He effectively pledged to become an agent for the U.S. but found that he had been deposed upon his return to Mexico. Advancing in dispersed columns across the northern half of the peninsula was an invitation to be destroyed piecemeal. The British gained control of the fort, dozens of cannons, the brig USS Adams (recommissioned the HMS Detroit), and virtually the entire Michigan Territory. Little Mac would prove himself to be a superb organizer who kept his army well supplied, efficiently run, and happy. 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. Explore the benefits of your FP subscription. 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. 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. Santa Anna was found wearing a privates uniform, hiding in a marsh. Michael Peck is a contributing writer at Foreign Policy and a writer for War Is Boring. Panama (1989) 2. 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 American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. Listing MacArthur as one of America's worst generals will be controversial. 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. Turncoats and Traitors - Seven Americans Who Defected to the Enemy in After his defeat by the Texans at the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna was captured. Lpez was the son of Carlos Antonio Lpez, a dictator who had done much to modernize Paraguay in the mid-19th century. After early success in the Mexican War for Independence, the rest of his career didnt pan out the way he would have liked. But beyond the goals of one leader in Moscow, it is also clear that Ukraine has suffered horrors of a historic nature. 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. His battlefield losses marked the end of the Persian Empire. Some captured Romans were placed in wicker cages and burned alive, others were enslaved or ransomed. This proved possible only with enemy cooperation, since they could break contact and limit casualties as they wished by withdrawing into sanctuaries across the border. 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. Who Were the Worst Generals in History? The Top Ten. The man who appealed for Varus help was Arminius, a Romanized Germanic prince. McClellan and Burnside in particular. He was certainly nave, but the Boy Scouts need to be defended here. Outstanding commanders such as George H. Thomas, Phil Sheridan, and William Tecumseh Sherman routinely bested their Confederate opponents. 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. Grant had encircled the fort. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from . But the rash advance into North Korea was a blunder of strategic proportions. Its prewar population was reduced by more than half, and perhaps 90 percent of Paraguays fighting-age men perished. 2. The Vietnam War, as Seen by the Victors - The Atlantic Their orientation, indeed the core of Scoutings values, is selflessness and service to others. General Earle Wheeler was essentially a staff officer with virtually no troop leading experience, much less combat acumen. 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). 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 With a few relatively minor changes, thats just about where they stayed for the next four years. A key plank in the Democratic platform that year was, appropriately, not fighting, and McClellan lost in a rout. 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. 2. Innumerable battlefield commanders have had disastrous days at the office. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. He earned a B.A. 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. Haste risked casualties and defeats at the hands of a formidable opponent like Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Russias war is receiving critical assistance from authoritarian regimes around the world. Caepio reportedly lived out the remainder of his life in luxury, however. 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. The pandemics outbreak brought rare reporting freedoms. 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. By the end of the conflict, America had unleashed the equivalent of 640 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs on Vietnam. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. 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. My daughter thinks 2018 was the worst year ever. I'd nominate 1968 Perhaps Mao would have intervened anyway. Why our generals were more successful in World War II than in - YouTube At Brownstown, south of Detroit, two dozen warriors under Tecumseh routed more than 200 American militiamen escorting a supply column intended for Detroit. Civil War Casualties | American Battlefield Trust In fifteen thought-provoking essays, each written by a professional military historian, readers are introduced . While there were a host of bad generals serving on both sides during the American Civil Warmostly on the Union side unfortunatelythe one that usually gets the most credit for dragging out the war as long as he did is Union General George McClellan. Evening roundup with our editors favorite stories of the day. 3. For one thing, we wouldnt haveSpartacuson Netflix. In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. 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. (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. Publication of the PROVN Study, whose precepts were later implemented with great success by Westmorelands successor, illustrated a matter of fundamental importance. 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). 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. Delivered Thursday. At Yorktown, he allowed himself to be taken by surprise and outmaneuvered by Washington and the French fleet. 92. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest darkened Emperor Augustus remaining years and he was heard, upon occasion, to moan, Quinctilius Varus, give me back my Legions!, Notable mention: George Custer, Joseph Hooker, Ambrose Burnside, Charles Cornwallis, John II of France, Top 10 Utterly Bizarre Things Banned In China, Top 10 Military Bases Linked To UFOs (That Aren't Area 51), 10 Bizarre Military Inventions That Almost Saw Deployment, 10 Futuristic Sci-Fi Military Technologies That, 10 Awesome French Military Victories You've Never Heard Of, 10 Oddities That Interrupted Military Battles, Top 10 Top-Level Domains That Caused Controversies, 10 Controversial Toys You Might Already Have in Your Home, Ten Absolutely Vicious Fights over Inherited Fortunes, 10 Female Film Pioneers Who Shaped the Movies, Ten True Tales from Americas Toughest Prison, 10 Times Members of Secretive Societies and Organizations Spilled the Beans, 10 Common Idioms with Unexpectedly Dark Origins, 10 North American Animals with Misplaced Reputations, 10 Japanese Weapons Invented Too Late To Win World War II, 10 Ways The History Of Thanksgiving Is Nothing Like You Imagined, 10 Great Buildings That Were Not Built Quite Well Enough. As for the British, they had lost the most valuable jewel of the Imperial crown. . He continued on to suffer defeats at Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz, almost letting the war slip away from the British. Fighter Aircraft of All Time). My generation would likely vote for the year exactly one-half century ago as the absolutely worst year in our lifetimes. He was indeed a capable warrior, as shown by the South Pacific campaign and the Inchon landing in Korea. Muammar Al-Gaddafi. Your guide to the most important world stories of the day. Villeneuve lost 20 ships, while Nelson lost none. Follow him on Twitter:@Mipeck1. 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. So long Fort Bragg, welcome Fort Liberty: The Pentagon's naming Two years later, he lost a leg fighting the French. 10. He ran as a Democrat against Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election. Delivered Wednesday. The 1970s were scary times. A curated selection of our very best long reads. 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. When the War of 1812 began, Hull was commissioned a brigadier general and tasked with defending Michigan and invading Upper Canada. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybodys all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. World War I provided a forum for any number of truly horrible commanders to assert themselves. 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. Darius again was the first to flee the battle, abandoning all of his soldiers and his property to be taken by Alexander. On March 24, 1976, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1 st Viscount of Alamein, hero of World War II, died at home in England. up as tough on Beijing, even seeking to contain the rise of the worlds second-biggest economy. 1 Erwin Rommel Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel, popularly known as the Desert Fox, was a German field marshal of World War II. Vast areas dotted with villages were blasted with artillery, bombed from the air. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail. 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. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. Not that Fredendall didn't have real issues that would have tried any commander. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Want to read more on this topic or region? The Persians had a mixed record against the Greeks. But he also displayed remarkably bad judgment, as when he was commander in the Philippines in 1941. He deprived the South Vietnamese of modern weaponry, giving U.S. and other allied forces priority for issue of the new M-16 rifle and other advanced military wherewithal. 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. The 20 Worst World War II Generals - Ranker Vietnam War body count controversy - Wikipedia Instead the enemy proved willing to absorb horrifying losses and keep fighting. 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. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on The premise was that, if he could kill enough of the enemy, they would lose heart and cease their aggression against the South Vietnamese. He overestimated the American peoples patience and tolerance of friendly losses. What a Lovely War and then in the 1989 television comedy series Blackadder Goes Forth. 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. McClellan was removed from command immediately after. His was one of just two French ships of the line to escape the destruction of the French fleet there. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? 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). Applications for the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman MA program are open and considered on a rolling basis. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. To accomplish this goal, Vietnam employs repressive policies that often contravene international human rights law. After being taken prisoner (again) by the British, Villeneuve was released but committed suicide rather than face Napoleons wrath. The Worst Military Leaders in History Hardcover - March 22, 2022 Major General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend The idiot who, seeking self aggrandisement, led his army, Force D, to disaster at Kut in WW1. Grachev has also been linked to corruption among the higher ranks of the military, specifically the assassination of journalist Dmitry Kholodov. Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent. 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. Francisco Solano Lpez managed to stumble into a war with pretty much all of that. Hull responded by ordering the evacuation of Fort Dearborn, and the garrison was promptly massacred by a Potawatomi war band upon leaving the fort. The 5 Worst Generals in U.S. History | RealClearHistory Caepio was born into a noble family and became consul in 106 BC. 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. Whatever its military wisdom or lack thereof, it was a decision that should not have been made by generals under the American political system. 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. 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. 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. James Madison spared him from execution. 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. 6. Worst. Military. Leaders. Ever. | The Heritage Foundation Maximus managed to form up his men but to no avail. The inept Luigi Cadorna of Italy fought a dozen battles on the Isonzo before his army completely collapsed at Caporetto. More ways to stay updated on global news: By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. He would eventually be betrayed and killed by a friend. Is Weiss correct? How the North Vietnamese remember the conflict 40 years after the fall of Saigon. On the other hand, there was that bad day at the Battle of Salamis when most of the Persian fleet went to the bottom. He was responsible for coming up with the idea of using force to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. Nelsons victory at the Battle of Trafalgar was so complete that it established British supremacy on the high seas for more than a century. He continued to view attrition as the most effective strategy for defeating Germany; the British lost some 420,000 men at the Somme. Grachev played a key role in initiating and leading the First Chechen War. Unfortunately the fates of the former Republic Vietnam (Sout. Hannibal. Jacob Zuma is a cherry on the top of the world's worst leader cake. His poor tactical decisions resulted in his army being routed by a smaller force of Redcoats and Loyalists at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina in 1780. Varus trust in Arminius was an obvious and terrible misjudgment. Grant left politics to the politicians and did what had to be done. 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. With the Little Corporal running everything, Europe might have become a very different place. How do you measure military leaders? What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? 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. The initial assault resulted in very high casualties for the Russians and an almost complete breakdown of morale in the Russian forces. His forces outnumbered Alexanders men by at least a 2 to 1 ratio, but Darius was still outflanked, defeated and forced to flee. This was heeded about as well as any piece of parental advice, anywhere ever. 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 . Vietnam War - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica 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. The alternative was to split the United States asunder. The General Who Lost Vietnam | TIME.com