Worst General of All Time

by **Centurio Marcus T** » Mon May 30, 2011 6:46 pm

General George Armstrong Custer and Lord Chelmsford rank very highly on the incompetence list for me.Examples of commanders who split their commands without knowing the enemies disposition.Yes Custer did well in the Civil war against the confederates but he will always be remembered for the glory hunter he was.His men hated him and he had little or no respect for them.On sighting the Indian encampment at Little big horn he decided to split his command into 3 leaving Benteen behind as a reserve and Reno to assault the Indians from the front whilst he took off to charge through the centre of the indian encampment.Well we all know what happened next..... Custer Had enough men to pull this off but chose to split his command at a crucial momment and condemed his men to death.The Indians hated Custer that much they would have attacked him no matter what and Custers officers in Benteen and Reno despised him even more.So to split your command and allow the officers whom he knew hated him to command the 2 other detachments was suicide and he knew it,he wanted all the glory for himself and payed the price.

by **charge the guns** » Mon May 30, 2011 7:15 pm

Ludendorff, for the 1918 Spring Offensive - ended up blowing the Bosch out of the war.Coming in a close second would be me Cool

. I've lost Quatre Bras and Waterloo as British, Hastings as Norman, and Magnesia as Roman.

by **Colonel White** » Tue May 31, 2011 2:58 am

My vote for the worst general of all time must be.....................me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very rarely win a game!! Confused

I have an awful record , very surprising really as I was an excellent chess player beating a grand master to be, when playing for my school.Back on topic- My proper vote must go for Bonnie Prince Charlie. I have visited the Culloden Battlefield which is kept in its original state. If your main tactic is the Highland Charge you wouldn't pick a battlefield that is uphill to your side and is nearly 2ft in places with bracken! Laugh

by **Big Al** » Tue May 31, 2011 4:44 am

Centurio Marcus T said:

General George Armstrong Custer and Lord Chelmsford rank very highly on the incompetence list for me.Examples of commanders who split their commands without knowing the enemies disposition.Yes Custer did well in the Civil war against the confederates but he will always be remembered for the glory hunter he was.His men hated him and he had little or no respect for them.On sighting the Indian encampment at Little big horn he decided to split his command into 3 leaving Benteen behind as a reserve and Reno to assault the Indians from the front whilst he took off to charge through the centre of the indian encampment.Well we all know what happened next..... Custer Had enough men to pull this off but chose to split his command at a crucial momment and condemed his men to death.The Indians hated Custer that much they would have attacked him no matter what and Custers officers in Benteen and Reno despised him even more.So to split your command and allow the officers whom he knew hated him to command the 2 other detachments was suicide and he knew it,he wanted all the glory for himself and payed the price.

I have to agree about Chelmsford too. His problem was his lack of respect for his opponent, just because the were natives!

by **DOGGED** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 11:22 am

BD was referring to McDowell, I think. Actually he was not that wrong not wanting to engage the rebels. First Manassas is a good example of why. Although both armies could be looked upon as amateur, it's precissely that which should have kept them from trying to engage. In defense of McDowell it has to be said that his opponent, P.T. Beauregard, was at least as doubtful as him and possibly then a worst general all round. Should not he be in such a strong defensive position he could have been actually defeated for McDowell's plan was not a bad one but even a winner one.
Subordinates not coordinating and Stonewall Jackson's firm resistance gave the blues the pounding they maybe didn't deserve. Had Jackson's brigade not behaved as they did but more like the rest, the rebel army could have been outflanked and retired if not routed although yankee casualties were maybe high enough to warrant no pursuit.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but McDowell was no such incompetent as it seems. Nor W.Scott who with his Anaconda plan hit the nail referring the eventual defeat of the South in a war of attrition and blockade. Or even McClellan, who happened to have nice skills but was not in the right place...
Also, Varro was cornered, and if it seemed that the Carthaginian center would collapse, as it seems for the reports, Cannae very well could have ended the other way. But he was out generalled by Hannibal. It should not put him on the worst general row but on the most unlucky ones, having to fight the best around.
And Chelmsford, well, he ignored Wolseley and won at Ulundi, being his previous faults those of underestimating the zulus...
I'd say Spanish generals in the Peninsular War have good chances to be remembered as grossly incompetent...

by **Biggus Dickus** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 1:29 pm

it was in fact McClellan I was talking about (I just looked him up) he who basically refused battlewhilst he was commander of the army of the Potomac.......at least no body died...(unless of disease)...and he didn't lose....but he wouldn't fight despite Lincolns best efforts to get him to do so.....which is why he was replaced.

But if you compare him to custer or the others he is a bit of a lightweight to be in the top 10

I stand by my first 2 choices.....but i won't go into all that again :lol:

by **Titus Flavius** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 7:33 pm

A thought just randomly occured to me. Worst general of all time...Brythnoth Earl of Essex, for allowing a bunch of angry Vikings come across a river and kill him because it just wouldn't be cricket otherwise...

by **SimonHarrison** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 11:25 am

I may be opening a can of worms here... but why William Of Orange?

by **Fury** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:13 pm

charge the guns wrote:Ludendorff, for the 1918 Spring Offensive - ended up blowing the Bosch out of the war.

He also blew up Coucy Castle.

by **Invisible officer** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:48 pm

Ludendorff is surely not the worst general of all times. Fighting with less men, less material and a shaken army moral the 1918 offensive was doomed to fail. Just count the number of tanks, Germans 20 (+ some captured=) allies thousands. Planes, guns, all the same.

The worst are those who blundered. Custer who was ordered to wait and dashed in for glory is a good example. Had he taken his Gatlings with him :roll:

Salamis is another good example. Or Crassus against the Parthians (his war against Spartakus was also a weak show )

A Varus made only one mistake, he trusted his ally who was his worst enemy.

Some have a good reputation but sometimes.....
The famed Ney at Waterloo is a high ranker for the title of 1st class blundering fool.