Great Commanders in History

[pasukangeraktjepat]

Re: Great Commanders

Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi
After the brutalities and mass slaughter which followed the crusades Salahuddin Ayubi was the one who set an example of tolerance and justice after he banished the crusaders. He would always prefer humble living quarters over the luxurious palaces.
when the Sultan captured Jerusalem in 1187, he gave free pardon to the Christians living in the city. Only the combatants were asked to leave the city on payment of a nominal ransom. In most of the cases, the Sultan provided the ransom money from his own pocket and even provided them transport. A number of weeping Christian women carrying their children in their arms approached the Sultan and said `You see us on foot, the wives, mothers and dauthers of the warriors who are your prisoners; we are quitting forever this country; they aided us in our lives, in losing them we lose our last hope; if you give them to us, they can alleviate our miseries and we shall not be without support on earth'. The Sultan was highly moved with their appeal and set free their men. Those who left the city were allowed to carry all their bag and baggage. The humane and benevolent behaviour of the Sultan with the defeated Christians of Jerusalem provides a striking contrast to the butchery of the Muslims in this city at the hands of the Crusaders ninety years before. The commanders under the Sultan vied with each other in showing mercy to the defeated Crusaders.

There is new movie from hollywood,titled 'Kingdom of Heaven',it is a story about the citizen in Jerusalem in the Crusade era.Sultan Salahudin Al-Ayubi will appear in that movue,i hope the hollywood producer doesn't make a bias to his character,Because he was truly noble leader.

 

[Pendekar]

Re: Great Commanders

i wonder what will happen if Alexander go on with his plan to invade the powerfull magadha kingdom. maybe his rebelious troops have save him from devastating defeat.

 

[pasukangeraktjepat]

Re: Great Commanders

Maybe alexander can include some of indian in his army,just like what he do to the persian.Then if alexander kept pushing around the world we can see the first multilateral force.Just imagining.

 

[Pendekar]

Re: Great Commanders

battle of ain jalut: in this battle, for the first time since their expansion, the mongol were decisively defeated by the egyprtian Memeluke.

 

[Pendekar]

Re: Great Commanders

here's the link to the detail analysis of the war between mongols and mamluks.

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst372/readings/amitai-preiss.html

 

[mysterious]

Re: Great Commanders

Pendekar, is it possible to stop posting a dozen posts when you could easily say what you have to in one or two?

Anywayz, I've heard about the movie Kingdom of Heaven as well and actually have collected a few articles in which people who've seen the pre-released version of the movie have expressed their concerns about its accuracy and unbiased nature.

Saladin has been portrayed quite properly but he is not given much spotlight as his Christian counterparts are - especially Balian of Ibelin - on whom the entire movie focuses. Its directed by Ridley Scott and unsurprisingly the movie takes the same road as Gladiator did (man rises from slavery to become a knight and protector of Jerusalem in KoH's case).

Still, after reading the reviews of the pre-released version, I felt the movie is going to show the crusades as if they were a good thing and that the defenders of Jerusalem were the good side as compared to the attackers (Saladin and his forces) which is utter B.S!!

They have distorted historical facts quite a bit but lets wait and see if Ridley has kept his ears open to the criticism and finally decided to make the final version of the movie more acceptable (even though I've been hearing he has tried his best but who knows). We'll just hafta wait and see ourselves on May 6th!! Here's my blog following the developments:

http://mytwocentz.blogspot.com

 

[Awang se]

Re: Great Commanders

During meideval age, Asiatic type of warfare were considered more advance then that of Europe. In Europe warfare, they depend on the mass weight of the attack in order to break enemy lines. thus we se that the composition of the european forces at that time made up mainly by heavily armored knights. In asia, the strategies revolved around the speed and mobility instead of brute strength. if in europe, 2 armies will form a line, march straight forward and meet each other head on, the asians favor a war of maneuvers. thus we se the asian force compositions of light dexterous fighters with little or no armor. Asian favor the light range cavalry and this make their forces really flexible.

i wish to write longer but my time is limited, so sorry.

 

[mysterious]

Re: Great Commanders

Well its almost end of May and I have to appologize for not commenting on the movie Kingdom of Heaven after watching it, first day first show. The movie, to be frank, lacked the Ridley Scott quality that we were able to see in Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, probably because of the fact that in trying to please everyone else, he got carried away from his originality for once.

Balian, the character that the movie is centred up on is shown so much of a moderate that only a fiction writer could give you, because in reality, he was just the same as any other crusader that went to the Holy Land (Templars are shown being hanged in the movie for their extremist acts against Muslims - they were made the scapegoats you can say).

The great Battle of the Two Horns of Hattin which was the turning point in the re-taking of Jerusalem by Muslims is not even shown in the heavily edited theatrical version of the movie. We can only 'hope' it is there in the DVD version as Scott has claimed it to be almost an hour longer than the theatrical one.

I must say that the seige of Jerusalem has been shown superbly (of course we can, at times, rule out the bit of bias that Ridley would put in favor of the defenders). Leadership of Saladin has been made to feel when you watch this movie. Even though, not as up to the mark as its predecessors, the movie is still a 'must' watch.

 

[Spartan JKM]

The Greatest Captains of Military History

I had a lot of fun, my primary aim, in compiling my own 'top military leaders list', which I constantly revise thanks to the contributions and suggestions of other posters, whom I thank.
Of course, it is entirely subjective and extremely vulnerable to criticism. I would like to point out that there really is no such indisputable title 'greatest general of all time'. An attempt to 'prove' who was superior among great commanders is pointless and futile, but comparing great commanders and opining whom was 'better' makes for fascinating conjecture. C'mon, you all enjoy the debates, right? I sure do! Let's have fun!

Perhaps a list such as this could be broken up into two major TIERS - before gunpowder, which would comprise all the commanders before the 1420s or so, and after gunpowder. Gunpowder did indeed exist in China in the 9th century, but was used almost exclusively for pyrotechnics. The knowledge and technology of gunpowder was transmitted to Europe via the Middle East. The Arabs produced the first known working gun in 1304. Gunpowder was used in warfare from the 14th century but it was not generally adapted to civil purposes until the 17th century, when it began to be used in mining. It was the Hussites under the brilliant Jan Zizka and Andrew Procop who showed what gunpowder could do on the battlefield if employed with bold imagination.

Moreover, a vast list could be piecemealed under specifics: strategic, tactical, operational, revolutionary, guerilla and artillery leaders etc. How much credit do monarchs merit in certain campaigns? Edward III and Henry V surely deserve all the credit. Elizabeth I? Maybe. Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin? Absolutely not, in my opinion (this is arguable).

The circumstances of war may never be repeated, but the essence of major tactics and strategy have not changed. It is the methods of their applications, due to the changes in technology, that have altered. Thus we can indeed compare the ancient commanders with the modern ones (IMHO) from this point of view. I will add that ones with autocratic power, such as Alexander, answered to no government, which certainly ameliorated his situation for conquest. What if Hannibal had been the absolute ruler of Carthage? He merely could have ordered supplies and troops to be sent to him in southern Italy after his devastating victory at Cannae. The pressure might have been too much for the Senate.

What if Hitler had listened to Erich von Manstein and not become so obsessed with solely capturing Stalingrad, which surpassed all rationality, and concentrated a bulk of his forces towards capturing the oilfields in the Caucasus, thus porobably grinding the Soviets to a halt? It all makes for great hypothesis - which is all it can be.

So, what makes a great general? Many things, of course, and no man is infallible. Adaptation. Improvisation. Panache. Magnanimity. Non hesitation. Decisiveness. Exerting discipline and iron will into his troops. A political understanding. All great ideas are simple (at least to a genius). Perhaps the biggest, if one is most paramount, attribute to a great commander is his ability to identify a 'simple' solution to victory before his opponent in battle. Logistically, exploiting the terrain and weather is invaluable. The greats had them all. B.H. Liddell Hart, the renowned theorist (among many things he was), says the most important quality is to strike at an opponents' Achilles Heel. But one must find that weak point. A good soldier will conceal his weak point the best he can.

With all things considered, such as Epaminondas' and Gustavus' innovations and Hannibal's and Narses' tactical genius, I consider Alexander to be the towering figure of military history. For what it merits, no other has successfully 'linked' the East and West, thus he was a cultural reformer. His troop dispositions were perfect (if there is such a thing), and his battle victories were incredible. He indeed commanded an army much superior than what he faced, but he was outnumbered considerably and his battle dispositions were perfect (Gaugamela). The military machine left to him from Philip II was the world's first standing army and raised by the world's first universal military service. There has perhaps been no greater practitioner of a great system than Alexander. Hannibal, Scipio Africanus, Chinggis Khan and Napoleon were certainly comparable. Heinz Guderian was probably the greatest exponent of 'Blitzkrieg' at the start of WWII, which proved incrediblty efficacious initially.

Napoleon was as able as any other in history, but his colossal ambition was beyond his, or any man's, reach. His hands were trying to reach the moon. He was extant in a time when no Alexander could thrive. Man cannot be God.

Chinggis Khan may have impacted the world as much as any other, and the truth is he was a visionary leader whose conquests joined backward Europe with the flourishing cultures of Asia to trigger a global awakening, an unprecedented explosion of technologies, trade, and ideas, all filtered via the Silk Road. His great general Subotai was probably history's greatest grand strategist.

Though Alexander's empire did not endure as Rome's did or was as vast as that of the Mongols, his legacy probably outlasts any other military figure, other than perhaps the Prophet Mohammed, and maybe Constantine, and his work was one of near cosmogony. He was a genius. He was a madman. He was a visionary. He was a mass-murderer. He was a liberator. He was intoxicated with power. He was chivalrous when not opposed. Was he all of these? Was he any of these?
No one leader has personally marched so far so fast, in which he led an army replete with cavalry and infantry, some 15,000 miles in 14 years.
This may be a stretch, but neither the Roman empire, the triumphant route of Christianity, the Byzantine empire nor Arabian civilization would have germinated and fostered as significantly as they did without the works of Alexander. Of course, that wasn't his plan, as Julius Caesar couldn't have known he indirectly shaped French civilization with his conquest of Gaul.

As a field general who sustained his army in enemy territory so adeptly, with that enemy assidiously dogging him, with only grudging support from his own state, who could have sent him troops in 215 B.C. through the Straits of Messena (Messina), Hannibal has no equal. His campaign was the first in which strategic endurance played the pivotal role. Rome adapted brilliantly. He also provided the posterity of warfare with a textbook display of tactical perfection in a pitched battle at Cannae in 216 B.C.

In the 220s B.C. Shih Huang-ti created the first unified Chinese empire - the Ch'in Dynasty, hence 'China'. He developed an astounding military force (he never personally led his armies in battle), replete with a shock cavalry force, and consolidated China. His domain collapsed just 4 years after his death, but he did usher in the great Han Dynasty. He established a centralized administration and constructed a network of roads and canals. He fought against the steppe peoples from the northern desert, and he began that immense work, the Great Wall of China, to set limits to their incursions.

