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. After only 10 weeks into the Pacific War, Percival became responsible for the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. You may opt out at any time. Hull responded by ordering the evacuation of Fort Dearborn, and the garrison was promptly massacred by a Potawatomi war band upon leaving the fort. To counter these, Major General William R. Peers commenced Operation Greeley using elements of the 4th Infantry Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade. And once again, at the Battle of Antietam, McClellans terminal case of the slows (as Lincoln called it) prevented the exploitation of a possible war-ending vulnerability in Confederate defenses. A dull, unfeeling, unimaginative, smug "Colonel Blimp" of the worst sort. Advancing in dispersed columns across the northern half of the peninsula was an invitation to be destroyed piecemeal. After only an eight-day siege, he surrendered his entire armya third of all British forces in America. 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. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. Eschewing a direct overland march to the Confederate capital of Richmond, McClellan orchestrated an impressive amphibious landing of more than 100,000 troops at Fort Monroe, at the southeast end of the peninsula between the James and York rivers. 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. These are the incompetents, the idiots, the bumblers who have represented armies or nations at war only to lead them to defeat or shame. Sure, they ganged up on the Spartans at the Pass of Thermopylae. 10. 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. Michael Peck is a contributing writer at Foreign Policy and a writer for War Is Boring. He gritted his teeth and wore down the Confederacy with incessant attacks until the South could take no more. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. 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. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. His prestige restored by his conduct during the Pastry War with France, Santa Anna once again claimed dictatorial powers. McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from scratch. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybody's all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. 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. bar is to mention Vietnam. The pandemics outbreak brought rare reporting freedoms. 3. The Worst Military Leaders in History Hardcover - March 22, 2022 rs worth well over $400 billion. If pressed to rank the miscreants, I would place Wheeler first, then LBJ, and then McNamara, with all entitled to recognition as important accomplices in dooming the endeavor. For one thing, we wouldnt haveSpartacuson Netflix. 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. 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. He called for bombing China, as if liberating Korea was worth risking 550 million Chinese and possibly war with Russia as well. Westmorelands devotion to advancing his own interests, even when necessary by misrepresentation, was fundamentally at odds with what Scouting is all about. History: Military History. Top 10 Traitors In US History - Listverse Westmorelands own book about himself gives some indication of how he would react to this more recent one. There is no Carthage. Have your boss report to the French gentleman whose name begins with J at a place which begins with D which is five grid squares to the left of M. The Kasserine disaster had repercussions. The resulting Peninsular Campaign (AprilJuly 1862) was a marvel of planning but something of a farce in execution. The alternative was to split the United States asunder. Vice President, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute. They kept it as a war trophy, exhibiting the leg at. Xi Jinpings signature foreign policy is a shadow of its former self.. Today's list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam After eight years at Foreign Policy, here are the ten most popular Best Defense posts. A common view holds that 138,708 Allied personnel surrendered or were killed by fewer than 30,000 Japanese. Their orientation, indeed the core of Scoutings values, is selflessness and service to others. Russias war is receiving critical assistance from authoritarian regimes around the world. Here's What You Need To Remember:The Soviets saw the American humiliation in Vietnam as a turning point. George McClellan is one of those generals who really looks great on paper. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. Although he managed to escape the battle unharmed, Caepio was stripped of his Roman citizenship and exiled. 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. 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.. Download the FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. - 1 Best: 1996 Chicago Bulls. Routed by U.S. forces under Winfield Scott, Santa Anna was again driven into exile. Thus there was little internal capacity for debating or evaluating his chosen course of action. The Romans marched right into the ambush that Arminius laid thus leading to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. 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. 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. Hull was thoroughly outclassed. The War of the Triple Alliance devastated Paraguay. How the North Vietnamese remember the conflict 40 years after the fall of Saigon. 