Applications for the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman MA program are open and considered on a rolling basis. 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. There appeared to be little serious planning for what would happen the day after Saddam was gone. Somalia (1992-1994) 2. Allied with Brock was the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, who was head of the most formidable pan-Indian military force the continent had ever seen. After months of inactivity, McClellan was finally spurred to action by Pres. When the War of 1812 began, Hull was commissioned a brigadier general and tasked with defending Michigan and invading Upper Canada. General William Westmoreland. 88,594. 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. Percival was off mistreating Irish Republican Army (IRA) leaders during the Anglo-Irish War before commanding British Malaya in World War II. Not good, Hannibal. It doesnt matter if theyve won more often than theyve lost. 3. Think about how history would have been different if Hannibal had a military plan to outlast Roman might. This piece originally appeared in The National Interest https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/6-worst-military-leaders-ever-167526. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. Persian Gulf (1988) (Oil Platforms) 2. Like it or not, the U.S. military would become the governing authority. Evening roundup with our editors favorite stories of the day. He earned a B.A. General William Westmoreland. The Texans only suffered 2 casualties, as opposed to hundreds of Mexican casualties. The Soviets saw the American humiliation in Vietnam as a turning point. Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent. Nearly as many men died in captivity during the Civil War as were killed in the whole of the Vietnam War. Delivered Monday-Friday. Watchthe conversation onFP Live, the magazines forum for live journalism, orreada condensed transcript. Jessica Chen Weiss, formerly a senior advisor for policy planning at the State Department under the Biden administration, makes the case that the United States is becoming consumed by competition with China, a strategy that could lead to dangerous conflict. 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. A very significant instance was his determination to arbitrarily hold down the estimate of enemy strength during a 1967 order of battle controversy. But the award for the biggest Persian loser goes to Darius III. By the end of May 1862, Confederate commanding Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had withdrawn his forces to Richmond, and McClellan was close enough to the Confederate capital to hear its church bells ringing. Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era. Pierre de Villeneuve had his first brush with history when he bravely ran away at the Battle of the Nile. Without question, many lives would be saved if their tactical professionalism were enhanced.. A common view holds that 138,708 Allied personnel surrendered or were killed by fewer than 30,000 Japanese. Jacob Zuma is a cherry on the top of the world's worst leader cake. But he also displayed remarkably bad judgment, as when he was commander in the Philippines in 1941. A monthly digest of the top articles read by FP subscribers. 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. Villeneuve was then to return in secret and help establish naval dominance of the English Channel in preparation for a land invasion of Britain. Sure, they ganged up on the Spartans at the Pass of Thermopylae. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. Washington also suffered his share of defeats. His bad luck didnt end at San Jacinto. 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. You may opt out at any time. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? (The leg did get a state funeral). The rise of American-made chatbots has kicked off a flurry of Chinese activity. And how might that be impacting the world? To say that he failed in both regards is to dramatically understate the case. 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. If it couldn't or wouldn't govern the country, who would? He bears a lot of responsibility for one the greatest reversals of military fortune ever experienced by a super power. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail. 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. Thus, almost by default, Westmoreland was left to go his own way, year after bloody year. Lewis Sorleys new book, Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, is being published today by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. During the darkest days of the rebellion, when Washington's army had been kicked out of New York and King George's star seemed ascendant, the "Conway cabal" of disgruntled officers and politicians unsuccessfully schemed to out Washington and appoint Gates. He still had his defenders, but they were in the last trench, barely holding on. Thats the point. 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? A Texan with the U.S. Army's 1 st Infantry Division, Nolan reportedly slipped away from his basecamp in Tay Ninh Province on Nov. 22, 1967 and turned himself over to the Viet Cong. Then, in an ill-advised comeback, he met his Waterloo. Haig was cruelly mocked, first in the satirical musical Oh! - 4 Worst: 1990 Cleveland Cavaliers. 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. He was indeed a capable warrior, as shown by the South Pacific campaign and the Inchon landing in Korea. 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 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. Santa Anna, a lifetime gambler, was known for his risk taking in battle, but also his brutality. Lpez was the son of Carlos Antonio Lpez, a dictator who had done much to modernize Paraguay in the mid-19th century. The resulting Peninsular Campaign (AprilJuly 1862) was a marvel of planning but something of a farce in execution. Some captured Romans were placed in wicker cages and burned alive, others were enslaved or ransomed. 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). McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from scratch. Find Paraguay on a map of South America. Lyndon Johnson had no understanding of military affairs whatever, nor did Robert McNamara. Who was the worst general in history? Yet Fredendall's solution was to order an Army engineer company to build a giant bunker a hundred miles from the front lines. General William Childs Westmoreland (1914- 2005) with President Johnson in South Vietnam #1. 