Feudal warlords of the steppes of the Asian interior, such as Mete Han (late 3rd century to early 2nd century B.C.) and Ran Min (mid 4th century A.D.) carried out devastating campaigns of efficient destruction with their indefatigable armies of horsemen.
Wanyan Min, or Wanyan Aguda, founder of the Jin Dynasty and one of military history's greatest mounted warriors, defeated 700,000 Liao (Qidan) troops with 20,000 (this is not a typo) of his superbly armored and skilled Jurchen cavalrymen at the Battle of Hubudagang in 1115. The Liao Dynasty by this time was very decadent, but those odds are ridiculous! The following year, Aguda completed the conquest of the entire Liaodong Peninsula (northeastern China). Between 1119 and 1122, Aguda's army repeatedly defeated Liao armies and captured all of Liao's five capitals. The Mongols destroyed the Jin in 1234. By this time, however, the Jin was seriously weakened by internal strife.

I have categorized my compilation into three Tiers.

TIER 1 - The very best. I have added in parantheses each commander's great military victory. This gets difficult; I am steadfast about the top 4, but how can one discern that Marlborough was indisputably better than Gustavus Adolphus?. It comes down to our own subjective preferences. Remeber, too, history is written by the winners.
The quality of one's work is a little more important than the breadth (who am I to judge the 'quality', right?). This doesn't necessarily mean final victory for one's cause. For example, Epaminondas and Philip II of Macedon won just 3 major victories between them, smashing ones, which displayed tactical innovation. But it seems to me they were military geniuses above others who may have conquered more people and terrotory, such as Tamerlane and Hernan Cortes.

TIER 2 - The next level. These commanders could very well have possessed genius on par with the TIER 1 leaders, but something precludes them from being ranked with the others. For example, Tamerlane, an amazing leader, was no fool, but basically a bandit on a massive scale with no political foresight. he simply conquered, not settled. On the flip side, one might argue with "who cares?"; the scope of Tamerlane's conquests rival that of Chinggis Khan. Superfluous to say, this is all debatable. I may have shown a little too much impressionability for the Christian Crusaders, who have been the subject of much romanticism. Let me know what you think.

TIER 3 - These commanders, in some form or another, warrant attention more positively than negatively. I may have underrated some, such as Nathan Forrest, and the likes of Crassus and McClellan were moderate commanders at best. I include bandits, revolutionists and operational commanders. I realize TIER 3 may be too broad. Perhaps there should be a 4th? A 5th?

I do not include the likes of Elizabeth I, Queen of England or Adolf Hitler, as they cannot be given credit for the military successes, in battle, of their nation's armies. That credit goes to their subordinates. They do merit credit (or accountability) for their influence upon human history.

I hope I haven't expounded too much. By all means, I would love approvals, reprovals and suggestions etc., etc. Remember, this is all my opinion, and I am just an avocational amateur.

My compilation of captains comprises the next 3 posts.

 

[Spartan JKM]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

TIER 1
This is my 'top 10' list (16, actually).

Alexander III Alexandros III Philippou Makedonon 'the Great' (Guagamela 331 B.C.)

Hannibal Hannibal Barca (Cannae 216 B.C.)

Napoleon I Napoleone Buonaparte, Emperor of France (Austerlitz 1805 A.D.)

Chinggis (Genghis) Khan Temujin 'Universal Ruler' (Indus River 1221 A.D.)

Publius Cornelius Scipio Scipio Africanus Major (Ilipa 206 B.C.)

John Churchill Duke of Marlborough (Blenheim 1704 A.D.)

Gustavus II (Gustavus Adolphus, Gustaf Adolph) King of Sweden (Breitenfeld 1631 A.D.)

Belisarius Flavius Belisario (Constantinople 559 A.D.)

Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington (Salamanca 1812 A.D.)

Subotai Subedei Ba'adur (Kalka River 1223 A.D.)

Gaius Julius Caesar (Pharsalus 48 B.C.)

Frederick II King of Prussia 'the Great' (Leuthen 1757 A.D.)

Epaminondas (Leuctra 371 B.C.)

Philip II King of Macedon (Chaeronea 338 B.C.)

Khalid ibn al-Walid the Sword of Allah (Yarmuk River 636 A.D.)

Horatio Nelson Viscount Nelson (Trafalgar 1805 A.D.) - Probably the greatest ever at sea


TIER 2
These commanders are the next level. I do not rank these; they are listed chronologically.


Tuthmosis III Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt

Cyrus Achaemenid King of Persia 'the Great'

Shi Huang-ti Chao Cheng, Emperor of China

Gaius Marius

Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Trajanus) Roman Emperor 'Optimus Princeps'

Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus) Roman Emperor 'Restitutor Orbis'

Constantine I (Flavius Valerius Constantinus) Roman Emperor 'the Great'

Narses Narseus

Heraclius

Charles Martel (Carolus Martellus) Frankish Ruler 'the Hammer'

Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus) Charles I, King of the Franks 'the Great'

Alfred King of Wessex 'the Great'

Godfrey (Godefroy) Duke de Bouillon

Wanyan Aguda (Shizu) Jin Founder 'Taizu'

Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf bin Ayyub) Kurdish Muslim Leader

Richard I King of England 'Coeur de Lion'

Edward III King of England

Timur Timur Lenk, hence Tamerlane

Henry V King of England

Jan Zizka

Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba El Gran Capitan

Selim I Ottoman Sultan 'the Grim

Babur (Zahiruddin Muhammed Babur) Moghul Founder 'the Tiger'

