Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Who Were the Greatest Military Commanders (Of All Time) ?

Posted on 11/14/2004 5:23:06 PM PST by Cyropaedia

In light of the upcoming film Alexander (the Great), who in your opinion were actually the greatest military commanders our world has known...?

Mine are Genghis Khan, Alexander, and U.S. Grant.


TOPICS: Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: milhist; militarycommanders; militaryhistory
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 681-700701-720721-740741-748 last
To: DixieOklahoma

Well, no. Longstreet was probably a better general, but going back even a little further, General Albert Sidney Johnston might have been the South's best. He actually was kicking Grant's but all over Shiloh until he got killed. Longstreet seems to have been the only Confederate general who grasped the potential of modern warfare, which he called the "offensive defensive," or counter-punching from a heavily defended position. Lee was a great general, but he was hamstrung by outmoded notions of warfare, such as frontal assaults which he clung to disastrously, as at Gettysburg. That was an acceptable tactic during the days of smoothbore muskets, but the advent of rifled barrels made such attacks almost suicidal.


741 posted on 12/27/2005 4:51:12 PM PST by Hootowl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: Hootowl
Grant was a great general in the west. He turned the war around.

Also a not about Washington. Washington was not a good general. He was one of the greatest Americans but look at is military history. Washington was embarassed everytime he fought a battle in the French and Indian War and he was bad in the revolutionary war.

If I had to make a list

Hitler- He fought 3 superpowers simultaneously. Had Hitler concentrated on the western front and defeated the French and invaded Britain, then he focused on Russia, he would have been victorious. Instead he fought Russia in the dead of winter and experienced the same fate as Napoleon. The Japanese then attacked us and the rest is history.

Napoleon

Robert E Lee-Best American

Patton

Hannibal

Alexander
742 posted on 12/27/2005 4:51:39 PM PST by NorthEastRepublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 739 | View Replies]

To: forYourChildrenVote4Bush
>>>Can the President be overruled by the Military?

No.

743 posted on 12/27/2005 5:02:07 PM PST by Dan(9698)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: Blood of Tyrants
If Lee and Grant had swapped sides, the South would not have lasted two years.

Lee turned down the job. (He was offered command of the Union Army at the start of the War.)

Without detracting from the brilliance of Lee, Grant used the tools at hand. His seige of Fort Donnelson, his first major campaign, showed his tactical and strategic capability.

Grant unfallingly won the battles he should have won, something that can be said for few other generals. (Shiloh, aka Pittsburg Landing, was a tactical blunder, possibly from underestimating Johnston, a blunder from which he recovered.)

Lee sealed the fate of the South with Pickett's Charge. After that moment the South could not prevail. Arguably, the South might not have gotten to 1863 without him, but it's difficult to tell.

744 posted on 12/27/2005 5:02:21 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (NYT Headline: 'Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS: Fake But Accurate, Experts Say.')
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: jocon307

Except, of course, Forrest never said it. Although uneducated and not given to writing, Forrest was not the ignorant hillbilly he has been portrayed as and he has been misquoted throughout history. What he said was, his Civil War campaigns were successful because he "Got there first with the most men."


745 posted on 12/27/2005 5:18:27 PM PST by Hootowl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 239 | View Replies]

To: quadrant

Agreed. Douglas MacArthur was a modern military genius. That is not hyperbole.


746 posted on 12/27/2005 6:48:07 PM PST by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 736 | View Replies]

To: Hootowl

WOW! You are a thread crawler. What wouldn't I give to be back, just to Nov, 2004, not to mention back to Nathan Forest's time. Or how about 6 months ago? No, that was lousy then too.

Well, regardless of his exact words, it is still good advice.

I love these blasts from the past on FR.

So happy new year, hootowl!


747 posted on 12/27/2005 8:23:21 PM PST by jocon307 (Still mourning the loss of CBS FM)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 745 | View Replies]

To: Guillermo

Macarthur? He was nothing but a politcal blowhard. The only man who won the Medal of Honor for running away!


748 posted on 03/06/2007 7:37:34 AM PST by cal30m1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 681-700701-720721-740741-748 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson