Your favorite military commanders thoughout history?

[The UK in Exile]

William Slim

[Scholencia]

The forgotten hero Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck is greatest commander. Together with 13 000 german soldiers (8000 were to the Reich loyal Askari troops) he start a guerilla war in the occupied German East Africa which was held by the British and that for 4 long years. He eventually surrendored after the capitulation of the 2nd Reich.

Another great comander is Hernan Cortez. With a hand of Spanish soldiers he conquered the Mayan Empire. He was a master in pschychological warfare as he convince the Mayan that he was a god.

Well he's not forgotten by this American history buff plus the man was able to die tens of thousands of allied troops whle not having a t.

Maybe I have a false impression but in Germany speaking about the nillitary past is taboo. There was this only street in Germany named after him which was renamed not so long ago.

The Army organised a cepelin full of supplies which had to be brought to Vorbeck, unfortunately the cepelin lost his radio-singal and turned back to Germany. His funeral was attended by many Askari veterans.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

my favorite military leader is general lee. he didn't believe in slavery, yet look at what he did. he is truly one of the greatest american military leaders of all time

Killed people in defense of it?

I think you're thinking of Longstreet in any case.

I will admit Lee was pretty cool in Mexico.

no lee only sided with the south after Virginia's succession. He was more about states rights rather then big government.

[Sun Wukong]

Killed people in defense of it?

I think you're thinking of Longstreet in any case.

I will admit Lee was pretty cool in Mexico.

no lee only sided with the south after Virginia's succession. He was more about states rights rather then big government.

No, that's not right either.

The idea that Lee opposed "big government" is an entirely modern anachronism you're thrusting upon him.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

C. G. E. Mannerheim.

Fucked up the reds, guaranteed Finland's independence, humiliated the Soviet commies by protecting Finnish independence and leading us to liberate the kindred peoples of Karelia, and when that failed he protected Finland from Soviet influence as the president.

There really is no greater commander than him.

He also looked quite dashing in his Chevalier Guards uniform in his days as a part of the Russian Imperial Guard

[Nevanmaa]

C. G. E. Mannerheim.

Fucked up the reds, guaranteed Finland's independence, humiliated the Soviet commies by protecting Finnish independence and leading us to liberate the kindred peoples of Karelia, and when that failed he protected Finland from Soviet influence as the president.

There really is no greater commander than him.

He also looked quite dashing in his Chevalier Guards uniform in his days as a part of the Russian Imperial Guard

It's so very ironic that he used the experience given to him by Russians against them a few decades later >:)

[United Marxist Nations]

Gen. Manuel Avila Camacho
Gen. Lazaro Cardenas
Joseph Stalin
George S. Patton
Georgy Zhukov

As big a fan as I am of Stalin, he wasn't really a military commander; his interference contributed to some pretty big defeats in the early days of Operation Barbarossa (specifically, the Battle of Kiev); fortunately, he ended up recognizing his military inadequacies, and instead focused himself more on keeping the manufacturing sector up-and-running during the German invasion and the duration of the war.

[United Marxist Nations]

Julius Caesar.
Alexander II of Macedon.
Hannibal.
Genghis Khan.
Sun Tzu.

I think you mean Alexander the III.

[Trollgaard]

So did pretty much every single warlord of the era. A lot of the people mentioned here allowed their troops to go nuts once a city was taken. Brutal and horrific, yes, but given the time period he wasn't abnormal on that account.

Genghis Khan may not have been a nice guy but he was fair and offered protection, meritocracy (well more than previous rulers), and tolerance for local customs and religions which during that era was a pretty sweet deal.

So you are actually defending a genocidal monster whom his army lead to the deaths of tens of thousands, even millions?

Genghis really wasn't so different from any other conqueror from any point in history in that regard. He was one of the more successful ones, obviously.

[Priory Academy USSR]

Alexander the Great and Alfred (also the Great). Both were successful military commanders, and their ideas left an imprint on the areas they ruled arguably until the present day.

