Worst General of All Time

[Eumerin]

I should also state for the record that Wikipedia is no guarantee of factual accuracy.

And thus why I used the word "probably".



And Cubster, I think that gag is meant for you...

[Dream17]

I see your Custer,Haig,Varrus,Crasus and RIASE... Ambrose Burnside..Discuss!!

Wasn't it once said he could rescue defeat from the jaws of victory.
What about King Charles the First?

[Centurion Dan]

General Crassus is a good contender for this - who in thier right mind marches Legions across the desert with no water and few cavalry against the mounted archers and cataphracts of the Parthians?

But what about the Napolean of the West - Santa Anna? He let ego get in the way of effective leadership. After the massacre of the Alamo, he sat back on his laurels and in turn was defeated by vengeful Texicans.

[Blackbottle]

I'd like to give an honorary nudge to FitzRoy James Henry Somerset (Lord Raglan), due to his involvement at Balaclava and the unpreparedness of his troops before the Siege of Sevastopol.

He may or may not count as a General per se, but I think he's earned a mention.

[Jim-Bobbu]

Definitely not the worst of generals but the first name that came to mind was Mark W. Clark after the fall of Monte Cassino when he decided not to cut off the retreating Germans but to go to Rome instead all for the glory.

[Rick]

I see your Custer,Haig,Varrus,Crasus and RIASE... Ambrose Burnside..Discuss!!

Wasn't it once said he could rescue defeat from the jaws of victory.
What about King Charles the First?

Finally - after 7 pages he gets a mention. He should have been at the top of page 1 - way more incompetent than Custer. Had this brilliant idea to infiltrate into an enemy camp - got all of his troops to dress in enemy uniforms (with no identifying marks) absolute chaos. Blew up a tunnel to gain access to enemy fortifications - his entire force ended up at the bottom of a deep crater surrounded by armed enemy troops. Allegedly sideburns are named after him.

I would also like to add an 'honourable mention' - Winston Churchill; now before anyone attacks me for this, it is not for his abilities as a soldier or a statesman that I put his name forward - 'merely' for the pretty disastrous campaigns of the Gallipoli and Norway landings, both of which he enthusiastically pushed forward as ways to win the war quickly and which were pretty awful shambles.

[Cubster]

Aye ...

... and Greece and Dieppe. Polititians playing at soldiers, rarely good.

[grant]

Yes Churchill for his Gallipoli show is high on my list!

[Invisible officer]

For fairnes one must state that Churchill was first sealord, no military post. Charging at Omdurman and being a fleeing POW in Boer war is hardly the qualification to plan a big campaign. (But choosing a C96 was good judgement)

On map the idea looked superb, to politicians. Quick winning, using mostly second rate ships, kicking the Ottomans out of the war.

Kitchener, Hamilton, the local Navy men, they are the professionals to blame for the mismanagement. To stop the naval attack following heavy loss was stupid at best. The defenders could hardly believe what happened, Only a few mines remained. A little bit more and.....

The Dardanelles / Gallipoli campaign is still hotly discussed. Australia will never forget. In my opinion the most nasty aspect today is the actual hyper nationalism of the Turks. Claiming that only Turks fought there, no Arabs. At my first visit there I saw many many graves with Arab names, at my last all the names on these graves had been removed.
Some modern Turkish books simply ommit the Arab divisions in the OOB.

[Cubster]

A textbook example of losing sight of the primary objective and allowing the tail to wag the dog.

They wanted a quick, casualty-light naval operation to take the Ottomans out of the war. But to facilitate the plan they allowed themselves to be drawn into a slow, casualty-heavy land campaign.

It's hardly an unique mistake, but still an inexcusable one. Someone somewhere should have been speaking up about it, and those in charge should have been listening.