Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. According to formerly classified Army documents, an investigation disclosed that from at least March 1968 through October 1969, "Vietnamese [civilian] detainees were subjected to maltreatment" by. British Gen. Isaac Brock possessed a remarkable ability to anticipate his opponents moves and reactions, and it was not long before he had taken full measure of Hull. Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced his fateful decision to double the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam. These battlefield bumblers serve to provide that contrast. His prestige restored by his conduct during the Pastry War with France, Santa Anna once again claimed dictatorial powers. Routed by U.S. forces under Winfield Scott, Santa Anna was again driven into exile. He effectively pledged to become an agent for the U.S. but found that he had been deposed upon his return to Mexico. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? There is no Carthage. Where is Carthage you ask? McClellan and Burnside in particular. A more positive example is George Washington. 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. James K. Polk. The Biden administration has passed landmark legislations such as theInflation Reduction Act(IRA) and theCHIPS and Science Act, which provide subsidies in clean energy and semiconductoShow morers worth well over $400 billion. 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 American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. As military professionals, we should think about more . While this century witnessed many great leaders, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dr. Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi . Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era. At Brownstown, south of Detroit, two dozen warriors under Tecumseh routed more than 200 American militiamen escorting a supply column intended for Detroit. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. But then MacArthur thrived on controversy like bread thrives on yeast. And how might that be impacting the world? The enemy did not lose heart, did not cease aggression. (You May Also Like: 5 Israeli Weapons of War ISIS Should Fear). 5. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Indeed they are brave and proud, but their standards, tactics, and lack of command supervision throughout their ranks requires improvement in the national interest. And, he added, I would be less than frank if I did not say that I feel somewhat insecure with the situation in Quang Tri province, in view of my knowledge of their shortcomings. McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from scratch. A Brief History. The Cimbri destroyed Caepios force and, emboldened by their success, marched on Maximuss camp. 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. The Top Ten. Had Lincoln retained McClellan in command of the Union armies, many former Americans might still be whistling "Dixie.". History: Military History. His work as an observer during the Crimean War gave him insight into the importance of logistics for an industrialized army, and years spent as the chief of engineering for the Illinois Central Railroad made him aware of the transformative nature of rail transport. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? He ran as a Democrat against Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election. His war of attrition, search and destroy tactics, and emphasis on body count did nothing to affect the war in the hamlets and villages of South Vietnam, where the enemys covert infrastructure was left free to continue using coercion and terror to dominate the rural populace. One-stop digest of politics, economics, and culture. At the height of the Cold War, he dealt decisively with neither. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. Would he be upset if he were alive to read this book today? Delivered Wednesday & Sunday. In the autumn of 1804 he was placed in charge of the French fleet at Toulon and tasked with drawing the British fleet under Horatio Nelson to the Caribbean. For its part, Washington has made a series of policy choices over the last few years that can be summed Show moreup as tough on Beijing, even seeking to contain the rise of the worlds second-biggest economy. They dramatically upped their game, pressing the U.S. worldwide. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. Driven into exile in 1845, he contacted U.S. Pres. In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. Some would say that failure on the battlefield warrants censure. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. 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. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Persian Empire. 88,594. 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. Concurrently with hi. 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. Is your subtitle The General Who Lost Vietnam fair? At this point, things somehow got worse for Hull. James Madison spared him from execution. With a few relatively minor changes, thats just about where they stayed for the next four years. What is the standard of shame for induction? Evening roundup with our editors favorite stories of the day. The Worst Military Leaders in History is meant to be thought-provoking, and it surely is that." ARMY Magazine "Few subjects get military historians and history buffs talking like a debate over the best military leaders in history. 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. Starting with the battle of Long Island, he lost way more fights than he wonyet he managed to win the war. Hull had served with distinction in the Revolutionary War and was appointed governor of the Michigan Territory in 1805. The Vietnam War body count controversy centers on the counting of enemy dead by the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). If there was a saving grace for America, it was that he wasn't commanding an army. After early success in the Mexican War for Independence, the rest of his career didnt pan out the way he would have liked. What myths or misperceptions surround Westmoreland that you would like to clear up, if any? Hull was taken prisoner by the British and was court-martialed upon his return to the United States. How the North Vietnamese remember the conflict 40 years after the fall of Saigon. This did not, however, achieve the postulated outcome. Haig had largely dismissed the effect of the machine gun on the battlefield, believing that previous Allied failures owed to something other than an impenetrable wall of lead traveling at ballistic velocity. Luckily for the colonists, the Empire also had Cornwallis, a peer of the realm and truly pitiful commander. This proved possible only with enemy cooperation, since they could break contact and limit casualties as they wished by withdrawing into sanctuaries across the border. These are the incompetents, the idiots, the bumblers who have represented armies or nations at war only to lead them to defeat or shame. Test yourself on the week of Feb. 25: Nigeria votes, Finland builds a border wall, and Israel escalates repression. Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition. He would eventually be betrayed and killed by a friend. After being taken prisoner (again) by the British, Villeneuve was released but committed suicide rather than face Napoleons wrath. Once again, McClellan worked his organizational magic, restoring the morale of a shattered Union army. He decided to conduct of a war of attrition, using search and destroy tactics, in which the measure of merit was body count. But all that remains of his would-be empire today is a flaky French pastry. This strategy inevitably failed as the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong maintained control over how the war was fought which was through guerilla warfare. (Photo: Warner Bros.) Roger Ebert called "Gods and Generals" a film "Trent Lott would enjoy," referring to the Senator's praise of segregationist Strom Thurmond. The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week. Instead he simply sent more and more replacements to make up his losses. 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. The loss of Fort Donelson opened the door to Kentucky and Tennessee to Union forces and marked the beginning of the end of Confederate resistance in the west. And, to further demonstrate progress in reducing enemy strength, Westmoreland arbitrarily and entirely on his own removed from the order of battle several categories of enemy forces that had long been carried there, including during the three years Westmoreland had already been in command of U.S. forces in Vietnam. But he was overly cautious by nature. Join in-depth conversations and interact with foreign-policy experts with. What he did not divulge publicly was that the United States. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. He was an artilleryman who missed out on the Armys great schools system, never attending the Command & General Staff College or the Army War College. Thus the progress Westmoreland claimed in racking up huge body counts did nothing to win the war. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest darkened Emperor Augustus remaining years and he was heard, upon occasion, to moan, Quinctilius Varus, give me back my Legions!, Notable mention: George Custer, Joseph Hooker, Ambrose Burnside, Charles Cornwallis, John II of France, Top 10 Utterly Bizarre Things Banned In China, Top 10 Military Bases Linked To UFOs (That Aren't Area 51), 10 Bizarre Military Inventions That Almost Saw Deployment, 10 Futuristic Sci-Fi Military Technologies That, 10 Awesome French Military Victories You've Never Heard Of, 10 Oddities That Interrupted Military Battles, Top 10 Top-Level Domains That Caused Controversies, 10 Controversial Toys You Might Already Have in Your Home, Ten Absolutely Vicious Fights over Inherited Fortunes, 10 Female Film Pioneers Who Shaped the Movies, Ten True Tales from Americas Toughest Prison, 10 Times Members of Secretive Societies and Organizations Spilled the Beans, 10 Common Idioms with Unexpectedly Dark Origins, 10 North American Animals with Misplaced Reputations, 10 Japanese Weapons Invented Too Late To Win World War II, 10 Ways The History Of Thanksgiving Is Nothing Like You Imagined, 10 Great Buildings That Were Not Built Quite Well Enough. He graduated second in his class at West Point (well ahead of classmates Stonewall Jackson, George H. Gordon, and George Pickett). These are the incompetents, the idiots, the bumblers who have represented armies or nations at war only to lead them to defeat or shame. Maximus managed to form up his men but to no avail. Grachev played a key role in initiating and leading the First Chechen War. Caepio reportedly lived out the remainder of his life in luxury, however. As the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, he faced a two-front war, an insurgency in the South and an invading army from the North. Gates thought otherwise, and fancied himself a better commander than George Washington. The heavily forested, swampy terrain made the Legions maneuvers impossible. In 1975, when the Vietnam War ended, the Vietnamese army had only 36 generals, but by 2018, peace-time Vietnam had 415 military officers holding general ranks. Unfortunately the fates of the former Republic Vietnam (Sout. Russias war is receiving critical assistance from authoritarian regimes around the world. 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. Sure, he won big at the Alamo. 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. But his persistence and inspiration kept the Continental Army in the field through the worst of times, which is why his face is on the one-dollar bill. A very influential visitor, Senator "Fritz" Hollings from Westmoreland's home state of South Carolina, had warned him about reliance on such ratios. Horacio Gates of the American Revolution was pretty bad. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he theoretically had some influence there, at least to the extent he could shape the collective viewpoint, but even then LBJ and McNamara were famously impervious to advice from the Joint Chiefs. He retreated to Malta but was captured when that island fell to the British. He couldnt. He is the dumb ass who gave the order to exfoliate the jungles with agent orange. Two of the more prominent of these mistakes, both with wide and sweeping results, were the June 22, 1941 invasion of the USSROperation Barbarossaand the December 11, 1941 unprovoked and unwarranted declaration of war on the United Statesagainst the advice of Hitler's Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop. History is not a fixed set of facts. He bears a lot of responsibility for one the greatest reversals of military fortune ever experienced by a super power. After an initial attack drove back Grants troops, Pillow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by retreating to the fort rather than breaking through Union lines to Nashville. Michael Ray oversees coverage of European history and military affairs for Britannica. As a military commander, Napoleon may have thebest batting averageof all time. Michael Peck is a contributing writer at Foreign Policy and a writer for War Is Boring. standing, Ukrainians are determined to keep fighting, and the West has so far stayed resolute in its support of Ukraine. Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, by Lewis Sorley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. . The self proclaimed Napoleon of the West didnt quite leave the same legacy as his idol. Pillow escaped during the night, leaving Simon B. Buckner to surrender the fort and 15,000 Confederate troops. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. 10 Redvers Buller James Bond Stockdale was flying his A-4 Skyhawk on a mission over North Vietnam, just days after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, when his plane took fire and hurtled d To accomplish this goal, Vietnam employs repressive policies that often contravene international human rights law. The curation of this content is at the discretion of the author, and not necessarily reflective of the views of Encyclopaedia Britannica or its editorial staff. While British cannons shelled the fort from the Canadian side of the river, Tecumseh marched his warriors through a forest clearing in an endless parade. Innumerable battlefield commanders have had disastrous days at the office. 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. All rights reserved. Creighton Abrams was an U.S. Army General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. 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. Outstanding commanders such as George H. Thomas, Phil Sheridan, and William Tecumseh Sherman routinely bested their Confederate opponents. The Legion numbers XVII, XVIII and XIX never again appeared in the Roman Armys order of battle due to the shame and ill luck they carried. The last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, Darius was not quite as qualified to rule a mighty empire as his predecessors were. The Americans lacked sufficient troops, supplies and air cover (when was the last time an American general had to fight a battle while being pounded by enemy bombers?). This would be known as the Tet Offensive and would become a major turning point in the war. It's not the first time that someone thought he was smarter than his boss. Rommel is by far the greatest military general of the . In the end, the Romans leveled Carthage and salted the earth. 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. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Pillow pulled the troops back to the fort to resupply them. Its quite exclusive: combat leaders who had the fate of their people in their hands and squandered it all. What defines Santa Anna is his utter failure to subdue the Texican rebels and block American expansion. 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. Heres the inaugural class: 6. Santa Anna would lose Texas at the Battle of San Jacinto. They dramatically upped their game, pressing the U.S. worldwide. Army Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson put one forth in the PROVN Study, a Program for the Pacification and Long-Term Development of Vietnam. That document held that Westmorelands approach was not working and could not work because it ignored the real war in South Vietnams hamlets and villages, where the covert enemy infrastructure was through coercion and terror dominating the rural populace. The unprecedented violence of battles such as Shiloh, Antietam, Stones River, and Gettysburg shocked citizens and international observers alike. And if they not only fail to deliver, but wind up sinking their own side in the process, and change history, they earn a spot in the Hall of Military Shame. Allied with Brock was the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, who was head of the most formidable pan-Indian military force the continent had ever seen. These operations were designed to seek out enemy forces and engage them in decisive battle. On a visit to Vietnam Senator Hollings from Westmorelands home state of South Carolina was told by Westmoreland: Were killing these people, the enemy, at a ratio of 10 to 1. Said Hollings, Westy, the American people dont care about the ten. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. 10. Quintus Servilius Caepio takes the cake amongst the worst Roman generals ever to take command of a legion though. 1 Erwin Rommel Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel, popularly known as the Desert Fox, was a German field marshal of World War II. Alexander, Napoleon, Rommel. His was one of just two French ships of the line to escape the destruction of the French fleet there. His bad luck didnt end at San Jacinto. Westmorelands strategy throughout the war was to win through Attrition Warfare (pounding the enemy through greater numbers and resources) which military strategists including Sun Tzu caution against using. 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. FPs Ravi Agrawal spoke with two of the very best Russia experts:Angela Stent, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author ofPutins World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest, and Michael Kofman, the research program director of the Russia studies program at the Center for Naval Analyses. Darius family would be captured and even lost the Battle of Gaugamela, where so many factors were in his favor. Keep up with the world without stopping yours. Delivered Wednesday. Hull withdrew after a series of harassing attacks by Tecumsehs highly mobile raiding parties. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. Panama (1989) 2. FPs Ravi Agrawal spoke with two of the very best Russia experts:Angela Stent, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author ofPutins World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest, and Michael Kofman, the research program director of the Russia studies program at the Center for Naval Analyses. Thus, on July 1, 1916, Haig ordered his men to go over the top at the First Battle of the Somme, and 20,000 of them had the audacity to die almost immediately (there were 60,000 total British casualties on the first day of the attack). They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. In 1941, Graziani resigned his commission after the British counterattacked and the Tenth Army was completely defeated during Operation Compass. Military. Yes, eminently. The Western Front was a much bigger stage upon which to fail, however, and British commander Douglas Haig made the most of the opportunity. McClellan was removed from command immediately after. 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. While serving in Vietnam . If Gates had been in command, we might be paying for our groceries with shillings and pence. Their orientation, indeed the core of Scoutings values, is selflessness and service to others. Caepio may have been a terrible general, but he was apparently an exceptional thief. In the opening month of World War I, Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg scored a crushing victory over the Russians at Tannenberg. Fighter Aircraft of All Time). For one thing, we wouldnt haveSpartacuson Netflix. Approaching his 60th birthday and exhibiting a timidity that had no place in a general about to lead an invasion, Hull also had the misfortune of facing two of the most gifted commanders ever to operate in North America. Here is a list of the 10 most famous Chinese generals in history. Join FPs Ravi Agrawal for a frank discussion about the Biden administrations China policy and alternatives that it ought to consider. Its prewar population was reduced by more than half, and perhaps 90 percent of Paraguays fighting-age men perished. The Battle of Khe Sanh (21 January - 9 July 1968) was conducted in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Qung Tr Province, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), during the Vietnam War. 1. In considering who should receive such a dubious honor, Ive consciously excluded bad leaders. To counter these, Major General William R. Peers commenced Operation Greeley using elements of the 4th Infantry Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade. 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. A very significant instance was his determination to arbitrarily hold down the estimate of enemy strength during a 1967 order of battle controversy. The United States entered the war, forcing Ludendorff to accelerate his time line for a conclusive battle against the Allies on the Western Front. Despite Lincoln's pleas for aggressive action, his Army of the Potomac moved hesitantly, its commander McClellan convinced himself that the Southern armies vastly outnumbered him when logic should have told him that it was the North that enjoyed an abundance of resources. Finally, there was MacArthur's insubordination. Delivered Thursday. 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 the summer of 1967, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) initiated a series of attacks in western Kontum Province. His forces outnumbered Alexanders men by at least a 2 to 1 ratio, but Darius was still outflanked, defeated and forced to flee. Darius did not take the field against Alexander until a year and a half after Granicus, at the Battle of Issus. Then, in an ill-advised comeback, he met his Waterloo. 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. He was found guilty of 11 counts, and only the intervention by Pres. Haig was cruelly mocked, first in the satirical musical Oh! War is an extension of politics, and if commanders dont help secure the desired political ends, they get a failing grade. Elmo Zumwalt was a U.S. admiral and commander of American naval forces in Vietnam. Gamelin also chose not to disperse Frances vast number of superior tanks. On the night of August 15, 1812, Tecumseh led his forces across the Detroit River, and Brock followed the next morning. On March 24, 1976, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1 st Viscount of Alamein, hero of World War II, died at home in England. Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition. The 1970s were scary times. All the enemys losses were quickly made up. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on. Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, Chinas Censors Are Afraid of What Chatbots Might Say, The U.S. DE AGOSTINI PICTURE LIBRARY/Contributor/Getty Images, Biden Proposal Puts Climate Agenda Above Americas Defense, Russias New START Breach Means U.S. Nuclear Weapons Modernization Is a Must. After only an eight-day siege, he surrendered his entire armya third of all British forces in America. Napoleon. By December 1864 Paraguay was at war with Brazil, and, when Argentina denied a request for the transit of a Paraguayan army across its territory, Lpez declared war on that country as well. Youre on the list! Instead of sweeping around the French defenses in a massive flanking movement, the Germans were checked at the First Battle of the Marne. Grant had encircled the fort. Santa Anna liked to call himself the Napoleon of the West. And, like Napoleon, he squandered it all in one grand campaign. Westmoreland held a press conference in which he categorically denied any such loss of confidence. 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. But there was something that not even the factories of New York and Chicago could produce, and that was time. Hull responded by ordering the evacuation of Fort Dearborn, and the garrison was promptly massacred by a Potawatomi war band upon leaving the fort. As the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles crippled Germany, Ludendorff effectively sabotaged the Weimar Republic by propagating the belief that he and his armies had been undefeated on the battlefield. But the rash advance into North Korea was a blunder of strategic proportions. Muammar Al-Gaddafi. On September 9, 1965, Navy Cmdr. 2. Although he outnumbered Magruders Army of the Peninsula 10-to-1, McClellan settled in for a monthlong siege. Perhaps Mao would have intervened anyway. So unused to being challenged, the United States has become so filled with anxiety over China that sober responses are becoming nearly impossible.
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