The term "the fog of war" originates from the Prussian military
analyst Carl von Clausewitz, meaning that it is inevitable to
encounter uncontrollable variables in military operations. An Oscar-winning
documentary was named after this phrase, but the application of
this phrase denotes
a moral dimension. The documentary presents the viewpoint of
former US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara with regard to
the Vietnam War. In this context the fog of war symbolizes
lacking moral clarity. During the American Civil War "the fog of
war" was interpreted literally. In the battle fields soldiers
from the union and the confederate fired in a dense formation,
and thus the battle field was always full of smog. Nevertheless,
there is no question about the moral clarity of the objectives:
Liberation of slaves and unification of the nation.
This set of photos were taken during the Civil War reenactment
in Picacho Peak State Park. The image in the last photo entitled
"Cannon ring" resulted from firing a cannon ball. The
probability that the smoke from firing a cannon becomes a ring
is about 1/200.
