Who is your favorite general /military leader in world history and why?

Question

Patton, Alexander the Great, Julius Ceasar, Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Oda Nobunaga, Napoleon...Douglas MacArthur, Admiral Nelson, King Leonidas, Hannibal, or anybody else on your mind?

Fslcaptain: It would help if you said what in the biography of Alexander that you read, give you that impression. I certainly think he was great too.

Also, in Hannibal's case, I think it was the politicians of Carthage who didn't know what to do with Hannibal's victories.

Answer 1

1) Patton how far could he have gone given a free hand in france during 1944?
2) Rommel what could he have done had he more than 25% of the force required to win in africa plus his defense of france and the conquest of france.
3) zhukov the defender of russia and did well in the east prior to facing the germans
4) Paul Hausser for his tactical leadership of the II SS Panzer Corps, he restored the sagging front after Stalingrad and Kursk, beating Soviet Armies 7 times his size.
5) napolean master of land and sea warfare egypt and russian were his for a while. He was left chomping on the bit along the English Coast the same as Hitler tho.
6) thomas jackson, for his tactical victories in the Shenandoah Valley and Chancellorsville. He made bobby lee look good and if he was alive, could've won at Gettysburg too.
7) macarthur same as napolean but not the size of scale of conquest. A free hand could've won the Korean Conflict, either that or a direct confrontation with China...who knows?
8)Moltke first used the practice of mobility with railroads and the use of commanders to figure out the best way to take an objective
9)Sherman author the first demonstation of total warfare with march through the south to atlanta
10)genghis khan able to go from mongolia to europe a large undertaking considering his time. His empire was larger than Hitlers, Alexanders, and the Roman Empire combined.
11) charlemagne last big empire of europe until napolean. Without him, Europe would've been overrun by the Moors/Saracens (You'd be praying to Mecca each day).
12)Gauis Julius Caesar, especially for his exploits in Gaul and Britainnia...

Answer 2

I just read a biography about Alexander the Great. Him. I threw in that little tid bit about reading the biography so you'd value this as a legitimate response, not some ignorant moron who thinks Alexander sounds like a good answer. It was a great book. Prior to reading it I probably would have responded MacArthur just cause he was cool. So was Rommel. Hannibal never knew what to do witht the victories he got.

Answer 3

Well, probably a toss-up between Erich von Manstein, Napoleon I, and Alexander. Manstein because he fully understood and executed modern mobile warfare, both in the plan to attack France, and later in southern Russia.
Napoleon defeated nearly every large military power in 19th Century Europe, and indirectly contributed to the rise of nationalism and fall of absolute monarchies in Western Europe-at least. As if that wasn't enough, he rewrote the French legal code, and encouraged scientific research.
I think Alexander the Great might be the greatest military leader. He led from the front, being wounded at least three times we know of. He respected his troops, and they in turn were devoted to him. He was one of the very first commanders to understand the basic concepts of special operations. Several times, he organized specially trained and motivated troops for what we would call "strategic objectives". With a force not much larger than the NYC police dept, he conquered the largest empire in the ancient world ca 300BC. He also introduced Hellenic culture into the Middle East.

Answer 4

The Duke of Wellington, he was undefeated and made no serious military mistake. he took care of his soldiers interests far better than most military commanders. some people say he was only good defensively ( which he is widely regarded as a master of defensive warfare ) but at the battle of Salamanca he attacked and defeated 40,000 enemy troops in 40 minutes and at the battle of victoria he captured 151 out of 153 enemy cannon.

he did not risk his troops lives unnecarserily and had an uncanny ability to be at the most important part of the battle field at just the right time, often personally taking command.

at the battle of waterloo his artillery were out numbered and were smaller than french artillery, yet Wellingtons artillery inflicted at least three times the casualties, even theoe Napoeon was originally an artillery officer.

Answer 5

Greatest General -Robert E. Lee - unlike most Civil War generals (particularly Grant) he was very conservative with troops' lives.. he rarely if ever won a battle through sheer numbers, and almost invariably had lower casualty counts than his opponents.

Admiral - tough choice, but either Togo or Yamamoto... Togo's victory at Tsushima was astounding, the only modern example of complete victory at sea since Nelson.

But Yamamoto (who ironically lost a finger at Tsushima...) was also brilliant. He knew Japan would never win a long war against America. He knew attacking the US was foolish... but when ordered he devised a brilliant wide ranging battle plan, that had it been implemented properly, might have actually succeeded...

Just my .01

-dh

Answer 6

General George S. Patton III He was never in the rear with the gear always with his men at the front. Tank man who had knowledge of just how to get into these countries and whoop ***. Good book Patton ordeal and triumph by Gen. Omar Bradley read it .

Answer 7

Lu Bu of the Three Kingdoms Period in China. He may not have been the nicest man, but he single handedly killed 2000 men at the battle of Hu Lao Gate and was one of the most feared Warriors at the time.

Answer 8

Patton, because no one actually got the job done like he did. He knew what he needed to do, was efficient in his approach, and kicked some serious ***.

Answer 9

Stonewall Jackson is the guy that I enjoy studying and reading about. He was a pretty eccentric and quirky guy and he was unbelievably decisive and demanding of his troops...and his men loved him for all those reasons.

Answer 10

Jack Bauer. I liked in 2002, when he stopped the U.S. government from starting a war with innocent countries by exposing the Cypress audio file as a fake.