge, Ma, 1956

  • Brave Men and Great Captains (With R. E. Dupuy), New York, 1960, 1984, 1993
  • Compact History of the Civil War (with R.E. Dupuy), New York, 1960, 1991
  • Civil War Land Battles, New York, 1960
  • Civil War Naval Actions, New York, 1961

  • Military History Of World War II, New York, 1962-65 (in 18 fairly short books):











Vol. 1 - European Land Battles: 1939–1943 Vol. 2 - European Land Battles: 1944–1945
Vol. 3 - Land Battles: North Africa, Sicily, And Italy Vol. 4 - The Naval War In The West: The Raiders
Vol. 5 - The Naval War In The West: The Wolf Packs Vol. 6 - The Air War In The West: September 1939-May 1941
Vol. 7 - The Air War In The West: June 1941-April 1945 Vol. 8 - Asiatic Land Battles: Expansion Of Japan In Asia
Vol. 9 - Asiatic Land Battles: Japanese Ambitions In The Pacific   Vol. 10 - Asiatic Land Battles: Allied Victories In China And Burma
Vol. 11 - The Naval War In The Pacific: Rising Sun Of Nippon Vol. 12 - The Naval War In The Pacific: On To Tokyo
Vol. 13 - The Air War In The Pacific: Air Power Leads The Way Vol. 14 - The Air War In The Pacific: Victory In The Air
Vol. 15 - European Resistance Movements Vol. 16 - Asian And Axis Resistance Movements
Vol. 17 - Leaders Of World War II Vol. 18 - Chronological Survey Of World War II

  • Compact History of the Revolutionary War (With R. E. Dupuy), New York, 1963
  • Holidays, Editor, Contributor., New York, 1965
  • Military Heritage Of America (With R. E. Dupuy, Paul Braim), 2 Vols., New York, 1966, 1986, 1992

  • Military History Of World War I, New York, 1967 (in 12 fairly short books):








Vol. 1 - 1914: The Battles In The West Vol. 2 - 1914: The Battles In The East
Vol. 3 - Stalemate In The Trenches, November 1914-March 1918   Vol. 4 - Triumphs And Tragedies In The East: 1915-17
Vol. 5 - The Campaigns On The Turkish Fronts Vol. 6 - Campaigns In Southern Europe
Vol. 7 - 1918: The German Offensives Vol. 8 - 1918: Decision In The West
Vol. 9 - Naval And Overseas War: 1914-15 Vol. 10 - Naval And Overseas War: 1916- 18
Vol. 11 - The War In The Air Vol. 12 - Summary Of World War I

  • The Battle Of Austerlitz, New York, 1968
  • Modern Libraries For Modern Colleges: Research Strategies For Design And Development, Washington, D.C., 1968
  • Ferment In College Libraries: The Impact Of Information Technology, Washington, D.C., 1968
  • Mediapower: A College Plans For An Integrated Media Service System, Washington, D.C., 1968
  • Military History Of The Chinese Civil War, New York, 1969

  • The Military Lives Series (published in 1969 and 1970) :








The Military Life Of Alexander The Great The Military Life Of Hannibal
The Military Life Of Julius Caesar The Military Life Of Genghis Khan
The Military Life Of Gustavus Adolphus The Military Life Of Frederick The Great
The Military Life Of George Washington   The Military Life Of Napoleon
The Military Life Of Abraham Lincoln The Military Life Of Hindenburg And Ludendorff
The Military Life Of Adolph Hitler The Military Life Of Winston Churchill

  • Revolutionary War Naval Battles (With Grace P. Hayes), New York, 1970
  • Revolutionary War Land Battles (With Gay M. Hammerman), New York, 1970
  • Mongolia, Foreign Area Studies Handbook, Washington, D.C., 1970
  • Almanac Of World Military Power 1970 (With John A. Andrews, Grace P. Hayes), New York, 1970
  • Almanac Of World Military Power 1972 (With John A. Andrews, Grace P. Hayes), New York, 1972
  • Documentary History Of Arms Control And Disarmament (With Gay M. Hammerman), New York, 1974
  • World Military Leaders (With Grace P. Hayes, Paul Martell), 1974
  • Almanac Of World Military Power 1974 (With John A. Andrews, Grace P. Hayes), New York, 1974
  • People And Events Of The American Revolution (With Gay M. Hammerman), New York, 1974
  • An Outline History Of The American Revolution (With R.E. Dupuy), New York, 1975
  • Encyclopedia Of Military History (With R.E. Dupuy), New York, 1975, 1986, 1993
  • A Genius For War: The German Army And General Staff, 1807–1945, New Jersey, 1977, 1984, 1989, 1993
  • Numbers, Predictions and War, New York, 1978, 1985
  • Elusive Victory: The Arab-Israeli Wars, 1947–1974, New York, 1978, 1984, 1989, 1992

  • Almanac Of World Military Power 1980 (With John A. Andrews, Grace P. Hayes), New York, 1980
  • The Evolution Of Weapons And Warfare, New York, 1980, 1984, 1986
  • Great Battles Of The Eastern Front (With Paul Martell), New York, 1982
  • Options Of Command, New York, 1984
  • Flawed Victory: The Arab-Israeli Conflict And The 1982 War In Lebanon (With Paul Martell), Virginia, 1986
  • Understanding War: Military History And The Theory Of Combat, New York, 1986
  • Dictionary Of Military Terms (With Curt Johnson, Grace P. Hayes), New York, 1987

  • Understanding Defeat, New York, 1990
  • Attrition: Forecasting Battle Casualties And Equipment Losses In Modern War, Virginia, 1990
  • If War Comes, How To Defeat Saddam Hussein, Virginia, 1991
  • Future Wars: The World'S Most Dangerous Flashpoints, New York, 1992
  • Encyclopedia Of Military Biography (With Curt Johnson, David L. Bongard), New York, 1992
  • International Military And Defense Encyclopedia, (Brassey'S) 6 Vols., Editor In Chief, New York, 1992
  • Hitler's Last Gamble (With David L. Bongard, Richard C. Anderson), New York, 1994
  • Unpublished Manuscripts By Trevor N. Dupuy
  • Great Captains And Modern War
  • Military Myths (Unfinished)
  • Documentary History Of The U.S. Armed Forces (Unfinished)

External links

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