A dull, unfeeling, unimaginative, smug "Colonel Blimp" of the worst sort. Loyalty to himself and himself alone would be something of a running theme in the narrative of Santa Annas life, and his rise to power in Mexico was characterized by near-constant vacillation and betrayal of his allies. By Lewis Sorley Best Defense Saigon bureau chief. Approaching his 60th birthday and exhibiting a timidity that had no place in a general about to lead an invasion, Hull also had the misfortune of facing two of the most gifted commanders ever to operate in North America. Here is a list of the 10 most famous Chinese generals in history. Somalia (1992-1994) 2. To say that he failed in both regards is to dramatically understate the case. While Hull dithered, Brock captured Fort Michilimackinac, establishing British control of the Straits of Mackinac. Westmorelands strategy throughout the war was to win through Attrition Warfare (pounding the enemy through greater numbers and resources) which military strategists including Sun Tzu caution against using. Eschewing a direct overland march to the Confederate capital of Richmond, McClellan orchestrated an impressive amphibious landing of more than 100,000 troops at Fort Monroe, at the southeast end of the peninsula between the James and York rivers. When he made public his disagreements with President Truman, Truman rightfully fired him. Diem's family was one of the earliest to convert to Catholicism, a religion he took . Persian Gulf (1988) (Oil Platforms) 2. By signing up, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to occasionally receive special offers from Foreign Policy. These operations were designed to seek out enemy forces and engage them in decisive battle. The Roman Empire has a long, proud tradition of producing some of the finest generals in human history- and just as many of the worst. At Brownstown, south of Detroit, two dozen warriors under Tecumseh routed more than 200 American militiamen escorting a supply column intended for Detroit. Sure, he won big at the Alamo. After occupying Jerusalem and crucifying 2,000 Jewish rebels in Judaea, Varus went off to govern Germania and tame barbarian tribes. The inept Luigi Cadorna of Italy fought a dozen battles on the Isonzo before his army completely collapsed at Caporetto. Not one to let his own failings stand in the way of personal glory, Pillow submitted fanciful accounts of his actions at the Battles of Contreras and Churubusco to various newspapers, incurring the wrath of overall American commander Winfield Scott. Advancing in dispersed columns across the northern half of the peninsula was an invitation to be destroyed piecemeal. Read More. At this point, things somehow got worse for Hull. Who was the worst general in history? He first demonstrated his ineptitude during the Mexican-American War, where he had received an appointment to the rank of major general from his friend Pres. Finally, when it comes to bad generals, let us remember Truman's immortal words about firing MacArthur: I fired him because he wouldn't respect the authority of the President. What a Lovely War and then in the 1989 television comedy series Blackadder Goes Forth. The Cimbri destroyed Caepios force and, emboldened by their success, marched on Maximuss camp. Woefully inexperienced U.S. soldiers found themselves against Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps veterans. 1968 takes the cake for me. 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). Military historian Russell Weigley rendered a succinct judgment on LBJ: No capable war President would have allowed an officer of such limited capacities as General William C. Westmoreland to head Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, for so long.. The United States entered the war, forcing Ludendorff to accelerate his time line for a conclusive battle against the Allies on the Western Front. The most important, and also the saddest, is that in Vietnam and thereafter Westmoreland was willing to shade or misremember or deny or invent the record when his perceived interests were at stake. After his defeat by the Texans at the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna was captured. The Legion numbers XVII, XVIII and XIX never again appeared in the Roman Armys order of battle due to the shame and ill luck they carried. Still, he choked in the big game. Military greatness can most easily be defined by comparison. Caepio reportedly lived out the remainder of his life in luxury, however. After eight years at Foreign Policy, here are the ten most popular Best Defense posts. America, the Middle East and the rest of the world are still reaping the consequences of those omissions. If Gates had been in command, we might be paying for our groceries with shillings and pence. It would be nice if all American generals were great. After the war, the phrase lions led by donkeys came to be associated with the British army for what should be obvious reasons. He was an artilleryman who missed out on the Army's great schools system, never attending the Command & General Staff College or the Army War College. Among them are, of course, Lyndon Johnson himself, Robert McNamara, and General Earle Wheeler. Fighter Aircraft of All Time, his army being routed by a smaller force of Redcoats and Loyalists at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina in 1780, When the Germans shattered his troops and his reputation at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia in early 1943, Fredendall was only a major general and a corps commander, Listing MacArthur as one of America's worst generals will be controversial, 5 Israeli Weapons of War ISIS Should Fear, But MacArthur's strategy certainly helped unleash 300,000 Chinese "volunteers" who inflicted significant casualties on United Nations forces, But Franks, who commanded the invasion, made a bad situation worse, Critics say that Franks and senior officials, such as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, concocted an invasion plan that used too few troops. Hannibal. James K. Polk. Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security. Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors. How well that would have worked can be seen when Gates was sent to command American troops in the South. With the Little Corporal running everything, Europe might have become a very different place. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. Is Weiss correct? But he was overly cautious by nature. While there are plenty of books that analyze the keys to success, The Worst Military Leaders in History offers lessons of failure to avoid. Nelsons victory at the Battle of Trafalgar was so complete that it established British supremacy on the high seas for more than a century. Jessica Chen Weiss, formerly a senior advisor for policy planning at the State Department under the Biden administration, makes the case that the United States is becoming consumed by competition with China, a strategy that could lead to dangerous conflict. His was one of just two French ships of the line to escape the destruction of the French fleet there. A more positive example is George Washington. As a result, American military power and prestige took a dramatic downturn. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. But in a contemporaneous cable to General Earle Wheeler, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Westmoreland complained that the military professionalism of the Marines falls far short of the standards that should be demanded by our armed forces. Alas, call it the laws of probability or just cosmic karma, but every nation produces bad generals as well as good onesand . Delivered Wednesday. Hull had served with distinction in the Revolutionary War and was appointed governor of the Michigan Territory in 1805. Gods and Generals (2003) Loss $61 million These are actually Civil War reenactors and probably the only people who paid to see the movie. Even a string of bad days does not guarantee entry. And what then? They dramatically upped their game, pressing the U.S. worldwide. The last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, Darius was not quite as qualified to rule a mighty empire as his predecessors were. What was the worst battle of Vietnam? The resulting Peninsular Campaign (AprilJuly 1862) was a marvel of planning but something of a farce in execution. The Vietnam War body count controversy centers on the counting of enemy dead by the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). They kept it as a war trophy, exhibiting the leg at. By one estimate from Harvard University, more than 130,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or severely wounded, in addition to the deaths of more than 7,000 Ukrainian civilians. Allied with Brock was the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, who was head of the most formidable pan-Indian military force the continent had ever seen. So what is the standard of shame for induction? - 1 Best: 1996 Chicago Bulls. Varus himself, seeing all hope was lost, committed suicide. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. - 2 Worst: 2007 Washington Wizards. But he also displayed remarkably bad judgment, as when he was commander in the Philippines in 1941. Not later than the autumn of 1966 the leaders of both services involved in fighting the ground war in VietnamArmy Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson and Marine Commandant General Wallace Greeneboth saw Westmorelands approach as fatally flawed and agreed on a viable alternative. Seldom included in. A common view holds that 138,708 Allied personnel surrendered or were killed by fewer than 30,000 Japanese. Creighton Abrams was an U.S. Army General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. Once again, McClellan worked his organizational magic, restoring the morale of a shattered Union army. 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. By the way, here is the first review I have seen of Sorley's new biography of Westmoreland, which I read in galleys last summer, and enjoyed. There is no Carthage. T he Civil War was America's bloodiest conflict. Because he never wanted to face a superior force, he refused to fight. The Russian president got many things wrong about invading Ukrainebut not everything. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. After being taken prisoner (again) by the British, Villeneuve was released but committed suicide rather than face Napoleons wrath. 7. He couldnt. For its part, Washington has made a series of policy choices over the last few years that can be summed Show moreup as tough on Beijing, even seeking to contain the rise of the worlds second-biggest economy. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. Franz Conrad von Htzendorf of Austria couldnt decide which country he wanted to invade, so the German General Staff eventually took his armies away. The Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial LectureThomas E. Ricks is a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). The British blockaded the port at Cdiz with a numerically inferior force, and Villeneuve, upon learning that he was to be relieved of command, rashly struck out at Nelsons fleet. Simultaneously, he contacted Maximilian to offer the young emperor his services. In the opening month of World War I, Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg scored a crushing victory over the Russians at Tannenberg. 