Greatest General

Rommel gets my vote, mainly for his attitude. Despite his boss he never broke the "rules of the game".

 

The rout of Pope's army at the Second Battle of Manassas, on the second day.
There the Texas brigade completely destroyed 2 New York Zouave regiments. 125 of 350 or so members of the 5th New York were killed outright, not even counting the wounded and captured.

The destruction of the Union III Corps in the wheatfield on the second day at Gettysburg.

The raging battle where he held off forces 3 times his size in the hellish cornfield at Antietam, where he lost over half his little understrength division.

In his prime, I think Hood would be my first choice in any counterattack. He had a great battlefield tenacity. The Texas regiments were the shock troops of the ANV.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Dustin


P.S. Col. John B. Gordon commanded the 6th Alabama Infantry in the Sunken Road at Antietam against the famed Irish Brigade, and was wounded many times. He was finally hit in the head and fell face first into his hat and only a bullet hole through it prevented him from drowning in his own blood.

 

Sir John Monash, apart from the fact that half of Victoria seems to be named after him, he did outstanding work in WW1, was called by Montgomery the best general on the western front.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Monash

By the end of the war Monash had acquired an outstanding reputation for intellect, personal magnetism, management and ingenuity. He also won the respect and loyalty of his troops: his motto was "Feed your troops on victory". Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery later wrote: "I would name Sir John Monash as the best general on the western front in Europe".
​

http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/monash.htm

Regards
Bob

 

Interesting you should mention Cleburne and Hood in the same context.

I agree with what you said about Cleburne, but I remember that Hood, in one of the most boneheaded actions of the Civil War, ordered repeated frontal assaults against fortified position in Franklin, TN.

These attacks resulted in the deaths of Cleburne and 4 other CSA Fenerals.

 

Yes, and Hood made many boneheaded attacks at Atlanta too.

Also, at Nashville, the Army of Tennessee was finished as an effective fighting force. He just wasn't fit to command a corps or an army.

But as a brigade and division commander, his record shines. Pre-1864, ANV Hood was good, not so hot though after Gettysburg and Chickamauga.



Soli Deo Gloria,
Dustin

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Omar Bradley

George Patton

Field Marshall Montgomery???? Left up to him---we'd still be fighting the Krauts!!!

 

Greatest General?

Don't know about "General", but "Captain" or "Major" Gideon comes to mind. And how about the "Captain of the LORD's host"?

Would he rate somewhere?

Just curious!

Ed

 

Orde Charles Wingate

My nomination for the greatest general in the 20th century would go to British Major General Orde Charles Wingate. Who in 1936 was sent to Palestine as a British intelligence officer and while there learned Hebrew and helped Israel defeat some terrorists of that time. In Israel today stands the Wingate institute which is their nation physical Education and Sport complex.

Moshe Diane once said of Wingate “the first time he walked though our camp he had a pistol in one hand and a bible in the other and he knew how to use them both”.

Wingate was sent from Palestine to Abyssinia Ethiopia 1939 where he trained what he called his Gideon force about 2,000 soldiers. He then led Gideon force against an Italian force of nearly 20,000 and captured between 12,000 and 14,000 their men and won the victory.

From Ethiopia he was sent to Burma India in 1942 to fight the Japanese. He took the name ‘chinthe’ which was a mystical Burmese lion and called his force “Chindits” and he led them behind enemy lines where they did great damage to the Japanese war machine in the memoirs of WWII history the Japanese give great honor to Wingate.

From Wingate’s own writings concerning his time in Burma comes the following quotations …copied from web site at the bottom of the page. His biography is very expensive and very long.
"... It is always a minority that occupies the front line. It is a still smaller minority that accepts with a good heart tasks like this that we have chosen to carry out....
"We have all had the opportunity of withdrawing, and we are here because we have chosen to be here; that is, we have chosen to bear the burden and the heat of the day. Men who make this choice are above the average in courage. We therefore have no fear for the staunchness and guts of our comrades....
"Victory in war cannot be counted upon, but what can be counted is that we shall go forward, determined to do what we can to bring this war to the end we believe best for our friends and comrades in arms---without boastfulness or forgetting our duty, resolved to do the right, so far as we can see the right.
"Our aim is to make possible a government of the world in which all men can live at peace and with equal opportunity of service."
Note Wingate's ultimate war aim --- equal opportunity of service.
Wingate concluded:
"Finally, knowing the vanity of man's effort and the confusion of his purpose, let us pray that God may accept our service and direct our endeavors, so that when we have done all, we shall see the fruit of our labors and be satisfied."

http://www.zionism-israel.com/bio/Charles_Orde_Wingate.htm

thjplgvp

 

A little humor.

How about Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise?

I know. I know. Wrong rank.:BangHead:

OK. Back to your regularly scheduled program...:type:

 

Great post!:thumbs: