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Antonio de Padua Mara Severino Lpez de Santa Anna. His bad luck didnt end at San Jacinto. And what then? Xi Jinpings signature foreign policy is a shadow of its former self.. 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. Is your subtitle The General Who Lost Vietnam fair? McClellan was a proto-Douglas MacArthur who bad-mouthed his president and commander-in-chief. Considering some militants as instruments of regional influence while fighting others has had disastrous consequences. Registration for summer courses begins March 18, 2023 and ends June 7, 2023. Some historians are a little more sympathetic towards Percivals legacy nowadays arguing that Percival had been dealt an unusually bad hand. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. 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. Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official estimate of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. 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. 5. How does an admiral make a list of the worst generals? 336 pages | 16 halftones | 6 1/4 x 9 1/4. Russias war is receiving critical assistance from authoritarian regimes around the world. The last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, Darius was not quite as qualified to rule a mighty empire as his predecessors were. History: Military History. Germanic tribes sacrificed Roman officers on altars to their gods. Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era. Of course they raised this issue, leading Westmoreland to declare vehemently that establishing MACV Forward had not a damned thing to do with my confidence in General Cushman or the Marines, not a damned thing. That again was not only false but, given the existing paper trail, reckless as well. In stereotypically McClellan fashion, he was promptly checked by a vastly inferior force under John Bankhead Magruder. To that Hollings responded, "Westy, the American people don't care about the ten. While Muammer Al-Gaddafi isn't into the funny business in his politician reign, he most certainly is one of a highly egotistical leader and a member who represents more of the "self" rather than all else. 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. Although he eventually disavowed Hitler, by that point Ludendorff had become so deeply involved with mysticism that few took him seriously. These operations were designed to seek out enemy forces and engage them in decisive battle. Yet backstabbing your commander-in-chief in the middle of a war is taking ambition a little too far. 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. Sure, he won big at the Alamo. Argentina, Brazil, and the Brazilian puppet government in Uruguay formed an alliance, and on May 1, 1865, they declared war on Paraguay. The next major British offensive came at Passchendaele (July 31November 6, 1917), where Haig lost another 275,000 troops in a battle whose name became synonymous with pointless slaughter. These are the incompetents, the idiots, the bumblers who have represented armies or nations at war only to lead them to defeat or shame. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? There are a number of contenders for the top places on such a roster. Sun Wu Sun Zi, or Sun Tzu, was a prominent military general during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) who is always regarded as one of the greatest military strategists in China and even the World. He was responsible for coming up with the idea of using force to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it. Fortunately, along came Reaganif not for that, Westmorelands military reversals could well have signaled the beginning of our end. To accomplish this goal, Vietnam employs repressive policies that often contravene international human rights law. in history from Michigan State University in 1995. His war of attrition, search and destroy tactics, and emphasis on body count did nothing to affect the war in the hamlets and villages of South Vietnam, where the enemys covert infrastructure was left free to continue using coercion and terror to dominate the rural populace. He worked under Adolf Hitler's Third Reich as a leading general and gained fame from his battles in North Africa. After the war, the phrase lions led by donkeys came to be associated with the British army for what should be obvious reasons. 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. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. Read More. 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. 0. That may have been true in the east (the worst of the Union generals in that theater rates his own entry on this list), but in the west it was a much different affair. Best Defense: Maximus managed to form up his men but to no avail. What he did not divulge publicly was that the United States. But its not just the United States. He was indeed a capable warrior, as shown by the South Pacific campaign and the Inchon landing in Korea. The Persians had a mixed record against the Greeks. FPsRavi Agrawalsat down with U.S. Trade RepresentativeKatherine Tai, the Biden administrations top official tasked with mapping out and implementing the White Houses trade policy. So what is the standard of shame for induction? Others would say that it is not victory, but success in fulfilling a mission that counts. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. . A more positive example is George Washington. Armchair historians often generalize that during the American Civil War, while the Union held a clear advantage in material, the Confederacy could field superior commanders. 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. Hull had served with distinction in the Revolutionary War and was appointed governor of the Michigan Territory in 1805. See the vast swaths of land to the north and south that arent Paraguay? It's not the first time that someone thought he was smarter than his boss. His 1812 campaign against Russia ended in complete disaster. 3. Hulls nerve was shattered. For many soldiers, a major tipping point happened when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, news of which reaches the soldiers in Da 5 Bloods during one particularly stirring scene . The Top Ten. Grenada (1983) 3. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybody's all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. 