Ramses II Military Leadership
Kadesh was a city in what is today the country of Syria, an important center of trade in the ancient world. In 1274 BC Pharaoh Ramses II prepared to campaign in the region due to waning influence in Canaan. Though this area had been secured by his father Seti I, it had slipped back under the influence of the Hittite Empire. Gathering an army at the fortress Tharu, Ramses divided it into four divisions called Amun, Ra, Set, and Ptah. To support this force he also recruited a force of sherden mercenaries. Marching north, the Egyptian divisions traveled together along the trade routes they sought to defend while he had some troops along the Syrian coast. As they approached the city of Kadesh, Ramses received false information about the Hittites locations. This lead to an ambush but Ramses was able to gather what troops he had left and fend off the Hittites. Ramses II showed good military leadership because demonstrated some of the characteristics of a military genius discussed by Carl Von Clausewitz such as courage, presence of mind, and strength of character when they were ambushed by the Hittites. However he is not a military genius because he lacked the high intelligence to suspect he received false information about the Hittites location in the first place.
In the bulletin and poem for the battle of Kadesh, Ramses was repeatedly compared to gods such as Mont, the god of war. Since the people of ancient Egypt would attribute victories to the intervention of gods, this is actually describing characteristics of Ramses that they did not understand. For example, in the bulletin when the Hittites began their ambush it says “when his majesty caught sight of them he rose quickly, enraged at them like his father Mont. Taking up weapons and donning his armor he was like Seth in his moment of power. He mounted ‘Victory-in-Thebes,’ his great horse, and started out quickly alone by himself” (pg. 62). This could be referring to multiple characteristics that were described by Carl Von Clausewitz. When it says “he rose quickly, enraged like his father Mont’ it could be describing strength of character and presence of mind. Clausewitz defines strength of character as “the ability to keep one’s head at times of exceptional stress and violent emotion” (pg. 105) and presence of mind as “the speed and immediacy of the help provided by the intellect” (pg. 104). Ramses acted quickly because he has good presence of mind. Even though he was enraged, he had the strength of character to keep calm and acted rationally. In the poem, he had done a quick prayer to Amun before he began to attack the Hittites on his own. As Lictheim noted, it is would have been impossible for Ramses to actual fight the entire Hittite army alone; Therefore it is more likely that the prayer had calmed down his panicking troops, allowing them rally.
Although the part about Ramses fighting alone is a fictionalized part of the account, propaganda meant to make the pharaoh look more heroic, it might be telling of the courage Ramses had. Clausewitz says there are two type of courage in the face of personal danger. There is courage from being indifferent to danger and courage that comes from emotions. Clausewitz states, “There is more reliability is the first kind, more boldness in the second. The first leaves the mind calmer; the second tends to stimulate, but can also blind. The highest kind of courage is a compound of both” (pg. 101). Ramses had experience in battle and that may have made him indifferent to danger. Also, it is not hard to believe that Ramses would be enraged at the sight of an ambushed just like the bulletin says which would create the second kind of courage; combining these two factors would give Ramses the “highest kind of courage” described by Clausewitz.
The one mistake Ramses made was not realizing the two deserters from the Hittite army were actually spies who gave him false information about the Hittite armies’ location. Clausewitz stated, “War is the realm of uncertainty; three quarters of the factors on which action of war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty. A sensitive and discriminating judgment is called for; a skilled intelligence to scent out the truth” (pg. 101). If Ramses had the intelligence of a military genius he would have been able to “scent out the truth.” He would have suspected those Hittites were actually spies and would never have been ambushed in the first place.
Thus, if we examine the battle of Kadesh, it seems like Ramses leadership greatly affected the outcome the battle. His courage, presence of mind, and strength of character lead the Egyptians to rally against the Hittite ambush. Ultimately, the Egyptian won the battle but it probably could have been a much easier or decisive victory if Ramses had discovered the Hittites ruse. Therefore Ramses demonstrated good military leadership but he is not a military genius.