10 greatest military commanders of all time

freerepulic ^ | August 31, 2002 | zapiks44

[CharlieDarwin]

My top 3 are: Vlad the Impaler; Billy Sherman; and General Giap.

And if you don't think this is objective, consider that I'm a native Atlantan and Billy Sherman is considered thereabouts as a "Yank who was careless with matches".

[Destro]

Themistocles rates at the top 10 for sure.

[Steve Van Doorn]

those are good. Out numbered out gunned and still won.

[Jeff Chandler]

I agree. Hannibal overextended his resources. Although he was never able to take the City of Rome, he beat the Romans in battle repeatedly, but at such a cost to his troops and supplies that his "victories" were the beginning of the end for Carthage.

[Ohioan]

As a Northerner, I commend you for standing up for General Forrest against the smears. There is a movement afoot to force Americans to abandon their heritage by bits and pieces. That movement must be resisted at every turn. There can be no excuse for dishonoring those who are dead to appease politically motivated historic revisionists.

All of that leads me to suggest a name no one has yet put on the list, who fought for a people whose very existence is now even less "politically correct" than our fellow Americans of the Old South. The actual father of modern guerilla warfare was the Boer General Christian De Wet, who with 2,000 Commandoes tied up 250,000 British troops at the height of British power, for two years in the Orange Free State. To really appreciate this staggering accomplishment, you need to know more about the Orange Free State. Much of it is a virtually treeless plane, and those areas where there are hills and formations still afford considerable visibility in most directions.

In the end, De Wet was only defeated when the British put most of the women and children into concentration camps, under very harsh conditions, to prompt their husbands, brothers and fathers to finally surrender, two years after the defeat of the main Boer armies.

William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site

[ChicagoRepublican]

Scipius Africanus should be on the list. His campaign in Africa brought the main armies of Carthage back to Africa, and then defeated them in the Battle of Zama.

Guderian might deserve to be there more than Rommell.

I would also try to find a way to fit Gustav Adolphus, the Swedish military commadner during the 30 years war.

Actually there are so many military geniuses over the course of history I'm just going to name my list.

1. Belisarius

2. Philip II/Alexander the Great/Parmenio (Their military fortunes are too intertwined and dependent on each other to be seperate.)

3. Genghis Khan

4. Scipius Africanus

5. Sherman, because IMHO his military and nonmilitary actions won the Civil War for the union

6. Themistocles

7. Gustav Adolphus

8. Napoleon

9. Timur-i-Lang

10. Babur

I tried to make a list that varied over a large span of time and distance but it is pretty ridiculous to attempt.

[Jeff Chandler]

I like Alexander. He devised the tactic of focusing the attack on the commander of the opposing army. What an effective breakthrough that was!

[kms61]

IMHO it's hard to find much that's admirable about Custer. Arrogance and ambition got him killed, along with the rest of his command.

[Hugin]

I think in terms of the numbers of enemies conquered with the fewest men, Cortez and Pizzaro deserve consideration. For sheer chutzpuh if nothing else.

[John H K]

Yep, it's critical to recognize that the Mongols were severely outnumbered in pretty much every battle they ever fought. Perhaps the most disciplined military force ever created, and the greates non-firearm military force in history.

The idea that there were millions of them was historical spin by the various people that got their asses kicked by them; hence the Mongol military term "Horde" now inaccurately means "a lot of people" in the West.

[Threepwood]

I would like to nominate two somewhat obscure but very impressive commanders.

General Curry- A fine Canadian general, and responsible for one the worst pummelings the German army has ever recieved.

http://collections.ic.gc.ca/heirloom_series/volume4/160-161.html

and

General Slim- Probably the reason why the Japanese weren't able to take India during the last war. Which in turn is probably why there are still Indians today. I realise the thearte is obscure, please accept a brief overview.

http://history1900s.about.com/library/prm/blgatesofdelhi1.htm

[Steve Van Doorn]

How about the Spartans? I forget some of the general’s names now.

They where out numbered and always won decisive battles.

[Destro]

To add some spice to the discussion:

Greece's General Metaxas not only defeated the much larger Italian armies during WW2 he invaded deep into Italian held Albania causing Hitler to worry about the Balkans and delay the invasion of the USSR to pacify the Balkans and keep the British from establishing a base there.

General Metaxas brilliant defense and offense against the Italians can be argued set the stage for Hitler losing WW2.

Honorable mention to Finnish Field Marshal Baron Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim whose small army held back the armies of the USSR with great elan for a year.

[Jeff Chandler]

Vo Nguyen Giap in Viet-Nam defeated the greatest technological army of the 20th century with barefoot soldiers.

He didn't defeat the U.S.. After years of having the war run by Kennedy's (and then Johnson's) "Best and Brightest" Ivy League braintrust, the spoiled baby boomers, in conjunction with the traitorous news media and craven Democrat politicians, created an unstoppable political force which demanded that we retreat. If Giap had to confront a U.S. force commanded by military leaders, he would have been defeated handily.

His TET Offensive was a humiliating defeat for him, but Walter Crankcase portrayed it as a glorious victory.

[vbmoneyspender]

Leonidas is perhaps the most famous.

[Hugin]

How about the Spartans?

Leonedes--battle of Thermopolye. Held off 100,000 or so Persians with 300 Spartans long enough for the Athenians to sink most of the Persian fleet and force them to retreat.

[Destro]

Leisler, you mean King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans. But the greatest Greek general until Alexander must be the Theban general Epaminondas. He broke the Spartans forever and educated Phillip of Macedon, Alexander the Great's father who was a young hostage in Thebes at the time.

[laconic]

Ataturk prevented the Allied breakout at Gallipoli early on their occupation (it was his onsite leadership), but for him they would have broken through to Constantinople and the Balkans. I agree that Forrest was probably the greatest strategist of the Civil War but I don't think RE Lee qualifies among the greatest generals; among the greatest LEADERS YES, but I have to balance his masterpiece at Chancellorsville against the blunders at Antietam, the valiant but disastrous battle plan at Gettysburg and his inability to do much of anything in the western Confederacy that taint his generalship.

[laconic]

Yes with regard to Giap, few generals had anyone as idiotic and classicly incompetent as Robert McNamara on the other side directing strategy and tactics. I told a friend of mine who served in the swamps for a year that McNamara now claims he was against the war; his response was he found that strange since he recalled McNamara as the individual who sent him to Vietnam.

[Destro]

German Field Marshal LIMAN VON SANDERS commanded the Turkish defenses throughout the Gallipoli campaign. ESSAD PASHA was the Turkish Corps Commander of the forces opposing those at Anzac. He commanded the Turkish offensive of May 19, and Ataturk was under his command. So you see Ataturk was third in line so that is why I disqualify him in the top 20 or 30. Top 100 for sure.

General Lee did much. He preserved the South longer than it would have existed by his generalship.