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. In the opening month of World War I, Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg scored a crushing victory over the Russians at Tannenberg. Napoleon. Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. But he also displayed remarkably bad judgment, as when he was commander in the Philippines in 1941. 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. 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). As a result, American military power and prestige took a dramatic downturn. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on. 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. bar is to mention Vietnam. Despite the Union outnumbering the Confederates, McClellan was unable to crush Robert E. Lee after failing to pursue him into Virginia. Military. By the end of the conflict, America had unleashed the equivalent of 640 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs on Vietnam. The enemy did not lose heart, did not cease aggression. 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. Diem's family was one of the earliest to convert to Catholicism, a religion he took . On the night of August 15, 1812, Tecumseh led his forces across the Detroit River, and Brock followed the next morning. At the Battle of Gaugamela, he helped make Alexander great by losing half his army to the Macedonian upstart. 10. 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. Again fighting outnumbered Texans, this time Santa Anna would lose the battle stunningly. Seldom included in. In the summer of 1967, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) initiated a series of attacks in western Kontum Province. It would be nice if all American generals were great. After only 10 weeks into the Pacific War, Percival became responsible for the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. Lebanon (1982-1984) 240. 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). Quintus Servilius Caepio takes the cake amongst the worst Roman generals ever to take command of a legion though. Weekly update on whats driving U.S. national security policy. Find Paraguay on a map of South America. What is a bad general? His battlefield losses marked the end of the Persian Empire. Join FPs Ravi Agrawal for a frank discussion about the Biden administrations China policy and alternatives that it ought to consider. Caepio may have been a terrible general, but he was apparently an exceptional thief. Implementing the attrition strategy, Westmoreland typically employed a series of large unit sweeps conducted in the deep jungle regions along South Vietnams western borders. What is the standard of shame for induction? But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. When all is said and done, it doesnt matter how nice, brave, courageous, gutsy, loyal, or brilliant commanders theyve been. Michael Ray oversees coverage of European history and military affairs for Britannica. He effectively pledged to become an agent for the U.S. but found that he had been deposed upon his return to Mexico. (The leg did get a state funeral). Operational Culture General Training LREC SME Support Training Course Catalog Cognitive Dimension Training Additional Resources . Francisco Solano Lpez managed to stumble into a war with pretty much all of that. As the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, he faced a two-front war, an insurgency in the South and an invading army from the North. 8. Officially labelled a defector by the Pentagon, many suspected Nolan, an African American, changed sides after suffering a lifetime of racial discrimination. Sure, they ganged up on the Spartans at the Pass of Thermopylae. He was uninterested in other viewpoints on how the war might be prosecuted, dismissing the PROVN Study sponsored by Army Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson (which concluded that Westmorelands way of war was not working and could not work) and basic disagreements with Westmorelands organization and approach voiced by his brilliant classmate General Bruce Palmer Jr. 7. Exactly. He would eventually be betrayed and killed by a friend. The Russian president got many things wrong about invading Ukrainebut not everything. Muammar Al-Gaddafi. And he was able to inflict massive casualties on the enemy. Creighton Abrams was an U.S. Army General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. All the enemys losses were quickly made up. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Pillow pulled the troops back to the fort to resupply them. By Lewis Sorley Best Defense Saigon bureau chief. Who was the worst general in history? It doesnt matter if theyve won more often than theyve lost. 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. He need not be concerned, soothed Wheeler, because the weight of judgment was that the enemy cant match us on a buildup. That turned out to be one of the classic misjudgments of the war, comparable in magnitude and consequence to General MacArthurs assurances to President Truman that Chinese forces would not enter the Korean War. Stay updated on the topics you care about with email alerts. Many historians credit Benedict Arnold and others with being the real victors of Saratoga. Among the most detrimental and problematic policies are the incarceration of drug users in compulsory treatment centers, and the stigmatization and abuse of consumers by the police. Even if Moscow holds onto territory, the war has wrecked its future. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail. Grachev has also been linked to corruption among the higher ranks of the military, specifically the assassination of journalist Dmitry Kholodov. A very significant instance was his determination to arbitrarily hold down the estimate of enemy strength during a 1967 order of battle controversy. With a few relatively minor changes, thats just about where they stayed for the next four years. On the other hand, there was that bad day at the Battle of Salamis when most of the Persian fleet went to the bottom. Advancing in dispersed columns across the northern half of the peninsula was an invitation to be destroyed piecemeal. The resulting Peninsular Campaign (AprilJuly 1862) was a marvel of planning but something of a farce in execution. Others were experienced military men who should have known better than to take the risks they took - or not take the risks they should have. 9. 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. With the Little Corporal running everything, Europe might have become a very different place. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war.