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Who would you pick for the best military leaders of all time?
Maybe your list would include Alexander the Great? How about Genghis Khan? Or maybe you think Julius Caesar should top the list?
Tell us who makes your top five list of military leaders!
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Surely the best military leader would be the one who has done the most to avoid war.
Paul Webb
Jim Bell
I believe the best military leaders are those who won wars that couldn’t be avoided. For me, leaders of wars of invasion and conquest don’t qualify, and losing a war doesn’t disqualify anyone from my list. I nominate
Saladin
Richard I, Lionheart
George Washington
Sam Houston
Robert E. Lee
It's a law of the military universe that the General who makes better use of troops, strategy and equipment wins battles. Those who do that all the time win wars. Ergo, at Waterloo, Wellington was a better general than Napoleon.
What do you think of Alexander the Great or Khalid Ibn Al Walid?
Sundiata Keita
Ancient: Themistocles, Alexander, Hannibal
Medieval: Charles Martel
Modern: George Washington, Napoleon, George S. Patton
Don’t know if I agree with Napoleon being on your list. He lost the two biggest campaigns of his life – Russia and Waterloo. He couldn’t beat Russia’s three unbeatable Generals. General Rain, General Mud and General Winter. Russia was the worst planned campaign in history. NB lost more than half his army retreating in the snow, ice and sleet of a Russian winter.
He lost at Waterloo because he couldn’t organize his forces and manage them well enough to beat Wellington.
It's a law of the military universe that the General who makes better use of troops, strategy and equipment wins battles. Those who do that all the time win wars. Ergo, at Waterloo, Wellington was a better general than Napoleon.
Julius Caesar, without doubt.
Scipio the African
Annibal
Zhukov
General Giap
Asoka: he ended his empire by choice!
If I had to choose a conqueror definitely Ghengis Khan.
Odd History Buff
I will go for the Rashidun general Khalid Ibn Al Walid for the first and foremost. I really admire the battle strategies he planned and applied in the battlefield that won him every single battles he fought. They were sort of tricky and clearly shows his use of his brain during the battle.
Other generals will be Alexander of course, general Belisarius of the Byzantine Empire or maybe the Parthian general Surena who led the Parthian army in the Battle of Carrhae. Surena’s tactics were superb. He didn’t even let the Romans fight and annhiliated them before they had even clashed.
I added a comment yesterday but now i can’t find it
For some reason I can’t directly reply to Filio Scotia’s comment on Napoleon above.
Agree he seriously underestimated Russian weather, but organizing the forces for Waterloo was done in less than 100 days, an unprecedented logistical accomplishment to that point.
Napoleon’s system of organization and tactical maneuver techniques are still studied and used in today’s militaries, his use of artillery in conjunction with cavalry and infantry charges presaged blitzkrieg, and he is arguably the first to grasp and implement the total war concept. He was a revolutionary and transformational figure in military history.
If, as you say, Napoleon was a good organizer and manager, why did he lose at Waterloo?
It's a law of the military universe that the General who makes better use of troops, strategy and equipment wins battles. Those who do that all the time win wars. Ergo, at Waterloo, Wellington was a better general than Napoleon.
M.Mustafa Ciftcioglu
alexander the great
Napoleon
Chjarlemagne
Saladin
Dzjengiz Kahn
Huub
Pochopitelně Julius Cesar
Karel 4 římský a český král
The top military leader would be one that wins against overwhelming odds and is greatly outnumbered in men and equipment. We could list Henry V. In modern times Ho Chi Minh lead the poorest nation in the world and brought the richest and most powerful nation in the world to its knees. While not a conquest. It was still remarkable and genius to hold his ground.
the prophet Muhammad (PBUH). 1 He was merciful and compassionate to both his army and enemies and of course to innocent people who have nothing to do with the ongoing conflict. 2 He respected war order. 3 He trained and led many other great leaders like Khalid Ibn Alwalid, Amr Ibn Al'ass and others. 4 He was a great strategic planner. 5 He was a democratic leader (which is not easy in warfare) 6 He implemented advanced battlefield tactics and tricks comparing to his time 7 he was surrounded by intelligent local society and culture experts. 8 He preferred making pacts rather than war. 9 In ten years he could change the power balances of the ancient world giving birth to a new era.
Much has been written concerning Napoleon’s loss at Waterloo. Wellington being a pretty good general might account for it as much as any other factor.
For me, Hannibal Barca above all others ancient or modern.
You guys are relying on history to select. I believe you have to read between the lines. Cyrus the great taught all modern rulers how to rule.