worst generals in vietnam worst generals in vietnam

What is a bad general? 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. He was also supremely gifted at overestimating the size of his opponents armies to a degree that beggared belief. What a Lovely War and then in the 1989 television comedy series Blackadder Goes Forth. Michael Peck is a contributing writer at Foreign Policy and a writer for War Is Boring. Even if Moscow holds onto territory, the war has wrecked its future. For one thing, we wouldnt haveSpartacuson Netflix. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. If Putin had hoped to weaken NATO, the very opposite has happened, with Finland and Sweden on the cusp of joining the transatlantic military alliance. Darius quickly lost everything and became nothing but a fugitive. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. The Second Battle of the Somme was the first of a series of successful German offensives, but Ludendorff had failed to integrate these tactical victories into a broader strategic plan. Maximus managed to form up his men but to no avail. On the night of August 15, 1812, Tecumseh led his forces across the Detroit River, and Brock followed the next morning. He was certainly nave, but the Boy Scouts need to be defended here. Publication of the PROVN Study, whose precepts were later implemented with great success by Westmorelands successor, illustrated a matter of fundamental importance. Military Westmorelands devotion to advancing his own interests, even when necessary by misrepresentation, was fundamentally at odds with what Scouting is all about. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. 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. Tom Ricks, on his "Best Defense" blog has discussed the top 10 worst generals in U.S. history. Dispatched to India, he led campaigns to help subdue the subcontinent, replacing the crown jewel he had lost. Like it or not, the U.S. military would become the governing authority. It is probably not a coincidence that corruption in the military appears to have escalated since 2006, when the number of military generals started to jump sharply. There appeared to be little serious planning for what would happen the day after Saddam was gone. On September 9, 1965, Navy Cmdr. It would be nice if all American generals were great. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybody's all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. 1. Create an FP account to save articles to read later and in the FP mobile app. 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. What will another year of war look like? The Roman Empire has a long, proud tradition of producing some of the finest generals in human history- and just as many of the worst. And once again, at the Battle of Antietam, McClellans terminal case of the slows (as Lincoln called it) prevented the exploitation of a possible war-ending vulnerability in Confederate defenses. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. The enemy simply kept sending more and more replacements to make up his losses. 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. Germanic tribes sacrificed Roman officers on altars to their gods. Feel free to mention any others you may know of in the comments. 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. Cornwallis later did redeem himself militarily. As for the British, they had lost the most valuable jewel of the Imperial crown. Where is Carthage you ask? Alas, as a historian, he passed on the opportunity to answer Battlelands questions about what Vietnam should teach us about Afghanistan, and who, if anyone, is todays Westmoreland, during our email chat earlier this week: Whats the most important thing you learned writing Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam? The 1970s were scary times. Quintus Servilius Caepio takes the cake amongst the worst Roman generals ever to take command of a legion though. The war soon ended in a Russian defeat, with hundreds of thousands of military and civilian casualties. While there is much to criticize LBJ for in his conduct of the war, one cannot help having some sympathy for the dilemma posed by the often wildly conflicting advice he was getting from his senior aides and advisors, including those in uniform. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on Yet Fredendall's solution was to order an Army engineer company to build a giant bunker a hundred miles from the front lines. 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. Have your boss report to the French gentleman whose name begins with J at a place which begins with D which is five grid squares to the left of M. The Kasserine disaster had repercussions. And the number one reason why Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam: With his unavailing approach to conduct of the war he squandered four years of support by much of the American people, the Congress, and even the media. Westmoreland established a headquarters known as MACV Forward in the northern provinces of South Vietnam and put his deputy, General Creighton Abrams, in charge, placing him over the Marines and also the Army forces in that region. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? The Top Ten. While there are plenty of books that analyze the keys to success, The Worst Military Leaders in History offers lessons of failure to avoid. 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. At this point, things somehow got worse for Hull. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybodys all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. It was a humiliating baptism of fire for the U.S. Army in Europe, and more important, caused British commanders to dismiss their Yank allies as amateur soldiers for the rest of the war. Two years later, he lost a leg fighting the French. By signing up, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to occasionally receive special offers from Foreign Policy. Thus, almost by default, Westmoreland was left to go his own way, year after bloody year. He denied senior civilian officials accurate data on enemy strength and composition, during development of a 1967 Special National Intelligence Estimate imposing a ceiling on the number of enemy forces his intelligence officers could report or agree to and personally removing from the order of battle entire categories that had long been included, thus falsely portraying progress in reducing enemy strength. The 1970s were scary times. Outstanding commanders such as George H. Thomas, Phil Sheridan, and William Tecumseh Sherman routinely bested their Confederate opponents. In the end, Chiang sacrificed more than a million Chinese soldiers and well over ten million Chinese civilians in his bid to stay in power. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? To accomplish this goal, Vietnam employs repressive policies that often contravene international human rights law. He was called the "inevitable general." A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. Your guide to the most important world stories of the day. Its quite exclusive: combat leaders who had the fate of their people in their hands and squandered it all. After making a laughingstock of himself by ordering his men to entrench on the wrong side of fortifications at Camargo, Pillow bungled his role at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, making himself the low point of a resounding American victory. Thats an automatic disqualification from Hall membership. On the other hand, there was that bad day at the Battle of Salamis when most of the Persian fleet went to the bottom. Years later, when Marine Corps historians were at work on their history of the war, Westmoreland met with them. Lpez was the son of Carlos Antonio Lpez, a dictator who had done much to modernize Paraguay in the mid-19th century. Along with Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Montgomery is the most celebrated of British generals and had the ego to match, or even exceed, his reputation. But with that kind of advantage in troops and firepower, who wouldnt? Antonio de Padua Mara Severino Lpez de Santa Anna. Caepio reportedly lived out the remainder of his life in luxury, however. One-stop digest of politics, economics, and culture. General Westmoreland had complete freedom of action in deciding how to prosecute the war within South Vietnam. This entire list could be populated with Roman commanders, but one manages to rise above the rest with an ineptitude that defies logic. Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln relieved McClellan but reinstated him after the devastating Union defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run. James Jay Carafano is a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges. In 1940, after increasing pressure from dictator Benito Mussolini and facing demotion, Graziani followed orders and invaded Egypt with his Tenth Army. Many historians have said Bragg was one of the worst generals of the Civil War, having lost most of his battles. The Cimbri destroyed Caepios force and, emboldened by their success, marched on Maximuss camp. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition. Would he be upset if he were alive to read this book today? Instead the enemy proved willing to absorb horrifying losses and keep fighting. There is now little doubt that Putin failed in his initial goals: Kyiv is still Show morestanding, Ukrainians are determined to keep fighting, and the West has so far stayed resolute in its support of Ukraine. Finally, when it comes to bad generals, let us remember Truman's immortal words about firing MacArthur: I fired him because he wouldn't respect the authority of the President. While Hull dithered, Brock captured Fort Michilimackinac, establishing British control of the Straits of Mackinac. After achieving moderate success in Libya and Ethiopia, the Butcher of Ethiopia became Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Royal Armys General Staff and of Italian North Africa at the start of World War II. Yet, Hannibal nevertheless ranks as one of the worlds epic fails. Then, in an ill-advised comeback, he met his Waterloo. A dull, unfeeling, unimaginative, smug "Colonel Blimp" of the worst sort. The resulting Peninsular Campaign (AprilJuly 1862) was a marvel of planning but something of a farce in execution. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. The Romans marched right into the ambush that Arminius laid thus leading to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. 4. Some historians are a little more sympathetic towards Percivals legacy nowadays arguing that Percival had been dealt an unusually bad hand. 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.