Greatest Military Generals in History

Greatest General

  • Alexander the Great

    Votes: 26 20.3%
  • Genghis Khan

    Votes: 21 16.4%
  • Khalid ibn al-Walid

    Votes: 5 3.9%
  • Julius Caesar

    Votes: 8 6.3%
  • Napoleon Bonaparte

    Votes: 27 21.1%
  • Hannibal Barca

    Votes: 12 9.4%
  • Sun Tzu

    Votes: 7 5.5%
  • Cyrus the Great

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Attilla the Hun

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Saladin

    Votes: 3 2.3%
  • Other

    Votes: 19 14.8%

  • Total voters
    128
In my list of greatest generals I forgot to mention José Félix Estigarribia, leader of the Paraguayan forces in the bloody Chaco War, who defeated a larger Bolivian army led by German advisers. Estigarribia, who was very pro-American, died in a plane crash in 1940. An alternate history I'd like to see is one in which he survived and ended up serving in some kind of command capacity with the Allies against Germany. Not sure how it could be done, but if he'd showed up in Washington offering his services sometime in 1941 I can't see George Marshall turning him down.

Also, I concur with the nomination of Belisarius who, like Zhukov, had a very exacting boss who spied on him constantly.

And how about Col. Wendell Fertig who created that extraordinary guerrilla army on Mindanao during the Japanese occupation? Wouldn't it be good to have a special forces commander on the list?

I see a new thread has been started about the greatest generals of World War Two. I'd like to also see separate rankings for great strategic commanders and great tactical commanders. That way, people like Patton could get generous recognition without any confusion.
 
In my list of greatest generals I forgot to mention José Félix Estigarribia, leader of the Paraguayan forces in the bloody Chaco War, who defeated a larger Bolivian army led by German advisers. Estigarribia, who was very pro-American, died in a plane crash in 1940. An alternate history I'd like to see is one in which he survived and ended up serving in some kind of command capacity with the Allies against Germany. Not sure how it could be done, but if he'd showed up in Washington offering his services sometime in 1941 I can't see George Marshall turning him down.

Its been a while since I did any real reading on the Chaco War, but if memory serves me right the Bolivians suffered from fairly severe political conflicts that handicapped them a lot. The Bolivians also never fully mobilized against Paraguay, and Estigarriba was fighting a guerilla war (which is fine, but not really applicable to the americans in WWII). Not really why he would show up in Washington, or what Marshall would do with him.

And how about Col. Wendell Fertig who created that extraordinary guerrilla army on Mindanao during the Japanese occupation? Wouldn't it be good to have a special forces commander on the list?

Only if his accomplishments equal those of the others on the list. If they do, then they do; but if they don't, a man doesn't deserve a spot just because of his service branch.

I see a new thread has been started about the greatest generals of World War Two. I'd like to also see separate rankings for great strategic commanders and great tactical commanders. That way, people like Patton could get generous recognition without any confusion.

Trust me, the last thing that patton needs is recognition.
 
The Paraguayans didn't just fight a guerrilla war. From the Wikipedia article on the Chaco War:

"A key battle of the Chaco occurred at Fortín Nanawa, about 60 miles Southeast of Boqueron. This fortín was considered by the Paraguayans to be the backbone of their defenses. Defense specialists Ivan Belaieff and Nicolas Ern (who were white Russians under the service of the Paraguayan army) had focused greatly on the fortification of this fortín. It had zig-zag trenches, miles of barbed wire, and many machine-gun nests (some in the trees). On January 20, 1933, Kundt, in personal command of the Bolivian force, launched six to nine aircraft and 6,000 unhorsed cavalry, supported by twelve Vickers guns. The cavalry unit's horses had previously died because of dehydration. Under Kundt, three frontal assaults failed. The Bolivians succeeded in capturing a few of the outer trenches, but heavy rains forced them to abandon the attack, which allowed Paraguayans to reoccupy the entire complex. By the end of January the Bolivians had 2,000 casualties without making much progress. The Paraguayans had only 248 casualties. The defeat seriously damaged Kundt's prestige. This fortín was later nicknamed the "Verdun of South America."[2] Partly due to frontal assaults of this nature, Kundt was later taken out of command."

The article goes on to discuss the role of biplane bombers on both sides, and the Paraguayan navy's role in providing artillery support as well as river transport.

Yes, I think someone of Marshall's intelligence would have found a use, although probably an unconventional one, for a general with this type of experience.

Fertig probably belongs on a separate list of commando/guerrilla leaders, but it's always good to remind folks that America produced such a hero.
 
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