At Brownstown, south of Detroit, two dozen warriors under Tecumseh routed more than 200 American militiamen escorting a supply column intended for Detroit. The Worst Civil War Generals on the Confederacy Confederate Maj. Gen. Gideon Pillow. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. A very influential visitor, Senator "Fritz" Hollings from Westmoreland's home state of South Carolina, had warned him about reliance on such ratios. The Second Battle of the Somme was the first of a series of successful German offensives, but Ludendorff had failed to integrate these tactical victories into a broader strategic plan. Yes, eminently. 88,594. 15. Hull was taken prisoner by the British and was court-martialed upon his return to the United States. Still, he choked in the big game. But he was overly cautious by nature. Create an FP account to save articles to read later and in the FP mobile app. The early days of the 2003 Iraq War were bound to be a graveyard for military and political reputations, given the misperceptions and misjudgments behind America's ill-fated adventure in regime change and nation-building. His was one of just two French ships of the line to escape the destruction of the French fleet there. The Romans marched right into the ambush that Arminius laid thus leading to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. A final humiliation came during Mexican-American War. 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. 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. Varus trust in Arminius was an obvious and terrible misjudgment. 1. But Gates could have doomed the American Revolution. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. After the war, the phrase lions led by donkeys came to be associated with the British army for what should be obvious reasons. Feel free to mention any others you may know of in the comments. A curated selection of our very best long reads. Army Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson put one forth in the PROVN Study, a Program for the Pacification and Long-Term Development of Vietnam. That document held that Westmorelands approach was not working and could not work because it ignored the real war in South Vietnams hamlets and villages, where the covert enemy infrastructure was through coercion and terror dominating the rural populace. Think about how history would have been different if Hannibal had a military plan to outlast Roman might. Villeneuve was then to return in secret and help establish naval dominance of the English Channel in preparation for a land invasion of Britain. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. Routed by U.S. forces under Winfield Scott, Santa Anna was again driven into exile. But then MacArthur thrived on controversy like bread thrives on yeast. Hull responded by ordering the evacuation of Fort Dearborn, and the garrison was promptly massacred by a Potawatomi war band upon leaving the fort. 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. Percival surrendered Malaya to Japanese forces in early 1942, defying Winston Churchills own instructions for prolonged resistance. The self proclaimed Napoleon of the West didnt quite leave the same legacy as his idol. Alas, as a historian, he passed on the opportunity to answer Battlelands questions about what Vietnam should teach us about Afghanistan, and who, if anyone, is todays Westmoreland, during our email chat earlier this week: Whats the most important thing you learned writing Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam? The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? Hull had served with distinction in the Revolutionary War and was appointed governor of the Michigan Territory in 1805. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? 4. But there was something that not even the factories of New York and Chicago could produce, and that was time. A final humiliation came during Mexican-American War. 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. But its not just the United States. The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week. Delivered Monday-Friday. 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. 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. And the number one reason why Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam: With his unavailing approach to conduct of the war he squandered four years of support by much of the American people, the Congress, and even the media. T he Civil War was America's bloodiest conflict. He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it. He gritted his teeth and wore down the Confederacy with incessant attacks until the South could take no more. His bad luck didnt end at San Jacinto. Still, it is his world-changing defeat at Yorktown that merits memorializing. Indeed they are brave and proud, but their standards, tactics, and lack of command supervision throughout their ranks requires improvement in the national interest. And, he added, I would be less than frank if I did not say that I feel somewhat insecure with the situation in Quang Tri province, in view of my knowledge of their shortcomings. 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. 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. On the other side of the trenches in World War I was Erich Ludendorff, commanding the armies of Germany. Even now, the easiest way to get into an argument at a V.F.W. 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.. What will another year of war look like? In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, Chinas Censors Are Afraid of What Chatbots Might Say, The U.S. And he was able to inflict massive casualties on the enemy. 