Who was the worst US general during the Vietnam War? His prestige restored by his conduct during the Pastry War with France, Santa Anna once again claimed dictatorial powers. At Brownstown, south of Detroit, two dozen warriors under Tecumseh routed more than 200 American militiamen escorting a supply column intended for Detroit. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Pillow pulled the troops back to the fort to resupply them. 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. Feel free to mention any others you may know of in the comments. He called for bombing China, as if liberating Korea was worth risking 550 million Chinese and possibly war with Russia as well. Again fighting outnumbered Texans, this time Santa Anna would lose the battle stunningly. 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. There is no Carthage. 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. By the end of the conflict, America had unleashed the equivalent of 640 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs on Vietnam. By the way, here is the first review I have seen of Sorley's new biography of Westmoreland, which I read in galleys last summer, and enjoyed. Hulls nerve was shattered. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. 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. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews. Defining that is like defining a bad meal. Delivered Thursday. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. According to formerly classified Army documents, an investigation disclosed that from at least March 1968 through October 1969, "Vietnamese [civilian] detainees were subjected to maltreatment" by. 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. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. Santa Anna, a lifetime gambler, was known for his risk taking in battle, but also his brutality. While serving in Vietnam . There are a number of contenders for the top places on such a roster. To accomplish this goal, Vietnam employs repressive policies that often contravene international human rights law. 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. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. Some captured Romans were placed in wicker cages and burned alive, others were enslaved or ransomed. What was your impression of the man when you were working for him? Not good, Hannibal. But MacArthur's strategy certainly helped unleash 300,000 Chinese "volunteers" who inflicted significant casualties on United Nations forces. This is one of the more controversial ones, but Douglas MacArthur is incredibly overrated in the annals of the US military, in my . Who was the worst general 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. Sure, they ganged up on the Spartans at the Pass of Thermopylae. What defines Santa Anna is his utter failure to subdue the Texican rebels and block American expansion. He served as a National Socialist member of the German parliament before authoring a book about how humanity exists in a state of perpetual war and why that is a good thing. Percival was off mistreating Irish Republican Army (IRA) leaders during the Anglo-Irish War before commanding British Malaya in World War II. Seared into all who fought it and many who merely lived through it that conflict remains a bitter stew of second-guessing and recriminations. 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. (You May Also Like: The Five Best Generals in U.S. History). General Earle Wheeler was essentially a staff officer with virtually no troop leading experience, much less combat acumen. 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?). Hundreds of thousands died of disease. 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. (You May Also Like: 5 Israeli Weapons of War ISIS Should Fear). Others were experienced military men who should have known better than to take the risks they took - or not take the risks they should have. Among them are, of course, Lyndon Johnson himself, Robert McNamara, and General Earle Wheeler. 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. 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. But Franks, who commanded the invasion, made a bad situation worse. What myths or misperceptions surround Westmoreland that you would like to clear up, if any? Heres the inaugural class: 6. It was anotherhistory-changingevent, the birth of a truly exceptional nation. Still, it is his world-changing defeat at Yorktown that merits memorializing. 92. As a military commander, Napoleon may have thebest batting averageof all time. Your guide to the most important world stories of the day. Ludendorff is one of historys greatest examples of a general who can win battles but still loses the war. He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it. Major General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend The idiot who, seeking self aggrandisement, led his army, Force D, to disaster at Kut in WW1. Darius quickly lost everything and became nothing but a fugitive. But the rash advance into North Korea was a blunder of strategic proportions. T he Civil War was America's bloodiest conflict. It's not the first time that someone thought he was smarter than his boss. He was found guilty of 11 counts, and only the intervention by Pres. Alexander, Napoleon, Rommel. All rights reserved. Gamelin made the mistake of viewing the Ardennes as impenetrable and chose to defend it with ten of his weakest, least well equipped and least well trained divisions. Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era. The Texans only suffered 2 casualties, as opposed to hundreds of Mexican casualties. As Lincoln well knew, the only way the Union could lose the war was if the North eventually grew tired and agreed to allow the South to secede. NEW FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Pierre de Villeneuve had his first brush with history when he bravely ran away at the Battle of the Nile. Lebanon (1982-1984) 240. In 1940, after increasing pressure from dictator Benito Mussolini and facing demotion, Graziani followed orders and invaded Egypt with his Tenth Army. Listing MacArthur as one of America's worst generals will be controversial. British Gen. Isaac Brock possessed a remarkable ability to anticipate his opponents moves and reactions, and it was not long before he had taken full measure of Hull. Where is Carthage you ask? The Western Front was a much bigger stage upon which to fail, however, and British commander Douglas Haig made the most of the opportunity. Relations between the United States and China seem to be getting frostier by the day. Panama (1989) 2. McClellan and Burnside in particular. 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. 3. Is your subtitle The General Who Lost Vietnam fair? 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. (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 pandemics outbreak brought rare reporting freedoms. Publication of the PROVN Study, whose precepts were later implemented with great success by Westmorelands successor, illustrated a matter of fundamental importance. This would be known as the Tet Offensive and would become a major turning point in the war. 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. Lee demonstrated an immediate grasp of McClellans demeanor, and, during the Seven Days Battles (June 25July 1, 1862), Lee drove back the Union armies from Richmonds doorstep. I flew into Vietnam in June 1968 as a young . He continued on to suffer defeats at Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz, almost letting the war slip away from the British. 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. How well that would have worked can be seen when Gates was sent to command American troops in the South. According to a Time magazine reporter who wrote about the Dak Son massacre, Viet Cong guerrillas shouted "Sons of Americans!" as they launched their assault on the village. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail. 10 Redvers Buller Here is a list of the 10 most famous Chinese generals in history. When it came to military command, Westmoreland was everybody's all-Americanuntil he met his Waterloo. After eight years at Foreign Policy, here are the ten most popular Best Defense posts. 