After the 1943 slapping incident in Sicily, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, placed General George S. Patton, Jr., in command of the Third Army in France. Arriving in France in late June1944, Patton unleashed one of the most aggressive campaigns in military history. His Third Army advanced relentlessly across Europe, refusing to give the enemy time to recover.
German Army officer, Oberst Rudolf Freiherr von Gersdorff, the chief of staff of the German Seventh Army, said, “The American breakthrough at St. Lô-Avranches, led by General Patton, was carried out with operational genius and unprecedented dash.”1
Momentum is not accidental—it is created by decisive leadership, clear intent, and constant pressure. Patton understood that speed disrupts the opponent and energizes subordinates.
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1Harry Yeide, Fighting Patton, George S. Patton Jr. Through the Eyes of His Enemies,(Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press, 2011), 261
