worst generals in vietnam

How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? The 1970s were scary times. Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition. Explore the benefits of your FP subscription. This entire list could be populated with Roman commanders, but one manages to rise above the rest with an ineptitude that defies logic. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. 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. Yet backstabbing your commander-in-chief in the middle of a war is taking ambition a little too far. When the French deposed Benito Jurez and installed Maximilian as emperor of Mexico, Santa Anna, now 70, reached out to the U.S. for support in deposing the emperor. 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. While serving in Vietnam . Even a string of bad days does not guarantee entry. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. The rise of American-made chatbots has kicked off a flurry of Chinese activity. 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. 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. 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. Mexican general Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna probably wished that everyone really did remember the Alamo, because: (1) he actually did win that battle (he outnumbered his opponents between 10- and 30-to-1); and (2) during the 13-day siege, he somehow resisted the urge to betray all his allegiances and change sides. Allied with Brock was the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, who was head of the most formidable pan-Indian military force the continent had ever seen. What will another year of war look like? It would be nice if all American generals were great. - 3 Best: 1987 Los Angeles Lakers. It doesnt matter if theyve won more often than theyve lost. These American commanders have lost the battle for history. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. Yes, eminently. There was no warmth, no apparent interest in his associates as people. Ulysses S. Grant made his Civil War debut at the Battle of Belmont against Confederate Gen. Gideon Pillow. 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. Santa Anna would lose Texas at the Battle of San Jacinto. After months of inactivity, McClellan was finally spurred to action by Pres. Hull was taken prisoner by the British and was court-martialed upon his return to the United States. History is not a fixed set of facts. 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. Michael Peck is a contributing writer at Foreign Policy and a writer for War Is Boring. Hull was thoroughly outclassed. After the Germans attacked, Gamelin was eventually removed from his post, but by then it was too late. This was heeded about as well as any piece of parental advice, anywhere ever. My generation would likely vote for the year exactly one-half century ago as the absolutely worst year in our lifetimes. Tom Ricks, on his "Best Defense" blog has discussed the top 10 worst generals in U.S. history. The Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial LectureThomas E. Ricks is a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Although Westmoreland denied it, he imposed a ceiling on the reported number of enemy by instructing his intelligence officers to adhere to a command position of not more than 300,000, even though newly acquired and more accurate data developed in his own headquarters then indicated a much higher figure. Youre on the list! Instead he simply sent more and more replacements to make up his losses. Villeneuve lost 20 ships, while Nelson lost none. Is your subtitle The General Who Lost Vietnam fair? 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. Hulls nerve was shattered. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. Lincoln relieved McClellan but reinstated him after the devastating Union defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run. How do you measure military leaders? Then, in an ill-advised comeback, he met his Waterloo. Historian Lewis Sorley author of 1999s well-regarded A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of Americans Last Years in Vietnam now zeroes in on General William Westmoreland. When the Germans shattered his troops and his reputation at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia in early 1943, Fredendall was only a major general and a corps commander. Thats the point. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. Exactly. But the argument is unbalanced. Gates thought otherwise, and fancied himself a better commander than George Washington. Many historians have said Bragg was one of the worst generals of the Civil War, having lost most of his battles. Lee demonstrated an immediate grasp of McClellans demeanor, and, during the Seven Days Battles (June 25July 1, 1862), Lee drove back the Union armies from Richmonds doorstep. Unfortunately the fates of the former Republic Vietnam (Sout. Diem's family was one of the earliest to convert to Catholicism, a religion he took . Download the new FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. While Hull dithered, Brock captured Fort Michilimackinac, establishing British control of the Straits of Mackinac. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybody's all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? 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. Its quite exclusive: combat leaders who had the fate of their people in their hands and squandered it all. He worked under Adolf Hitler's Third Reich as a leading general and gained fame from his battles in North Africa. There are issues around killing and counting unarmed civilians (non-combatants) as enemy combatants, as well as inflating the number of actual enemy who were killed in action (KIA).For search and destroy operations, as the objective was not to . Informed that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor and were certain to attack the Philippines next, MacArthur failed to disperse his aircraftthe only force that could disrupt the Japanese offensive in the absence of the American fleetand to attack Japanese airfields before the enemy wiped out his air force. 4. Abraham Lincoln. Advancing to the North Korean border with China also was a red flag for Mao-Tse Tung, who feared that American troops on his border were a prelude to U.S. invasion. After being taken prisoner (again) by the British, Villeneuve was released but committed suicide rather than face Napoleons wrath. Nor is being a bad battlefield commander, by itself, sufficient to make the cut. History: Military History. Hull withdrew after a series of harassing attacks by Tecumsehs highly mobile raiding parties. 