Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
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Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by Stox 16 Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:19 am
First topic message reminder :
Looking back over History there are many great commanders, Some like Marshal Kutusov was portrayed as the great Russian hero of the 1812 campaign while other believe the true hero was Barclay de Tolly who reformed and reinforced the Russian army for the 1812 campaign.
others believe Like i do that Alexander the Great was the greats war commander, as his combines triumph over great numbers with valour and obsession with vision and almost madness as he marched and fort from Greece to India a 2000 mile journey?
So who would you pick and why? what makes a great commander in your view? does he have to have almost madness and skill at the same time? what is it that you believe it takes? to fight and win against all the odds?
Looking back over History there are many great commanders, Some like Marshal Kutusov was portrayed as the great Russian hero of the 1812 campaign while other believe the true hero was Barclay de Tolly who reformed and reinforced the Russian army for the 1812 campaign.
others believe Like i do that Alexander the Great was the greats war commander, as his combines triumph over great numbers with valour and obsession with vision and almost madness as he marched and fort from Greece to India a 2000 mile journey?
So who would you pick and why? what makes a great commander in your view? does he have to have almost madness and skill at the same time? what is it that you believe it takes? to fight and win against all the odds?
Stox 16- Posts : 1064
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Age : 65
Location : Suffolk in the UK
Re: Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by astra Fri Jun 29, 2012 9:20 pm
Lord Lovat
coz 'e' was a bit of a lad!
coz 'e' was a bit of a lad!
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Re: Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by tlttf Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:02 am
Alfred the Great, probably the founder of England!
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Re: Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by keenobserver1 Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:53 am
John Churchill
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Re: Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by KnarkyBadger Fri Dec 28, 2012 10:18 pm
1) Alexander The Great of Macedon
2) Guis Julius Caesar
3) Genghis Khan
4=) Sir Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington (cos I gotta have an Irishman in the mix)
4=) Napoleon
My top 5.
2) Guis Julius Caesar
3) Genghis Khan
4=) Sir Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington (cos I gotta have an Irishman in the mix)
4=) Napoleon
My top 5.
KnarkyBadger- Posts : 94
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Re: Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by bobby Wed Dec 18, 2013 9:59 pm
After much consideration, for me it is Gaius Julius Caesar 100bc-44bc
Caesar was not just a Great General but given the times he lived in he was a bit of a humanist.
After the Civil War against Gnaeus Pompey Magnus at the battle of Pharsalus many of the Roman Soldiers who in fact fought against him where forgiven and welcomed back to Rome, Caesar allowed all of those he forgave to keep their wealth and rank, amongst those he forgave where Gaius Cassius and Marcus Junius Brutus two of the conspirators who later assassinated Caesar.
Whilst fighting the Gaul’s he chased a Gaul Leader Vercingetorix and his army (which outnumbered Caesars) to a Hill Fort called Alecium (modern day Alesia, France).
Caesar surrounded the fort complete with its occupants and built an elaborate set of defensive earthworks, later Caesar got word that an even larger Gaul army was on the way to relieve Vercingetorix. Caesars choices where to either stay and have to fight the new larger army or flee the field. Caesars choice was to build yet another set of defences and fight both Gaul army’s Knowing full well that Vercingetorix would attack the inner defences whilst the larger army attacked the outer. The Romans had to fight for their very existence, Caesar himself stayed with a mobile force within the defences and would attack any point in the wall that looked to be in serious trouble, it is said that when his Legionaries thought they had come to the end, they would see Caesar with his distinctive red cloak fighting as hard as any legionary and found a second breath. Caesar won the battle and captured Vercingetorix (later to be garrotted in Rome during Caesars Triumph).
I can not think of any other General or leader who can stand up against Caesar as not only did he dictate Tactics, he also was to be found where the fighting was the hardest. I cant think of one major battle lost by the best General ever.
Caesar was not just a Great General but given the times he lived in he was a bit of a humanist.
After the Civil War against Gnaeus Pompey Magnus at the battle of Pharsalus many of the Roman Soldiers who in fact fought against him where forgiven and welcomed back to Rome, Caesar allowed all of those he forgave to keep their wealth and rank, amongst those he forgave where Gaius Cassius and Marcus Junius Brutus two of the conspirators who later assassinated Caesar.
Whilst fighting the Gaul’s he chased a Gaul Leader Vercingetorix and his army (which outnumbered Caesars) to a Hill Fort called Alecium (modern day Alesia, France).
