Hull responded by ordering the evacuation of Fort Dearborn, and the garrison was promptly massacred by a Potawatomi war band upon leaving the fort. You worked for GEN Westmoreland when he was Army Chief of Staff. Vietnam War body count controversy - Wikipedia He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it. Dispatched to India, he led campaigns to help subdue the subcontinent, replacing the crown jewel he had lost. General William Childs Westmoreland (1914- 2005) with President Johnson in South Vietnam #1. History is not a fixed set of facts. The unprecedented violence of battles such as Shiloh, Antietam, Stones River, and Gettysburg shocked citizens and international observers alike. Then, in an ill-advised comeback, he met his Waterloo. Although Nelson was killed in combat at Trafalgar, Villeneuve outlived him only by six months. His was one of just two French ships of the line to escape the destruction of the French fleet there. As a result, American military power and prestige took a dramatic downturn. Delivered Wednesday. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybody's all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. 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. Turncoats and Traitors - Seven Americans Who Defected to the Enemy in If it couldn't or wouldn't govern the country, who would? 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. This is, obviously, a problematic quality when ones title is general-in-chief of the entire Union army. Despite fresh salvos of Western sanctions, Tehran and Moscow are buddying up on defense ties. [1] Lpez was the son of Carlos Antonio Lpez, a dictator who had done much to modernize Paraguay in the mid-19th century. 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. Although he outnumbered Magruders Army of the Peninsula 10-to-1, McClellan settled in for a monthlong siege. In the summer of 1967, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) initiated a series of attacks in western Kontum Province. 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 need not be concerned, soothed Wheeler, because the weight of judgment was that the enemy cant match us on a buildup. That turned out to be one of the classic misjudgments of the war, comparable in magnitude and consequence to General MacArthurs assurances to President Truman that Chinese forces would not enter the Korean War. Despite the Union outnumbering the Confederates, McClellan was unable to crush Robert E. Lee after failing to pursue him into Virginia. Who is Che in NBA 2k20? - Sport-net In the end, the Romans leveled Carthage and salted the earth. After eight years at Foreign Policy, here are the ten most popular Best Defense posts. Others would say that it is not victory, but success in fulfilling a mission that counts. A final humiliation came during Mexican-American War. Black Vietnam Veterans on Injustices They Faced: Da 5 Bloods - Time McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from . Not only is Sorley a third-generation graduate of West Point a Vietnam veteran and a historian, but he worked for Westmoreland as well. At this point, things somehow got worse for Hull. 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). Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. Like it or not, the U.S. military would become the governing authority. Some 15,000 talents of gold (the so-called Gold of Tolosa) had vanished under his watch, never to be recovered. Whatever its military wisdom or lack thereof, it was a decision that should not have been made by generals under the American political system. Delivered Monday-Friday. Because he never wanted to face a superior force, he refused to fight. There are a number of contenders for the top places on such a roster. Weekly update on whats driving U.S. national security policy. 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. The pandemics outbreak brought rare reporting freedoms. 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. Implementing the attrition strategy, Westmoreland typically employed a series of large unit sweeps conducted in the deep jungle regions along South Vietnams western borders. (Photo: Warner Bros.) Roger Ebert called "Gods and Generals" a film "Trent Lott would enjoy," referring to the Senator's praise of segregationist Strom Thurmond. The Western Front was a much bigger stage upon which to fail, however, and British commander Douglas Haig made the most of the opportunity. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. Grachev played a key role in initiating and leading the First Chechen War. As military professionals, we should think about more . Even now, the easiest way to get into an argument at a V.F.W. Scott claimed that Pillow was ''the only person I have ever known who was wholly indifferent in the choice between truth and falsehood. When talk of secession reached Pillows home state of Tennessee, he helped organize the state militia and was appointed a brigadier general in the Confederate army. 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. Follow him on Twitter:@Mipeck1. Westmorelands general mistake: severely underestimating the Communists. 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. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. After occupying Jerusalem and crucifying 2,000 Jewish rebels in Judaea, Varus went off to govern Germania and tame barbarian tribes. The initial assault resulted in very high casualties for the Russians and an almost complete breakdown of morale in the Russian forces. The Worst Military Leaders in History Hardcover - March 22, 2022 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. General Failure - The Atlantic [i] However, the list is subjective, and open to debate, as top 10 lists tend to be. Brock, sensing an opportunity, advised an immediate march on Fort Detroit. Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent. Top 10 Greatest Generals of Chinese History | ChinaWhisper Watchthe conversation onFP Live, the magazines forum for live journalism, orreada condensed transcript. A common view holds that 138,708 Allied personnel surrendered or were killed by fewer than 30,000 Japanese. You start by being the only thing that can frustrate Napoleon more than a Russian winter. The Worst Military Leaders in History - University Of Chicago Press The last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, Darius was not quite as qualified to rule a mighty empire as his predecessors were. This week marks exactly one year since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. The man who appealed for Varus help was Arminius, a Romanized Germanic prince. 