Posted on 09/08/2010 2:09:37 PM PDT by therightliveswithus
Vote in our poll: the Greatest General in History
(Excerpt) Read more at righthandedpitcher.blogspot.com ...
Well said.
“If it [drink] makes fighting men like Grant, then find out what he drinks and have a case sent to each of my other commanders!” - President Abraham Lincoln
Hannibal crossed a thousand miles or more, crossed the Rhone and the Alps with elephants in his host, and stayed in Italy, defeating all comers, for sixteen years basically without reinforcements or resupply. So, not bad, not bad at all. Had it not been for that event, it’s not likely the Roman army would have wound up becoming the highly organized, tightly disciplined, well-trained juggernaut that it did.
I would like to see a poll taken among military history majors. I am fairly well read, and don’t know some of the names on that list, and I may be more informed that the average poll answerer.
I vote for Ghengis Kahn. He conquered all the way into Eastern Europe, set up a dynasty and his grandson was the ruler in China who met Marco Polo. Kublai Kahn I think.
Alexander and Hannibal were dead ends.
I went to “Washington Lee High School” in Virginia for a semester. They were “the Generals”.
# 1 Genghis Khan
# 2 Alexander the Great
The rest are merely “honorable mentions”.
Sorry.
It is said that when Lincoln was told that Grant was a drunk, he replied, “What does he drink, I want to give some to all my generals”, or words to that effect.
They left their place of strength to march in the sun to rescue the fortress of Tiberius, because “Christian womanhood was imperiled” although the husband of said woman Raymond of Tripoli advised against it and said that even if the castle fell, he would ransom his wife. When the King gave the command to halt the columns in the hot sun Raymond dismounted and fell to his knees and shouted “the Kingdom is lost”.
Now kudos to Saladin for lighting the grass on fire around the advancing army. Its those little touches that sometimes make all the difference.
Defeated by thirst and the Sun (Raymond broke free with some of his knights) King Guy and Reynald de Chatillon were taken captive and King Guy was offered chilled water by Saladin. But Reynald had his head cut off by Saladin personally, who apologized to King Guy (who now looked like he feared for his life) and said “that was rude, but that man was too much to bear. But do not worry - A King does not kill a King.”
Alexander had it the opposite. ;)
Hah!
I would have to go with Alexander. There is the off chance one of my children bears that name.
Glad to see you give the old wagoneer, Morgan credit. He understoon and knew how to use motivated but inexperienced volunteers. Of course receiving hundreds of lashes on his back by the British motivated him more than many. Most Americans do not know that without our victories at Cowpens and Kings Mountain, we might not have ended the Revolution successfully at Yorktown, even with the aid of the French Navy. In fact the Revolutionary War as fought in the south is severly underacknowledged in northern schools.
I am currently working on a novel taking place in 1799 which indicates some of what happened with Royalist fighters after they lost the war.
very well stated, however the part about Khan I am not sure about. Were his armies so large?
Julius Caesar.
He did one tactical battle that was amazing. I believe it was the battle of Alesia where he laid siege to the city but was then attacked by another army from the rear. He built a second wall to defend against the army at his rear and successfully defeated both armies he faced. I can’t think of any general who could have done that or even would have tried.
“We got one with Obama and he may prove to be the best thing that ever happened to the cause of freedom here.”
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An astute observation.
It may have taken the extreme RaceMarxism of Obama to wake up real Americans from their somnambulent, self-absorption.
My brother back in the 1980 election, when the radical leftist Ted Kennedy was running, termed this the Popping the Zit Theory: In order to clear out the infection, you sometimes have to bring it to head so that it can be excised.
The redoubtable, capable and uniquely charismatic Sarah Palin is nothing less than a lifeline tossed to our Republic by God. That is, if you believe as I do, that He cares about the unique ideals of liberty and freedom, that the United States represents.
Excellent post, DB.
“It is said that when Lincoln was told that Grant was a drunk, he replied, “What does he drink, I want to give some to all my generals”, or words to that effect.”
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And to condescending, elitist members of his own Cabinet:
“This man fights. I cannot spare him.”
In the west, we don’t hear a lot about Khaled bin Al-Waleed.
He was Muhammed’s War Commander, and campaigned against the Meccans, united Arabia, conquered Iraq, defeated Persia, and then defeated the Byzantines and Roman Syria.
In almost every battle he was outnumbered, sometimes on the order of 15-20 to 1, and used brilliant tactics, such as coordinated multiple envelopments, almost unheard of in that era.
He also knew the limits of his men, and would push them to the very edge of endurance, often appearing when and where he wasn’t expected at all.
(Liberals care more about the Koran than they did about Terri Schiavo.) by Defiant
I fixed it. Thanks.
and the Kevmo page: big tent Republican; how primaries should be organized; 15 rules for understanding the Middle East; potential for war between China, Taiwan and the US; education reform and Proposal for the Free Republic High School Diploma (There's some fascinating reading on the internet if you type in the phrase "just skip high school". It is a sentiment shared by many teens on their blogs. /K)
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