7. These two instances are illustrative of many, many more, ranging from his actions or lack of action in combat situations to his determination to take over the war and win it with U.S. forces to his resultant failure to build up South Vietnamese forces to the validity of body count to the decision to close Khe Sanh to his actions when Lang Vei was overrun to denying predictions he had made of an early end to the war to claims of not being surprised at Tet 1968 to denying a post-Tet request for many additional U.S. forces. In 1941, Graziani resigned his commission after the British counterattacked and the Tenth Army was completely defeated during Operation Compass. He was called the "inevitable general." A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. Varus placed his legions in a position where their fighting strengths would be minimized and that of the Germanic Cherusci tribesman maximized. Darius never showed up for the first battle and defeat (Battle of Granicus) because he didnt see Alexander as much of a threat to his empire. Sure, he won big at the Alamo. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. Santa Anna liked to call himself the Napoleon of the West. And, like Napoleon, he squandered it all in one grand campaign. - 1 Best: 1996 Chicago Bulls. 2. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail. Alas, call it the laws of probability or just cosmic karma, but every nation produces bad generals as well as good onesand America is no exception. 8. 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. The premise was that, if he could kill enough of the enemy, they would lose heart and cease their aggression against the South Vietnamese. James K. Polk upon the outbreak of war between Mexico and the U.S. and offered to become an agent for the U.S. (again). These battlefield bumblers serve to provide that contrast. Vietnam War. Westmoreland held a press conference in which he categorically denied any such loss of confidence. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition. Here's What You Need To Remember:The Soviets saw the American humiliation in Vietnam as a turning point. The Worst Civil War Generals on the Confederacy Confederate Maj. Gen. Gideon Pillow. Having amassed roughly twice as many losses in a single day as Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington, had suffered during the entire Peninsular War, Haig saw no reason to change tactics. A dull, unfeeling, unimaginative, smug "Colonel Blimp" of the worst sort. He ran as a Democrat against Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election. Explore the benefits included in your subscription. A final humiliation came during Mexican-American War. (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. 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. Is Weiss correct? Some 15,000 talents of gold (the so-called Gold of Tolosa) had vanished under his watch, never to be recovered. Among them are, of course, Lyndon Johnson himself, Robert McNamara, and General Earle Wheeler. Saul David reviews a surprising study of military failure and names his own five most infamous generals Saul David Thursday February 17 2022, 12.00am , The Times Michael Ray oversees coverage of European history and military affairs for Britannica. But Franks, who commanded the invasion, made a bad situation worse. Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, by Lewis Sorley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. . And how might that be impacting the world? 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. 15. But MacArthur's strategy certainly helped unleash 300,000 Chinese "volunteers" who inflicted significant casualties on United Nations forces. Thus, almost by default, Westmoreland was left to go his own way, year after bloody year. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Many historians credit Benedict Arnold and others with being the real victors of Saratoga. Finally, there was MacArthur's insubordination. He spoke up in Honolulu, during an important U.S. planning conference in February 1966, observing that we can beat up North Vietnamese regiments in the high plateau for the next twenty years and it will not end the war. Westmorelands later dismissive comment was that Ambassador Lodge does not have a deep feel of military tactics and strategy.. Test yourself on the week of Feb. 25: Nigeria votes, Finland builds a border wall, and Israel escalates repression. Years later, when Marine Corps historians were at work on their history of the war, Westmoreland met with them. 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. While Muammer Al-Gaddafi isn't into the funny business in his politician reign, he most certainly is one of a highly egotistical leader and a member who represents more of the "self" rather than all else. 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. A monthly digest of the top articles read by FP subscribers. Gamelin also chose not to disperse Frances vast number of superior tanks. 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. Seldom included in. 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. 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. 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. The enemy simply kept sending more and more replacements to make up his losses. In the opening month of World War I, Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg scored a crushing victory over the Russians at Tannenberg. 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. Watchthe conversation onFP Live, the magazines forum for live journalism, orreada condensed transcript. 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. Once again, McClellan worked his organizational magic, restoring the morale of a shattered Union army. Hull responded by ordering the evacuation of Fort Dearborn, and the garrison was promptly massacred by a Potawatomi war band upon leaving the fort. The deplorable conduct of Charles Lee at the Battle of Monmouth has been immortalized by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Benedict Arnolds name is synonymous with traitorous behavior. Its prewar population was reduced by more than half, and perhaps 90 percent of Paraguays fighting-age men perished. A Brief History. 