How does an admiral make a list of the worst generals? Hull had served with distinction in the Revolutionary War and was appointed governor of the Michigan Territory in 1805. The 20th century is the most violent century in history. The Soviets saw the American humiliation in Vietnam as a turning point. It's not the first time that someone thought he was smarter than his boss. Relations between the United States and China seem to be getting frostier by the day. He is the dumb ass who gave the order to exfoliate the jungles with agent orange. While there is much to criticize LBJ for in his conduct of the war, one cannot help having some sympathy for the dilemma posed by the often wildly conflicting advice he was getting from his senior aides and advisors, including those in uniform. 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. Where is Carthage you ask? 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. While serving in Vietnam . Starting with the battle of Long Island, he lost way more fights than he wonyet he managed to win the war. How theyve practiced the art of war is immaterial, too. Is your subtitle The General Who Lost Vietnam fair? Pillow suffered slightly more casualties than Grant in the engagement, which possibly makes the Battle of Belmont the high point of Pillows military career. They care about the one. Westmoreland didnt get it. 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. He decided to conduct of a war of attrition, using search and destroy tactics, in which the measure of merit was body count. To that Hollings responded, "Westy, the American people don't care about the ten. You start by being the only thing that can frustrate Napoleon more than a Russian winter. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail. Outstanding commanders such as George H. Thomas, Phil Sheridan, and William Tecumseh Sherman routinely bested their Confederate opponents. 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. Gates thought otherwise, and fancied himself a better commander than George Washington. Alas, call it the laws of probability or just cosmic karma, but every nation produces bad generals as well as good onesand America is no exception. When all is said and done, it doesnt matter how nice, brave, courageous, gutsy, loyal, or brilliant commanders theyve been. (You May Also Like: 5 Israeli Weapons of War ISIS Should Fear). Alas, call it the laws of probability or just cosmic karma, but every nation produces bad generals as well as good onesand . Lebanon (1982-1984) 240. Antonio de Padua Mara Severino Lpez de Santa Anna. Although he eventually disavowed Hitler, by that point Ludendorff had become so deeply involved with mysticism that few took him seriously. While Maximus was conducting negotiations with the Cimbri, a Germanic tribe that had invaded the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul, Caepio rashly attacked the Cimbri army on October 6, 105 BCE. But the argument is unbalanced. His forces outnumbered Alexanders men by at least a 2 to 1 ratio, but Darius was still outflanked, defeated and forced to flee. Tom Ricks, on his "Best Defense" blog has discussed the top 10 worst generals in U.S. history. 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. A former British officer, Gates rose to fame as Continental Army commander during the momentous American defeat of a British army at Saratoga in 1777. He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it. Despite the Union outnumbering the Confederates, McClellan was unable to crush Robert E. Lee after failing to pursue him into Virginia. And how might that be impacting the world? General Westmorelands close associate, General William DePuy, later admitted the futility of the Westmoreland way of war. Westmorelands devotion to advancing his own interests, even when necessary by misrepresentation, was fundamentally at odds with what Scouting is all about. A more positive example is George Washington. Lpez was the son of Carlos Antonio Lpez, a dictator who had done much to modernize Paraguay in the mid-19th century. Delivered Friday. In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. George Brinton McClellan, a self-proclaimed Young Napoleon, ran dreadful campaigns, but he doesnt make the grade because he was canned before he could lose the entire war. General William Westmoreland. Many historians have said Bragg was one of the worst generals of the Civil War, having lost most of his battles. The Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial LectureThomas E. Ricks is a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Despite reports of the build-up of German forces and even knowing the date of the Germans attack, Gamelin did nothing, stating that he would await events. Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors. This would be known as the Tet Offensive and would become a major turning point in the war. Thuong, 52, is the youngest member of the party's Politburo, the country's top decision-making body, and is widely regarded as being close to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's most . They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The deplorable conduct of Charles Lee at the Battle of Monmouth has been immortalized by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Benedict Arnolds name is synonymous with traitorous behavior. Assuming you believe the subtitle to be accurate, who were GEN Westmorelands biggest accomplices in the loss? Here are five of America's worst generals: Great generals have great talents, and usually egos and ambitions to match. Military. 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. 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. This week marks exactly one year since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. Considering some militants as instruments of regional influence while fighting others has had disastrous consequences. The British gained control of the fort, dozens of cannons, the brig USS Adams (recommissioned the HMS Detroit), and virtually the entire Michigan Territory. - 1 Best: 1996 Chicago Bulls. In fact, he did a lot to ensure that Germany would find itself in another war that it couldnt win, but, since he died in 1937, he gets extra credit for being a bad World War II general from beyond the grave. 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. 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. 151. 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. They dramatically upped their game, pressing the U.S. worldwide. Registration for summer courses begins March 18, 2023 and ends June 7, 2023. 