Caesar surrounded the fort complete with its occupants and built an elaborate set of defensive earthworks, later Caesar got word that an even larger Gaul army was on the way to relieve Vercingetorix. Caesars choices where to either stay and have to fight the new larger army or flee the field. Caesars choice was to build yet another set of defences and fight both Gaul army’s Knowing full well that Vercingetorix would attack the inner defences whilst the larger army attacked the outer. The Romans had to fight for their very existence, Caesar himself stayed with a mobile force within the defences and would attack any point in the wall that looked to be in serious trouble, it is said that when his Legionaries thought they had come to the end, they would see Caesar with his distinctive red cloak fighting as hard as any legionary and found a second breath. Caesar won the battle and captured Vercingetorix (later to be garrotted in Rome during Caesars Triumph).
I can not think of any other General or leader who can stand up against Caesar as not only did he dictate Tactics, he also was to be found where the fighting was the hardest. I cant think of one major battle lost by the best General ever.
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Re: Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by oftenwrong Wed Dec 18, 2013 10:53 pm
The main record is De Bello Gallicae "Viri in uxores, sicuti in liberos, vitae necisque habent potestatem; et cum pater familiae inlustriore loco natus decessit, eius propinqui conveniunt et, de morte si res in suspicionem venit, de uxoribus in servilem modum quaestionem habent et, si compertum est, igni atque omnibus tormentis excruciatas interficiunt."
Written by some guy calling himself Julius Caesar.
He can't have been wrong.
Written by some guy calling himself Julius Caesar.
He can't have been wrong.
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Re: Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by bobby Thu Dec 19, 2013 1:22 pm
We must not forget, he was very much a man of his time. Caesar was a man who if he deemed possible tried not to kill for the sake of killing as was the way of other Romans particularly in Imperial times as opposed to republican. Caesar would fight any battle with everything at his disposal. After the battle was won and the enemy defeated he wanted to use the previous enemy to become part of the Roman Empire and to pay taxes to Rome, better alive to pay taxes than dead paying nothing. After making peace he would appoint an appropriate leader, normally on who he thought would be subservient to himself.
If after the peace was made if the previous enemy decided to have another pop at Rome, it was Roman policy to do as much damage as could be inflicted on them and that is precisely what happened.
Had Caesar survived the assassination attempt Cassius, Brutus with the other conspirators would I'm sure have taken flying lessons off the Tarpian Rock.
Some say that Caesars history was mainly written by himself and so it was. But there is little evidence written to dispute his claims, not even by the likes of Marcus Porcius Cato or Marcus Tullius Cisero who hated all that Caesar stood for. He did lose some minor Battles but for some reason he never wrote about them, but he never lost a war
If after the peace was made if the previous enemy decided to have another pop at Rome, it was Roman policy to do as much damage as could be inflicted on them and that is precisely what happened.
Had Caesar survived the assassination attempt Cassius, Brutus with the other conspirators would I'm sure have taken flying lessons off the Tarpian Rock.
Some say that Caesars history was mainly written by himself and so it was. But there is little evidence written to dispute his claims, not even by the likes of Marcus Porcius Cato or Marcus Tullius Cisero who hated all that Caesar stood for. He did lose some minor Battles but for some reason he never wrote about them, but he never lost a war
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Join date : 2011-11-18
Re: Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by oftenwrong Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:35 pm
"Winners publish the History" is a well-worn cliché but no less true for that.
Wüstenfuchs (Desert Fox) Erwin Rommell's conduct of the Nazi campaign in North Africa was almost faultless, but hampered by unreliable supply-lines and poor communication with Italian allies.
Wüstenfuchs (Desert Fox) Erwin Rommell's conduct of the Nazi campaign in North Africa was almost faultless, but hampered by unreliable supply-lines and poor communication with Italian allies.
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Re: Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by bobby Thu Dec 19, 2013 10:38 pm
I also believe that Montgomery's entry into that particular theatre had something to do with Rommel's comedownance, not because Monty was any better than Claude Auchinleck, but Monty bought with him many more troops, Tanks and Fuel plus the total support of Churchill.
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Re: Who, in your opinion, was the greatest commander in history, and why?
by Phillip J H Sat May 02, 2015 2:46 am
Because he said so
If you must post something which today would have been classified as racist and maybe a hate crime, you could at least take the trouble to make it fit the page, as I've now done, so that members can read it.
When you paste a link in the 'insert an image' box, type in the width (no more than 680px) and adjust the height proportionately.
Ivan
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