Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is not true at all. Supply lines have existed as long as organised armies have existed. Many major military campaigns have made use of supply depots, supply ports, supply trains (on pulled wagons, long before what we now call trains existed), etc. Napoleon also made use of them. Only, it's very expensive, and it's a lot cheaper to live off the land. Only living off the land also takes time, so if you want to mov…
Quoting from Bret Devereaux's blog ( https://acoup.blog/2022/07/15/collections-logistics-how-did-... ): > Rather than reinvent the wheel here, I’ll note that K. Chase (op. cit.) ran these numbers assuming two-horse 1400lb wagons and found that assuming the army acquired no local food (but could get grass for the horses), for a group of thirty infantryman the first wagon doubles their range from 120 to 240 miles (less…
Armies used supply lines over land during the 100 Years War[0], Romans maintained a network of supply depots[1]. It happened during most time periods.
Just like there's a limit to how much food you can move how far, there's also a limit to how large an army can live off the land. Beyond a certain size, you simply need to bring your own supplies. In fact, one of Napoleon's innovations was that he organised his armies in a way that allowed larger armies than before to live off the land. But larger armies did exist before; they just had to bring supplies.
And of course you're not going to supply a large army over a distance of hundreds of miles using just carts. They used ships where possible, they used supply depots, and organised the most efficient routes by which to maintain those. But you bet lots of land travel was involved as well.
[0] https://www.warhistoryonline.com/medieval/army-supplied-100-...
[1] https://www.everythingsupplychain.com/roman-army-supply-line...