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. Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved, as Continental Army commander during the momentous American defeat of a British army at Saratoga in 1777, The Five Best U.S. By December 1864 Paraguay was at war with Brazil, and, when Argentina denied a request for the transit of a Paraguayan army across its territory, Lpez declared war on that country as well. Again fighting outnumbered Texans, this time Santa Anna would lose the battle stunningly. 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. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? Then, in an ill-advised comeback, he met his Waterloo. Thus there was little internal capacity for debating or evaluating his chosen course of action. Most younger officers who worked around General Westmoreland, excepting only a very few among his many aides-de-camp or executive officers and the like, had no personal relationship with this difficult and distant man. On a visit to Vietnam Senator Hollings from Westmorelands home state of South Carolina was told by Westmoreland: Were killing these people, the enemy, at a ratio of 10 to 1. Said Hollings, Westy, the American people dont care about the ten. But its not just the United States. The elder Lpez had bequeathed to his son a relatively powerful military by regional standards but had cautioned Francisco against using it to settle diplomatic issues. Varus trust in Arminius was an obvious and terrible misjudgment. To say that he failed in both regards is to dramatically understate the case. Ulysses S. Grant, who replaced McClellan, understood this. When all is said and done, it doesnt matter how nice, brave, courageous, gutsy, loyal, or brilliant commanders theyve been. 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. He worked under Adolf Hitler's Third Reich as a leading general and gained fame from his battles in North Africa. Lpez, possibly in a fit of madness, ordered the execution of hundreds of people, including some of his own family members. Westmorelands own book about himself gives some indication of how he would react to this more recent one. Gen. Charles Cornwallis. War is an extension of politics, and if commanders dont help secure the desired political ends, they get a failing grade. 1968 takes the cake for me. Join FPs Ravi Agrawal for a frank discussion about the Biden administrations China policy and alternatives that it ought to consider. 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. Follow him on Twitter:@Mipeck1. On the other hand, there was that bad day at the Battle of Salamis when most of the Persian fleet went to the bottom. - 4 Worst: 1990 Cleveland Cavaliers. Lyndon Johnson had no understanding of military affairs whatever, nor did Robert McNamara. Dispatched to India, he led campaigns to help subdue the subcontinent, replacing the crown jewel he had lost. McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from . Stay updated on the topics you care about with email alerts. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. Soon after declaring himself dictator of Mexico, rebels who opposed the Mexican dictatorship created three new republics, one of them being the Republic of Texas. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. He was found guilty of 11 counts, and only the intervention by Pres. 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. Grant had encircled the fort. The Romans marched right into the ambush that Arminius laid thus leading to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week. Thus, on July 1, 1916, Haig ordered his men to go over the top at the First Battle of the Somme, and 20,000 of them had the audacity to die almost immediately (there were 60,000 total British casualties on the first day of the attack). 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. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. [1] Yet backstabbing your commander-in-chief in the middle of a war is taking ambition a little too far. Fortunately, along came Reaganif not for that, Westmorelands military reversals could well have signaled the beginning of our end. 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. Vice President, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute. How the North Vietnamese remember the conflict 40 years after the fall of Saigon. He was soon released, however, and, as more capable French admirals either died or somehow incurred Napoleons disfavor, a path to the top echelons of command was opened for Villeneuve. The South Vietnamese thus went for years equipped with castoff WWII-vintage U.S. equipment while outgunned by the communists, who were armed with the AK-47 assault rifle and other top of the line equipment. 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. After months of inactivity, McClellan was finally spurred to action by Pres. 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. But he was overly cautious by nature. Napoleon. 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. These are the incompetents, the idiots, the bumblers who have represented armies or nations at war only to lead them to defeat or shame. Allied with Brock was the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, who was head of the most formidable pan-Indian military force the continent had ever seen. Woefully inexperienced U.S. soldiers found themselves against Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps veterans. British Gen. Isaac Brock possessed a remarkable ability to anticipate his opponents moves and reactions, and it was not long before he had taken full measure of Hull. If pressed to rank the miscreants, I would place Wheeler first, then LBJ, and then McNamara, with all entitled to recognition as important accomplices in dooming the endeavor. The 1970s were scary times. As a military commander, Napoleon may have thebest batting averageof all time. 7. Exactly. These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. The Romans lost an estimated 80,000 infantry and perhaps 40,000 auxiliaries and cavalry, numbers that dwarf the staggering totals at Cannae. Many historians credit Benedict Arnold and others with being the real victors of Saratoga. The alternative was to split the United States asunder. Michael Ray oversees coverage of European history and military affairs for Britannica. Officially labelled a defector by the Pentagon, many suspected Nolan, an African American, changed sides after suffering a lifetime of racial discrimination. He effectively pledged to become an agent for the U.S. but found that he had been deposed upon his return to Mexico. All related (37) Sort Recommended Doug Szabo Author has 972 answers and 137.7K answer views Nov 27 My vote goes to adm Otto Zumwalt. The pandemics outbreak brought rare reporting freedoms. Join in-depth conversations and interact with foreign-policy experts with. Unfortunately the fates of the former Republic Vietnam (Sout. 