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. This infuriated the Marines, who viewed it as evidence that Westmoreland lacked confidence in them. But there was something that not even the factories of New York and Chicago could produce, and that was time. Needs to Talk About the Risk of War With China, Putin Has Assembled an Axis of Autocrats Against Ukraine, The Conversation About Ukraine Is Cracking Apart. The result of his manic commitment to the war of attrition was that Westmoreland squandered four years of his troops bravery and support by the public, the Congress, and even much of the news media for American involvement in the war. His bad luck didnt end at San Jacinto. On March 24, 1976, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1 st Viscount of Alamein, hero of World War II, died at home in England. Percival was off mistreating Irish Republican Army (IRA) leaders during the Anglo-Irish War before commanding British Malaya in World War II. Critics say that Franks and senior officials, such as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, concocted an invasion plan that used too few troops. 3. Delivered Thursday. Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official estimate of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. Operational Culture General Training LREC SME Support Training Course Catalog Cognitive Dimension Training Additional Resources . By one estimate from Harvard University, more than 130,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or severely wounded, in addition to the deaths of more than 7,000 Ukrainian civilians. 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. Had Lincoln retained McClellan in command of the Union armies, many former Americans might still be whistling "Dixie.". But his crowning achievement was bad generalship in Korea. Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era. How does an admiral make a list of the worst generals? Having several decades of duplicity to draw on at this point, everyone had a pretty good idea of how any such deal would turn out, and the aging general was rebuffed by both parties. After only 10 weeks into the Pacific War, Percival became responsible for the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. Little Mac would prove himself to be a superb organizer who kept his army well supplied, efficiently run, and happy. [1] Sorley skillfully uses Westmoreland's own words to show time and again his duplicity at worst and his lack of touch with reality at best. General William Westmoreland. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. Caepio may have been a terrible general, but he was apparently an exceptional thief. General Westmoreland had complete freedom of action in deciding how to prosecute the war within South Vietnam. For many soldiers, a major tipping point happened when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, news of which reaches the soldiers in Da 5 Bloods during one particularly stirring scene . He was responsible for coming up with the idea of using force to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. On the other side of the trenches in World War I was Erich Ludendorff, commanding the armies of Germany. Nelsons victory at the Battle of Trafalgar was so complete that it established British supremacy on the high seas for more than a century. The inept Luigi Cadorna of Italy fought a dozen battles on the Isonzo before his army completely collapsed at Caporetto. Persian Gulf (1988) (Oil Platforms) 2. He was a teacher in the Chicago suburbs and Seoul, Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Born in 1901 in Quang Binh Province (part of North Vietnam), Diem was the son of a well-educated mandarin (Vietnamese civil servant who took part in running the country) who served as the Minister of Rites and Grand Chamberlain to Emperor Thanh-Thai (1889-1907). Although he outnumbered Magruders Army of the Peninsula 10-to-1, McClellan settled in for a monthlong siege. Ludendorff is one of historys greatest examples of a general who can win battles but still loses the war. Concurrently with hi. Wrote Kevin Buckley in a scathing review, From the beginning Westmoreland probably expected to write a memoir of victory similar to Crusade in Europeand the defeat in Vietnam has not deterred him from this.. He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it. 92. Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent. Argentina, Brazil, and the Brazilian puppet government in Uruguay formed an alliance, and on May 1, 1865, they declared war on Paraguay. What he did not divulge publicly was that the United States. Think about how history would have been different if Hannibal had a military plan to outlast Roman might. General William Childs Westmoreland (1914- 2005) with President Johnson in South Vietnam #1. Consul Gnaeus Mallius Maximus was Caepios superior officer, but Caepio refused to obey Maximus or even put his forces into a shared camp with him. But beyond the goals of one leader in Moscow, it is also clear that Ukraine has suffered horrors of a historic nature. But for whatever reason, some American commanders have lost the battle for history. Westmoreland told him, "We're killing these people at a ratio of 10 to 1.". Known as Reverse Buller by his troops during the Second Boer War, the Englishman was first defeated at the Battle of Colenso and subsequently lost his position as overall commander. 151. - 2 Worst: 2007 Washington Wizards. Rommel is by far the greatest military general of the . Weekly update on whats driving U.S. national security policy. Implementing the attrition strategy, Westmoreland typically employed a series of large unit sweeps conducted in the deep jungle regions along South Vietnams western borders. He was called the inevitable general. A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. This was true in matters both great and small. Military greatness can most easily be defined by comparison. Instead of holding a natural defense line around Pyongyang, which would have given the United Nations control of most of the peninsula, the UN troops retreated all the way back into South Korea in a humiliating reverse for U.S. power after the crushing victory of World War II. James K. Polk. I flew into Vietnam in June 1968 as a young . In order, from most culpable down. 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. Frederick C. Weyand was a U.S. Army General who was the last commander of American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1972 to 1973.

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