worst generals in vietnam

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. 5. On September 9, 1965, Navy Cmdr. 336 pages | 16 halftones | 6 1/4 x 9 1/4. By one estimate from Harvard University, more than 130,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or severely wounded, in addition to the deaths of more than 7,000 Ukrainian civilians. By signing up, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to occasionally receive special offers from Foreign Policy. 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. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. 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. These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. What does that mean for trade and globalization? Thus there was little internal capacity for debating or evaluating his chosen course of action. Hulls nerve was shattered. Villeneuve lost 20 ships, while Nelson lost none. Despite the Union outnumbering the Confederates, McClellan was unable to crush Robert E. Lee after failing to pursue him into Virginia. In 1940, after increasing pressure from dictator Benito Mussolini and facing demotion, Graziani followed orders and invaded Egypt with his Tenth Army. Because he never wanted to face a superior force, he refused to fight. Like it or not, the U.S. military would become the governing authority. The heavily forested, swampy terrain made the Legions maneuvers impossible. Westmoreland told him, "We're killing these people at a ratio of 10 to 1.". While British cannons shelled the fort from the Canadian side of the river, Tecumseh marched his warriors through a forest clearing in an endless parade. standing, Ukrainians are determined to keep fighting, and the West has so far stayed resolute in its support of Ukraine. Even if Moscow holds onto territory, the war has wrecked its future. General William Westmoreland. Thus, almost by default, Westmoreland was left to go his own way, year after bloody year. In other words, this book is a "how-not-to" guide to leadership. These American commanders have lost the battle for history. Tom Ricks, on his "Best Defense" blog has discussed the top 10 worst generals in U.S. history. Best Defense: Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors. There is no Carthage. 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. His 1812 campaign against Russia ended in complete disaster. He earned a B.A. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. McClellan was a proto-Douglas MacArthur who bad-mouthed his president and commander-in-chief. Hannibal. The initial assault resulted in very high casualties for the Russians and an almost complete breakdown of morale in the Russian forces. This infuriated the Marines, who viewed it as evidence that Westmoreland lacked confidence in them. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. 9 Noteworthy Bog Bodies (And What They Tell Us), 12 Novels Considered the Greatest Book Ever Written, Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution, https://www.britannica.com/list/9-worst-generals-in-history. Seared into all who fought it and many who merely lived through it that conflict remains a bitter stew of second-guessing and recriminations. He was certainly nave, but the Boy Scouts need to be defended here. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? Caepio reportedly lived out the remainder of his life in luxury, however. Not that Fredendall didn't have real issues that would have tried any commander. And he was able to inflict massive casualties on the enemy. 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. He continued to view attrition as the most effective strategy for defeating Germany; the British lost some 420,000 men at the Somme. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. 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. Westmorelands first resort in claiming progress in the war was always body count, but in fact this was meaningless. 10 Redvers Buller Still, it is his world-changing defeat at Yorktown that merits memorializing. A curated selection of our very best long reads. [i] However, the list is subjective, and open to debate, as top 10 lists tend to be. James Madison spared him from execution. 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. 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). Yes, the landing at Inchon unhinged the initial North Korean offensive. Men and material the Union could provide its armies. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest darkened Emperor Augustus remaining years and he was heard, upon occasion, to moan, Quinctilius Varus, give me back my Legions!, Notable mention: George Custer, Joseph Hooker, Ambrose Burnside, Charles Cornwallis, John II of France, Top 10 Utterly Bizarre Things Banned In China, Top 10 Military Bases Linked To UFOs (That Aren't Area 51), 10 Bizarre Military Inventions That Almost Saw Deployment, 10 Futuristic Sci-Fi Military Technologies That, 10 Awesome French Military Victories You've Never Heard Of, 10 Oddities That Interrupted Military Battles, Top 10 Top-Level Domains That Caused Controversies, 10 Controversial Toys You Might Already Have in Your Home, Ten Absolutely Vicious Fights over Inherited Fortunes, 10 Female Film Pioneers Who Shaped the Movies, Ten True Tales from Americas Toughest Prison, 10 Times Members of Secretive Societies and Organizations Spilled the Beans, 10 Common Idioms with Unexpectedly Dark Origins, 10 North American Animals with Misplaced Reputations, 10 Japanese Weapons Invented Too Late To Win World War II, 10 Ways The History Of Thanksgiving Is Nothing Like You Imagined, 10 Great Buildings That Were Not Built Quite Well Enough. Delivered Friday. 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. He deprived the South Vietnamese of modern weaponry, giving U.S. and other allied forces priority for issue of the new M-16 rifle and other advanced military wherewithal. Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security. Yes, Westmoreland was the general who lost Vietnam. World War I provided a forum for any number of truly horrible commanders to assert themselves. Two years later, he lost a leg fighting the French. 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. Of course, that is what they did when Ludendorff pushed for the use of unrestricted submarine warfare against Allied shipping. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. A monthly digest of the top articles read by FP subscribers. To that Hollings responded, "Westy, the American people don't care about the ten. The 5 Worst Generals in U.S. History. (You May Also Like: The Five Best Generals in U.S. History). On the other hand, there was that bad day at the Battle of Salamis when most of the Persian fleet went to the bottom. Not later than the autumn of 1966 the leaders of both services involved in fighting the ground war in VietnamArmy Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson and Marine Commandant General Wallace Greeneboth saw Westmorelands approach as fatally flawed and agreed on a viable alternative. Contrarily, I would not so stigmatize another important player often criticized by others, Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge. Francisco Solano Lpez managed to stumble into a war with pretty much all of that. He still had his defenders, but they were in the last trench, barely holding on. 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. The curation of this content is at the discretion of the author, and not necessarily reflective of the views of Encyclopaedia Britannica or its editorial staff. 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. Westmorelands strategy throughout the war was to win through Attrition Warfare (pounding the enemy through greater numbers and resources) which military strategists including Sun Tzu caution against using. These battlefield bumblers serve to provide that contrast. But all that remains of his would-be empire today is a flaky French pastry. 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. He was soon released, however, and, as more capable French admirals either died or somehow incurred Napoleons disfavor, a path to the top echelons of command was opened for Villeneuve. Sorley skillfully uses Westmoreland's own words to show time and again his duplicity at worst and his lack of touch with reality at best. Woefully inexperienced U.S. soldiers found themselves against Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps veterans. A more positive example is George Washington. Delivered Wednesday. 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. And if they not only fail to deliver, but wind up sinking their own side in the process, and change history, they earn a spot in the Hall of Military Shame.