# Logistics behind Hannibal's crossing of the Alps **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-behind-hannibals-crossing-of-the-alps/772621 "2016-11-21T02:04:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dofe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@dofe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dofe)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-behind-hannibals-crossing-of-the-alps/772621/1 "2016-11-21T02:04:55Z")
Do historians know much about the logistics behind Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps? More specifically, did he have a supply train backing up his campaign, or did his men obtain supplies through pillage of the land that they crossed? Bonus question: how long could a modern military force (let’s say a US army battalion) operate continuously without outside logistics support? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-behind-hannibals-crossing-of-the-alps/772621/2 "2016-11-21T04:59:47Z")
How far did the German army get in the Battle of the Bulge before they ran out of gas? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-behind-hannibals-crossing-of-the-alps/772621/3 "2016-11-21T05:03:35Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > How far did the German army get in the Battle of the Bulge before they ran out of gas? That doesn’t exactly answer either question, does it? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-behind-hannibals-crossing-of-the-alps/772621/4 "2016-11-21T05:29:16Z")
As I recall, at least one of the Roman writers writing about Hannibal’s campaign had a detailed write-up of exactly how he accomplished it. I remember translating that during second-year Latin. ---
**Author:** ![ziper1221](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a183cd/32.png) [@ziper1221](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ziper1221)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-behind-hannibals-crossing-of-the-alps/772621/5 "2016-11-21T05:30:49Z")
I don’t have any cites, but since nobody else has answered I will give it a try. AFAIK he relied on locals who were either dissatisfied with Rome and would lend them assistance, or were loyal and subsequently got pillaged. An army unit would do very poorly under those conditions. I think only days. Maybe weeks if the fighting was not too heavy and they knew to conserve supplies. One of the few reasons to have a marine corps in modern times is that they can operated as self contained units. A MEU brings its own logistics and would do much better. Of course, special operations are designed to operate completely behind enemy lines, without even the benefit of bringing dedicated logistics stuff with them. They might use supply airdrops and such, though. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-behind-hannibals-crossing-of-the-alps/772621/6 "2016-11-21T12:20:28Z")
Here is some published academic research on “THE CAMPAIGNS OF HANNIBAL AND SCIPIO” > [@](#): > > Logistics was a constant source of worry for Hannibal. To move and sustain an army > totaling upwards of 100,000 men for 20 years is a feat achieved rarely in human history > and ranks him as a logistical genius. Because it would have been impossible to sustain any > significant amount of provisions from his lines of communication, Hannibal attacked and > captured Roman grain storage and provisioning supplies to outfit his men. The siege of > Saguntum and the capture of Clastidium accomplished just this end. (Polybius, 238) He > stored the majority of this wealth at his Spanish logistical base at New Carthage, where he > also maintained his lines of communication to Carthage via a sizable naval fleet. He used > his new allies throughout Spain and Italy to supply him with replacement troops, goods > and services in return for securing the allies freedom from their enemies. He wintered his > troops, with rare exceptions, where they were safe from attack from the Romans, and > trained his men with weapons captured from defeated enemies. This freedom of > movement was due in part to Rome’s Fabian strategy of harassing but not engaging the > Carthaginian armies. www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA398480 This is a pdf. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-behind-hannibals-crossing-of-the-alps/772621/7 "2016-11-21T13:42:26Z")
> [@dofe](#): > > …Bonus question: how long could a modern military force (let’s say a US army battalion) operate continuously without outside logistics support? How modern? General Sherman marched into the South with his army and pillaged and lived very well off the land for a couple of months, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-behind-hannibals-crossing-of-the-alps/772621/8 "2016-11-21T14:08:33Z")
> [@dofe](#): > > ~how long could a modern military force (let’s say a US army battalion) operate continuously without outside logistics support? It would depend on how hostile the locals were and what resources were available there. Napoleon did badly in Spain because the locals were so hostile. Troops had to be guarded at all times and farmers did their best to stop them from taking their produce. Wellington, on the other hand, had a friendly populace and a policy of paying for supplies; as well as a supply line back to the UK. Drop your “US army battalion” into Israel and they could keep going for a long time; drop them into Libya and they wouldn’t last very long at all. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-behind-hannibals-crossing-of-the-alps/772621/9 "2016-11-21T15:06:28Z")
Do the communication lines that provide the backing for a credit card count as a “supply line” that we’re trying to cut? Granted, even without that, an officer could still write out an IOU on paper, which a merchant might be persuaded to accept, but it’s a lot easier with the credit card.