(You May Also Like: The Five Best U.S. While this century witnessed many great leaders, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dr. Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi . But all that remains of his would-be empire today is a flaky French pastry. In the summer of 1967, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) initiated a series of attacks in western Kontum Province. 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. Join FPs Ravi Agrawal for a frank discussion about the Biden administrations China policy and alternatives that it ought to consider. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. The enemy did not lose heart, did not cease aggression. 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.. Applications for the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman MA program are open and considered on a rolling basis. And he was able to inflict massive casualties on the enemy. Delivered Monday-Saturday. Thats the point. Listing MacArthur as one of America's worst generals will be controversial. up as tough on Beijing, even seeking to contain the rise of the worlds second-biggest economy. These are the incompetents, the idiots, the bumblers who have represented armies or nations at war only to lead them to defeat or shame. Not good, Hannibal. 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. All rights reserved. After his performance at Belmonta spectacular success by Pillow standardshe was tasked with the defense of Fort Donelson, a key strongpoint on the Mississippi River. 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. 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. The pandemics outbreak brought rare reporting freedoms. Military So unused to being challenged, the United States has become so filled with anxiety over China that sober responses are becoming nearly impossible. Lpez, possibly in a fit of madness, ordered the execution of hundreds of people, including some of his own family members. Yes, Westmoreland was the general who lost Vietnam. Despite the Union outnumbering the Confederates, McClellan was unable to crush Robert E. Lee after failing to pursue him into Virginia. 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. At the height of the Cold War, he dealt decisively with neither. His bad luck didnt end at San Jacinto. The Worst Civil War Generals on the Confederacy Confederate Maj. Gen. Gideon Pillow. 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. Best Defense: Relations between the United States and China seem to be getting frostier by the day. 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. The man who appealed for Varus help was Arminius, a Romanized Germanic prince. Despite Lincoln's pleas for aggressive action, his Army of the Potomac moved hesitantly, its commander McClellan convinced himself that the Southern armies vastly outnumbered him when logic should have told him that it was the North that enjoyed an abundance of resources. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. Innumerable battlefield commanders have had disastrous days at the office. 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. McClellan and Burnside in particular. Some 15,000 talents of gold (the so-called Gold of Tolosa) had vanished under his watch, never to be recovered. Somalia (1992-1994) 2. In considering who should receive such a dubious honor, Ive consciously excluded bad leaders. 88,594. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. This is, obviously, a problematic quality when ones title is general-in-chief of the entire Union army. Explore the benefits of your FP subscription. Some would say that failure on the battlefield warrants censure. And how might that be impacting the world? He underestimated the enemys staying power, maintaining that if he could inflict enough casualties the communists would lose heart and cease their aggression against South Vietnam. He was killed in combat on March 1, 1870. Of course they raised this issue, leading Westmoreland to declare vehemently that establishing MACV Forward had not a damned thing to do with my confidence in General Cushman or the Marines, not a damned thing. That again was not only false but, given the existing paper trail, reckless as well. At Brownstown, south of Detroit, two dozen warriors under Tecumseh routed more than 200 American militiamen escorting a supply column intended for Detroit. Most younger officers who worked around General Westmoreland, excepting only a very few among his many aides-de-camp or executive officers and the like, had no personal relationship with this difficult and distant man. Hull, convinced that he was hopelessly outnumbered (he wasnt), surrendered Fort Detroit and its 2,000-man garrison without firing a shot. How does an admiral make a list of the worst generals? The South Vietnamese thus went for years equipped with castoff WWII-vintage U.S. equipment while outgunned by the communists, who were armed with the AK-47 assault rifle and other top of the line equipment. 5. This infuriated the Marines, who viewed it as evidence that Westmoreland lacked confidence in them. 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. Caepio was born into a noble family and became consul in 106 BC. The resulting Peninsular Campaign (AprilJuly 1862) was a marvel of planning but something of a farce in execution. Sure, they ganged up on the Spartans at the Pass of Thermopylae. While serving in Vietnam . 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. McClellan truly disappointed president Lincoln at the Battle of Antietam where the North and South would fight the bloodiest battle of the war. 1. The War of the Triple Alliance devastated Paraguay. Advancing in dispersed columns across the northern half of the peninsula was an invitation to be destroyed piecemeal. But for whatever reason, some American commanders have lost the battle for history. Along with Communist China and other Communist movements in the region, who were fighting to reunite the Vietnams under the red banner, there were other belligerent, free countries in the region who had an interest in keeping South Vietnam away from the Commies. 10 Redvers Buller Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. Delivered Thursday. 1. Lyndon Johnson had no understanding of military affairs whatever, nor did Robert McNamara. Considering some militants as instruments of regional influence while fighting others has had disastrous consequences. 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. His was one of just two French ships of the line to escape the destruction of the French fleet there. 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. He was an artilleryman who missed out on the Armys great schools system, never attending the Command & General Staff College or the Army War College. Darius quickly lost everything and became nothing but a fugitive. Gamelin was commander of the French forces in World War II and is largely responsible for the fall of France into German control during the Battle of France. Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced his fateful decision to double the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam. The Western Front was a much bigger stage upon which to fail, however, and British commander Douglas Haig made the most of the opportunity. standing, Ukrainians are determined to keep fighting, and the West has so far stayed resolute in its support of Ukraine. Alas, call it the laws of probability or just cosmic karma, but every nation produces bad generals as well as good onesand . Creighton Abrams was an U.S. Army General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. 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. Not that Fredendall didn't have real issues that would have tried any commander. The suppression of drug consumption and trade is high on the Government of Vietnam's agenda. The 1970s were scary times. What defines Santa Anna is his utter failure to subdue the Texican rebels and block American expansion. McClellan was removed from command immediately after. Had Lincoln retained McClellan in command of the Union armies, many former Americans might still be whistling "Dixie.". There appeared to be little serious planning for what would happen the day after Saddam was gone. There was no warmth, no apparent interest in his associates as people. The Persians had a mixed record against the Greeks. A Brief History. These American commanders have lost the battle for history. Grant left politics to the politicians and did what had to be done. The alternative was to split the United States asunder. Fortunately, along came Reaganif not for that, Westmorelands military reversals could well have signaled the beginning of our end. His 1812 campaign against Russia ended in complete disaster. Hull was taken prisoner by the British and was court-martialed upon his return to the United States. These are the incompetents, the idiots, the bumblers who have represented armies or nations at war only to lead them to defeat or shame. These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. 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. Darius III. He still had his defenders, but they were in the last trench, barely holding on. The Cimbri destroyed Caepios force and, emboldened by their success, marched on Maximuss camp. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Persian Empire. He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it.