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. 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. To counter these, Major General William R. Peers commenced Operation Greeley using elements of the 4th Infantry Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Advancing in dispersed columns across the northern half of the peninsula was an invitation to be destroyed piecemeal. The British gained control of the fort, dozens of cannons, the brig USS Adams (recommissioned the HMS Detroit), and virtually the entire Michigan Territory. 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. Even now, the easiest way to get into an argument at a V.F.W. 4. 1. Delivered Wednesday & Sunday. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. His work as an observer during the Crimean War gave him insight into the importance of logistics for an industrialized army, and years spent as the chief of engineering for the Illinois Central Railroad made him aware of the transformative nature of rail transport. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. 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. Sure, he was the greatest commander of the Second Punic War, a titanic contest between Carthage and Rome. Simultaneously, he contacted Maximilian to offer the young emperor his services. He continued to view attrition as the most effective strategy for defeating Germany; the British lost some 420,000 men at the Somme. Pillow suffered slightly more casualties than Grant in the engagement, which possibly makes the Battle of Belmont the high point of Pillows military career. 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. This infuriated the Marines, who viewed it as evidence that Westmoreland lacked confidence in them. Yet backstabbing your commander-in-chief in the middle of a war is taking ambition a little too far. Evening roundup with our editors favorite stories of the day. See the vast swaths of land to the north and south that arent Paraguay? 15. 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. Darius III. Like it or not, the U.S. military would become the governing authority. On the night of August 15, 1812, Tecumseh led his forces across the Detroit River, and Brock followed the next morning. 13,091. In the summer of 1967, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) initiated a series of attacks in western Kontum Province. 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. Here's What You Need To Remember:The Soviets saw the American humiliation in Vietnam as a turning point. On the other side of the trenches in World War I was Erich Ludendorff, commanding the armies of Germany. Innumerable battlefield commanders have had disastrous days at the office. Fighter Aircraft of All Time, his army being routed by a smaller force of Redcoats and Loyalists at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina in 1780, 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, Listing MacArthur as one of America's worst generals will be controversial, 5 Israeli Weapons of War ISIS Should Fear, But MacArthur's strategy certainly helped unleash 300,000 Chinese "volunteers" who inflicted significant casualties on United Nations forces, But Franks, who commanded the invasion, made a bad situation worse, Critics say that Franks and senior officials, such as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, concocted an invasion plan that used too few troops. They care about the one. Westmoreland didnt get it. He was called the inevitable general. A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. Not that Fredendall didn't have real issues that would have tried any commander. Westmoreland is often described as a Boy Scout, usually implying, it appears, that he was well-intentioned but nave. Instead he simply sent more and more replacements to make up his losses. DE AGOSTINI PICTURE LIBRARY/Contributor/Getty Images, Biden Proposal Puts Climate Agenda Above Americas Defense, Russias New START Breach Means U.S. Nuclear Weapons Modernization Is a Must. The Roman Empire has a long, proud tradition of producing some of the finest generals in human history- and just as many of the worst. A former British officer, Gates rose to fame as Continental Army commander during the momentous American defeat of a British army at Saratoga in 1777. To say that he failed in both regards is to dramatically understate the case. He was killed in combat on March 1, 1870. 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. When the War of 1812 began, Hull was commissioned a brigadier general and tasked with defending Michigan and invading Upper Canada. Its quite exclusive: combat leaders who had the fate of their people in their hands and squandered it all. 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. I didn't fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that's not against the law for generals. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? 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. 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. Without question, many lives would be saved if their tactical professionalism were enhanced.. Lincoln relieved McClellan but reinstated him after the devastating Union defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Some 15,000 talents of gold (the so-called Gold of Tolosa) had vanished under his watch, never to be recovered. Weekly update on whats driving U.S. national security policy. He bears a lot of responsibility for one the greatest reversals of military fortune ever experienced by a super power. Its prewar population was reduced by more than half, and perhaps 90 percent of Paraguays fighting-age men perished. 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. Although he managed to escape the battle unharmed, Caepio was stripped of his Roman citizenship and exiled. Over time Westmoreland asked for and received large numbers of U.S. troops, eventually totaling well over half a million. At this point, things somehow got worse for Hull. 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. 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. The problem begins with the fact that nobody in the chain of command was really competent to critique Westmorelands performance. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? While this century witnessed many great leaders, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dr. Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi . Seldom included in. He ran as a Democrat against Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election. 88,594. Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved, as Continental Army commander during the momentous American defeat of a British army at Saratoga in 1777, The Five Best U.S. - 4 Worst: 1990 Cleveland Cavaliers. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. Villeneuve lost 20 ships, while Nelson lost none. The Romans marched right into the ambush that Arminius laid thus leading to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. 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. McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from scratch. After only 10 weeks into the Pacific War, Percival became responsible for the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. At Yorktown, he allowed himself to be taken by surprise and outmaneuvered by Washington and the French fleet. He earned a B.A. What does that mean for trade and globalization? He was called the "inevitable general." A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. You worked for GEN Westmoreland when he was Army Chief of Staff. 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. Want to read more on this topic or region? Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. He graduated second in his class at West Point (well ahead of classmates Stonewall Jackson, George H. Gordon, and George Pickett). Historian Lewis Sorley author of 1999s well-regarded A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of Americans Last Years in Vietnam now zeroes in on General William Westmoreland. Ulysses S. Grant, who replaced McClellan, understood this.
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