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. At this point, things somehow got worse for Hull. Dispatched to India, he led campaigns to help subdue the subcontinent, replacing the crown jewel he had lost. Not that Fredendall didn't have real issues that would have tried any commander. In reality, it is a collection of ideas, images, and information that enough people have chosen to preserve and disseminate. Join FPs Ravi Agrawal for a frank discussion about the Biden administrations China policy and alternatives that it ought to consider. 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. [i] However, the list is subjective, and open to debate, as top 10 lists tend to be. The Romans lost an estimated 80,000 infantry and perhaps 40,000 auxiliaries and cavalry, numbers that dwarf the staggering totals at Cannae. The self proclaimed Napoleon of the West didnt quite leave the same legacy as his idol. up as tough on Beijing, even seeking to contain the rise of the worlds second-biggest economy. A very influential visitor, Senator "Fritz" Hollings from Westmoreland's home state of South Carolina, had warned him about reliance on such ratios. Varus himself, seeing all hope was lost, committed suicide. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. By the way, here is the first review I have seen of Sorleys new biography of Westmoreland, which I read in galleys last summer, and enjoyed. Ultimately, he was denied his final showdown with the Allies by German political leaders who realized that the Americans could produce soldiers faster than Germany could produce bullets. There are a number of contenders for the top places on such a roster. Who was the worst US general during the Vietnam War? Outstanding commanders such as George H. Thomas, Phil Sheridan, and William Tecumseh Sherman routinely bested their Confederate opponents. Lpez, possibly in a fit of madness, ordered the execution of hundreds of people, including some of his own family members. Hulls nerve was shattered. Grachev has also been linked to corruption among the higher ranks of the military, specifically the assassination of journalist Dmitry Kholodov. In other words, this book is a "how-not-to" guide to leadership. I flew into Vietnam in June 1968 as a young . Darius did not take the field against Alexander until a year and a half after Granicus, at the Battle of Issus. He graduated second in his class at West Point (well ahead of classmates Stonewall Jackson, George H. Gordon, and George Pickett). On the other hand, there was that bad day at the Battle of Salamis when most of the Persian fleet went to the bottom. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews. Under Westmorelands command, the Vietnam war began smoothly as the U.S. won every battle. But in 1968, when Westmoreland became Army Chief of Staff, Communist forces baited Westmoreland into committing nearly 40% of his strength to the military outpost at Khe Sanh, then attacked cities and towns throughout South Vietnam. After the war, the phrase lions led by donkeys came to be associated with the British army for what should be obvious reasons. Nelsons victory at the Battle of Trafalgar was so complete that it established British supremacy on the high seas for more than a century. He is the dumb ass who gave the order to exfoliate the jungles with agent orange. Haste risked casualties and defeats at the hands of a formidable opponent like Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. In order, from most culpable down. Many historians credit Benedict Arnold and others with being the real victors of Saratoga. 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?). 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). The inept Luigi Cadorna of Italy fought a dozen battles on the Isonzo before his army completely collapsed at Caporetto. In fifteen thought-provoking essays, each written by a professional military historian, readers are introduced . By Lewis Sorley Best Defense Saigon bureau chief. 10 Redvers Buller On the night of August 15, 1812, Tecumseh led his forces across the Detroit River, and Brock followed the next morning. Finally, there was MacArthur's insubordination. He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it. How does an admiral make a list of the worst generals? A more minor case, but one revealing of Westmorelands character, stemmed from his unwillingness to level with his senior Marine subordinate at the time of the 1968 Tet Offensive. He was uninterested in other viewpoints on how the war might be prosecuted, dismissing the PROVN Study sponsored by Army Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson (which concluded that Westmorelands way of war was not working and could not work) and basic disagreements with Westmorelands organization and approach voiced by his brilliant classmate General Bruce Palmer Jr. 7. 1. And he was able to inflict massive casualties on the enemy. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. This was true in matters both great and small. After his defeat by the Texans at the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna was captured. After early success in the Mexican War for Independence, the rest of his career didnt pan out the way he would have liked. What is a bad general? Jessica Chen Weiss, formerly a senior advisor for policy planning at the State Department under the Biden administration, makes the case that the United States is becoming consumed by competition with China, a strategy that could lead to dangerous conflict. He was soon released, however, and, as more capable French admirals either died or somehow incurred Napoleons disfavor, a path to the top echelons of command was opened for Villeneuve. If there was a saving grace for America, it was that he wasn't commanding an army. 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. Test yourself on the week of Feb. 25: Nigeria votes, Finland builds a border wall, and Israel escalates repression. Hundreds of thousands died of disease. Not later than the autumn of 1966 the leaders of both services involved in fighting the ground war in VietnamArmy Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson and Marine Commandant General Wallace Greeneboth saw Westmorelands approach as fatally flawed and agreed on a viable alternative. 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..