Suleiman (Suleymaniye) I Ottoman Sultan 'the Magnificent'

Oda Nobunaga

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange

Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector of the Commonwealth

Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne Vicomte Turenne

Louis II de Bourbon Duc d'Enghien and Prince de Conde 'the Great Conde'

Charles XII King of Sweden

Eugene Prinz Francois-Eugen of Savoy-Carignan

Nadir Shah (Nadir Qoli Beg) Shah of Persia

Maurice de Saxe Hermann Moritz

George Washington

Aleksandr Vasilevich Suvorov Generalissimus

Louis Nicolas Davout Duc d'Auerstadt and Prince d'Eckmuhl 'the Iron Marshal'

Charles Karl Ludwig, Archduke of Austria

Johann Josef Wenzel Radetzky Graf Radetzky von Radetz

Thomas Jonathan Jackson Stonewall Jackson

Robert E(dward) Lee

Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke Count

Mustafa Kemal Kemal Ataturk 'Gazi'

Erwin (Johannes Eugen) Rommel the Desert Fox

George Smith Patton Old Blood and Guts

Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim Baron

Heinz Wilhelm Guderian

Erich von Manstein Fritz-Erich von Lewinski

Georgiy Konstantinovich Zhukov

Vo Nguyen Giap

 

[Spartan JKM]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

TIER 3
Some of these were moderate at best, thus I am certain many more could merit being placed. Perhaps this assemblage should serve as a gauge for study, so please suggest if one is missing and I'll gladly add him/her.

BEFORE CHRIST

Sargon King of Akkad 'the Great', Suppiluliumas Hittite King, Rameses II Pharaoh of Egypt, Gideon Jerub-baal, Wu Wang Chi Fa 'the Martial King', Tiglath Pileser I King of Assyria, Chou Kung Chi Tan, Ashurnasirpal II King of Assyria, Shalmaneser III King of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser III King of Assyria, Sargon II King of Assyria, Sennacherib King of Assyria, Esarhaddon King of Assyria, Ashurbanipal King of Assyria, Nabopolasser King of Babylonia, Cyaxeres King of Media, Nebuchadnezzar II King of Babylonia, Sun Tzu (Wu) Honorable Sun, Darius I King of Persia 'the Great', Artaphrenes the Elder, Miltiades, Leonidas I King of Sparta, Gelon Tyrant of Syracuse, Pausanius, Leotychides, Themistocles, Cimon, Leosthenes, Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, Sitalkes Odrysian King 'the Great', Pagondas, Brasidas, Hannibal Hannibal Mago, Gylippus, Alcibiades, Himilco, Lysander, Agesilaus King of Sparta, Iphicrates, Conon, Marcus Furius Camillus, Pelopidas, Dionysius Tyrant of Syracuse, Artaxerxes II King of Persia 'Mnemon', Marcus Valerius Corvus, Titus Manlius Torquatus Imperiosus, Timoleon, Parmenio the Old General, Craterus, Antipitar, Antigonus I Cyclops, Chandragupta Maurya Mauryan Founder 'Sandracottus', Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, Agathocles Tyrant of Syracuse, Ptolemy I Soter, Demetrius I Demetrius Poliorcetes, Lysimachus, Seleucus I Nicator, Publius Cornelius Dolabella, Pyrrhus King of Epirus, Appius Claudius Caudex, Manius Curius Dentatus, Xanthippus, Marcus Atilius Regulus, Asoka, Adherbal, Gaius Lutatius Catalus, Hamilcar Barca Lightning, Gaius Duilius, Ming T'ien, Chou T'o, Lucius Aemilius Papus, Gaius Atilius Regulus, Lucius Caecilius Metellus, Publius Cornelius Scipio the Elder, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, Gaius Flaminius, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Hasdrubal Barca, Gaius Claudius Nero, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator, Mago Magon Barca, Marcus Valerius Laevinus, Marcus Livius Salinator, Attalus I King of Pergamun 'Soter', Hsiang Yu Xiang Yu, Liu Bang Kao-tse 'Gaozu', Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiagenes, Manius Acilius Glabrio, Antiochus III King of Syria 'the Great', Prusias I King of Bithynia 'Cholos', Philopoemen, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, Mete Han Maodun, Titus Quinctius Flamininus, Philip V King of Macedon, Antiochus IV King of Syria 'Epiphanes', Judas Maccabaeus the Hammer, Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, Eumenes II King of Pergamun 'Soter', Masinissa King of Numidia, Viriathus, Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Minor, Ho Qu-bing, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Quintus Sertorius, Spartacus, Mithridates IV King of Pontus 'the Great', Ariovistus Friend, Lucius Licinius Lucullus Ponticus, Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives, Surena Eran Suren-Pahlev, Vercingetorix, Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus 'the Great', Juba I King of Numidia, Pharnaces II King of Pontus, Titus Taurus Statilius, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.

TIER 3 continues on the next post.

 

[Spartan JKM]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

TIER 3 cont'd.

ANNO DOMINI

Augustus Caesar Gaius Octavius, Germanicus Caesar Nero Claudius Germanicus, Arminius Hermann, Liu Xiu (Han-Guang Wu Di) Han Emperor, Boudicca (Boadicea) Queen of the Iceni, Gaius Paulinus Suetonius, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, Eleazar bin Yair, Flavius Josephus Joseph ben Matthias, Bar Kochba Simon bar Kochba, Severus Lucius Septimius Severus, Chu-ko Liang, Cao Cao Wei Wudi 'Mengde', Ardashir I Sassanid Founder of Persia, Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, Publius Septimius Odaenathus, Claudius II Marcus Aurelius Claudius 'Gothicus', Shapur I Sassanid King of Persia, Shi Le Great Chieftain, Constantius II Illyricum 'Junior Emperor', Ran Min, Shapur II Sassanid King of Persia, Fritigern King of the Visigoths, Theodosius I Flavius Theodosius 'the Great', Flavius Stilicho, Alaric I King of the Visigoths, Attila the Hun 'the Scourge of God', Flavius Aetius, Geiseric King of the Vandals, Odoacar (Odavacer) King of the Heruli, Clovis I King of the Franks, Theodoric King of the Ostrogoths 'the Great', Arthur King Arthur (legendary), Priscus, Totila (Baduila) King of the Ostrogoths, AEthilfrith King of Northumbria, Raedwald King of East Anglia, Muhammed the Prophet of Islam, Umar ibn al-Khattab Caliph of Islam, Amr-ibn-al-As, Rustam Farokhzad, Sa'ad ibn abu-Wakkas, Tariq ibn Zayid, Mohammed ibn-Kasim, T'ai tsung Lin Shih-min, Pelayo, Eudes (Odo) Duke of Aquitaine, Leo III Byzantine Emperor 'the Isaurian', An Lu-shan, Hsuan-tsung, Harun al-Rashid, Egbert King of Wessex, AEthelwulf King of Wessex, Basil I Byzantine Emperor 'the Macedonian', Arpad Chief of the Magyars, Edward King of Wessex 'the Elder', Simeon I Tsar of Bulgaria, Harold I (Harald Haarfager) King of Norway, Henry I German King 'the Fowler', John Kurkuas, Nicephorus II Byzantine Emperor 'Phocas', Otto I Holy Roman Emperor 'the Great', John I (John Tzimisces) Byzantine Emperor, Muhammed Almansour Abi emir 'the Victorious', Boleslav I (Boleslav Chobri) King of Poland 'the Brave', Brian Boru, Basil II Byzantine Emperor 'Bulgaroktonos', Mahmud Sultan of Ghazni, Canute (Knut) II Danish King of Denmark, England, and Norway, Fulk III (Fulk Nerra) Count of Anjou 'the Black', Harold II (Harold Godwinsson) Earl of Wessex, Tughril Beg Seljuk Turk Founder, Alp Arslan (Muhammed ben Da'ud) Seljuk Sultan of Persia 'the Valiant Lion', Robert Guiscard the Resourceful, William I Duke of Normandy and King of England 'the Conqueror', El Cid or El Campeador Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar), Bohemond (Marc Guiscard), Baldwin (of Boulogne) I Latin King of Jerusalem, Alexius I Byzantine Emperor 'Comnenus', Sigurd I (Sigurd Magnusson) King of Norway 'the Crusader', Baldwin (of Le Bourg) II Latin King of Jerusalem, Alfonso I King of Aragon and Navarre, Boleslav III King of Poland 'Wrymouth', Waldemar I King of Denmark 'the Great', Richard de Clare 2nd Earl of Pembroke 'Strongbow', Baldwin IV Latin King of Jerusalem, Alfonso I King of Portugal 'Henriques the Conqueror', Minamoto Yoshitsune, Frederick I (Frederick Hohenstauffen) Holy Roman Emperor 'Barbarossa', Kilij Arslan II (Izz ad-Din Kilij Arslan) Seljuk Sultan of Rum, Enrico Dandolo Doge of Venice, Muhammed of Ghor Muizz al Din Muhammed, Kaloyen Asen Johannizza 'the Roman Killer', Alfonso VIII King of Castile 'the Noble', Simon de Montfort IV Lord of Montfort, Chepe (Jebe Noyan), Philip II (Phillippe Auguste) King of France, Alfonso II King of Portugal 'the Fat', Muqali, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu Khwarezm Sultan, Hermann von Salza, Chormaqan Noyan, Waldemar II King of Denmark, Frederick II Holy Roman Emperor, Batu Batu Khan, Hulagu Hulagu Khan, Kaidu Kaidu Khan, Kadan, Alexander Nevsky (Alexander Vsevolodovich) Prince of Novgorad, Simon de Montfort Earl of Leicester, Baybars I Mamluk Sultan, Liu Cheng, Rudolf I German King 'Rudolf of Hapsburg', Kublai Khan, Jan I Duke of Brabant 'the Victorious', Pedro III King of Aragon, William Wallace, Edward I King of England 'Longshanks', Hojo Tokimune, Robert I King of Scotland 'the Bruce', Alfonso XI King of Castile and Leon, Stefan Dusan, Orkhan Ottoman Sultan, Edward de Bailol, Edward Prince of Wales 'the Black Prince', Bertrand Du Guesclin, Louis I King of Hungary and Poland 'the Great', Pedro IV King of Aragon, Murad I Ottoman Sultan, John Hawkwood, Beyazid I (Yildirim) Ottoman Sultan 'Thunderbolt', Owen Glendower (Owain Glyn Dwr), Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc), Nun'Alvares Pereira the Great Constable, Ladislaus II (Ladislaus Jagiello) King of Poland, Andrew Procop Procopius the Great, Janos Hunyadi, Alfonso V King of Aragon and Alfonso I King of Naples 'the Magnanimous', Muhammed II Ottoman Sultan 'the Conqueror', Isabella I Queen of Aragon, Castile and Leon 'the Catholic', Henry VII (Henry Tudor) King of England, Francisco de Almeida, Gaston de Foix Duc de Nemours, Ferdinand V King of Castile and Leon and Ferdinand II King of Aragon and Ferdinand III King of Naples 'the Catholic', Ismail Shah of Persia, Georg von Frundsberg, Francisco Pizarro, Pedro de Alvarado, Khair ad-Din Barbarossa, Hernan Cortes (Hernando Cortez, Jan Tarnowski, Charles V Holy Roman Emperor, Takeda Shingen Kai-Shugo, Don Juan de Austria, Fernando Alvarez de Toledo Duque de Alba (Alva), Ivan IV Tsar of Russia 'the Terrible', William I Prince of Orange 'the Silent', Stephen Bathory, Alessandro Farnese Duke of Parma, Yi Sun-shin, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Akbar Mughal Emperor 'the Great', Stephen Bocskay, Henri IV King of France, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Jan Chodkiewicz, Charles Howard 1st Earl of Nottingham, Nurhaci, Peter Ernst Graf von Mansfeld, Abbas I Shah of Persia 'the Great', Ambrogio Spinola Marques de Balbases, Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim, Johann Tserclaes Graf von Tilly, Albrecht von Wallenstein Duke of Friedland and Mecklenburg, Bernhard Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Johan Baner, Duo'ergun Dorgon, Franz Freiherr Baron von Mercy, Hargobind Guru, Stanislaw Koniecpolski, James Graham Marquess of Montrose, Lennart Torstensson, Robert Blake, Ottavio Piccolomini, Bohdan Chmielnicki, Tuhaj- Bej, Jinga Queen of Ndonga and Matamba, Thomas Fairfax 3rd Baron of Cameron, Michiel de Ruyter, John Maurice Prince of Nassau-Siegen, William Cavendish Marquis of Newcastle, Raimondo Montecuccoli, Shivaji Bhonsle Shri Shivaji Maharaj, Rupert Prince of the Rhine, David Leslie, Henry Morgan Morgan the Pirate, Abraham Duquesne Marquis Duquesne, Francois Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville Duc de Luxembourg, John III (Jan Sobieski) King of Poland, Niels Juel, Menno van Coehoorn Baron, William III King of England 'William of Orange', Sebastien le Prestre de Vauban, Louis William Margrave of Baden-Baden, Aurangzeb (Alamgir) Mughal Emperor, Louis Joseph Duc de Vendome, Kangxi Hsiian-yeh, Peder Tordenskjold Thundershield, Peter I (Pyotr Alekseyevich Romanov) Tsar of Russia 'the Great', James FitzJames Duke of Berwick, Claude-Louis Hector Duc de Villars, Robert MacGregor Rob Roy, James Wolfe, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Marquis de Saint Veran, William Augustus Duke of Cumberland, Leopold Joseph Maria Count von Daun, Robert Clive 1st Baron of Plassey, Emelian Pugachev, Casimir Pulaski, Charles (Karl Alexander) Prince of Lorraine, Haidar Ali, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia Sardar, Nathanael Greene, Ethan Allen, Francois-Joseph Paul Comte de Grasse, Jacques Hippolyte Comte de Guibert, Grigoriy Potemkin, Ferdinand Duke of Brunswick, John Burgoyne Gentleman Johnny, John Paul Jones, Richard Howe 1st Earl Howe, Benedict Arnold, Ralph Abercrombie, Daniel Morgan, Francois Toussant-L'Ouverture, Charles Cornwallis Lord, Horatio Gates, Jean Dessalines, Aleksei Orlov, Gerard Lake 1st Viscount, Jean Lannes Duc de Montebello, John Moore, Isaac Brock, Pyotr Bagration, Gerhardt von Scharnhorst Graf, Tecumseh, Mikhail Kutuzov, Josef Poniatowski, Hugh Robert Rollo Rollo Gillespie, William Howe 5th Viscount Howe, Joachim Murat King of Naples, Louis Berthier Prince of Wagram and Neufchatel, Michel Ney Duc d'Elchingen and Prince de la Moscowa 'le Brave des Braves', Pierre Augereau Duc de Castiglione, Karadjordje Djordje Petrovich, Andre Massena Duc de Rivoli, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Mikhail Barclay de Tolly, Gerbhard von Blucher Prince of Wahlstadt, Oliver Perry, Manuel Belgrano, Charles Dumouriez, Lazare Carnot the Organizer of Victory, Francis Rawdon 1st Marquess of Hastings, Shaka Shaka Zulu, Simon Bolivar, Antonio Jose de Sucre, Robert Stopford, Marie-Joseph du Mortier Marquis de Lafayette, Tomas Zumalacarregui, Hari Singh Nalwa Sardar, William