[Ranmaverse]

Julius Caesar.
Alexander II of Macedon.
Hannibal.
Genghis Khan.
Sun Tzu.

I think you mean Alexander the III.

Ah yes, I'm missing the one letter.

[Acadia]

Well I'd have to say Hannibal, William Sherman, and Napoleon kick butt.

[Risottia]

Yeah, he wasn't only pretty good as leading, he was also much admired and respected by his soldiers.

Iirc, Germany also recognised to the surviving Askari veterans military pensions (after WW2).

[Kingdom of Israel]

Judas Maccabeus.

[Tarevya]

Scipio Africanus is vastly underrated by history. Take a really good look at his victories {Zama in particular} and you'll discover a true genius.

[Camelza]

Scipio Africanus
Alexander the Great
Ceasar
Hannibal
Robert E. Lee
Francis Drake
Simón Bolívar

[Shove Piggy Shove]

13 pages, 316 replies, numerous mentions of Napoleon, and yet no love being given to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington? He was largely outnumbered and underfunded for the majority of the Peninsular Campaign, and still managed to defeat all of the French Marshals in liberating Portugal and Spain (having been appointed commander of the Portuguese and Spanish forces) - as well as defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, of course.

I also feel that Hugh Dowding deserves a mention as the commander during the Battle of Britain, which effectively saved Britain from defeat during WWII

[Cottesmore]

I'm surprised no-one has said Horatio Nelson.

[Bezombia]

Nguyen Giap's pretty far up there.

[Independent Wessex]

Pyrrhus of Epirus, a very underrated Commander. Unfortunately his Pyrrhic victorious cost him to much.

[Calenhardon]

I'm most familiar with American military history, so here are some of my favorites: Sherman, Grant, Longstreet, Pershing, Omar Bradley, Nimitz and Marc Mitscher. While Clifton Sprague is rather insignificant, the Battle off Samar is still a great story.

I will say I do not entirely understand the preoccupation with the moral standing of various commanders. The discussion is regarding military commanders. I doubt many could be found without any troubling moral failures, and many were responsible for massive violations of human rights. While people looking for a "favorite" military commander can understandably include ethical considerations, the idea that people engaged in the business of mass killing are going to be paragons of virtue is somewhat odd.

[Sibator]

13 pages, 316 replies, numerous mentions of Napoleon, and yet no love being given to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington? He was largely outnumbered and underfunded for the majority of the Peninsular Campaign, and still managed to defeat all of the French Marshals in liberating Portugal and Spain (having been appointed commander of the Portuguese and Spanish forces) - as well as defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, of course.

I also feel that Hugh Dowding deserves a mention as the commander during the Battle of Britain, which effectively saved Britain from defeat during WWII

He was pretty good in the Peninsular War, but he would have lost Waterloo were it not for Blucher.

[Zocra]

Definitely not George Washington.

Patton, maybe...or Grant...i don't know really.

[The UK in Exile]

13 pages, 316 replies, numerous mentions of Napoleon, and yet no love being given to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington? He was largely outnumbered and underfunded for the majority of the Peninsular Campaign, and still managed to defeat all of the French Marshals in liberating Portugal and Spain (having been appointed commander of the Portuguese and Spanish forces) - as well as defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, of course.

I also feel that Hugh Dowding deserves a mention as the commander during the Battle of Britain, which effectively saved Britain from defeat during WWII

He was pretty good in the Peninsular War, but he would have lost Waterloo were it not for Blucher.

Well yeah, and Napoleon would have lost Auerstedt if not for Davout. Would have lost Marengo if not for Kellerman and Wagram if not for Davout again.

[Sibator]

He was pretty good in the Peninsular War, but he would have lost Waterloo were it not for Blucher.

Well yeah, and Napoleon would have lost Auerstedt if not for Davout. Would have lost Marengo if not for Kellerman and Wagram if not for Davout again.

No arguments from me.