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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. Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced his fateful decision to double the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam. To that Hollings responded, "Westy, the American people don't care about the ten. The British gained control of the fort, dozens of cannons, the brig USS Adams (recommissioned the HMS Detroit), and virtually the entire Michigan Territory. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? Some staff officers who briefed him one-on-one at deskside were dismayed when Westmoreland occupied himself by signing photographs of himself, one after another, during their presentations. While British cannons shelled the fort from the Canadian side of the river, Tecumseh marched his warriors through a forest clearing in an endless parade. Alexander, Napoleon, Rommel. A final humiliation came during Mexican-American War. Caepio may have been a terrible general, but he was apparently an exceptional thief. 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. America, the Middle East and the rest of the world are still reaping the consequences of those omissions. 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. He still had his defenders, but they were in the last trench, barely holding on. 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. As a result, American military power and prestige took a dramatic downturn. [i] However, the list is subjective, and open to debate, as top 10 lists tend to be. (Photo: Warner Bros.) Roger Ebert called "Gods and Generals" a film "Trent Lott would enjoy," referring to the Senator's praise of segregationist Strom Thurmond. Today's list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam By the way, here is the first review I have seen of Sorley's new biography of Westmoreland, which I read in galleys. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. Men and material the Union could provide its armies. 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. You worked for GEN Westmoreland when he was Army Chief of Staff. After only 10 weeks into the Pacific War, Percival became responsible for the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. After his defeat by the Texans at the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna was captured. In the end, Chiang sacrificed more than a million Chinese soldiers and well over ten million Chinese civilians in his bid to stay in power. 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. 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. Sure, he won big at the Alamo. Somalia (1992-1994) 2. Despite fresh salvos of Western sanctions, Tehran and Moscow are buddying up on defense ties. A very significant instance was his determination to arbitrarily hold down the estimate of enemy strength during a 1967 order of battle controversy. On the other side of the trenches in World War I was Erich Ludendorff, commanding the armies of Germany. If Gates had been in command, we might be paying for our groceries with shillings and pence. All the enemys losses were quickly made up. Although he outnumbered Magruders Army of the Peninsula 10-to-1, McClellan settled in for a monthlong siege. 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. 336 pages | 16 halftones | 6 1/4 x 9 1/4. Muammar Al-Gaddafi. General Harold K. Johnson was an authentic battlefield hero, and as noted above was fundamentally at odds with Westmorelands approach, but he was not in the chain of command. With the Little Corporal running everything, Europe might have become a very different place. General Wheeler was often just flat wrong in what he told the President. We ended up, he said, with no operational plan that had the slightest chance of ending the war favorably. Westmoreland could not or would not ever bring himself to acknowledge that reality. 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. 2. Youre on the list! A monthly digest of the top articles read by FP subscribers. It would be nice if all American generals were great. Military These are the incompetents, the idiots, the bumblers who have represented armies or nations at war only to lead them to defeat or shame. In 1941, Graziani resigned his commission after the British counterattacked and the Tenth Army was completely defeated during Operation Compass. 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. This piece originally appeared in The National Interest https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/6-worst-military-leaders-ever-167526. Westmorelands general mistake: severely underestimating the Communists. 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. 88,594. Francisco Solano Lpez managed to stumble into a war with pretty much all of that. Is Weiss correct? 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. The Western Front was a much bigger stage upon which to fail, however, and British commander Douglas Haig made the most of the opportunity. Westmorelands own book about himself gives some indication of how he would react to this more recent one. The British blockaded the port at Cdiz with a numerically inferior force, and Villeneuve, upon learning that he was to be relieved of command, rashly struck out at Nelsons fleet. At the Battle of Gaugamela, he helped make Alexander great by losing half his army to the Macedonian upstart. After an initial attack drove back Grants troops, Pillow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by retreating to the fort rather than breaking through Union lines to Nashville. A final humiliation came during Mexican-American War. Two of the more prominent of these mistakes, both with wide and sweeping results, were the June 22, 1941 invasion of the USSROperation Barbarossaand the December 11, 1941 unprovoked and unwarranted declaration of war on the United Statesagainst the advice of Hitler's Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop. He also issued orders to his troops in a personal code that no one else understood, such as this gem of command clarity: Move your command, i. e., the walking boys, pop guns, Baker's outfit and the outfit which is the reverse of Baker's outfit and the big fellows to M, which is due north of where you are now, as soon as possible. He continued on to suffer defeats at Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz, almost letting the war slip away from the British. 