Darius quickly lost everything and became nothing but a fugitive. George Brinton McClellan, a self-proclaimed Young Napoleon, ran dreadful campaigns, but he doesnt make the grade because he was canned before he could lose the entire war. 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. Exactly. Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, by Lewis Sorley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. . Here's What You Need To Remember:The Soviets saw the American humiliation in Vietnam as a turning point. 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. Hannibal. Sure, they ganged up on the Spartans at the Pass of Thermopylae. This was true in matters both great and small. He was responsible for coming up with the idea of using force to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. Contrarily, I would not so stigmatize another important player often criticized by others, Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge. Grachev once said that only an incompetent commander would order tanks into the streets of central Grozny, where they would be vulnerable. Yet near the end of the war he did exactly that. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. 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. Find Paraguay on a map of South America. 2. 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.. Military greatness can most easily be defined by comparison. This is one of the more controversial ones, but Douglas MacArthur is incredibly overrated in the annals of the US military, in my . After occupying Jerusalem and crucifying 2,000 Jewish rebels in Judaea, Varus went off to govern Germania and tame barbarian tribes. There is no Carthage. Battle of Dak To in the Vietnam War - ThoughtCo History is not a fixed set of facts. As for the British, they had lost the most valuable jewel of the Imperial crown. Santa Anna was found wearing a privates uniform, hiding in a marsh. He continued to view attrition as the most effective strategy for defeating Germany; the British lost some 420,000 men at the Somme. George McClellan is one of those generals who really looks great on paper. Explore the benefits of your FP subscription. General William Childs Westmoreland (1914- 2005) with President Johnson in South Vietnam #1. 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. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. World War I provided a forum for any number of truly horrible commanders to assert themselves. The inept Luigi Cadorna of Italy fought a dozen battles on the Isonzo before his army completely collapsed at Caporetto. A final humiliation came during Mexican-American War. What will another year of war look like? But Gates could have doomed the American Revolution. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. 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. In his single-minded pursuit of that objective, Westmoreland (despite his repeated claims to the contrary) essentially ignored two other crucial aspects of the war, improvement of South Vietnams armed forces and pacification. 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. 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. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. At the height of the Cold War, he dealt decisively with neither. The 5 Worst Generals in U.S. History | RealClearHistory NEW FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Considering some militants as instruments of regional influence while fighting others has had disastrous consequences. The elder Lpez had bequeathed to his son a relatively powerful military by regional standards but had cautioned Francisco against using it to settle diplomatic issues. Bombs away! Here are the 13 worst military movies in Hollywood history He was called the inevitable general. A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. T he Civil War was America's bloodiest conflict. 7. There's an entire myriad of generals from the American Civil War that fought for the Union that were incredibly inept. Who was the worst general in history? Xi Jinpings signature foreign policy is a shadow of its former self.. So unused to being challenged, the United States has become so filled with anxiety over China that sober responses are becoming nearly impossible. Best Defense: Grant had encircled the fort. 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. A key plank in the Democratic platform that year was, appropriately, not fighting, and McClellan lost in a rout. During the darkest days of the rebellion, when Washington's army had been kicked out of New York and King George's star seemed ascendant, the "Conway cabal" of disgruntled officers and politicians unsuccessfully schemed to out Washington and appoint Gates. 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. See the vast swaths of land to the north and south that arent Paraguay? Luckily for the colonists, the Empire also had Cornwallis, a peer of the realm and truly pitiful commander. Villeneuve was then to return in secret and help establish naval dominance of the English Channel in preparation for a land invasion of Britain. Caepio may have been a terrible general, but he was apparently an exceptional thief. 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. 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. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. This did not, however, achieve the postulated outcome. Darius again was the first to flee the battle, abandoning all of his soldiers and his property to be taken by Alexander. And once again, at the Battle of Antietam, McClellans terminal case of the slows (as Lincoln called it) prevented the exploitation of a possible war-ending vulnerability in Confederate defenses. Dispatched to India, he led campaigns to help subdue the subcontinent, replacing the crown jewel he had lost. 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. Then, in an ill-advised comeback, he met his Waterloo. Although he outnumbered Magruders Army of the Peninsula 10-to-1, McClellan settled in for a monthlong siege. Yes, the landing at Inchon unhinged the initial North Korean offensive. Courses: Summer 2023 | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History It's not the first time that someone thought he was smarter than his boss. 88,594. 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. Download the FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. Gamelin was commander of the French forces in World War II and is largely responsible for the fall of France into German control during the Battle of France. Because he never wanted to face a superior force, he refused to fight. Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition. 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). With high hopes set upon his shoulders at the beginning of the American Civil war, quickly becoming General-in-Chief of the Union Army, McClellan would earn the distinction as a general of little action. