best commander of all the time

Discussions on other historical eras.
Patras
Member
Posts: 325
Joined: 11 Jul 2003, 19:07
Location: somewhere near Japan

#61

Post by Patras » 05 Jul 2007, 19:24

Napoleon, Hannibal, Caesar, Alexander, and hundreds more...

wooly777
Member
Posts: 3
Joined: 13 Aug 2007, 23:39
Location: ireland

#62

Post by wooly777 » 15 Aug 2007, 20:44

napoleon
micheal collins
alexander the great
duke of wellington


ETBURyan
Member
Posts: 15
Joined: 22 Aug 2007, 04:15
Location: China

#63

Post by ETBURyan » 22 Aug 2007, 14:46

I would say that to be a great general you need not just win battles, but wars or at least your campaigns, depending on your level of commander. Supposed greats who didn't do this include the notable Napoleon, Lee, Hannibal, Rommel, etc.

I would limit the greats to those who not just won, but won consistently and against adversity. THere are plenty who may have been great but we will never know because they had overwhelming superiority or whatnot.

I would say...
Alexander
Chairman Mao
Duke of Wellington
Bismark
are just a few of the greats who cannot be compared to one another

Piotr Kapuscinski
Host - Allied sections
Posts: 3724
Joined: 12 Jul 2006, 20:17
Location: Poland
Contact:

#64

Post by Piotr Kapuscinski » 01 Sep 2007, 14:40

Ancient Ages: Alexander of Macedonia is the best commander of Ancient Ages, and the best commander of all times in my opinion - he never lost a single battle and made the greatest ancient empire. Tactical maneuvreus invented by Alexander are efficient even today.

Hannibal - defeated Roman Empire in so many battles

Middle Ages: Genghis Khan - conquered half of China, 3/4 of Asia and 1/3 of Europe, won all important battles

Jan Źiżka from Trocnovo - Czech Hussite commander, the best tactic of his time - he also fought in the Battle of Grunwald (as Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ally)

Al Malik Salah ad-Dinja Yusuf Abu Al Muzzafar Ibn Ayyub Al Kurdi (also known as Selahedin :P - he led his dzihad against Crusaders and crushed them.

Richard the Lionheart - king of England - fought well during Crusade and was very brave warrior but Selahedin was much better tactic and commander than Richard

Władysław Jagiello - king of Poland - commanded perfectly in the Battle of Grunwald, was very good tactic and charismatic commander

Semen Lingwen Olgierdowicz, Russian Duke of Smolensk - fought in the Battle of Grunwald as Commonwealth ally (his Banner was part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania Army), his Banner were attacked and outnumberred and didnt flew (while some of the nearest Lithuanian banners flew) - his banner suffered heavy losses, but fought with courage.

XVI-th century: Suleiman I the Magnificent

XVII-th century: Stanisław Koniecpolski - he was Pole - he never lost a single battle and won a war with Gustavus Adolphus - king of Sweden (during the war 1625 - 1629, which was part of Thirty Years War, he strike many times with him, never lost, won all big battles except one which was inconclusive - Battle of Tczew - but in the Battle of Tczew Gustavus Adolphus was heavilly wounded by Polish soldier, he hardly survived)

Stanisław Koniecpolski finally crushed Gustav Adolf in the decisive Battle of Trzciana (June 25, 1629), after the Battle of Trzciana Gustav Adolf said:

"I have never been in such a bloody bath".

Over 1,200 Swedes were killed, including the count of Ren and the son of Wrangel, Jan Wilhelm Reingraff, and a few hundred were captured. Polish losses were under 200 killed and injured.

In the Battle of Trzciana Sewedish ground forces were finally crushed, and in the sea Battle of Oliwa Swedish fleet was beaten.

However this war was millitary won on the battlefields, but Polish king - Sigmund III Vasa - squandered Koniecpolski's millitary efforts, by his totally political incompetence - king Sigmund III Vasa had very good army and very good commanders but he was the worst politician in Commonwealth during XVII-th century...

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz - he was Lithuanian - he also never lost a single battle, won all except one - which was inconclusive (Siege of Moscow :wink:). After his famous victory in the Battle of Kircholm, he became famous all over the world.

Many famous people offered him congratulations for that victory, for example:

- Paul VI - Pope
- Rudolf II Habsburg - Holy Roman Emperor
- James I Stuart - King of England
- Abbas I the Great - Shah of Persian Empire
- Ahmed I al-Mansur - Sultan of Ottoman Empire

Bohdan Chmielnicki - Commonwealth Army Cossack units commander, later Rebel Cossacks commander - one of the greatest commanders and even better charismatic leader.

Gustav Adolf - the 30 Years War proves that he was a very good commander - he was first man who managed to oppose Polish Heavy Winged Hussars - he stopped Hussary charge during the Battle of Gniew (1626) - later, in such battles like Trzciana, he couldnt repeat his succes from Gniew :)

XVIII-th century - Frederick II the Great - he defended Prussia for so many years, and managed to stop so many enemies - his army was one of the worst equipped (Prussian carbines were very bad...) but the most disciplined.

Aleksandr Wasilijewicz Suworow - cruel and bloody Russian commander, who used to murder enemies (both civilians and soldiers), who destroyed (together with Austria and Prussia commanders) Poland, Lithuania and Crimean Khanat, who defeated Pugaczow's Cossacks Rebelion, who many times beat French Army in Italy - but he was also Great commander (not worse than Frederick II the Great).

His famous words were:

"Bullet is stupid, bayonet is good!"

XIX-th century - Napoleon Bonaparte, Jackson "Stonewall", Bismarck

Shaka, king of the Zulus - http://www.encounter.co.za/article/119.html

WW I - Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - one word: GALLIPOLI - and everything is clear :)

WW II: Guderian, Patton (he was different than other American commanders - he was better - he was special and he was "damn good bastard" :D, Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov (he was the best general of Battle of Moscow - his counteroffensive was the first succesfull Russian operation against Germans in that war)

User avatar
Musashi
Member
Posts: 4656
Joined: 13 Dec 2002, 16:07
Location: Coventry, West Midlands, the UK [it's one big roundabout]
Contact:

#65

Post by Musashi » 01 Sep 2007, 21:38

Domen121, please check your mailbox.

User avatar
Cdt.Hawkins
Member
Posts: 19
Joined: 11 Aug 2007, 03:54
Location: Anglesea,Victoria,Australia

#66

Post by Cdt.Hawkins » 02 Sep 2007, 04:30

Monty or Monash.
I'll also give Rommel a mention, as with Winston Churchill

Patras
Member
Posts: 325
Joined: 11 Jul 2003, 19:07
Location: somewhere near Japan

#67

Post by Patras » 02 Sep 2007, 13:09

In Ancient Times

Asyrian: Sennacherib and Tiglath-Pileser III, (745-727 BC) he ruled "the Earth", the greater asyrian conqueror.

Greeks: Agis II, the Mantinnea Winner, Epaminondas, he finished with Spartan invicibility.

Macedonians: Alexander the Great, the God of the War

Carthago: Hannibal: Pyrenees, Alps, Tesino, Trebbia, Trasimene, the unforgottable Cannae

Rome and Bizantine Empire: Scipio Africanus, Marius, Caesar, Aetius and Belisarius

Barbarians: Attila

Regards

User avatar
John Winner
Member
Posts: 160
Joined: 19 Jun 2007, 00:49
Location: Olympia, Washington

#68

Post by John Winner » 06 Sep 2007, 09:55

How about some fellows like Alfred the Great, or William the Conqueror, or even William Marshal. Their military deeds may not have been as grand as some, but they sure did impact history.

User avatar
Alaric
Member
Posts: 169
Joined: 26 Mar 2008, 00:02
Location: Pacific Northwest USA
Contact:

Re: best commander of all the time

#69

Post by Alaric » 14 Apr 2008, 04:20

Alexander The Great is the best commander of all time, by any measure or standard. Anyone else is at best a (very) distant second.

glavasstanoje
Member
Posts: 12
Joined: 31 May 2008, 19:21
Location: srbija brale

Re: best commander of all the time

#70

Post by glavasstanoje » 31 May 2008, 20:12

Zivojin Misic is the best(battle of Kolubara)

User avatar
LWD
Member
Posts: 8618
Joined: 21 Sep 2005, 22:46
Location: Michigan

Re: best commander of all the time

#71

Post by LWD » 02 Jun 2008, 13:48

Alaric wrote:Alexander The Great is the best commander of all time, by any measure or standard. Anyone else is at best a (very) distant second.
A rather unequivacable statement about a general whose greatest campaign pretty much ended in the destruction of his army.

There are a lot of parrallels with say Atilla. It's also pretty easy to make a case for one or possibly more of the Mongol commanders being his equal or supperior. Depending on just what "measure or standard" one chooses there are a number of other candidates.

BAMAVADER
Member
Posts: 17
Joined: 24 Jun 2008, 21:47

Re: best commander of all the time

#72

Post by BAMAVADER » 12 Nov 2008, 21:41

Stonewall Jackson...

dragos03
Member
Posts: 422
Joined: 24 Jan 2004, 21:29
Location: Bucuresti

Re: best commander of all the time

#73

Post by dragos03 » 16 Nov 2008, 04:18

1. Subutai
2. Hannibal
3. Napoleon I

A notable commander from my country would be Moldavian voivode Stephen III the Great. The ruler of a small principality sandwiched between four major powers (Ottoman Empire, Hungary, Poland and The Crimean Horde), he managed to defeat them all. He won 34 of the 36 battles that he fought, and the two he lost were against impossible odds. Yet, despite the constant warfare, he stayed in power for almost 50 years. Here's a link to his greatest victory, actually one of the first major victories of an European state against the Ottomans:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_vaslui

fatihsultanmehmet
New member
Posts: 1
Joined: 04 Nov 2010, 20:33

Re: best commander of all the time

#74

Post by fatihsultanmehmet » 04 Nov 2010, 20:49

Mentioned among the great commanders in world history Bonapart'a name Napoleon, while he was in prison on the island of Saint Helena "Who's big man?" Bonaparte on to ask that mentioning Sultan Mehmed II: "Large I can not even his apprentice." Why? " If you say, does that require me to explain the fact that much of a pain it is coming from .. I do fethettiğim sword, a bedbahtım given back in life. That is the secret of the conquered areas come to pass from one generation to qualify a happy, "he revealed a truth ..
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Sultan Mehmed II. The siege lasted from Friday, 6 April 1453 until Tuesday, 29 May 1453 (according to the Julian Calendar), when the city was conquered by the Ottomans. Constantinople was defended by the army of Emperor Constantine XI. The event marked the end of the political independence of the millennium-old Byzantine Empire, which was by then already fragmented into several Greek monarchies.

Following his accession to the Ottoman throne, Mehmed applied pressure on Constantinople and the Byzantines by building forts along the Dardanelles. On 5 April, he laid siege to Constantinople with an army numbering 80,000 to 200,000 men. The city was defended by an army of 7,000 of whom 2,000 were foreigners. The siege began with heavy Ottoman artillery firing at the city's walls while a smaller Ottoman force captured the rest of the Byzantine strongholds in the area. Ottoman attempts to blockade the city completely failed at first owing to the boom blocking the entrance to the Golden Horn. This boom, a large chain pulled across from Constantinople to the Tower of Galata on the northern side, prevented unwanted ships from approaching the city, while still allowing four Christian ships through. Because Mehmed was unable to force his ships into the city, he had his ships rolled into the Golden Horn on greased logs. Byzantine efforts to destroy the ships with fire ships failed, allowing the Ottomans to seal the city off.

Turkish frontal assaults on the walls were repulsed with heavy casualties and Turkish attempts to undermine the walls were all countered and abandoned. Mehmed's offer to lift the siege, if he was given the city, was rejected. On 22 May, the moon rose in eclipse which some believed prophesied the fall of the city. A few days later Constantine received news that no Venetian relief fleet was coming. After midnight on May 29, the Ottoman army attacked the walls. The first wave of irregulars was thrown back. The second Turkish wave of Anatolians managed to breach the Blachernae section of walls. The defenders pushed back the Anatolians and managed to hold out against the Sultan's elite Janissaries. During the fighting, the Genoese commander, Giovanni Giustiniani was fatally wounded and retreated to his ships with his men. The Emperor and his men continued to hold off the Turks until the Turks discovered an unlocked gate through which they flooded into the city. Constantine reportedly fell leading a charge against the invaders, though his body was never found. The last defenders were killed and the Turks proceeded to loot the city.

This battle marked the end of the Byzantine Empire, an empire which had lasted for over 1,100 years. The city's fall was a massive blow for Christendom. Pope Nicholas V ordered an immediate counter-attack, but his death soon after marked the end of the plan. Mehmed made Constantinople his capital and proceeded to conquer the last two Byzantine states, the Despotate of Morea and the Empire of Trebizond. Many Greeks fled the city, migrating to other parts of Europe, in particular Italy. This migration is thought to have helped fuel the Renaissance. The Fall of Constantinople is seen by some scholars as a key event in leading to the end of the Middle Ages, and some mark the end of the Middle Ages by this event. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople

konstantinapolis ----- 1453 since of İSTANBULL :)))))))))) (FATİH SULTAN MEHMET HAN ) 3 continent judge

South
Member
Posts: 3590
Joined: 06 Sep 2007, 10:01
Location: USA

Re: best commander of all the time

#75

Post by South » 04 Nov 2010, 21:18

Good afternoon all,

No great commanders plied the ocean-seas ?!

An air commander, Gen Curtis Lemay, developed and fielded the world's most powerful military organization, the US Strategic Air Command.


Warm regards,

Bob

Post Reply

Return to “Other eras”