worst generals in vietnam

worst generals in vietnam

The Worst Military Leaders in History Hardcover - March 22, 2022 So what is the standard of shame for induction? 10 Redvers Buller up as tough on Beijing, even seeking to contain the rise of the worlds second-biggest economy. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. Assuming you believe the subtitle to be accurate, who were GEN Westmorelands biggest accomplices in the loss? 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. What was your impression of the man when you were working for him? Critics say that Franks and senior officials, such as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, concocted an invasion plan that used too few troops. Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. 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. 88,594. There is no Carthage. Had Lincoln retained McClellan in command of the Union armies, many former Americans might still be whistling "Dixie.". Two years later, he lost a leg fighting the French. He was an artilleryman who missed out on the Armys great schools system, never attending the Command & General Staff College or the Army War College. Even if Moscow holds onto territory, the war has wrecked its future. 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. 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. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. 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. Although he eventually disavowed Hitler, by that point Ludendorff had become so deeply involved with mysticism that few took him seriously. Men and material the Union could provide its armies. 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. Outstanding commanders such as George H. Thomas, Phil Sheridan, and William Tecumseh Sherman routinely bested their Confederate opponents. Who Were the Worst Generals in History? 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. Follow him on Twitter:@Mipeck1. 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. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. 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. The enemy simply kept sending more and more replacements to make up his losses. . Hulls nerve was shattered. Evening roundup with our editors favorite stories of the day. The worst military leaders since Napoleon | History 101 Thus there was little internal capacity for debating or evaluating his chosen course of action. Here's What You Need To Remember:The Soviets saw the American humiliation in Vietnam as a turning point. The Vietnam War, as Seen by the Victors - The Atlantic He continued on to suffer defeats at Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz, almost letting the war slip away from the British. 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. The 1970s were scary times. Delivered Friday. In a war that saw more than its share of unskilled politically appointed generals, Pillow was arguably the worst on either side. 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 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 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. 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. Watchthe conversation onFP Live, the magazines forum for live journalism, orreada condensed transcript. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? Top 10 Most Underrated Military Generals. Join FPs Ravi Agrawal for a frank discussion about the Biden administrations China policy and alternatives that it ought to consider. 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. Exactly. Cornwallis later did redeem himself militarily. These operations were designed to seek out enemy forces and engage them in decisive battle. Germanic tribes sacrificed Roman officers on altars to their gods. Publication of the PROVN Study, whose precepts were later implemented with great success by Westmorelands successor, illustrated a matter of fundamental importance. 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. Create an FP account to save articles to read later and in the FP mobile app. Instead the enemy proved willing to absorb horrifying losses and keep fighting. And what then? Michael Peck is a contributing writer at Foreign Policy and a writer for War Is Boring. He overestimated the American peoples patience and tolerance of friendly losses. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics His senior staff lacked diversity of experience and professional outlook, consisting mostly of people with backgrounds similar to his own, especially airborne. 9 Worst Generals in History | Britannica The Cimbri destroyed Caepios force and, emboldened by their success, marched on Maximuss camp. From Kaiser Wilhelm to Hitler and Saddam Hussein and Gadhafi, there is no end of national leaders who squandered their nations blood and treasure in futile conflicts. Tom Ricks, on his "Best Defense" blog has discussed the top 10 worst generals in U.S. history. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command? They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. They kept it as a war trophy, exhibiting the leg at. Although he outnumbered Magruders Army of the Peninsula 10-to-1, McClellan settled in for a monthlong siege. But all that remains of his would-be empire today is a flaky French pastry. Not only is Sorley a third-generation graduate of West Point a Vietnam veteran and a historian, but he worked for Westmoreland as well. He retreated to Malta but was captured when that island fell to the British. The Worst American Civil War Generals and Commanders The 20th century is the most violent century in history. The Western Front was a much bigger stage upon which to fail, however, and British commander Douglas Haig made the most of the opportunity. Applications for the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman MA program are open and considered on a rolling basis. After occupying Jerusalem and crucifying 2,000 Jewish rebels in Judaea, Varus went off to govern Germania and tame barbarian tribes. He was also supremely gifted at overestimating the size of his opponents armies to a degree that beggared belief. Todays list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam, Want to read more on this topic or region? 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. The 5 Worst Generals in U.S. History | RealClearHistory As military professionals, we should think about more . Was My Lai just one of many massacres in Vietnam War? At this point, things somehow got worse for Hull. In the autumn of 1804 he was placed in charge of the French fleet at Toulon and tasked with drawing the British fleet under Horatio Nelson to the Caribbean. He was called the "inevitable general." A West Point graduate, he served in World War II and Korea. This might have ended okay for Germany, provided they didnt do something like provoke a previously neutral country with Allied sympathies and an effectively bottomless war chest. This was heeded about as well as any piece of parental advice, anywhere ever. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Persian Empire. The War of the Triple Alliance devastated Paraguay. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. James K. Polk upon the outbreak of war between Mexico and the U.S. and offered to become an agent for the U.S. (again). Despite the Union outnumbering the Confederates, McClellan was unable to crush Robert E. Lee after failing to pursue him into Virginia. As for the British, they had lost the most valuable jewel of the Imperial crown. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. Westmorelands general mistake: severely underestimating the Communists. Hundreds of thousands died of disease. 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. 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. Finally, when it comes to bad generals, let us remember Truman's immortal words about firing MacArthur: I fired him because he wouldn't respect the authority of the President. 44 Declassified Vietnam War Photos The Public Wasn't Meant To See Unfortunately the fates of the former Republic Vietnam (Sout. He was indeed a capable warrior, as shown by the South Pacific campaign and the Inchon landing in Korea. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on. There was no warmth, no apparent interest in his associates as people. He decided to conduct of a war of attrition, using search and destroy tactics, in which the measure of merit was body count. The war soon ended in a Russian defeat, with hundreds of thousands of military and civilian casualties. Thuong, 52, is the youngest member of the party's Politburo, the country's top decision-making body, and is widely regarded as being close to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's most . Disobeying orders, he sailed for Cdiz instead of the Channel, allowing Nelsons fleet time to return and effectively scuttling Napoleons plans for a cross-Channel invasion. Yet, Hannibal nevertheless ranks as one of the worlds epic fails. It's not the first time that someone thought he was smarter than his boss. Arminius cut off his head and sent it to another Germanic leader as a present. Vice President, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute. He was killed in combat on March 1, 1870. This did not, however, achieve the postulated outcome. Here is a list of the 10 most famous Chinese generals in history. 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. 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. 4. If it couldn't or wouldn't govern the country, who would? 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. Not that Fredendall didn't have real issues that would have tried any commander. The next major British offensive came at Passchendaele (July 31November 6, 1917), where Haig lost another 275,000 troops in a battle whose name became synonymous with pointless slaughter. 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. At the Battle of Gaugamela, he helped make Alexander great by losing half his army to the Macedonian upstart. Nor is being a bad battlefield commander, by itself, sufficient to make the cut. Diem's family was one of the earliest to convert to Catholicism, a religion he took . Delivered Monday-Friday. Casey was an Army insidera four-star general and the son of the highest-ranking American casualty of the Vietnam War, a division commander who was killed in a July 1970 helicopter crash. Darius again was the first to flee the battle, abandoning all of his soldiers and his property to be taken by Alexander. Judging GOFOs The Decisive Point McClellan was removed from command immediately after. 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. 0. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. Grenada (1983) 3. This was true in matters both great and small. Corruption is the Worst Enemy of the Vietnamese Army Caepio may have been a terrible general, but he was apparently an exceptional thief. Westmoreland established a headquarters known as MACV Forward in the northern provinces of South Vietnam and put his deputy, General Creighton Abrams, in charge, placing him over the Marines and also the Army forces in that region. Argentina, Brazil, and the Brazilian puppet government in Uruguay formed an alliance, and on May 1, 1865, they declared war on Paraguay. Download the new FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. 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. Lebanon (1982-1984) 240. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln and the Union expected great things. A more positive example is George Washington. Brock, sensing an opportunity, advised an immediate march on Fort Detroit. Delivered Wednesday & Sunday. Vietnam War body count controversy - Wikipedia McClellan was a superb organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from scratch. He still had his defenders, but they were in the last trench, barely holding on. (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. After months of inactivity, McClellan was finally spurred to action by Pres. Bombs away! Here are the 13 worst military movies in Hollywood history 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. General Westmoreland had complete freedom of action in deciding how to prosecute the war within South Vietnam. Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era. Darius did not take the field against Alexander until a year and a half after Granicus, at the Battle of Issus. 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. (You May Also Like: The Five Best Generals in U.S. History). [1] 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. 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. Leaders of the Vietnam War - Wikipedia The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. This infuriated the Marines, who viewed it as evidence that Westmoreland lacked confidence in them. The enemy did not lose heart, did not cease aggression. 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 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. But there was something that not even the factories of New York and Chicago could produce, and that was time. My daughter thinks 2018 was the worst year ever. I'd nominate 1968 Best Defense: Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors. Luckily for the colonists, the Empire also had Cornwallis, a peer of the realm and truly pitiful commander. (You May Also Like: The Five Best U.S. He was responsible for coming up with the idea of using force to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. 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. His prestige restored by his conduct during the Pastry War with France, Santa Anna once again claimed dictatorial powers. Finally, there was MacArthur's insubordination. Hull withdrew after a series of harassing attacks by Tecumsehs highly mobile raiding parties. Delivered Thursday. What a Lovely War and then in the 1989 television comedy series Blackadder Goes Forth. 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 bears a lot of responsibility for one the greatest reversals of military fortune ever experienced by a super power.

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