6. Worst. Military. Leaders. Ever. | The Heritage Foundation Turncoats and Traitors - Seven Americans Who Defected to the Enemy in Soon after declaring himself dictator of Mexico, rebels who opposed the Mexican dictatorship created three new republics, one of them being the Republic of Texas. But the rash advance into North Korea was a blunder of strategic proportions. Lpez, possibly in a fit of madness, ordered the execution of hundreds of people, including some of his own family members. 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. He was also supremely gifted at overestimating the size of his opponents armies to a degree that beggared belief. 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. 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. - 2 Worst: 2007 Washington Wizards. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he theoretically had some influence there, at least to the extent he could shape the collective viewpoint, but even then LBJ and McNamara were famously impervious to advice from the Joint Chiefs. French defeated at Dien Bien Phu - HISTORY What does that mean for trade and globalization? Top 10 Worst World Leaders - Wonderslist He was called the "inevitable general." A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. 4. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. Here is a list of the 10 most famous Chinese generals in history. 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. 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. So long Fort Bragg, welcome Fort Liberty: The Pentagon's naming He was responsible for coming up with the idea of using force to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. They dramatically upped their game, pressing the U.S. worldwide. 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. 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. His invasion of Canada came to an abrupt halt when he failed to capture Fort Malden, a British position that was a laughably short distance from Hulls headquarters at Fort Detroit. 88,594. In the end, the Romans leveled Carthage and salted the earth. General Westmoreland had complete freedom of action in deciding how to prosecute the war within South Vietnam. Commanders of Chaos: The 5 Worst Generals in U.S. History As military professionals, we should think about more . 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. As a result, American military power and prestige took a dramatic downturn. A very influential visitor, Senator "Fritz" Hollings from Westmoreland's home state of South Carolina, had warned him about reliance on such ratios. Sure, he won big at the Alamo. 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. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on A more positive example is George Washington. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. He continued on to suffer defeats at Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz, almost letting the war slip away from the British. 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. He still had his defenders, but they were in the last trench, barely holding on. The problem begins with the fact that nobody in the chain of command was really competent to critique Westmorelands performance. Fortunately, along came Reaganif not for that, Westmorelands military reversals could well have signaled the beginning of our end. Diem's family was one of the earliest to convert to Catholicism, a religion he took . Some 15,000 talents of gold (the so-called Gold of Tolosa) had vanished under his watch, never to be recovered. There were available better concepts of how to prosecute the war. (You May Also Like: The Five Best U.S. Delivered Wednesday. And how might that be impacting the world? Of course, that is what they did when Ludendorff pushed for the use of unrestricted submarine warfare against Allied shipping. Youre on the list! - 3 Best: 1987 Los Angeles Lakers. 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. Without question, many lives would be saved if their tactical professionalism were enhanced.. How well that would have worked can be seen when Gates was sent to command American troops in the South. Creighton Abrams was an U.S. Army General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. Although he eventually disavowed Hitler, by that point Ludendorff had become so deeply involved with mysticism that few took him seriously. Haste risked casualties and defeats at the hands of a formidable opponent like Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Luckily for the colonists, the Empire also had Cornwallis, a peer of the realm and truly pitiful commander. 3. Rommel is by far the greatest military general of the . Little Mac would prove himself to be a superb organizer who kept his army well supplied, efficiently run, and happy. Is your subtitle The General Who Lost Vietnam fair? The man who appealed for Varus help was Arminius, a Romanized Germanic prince. As for the British, they had lost the most valuable jewel of the Imperial crown. Napoleon. 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. Officially labelled a defector by the Pentagon, many suspected Nolan, an African American, changed sides after suffering a lifetime of racial discrimination. While Hull dithered, Brock captured Fort Michilimackinac, establishing British control of the Straits of Mackinac. To accomplish this goal, Vietnam employs repressive policies that often contravene international human rights law. Seldom included in. LBJ's tragic "addiction" to Vietnam: The mistake that still - Salon What myths or misperceptions surround Westmoreland that you would like to clear up, if any? The rise of American-made chatbots has kicked off a flurry of Chinese activity. He couldnt. Caepio was born into a noble family and became consul in 106 BC. Santa Anna was found wearing a privates uniform, hiding in a marsh. What defines Santa Anna is his utter failure to subdue the Texican rebels and block American expansion. 