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. 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. 6. Darius again was the first to flee the battle, abandoning all of his soldiers and his property to be taken by Alexander. Sure, they ganged up on the Spartans at the Pass of Thermopylae. What will another year of war look like? But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. While there are plenty of books that analyze the keys to success, The Worst Military Leaders in History offers lessons of failure to avoid. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. Answer (1 of 4): The former Cham general/leader Che Bong Nga was killed in the battle against the enemy Dai Viet (old Vietnam) but Che Bong Nga was LUCKY to be mentioned by the enemy Dai Viet historians to allow people to remember him. The heavily forested, swampy terrain made the Legions maneuvers impossible. What does that mean for trade and globalization? In the summer of 1967, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) initiated a series of attacks in western Kontum Province. In 1941, Graziani resigned his commission after the British counterattacked and the Tenth Army was completely defeated during Operation Compass. He continued to view attrition as the most effective strategy for defeating Germany; the British lost some 420,000 men at the Somme. Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) 24. In 1940, after increasing pressure from dictator Benito Mussolini and facing demotion, Graziani followed orders and invaded Egypt with his Tenth Army. Delivered Monday-Saturday. In other words, this book is a "how-not-to" guide to leadership. Informed that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor and were certain to attack the Philippines next, MacArthur failed to disperse his aircraftthe only force that could disrupt the Japanese offensive in the absence of the American fleetand to attack Japanese airfields before the enemy wiped out his air force. Varus placed his legions in a position where their fighting strengths would be minimized and that of the Germanic Cherusci tribesman maximized. 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. But beyond the goals of one leader in Moscow, it is also clear that Ukraine has suffered horrors of a historic nature. Even if Moscow holds onto territory, the war has wrecked its future. By the end of the conflict, America had unleashed the equivalent of 640 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs on Vietnam. FPs Ravi Agrawal spoke with two of the very best Russia experts:Angela Stent, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author ofPutins World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest, and Michael Kofman, the research program director of the Russia studies program at the Center for Naval Analyses. Santa Anna was found wearing a privates uniform, hiding in a marsh. 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. A more minor case, but one revealing of Westmorelands character, stemmed from his unwillingness to level with his senior Marine subordinate at the time of the 1968 Tet Offensive. Jacob Zuma is a cherry on the top of the world's worst leader cake. He gritted his teeth and wore down the Confederacy with incessant attacks until the South could take no more. But with that kind of advantage in troops and firepower, who wouldnt? Vast areas dotted with villages were blasted with artillery, bombed from the air. Casey was an Army insidera four-star general and the son of the highest-ranking American casualty of the Vietnam War, a division commander who was killed in a July 1970 helicopter crash. It would be nice if all American generals were great. They dramatically upped their game, pressing the U.S. worldwide. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. He thought he could take over the war from the South Vietnamese, bring it to a successful conclusion, and then hand their country back to them and go home in triumph. Test yourself on the week of Feb. 25: Nigeria votes, Finland builds a border wall, and Israel escalates repression. A monthly digest of the top articles read by FP subscribers. Find Paraguay on a map of South America. His senior staff lacked diversity of experience and professional outlook, consisting mostly of people with backgrounds similar to his own, especially airborne. He continued on to suffer defeats at Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz, almost letting the war slip away from the British. In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. Because he never wanted to face a superior force, he refused to fight. Explore the benefits of your FP subscription. 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. 15. Hull was thoroughly outclassed. Maximus managed to form up his men but to no avail. 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). 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. He retreated to Malta but was captured when that island fell to the British. Franz Conrad von Htzendorf of Austria couldnt decide which country he wanted to invade, so the German General Staff eventually took his armies away. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. Creighton Abrams was an U.S. Army General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. Hull withdrew after a series of harassing attacks by Tecumsehs highly mobile raiding parties. George Custer at the Little Big Horn and Lord Chelmsford at the Battle of Isandlwana leap to mind. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. Hull was taken prisoner by the British and was court-martialed upon his return to the United States. 0. Best Defense: standing, Ukrainians are determined to keep fighting, and the West has so far stayed resolute in its support of Ukraine. They kept it as a war trophy, exhibiting the leg at county fairs. Over time Westmoreland asked for and received large numbers of U.S. troops, eventually totaling well over half a million. 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. James K. Polk upon the outbreak of war between Mexico and the U.S. and offered to become an agent for the U.S. (again). Nelsons victory at the Battle of Trafalgar was so complete that it established British supremacy on the high seas for more than a century.