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. They dramatically upped their game, pressing the U.S. worldwide. On the other side of the trenches in World War I was Erich Ludendorff, commanding the armies of Germany. My generation would likely vote for the year exactly one-half century ago as the absolutely worst year in our lifetimes. 13,091. Starting with the battle of Long Island, he lost way more fights than he wonyet he managed to win the war. Ludendorff is one of historys greatest examples of a general who can win battles but still loses the war. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. According to a Time magazine reporter who wrote about the Dak Son massacre, Viet Cong guerrillas shouted "Sons of Americans!" as they launched their assault on the village. His bad luck didnt end at San Jacinto. Even now, the easiest way to get into an argument at a V.F.W. 2. But beyond the goals of one leader in Moscow, it is also clear that Ukraine has suffered horrors of a historic nature. 92. 1. Many have described his activities as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history." 3 Nidal Malik Hasan Nidal Malik Hasan was a U.S. Army Major, and the sole suspect in a shooting at the Fort Hood military base, only weeks before he would have deployed to Afghanistan. Ulysses S. Grant made his Civil War debut at the Battle of Belmont against Confederate Gen. Gideon Pillow. Darius family would be captured and even lost the Battle of Gaugamela, where so many factors were in his favor. 6. For one thing, we wouldnt haveSpartacuson Netflix. Major General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend The idiot who, seeking self aggrandisement, led his army, Force D, to disaster at Kut in WW1. After only 10 weeks into the Pacific War, Percival became responsible for the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. 9. Hulls nerve was shattered. Brock, sensing an opportunity, advised an immediate march on Fort Detroit. And if they not only fail to deliver, but wind up sinking their own side in the process, and change history, they earn a spot in the Hall of Military Shame. Grachev has also been linked to corruption among the higher ranks of the military, specifically the assassination of journalist Dmitry Kholodov. But all that remains of his would-be empire today is a flaky French pastry. Caepio was born into a noble family and became consul in 106 BC. What does that mean for trade and globalization? Explore the benefits of your FP subscription. You start by being the only thing that can frustrate Napoleon more than a Russian winter. This is one of the more controversial ones, but Douglas MacArthur is incredibly overrated in the annals of the US military, in my . During the darkest days of the rebellion, when Washington's army had been kicked out of New York and King George's star seemed ascendant, the "Conway cabal" of disgruntled officers and politicians unsuccessfully schemed to out Washington and appoint Gates. Historian Lewis Sorley author of 1999s well-regarded A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of Americans Last Years in Vietnam now zeroes in on General William Westmoreland. The Germanic fighters demolished the three Roman legions. Elmo Zumwalt was a U.S. admiral and commander of American naval forces in Vietnam. Men and material the Union could provide its armies. Yet Fredendall's solution was to order an Army engineer company to build a giant bunker a hundred miles from the front lines. 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. In other words, this book is a "how-not-to" guide to leadership. General William Westmoreland. 9 Noteworthy Bog Bodies (And What They Tell Us), 12 Novels Considered the Greatest Book Ever Written, Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution, https://www.britannica.com/list/9-worst-generals-in-history. Only recently have those in the defense and military complex begun to look at how we rate generals. Napoleon. Vast areas dotted with villages were blasted with artillery, bombed from the air. He was killed in combat on March 1, 1870. DE AGOSTINI PICTURE LIBRARY/Contributor/Getty Images, Biden Proposal Puts Climate Agenda Above Americas Defense, Russias New START Breach Means U.S. Nuclear Weapons Modernization Is a Must. While there were a host of bad generals serving on both sides during the American Civil Warmostly on the Union side unfortunatelythe one that usually gets the most credit for dragging out the war as long as he did is Union General George McClellan. The curation of this content is at the discretion of the author, and not necessarily reflective of the views of Encyclopaedia Britannica or its editorial staff. Test yourself on the week of Feb. 25: Nigeria votes, Finland builds a border wall, and Israel escalates repression. 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. In his single-minded pursuit of that objective, Westmoreland (despite his repeated claims to the contrary) essentially ignored two other crucial aspects of the war, improvement of South Vietnams armed forces and pacification. More ways to stay updated on global news: By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. (You May Also Like: The Five Best Generals in U.S. History). This infuriated the Marines, who viewed it as evidence that Westmoreland lacked confidence in them. Although Nelson was killed in combat at Trafalgar, Villeneuve outlived him only by six months. [i] However, the list is subjective, and open to debate, as top 10 lists tend to be. 5. Pillow faced a court-martial for stealing a Mexican cannon and attempting to spirit it home in his personal baggage, but Polk intervened to clear Pillows record. 