Top generals of all time?

Question

I am looking for opinions on who are, IN YOUR opinion (not Hollywood's or Wikipedia's), the most admirable generals of all time. By that, I mean generals that have displayed leadership, bravery, strategic and tactical genious, and political savy. My current list in chronological order is:

Alexandros the Great
Publuis Cornelius Scipio Africanus
Gaius Iulius Caesar
Cao Cao of Wei (pronounced Tsao Tsao)
Jinghis Khan
King Gutav Adolphus of Sweden
the Duke of Malborough
Napoleon Bonaparte
Tecumsah Sherman
Erich Von Manstein

Honorary mentions: Louis Davout, Ike Eisenhower, Hannibal Barca, Wallenstein, King Frederick the Great, the Grand Duke of Alba, Heinz Guderian, Zhukov, Von Molkte the Elder, General Lee, Hernan Cortes, Subotai, Pompeius Magnus, Tamerlan, Erwin Rommel, Oda Nobunaga.

10 points to the one with the best answer who doesn't use wikipedia.

To the person who gave me thumbs down, I recommend you actually do some research to see that my list is really consistent. You can probably cite other great generals, but everybody in my list was a great leader of men and a military visionary.

If you are angry for a thumb's down in your answer, it wasn't me. I always give thumbs up to honest opinions like those who have answered the question with what they think is relevant. I have loved many of the answers and will discuss them further.

If you are angry I will not give 10 points to the guy who cites me the most of wikipedia, I want to hear what other people think.

Tiko -Great point in Kutzov, his strategy was brilliant. Definitively an honorable mention.

MB - I hear you on Nobunaga, I love what he did on Japan. It's just hard choosing who you admire the most. Spartacus is a great point, he surely made the Romans look bad.

jonmcn49- Wow, you got me. I didn't know about Julian. Need to check it out.

gianihead - Of those who have mentioned, I honestly should have included Grant and Arnold (maybe Washington too). Still,I'm not sure Grant would have won the CW without Sherman's decisive strike.

Time & Again - I hear you on Lee. It just is hard choosing between Lee and Sherman. Lee was definitively more of a leader and, but Sherman won the CW and inaguarted a new style of warfare.

Jefferson - Great points but not sure on Franco (BTW, my grandfather was franquista). I love William's story, but I'm reluctant to call a great strategista medieval warrior. I'm also not sure if he had carried the day if an arrow had not killed Harold.

efw- Liked your top 10, Caesar & Scipio are my top dogs too : ) . I am under the impression that Hauser's superior was Von Manstein. Rommel is overrated IMHO, but I don't know why I forgot to put Patton (my mistake)

chrisB- Alexander was a great hero indeed!!!!

roosteman- In know many names are not common knowledge, but just because they are not known, it makes them lesser. Take Manstein; everybody thinks Rommel was Germany's top dog in WWII, but the consensus among generals is that Manstein was the man. All others won key strategic victories with LT implications. Henry III benefited from a VERY STUPID French move based on chivalry nonsense and the longbow at Crecy , (Henry V fought at Agincourt - same story). Nelson was very brave, but if you read the Trafalgar's campaign entire history, it is a comedy of errors.

Notrealname- Wellington was very efficient, but he was not in the same level as Bonaparte. He should be distingushed, though.

cp_scipiom - Loved references to Epanimodas (the Teban Sacred Batallion), Marius (Rome's "New Model Army" creator), Belisarius (there is a reason why the Bizantine emperor feared him), Jan Ziska (Hussite rebellion, right?), Sobieski & Prinz Eugen (only guy in Europe who understood what Malborough was trying to do). You got me on Pilsudki, nedd to check him out.

nacman- Grant was a great, but IMHO both Lee and Sherman were better in the CW. Arnold was great, too bad he turned. Montgomery is the most overrated general of WWII.

Answer 1

Gaius Jullius Caesar - I liked Caesar's empire building scheme, his exploits in Germania and Britain.

Scipio Africanus

Napoleon Bonaparte

Ghengis Khan - his empire was greater than Hitlers, Alexander's and the roman empire combined.

