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Along with Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Montgomery is the most celebrated of British generals and had the ego to match, or even exceed, his reputation. 2. HANOI, VIETNAMForty years ago, on April 30, 1975, Nguyen Dang Phat experienced the happiest day of his life . And once again, at the Battle of Antietam, McClellans terminal case of the slows (as Lincoln called it) prevented the exploitation of a possible war-ending vulnerability in Confederate defenses. James Bond Stockdale was flying his A-4 Skyhawk on a mission over North Vietnam, just days after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, when his plane took fire and hurtled d Seldom included in. As a result, American military power and prestige took a dramatic downturn. Still, it is his world-changing defeat at Yorktown that merits memorializing. How do you measure military leaders? Having amassed roughly twice as many losses in a single day as Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington, had suffered during the entire Peninsular War, Haig saw no reason to change tactics. Varus was stationed with three of his legions, the 17th, 18th and 19th when news arrived of a revolt growing in the Rhine area. The Worst Civil War Generals on the Confederacy Confederate Maj. Gen. Gideon Pillow. This did not, however, achieve the postulated outcome. 13,091. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. Marcus Licinius Crassus was a self-aggrandizing opportunist who started a pointless war with the Parthians, and Publius Quinctilius Varus lost three legions at Teutoburg Forest, but Proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio manages to top them both with his actions at the Battle of Arausio. The Texans only suffered 2 casualties, as opposed to hundreds of Mexican casualties. His prestige restored by his conduct during the Pastry War with France, Santa Anna once again claimed dictatorial powers. Haig was cruelly mocked, first in the satirical musical Oh! I flew into Vietnam in June 1968 as a young . Download the FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. Luckily for the colonists, the Empire also had Cornwallis, a peer of the realm and truly pitiful commander. Nor is being a bad battlefield commander, by itself, sufficient to make the cut. Watchthe conversation onFP Live, the magazines forum for live journalism, orreada condensed transcript. (You May Also Like: 5 Israeli Weapons of War ISIS Should Fear). Vice President, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute. In 1941, Graziani resigned his commission after the British counterattacked and the Tenth Army was completely defeated during Operation Compass. Grachev once said that only an incompetent commander would order tanks into the streets of central Grozny, where they would be vulnerable. Yet near the end of the war he did exactly that. Santa Anna was found wearing a privates uniform, hiding in a marsh. Percival surrendered Malaya to Japanese forces in early 1942, defying Winston Churchills own instructions for prolonged resistance. Its quite exclusive: combat leaders who had the fate of their people in their hands and squandered it all. His battlefield losses marked the end of the Persian Empire. Consul Gnaeus Mallius Maximus was Caepios superior officer, but Caepio refused to obey Maximus or even put his forces into a shared camp with him. The suppression of drug consumption and trade is high on the Government of Vietnam's agenda. He couldnt. Of course, that is what they did when Ludendorff pushed for the use of unrestricted submarine warfare against Allied shipping. Still, he choked in the big game. Have your boss report to the French gentleman whose name begins with J at a place which begins with D which is five grid squares to the left of M. The Kasserine disaster had repercussions. 1. The Worst Military Leaders in History is meant to be thought-provoking, and it surely is that." ARMY Magazine "Few subjects get military historians and history buffs talking like a debate over the best military leaders in history. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Hundreds of thousands died of disease. Darius never showed up for the first battle and defeat (Battle of Granicus) because he didnt see Alexander as much of a threat to his empire. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. James Madison spared him from execution. 1968 takes the cake for me. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? What a Lovely War and then in the 1989 television comedy series Blackadder Goes Forth. His 1812 campaign against Russia ended in complete disaster. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybodys all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week. After making a laughingstock of himself by ordering his men to entrench on the wrong side of fortifications at Camargo, Pillow bungled his role at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, making himself the low point of a resounding American victory. Having several decades of duplicity to draw on at this point, everyone had a pretty good idea of how any such deal would turn out, and the aging general was rebuffed by both parties. For one thing, we wouldnt haveSpartacuson Netflix. When the French deposed Benito Jurez and installed Maximilian as emperor of Mexico, Santa Anna, now 70, reached out to the U.S. for support in deposing the emperor. World War I provided a forum for any number of truly horrible commanders to assert themselves. Villeneuve lost 20 ships, while Nelson lost none. Watchthe conversation onFP Live, the magazines forum for live journalism, orreada condensed transcript. Keep up with the world without stopping yours. He was called the "inevitable general." A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. Alas, as a historian, he passed on the opportunity to answer Battlelands questions about what Vietnam should teach us about Afghanistan, and who, if anyone, is todays Westmoreland, during our email chat earlier this week: Whats the most important thing you learned writing Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam? [1] The Americans lacked sufficient troops, supplies and air cover (when was the last time an American general had to fight a battle while being pounded by enemy bombers?). He effectively pledged to become an agent for the U.S. but found that he had been deposed upon his return to Mexico. Born in 1901 in Quang Binh Province (part of North Vietnam), Diem was the son of a well-educated mandarin (Vietnamese civil servant who took part in running the country) who served as the Minister of Rites and Grand Chamberlain to Emperor Thanh-Thai (1889-1907). To that Hollings responded, "Westy, the American people don't care about the ten. (Photo: Warner Bros.) Roger Ebert called "Gods and Generals" a film "Trent Lott would enjoy," referring to the Senator's praise of segregationist Strom Thurmond. Heres the inaugural class: 6. A U.S. ship conveyed him to Mexico, and upon his arrivalto the surprise of virtually no onehe executed a volte-face and took charge of the Mexican troops. After months of inactivity, McClellan was finally spurred to action by Pres. Muammar Al-Gaddafi. 1. Hull was taken prisoner by the British and was court-martialed upon his return to the United States. 10 Redvers Buller 5. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. Santa Anna, a lifetime gambler, was known for his risk taking in battle, but also his brutality. There is no Carthage. Westmoreland told him, "We're killing these people at a ratio of 10 to 1.". When two able and progressive Nationalist generals, Pai Chunghsi and Li Tsung-jen, begged the generalissimo to adopt similar methods, Chiang rejected them outright. After his performance at Belmonta spectacular success by Pillow standardshe was tasked with the defense of Fort Donelson, a key strongpoint on the Mississippi River. Some historians are a little more sympathetic towards Percivals legacy nowadays arguing that Percival had been dealt an unusually bad hand. Unfortunately the fates of the former Republic Vietnam (Sout. McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from scratch. And he was able to inflict massive casualties on the enemy. Fighter Aircraft of All Time). These two instances are illustrative of many, many more, ranging from his actions or lack of action in combat situations to his determination to take over the war and win it with U.S. forces to his resultant failure to build up South Vietnamese forces to the validity of body count to the decision to close Khe Sanh to his actions when Lang Vei was overrun to denying predictions he had made of an early end to the war to claims of not being surprised at Tet 1968 to denying a post-Tet request for many additional U.S. forces. Grachev played a key role in initiating and leading the First Chechen War. The heavily forested, swampy terrain made the Legions maneuvers impossible. When all is said and done, it doesnt matter how nice, brave, courageous, gutsy, loyal, or brilliant commanders theyve been. Mexican general Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna probably wished that everyone really did remember the Alamo, because: (1) he actually did win that battle (he outnumbered his opponents between 10- and 30-to-1); and (2) during the 13-day siege, he somehow resisted the urge to betray all his allegiances and change sides. From Kaiser Wilhelm to Hitler and Saddam Hussein and Gadhafi, there is no end of national leaders who squandered their nations blood and treasure in futile conflicts. 7. Find Paraguay on a map of South America. Sure, he won big at the Alamo. By the end of May 1862, Confederate commanding Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had withdrawn his forces to Richmond, and McClellan was close enough to the Confederate capital to hear its church bells ringing. A Brief History. Nelsons victory at the Battle of Trafalgar was so complete that it established British supremacy on the high seas for more than a century. He would eventually be betrayed and killed by a friend. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. This entire list could be populated with Roman commanders, but one manages to rise above the rest with an ineptitude that defies logic. Pillow escaped during the night, leaving Simon B. Buckner to surrender the fort and 15,000 Confederate troops. McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from . McClellan was a proto-Douglas MacArthur who bad-mouthed his president and commander-in-chief. Its prewar population was reduced by more than half, and perhaps 90 percent of Paraguays fighting-age men perished.