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. He thought he could take over the war from the South Vietnamese, bring it to a successful conclusion, and then hand their country back to them and go home in triumph. Its quite exclusive: combat leaders who had the fate of their people in their hands and squandered it all. Hundreds of thousands died of disease. 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. The 1970s were scary times. Santa Anna liked to call himself the Napoleon of the West. And, like Napoleon, he squandered it all in one grand campaign. After only 10 weeks into the Pacific War, Percival became responsible for the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. He continued on to suffer defeats at Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz, almost letting the war slip away from the British. 5. Top 10 Worst World Leaders - Wonderslist The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest darkened Emperor Augustus remaining years and he was heard, upon occasion, to moan, Quinctilius Varus, give me back my Legions!, Notable mention: George Custer, Joseph Hooker, Ambrose Burnside, Charles Cornwallis, John II of France, Top 10 Utterly Bizarre Things Banned In China, Top 10 Military Bases Linked To UFOs (That Aren't Area 51), 10 Bizarre Military Inventions That Almost Saw Deployment, 10 Futuristic Sci-Fi Military Technologies That, 10 Awesome French Military Victories You've Never Heard Of, 10 Oddities That Interrupted Military Battles, Top 10 Top-Level Domains That Caused Controversies, 10 Controversial Toys You Might Already Have in Your Home, Ten Absolutely Vicious Fights over Inherited Fortunes, 10 Female Film Pioneers Who Shaped the Movies, Ten True Tales from Americas Toughest Prison, 10 Times Members of Secretive Societies and Organizations Spilled the Beans, 10 Common Idioms with Unexpectedly Dark Origins, 10 North American Animals with Misplaced Reputations, 10 Japanese Weapons Invented Too Late To Win World War II, 10 Ways The History Of Thanksgiving Is Nothing Like You Imagined, 10 Great Buildings That Were Not Built Quite Well Enough. He was called the "inevitable general." A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. James Madison spared him from execution. 92. James Bond Stockdale was flying his A-4 Skyhawk on a mission over North Vietnam, just days after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, when his plane took fire and hurtled d 151. 1. Haig was cruelly mocked, first in the satirical musical Oh! 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. 3. Darius again was the first to flee the battle, abandoning all of his soldiers and his property to be taken by Alexander. 15. He bears a lot of responsibility for one the greatest reversals of military fortune ever experienced by a super power. 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. Villeneuve lost 20 ships, while Nelson lost none. The Persians had a mixed record against the Greeks. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. After months of inactivity, McClellan was finally spurred to action by Pres. Battle of Dak To in the Vietnam War - ThoughtCo 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. Muammar Al-Gaddafi. But his persistence and inspiration kept the Continental Army in the field through the worst of times, which is why his face is on the one-dollar bill. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. 3. All related (37) Sort Recommended Doug Szabo Author has 972 answers and 137.7K answer views Nov 27 My vote goes to adm Otto Zumwalt. He effectively pledged to become an agent for the U.S. but found that he had been deposed upon his return to Mexico. 0. His prestige restored by his conduct during the Pastry War with France, Santa Anna once again claimed dictatorial powers. He was certainly nave, but the Boy Scouts need to be defended here. 1968 takes the cake for me. 336 pages | 16 halftones | 6 1/4 x 9 1/4. 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. My daughter thinks 2018 was the worst year ever. I'd nominate 1968 Some historians are a little more sympathetic towards Percivals legacy nowadays arguing that Percival had been dealt an unusually bad hand. Warfare: Who was the worst General/military commander in history There is now little doubt that Putin failed in his initial goals: Kyiv is still Show morestanding, Ukrainians are determined to keep fighting, and the West has so far stayed resolute in its support of Ukraine. Without question, many lives would be saved if their tactical professionalism were enhanced.. The Worst Military Leaders in History review from Ancient Rome to Vietnam The curation of this content is at the discretion of the author, and not necessarily reflective of the views of Encyclopaedia Britannica or its editorial staff. There were available better concepts of how to prosecute the war. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. By Lewis Sorley Best Defense Saigon bureau chief. His senior staff lacked diversity of experience and professional outlook, consisting mostly of people with backgrounds similar to his own, especially airborne. The problem begins with the fact that nobody in the chain of command was really competent to critique Westmorelands performance. Many have described his activities as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history." 3 Nidal Malik Hasan Nidal Malik Hasan was a U.S. Army Major, and the sole suspect in a shooting at the Fort Hood military base, only weeks before he would have deployed to Afghanistan. Michael Peck is a contributing writer at Foreign Policy and a writer for War Is Boring. Vietnam War - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica Little Mac would prove himself to be a superb organizer who kept his army well supplied, efficiently run, and happy. When two able and progressive Nationalist generals, Pai Chunghsi and Li Tsung-jen, begged the generalissimo to adopt similar methods, Chiang rejected them outright. What was your impression of the man when you were working for him? To say that he failed in both regards is to dramatically understate the case. A more positive example is George Washington. 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. Its prewar population was reduced by more than half, and perhaps 90 percent of Paraguays fighting-age men perished. 2. Top 10 Worst Military Leaders in History - Toptenz.net Today's list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam Read More. After his defeat by the Texans at the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna was captured. 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. World War I provided a forum for any number of truly horrible commanders to assert themselves. 