Who was the best ever military commander in history?

Question

An who was the worst?

Answer 1

the best would be lt gen louis b "chesty" puller. read his citations, he wasn't sitting in his tent too often.
the worst is george w bush as commander in chief.
worst while in uniform is lt william calley (my lai massacre). how many liuetenants ever effected the outcome of a war the way he did?

Answer 2

Bah, Military commanders do NOT equal heads of state... That's a different ballgame entirely.

The best general of all time is going to be a modern commander. Simply put Generals in the past earned glory in a different way than they do today, and communications, command and control technology have expanded the scope of the battlefield to a national level. Where a good general before could have controlled a single battlefield (impressive), trying to direct an entire national and sometimes regional range of operations is an entirely different story on strategy. That being said...

The best Combatant Commander/General EVER would have to be Tommy Franks. Why? Because in offensive ops the general protocol is that the attacker needs 3 to 1 odds to overcome the defense. Instead, General Franks led 250K troops against a numerically superior force and overtook all of Iraq in three weeks all while dealing with VERY fragile political alliances and freak weather (sandstorms). All the other generals of the past had estimated that defeating Iraq and deposing the leader would take 500K troops and that losses would be heavy. General Franks accomplished that with half the men and less than 1,000 casualties (to depose the iraqi dictatorship).

The worst in history would have to be a toss up between all the french generals who planned the maginot line... the dumbest defense EVER or the other option would have to be Santa Anna, who broke his armies will over the fort of the Alamo (which wasn't needed for victory anyway) then proceeded to split his troops up to hound Sam Houston, who then turned and smashed Santa Anna's portion of the mexican army and then caught Santa Anna fleeing while disguising himself as a simple private (he had abandoned his army in the middle of the fight).

Answer 3

The Duke of Wellington, is the best military commander and the worst has to be, although I am related to him, is Bonnie Prince Charlie.
And following the prince is, George S Patton, Senior. After he went mad

Answer 4

The best was the Duke of Wellington as he made no serious military mistake and never lost a battle.
The worst, probably Gregorio García de la Cuesta, a very very bad spanish general

Answer 5

In my view there are only two candidates for the best commander. or leader of men.
Id say either Genghis khan,, or Alexander the great!..

Answer 6

Best Way back when, Leonidas 300 spartans and about 2000 allies against 2 millionish Persians and managed to take about 30,000 persians with them

Some what Present: Patton or Rommel

Worst: i really dont know anyboyd that bad, Custer to into self promotion

Answer 7

Alexander the Great.
George Dubbleyaa Bush.

Answer 8

Tough Question, what century?

The ones I would choose are the Generals who were up against the odds and stilL shone through.

Vecingetorix who led the Gauls against Rome, Hannibal who almost destroyed Rome, Captain Danjou the legionarre whose 250 men stood fast against 3000 mexicans and held them up to the last man.

The best of all in my book would have to be Erwin Rommel against the eigth Army in Africa.


The worst , I am tempted to say Bush but that is so predictable as to be cliched. No the worst would have to be Sir General Douglas Haig who masterminde dthe Somme offensive ., mind you Churchills Dardenelles campaign disaster is a very close second.

Answer 9

Bomber Harris the best. Too many worst ones to name.

Answer 10

The Duke of Wellington, who finally put paid to Napoleon.