Harrison, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte Prince of Ponte Corvo (later became Charles XIV King of Sweden), Andrew Jackson, Muhammed Ali Pasha of Egypt, Jose de San Martin, Juan Martin de Pueyrredon, Thomas Bugeaud, Zachary Taylor, Nicolas Soult Duc de Dalmatie, Francisco Castanos, Jose Ballivian, Auguste Marmont Duc de Ragusa, Charles Napier, William Beresford Viscount Beresford, Fitzroy Somerset 1st Baron Raglan, Pavel Nakhimov, Thomas Cochrane 10th Earl of Dundonald, Harry Smith Sir Harry, Ignacio Zaragoza, Frederick Ward, Colin Campbell 1st Baron Clyde, Samuel Houston, John Buford, John Morgan, James Stuart Jeb Stuart, Ambrose Hill, Winfield Scott, Francesco Serrano, Antoine-Henri de Jomini Baron, Justo Jose de Urquiza, David Farragut, George Thomas, Shamyl Imam Shamyl of Dagestan, George Meade, Henry Halleck Old Brains, Cochise Chiricahua, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Gordon Granger, George Custer, Braxton Bragg, Nathan Forrest, Crazy Horse Tashunca-uitco, Saigo Takamori the Last Samurai, Albrecht Theodor Emil Graf von Roon, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Mikhail Skobelev, Abd al-Qadir Emir of Algeria, Cetchewayo, Charles Gordon Chinese Gordon, Muhammad Ahmad the Mahdi, George McClellan, Ulysses S(impson) Grant, Philip Sheridan, Sitting Bull Tatanka-ioytanka, William Sherman Uncle Billy, Francois Canrobert, John Chard, William Rosencrans, Piet Joubert, James Longstreet, Chief Joseph In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat, Maximo Gomez, Bartolome Mitre, Gevork Chavoush, Geronimo Goyathlay, Red Cloud Makhpiya-luta, Marasuke Nogi, Menilek II Emperor of Ethiopia, Garnet Wolseley Viscount Wolseley, Alfred von Schlieffen Graf, Frederick Roberts 1st Earl of Kandahar, Pretoria and Waterford, Joshua Chamberlain, Iwao Oyama, Horatio Kitchener Earl of Khartoum and Broome, George Dewey, Frederick Maude, Emiliano Zapata, Theodore Roosevelt Teddy Roosevelt, John Fisher 1st Baron of Kilverstone, Herbert Plumer 1st Viscount, Michael Collins, Henry Wilson, Francisco Villa Pancho Villa, Vladimir Lenin ne Ulyanov, Mikhail Frunze, John French 1st Earl of Ypres, Aleksey Brusilov, Ferdinand King of Rumania, Max Hoffmann, Andranik Ozanian Pasha, Douglas Haig 1st Earl Haig, Alvaro Obregon, Georges Clemenceau, Ferdinand Foch, John Monash, Omar Al-Mukhtar, Alexander Cobbe, Joseph Joffre, Arthur Currie, Albert I King of the Belgians, Louis Lyautey, Heihachiro Togo, Paul von Hindenburg, Thomas Edward Lawrence Lawrence of Arabia, Josef Pilsudski, Juan Vicente Gomez, Edmund Allenby 1st Viscount of Megiddo and Felixstowe, Hans von Seeckt, Erich von Ludendorff, Leon Trotsky Lev Bronstein, Walter von Reichenau, Isoroku Yamamoto, Franc Stane, Charles Wingate Orde Wingate, August von Mackensen, Walther Model, John Gort Viscount, Draza Mihajlovic, Tomokjuki Yamashita the Tiger of Malaya, Phillipe Leclerc Vicomte de Hauteclocque, John Pershing Black Jack, Walther von Brauchitsch, Archibald Wavell 1st Earl Wavell, Sudirman Panglima Besar Sudirman, Petre Dumitrescu, Jan Smuts, Thomas Blamey, Gerd von Runstedt, Hugh Trenchard, George Marshall, Leslie Morshead, Albert Kesselring, Harold Alexander 1st Earl of Tunis, Alan Francis 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, Douglas MacArthur, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, Alvin York Sergeant York (heroic addition), Chester Nimitz, Ernesto 'Che' Guevera, Konstantin Rokossovsky, Dwight Eisenhower Ike, Raymond Spruance, Ho Chi Minh Nguyen Sinh Huy, Hugh Dowding 1st Baron, Semyon Timoshenko, Andrei Yeremenko, William Slim 1st Viscount of Yarralumla and Bishopston, Charles de Gaulle, Lin Biao, Sam Bahadur Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, Lewis Puller Chesty Puller, Chen Yi, Ivan Koniev, Frank Fletcher, David Ben-Gurion, Chiang Kai-shek Jiang Jieshi, Francisco Franco, Anthony McAuliffe, Chu Teh Zhu De, Mao Tse-tung Mao Zedong, Bernard Montgomery 1st Viscount, Aleksandr Vasilevski, Kurt Student, Karl Donitz, Anthony McAuliffe, Mark Clark, Josip Tito, Omar Bradley, Moshe Dayan, Richard O'Connor, Claude Auchinleck the Auk, Aksel Airo, Bekor Ghoulian, Shahen Meghrian, Matthew Ridgway, Kim Il-Sung, Chaim Bar-Lev, Garegin Nzhdeh, William Westmoreland, Abdul Haris Nasution, Suharto Kemusa Argamulja, Fidel Castro, Arkady Ter-Tadevossian, H. Norman Schwarzkopf Stormin' Norman, and Wesley Clark. Too early for Tommy Franks?.