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. Who are the famous national heroes or generals in Vietnam? MilitaryHistoryOnline.com But Gates could have doomed the American Revolution. (You May Also Like: The Five Best Generals in U.S. History). 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). Grachev has also been linked to corruption among the higher ranks of the military, specifically the assassination of journalist Dmitry Kholodov. The Russian president got many things wrong about invading Ukrainebut not everything. Ulysses S. Grant, who replaced McClellan, understood this. 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. Elmo Zumwalt was a U.S. admiral and commander of American naval forces in Vietnam. The early days of the 2003 Iraq War were bound to be a graveyard for military and political reputations, given the misperceptions and misjudgments behind America's ill-fated adventure in regime change and nation-building. Tortured in notorious 'Hanoi Hilton,' 11 GIs were unbreakable Fortunately, along came Reaganif not for that, Westmorelands military reversals could well have signaled the beginning of our end. But he was overly cautious by nature. 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. The Cimbri destroyed Caepios force and, emboldened by their success, marched on Maximuss camp. It is probably not a coincidence that corruption in the military appears to have escalated since 2006, when the number of military generals started to jump sharply. Driven into exile in 1845, he contacted U.S. Pres. 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?). The most important, and also the saddest, is that in Vietnam and thereafter Westmoreland was willing to shade or misremember or deny or invent the record when his perceived interests were at stake. General Westmoreland had complete freedom of action in deciding how to prosecute the war within South Vietnam. Haig had largely dismissed the effect of the machine gun on the battlefield, believing that previous Allied failures owed to something other than an impenetrable wall of lead traveling at ballistic velocity. Still, it is his world-changing defeat at Yorktown that merits memorializing. Darius was a different sort of game-changer. 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. Nor is being a bad battlefield commander, by itself, sufficient to make the cut. As a military commander, Napoleon may have thebest batting averageof all time. The Viet Cong Committed Atrocities, Too - The New York Times His battlefield losses marked the end of the Persian Empire. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. Gates thought otherwise, and fancied himself a better commander than George Washington. One-stop digest of politics, economics, and culture. 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. The Worst Civil War Generals on the Confederacy Confederate Maj. Gen. Gideon Pillow. Following on from our list of the greatest and most successful military commanders, we are presenting this list of the worst. When all is said and done, it doesnt matter how nice, brave, courageous, gutsy, loyal, or brilliant commanders theyve been. Concurrently with hi. After early success in the Mexican War for Independence, the rest of his career didnt pan out the way he would have liked. These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. Pierre de Villeneuve had his first brush with history when he bravely ran away at the Battle of the Nile. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, consult individual encyclopedia entries about the topics. Not one to let his own failings stand in the way of personal glory, Pillow submitted fanciful accounts of his actions at the Battles of Contreras and Churubusco to various newspapers, incurring the wrath of overall American commander Winfield Scott. All rights reserved. There's an entire myriad of generals from the American Civil War that fought for the Union that were incredibly inept. 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. Germanic tribes sacrificed Roman officers on altars to their gods. Here are five of America's worst generals: Great generals have great talents, and usually egos and ambitions to match. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. If Gates had been in command, we might be paying for our groceries with shillings and pence. T he Civil War was America's bloodiest conflict. 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. Top Ten Reasons Field Marshal Montgomery is Not so Great 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. 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. There was no warmth, no apparent interest in his associates as people. Approaching his 60th birthday and exhibiting a timidity that had no place in a general about to lead an invasion, Hull also had the misfortune of facing two of the most gifted commanders ever to operate in North America. Years later, when Marine Corps historians were at work on their history of the war, Westmoreland met with them. Military Starting with the battle of Long Island, he lost way more fights than he wonyet he managed to win the war. The self proclaimed Napoleon of the West didnt quite leave the same legacy as his idol. His poor tactical decisions resulted in his army being routed by a smaller force of Redcoats and Loyalists at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina in 1780. Hulls nerve was shattered. Having several decades of duplicity to draw on at this point, everyone had a pretty good idea of how any such deal would turn out, and the aging general was rebuffed by both parties. Yes, Westmoreland was the general who lost Vietnam. See the vast swaths of land to the north and south that arent Paraguay? Think about how history would have been different if Hannibal had a military plan to outlast Roman might. 44 Declassified Vietnam War Photos The Public Wasn't Meant To See Sun Wu Sun Zi, or Sun Tzu, was a prominent military general during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) who is always regarded as one of the greatest military strategists in China and even the World. Would he be upset if he were alive to read this book today? 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. Johnston was wounded on the first day of the Battle of Seven Pines, six miles east of Richmond, and he was replaced by Robert E. Lee. Lpez, possibly in a fit of madness, ordered the execution of hundreds of people, including some of his own family members. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. 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. The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week. Thus it was under Darius rule that the Persian Empire fell and was conquered. They dramatically upped their game, pressing the U.S. worldwide.
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