10 greatest military commanders of all time

freerepulic ^ | August 31, 2002 | zapiks44

[zapiks44]

Who do you think are the 10 best military commanders of all time? (By military commander, I mean someone who actually commanded armies and orchestrated the attacks, not politcal leaders, such as Churchill) Here are my picks:

1.Alexander the Great (The undisputed greatest military genius who ever lived)

2.George S. Patton ( Can't forget him)

3.Napoleon (Obvious, but the French don't get credit since he's techincally Italian!)

4.Julius Ceasar (Veni, Vetti, Vecci)

5.Richard the Lionheart/Saladin (The two men who've probably shaped the Middle-East more than anyone else)

6.Georgi Zhukov (Main architect of Stalingrad victory)

7.Erwin Rommel (The real "Desert Fox")

8.Hannibal (Coined the term (Crossing the Alps)

9.Stonewall Jackson (Of course)

10. Horatio Nelson (Stopped Napoleon from invading Britain and spreading to South America)

[Commander8]

Putting personal politics aside, I'd say they are pretty good choices.

[Leisler]

Rommel over George S. Patton
Wellington over Napoleon

U.S.Grant(first industrial general)

[Jagdgewehr]

If Napolean and Horatio Nelson make the list, why not "The" Duke of Wellington, Authur Wellesley?

[BigDaddyTX]

What about that Sun Tzu (sp?) guy and his "Art of War"?

[Al B.]

R.E. Lee

[Looking for Diogenes]

I count eleven. (Or were Richard and Saladin really the same guy?)

[zapiks44]

Technically, they were fighting for the same thing (occupation of the holy land), so I listed them both as one.

[Burr5]

Give me Heinz Guderian as the top Nazi General- he was the architect of the Bliztkrieg.

Who was the Reb in the Civil War that was so great with guerilla attacks? Later went on to found the KKK... Had three names (like all the rest of them). Damn.

OK, they're not nice people, but brilliant commanders.

[Commander8]

That would be Nathan Bedford Forrest, though a better guerrila commander would be Bloody Bill Anderson. John Mosby was also a good Confederate guerilla commander, really unorthodox.

[Burr5]

Oh, and don't overlook Frederick the Great of Germany. This guy was surrounded by enemies, and just kept kicking their butts- either seperately or together.

[Lessismore]

Tamerlane -- in 1401 he sacked Baghdad, slaughtered the inhabitants, and made pyramids of their severed heads outside the gates.

[Burr5]

That's the guy! Thanks. Ken Burns seems to think he's incredible.

[Burr5]

We have a winner! :)

[Calvin Locke]

What about that Sun Tzu

Technically a philosoher. Better money in applying it to war.

[Newbomb Turk]

H. Norman Schwarzkopf

It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle."

Maybe not one of the 10 greatest but made exceptional use of the liberal media as a tool in the time of war.

[Beernoser]

I'll take Manstein as the top German general over Rommell by far.

Also, Id rank Lee as top US general.

[vetvetdoug]

Gudarian and Rommel studied the tactics of Nathan Bedford Forrest and therefore Forrest deserves a place on this list. Forrest did not form the KKK as the liberals and misinformed state, but used the organization to protect the disenfranchised former Confederates until they were allowed to vote again. Forrest ordered the KKK disbanded in 1868 and the KKK as we know it today is an ugly mutation. Forrest was the father of lightening strikes, or blitzkreig, and was a leader that the men respected and followed. Forrest was faithful to his state, his wife, his men, his country and his God unlike some others that wish to vilify him. Forrest always said that he would send no man to battle that he himself would not go. His Great Grandson was the first US General killed in WWII following his great grandfather's creed.

As for Forrest leading bold attacks (not guerilla), read about Brices' Crossroads and one will see the brillance that was lacking in most of all of the Generals of the period. Had Bragg listened to Forrest at Chicamauga, the Union Army of the Tennessee would have been a footnote in history.

[vbmoneyspender]

Manstein - then Guderian.