Who was the best general of all time in the whole world?

Answer 1

Gaius Jullius Caesar
Paul Hausser
Scipio Africanus
Napoleon Bonaparte
Robert E. Lee
Hanibal Barca
Erwin Rommel
George Patton
Omar Bradley
ALexander the Great
Stonewall Jackson

I liked Caesar's empire building scheme, his exploits in Germania and Britain. I almost picked Hausser for his generalship on the eastern front against overwhelming odds, in particular, the 3rd Battle Of Kharkov.

Answer 2

It's very difficult to tell, because all of the generals in question found themselves in very different situations. Luck, the quality of one's army and one's opponents can obviously have a big effect on this sort of thing.

But for kicks here are a few very good generals who don't seem to have made the list yet:

Georgi Zhukov-- Soviet field marshall during WWII
James Longstreet--Confederate Civil War General, RE Lee's Senior Corps Commander
William T Sherman--Union General
Nathan Bedford Forrest-- Southern Cavalry Commander
Scipio Africanus-- the Roman general who finally beat Hannibal at the battle of Zama.
Arthur Wellsley, the Duke of Wellington-- the Victor of the battle of waterloo
Heinz Guderian, Erich von Manstein-- German field Marshalls during WWII
Benedict Arnold-- probably the best American commander during the revolutionary war; ironically did far more to help American independence than almost anyone else and would have been remembered as one of the greatest American heroes had he not betrayed his country.
Horatio Nelson--an Admiral, but definitely a good person to stick on this list.
Themistocles-- the Admiral who commanded the Athenian fleet at the battle of Salamis, which probably prevented the Persians from conquering Greece (if you want to pinpoint one battle on which all of history turns, this just might be it.)

Answer 3

General Lee

Answer 4

General Lee

Answer 5

The Mongols were subhuman, but they conquered more than even Alexander did.

As for someone warriors can be proud of, Douglas MacArthur was a magician in three wars, so much so that I believe that Truman should have let him attack the Chinese. So that decision should have depended on who would carry it out.

People misunderstand that because the campaign against Japan was so successful, it could have been planned by any average commander. On the contrary, without MacArthur it could have cost many more lives and much more time. Remember, in a similar situation, Russia lost 20 million dead in order to beat Germany.

Answer 6

Wahington was a horrible General. He won because the Brits were stupid. He walked into many many traps. His best ability was to keep the troops motivated. His most known battle crossing the Deleware was helped out greatly by Laffayete. Greatest fo all time Alexander, Hannibal, Napolean, Patton

Answer 7

I'll have to put my vote in for Alexander III of Macedonia (the Great). Despite having a well-trained army under his command, he still faced incredible odds against a Persian army several times larger than his own. He rates as one of the best tacticians in the field of military history.

Second choice would be Napoleon I of France, but only before his invasion of Russia in 1812, when he had forgotten that his successes rested with a patriotic citizen army and not because of massive numbers. His early innovations in battle tactics were quite brilliant until his opponents learned to counter-balance them. By the time of Waterloo, Napoleon was only a shadow of his former self.

Answer 8

I have to agree with the first answer. George Washington was the greatest general of all time. After him would be Robert Bruce, William Wallace, and Vercingetorix. Any general can pull off great things if he's got well trained men and superior weapons like Alexander but Washington, Bruce, Wallace and Vercingetorix all fought against heavy odds often with inferior weapons and troops. Alexander fought because he was greedy for land and power. Washington and the others I have named fought because their homes were under attack.

Answer 9

That is a really hard question to answer because there are several. I would say Belasarius, the general for Emperor Justinian but he never really conquered a lot of territory.

I'm going to go and say Napoleon Bonaparte because he was able to rise to the rank of general in his mid-20s. He was also a brilliant military tactician until it bit him in the butt at the Battle of Waterloo.

Answer 10

George S. Patton Jr.
Julius Caesar
Alexander the Great
Georgy Zhukov