Publication of the PROVN Study, whose precepts were later implemented with great success by Westmorelands successor, illustrated a matter of fundamental importance. Lincoln relieved McClellan but reinstated him after the devastating Union defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Hulls nerve was shattered. This strategy inevitably failed as the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong maintained control over how the war was fought which was through guerilla warfare. What does that mean for trade and globalization? (You May Also Like: 5 Israeli Weapons of War ISIS Should Fear). In 1940, after increasing pressure from dictator Benito Mussolini and facing demotion, Graziani followed orders and invaded Egypt with his Tenth Army. (You May Also Like: The Five Best U.S. Lpez, possibly in a fit of madness, ordered the execution of hundreds of people, including some of his own family members. 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. Vietnam War. He was found guilty of 11 counts, and only the intervention by Pres. 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. 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. 3. (The leg did get a state funeral). After eight years at Foreign Policy, here are the ten most popular Best Defense posts. Loyalty to himself and himself alone would be something of a running theme in the narrative of Santa Annas life, and his rise to power in Mexico was characterized by near-constant vacillation and betrayal of his allies. When all is said and done, it doesnt matter how nice, brave, courageous, gutsy, loyal, or brilliant commanders theyve been. FPsRavi Agrawalsat down with U.S. Trade RepresentativeKatherine Tai, the Biden administrations top official tasked with mapping out and implementing the White Houses trade policy. Haste risked casualties and defeats at the hands of a formidable opponent like Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. 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. Implementing the attrition strategy, Westmoreland typically employed a series of large unit sweeps conducted in the deep jungle regions along South Vietnams western borders. 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. The Vietnam War body count controversy centers on the counting of enemy dead by the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). 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. - 1 Best: 1996 Chicago Bulls. After gaining ground trying to cut an escape path for the Confederates during the February 1862 siege of Fort Donelson by Union forces led Brig. Hull responded by ordering the evacuation of Fort Dearborn, and the garrison was promptly massacred by a Potawatomi war band upon leaving the fort. 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. Many historians have said Bragg was one of the worst generals of the Civil War, having lost most of his battles. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. Brock, sensing an opportunity, advised an immediate march on Fort Detroit. With high hopes set upon his shoulders at the beginning of the American Civil war, quickly becoming General-in-Chief of the Union Army, McClellan would earn the distinction as a general of little action. Relations between the United States and China seem to be getting frostier by the day. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. Despite the Union outnumbering the Confederates, McClellan was unable to crush Robert E. Lee after failing to pursue him into Virginia. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybodys all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. It would be nice if all American generals were great. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? There's an entire myriad of generals from the American Civil War that fought for the Union that were incredibly inept. These American commanders have lost the battle for history. Had Lincoln retained McClellan in command of the Union armies, many former Americans might still be whistling "Dixie.". He first demonstrated his ineptitude during the Mexican-American War, where he had received an appointment to the rank of major general from his friend Pres. The 5 Worst Generals in U.S. History. On the night of August 15, 1812, Tecumseh led his forces across the Detroit River, and Brock followed the next morning. NEW FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Muammar Al-Gaddafi. Haig was cruelly mocked, first in the satirical musical Oh! Despite reports of the build-up of German forces and even knowing the date of the Germans attack, Gamelin did nothing, stating that he would await events. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, consult individual encyclopedia entries about the topics. Seriously, who represents The British Empire; had the worlds greatest navy, enough cash to hire half the mercenaries of Europe, and the advantage of having a pretty pathetic-looking foe: a rag-tag army of ill-equipped rebels. And how might that be impacting the world? Years later, when Marine Corps historians were at work on their history of the war, Westmoreland met with them. - 3 Best: 1987 Los Angeles Lakers. 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. There were available better concepts of how to prosecute the war. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews. Advancing in dispersed columns across the northern half of the peninsula was an invitation to be destroyed piecemeal. And, to further demonstrate progress in reducing enemy strength, Westmoreland arbitrarily and entirely on his own removed from the order of battle several categories of enemy forces that had long been carried there, including during the three years Westmoreland had already been in command of U.S. forces in Vietnam. Caepio reportedly lived out the remainder of his life in luxury, however. 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. 1. rs worth well over $400 billion. 2. A U.S. ship conveyed him to Mexico, and upon his arrivalto the surprise of virtually no onehe executed a volte-face and took charge of the Mexican troops. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. His bad luck didnt end at San Jacinto. Join FPs Ravi Agrawal for a frank discussion about the Biden administrations China policy and alternatives that it ought to consider. On March 24, 1976, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1 st Viscount of Alamein, hero of World War II, died at home in England. To accomplish this goal, Vietnam employs repressive policies that often contravene international human rights law. Yes, the landing at Inchon unhinged the initial North Korean offensive. Darius quickly lost everything and became nothing but a fugitive. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. 6. He gritted his teeth and wore down the Confederacy with incessant attacks until the South could take no more. After months of inactivity, McClellan was finally spurred to action by Pres. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. 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. What was your impression of the man when you were working for him? Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era. 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. - 2 Worst: 2007 Washington Wizards. But then MacArthur thrived on controversy like bread thrives on yeast. Russias war is receiving critical assistance from authoritarian regimes around the world. Considering some militants as instruments of regional influence while fighting others has had disastrous consequences. As the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles crippled Germany, Ludendorff effectively sabotaged the Weimar Republic by propagating the belief that he and his armies had been undefeated on the battlefield. After the war, the phrase lions led by donkeys came to be associated with the British army for what should be obvious reasons. In his single-minded pursuit of that objective, Westmoreland (despite his repeated claims to the contrary) essentially ignored two other crucial aspects of the war, improvement of South Vietnams armed forces and pacification. Maximus managed to form up his men but to no avail. History: Military History. 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. While there were a host of bad generals serving on both sides during the American Civil Warmostly on the Union side unfortunatelythe one that usually gets the most credit for dragging out the war as long as he did is Union General George McClellan. The resulting Peninsular Campaign (AprilJuly 1862) was a marvel of planning but something of a farce in execution. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybody's all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. The stabbed in the back myth did much to propel the ascent of Adolf Hitler, and Ludendorff was a key participant in the Beer Hall Putsch. 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. The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War. Explore the benefits of your FP subscription. 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. 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. But beyond the goals of one leader in Moscow, it is also clear that Ukraine has suffered horrors of a historic nature. But he was overly cautious by nature. 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. Their orientation, indeed the core of Scoutings values, is selflessness and service to others. Still, he choked in the big game. But its not just the United States. On the other side of the trenches in World War I was Erich Ludendorff, commanding the armies of Germany. Many historians credit Benedict Arnold and others with being the real victors of Saratoga. Heres the inaugural class: 6. 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. In the opening month of World War I, Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg scored a crushing victory over the Russians at Tannenberg. 4. Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. Military greatness can most easily be defined by comparison. Seldom included in. The Germanic fighters demolished the three Roman legions. Todays list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam, Want to read more on this topic or region? That dubious distinction falls to William Hull, the only general officer in American history to be ordered before a firing squad for cowardice and dereliction of duty. Read More. Finally, there was MacArthur's insubordination. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail. 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. 3. Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition. Persian Gulf (1988) (Oil Platforms) 2. Starting with the battle of Long Island, he lost way more fights than he wonyet he managed to win the war. On September 2, 1945, hours after the Japanese signed their unconditional surrender in World War II, communist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam, hoping. Here's What You Need To Remember:The Soviets saw the American humiliation in Vietnam as a turning point. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. Watchthe conversation onFP Live, the magazines forum for live journalism, orreada condensed transcript. 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. Ulysses S. Grant made his Civil War debut at the Battle of Belmont against Confederate Gen. Gideon Pillow. After the Germans attacked, Gamelin was eventually removed from his post, but by then it was too late. The self proclaimed Napoleon of the West didnt quite leave the same legacy as his idol. In reality, it is a collection of ideas, images, and information that enough people have chosen to preserve and disseminate. 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. 10. Top 10 Most Underrated Military Generals. 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. The enemy did not lose heart, did not cease aggression. Contrarily, I would not so stigmatize another important player often criticized by others, Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge. Even a string of bad days does not guarantee entry. General Harold K. Johnson was an authentic battlefield hero, and as noted above was fundamentally at odds with Westmorelands approach, but he was not in the chain of command. 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. A monthly digest of the top articles read by FP subscribers. Still, it is his world-changing defeat at Yorktown that merits memorializing. Fortunately, along came Reaganif not for that, Westmorelands military reversals could well have signaled the beginning of our end. 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. World War I provided a forum for any number of truly horrible commanders to assert themselves. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? 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). On September 9, 1965, Navy Cmdr. Many of these generals had their worst defeats when their countries were least prepared for conflict, such as the hapless Soviet generals who faced the German infiltration of Russia in 1941. Delivered Friday. Varus was stationed with three of his legions, the 17th, 18th and 19th when news arrived of a revolt growing in the Rhine area. Westmoreland is often described as a Boy Scout, usually implying, it appears, that he was well-intentioned but nave. After only an eight-day siege, he surrendered his entire armya third of all British forces in America. Today's list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam By the way, here is the first review I have seen of Sorley's new biography of Westmoreland, which I read in galleys. Michael Peck is a contributing writer at Foreign Policy and a writer for War Is Boring. But in a contemporaneous cable to General Earle Wheeler, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Westmoreland complained that the military professionalism of the Marines falls far short of the standards that should be demanded by our armed forces. Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced his fateful decision to double the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam. General William Childs Westmoreland (1914- 2005) with President Johnson in South Vietnam #1. 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?). Pillow escaped during the night, leaving Simon B. Buckner to surrender the fort and 15,000 Confederate troops. However, not even they managed to get themselves court-martialed and sentenced to death for ineptitude on the battlefield. Ludendorff is one of historys greatest examples of a general who can win battles but still loses the war. Nelsons victory at the Battle of Trafalgar was so complete that it established British supremacy on the high seas for more than a century. But Franks, who commanded the invasion, made a bad situation worse. And how might that be impacting the world? He decided to conduct of a war of attrition, using search and destroy tactics, in which the measure of merit was body count. . Marcus Licinius Crassus was a self-aggrandizing opportunist who started a pointless war with the Parthians, and Publius Quinctilius Varus lost three legions at Teutoburg Forest, but Proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio manages to top them both with his actions at the Battle of Arausio. 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. Men and material the Union could provide its armies. When major U.S. ground force deployments were under consideration in July 1965, for example, LBJ worried that North Vietnam would respond by pouring in more men of its own. He graduated second in his class at West Point (well ahead of classmates Stonewall Jackson, George H. Gordon, and George Pickett). Some would say that failure on the battlefield warrants censure. 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. 336 pages | 16 halftones | 6 1/4 x 9 1/4. FPsRavi Agrawalsat down with U.S. Trade RepresentativeKatherine Tai, the Biden administrations top official tasked with mapping out and implementing the White Houses trade policy. James Jay Carafano is a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges. The British blockaded the port at Cdiz with a numerically inferior force, and Villeneuve, upon learning that he was to be relieved of command, rashly struck out at Nelsons fleet. Driven into exile in 1845, he contacted U.S. Pres. Alas, call it the laws of probability or just cosmic karma, but every nation produces bad generals as well as good onesand . One-stop digest of politics, economics, and culture. 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. How do you measure military leaders? This was heeded about as well as any piece of parental advice, anywhere ever. Michael Ray oversees coverage of European history and military affairs for Britannica. But for whatever reason, some American commanders have lost the battle for history. As military professionals, we should think about more . Military A very influential visitor, Senator "Fritz" Hollings from Westmoreland's home state of South Carolina, had warned him about reliance on such ratios. There are a number of contenders for the top places on such a roster. Some staff officers who briefed him one-on-one at deskside were dismayed when Westmoreland occupied himself by signing photographs of himself, one after another, during their presentations. 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. Download the FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. 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. McClellan truly disappointed president Lincoln at the Battle of Antietam where the North and South would fight the bloodiest battle of the war. Although Nelson was killed in combat at Trafalgar, Villeneuve outlived him only by six months. The Top Ten. He was an artilleryman who missed out on the Army's great schools system, never attending the Command & General Staff College or the Army War College. General Westmorelands close associate, General William DePuy, later admitted the futility of the Westmoreland way of war. Alexander went on to march halfway across Asia, creating an empire, albeit short-lived, that changed the history of three continentsnot bad for an ancient millennial. 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. 7. So unused to being challenged, the United States has become so filled with anxiety over China that sober responses are becoming nearly impossible. He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it. 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 . For its part, Washington has made a series of policy choices over the last few years that can be summed Show moreup as tough on Beijing, even seeking to contain the rise of the worlds second-biggest economy. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Pillow pulled the troops back to the fort to resupply them. 1968 takes the cake for me. It doesnt matter if theyve won more often than theyve lost. He was certainly nave, but the Boy Scouts need to be defended here. Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) 24. The enemy simply kept sending more and more replacements to make up his losses. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. 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. 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. Panama (1989) 2. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. 10 Redvers Buller You may opt out at any time. Grant had encircled the fort. Yet backstabbing your commander-in-chief in the middle of a war is taking ambition a little too far. The Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial LectureThomas E. Ricks is a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). He worked under Adolf Hitler's Third Reich as a leading general and gained fame from his battles in North Africa. McClellan and Burnside in particular. But beyond the goals of one leader in Moscow, it is also clear that Ukraine has suffered horrors of a historic nature. Who was the worst US general during the Vietnam War? Caepio may have been a terrible general, but he was apparently an exceptional thief. Little Mac would prove himself to be a superb organizer who kept his army well supplied, efficiently run, and happy. They care about the one. Westmoreland didnt get it. Some captured Romans were placed in wicker cages and burned alive, others were enslaved or ransomed. They kept it as a war trophy, exhibiting the leg at. With the Little Corporal running everything, Europe might have become a very different place. Think about how history would have been different if Hannibal had a military plan to outlast Roman might. Santa Anna would lose Texas at the Battle of San Jacinto. Defining that is like defining a bad meal. Although he managed to escape the battle unharmed, Caepio was stripped of his Roman citizenship and exiled. While there are plenty of books that analyze the keys to success, The Worst Military Leaders in History offers lessons of failure to avoid. When he made public his disagreements with President Truman, Truman rightfully fired him. But there was something that not even the factories of New York and Chicago could produce, and that was time. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. In the summer of 1967, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) initiated a series of attacks in western Kontum Province. If it couldn't or wouldn't govern the country, who would? 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. This was true in matters both great and small. But the rash advance into North Korea was a blunder of strategic proportions. As the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, he faced a two-front war, an insurgency in the South and an invading army from the North. My generation would likely vote for the year exactly one-half century ago as the absolutely worst year in our lifetimes.