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. Concurrently with hi. Without question, many lives would be saved if their tactical professionalism were enhanced.. 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. The Texans only suffered 2 casualties, as opposed to hundreds of Mexican casualties. George Custer at the Little Big Horn and Lord Chelmsford at the Battle of Isandlwana leap to mind. In 1941, Graziani resigned his commission after the British counterattacked and the Tenth Army was completely defeated during Operation Compass. Its quite exclusive: combat leaders who had the fate of their people in their hands and squandered it all. 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 There was no warmth, no apparent interest in his associates as people. How does an admiral make a list of the worst generals? The pandemics outbreak brought rare reporting freedoms. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. Not good, Hannibal. Advancing in dispersed columns across the northern half of the peninsula was an invitation to be destroyed piecemeal. Thus, almost by default, Westmoreland was left to go his own way, year after bloody year. There are a number of contenders for the top places on such a roster. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. And how might that be impacting the world? Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent. Who was the worst general in history? Contrarily, I would not so stigmatize another important player often criticized by others, Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge. But the rash advance into North Korea was a blunder of strategic proportions. The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War. Argentina, Brazil, and the Brazilian puppet government in Uruguay formed an alliance, and on May 1, 1865, they declared war on Paraguay. Implementing the attrition strategy, Westmoreland typically employed a series of large unit sweeps conducted in the deep jungle regions along South Vietnams western borders. Todays list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam, Want to read more on this topic or region? 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. Muammar Al-Gaddafi. 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. 7. Only recently have those in the defense and military complex begun to look at how we rate generals. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on. Some historians are a little more sympathetic towards Percivals legacy nowadays arguing that Percival had been dealt an unusually bad hand. 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. (You May Also Like: The Five Best U.S. Having several decades of duplicity to draw on at this point, everyone had a pretty good idea of how any such deal would turn out, and the aging general was rebuffed by both parties. Perhaps Mao would have intervened anyway. 1. In order, from most culpable down. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybodys all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. Keep up with the world without stopping yours. But the award for the biggest Persian loser goes to Darius III. Pillow suffered slightly more casualties than Grant in the engagement, which possibly makes the Battle of Belmont the high point of Pillows military career. Although Westmoreland denied it, he imposed a ceiling on the reported number of enemy by instructing his intelligence officers to adhere to a command position of not more than 300,000, even though newly acquired and more accurate data developed in his own headquarters then indicated a much higher figure. How theyve practiced the art of war is immaterial, too. Publication of the PROVN Study, whose precepts were later implemented with great success by Westmorelands successor, illustrated a matter of fundamental importance. Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. They kept it as a war trophy, exhibiting the leg at county fairs. He underestimated the enemys staying power, maintaining that if he could inflict enough casualties the communists would lose heart and cease their aggression against South Vietnam. After months of inactivity, McClellan was finally spurred to action by Pres. 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. When two able and progressive Nationalist generals, Pai Chunghsi and Li Tsung-jen, begged the generalissimo to adopt similar methods, Chiang rejected them outright. To say that he failed in both regards is to dramatically understate the case. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. Heres the inaugural class: 6. Delivered Wednesday. He was also supremely gifted at overestimating the size of his opponents armies to a degree that beggared belief. The problem begins with the fact that nobody in the chain of command was really competent to critique Westmorelands performance. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition. The Romans lost an estimated 80,000 infantry and perhaps 40,000 auxiliaries and cavalry, numbers that dwarf the staggering totals at Cannae. Westmoreland held a press conference in which he categorically denied any such loss of confidence. In the opening month of World War I, Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg scored a crushing victory over the Russians at Tannenberg. The last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, Darius was not quite as qualified to rule a mighty empire as his predecessors were. Todays list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam. Ludendorff is one of historys greatest examples of a general who can win battles but still loses the war. To accomplish this goal, Vietnam employs repressive policies that often contravene international human rights law. What will another year of war look like? [i] However, the list is subjective, and open to debate, as top 10 lists tend to be. Despite the Union outnumbering the Confederates, McClellan was unable to crush Robert E. Lee after failing to pursue him into Virginia. . Francisco Solano Lpez managed to stumble into a war with pretty much all of that. World War I provided a forum for any number of truly horrible commanders to assert themselves. 