Greatest generals in all of history

[Lt. Duran 0]

I predict some debate about who are the greatest Generals in all of known history

my 1st is Alexander the Great who which used tactics to beat the numerous Persian armies and ended up conquering the whole Persian empire. He cared for his men and after returning from India his water ran out of and of water and i remember reading a passage i will suffer along with my men he threw his own supply of water into the sand and meanwhile he did get back. but ended up with disease and died because of his battle wounds to fight it.

my 2nd is General Giap of the Vietcong forces, you have never heard about this great General he had fought 3 wars and won all of them. 1st he drove the chinese out of Indochina, 2nd he annihilated the French Army in Vietnam and 3rd He drove out the Superpower that had never lost a single war, The United States of America. He learned guerrila warfare from Mao (Chinese Leader) and used attrition and attacked the US army where it hurted the most. He is one of the distingushed Vietnamese generals and tactician in history.Four-star General Vo Nguyen Giap led Vietnam's armies from their inception, in the 1940s, up to the moment of their triumphant entrance into Saigon in 1975.

Possessing one of the finest military minds of this century and even the whole of history, his strategy for vanquishing superior opponents was not to simply outmaneuver them in the field but to undermine their resolve by inflicting demoralizing political defeats with his bold tactics.

This was evidenced as early as 1944, when Giap sent his minuscule force against French outpost in Indochina. The moment he chose to attack was Christmas Eve. More devastatingly, in 1944 at a place called Dien Bien Phu, Giap lured the overconfident French into a turning point battle and won a stunning victory with brilliant deployments. Always he showed a great talent for approaching his enemy's strengths as if they were exploitable weaknesses.

Nearly a quarter of a century later, in 1968 the General launched a major surprize offensive against American and South Vietnamese forces on the eve of the lunar New Year celebrations. Province capitals throughout the country were seized, garrisons simultaneously attacked and, perhaps most shockingly, in Saigon the U.S. Embassy waas invaded. The cost in North Vietnamese casualties was tremendous but the gambit produced a pivotal media disaster for the White House and the presidency of Lyndon Johnson. Giap's strategy toppled the American commander in chief. It turned the tide of the war and sealed the General's fame as the dominant military genius of the 20th Century's second half and one of the brilliant strategic minds in whole history even outwits Mcarthur or Eisenhower or George Marshall.

3rd in my view is Hannibal who crushed the Roman armies one by one on his campaign to Rome. Even though outnumbered in some battles he managed to beat the might Romans and their legions.

4th in view Napoleon Bonaparte.......the Great French General who won many battles and outwited his opponents using the French Guard and the mighty cavalry commanded by his right hand General Ney. He defeated the mighty Austrian Empire and even though retreated from Russia and the defeat of his last battle of Waterloo he still ranks high on the greatest generals in history.

5th One of my favorites of generals are Patton and Rommel two great tank commanders who fought each other in Operation Torch in Africa during WWII. First rommel was known for his tactics in the desert and was nicknamed as the Desert Fox and also Rommel is known for the defense of the coastline of Northern France. For Patton calling upon the iron will and discipline he had instilled in his troops, Patton disengaged elements of the 3rd Army and hurled them northward into the worst winter to descend upon Europe in years. He did this in an attempt to hit the Germans in the flank and relieve Bastogne. Everyone outside the 3rd Army had felt this feat was impossible, but this was where the willingness of the 3rd Army to perform the impossible for their leader paid off. By 5 February 1945, the 3rd Army was back on the offensive all along the Saar front as Patton drove into Germany. Patton's oft-quoted dictum, "Grab 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the ass" was in full play. His tactic was to hit the Germans in the front lines and then drive into their flanks and rear with his armoured units. In so doing, his troops succeeded in cutting off entire German divisions during this advance. Hundreds of thousands of German troops were taken prisoner.

5th was Eisenhower who masterminded the D-day invasion which succeeded but costed many lives from many nations. But in the end it proved Germany was not invincible at all.

6th was Macarthur which he was the Pacific Commanding Officer in the Pacific Theatre in WWII and the Korean War. What got me was the general's view of politics and insubordination and how Truman got him fired.......

Anyway any more.....feel free to add the list.

[ran 0]

This was evidenced as early as 1944, when Giap sent his minuscule force against French outpost in Indochina. The moment he chose to attack was Christmas Eve. More devastatingly, in 1944 at a place called Dien Bien Phu, Giap lured the overconfident French into a turning point battle and won a stunning victory with brilliant deployments. Always he showed a great talent for approaching his enemy's strengths as if they were exploitable weaknesses.

1954 ...

[DracoPaladore 0]

No particular order:

Leonidas, for holding the pass at Thermopylae and fighting to the last man using their bare hands and teeth.

Sir Arthur William Curry,  first Canadian-appointed commander of the Canadian Corps during WWI. Choose him planning and participating in battles such as Passchendale, Vimy Ridge. As well as bring about the first army to form machine gun units

General Christopher Vokes, for leading the Canadians into the battle of Ortonoa.

Right now thats all I can think of at the moment. I'll come back when I remember more.

[miles teg 1]

There are also several Israeli Generals that accomplished some amazing strategic and tactical feats in their past wars.

Myself I've always liked Moshe Dayan....but partly just cuz he looks cool with the eye patch and all.

But if you look at a history of their past wars it really is quite amazing that Israel is even still around thanks in large part to the brilliant strategists within the IDF officer corp.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[Munk 0]

General Guba

[turms 0]

General Guba

Not to forget General motors and General electrics :P

[Col. Kurtz 0]

Marshall Georgi K. Zhukov of the Soviet Union.

Defeated the Japenese in Manchuria in 1939 and then in WW2 was a major factor in the defeat of the Germans on the East Front.

If my memory serves me rightly, he was responsible for the defence of Moscow, had some part in the defence of Leningrad, commanded Operation Uranus that helped drive the Germans out of Stalingrad, won the Battle of Kursk, led one of the main thrusts West into Germany and it was his forces that took Berlin. Through all that I don't think he lost a single battle.

]Rundown of Zhukovs exploits

A negative view of Zhukov

I disagree about Zhukov not caring for his men. While he did expend them at an alarming rate, he did care for them.

Lt. General Bernard Freyberg

Was born in Britain but grew up in New Zealand. Fought in the First World War in the British Army, made General and remained in the Army until they said he was unfit in 1937. During World War 2 he commanded the New Zealand 2nd Expeditionary Force. He was involved in the Greek Campaign, commanded the defence of Crete (and lost) took part in the Battle of North Africa and the Italian campaign (he was the one who asked for the monastery on top of Monte Cassino to be bombed). Overall he was a good stable general who led from the front (got wounded once) and was a good soldier.

He went on to become the Governor General of New Zealand and is something of a hero here (in New Zealand).  

More about his earlier life

Another military leader:Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery

[TopCover 0]

Definetly Guderian. The "inventor" of Blitzkrieg, one of Hitlers trusted but at the sametime defiant generals.

[Gadger 0]

Takeda Shingen/ Oda Nobunaga

Pretty much outta them two, although playing Shogun Total War when I first got interested in military history has probably influenced that choice alot.

[jakerod 254]

I always saw Rommel as one of the best Generals. He was smart and cared about his men.

Hitler told him to stand his ground in North Africa but Rommel didn't listen because he knew he would lose a lot of men. Hitler also told another General in Moscow to do the same thing, he listened because he thought that Hitler would kill him and he lost a lot of men and had tons of them captured.

EDIT: Stalingrad not Moscow, had Moscow on my mind for some reason.

[Tovarish 0]

Hitler also told another General in Moscow to do the same thing, he listened because he thought that Hitler would kill him and he lost a lot of men and had tons of them captured.

I think you mean Stalingrad.

[Chris Death 0]

I know he wasn't a general but an admiral:

Sir Francis Drake - who fought back the "spain armada"

And i'm pretty sure that the romans had a lot of well doing

leaders, as their military doctrine was already a well thought

one, and so was their use of it. - maybe Maximus as one

of them.

Sarcastic one:

Musolini - for knowing when it's been the right time to change

sides

~S~ CD

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

Sun Tzu,

'Vinegar Joe' Stilwell,

Orde Wingate

Otto Skorzeny,

Giap and

Heinz Willhelm Guiderian.

Sun Tzu : the original and Best.

On reading the Art of War, you can see the principles that are still the highest level of military tactics and strategy. Absolute Genius.

Stilwell because of his outstanding ability to use and teach tactics and command. Also because of his nature; the expletives, his lack of patience with inefficiency, stuffiness or pretension.

Wingate because he was a total maverick. Completely unconventional but extremely effective.

Skorzeny just because of the balls of the man. Seriously. I don't think he would have been a particularly good general, but as a small unit commander he was almost unmatched. Best of the 'lead from the front' type.

Giap because he outwitted and defeated the biggest and most powerful superpower in the world. He planned ahead, used every advantage he could, maximised his strengths and minimised his weaknesses, and also, most crucially, learnt from his mistakes, resulting in the ignomious defeat of the US.

Guiderian for the reasons already stated by others.

[cozza 24]

Genral Patton. For his bravery in WW2 and for his quick battle tacks.

[Korpisoturi 0]

C.G.E Mannerheim

[freddern 0]

Interesting reading

[Gollum1 0]

C.G.E Mannerheim

Why?

[raedor 8]

alex, sun tzu, rommel.

[havocsquad 0]

Bar None, the best general in my view is Mikhail Ilarionovich Kutuzov.

He was a VERY influential and skilled Russian field marshal from 1745 to 1813.

From http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/K/Kutuzov.asp

Quote[/b] ]

He fought against the Polish Confederation of Bar (see Bar, Confederation of ) and served in the Russo-Turkish Wars of 1768-74 and 1787-92, in which he lost an eye. He took part (1805) in the battle of Austerlitz, which was fought against his advice. In 1811-12 he again took command against the Ottomans and defeated them in a brilliant campaign that brought Bessarabia to Russia.

In Aug., 1812, Kutuzov replaced Barclay de Tolly as commander in chief against the invading armies of Napoleon I.

Kutuzov was expected to engage the French in battle and to abandon his predecessor's delaying tactics. The battle of Borodino was the result; after that butchery, Kutuzov resumed Barclay's wise policy of retreat, which eventually led to Napoleon's ruin. He pursued Napoleon relentlessly after the retreat of the Grande Armée from Moscow (1812-13). He was created prince of Smolensk for a victory there late in 1812.

It's a .com encyclopedia, but I had 1 month of my 1 year of college world history devoted on the life of that man. I'm certain this historical info is accurate.

Yeah, this guy took an inept mass of Russian conscripts and officers and with his very excellent military strategy skills, he did defended Russian soil in a manner almost legendary, then when he had the upper hand, he drove out Napoleon's army.

He also brokered some deals with the Turkish Empire also that ended a long and pointless war between Russia and the Turkish Empire. The account of how it was done was hiliarious, and it sounded like some playboy diplomat, slash James Bond, slash Tom Clancy.

Basically, Kutuzov went to the Turkish capital as a diplomat, then did a bold risk by getting the Turkish leader's attention, then solved the Turkish ruler's mistresses (displeasure or unhappiness) with a few valuable gifts from Russia.

That brought a peace agreement and the war was ended. It really sucked that my history teacher's contract didn't get renewed (He was REALLY GOOD, he definately knew his stuff, had +25 years experience.) He left to teach for the military, it's pity my university lost a good teacher, well worth getting tenure.

[mr burns 132]

Karl Dönitz, is another admiral worth of mention.

in ww2 he had one the most efficient weapons under his command, the submarines. basically the admiral did many things right but u know, again hitler f**ked it up.

[Scorpio 0]

General Guba

Not to forget General motors and General electrics :P

and Windows General Protection Error.

[booradley60 0]

Hmm... no Civil War generals so far. I'm not well-read on such matters, but General Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and company did pretty well to sustain a war against such massive odds like lack of industry, railroads, men, and supplies for 4 years.

[der bastler 0]

Sun Tzu

I just want to mention that the 25 centuries old book "The Art of War" is available on the net free of charge:

http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/132

Years ago I bought a german printed version. Does anyone know in which dialect it was written originally? Learning hŕn (2nd semester now)...

[Lucretius 0]

Nelson... full stop

[Akira 0]

Oda Nobunaga/Ieasyu Tokugawa/"Taiko"

The three men that united a warring Japan. Nobunaga was assasinated on the eve of his realization of his dream of unification by one of his generals. The Taiko (Hideyoshi.......his name changed as he rose in the Samurai and Oda Clan ranks....he is known as "Taiko"...."The Light Of The Country") took over the Oda Clan and continued unification.

Tokugawa of course finished unification and brought about the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Nobunaga and The Taiko used various strategies unknown at the time in Japan, and were the first to use the newly introduced firearms properly in Japanese warfare, and was the first to build castles to withstand the new weapon. One time a castle of warrior monks was holding up Nobunaga's advance. They could not bypass it for fear the warrior monks would come out and cut of their rear. The cannons and firearms were having little effect upon teh castle and it was at a stalemate. Hideyoshi devised an interesting strategy. He basically unblocked the moat of the castle, then released the damned river. This effectively flooded the moat and plain around the castle completely cutting off the castle. The army bypassed and later came back to finish the weakened castle.

Nobunaga was far sighted enough to see that Japan could not remain factionalized and still exist. Hideyoshi saw the brilliance in Nobunaga, and became one of his most trusted and brilliant commanders. Tokugawa was originally a hostage of a rival clan of the Oda. After the Oda destroyed the clan and set Tokugawa free he became a long time ally of the Oda, protecting the rear of the Oda province from the provinces of the North, and winning many battles in which he was heavily outnumbered.

There is a popluar saying about the three:

How do you make a bird sing?

Nobunaga: Kill It

Hideyoshi: Make it want to sing.

Tokugawa: Wait