Greatest military commander of all time ?
- Thread starter Johan
- Start date
Even his mother thought that he had no talent for military life.
The Duke of Wellington was an excellent general, but all his campaigns were against Napoleon's Marshals in Spain and Portugal. He only faced Napoleon at Waterloo in which he recieved battle saving help from the Prussians.
Like I said, the Russian Winter stopped Napoleon. The Battle of Trafalgar saved England. But If Napoleon did not invade Russia, he would still have his La Grande Armée. And France easily has the biggest population in Western Europe at the time. I think it had 14 million more people then England. So France could suffer huge troop losses, they just could suffer them at one time. But the worst scenario happen to the French, they lost a massive number (over 400,000) of troops at one time. The English and its Allies smartly attacked Napoleon before he could use France's manpower advantage to rebuild his army. They would've never lost that many men fighting aginst the English and its allies. La Grande Armée was massive, and it had very good commanders in it.
Red XXX
Official Checked Star Member
Wellingtons first active service was during 1793/95 in Flanders under the Duck of York where he learnt what not to do in battle! He then served in India taking part in the Forth Anglo-Mysore war and the second anglo-Maratha War before returning to England! He then took part in the second Battle of Copenhagen before leaving for the Peninsular Wars, whilst serving in Flanders Wellington took time out to study closely the geography and topography of Northern France and the Low Countries this proved invaluable during the Battle of Waterloo a decade or so later a site Wellington had already surveyed years earlier!
You forgotten Air Field Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, the stubborn yet gritty (very courageous) guy who helped the RAF to beat the luftwaffe during the battle of England in 1940.
Also you have forgotten US Navy Admiral Chester W Nimitz, the guy who made the US NAVY and USMC beat the Japanese in Okinawa, Guadalcanal and Tokyo.
Also you have forgotten US Navy Admiral Chester W Nimitz, the guy who made the US NAVY and USMC beat the Japanese in Okinawa, Guadalcanal and Tokyo.
No I didn't forgot them.
I put them aside on purpose 'cause I don't think you can compare terrestrial battles and generals to sea battles and admirals or air battles and air field admirals.
Rey C.
Racing is life... anything else is just waiting.
Personally, I think you did a very good job in compiling the list that you did, especially considering that you were limited in number. There would be no way to compile a list that everybody would be happy with. No disrespect meant to anyone who wants to see others on the list, but some of the names that have been mentioned really wouldn't belong on the same list as Julius Caesar, Hannibal Barca, Genghis Khan or (especially) Alexander the Great. It's like wanting to compare (even) a great local band to The Rolling Stones or The Beatles - not in the same league at all.
This is a really good thread too. This is like the threads that used to be on here all the time a couple of years ago. :thumbsup:
Yes, Johan did a great job, since he's has studied military history. Napoleon is among almost all military historians list top five generals along with Caesar, Hannibal, and Alexander. Genghis Khan is in the top ten. But a few names must be in any top 15 list of generals of all time.
Khalid Ibn Walid
Frederick the Great
Timur
Subotai
Alexander the Great
Here's my list of the 15 Greatest commanders in history.
1. Alexander the Great
2. Hannibal Barca
3. Julius Caesar
4. Napoleon
5. Khalid Ibn Walid
6. Genghis Khan
7. Timur
8. Frederick the Great
9. Subutai
10. Bai Qi
11. Belisarius
12. Aleksandr Suvorov
13. Jan Žižka
14. Baibars
15. Cyrus the Great
1. Alexander the Great
2. Hannibal Barca
3. Julius Caesar
4. Napoleon
5. Khalid Ibn Walid
6. Genghis Khan
7. Timur
8. Frederick the Great
9. Subutai
10. Bai Qi
11. Belisarius
12. Aleksandr Suvorov
13. Jan Žižka
14. Baibars
15. Cyrus the Great
I might have to say General Issac Brock and Major General Robert Ross because they were the first military commanders to beat the US in the War of 1812 and went so far they burned down the White House and most of Washington. Vlad the Impaler was brutal. From the list Hannibal.
[B][URL="https://www.freeones.com/red-xxx said:Red XXX[/URL][/B], post: 6937011, member: 55251"]You've also left out ......
Haha! Class! Jonesy's Butcher van has seen it's fair share of skirmishes!
A lot of big historical names (such as Alexander the Great, Saladin, or Genghis Khan) or generals that fought in the Western sphere of thinking but I am surprised people have failed to mentioned Georgy Zhukov - that great Marshal of the Soviet Red Army (not Red XXX unfortunately :-D)
Another amazing military strategist was Peng De Hui from the Chinese People Liberation Army. Zhu De & schemer Lian Biao should get a mention to I suppose!
I take an interest in recent historical events so for purposes of the poll I'm gonna go with Patton.
He was widely seen as the greatest tank commander of his time (debatable what with Rommel and all that), and if it wasn't for his politically incorrect utterances/failure to follow orders, I think the War could have been won sooner! Plus he was right about what would happen post WWII vis-a-vie Western & Soviet relations!
He was widely seen as the greatest tank commander of his time (debatable what with Rommel and all that), and if it wasn't for his politically incorrect utterances/failure to follow orders, I think the War could have been won sooner! Plus he was right about what would happen post WWII vis-a-vie Western & Soviet relations!
On the list, Alexander the Great. Second place, though, ought to go to the unknown american general Nathanael Greene. Without Greene the South would still belong to Britian. Reasons for greatness : led superior force to divide itself, led british to abandon fortresses within south and thus destroyed british supply train, figured out how to beat regular forces with (supplemented) militia forces, and exhausted Cornwallis' army, making Yorktown possible.