2. His poor tactical decisions resulted in his army being routed by a smaller force of Redcoats and Loyalists at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina in 1780. The stabbed in the back myth did much to propel the ascent of Adolf Hitler, and Ludendorff was a key participant in the Beer Hall Putsch. Watchthe conversation onFP Live, the magazines forum for live journalism, orreada condensed transcript. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. He retreated to Malta but was captured when that island fell to the British. He was responsible for coming up with the idea of using force to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. Quintus Servilius Caepio takes the cake amongst the worst Roman generals ever to take command of a legion though. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. After only an eight-day siege, he surrendered his entire armya third of all British forces in America. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? In the end, the Romans leveled Carthage and salted the earth. Todays list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam, Want to read more on this topic or region? Along with Communist China and other Communist movements in the region, who were fighting to reunite the Vietnams under the red banner, there were other belligerent, free countries in the region who had an interest in keeping South Vietnam away from the Commies. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from scratch. However, Ludendorff and German General Staff chief Helmuth von Moltke had altered the Schlieffen PlanGermanys overall battle plan for fighting a two-front warin a way that had weakened the attacking army on the Western Front. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? Where is Carthage you ask? Saul David reviews a surprising study of military failure and names his own five most infamous generals Saul David Thursday February 17 2022, 12.00am , The Times When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybody's all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. Advancing to the North Korean border with China also was a red flag for Mao-Tse Tung, who feared that American troops on his border were a prelude to U.S. invasion. Seared into all who fought it and many who merely lived through it that conflict remains a bitter stew of second-guessing and recriminations. Overseas during World War II he had limited line duty (16 months of battalion command, then 13 months in staff positions) and of 14 months of command during the Korean War and its immediate aftermath he spent eight months in reserve in Japan and only six months in Korea, and that during the mostly static final months of the war. Thus it was under Darius rule that the Persian Empire fell and was conquered. (The leg did get a state funeral). Gamelin made the mistake of viewing the Ardennes as impenetrable and chose to defend it with ten of his weakest, least well equipped and least well trained divisions. In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. This might have ended okay for Germany, provided they didnt do something like provoke a previously neutral country with Allied sympathies and an effectively bottomless war chest. Xi Jinpings signature foreign policy is a shadow of its former self.. The Biden administration has passed landmark legislations such as theInflation Reduction Act(IRA) and theCHIPS and Science Act, which provide subsidies in clean energy and semiconductoShow morers worth well over $400 billion. (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. Although he outnumbered Magruders Army of the Peninsula 10-to-1, McClellan settled in for a monthlong siege. He also issued orders to his troops in a personal code that no one else understood, such as this gem of command clarity: Move your command, i. e., the walking boys, pop guns, Baker's outfit and the outfit which is the reverse of Baker's outfit and the big fellows to M, which is due north of where you are now, as soon as possible. He bears a lot of responsibility for one the greatest reversals of military fortune ever experienced by a super power. On September 9, 1965, Navy Cmdr. History: Military History. Muammar Al-Gaddafi. Johnston was wounded on the first day of the Battle of Seven Pines, six miles east of Richmond, and he was replaced by Robert E. Lee. Routed by U.S. forces under Winfield Scott, Santa Anna was again driven into exile. Sorley skillfully uses Westmoreland's own words to show time and again his duplicity at worst and his lack of touch with reality at best. Yet, Hannibal nevertheless ranks as one of the worlds epic fails. Disobeying orders, he sailed for Cdiz instead of the Channel, allowing Nelsons fleet time to return and effectively scuttling Napoleons plans for a cross-Channel invasion. According to formerly classified Army documents, an investigation disclosed that from at least March 1968 through October 1969, "Vietnamese [civilian] detainees were subjected to maltreatment" by. Thus, almost by default, Westmoreland was left to go his own way, year after bloody year. Still, it is his world-changing defeat at Yorktown that merits memorializing. In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. And, to further demonstrate progress in reducing enemy strength, Westmoreland arbitrarily and entirely on his own removed from the order of battle several categories of enemy forces that had long been carried there, including during the three years Westmoreland had already been in command of U.S. forces in Vietnam.