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. Fighter Aircraft of All Time, his army being routed by a smaller force of Redcoats and Loyalists at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina in 1780, When the Germans shattered his troops and his reputation at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia in early 1943, Fredendall was only a major general and a corps commander, Listing MacArthur as one of America's worst generals will be controversial, 5 Israeli Weapons of War ISIS Should Fear, But MacArthur's strategy certainly helped unleash 300,000 Chinese "volunteers" who inflicted significant casualties on United Nations forces, But Franks, who commanded the invasion, made a bad situation worse, Critics say that Franks and senior officials, such as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, concocted an invasion plan that used too few troops. What is a bad general? The Top Ten. But he was overly cautious by nature. Cornwallis later did redeem himself militarily. In the end, the Romans leveled Carthage and salted the earth. Pillow suffered slightly more casualties than Grant in the engagement, which possibly makes the Battle of Belmont the high point of Pillows military career. Many historians have said Bragg was one of the worst generals of the Civil War, having lost most of his battles. Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) 24. Major General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend The idiot who, seeking self aggrandisement, led his army, Force D, to disaster at Kut in WW1. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. Thus there was little internal capacity for debating or evaluating his chosen course of action. He was called the inevitable general. A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. The enemy did not lose heart, did not cease aggression. But there was something that not even the factories of New York and Chicago could produce, and that was time. The Russian president got many things wrong about invading Ukrainebut not everything. 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). The United States entered the war, forcing Ludendorff to accelerate his time line for a conclusive battle against the Allies on the Western Front. Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent. 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. Many of these generals had their worst defeats when their countries were least prepared for conflict, such as the hapless Soviet generals who faced the German infiltration of Russia in 1941. How do you measure military leaders? He was a teacher in the Chicago suburbs and Seoul, Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Varus trust in Arminius was an obvious and terrible misjudgment. Washington also suffered his share of defeats. So unused to being challenged, the United States has become so filled with anxiety over China that sober responses are becoming nearly impossible. After only an eight-day siege, he surrendered his entire armya third of all British forces in America. 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. The resulting Peninsular Campaign (AprilJuly 1862) was a marvel of planning but something of a farce in execution. 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. 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. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. You may opt out at any time. The self proclaimed Napoleon of the West didnt quite leave the same legacy as his idol. 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. 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. - 1 Best: 1996 Chicago Bulls. The result of his manic commitment to the war of attrition was that Westmoreland squandered four years of his troops bravery and support by the public, the Congress, and even much of the news media for American involvement in the war. 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. Then, in an ill-advised comeback, he met his Waterloo. Where is Carthage you ask? Have your boss report to the French gentleman whose name begins with J at a place which begins with D which is five grid squares to the left of M. The Kasserine disaster had repercussions. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. He effectively pledged to become an agent for the U.S. but found that he had been deposed upon his return to Mexico. 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.. Although he managed to escape the battle unharmed, Caepio was stripped of his Roman citizenship and exiled. Frederick C. Weyand was a U.S. Army General who was the last commander of American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1972 to 1973. And what then? Years later, when Marine Corps historians were at work on their history of the war, Westmoreland met with them. On March 24, 1976, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1 st Viscount of Alamein, hero of World War II, died at home in England. Download the FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. Delivered Wednesday. In other words, this book is a "how-not-to" guide to leadership. Even now, the easiest way to get into an argument at a V.F.W. Because he never wanted to face a superior force, he refused to fight. (You May Also Like: 5 Israeli Weapons of War ISIS Should Fear). There are a number of contenders for the top places on such a roster. 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.. Little Mac would prove himself to be a superb organizer who kept his army well supplied, efficiently run, and happy. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. Caepio reportedly lived out the remainder of his life in luxury, however. This did not, however, achieve the postulated outcome. He overestimated the American peoples patience and tolerance of friendly losses. Download the new FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. As a military commander, Napoleon may have thebest batting averageof all time. 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. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. 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. What is the standard of shame for induction? Gamelin also chose not to disperse Frances vast number of superior tanks. This would be known as the Tet Offensive and would become a major turning point in the war. The Worst Military Leaders in History is meant to be thought-provoking, and it surely is that." ARMY Magazine "Few subjects get military historians and history buffs talking like a debate over the best military leaders in history. 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. 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. On the night of August 15, 1812, Tecumseh led his forces across the Detroit River, and Brock followed the next morning. 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.