Many historians have said Bragg was one of the worst generals of the Civil War, having lost most of his battles. Although he eventually disavowed Hitler, by that point Ludendorff had become so deeply involved with mysticism that few took him seriously. Join FPs Ravi Agrawal for a frank discussion about the Biden administrations China policy and alternatives that it ought to consider. Instead he simply sent more and more replacements to make up his losses. After the war, the phrase lions led by donkeys came to be associated with the British army for what should be obvious reasons. What is a bad general? He decided to conduct of a war of attrition, using search and destroy tactics, in which the measure of merit was body count. Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors. Varus trust in Arminius was an obvious and terrible misjudgment. 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 . When the War of 1812 began, Hull was commissioned a brigadier general and tasked with defending Michigan and invading Upper Canada. I didn't fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that's not against the law for generals. The War of the Triple Alliance devastated Paraguay. 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. The resulting Peninsular Campaign (AprilJuly 1862) was a marvel of planning but something of a farce in execution. What defines Santa Anna is his utter failure to subdue the Texican rebels and block American expansion. Had Lincoln retained McClellan in command of the Union armies, many former Americans might still be whistling "Dixie.". McClellan and Burnside in particular. But his persistence and inspiration kept the Continental Army in the field through the worst of times, which is why his face is on the one-dollar bill. A very influential visitor, Senator "Fritz" Hollings from Westmoreland's home state of South Carolina, had warned him about reliance on such ratios. 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. In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. This was heeded about as well as any piece of parental advice, anywhere ever. After his performance at Belmonta spectacular success by Pillow standardshe was tasked with the defense of Fort Donelson, a key strongpoint on the Mississippi River. The 1970s were scary times. Darius III. 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. Sure, he won big at the Alamo. His was one of just two French ships of the line to escape the destruction of the French fleet there. While this century witnessed many great leaders, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dr. Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi . 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. 5. His 1812 campaign against Russia ended in complete disaster. History is not a fixed set of facts. 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. After only 10 weeks into the Pacific War, Percival became responsible for the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. But MacArthur's strategy certainly helped unleash 300,000 Chinese "volunteers" who inflicted significant casualties on United Nations forces. 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. It wouldn't take a large force to slice through the ramshackle Iraqi army and topple Saddam Hussein, but securing a country the size of Iraq required a larger force. The enemy did not lose heart, did not cease aggression. George Custer at the Little Big Horn and Lord Chelmsford at the Battle of Isandlwana leap to mind. Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security. 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. Even if Moscow holds onto territory, the war has wrecked its future. It was anotherhistory-changingevent, the birth of a truly exceptional nation. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. It would be nice if all American generals were great. In stereotypically McClellan fashion, he was promptly checked by a vastly inferior force under John Bankhead Magruder. Nor is being a bad battlefield commander, by itself, sufficient to make the cut. At Yorktown, he allowed himself to be taken by surprise and outmaneuvered by Washington and the French fleet. What a Lovely War and then in the 1989 television comedy series Blackadder Goes Forth. 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. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. Needs to Talk About the Risk of War With China, Putin Has Assembled an Axis of Autocrats Against Ukraine, The Conversation About Ukraine Is Cracking Apart. Lyndon Johnson had no understanding of military affairs whatever, nor did Robert McNamara. Westmorelands first resort in claiming progress in the war was always body count, but in fact this was meaningless. When all is said and done, it doesnt matter how nice, brave, courageous, gutsy, loyal, or brilliant commanders theyve been. 10. 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. Luckily for the colonists, the Empire also had Cornwallis, a peer of the realm and truly pitiful commander. 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. World War I provided a forum for any number of truly horrible commanders to assert themselves. Think about how history would have been different if Hannibal had a military plan to outlast Roman might. Michael Ray oversees coverage of European history and military affairs for Britannica. Then, in an ill-advised comeback, he met his Waterloo. But the award for the biggest Persian loser goes to Darius III. Under Westmorelands command, the Vietnam war began smoothly as the U.S. won every battle. But in 1968, when Westmoreland became Army Chief of Staff, Communist forces baited Westmoreland into committing nearly 40% of his strength to the military outpost at Khe Sanh, then attacked cities and towns throughout South Vietnam. The rise of American-made chatbots has kicked off a flurry of Chinese activity. So what is the standard of shame for induction? Diem's family was one of the earliest to convert to Catholicism, a religion he took . In 1975, when the Vietnam War ended, the Vietnamese army had only 36 generals, but by 2018, peace-time Vietnam had 415 military officers holding general ranks. This entire list could be populated with Roman commanders, but one manages to rise above the rest with an ineptitude that defies logic. After months of inactivity, McClellan was finally spurred to action by Pres. 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. How does an admiral make a list of the worst generals? The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. Villeneuve lost 20 ships, while Nelson lost none. This is, obviously, a problematic quality when ones title is general-in-chief of the entire Union army. In the summer of 1967, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) initiated a series of attacks in western Kontum Province. 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. Panama (1989) 2. Concurrently with hi. 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. 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. Applications for the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman MA program are open and considered on a rolling basis. 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. Ludendorff is one of historys greatest examples of a general who can win battles but still loses the war. 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. 3. 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. The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week. Haig was cruelly mocked, first in the satirical musical Oh! The loss of Fort Donelson opened the door to Kentucky and Tennessee to Union forces and marked the beginning of the end of Confederate resistance in the west. Lpez was the son of Carlos Antonio Lpez, a dictator who had done much to modernize Paraguay in the mid-19th century. Michael Peck is a contributing writer at Foreign Policy and a writer for War Is Boring. Despite fresh salvos of Western sanctions, Tehran and Moscow are buddying up on defense ties. 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. But then MacArthur thrived on controversy like bread thrives on yeast. This would be known as the Tet Offensive and would become a major turning point in the war. 