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. Defining that is like defining a bad meal. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Pillow pulled the troops back to the fort to resupply them. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. He continued on to suffer defeats at Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz, almost letting the war slip away from the British. Darius again was the first to flee the battle, abandoning all of his soldiers and his property to be taken by Alexander. After occupying Jerusalem and crucifying 2,000 Jewish rebels in Judaea, Varus went off to govern Germania and tame barbarian tribes. A very significant instance was his determination to arbitrarily hold down the estimate of enemy strength during a 1967 order of battle controversy. Westmorelands first resort in claiming progress in the war was always body count, but in fact this was meaningless. One-stop digest of politics, economics, and culture. 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. Caepio may have been a terrible general, but he was apparently an exceptional thief. General and presidential candidate Douglas MacArthur (1880 - 1964) at his headquarters in Yokohama, Japan with US Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright (1883 - 1953) (right), and British Lieutenant-General A E Percival (1887 - 1966) (left) who were taken prisoner by the Japanese after the US retreat in the Bataan peninsula and released in 1945. Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, by Lewis Sorley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. . Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. 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. Outstanding commanders such as George H. Thomas, Phil Sheridan, and William Tecumseh Sherman routinely bested their Confederate opponents. After the Germans attacked, Gamelin was eventually removed from his post, but by then it was too late. Westmoreland is often described as a Boy Scout, usually implying, it appears, that he was well-intentioned but nave. As Lincoln well knew, the only way the Union could lose the war was if the North eventually grew tired and agreed to allow the South to secede. The Persians had a mixed record against the Greeks. It would be nice if all American generals were great. Ultimately, he was denied his final showdown with the Allies by German political leaders who realized that the Americans could produce soldiers faster than Germany could produce bullets. He was killed in combat on March 1, 1870. Vietnam War. rs worth well over $400 billion. Lyndon Johnson had no understanding of military affairs whatever, nor did Robert McNamara. A dull, unfeeling, unimaginative, smug "Colonel Blimp" of the worst sort. This did not, however, achieve the postulated outcome. Delivered Thursday. How well that would have worked can be seen when Gates was sent to command American troops in the South. Abraham Lincoln. 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. 8. Westmoreland established a headquarters known as MACV Forward in the northern provinces of South Vietnam and put his deputy, General Creighton Abrams, in charge, placing him over the Marines and also the Army forces in that region. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. Varus himself, seeing all hope was lost, committed suicide. 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. 3. When all is said and done, it doesnt matter how nice, brave, courageous, gutsy, loyal, or brilliant commanders theyve been. Pierre de Villeneuve had his first brush with history when he bravely ran away at the Battle of the Nile. James K. Polk. Although he managed to escape the battle unharmed, Caepio was stripped of his Roman citizenship and exiled. Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, This Photo Of A 94-Year-Old Widow Receiving Her Husbands Remains Will Break Your Heart, From Messiah to Hitler, What You Can and Cannot Name Your Child. Grant had encircled the fort. In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. standing, Ukrainians are determined to keep fighting, and the West has so far stayed resolute in its support of Ukraine. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. As the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles crippled Germany, Ludendorff effectively sabotaged the Weimar Republic by propagating the belief that he and his armies had been undefeated on the battlefield. After achieving moderate success in Libya and Ethiopia, the Butcher of Ethiopia became Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Royal Armys General Staff and of Italian North Africa at the start of World War II. By Lewis Sorley Best Defense Saigon bureau chief. Two years later, he lost a leg fighting the French. 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. 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. 10. He would eventually be betrayed and killed by a friend. A more positive example is George Washington. Would he be upset if he were alive to read this book today? They care about the one. Westmoreland didnt get it. This is, obviously, a problematic quality when ones title is general-in-chief of the entire Union army. 5. Gamelin was commander of the French forces in World War II and is largely responsible for the fall of France into German control during the Battle of France. Feel free to mention any others you may know of in the comments. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he theoretically had some influence there, at least to the extent he could shape the collective viewpoint, but even then LBJ and McNamara were famously impervious to advice from the Joint Chiefs. Their orientation, indeed the core of Scoutings values, is selflessness and service to others. He graduated second in his class at West Point (well ahead of classmates Stonewall Jackson, George H. Gordon, and George Pickett). Many historians have said Bragg was one of the worst generals of the Civil War, having lost most of his battles. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. On the other hand, there was that bad day at the Battle of Salamis when most of the Persian fleet went to the bottom. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. 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. Not only is Sorley a third-generation graduate of West Point a Vietnam veteran and a historian, but he worked for Westmoreland as well. He spoke up in Honolulu, during an important U.S. planning conference in February 1966, observing that we can beat up North Vietnamese regiments in the high plateau for the next twenty years and it will not end the war. Westmorelands later dismissive comment was that Ambassador Lodge does not have a deep feel of military tactics and strategy.. 0. He still had his defenders, but they were in the last trench, barely holding on. When he made public his disagreements with President Truman, Truman rightfully fired him. There's an entire myriad of generals from the American Civil War that fought for the Union that were incredibly inept. General Earle Wheeler was essentially a staff officer with virtually no troop leading experience, much less combat acumen. Relations between the United States and China seem to be getting frostier by the day. What a Lovely War and then in the 1989 television comedy series Blackadder Goes Forth. The Battle of Khe Sanh (21 January - 9 July 1968) was conducted in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Qung Tr Province, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), during the Vietnam War. That dubious distinction falls to William Hull, the only general officer in American history to be ordered before a firing squad for cowardice and dereliction of duty. Sure, he was the greatest commander of the Second Punic War, a titanic contest between Carthage and Rome. While there are plenty of books that analyze the keys to success, The Worst Military Leaders in History offers lessons of failure to avoid. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. But for whatever reason, some American commanders have lost the battle for history. Then, in an ill-advised comeback, he met his Waterloo. 2. Grenada (1983) 3. Dispatched to India, he led campaigns to help subdue the subcontinent, replacing the crown jewel he had lost. General William Childs Westmoreland (1914- 2005) with President Johnson in South Vietnam #1. The suppression of drug consumption and trade is high on the Government of Vietnam's agenda. Gen. Charles Cornwallis. Grachev played a key role in initiating and leading the First Chechen War. This was heeded about as well as any piece of parental advice, anywhere ever. Major General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend The idiot who, seeking self aggrandisement, led his army, Force D, to disaster at Kut in WW1. Darius was a different sort of game-changer. General William Westmoreland. After only 10 weeks into the Pacific War, Percival became responsible for the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? These are the incompetents, the idiots, the bumblers who have represented armies or nations at war only to lead them to defeat or shame. 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. Lpez, possibly in a fit of madness, ordered the execution of hundreds of people, including some of his own family members. 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. They kept it as a war trophy, exhibiting the leg at. He was an artilleryman who missed out on the Armys great schools system, never attending the Command & General Staff College or the Army War College. Here is a list of the 10 most famous Chinese generals in history. 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. Woefully inexperienced U.S. soldiers found themselves against Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps veterans. When major U.S. ground force deployments were under consideration in July 1965, for example, LBJ worried that North Vietnam would respond by pouring in more men of its own. Like it or not, the U.S. military would become the governing authority. As for the British, they had lost the most valuable jewel of the Imperial crown. Ulysses S. Grant made his Civil War debut at the Battle of Belmont against Confederate Gen. Gideon Pillow. Caepio was born into a noble family and became consul in 106 BC. 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. Is your subtitle The General Who Lost Vietnam fair? It is probably not a coincidence that corruption in the military appears to have escalated since 2006, when the number of military generals started to jump sharply. Alexander went on to march halfway across Asia, creating an empire, albeit short-lived, that changed the history of three continentsnot bad for an ancient millennial. Despite Lincoln's pleas for aggressive action, his Army of the Potomac moved hesitantly, its commander McClellan convinced himself that the Southern armies vastly outnumbered him when logic should have told him that it was the North that enjoyed an abundance of resources.
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