"War is all hell" - William T. Sherman

Thanks and enjoy, Spartan JKM

 

[Spartan JKM]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

Accidentally double posted the continuation of TIER 3.

 

[webmaster]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

Whoa! Did you write this? Excellent thread. I have not read yet but sure will. :coffee

 

[Spartan JKM]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

Thank you Webmaster. Yes, this list I put together by myself initially, casually and slowly, over some months last year :coffee . Only the top 2 tiers I can discuss and debate at length. Many of the commanders on TIER 3 I know very little about, other than they accomplished something worthy of mention.

Much of the information came from books on battles.

Again, thank you, and I will montior this thread to contribute to discussions.

This is a terrific site! Spartan JKM

 

[webmaster]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

No Problemo. Thanks for the compliment. Also, there is this topic on "commanders" already, you may want to check it out.

http://www.defencetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1676

I could merge this topic with that one but I will not for now... enjoy!

 

[Spartan JKM]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

I didn't see the other thread, and should have realized that a 'commanders' topic surely existed. This list is part of the subject of the other thread, and could be merged with the other topic. Whatever you would like to do.

Spartan JKM

 

[adsH]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

Prophet Muhammed Was Listed earlier as one of the great LEaders. if he was listed i think Omar Bin Khatab the Second Calif should be mentioned.



ENCYCLOPEDIA: CALIPHATE,
office and realm of the caliph as supreme leader of the Muslim community and successor of the Prophet Muhammad. Under Muhammad the Muslim state was a theocracy, with the Sharia, the religious and moral principles of Islam, as the law of the land. Although both secular and religious leaders, the caliphs were not empowered to promulgate dogma, because it was considered that the revelation of the faith had been completed by Muhammad.

The Sunnites (followers of the Sunna, the body of Islamic custom or the Way of the Prophet), who constitute a majority of Muslims, generally consider the period of the first four caliphs the golden age of Islam. Other sects, however, as they were formed, came to regard this period and subsequent caliphates differently, and as a result great hostility has frequently arisen between the Sunnites and other Muslims, such as the SHIITES (q.v.), concerning the caliphate. During the course of Islamic history the issue of the caliphate probably has created more dissension than any other article of faith. Based on the examples of the first four “rightly guided†caliphs and companions of the Prophet, the Sunnites formulated the following requirements of the caliphate: the caliph should be an Arab of the Prophet Muhammad's tribe, the Quraysh; he should be elected and approved by a council of elders representing the Muslim community; and he should be responsible for enforcing divine law and spreading Islam by whatever means necessary, including war. In the history of the caliphate, however, all these requirements were rarely met.

The Shiites, in contrast, believing that the Prophet himself had designated his son-in-law, Ali, as both his temporal and spiritual successor, accepted only Ali's descendants (by Fatima, Muhammad's daughter) as legitimate caliphs.

The Immediate Successors.

Muhammad died in 632, leaving no instructions for the future government of the Muslim community. Islamic leaders met in Medina (now in Saudi Arabia), the capital of the Muslim world at that time, and elected Abu Bakr, the Prophet's father-in-law and closest associate, as caliph. Abu Bakr took the title khalifat Rasul Allah (Arab., “successor to the Messenger of Godâ€), from which the term caliph (Arab., khalifah, “successorâ€) is derived.

Umar I (581?–644) became the second caliph in 634, designated by Abu Bakr as his successor and accepted by all the important members of the Muslim community. Under his leadership, the first great expansion of Islam outside of Arabia took place. Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and the northern part of Mesopotamia became Islamic territories, and the armies of the Persian Empire were routed several times. Umar added the title amir-al-muminin (Arab., “commander of the believersâ€) to that of caliph.

After Umar's death in 644, Uthman ibn Affan (575?–656), Muhammad's son-in-law and one of his first converts, was appointed the third caliph by a panel of six Meccan electors. Although an elderly man, he carried on Umar's policy of territorial expansion. Eventually, however, Uthman earned the enmity of many of his subjects, who felt he favored the Meccan aristocracy in political and commercial affairs. Uthman also antagonized the Islamic preachers by issuing an official text of the Koran, with an accompanying order to destroy all other versions. Rebellious Muslim troops from al-Kufah (Iraq) and Egypt besieged Uthman in Medina and assassinated him in 656.

Umar added the title amir-al-muminin (Arab., “commander of the believersâ€) to that of caliph. powerfull to say the least!!!

the Above text is from the History Channel, i have to correct one the Sunni's don't believe in Divine Blood line of the prophet as the main requirement for caliphate. the Shiet believe that hence Ali was controversial 4th Calif (Short lived Califate as teh majority was held by the Suni's). the Umayed corrupted the whole system the Caliphate became A dynasty (Blood line was used an Excuse for Corruption) and then an Empire.

I personally Prefer Caesars Political Nature-every aspect of his leadership is worth taking note. And he did groom Augustus as his Son who Consolidated the Roman Empire!!! took revenge for Caesars "brutus" Murder. Ahem!!

 

[Spartan JKM]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

Excellent post, adsH. But did Umar I lead his men in battle?

I feel the Prophet Muhammed is one of history's great leaders, and he did indeed lead his men in battle, mostly in raids. He won at Badyrs and suffered a setback at Medina. Nothing astronomical, but he was an able military commander. His successores, however, I do not view as military commanders. They were great as administrators. Umar Bin Abdul Aziz, for example, [size=+1]paid special attention to the prison reforms. He instructed for there to be frequent inspections of jails The jail wardens were admonished not to maltreat the prisoners. Every prisoner was given a monthly stipend and proper seasonal clothing. He advised the jail authorities to inculcate love for virtue and hatred for vice among the prisoners. This education of the prisoners led to their reformation. [/size]
[size=+1] [/size]
[size=+1]Moreover, the public welfare institutions and works received much forward progress. All over the vast empire thousands of public wells and inns were constructed. Charitable dispensaries were also opened. Even travelling expenses were arranged for the needy travellers. A large number of inns were constructed on the road leading from Khorasan to Samarkand. But the military expeditions were led by the likes of Khalid ibn al-Walid (one of the greats of all time) and Sa'ad ibn abu Waakas. Now, I am no expert on this, so please correct me if I am wrong.[/size]

 

[mysterious]

Re: The Greatest Captains of Military History

Yes, Umer ibn Khattab did lead his army in battles most of the time as far as I have come to dig up.