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). He continued on to suffer defeats at Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz, almost letting the war slip away from the British. Not that Fredendall didn't have real issues that would have tried any commander. Haig had largely dismissed the effect of the machine gun on the battlefield, believing that previous Allied failures owed to something other than an impenetrable wall of lead traveling at ballistic velocity. Hulls nerve was shattered. Yes, the landing at Inchon unhinged the initial North Korean offensive. Here are five of America's worst generals: Great generals have great talents, and usually egos and ambitions to match. Is Weiss correct? Caepio may have been a terrible general, but he was apparently an exceptional thief. Years later, when Marine Corps historians were at work on their history of the war, Westmoreland met with them. Instead of holding a natural defense line around Pyongyang, which would have given the United Nations control of most of the peninsula, the UN troops retreated all the way back into South Korea in a humiliating reverse for U.S. power after the crushing victory of World War II. These battlefield bumblers serve to provide that contrast. History: Military History. Villeneuve was then to return in secret and help establish naval dominance of the English Channel in preparation for a land invasion of Britain. Is your subtitle The General Who Lost Vietnam fair? Defining that is like defining a bad meal. 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). What is the standard of shame for induction? Quintus Servilius Caepio takes the cake amongst the worst Roman generals ever to take command of a legion though. McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from scratch. Download the FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. Darius quickly lost everything and became nothing but a fugitive. Although he outnumbered Magruders Army of the Peninsula 10-to-1, McClellan settled in for a monthlong siege. In the end, the Romans leveled Carthage and salted the earth. But Gates could have doomed the American Revolution. 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. Find Paraguay on a map of South America. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. All the enemys losses were quickly made up. 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. 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, 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). 9. (You May Also Like: The Five Best Generals in U.S. History). Nearly as many men died in captivity during the Civil War as were killed in the whole of the Vietnam War. Allied with Brock was the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, who was head of the most formidable pan-Indian military force the continent had ever seen. Explore the benefits of your FP subscription. Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era. Yes, Westmoreland was the general who lost Vietnam. Grachev publicly promised to swiftly crush the Chechen separatist forces in a couple of hours with a single airborne regiment. He led the disastrous storming of Grozny while drunk after celebrating his birthday on January 1st. After early success in the Mexican War for Independence, the rest of his career didnt pan out the way he would have liked. He was called the inevitable general. A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. The British gained control of the fort, dozens of cannons, the brig USS Adams (recommissioned the HMS Detroit), and virtually the entire Michigan Territory. 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. Pillow escaped during the night, leaving Simon B. Buckner to surrender the fort and 15,000 Confederate troops. 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. 4. Where is Carthage you ask? Thus, almost by default, Westmoreland was left to go his own way, year after bloody year. Lincoln relieved McClellan but reinstated him after the devastating Union defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run. As a military commander, Napoleon may have thebest batting averageof all time. General Westmoreland had complete freedom of action in deciding how to prosecute the war within South Vietnam. 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. Lpez, possibly in a fit of madness, ordered the execution of hundreds of people, including some of his own family members. Thats the point. 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. The Germanic fighters demolished the three Roman legions. 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 he was overly cautious by nature. Abraham Lincoln. If Gates had been in command, we might be paying for our groceries with shillings and pence. Over time Westmoreland asked for and received large numbers of U.S. troops, eventually totaling well over half a million. 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. 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. By Lewis Sorley Best Defense Saigon bureau chief. It's not the first time that someone thought he was smarter than his boss. The man who appealed for Varus help was Arminius, a Romanized Germanic prince. James K. Polk. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. 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. A very significant instance was his determination to arbitrarily hold down the estimate of enemy strength during a 1967 order of battle controversy. It would be nice if all American generals were great. standing, Ukrainians are determined to keep fighting, and the West has so far stayed resolute in its support of Ukraine. He still had his defenders, but they were in the last trench, barely holding on. 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. This week marks exactly one year since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. Caepio reportedly lived out the remainder of his life in luxury, however. If Putin had hoped to weaken NATO, the very opposite has happened, with Finland and Sweden on the cusp of joining the transatlantic military alliance. Still, it is his world-changing defeat at Yorktown that merits memorializing. James Jay Carafano is a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges. 92. At the height of the Cold War, he dealt decisively with neither. There are a number of contenders for the top places on such a roster. A Brief History. Download the new FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. Because he never wanted to face a superior force, he refused to fight. 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. 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. Instead of sweeping around the French defenses in a massive flanking movement, the Germans were checked at the First Battle of the Marne. 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. Who was the worst general in history? James Bond Stockdale was flying his A-4 Skyhawk on a mission over North Vietnam, just days after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, when his plane took fire and hurtled d Hull was taken prisoner by the British and was court-martialed upon his return to the United States. After gaining ground trying to cut an escape path for the Confederates during the February 1862 siege of Fort Donelson by Union forces led Brig. Listing MacArthur as one of America's worst generals will be controversial. The Summer 2023 term begins June 1, 2023 and ends August 24, 2023. 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War is an extension of politics, and if commanders dont help secure the desired political ends, they get a failing grade. To accomplish this goal, Vietnam employs repressive policies that often contravene international human rights law. 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. But beyond the goals of one leader in Moscow, it is also clear that Ukraine has suffered horrors of a historic nature. In fifteen thought-provoking essays, each written by a professional military historian, readers are introduced . Many historians credit Benedict Arnold and others with being the real victors of Saratoga. His work as an observer during the Crimean War gave him insight into the importance of logistics for an industrialized army, and years spent as the chief of engineering for the Illinois Central Railroad made him aware of the transformative nature of rail transport. 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. 88,594. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. Major General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend The idiot who, seeking self aggrandisement, led his army, Force D, to disaster at Kut in WW1.