Strategy and Doctrine
Pincer Movement (General Envelopment Tactic)
Also Known As Double Envelopment
Ancient, Carthage
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A pincer movement, or double envelopment, attacks both flanks of an enemy formation simultaneously, aiming to encircle it so the defenders face threats from the front, both sides and the rear at once. Sun Tzu described the maneuver in the Art of War but warned against it, fearing an army would break and run before the encirclement could close. Hannibal's execution of the tactic against Rome at Cannae in 216 BC is called by military historians the first successful use of the pincer movement recorded in detail. Alexander the Great is also credited with a version of it against King Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC, and the Mongol horse armies used a similar enveloping horns formation. Nazi Germany used the same principle at operational scale in blitzkrieg encirclements such as the Battle of Kiev in 1941.
Facts
Core ClaimAttack both flanks of an enemy line at once so the wings close behind it, trading a weaker center for the chance to trap and destroy the whole enemy force rather than merely defeat it. 1 Origin Year216 BC marks Hannibal's victory at Cannae, which military historians cite as the first successful use of the pincer movement recorded in full tactical detail, by Polybius. The maneuver may have been used earlier, at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, and Sun Tzu discussed and cautioned against it in The Art of War around the 6th century BC, but neither earlier instance is recorded with Cannae's level of detail. Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Cannae (216 BC) is called the first successful use of the pincer movement recorded in detail; this entry generalizes the tactic beyond that single battle.
The Mongol enveloping horns formation is a documented application of the same general encirclement principle.
Critiqued Here
Sources
Open Questions (1 open question)
When was the pincer movement first used as a deliberate tactic?
Sources disagree on the tactic's own origin. It may date to Miltiades' weakened-center formation at Marathon in 490 BC, but Wikipedia's own account calls Hannibal's Cannae in 216 BC the first successful use recorded in detail, leaving Marathon as a possible but not confirmed earlier instance.
What would resolve this A close reading of the primary account of Marathon (Herodotus) checked against whether the U-shaped Athenian deployment was a deliberate envelopment plan or an accident of a stretched center meeting stronger wings.
Military HistoryWikipedia: Pincer movement
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Core Claim
Sun Tzu described the encircle-both-flanks maneuver in the Art of War but advised against attempting it, warning that an army would likely break and run before the encirclement could close. The doctrine's core claim, that the tactic is worth attempting, is a later and contested judgment against Sun Tzu's own caution, not a settled consensus.
A dissenting reading, from Sun Tzu (The Art of War)Wikipedia: Pincer movement, Wikipedia
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the pincer movement and the Cannae maneuver?
Pincer movement is the general doctrine; Cannae is this atlas's own entry for its most famous single historical case.
The pincer movement, or double envelopment, is the general doctrine of attacking both flanks of an enemy line at once to encircle it. Double Envelopment (the Cannae Maneuver) is this atlas's own entry for one specific, especially well-documented case of that doctrine: Hannibal's use of it against Rome at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC. Every army that used the general tactic, Alexander at the Hydaspes, the Mongols' horns formation, Nazi Germany's blitzkrieg encirclements, is an instance of the pincer movement; Cannae is simply the instance military historians call the first successful use recorded in detail.
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