Others were experienced military men who should have known better than to take the risks they took - or not take the risks they should have. Caepio was born into a noble family and became consul in 106 BC. 8. Horacio Gates of the American Revolution was pretty bad. Darius quickly lost everything and became nothing but a fugitive. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. After his defeat by the Texans at the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna was captured. What was the worst battle of Vietnam? 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. 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. 2. The rise of American-made chatbots has kicked off a flurry of Chinese activity. 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. Delivered Thursday. George Custer at the Little Big Horn and Lord Chelmsford at the Battle of Isandlwana leap to mind. Grant left politics to the politicians and did what had to be done. Here is a list of the 10 most famous Chinese generals in history. Thus the progress Westmoreland claimed in racking up huge body counts did nothing to win the war. Villeneuve was then to return in secret and help establish naval dominance of the English Channel in preparation for a land invasion of Britain. T he Civil War was America's bloodiest conflict. 336 pages | 16 halftones | 6 1/4 x 9 1/4. Washington also suffered his share of defeats. General William Westmoreland. Routed by U.S. forces under Winfield Scott, Santa Anna was again driven into exile. By December 1864 Paraguay was at war with Brazil, and, when Argentina denied a request for the transit of a Paraguayan army across its territory, Lpez declared war on that country as well. He overestimated the American peoples patience and tolerance of friendly losses. In the end, Chiang sacrificed more than a million Chinese soldiers and well over ten million Chinese civilians in his bid to stay in power. Percival surrendered Malaya to Japanese forces in early 1942, defying Winston Churchills own instructions for prolonged resistance. Explore the benefits included in your subscription. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. James Bond Stockdale was flying his A-4 Skyhawk on a mission over North Vietnam, just days after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, when his plane took fire and hurtled d Even if Moscow holds onto territory, the war has wrecked its future. Without question, many lives would be saved if their tactical professionalism were enhanced.. 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. Gamelin was commander of the French forces in World War II and is largely responsible for the fall of France into German control during the Battle of France. He ran as a Democrat against Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election. Advancing in dispersed columns across the northern half of the peninsula was an invitation to be destroyed piecemeal. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. Indeed they are brave and proud, but their standards, tactics, and lack of command supervision throughout their ranks requires improvement in the national interest. And, he added, I would be less than frank if I did not say that I feel somewhat insecure with the situation in Quang Tri province, in view of my knowledge of their shortcomings. James Jay Carafano is a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges. It wouldn't take a large force to slice through the ramshackle Iraqi army and topple Saddam Hussein, but securing a country the size of Iraq required a larger force. Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. Most younger officers who worked around General Westmoreland, excepting only a very few among his many aides-de-camp or executive officers and the like, had no personal relationship with this difficult and distant man. The Biden administration has passed landmark legislations such as theInflation Reduction Act(IRA) and theCHIPS and Science Act, which provide subsidies in clean energy and semiconductoShow morers worth well over $400 billion. Eschewing a direct overland march to the Confederate capital of Richmond, McClellan orchestrated an impressive amphibious landing of more than 100,000 troops at Fort Monroe, at the southeast end of the peninsula between the James and York rivers. Thus it was under Darius rule that the Persian Empire fell and was conquered. 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. Soon after declaring himself dictator of Mexico, rebels who opposed the Mexican dictatorship created three new republics, one of them being the Republic of Texas. He spoke up in Honolulu, during an important U.S. planning conference in February 1966, observing that we can beat up North Vietnamese regiments in the high plateau for the next twenty years and it will not end the war. Westmorelands later dismissive comment was that Ambassador Lodge does not have a deep feel of military tactics and strategy.. History: Military History. General Westmoreland had complete freedom of action in deciding how to prosecute the war within South Vietnam. The Vietnam War body count controversy centers on the counting of enemy dead by the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). - 3 Best: 1987 Los Angeles Lakers. A final humiliation came during Mexican-American War. Villeneuve lost 20 ships, while Nelson lost none. Under Westmorelands command, the Vietnam war began smoothly as the U.S. won every battle. But in 1968, when Westmoreland became Army Chief of Staff, Communist forces baited Westmoreland into committing nearly 40% of his strength to the military outpost at Khe Sanh, then attacked cities and towns throughout South Vietnam. Franz Conrad von Htzendorf of Austria couldnt decide which country he wanted to invade, so the German General Staff eventually took his armies away. General Earle Wheeler was essentially a staff officer with virtually no troop leading experience, much less combat acumen. He continued on to suffer defeats at Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz, almost letting the war slip away from the British. Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. . Is Weiss correct? Despite reports of the build-up of German forces and even knowing the date of the Germans attack, Gamelin did nothing, stating that he would await events. There was no warmth, no apparent interest in his associates as people. Lpez was the son of Carlos Antonio Lpez, a dictator who had done much to modernize Paraguay in the mid-19th century. This infuriated the Marines, who viewed it as evidence that Westmoreland lacked confidence in them. General William Westmoreland. A more positive example is George Washington. Others would say that it is not victory, but success in fulfilling a mission that counts. When major U.S. ground force deployments were under consideration in July 1965, for example, LBJ worried that North Vietnam would respond by pouring in more men of its own. in history from Michigan State University in 1995. The alternative was to split the United States asunder. 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. He graduated second in his class at West Point (well ahead of classmates Stonewall Jackson, George H. Gordon, and George Pickett). Wrote Kevin Buckley in a scathing review, From the beginning Westmoreland probably expected to write a memoir of victory similar to Crusade in Europeand the defeat in Vietnam has not deterred him from this.. There is no Carthage. 4. A key plank in the Democratic platform that year was, appropriately, not fighting, and McClellan lost in a rout. (The leg did get a state funeral). Download the FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. We ended up, he said, with no operational plan that had the slightest chance of ending the war favorably. Westmoreland could not or would not ever bring himself to acknowledge that reality. Stay updated on the topics you care about with email alerts. Create an FP account to save articles to read later and in the FP mobile app. 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. Gamelin also chose not to disperse Frances vast number of superior tanks. 1. 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. The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. 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. Weekly update on whats driving U.S. national security policy. 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. Haig was cruelly mocked, first in the satirical musical Oh! He earned a B.A. Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition. Alas, as a historian, he passed on the opportunity to answer Battlelands questions about what Vietnam should teach us about Afghanistan, and who, if anyone, is todays Westmoreland, during our email chat earlier this week: Whats the most important thing you learned writing Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam? Youre on the list! Evening roundup with our editors favorite stories of the day. 15. When the War of 1812 began, Hull was commissioned a brigadier general and tasked with defending Michigan and invading Upper Canada. It was a humiliating baptism of fire for the U.S. Army in Europe, and more important, caused British commanders to dismiss their Yank allies as amateur soldiers for the rest of the war. How do you measure military leaders? He decided to conduct of a war of attrition, using search and destroy tactics, in which the measure of merit was body count. When he made public his disagreements with President Truman, Truman rightfully fired him. His war of attrition, search and destroy tactics, and emphasis on body count did nothing to affect the war in the hamlets and villages of South Vietnam, where the enemys covert infrastructure was left free to continue using coercion and terror to dominate the rural populace. Gamelin made the mistake of viewing the Ardennes as impenetrable and chose to defend it with ten of his weakest, least well equipped and least well trained divisions. Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, Chinas Censors Are Afraid of What Chatbots Might Say, The U.S. - 1 Best: 1996 Chicago Bulls. Its quite exclusive: combat leaders who had the fate of their people in their hands and squandered it all. Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved, as Continental Army commander during the momentous American defeat of a British army at Saratoga in 1777, The Five Best U.S. In 1847, U.S. troops once again surprised Santa Anna and captured his prosthetic leg. But the award for the biggest Persian loser goes to Darius III. It's not the first time that someone thought he was smarter than his boss. In considering who should receive such a dubious honor, Ive consciously excluded bad leaders. The unprecedented violence of battles such as Shiloh, Antietam, Stones River, and Gettysburg shocked citizens and international observers alike. Despite fresh salvos of Western sanctions, Tehran and Moscow are buddying up on defense ties. Like it or not, the U.S. military would become the governing authority. After only an eight-day siege, he surrendered his entire armya third of all British forces in America. - 2 Worst: 2007 Washington Wizards. A monthly digest of the top articles read by FP subscribers. Of course they raised this issue, leading Westmoreland to declare vehemently that establishing MACV Forward had not a damned thing to do with my confidence in General Cushman or the Marines, not a damned thing. That again was not only false but, given the existing paper trail, reckless as well. 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. Concurrently with hi. In fact, he did a lot to ensure that Germany would find itself in another war that it couldnt win, but, since he died in 1937, he gets extra credit for being a bad World War II general from beyond the grave. He was also supremely gifted at overestimating the size of his opponents armies to a degree that beggared belief. Years later, when Marine Corps historians were at work on their history of the war, Westmoreland met with them. One-stop digest of politics, economics, and culture. A curated selection of our very best long reads. Grachev has also been linked to corruption among the higher ranks of the military, specifically the assassination of journalist Dmitry Kholodov. In his single-minded pursuit of that objective, Westmoreland (despite his repeated claims to the contrary) essentially ignored two other crucial aspects of the war, improvement of South Vietnams armed forces and pacification. While Maximus was conducting negotiations with the Cimbri, a Germanic tribe that had invaded the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul, Caepio rashly attacked the Cimbri army on October 6, 105 BCE. 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. But he also displayed remarkably bad judgment, as when he was commander in the Philippines in 1941. Considering some militants as instruments of regional influence while fighting others has had disastrous consequences. 