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. 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. But then MacArthur thrived on controversy like bread thrives on yeast. I didn't fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that's not against the law for generals. His invasion of Canada came to an abrupt halt when he failed to capture Fort Malden, a British position that was a laughably short distance from Hulls headquarters at Fort Detroit. Still, he choked in the big game. They kept it as a war trophy, exhibiting the leg at. Watchthe conversation onFP Live, the magazines forum for live journalism, orreada condensed transcript. As a result, American military power and prestige took a dramatic downturn. Needs to Talk About the Risk of War With China, Putin Has Assembled an Axis of Autocrats Against Ukraine, The Conversation About Ukraine Is Cracking Apart. A U.S. ship conveyed him to Mexico, and upon his arrivalto the surprise of virtually no onehe executed a volte-face and took charge of the Mexican troops. This was heeded about as well as any piece of parental advice, anywhere ever. FPsRavi Agrawalsat down with U.S. Trade RepresentativeKatherine Tai, the Biden administrations top official tasked with mapping out and implementing the White Houses trade policy. 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. After early success in the Mexican War for Independence, the rest of his career didnt pan out the way he would have liked. In fact, he did a lot to ensure that Germany would find itself in another war that it couldnt win, but, since he died in 1937, he gets extra credit for being a bad World War II general from beyond the grave. Having amassed roughly twice as many losses in a single day as Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington, had suffered during the entire Peninsular War, Haig saw no reason to change tactics. After the war, the phrase lions led by donkeys came to be associated with the British army for what should be obvious reasons. The unprecedented violence of battles such as Shiloh, Antietam, Stones River, and Gettysburg shocked citizens and international observers alike. Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official estimate of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. 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 . Worst US General of all time? | O-T Lounge - TigerDroppings The last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, Darius was not quite as qualified to rule a mighty empire as his predecessors were. James Madison spared him from execution. The heavily forested, swampy terrain made the Legions maneuvers impossible. In the famous Battle of the Alamo, Santa Anna struggled to defeat about 250 Texans with 2,400 Mexicans and subsequently lost nearly 600 men. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on. When two able and progressive Nationalist generals, Pai Chunghsi and Li Tsung-jen, begged the generalissimo to adopt similar methods, Chiang rejected them outright. The stabbed in the back myth did much to propel the ascent of Adolf Hitler, and Ludendorff was a key participant in the Beer Hall Putsch. 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. What is the standard of shame for induction? The Worst Military Leaders in History review from Ancient Rome to Vietnam Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Pillow pulled the troops back to the fort to resupply them. The Vietnam War Crimes You Never Heard Of | History News Network Marcus Licinius Crassus was a self-aggrandizing opportunist who started a pointless war with the Parthians, and Publius Quinctilius Varus lost three legions at Teutoburg Forest, but Proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio manages to top them both with his actions at the Battle of Arausio. Tortured in notorious 'Hanoi Hilton,' 11 GIs were unbreakable [1] 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. In considering who should receive such a dubious honor, Ive consciously excluded bad leaders. 151. 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. Westmorelands general mistake: severely underestimating the Communists. Pillow suffered slightly more casualties than Grant in the engagement, which possibly makes the Battle of Belmont the high point of Pillows military career. Operational Culture General Training LREC SME Support Training Course Catalog Cognitive Dimension Training Additional Resources . Darius was a different sort of game-changer. 44 Declassified Vietnam War Photos The Public Wasn't Meant To See Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) 24. But there was something that not even the factories of New York and Chicago could produce, and that was time. Youre on the list! - 4 Worst: 1990 Cleveland Cavaliers. Michael Ray oversees coverage of European history and military affairs for Britannica. The Worst Civil War Generals on the Confederacy Confederate Maj. Gen. Gideon Pillow. Still, it is his world-changing defeat at Yorktown that merits memorializing. 1. James Jay Carafano is a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges. You worked for GEN Westmoreland when he was Army Chief of Staff. 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. 15. Ulysses S. Grant made his Civil War debut at the Battle of Belmont against Confederate Gen. Gideon Pillow. When he made public his disagreements with President Truman, Truman rightfully fired him. Applications for the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman MA program are open and considered on a rolling basis. Westmorelands devotion to advancing his own interests, even when necessary by misrepresentation, was fundamentally at odds with what Scouting is all about. Gen. Charles Cornwallis. He bears a lot of responsibility for one the greatest reversals of military fortune ever experienced by a super power. Civil War Casualties | American Battlefield Trust Little Mac would prove himself to be a superb organizer who kept his army well supplied, efficiently run, and happy. Like it or not, the U.S. military would become the governing authority. Germanic tribes sacrificed Roman officers on altars to their gods. Lebanon (1982-1984) 240. Delivered Thursday. Varus himself, seeing all hope was lost, committed suicide. Concurrently with hi. Percival was off mistreating Irish Republican Army (IRA) leaders during the Anglo-Irish War before commanding British Malaya in World War II. Pillow faced a court-martial for stealing a Mexican cannon and attempting to spirit it home in his personal baggage, but Polk intervened to clear Pillows record. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Many historians have said Bragg was one of the worst generals of the Civil War, having lost most of his battles. So what is the standard of shame for induction? Along with Communist China and other Communist movements in the region, who were fighting to reunite the Vietnams under the red banner, there were other belligerent, free countries in the region who had an interest in keeping South Vietnam away from the Commies. History: Military History. I flew into Vietnam in June 1968 as a young . Major General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend The idiot who, seeking self aggrandisement, led his army, Force D, to disaster at Kut in WW1. 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. Yes, Westmoreland was the general who lost Vietnam. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? He was soon released, however, and, as more capable French admirals either died or somehow incurred Napoleons disfavor, a path to the top echelons of command was opened for Villeneuve. Tom Ricks, on his "Best Defense" blog has discussed the top 10 worst generals in U.S. history. Sure, he was the greatest commander of the Second Punic War, a titanic contest between Carthage and Rome. James K. Polk. There are a number of contenders for the top places on such a roster. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on The next major British offensive came at Passchendaele (July 31November 6, 1917), where Haig lost another 275,000 troops in a battle whose name became synonymous with pointless slaughter. Simultaneously, he contacted Maximilian to offer the young emperor his services. But with that kind of advantage in troops and firepower, who wouldnt? Cornwallis later did redeem himself militarily. Lincoln relieved McClellan but reinstated him after the devastating Union defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run. The Western Front was a much bigger stage upon which to fail, however, and British commander Douglas Haig made the most of the opportunity. He called for bombing China, as if liberating Korea was worth risking 550 million Chinese and possibly war with Russia as well. Alexander, Napoleon, Rommel. Fortunately, along came Reaganif not for that, Westmorelands military reversals could well have signaled the beginning of our end. Johnston was wounded on the first day of the Battle of Seven Pines, six miles east of Richmond, and he was replaced by Robert E. Lee. If pressed to rank the miscreants, I would place Wheeler first, then LBJ, and then McNamara, with all entitled to recognition as important accomplices in dooming the endeavor. After achieving moderate success in Libya and Ethiopia, the Butcher of Ethiopia became Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Royal Armys General Staff and of Italian North Africa at the start of World War II. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. By Lewis Sorley Best Defense Saigon bureau chief. Even if Moscow holds onto territory, the war has wrecked its future. On September 2, 1945, hours after the Japanese signed their unconditional surrender in World War II, communist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam, hoping. 3. The problem begins with the fact that nobody in the chain of command was really competent to critique Westmorelands performance. Scott claimed that Pillow was ''the only person I have ever known who was wholly indifferent in the choice between truth and falsehood. When talk of secession reached Pillows home state of Tennessee, he helped organize the state militia and was appointed a brigadier general in the Confederate army. Abraham Lincoln. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Military He thought he could take over the war from the South Vietnamese, bring it to a successful conclusion, and then hand their country back to them and go home in triumph. The Soviets saw the American humiliation in Vietnam as a turning point. Thus it was under Darius rule that the Persian Empire fell and was conquered. Instead the enemy proved willing to absorb horrifying losses and keep fighting. Men and material the Union could provide its armies. Vast areas dotted with villages were blasted with artillery, bombed from the air. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. Lyndon Johnson had no understanding of military affairs whatever, nor did Robert McNamara. 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. 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. HANOI, VIETNAMForty years ago, on April 30, 1975, Nguyen Dang Phat experienced the happiest day of his life . Nelsons victory at the Battle of Trafalgar was so complete that it established British supremacy on the high seas for more than a century. Warfare: Who was the worst General/military commander in history Had Lincoln retained McClellan in command of the Union armies, many former Americans might still be whistling "Dixie.". Persian Gulf (1988) (Oil Platforms) 2. Top 10 Most Underrated Military Generals - TheTopTens Its prewar population was reduced by more than half, and perhaps 90 percent of Paraguays fighting-age men perished. 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. This would be known as the Tet Offensive and would become a major turning point in the war. The self proclaimed Napoleon of the West didnt quite leave the same legacy as his idol. Over time Westmoreland asked for and received large numbers of U.S. troops, eventually totaling well over half a million. Todays list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam, Want to read more on this topic or region? Top 10 Greatest Generals of Chinese History | ChinaWhisper Lee demonstrated an immediate grasp of McClellans demeanor, and, during the Seven Days Battles (June 25July 1, 1862), Lee drove back the Union armies from Richmonds doorstep. He need not be concerned, soothed Wheeler, because the weight of judgment was that the enemy cant match us on a buildup. That turned out to be one of the classic misjudgments of the war, comparable in magnitude and consequence to General MacArthurs assurances to President Truman that Chinese forces would not enter the Korean War. Top 10 Traitors In US History - Listverse The Roman Empire has a long, proud tradition of producing some of the finest generals in human history- and just as many of the worst. 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. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. His senior staff lacked diversity of experience and professional outlook, consisting mostly of people with backgrounds similar to his own, especially airborne. By the way, here is the first review I have seen of Sorley's new biography of Westmoreland, which I read in galleys last summer, and enjoyed. From Kaiser Wilhelm to Hitler and Saddam Hussein and Gadhafi, there is no end of national leaders who squandered their nations blood and treasure in futile conflicts. Commanders of Chaos: The 5 Worst Generals in U.S. History Westmorelands own book about himself gives some indication of how he would react to this more recent one. Delivered Wednesday & Sunday.
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