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. 9 Noteworthy Bog Bodies (And What They Tell Us), 12 Novels Considered the Greatest Book Ever Written, Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution, https://www.britannica.com/list/9-worst-generals-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 and presidential candidate Douglas MacArthur (1880 - 1964) at his headquarters in Yokohama, Japan with US Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright (1883 - 1953) (right), and British Lieutenant-General A E Percival (1887 - 1966) (left) who were taken prisoner by the Japanese after the US retreat in the Bataan peninsula and released in 1945. 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. Here are five of America's worst generals: Great generals have great talents, and usually egos and ambitions to match. The Romans lost an estimated 80,000 infantry and perhaps 40,000 auxiliaries and cavalry, numbers that dwarf the staggering totals at Cannae. Top 10 Worst Military Leaders in History - Toptenz.net This is, obviously, a problematic quality when ones title is general-in-chief of the entire Union army. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. You start by being the only thing that can frustrate Napoleon more than a Russian winter. But he also displayed remarkably bad judgment, as when he was commander in the Philippines in 1941. 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. Delivered Thursday. Fighter Aircraft of All Time). The Worst Military Leaders in History is meant to be thought-provoking, and it surely is that." ARMY Magazine "Few subjects get military historians and history buffs talking like a debate over the best military leaders in history. However, Ludendorff and German General Staff chief Helmuth von Moltke had altered the Schlieffen PlanGermanys overall battle plan for fighting a two-front warin a way that had weakened the attacking army on the Western Front. But the award for the biggest Persian loser goes to Darius III. Allied with Brock was the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, who was head of the most formidable pan-Indian military force the continent had ever seen. (You May Also Like: The Five Best Generals in U.S. History). 2023 TIME USA, LLC. 1. But his crowning achievement was bad generalship in Korea. In 1941, Graziani resigned his commission after the British counterattacked and the Tenth Army was completely defeated during Operation Compass. He was killed in combat on March 1, 1870. Top 10 Greatest Generals of Chinese History | ChinaWhisper The 5 Worst Generals in U.S. 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. 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. Lebanon (1982-1984) 240. Todays list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam, Want to read more on this topic or region? 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. His battlefield losses marked the end of the Persian Empire. In stereotypically McClellan fashion, he was promptly checked by a vastly inferior force under John Bankhead Magruder. George Brinton McClellan, a self-proclaimed Young Napoleon, ran dreadful campaigns, but he doesnt make the grade because he was canned before he could lose the entire war. The enemy simply kept sending more and more replacements to make up his losses. Like it or not, the U.S. military would become the governing authority. Vietnam War body count controversy - Wikipedia There's an entire myriad of generals from the American Civil War that fought for the Union that were incredibly inept. Vietnam War. Although he outnumbered Magruders Army of the Peninsula 10-to-1, McClellan settled in for a monthlong siege. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. 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. When all is said and done, it doesnt matter how nice, brave, courageous, gutsy, loyal, or brilliant commanders theyve been. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. At Yorktown, he allowed himself to be taken by surprise and outmaneuvered by Washington and the French fleet. Varus himself, seeing all hope was lost, committed suicide. 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. Delivered Wednesday. Michael Ray oversees coverage of European history and military affairs for Britannica. His senior staff lacked diversity of experience and professional outlook, consisting mostly of people with backgrounds similar to his own, especially airborne. Implementing the attrition strategy, Westmoreland typically employed a series of large unit sweeps conducted in the deep jungle regions along South Vietnams western borders. But with that kind of advantage in troops and firepower, who wouldnt? After the Germans attacked, Gamelin was eventually removed from his post, but by then it was too late. Armchair historians often generalize that during the American Civil War, while the Union held a clear advantage in material, the Confederacy could field superior commanders. And how might that be impacting the world? On the other side of the trenches in World War I was Erich Ludendorff, commanding the armies of Germany. 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. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. When all is said and done, it doesnt matter how nice, brave, courageous, gutsy, loyal, or brilliant commanders theyve been. 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. Create an FP account to save articles to read later and in the FP mobile app. He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it. Marine Corps Casualties 1775-2016 - Marine Corps University 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. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. 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