Paul Hausser (especially for his victory at the 3rd Battle of Kharkov beating a Red Army 7 times his size)

Hannibal Barca - nearly brought rome to its knees

Erwin Rommel - desert exploits and charge across France in 1940.

George Patton - great tank commander

ALexander the Great - world conqueror

Stonewall Jackson - the man behind Lee's victory at Chanclorsville, among others.

Robert E. Lee - beloved general among his men

Zhukov - stabilized the Eastern front

Answer 2

Consider the following

Leonidas of Sparta. Who knew when to stand and fight to the last man. Molon Labe.

Epanomidas. The Theban who did the impossible and defeated Sparta.

Marius. Reformer of the Roman army, five times Consul

Belisarius. Almost managed to rebuild the Roman Empire- despite his emperor.

Charles Martel. Stopped islamic invasion of France.

Jan Zizka. For the Tabor

Jan III Sobieski. Stopped Turkish expansion at Chocim and Vienna.

Prinz Eugen of Savoy. Friend to Malborough, and a brilliant tactician in his own right- campaigns against Turkey.

Wellington. Who managed to beat the best

Jozef Pilsudski. Who made an army out of nothing and beat the Soviet invasion in 1920

Answer 3

Well I'd put Nobunaga in the top ten definitely. Other than that the only one I see missing is Spartacus. The way I look at it is when a battle is won with less men and resources than the enemy it was the general's doing. In this context men like Spartacus that were vastly outnumbered, but used tactics to conquer enemies instead of men are the better generals. Although Alexander the Great keeping control of the majority of his conquered lands is also quite impressive.

Answer 4

I only saw General Grant listed in one answer, which surprised me. I would consider him the greatest general of all time, myself, at least in American history. I would have to disagree with the choices of Washington and Lee; they both serve as powerful and enduring symbols, but as military leaders they would rank near the bottom, because they lost more battles than they won--Lee, of course, is also discounted because he was a traitor. One person's choice of Benedict Arnold is interesting, but despite his many merits, I doubt he would make many historian's top 100 list of generals for obvious reasons; the choice of Jackson by the same person is puzzling, though he did perform brilliantly at New Orleans, I guess. I would also agree with Sherman, and also add Stonewall Jackson, who contributed to many of Lee's victory's; also Patton, "Hap" Arnold, and (grudgingly) MacArthur.

I don't know many of the foreign leaders you mentioned, but I would rank Alexander and Napoleon high; also the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, and Montgomery from WWII; and Norman Schwarzkopf.

Answer 5

lets put it this way,when people think about the great generals of the past your top 10 only 3 are remembered,alexanders reason for his achievements weren't his strategies but pure force of numbers,napoleon was beaten by wellington (duke of m)so that makes him a better general,rommel was beaten by montgomery so monty must be the better,you failed to mention the greatest sea general(admiral)nelson who on the sea had no peers.henry the 3rd at agincourt who was outnumbered 20-1 by the french and defeated them by strategy ,the duke of york outnumbered 15-1 yet still won, clive of india,richard the lionheart, both sir francis drake walter raliegh outnumbered by the spanish by 100s to 1 yet still stopped them,i could come up with dozens of leaders that are superior to your list,

Answer 6

William the Conqueror
Thomas "stonewall" Jackson
Simon Bolivar
Hanibal
Francisco Franco
George Washington
Benedict Arnold (yes he was a traitor but also a brilliant general)

Answer 7

It has to be Alexander the great. Look at how much territory he conquered in so little time when the main mode of transportation was walking. In a time when tactics were mainly a matter of the most mass he defeated army's 10 times his size.

Answer 8

there is no better or ideal martial artwork. attempting to study arts is like evaluating portray sorts. It has lots of subjective factors, and there is fairly no way of understanding. although, what we do understand is that arts taught poorly, are thoroughly and fully ineffective. for this reason your major concentration could be on looking a competent college, not what artwork is ideal.

Answer 9

The soon to be emperor, Julian, who moved the Roman troops the fastest of any Roman general.

Answer 10

You have him as an "Honorable Mention." (I assume the General Lee you mention is R.E.) But Robert E. Lee stands out as one of, if not the, greatest military leader of all time. And not many (in the know) would disagree or have disagreed.