Posted on 04/14/2012 10:16:14 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The American was voted the winner in a contest run by the National Army Museum to identify the country's most outstanding military opponent.
He was one of a shortlist of five leaders who topped a public poll and on Saturday was selected as the ultimate winner by an audience of around 70 guests at a special event at the museum, in Chelsea, west London.
In second place was Michael Collins, the Irish leader, ahead of Napoleon Bonaparte, Erwin Rommel and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
At the event, each contender had their case made by a historian giving a 40 minute presentation. The audience, who had paid to attend the day, then voted in a secret ballot after all five presentations had been made.
Dr Stephen Brumwell, who had championed Washington, said: "As British officers conceded, he was a worthy opponent."
The shortlist of five were selected from an initial list of 20 candidates, drawn up by the museum's curators. To qualify, each commander had to come from the 17th century onwards – the period covered by the museum's collection – and had to have led an army in the field against the British, thus excluding political enemies, like Adolf Hitler.
The contest was designed to not only identify Britain's most outstanding opponent, but also to draw attention to some lesser-known adversaries.
Most of the 20 fought in various colonial wars, such as Ntshingwayo kaMahole, the Zulu leader and victor of Isandlwana, one of the British army's greatest military defeats, and Tipu Sultan, known as the "Tiger of Mysore", who resisted British expansion in India.
Alongside Rommel, the only Second World War leader was Tomoyuki Yamashita, the Japanese commander who oversaw the fall of Singapore. The one woman on the list was Rani of Jhansi, who fought British forces in nineteenth centuryIndia.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Ain’t Washington. It’s Mo. And Mo is winning.
Frou-frou?........
If only the Brits handed him his commission. Lost most of his battles but won the most important one leading a group of men through freezing snow, a frozen river, chased by a larger army while his has barely any shoes on nor food to eat. The greatest Christmas eve in American history.
What a great and interesting topic. For some reason I think of the other British wars and battles (the few that I knew) as being huge and epic.
But with our Revolution it seems more rag-tag with more wit and logistics than the huge epic battles.
God bless George Washington.
I wonder if they mention General Koos de la Rey or General Christian de Wet or General Piet Joubert. All Boer Generals who played decisive parts during the various wars the British waged on the Boers. The second Anglo-Boer War was responsible for leading to the demise of the British Empire & cost the Boers 50 % of their child population.
Someone posted there, and I think a case can be made for: Neville Chamberlain.
National Army Museum: Who Was the Greatest Commander to Face the British?
Or George Galloway. Britain may not be at war at the moment, but it’s losing it’s life and Georgy is playing a significant part in that.
George Washington is the greatest man in history, excluding Jesus Christ. He was the most important man in the foundation of the greatest, most powerful, and most advanced nation in history of mankind...
Louis Botha was the choice from the Boer War.
... as well as our greatest President.
No kidding. Cameron has proved to be a huge disappointment. Tory my arse.
No, he was a Mason who hated Christianity and along with Jefferson sought to establish a secular humanist state. A liberal told me as much in a Facebook debate and I’m sure all of his claims were factual. GW probably laid the foundation stone in NY for the United Nations... I’m sure there’s a picture of it somewhere in the National Archives.
Amen.
You’re either full of sh*t or you forgot the sarcasm tag.
George Washington was a devout Christian who prayed daily in private.
http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/youasked/060.htm
“George Washington certainly was a religious man. His own diary shows of his dedication.”
To say George Washington was a deist is a LIE.
Those that spread the LIE are attempting to paint the famous Founders as non-believers for the purpose of denaturing the United States of America from a Christian to a secular founding.
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