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. 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. The self proclaimed Napoleon of the West didnt quite leave the same legacy as his idol. 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. Nearly as many men died in captivity during the Civil War as were killed in the whole of the Vietnam War. Hull was thoroughly outclassed. Among the most detrimental and problematic policies are the incarceration of drug users in compulsory treatment centers, and the stigmatization and abuse of consumers by the police. Nor is being a bad battlefield commander, by itself, sufficient to make the cut. In 1941, Graziani resigned his commission after the British counterattacked and the Tenth Army was completely defeated during Operation Compass. World War I provided a forum for any number of truly horrible commanders to assert themselves. They kept it as a war trophy, exhibiting the leg at county fairs. 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. While serving in Vietnam . Hull responded by ordering the evacuation of Fort Dearborn, and the garrison was promptly massacred by a Potawatomi war band upon leaving the fort. He was a teacher in the Chicago suburbs and Seoul, Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 6. His was one of just two French ships of the line to escape the destruction of the French fleet there. Quintus Servilius Caepio takes the cake amongst the worst Roman generals ever to take command of a legion though. General and presidential candidate Douglas MacArthur (1880 - 1964) at his headquarters in Yokohama, Japan with US Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright (1883 - 1953) (right), and British Lieutenant-General A E Percival (1887 - 1966) (left) who were taken prisoner by the Japanese after the US retreat in the Bataan peninsula and released in 1945. 1. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. To that Hollings responded, "Westy, the American people don't care about the ten. 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. Instead the enemy proved willing to absorb horrifying losses and keep fighting. Although he managed to escape the battle unharmed, Caepio was stripped of his Roman citizenship and exiled. Feel free to mention any others you may know of in the comments. On the other hand, there was that bad day at the Battle of Salamis when most of the Persian fleet went to the bottom. But the worst of all was McClellan, the so-called "Young Napoleon" from whom Lincoln. Todays list: The top ten reasons Gen. Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam, Want to read more on this topic or region? These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. What was your impression of the man when you were working for him? 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. Delivered Wednesday. There are issues around killing and counting unarmed civilians (non-combatants) as enemy combatants, as well as inflating the number of actual enemy who were killed in action (KIA).For search and destroy operations, as the objective was not to . 10 Redvers Buller Listing MacArthur as one of America's worst generals will be controversial. General Harold K. Johnson was an authentic battlefield hero, and as noted above was fundamentally at odds with Westmorelands approach, but he was not in the chain of command. Yes, eminently. Lpez, possibly in a fit of madness, ordered the execution of hundreds of people, including some of his own family members. Westmoreland was on a treadmill. Westmoreland is often described as a Boy Scout, usually implying, it appears, that he was well-intentioned but nave. But MacArthur's strategy certainly helped unleash 300,000 Chinese "volunteers" who inflicted significant casualties on United Nations forces. Johnston was wounded on the first day of the Battle of Seven Pines, six miles east of Richmond, and he was replaced by Robert E. Lee. Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent. His forces outnumbered Alexanders men by at least a 2 to 1 ratio, but Darius was still outflanked, defeated and forced to flee. After months of inactivity, McClellan was finally spurred to action by Pres. More ways to stay updated on global news: By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. 3. 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. Westmorelands general mistake: severely underestimating the Communists. How does an admiral make a list of the worst generals? Find Paraguay on a map of South America. However, not even they managed to get themselves court-martialed and sentenced to death for ineptitude on the battlefield. Alas, call it the laws of probability or just cosmic karma, but every nation produces bad generals as well as good onesand . By Lewis Sorley Best Defense Saigon bureau chief. Abraham Lincoln. Sure, he was the greatest commander of the Second Punic War, a titanic contest between Carthage and Rome. 7. Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced his fateful decision to double the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam. FPsRavi Agrawalsat down with U.S. Trade RepresentativeKatherine Tai, the Biden administrations top official tasked with mapping out and implementing the White Houses trade policy. On September 9, 1965, Navy Cmdr. The Germanic fighters demolished the three Roman legions. Hull, convinced that he was hopelessly outnumbered (he wasnt), surrendered Fort Detroit and its 2,000-man garrison without firing a shot. But his crowning achievement was bad generalship in Korea. He gritted his teeth and wore down the Confederacy with incessant attacks until the South could take no more. Thats the point. It would be nice if all American generals were great. Join FPs Ravi Agrawal for a frank discussion about the Biden administrations China policy and alternatives that it ought to consider. He is the dumb ass who gave the order to exfoliate the jungles with agent orange. 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. Many historians have said Bragg was one of the worst generals of the Civil War, having lost most of his battles. He underestimated the enemys staying power, maintaining that if he could inflict enough casualties the communists would lose heart and cease their aggression against South Vietnam.
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