Favorite/Most Skilled Modern General

[Iguru]

Modern, for the purposes of this thread, is the past 250 years, basically since the use of gunpowder-based Artillery really made a difference on the open battlefield.

I have 3 favorites, but only one that i think was truly the best.

My 3 favorites are:

1. Patton: His embrace of manouver warfare and modern warfare tactics in general makes him an ideal general. Add to this a fantastic personality that had no equal among his contemporary allied commanders, and he is a truly great general. A few quotes come to mind when i think of Patton:

"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his."

(In response to another general saying "You can't possibly expect to move 3 entire divisions 100 miles north, in 48 hours, in the middle of a winter storm, and while engaged!") "I can and I will, do you know why? Because thats what I asked them to do. And they WILL do it."

(this is from the movie) "The Carthaginians defending the city were attacked by three Roman legions. The Carthaginians were proud and brave but they couldn't hold. They were massacred. Arab women stripped them of their tunics and their swords and lances. The soldiers lay naked in the sun. Two thousand years ago. I was here. "

Rommel makes it in as a sidenote to Patton, because he had the same instincts and ability but with much less opportunity to show it. Oh, and much less gusto.

2. Napoleon. This should not be a surprise. His ability to combine arms in a manner reminiscent of Frederick the Great was astounding, and won him many victories. Some say Wellington was his equal or potentially his superior, but they forget the vast amount of battles Napoleon won on an offensive footing. Wellington had 1 offensive battle (Seville IIRC). Napoleon was a master of his craft and knew the battlefield well by the time of his defeat.

3. Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller. This last guy isn't a general, but i have to mention him because he is the manliest of men. He is the most decorated US Marine in history. He has one quote that stands out and makes him even more awesome:
"The enemy is to our north, east, south and west. We are surrounded. This makes it easier."



The one i believe is the most skilled modern general is Patton. He could have had the Germans defeated months earlier than they were, if it weren't for the waste of resources known as Operation Market Garden. In my view, anyway.

[Pompadoodle]

Hmmm.....Well, the thing is that gunpowder artillery started making a big impact more than 250 years ago. Taking that into account, my first pick is...

Gustav II Adolph, king of Sweden and the first general to really make effective use of field artillery. He opted for light cannon that could be easily moved rather than big cumbersome pieces that had (until his reforms) been the norm. He also used smaller/ shallower infantry formations than his opponents, which again gave greater mobility. His greatest military victory was undoubtedly Breitenfeld (1631), a battle which dramatically changed the course of the 30 Years War.

My second pick:
The Duke of Marlborough, and not just because he was a Brit. The Blenheim campaign is imo one of the most brilliant military 'works of art' in history- its up there with Hannibal at Cannae. With a mixture of deception, audacity and all-round leadership he out-witted and out-fought a numerically superior opponent in a strong defensive position. The French march towards Vienna was stopped in its tracks.

My third pick:
Heinz Guderian, military theoretician and field commander. He was responsible to a great degree for developing and spreading the theory of mobile tank warfare (blitzkrieg). And on the field, he was one of its greatest exponents. Fortunately for the Allies (and the World), he was distrusted by Hitler. After commanding Panzergruppe 2 in Operation Barbarossa, he was relieved of his command.

[Enigmatic]

I don't have my three yet, but I do have a note about Patton. He could and he did move 3 entire divisions 100 miles in 48 hours because he cheated. He anticipated that Eisenhower would need him to move so he got his forces moving before the request was actually made and made his promise of speed to impress.

[NunYa Dam Biz]

General Malfunction and Commandant Fubar were most popular when I was in the Corps. Semper Fi

[Byzesion]

#3. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Say what you want about the man's tactics, but he probably saved the lives of more soldiers than anyone until Truman dropped the atomic bombs on Japan. It's estimated that without his march to the sea, the American Civil War would have lasted 12 to 18 months longer, and some 200,000 Union and Confederate soldiers would have died.

#2. Commander in Chief Rochambeau. With his 4,000 French soldiers, he helped to make the victory at Yorktown a reality. 400 of his men took the risk of distracting the British and captured one of the remaining British gun emplacements.

#1. William "Billy" Mitchell. Regarded as the father of the American Air Force, he was the first to prove that aircraft could be a formidable weapon of warfare. In tests ordered by congress, he showed that in wartime conditions, an aircraft could destroy a dreadnaught, and at a fraction of the cost.

[Vladezia]

I do not have a 'top 3' as of yet, but I do appreciate one military leader greatly, Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defense Forces during the Fino-Russian War (as part of WWII). His skill as both a general and a politician have gotten Finland out of a rock-and-hard-place situation in the best possible outcome. His mastery of the military was proven by the harass tactics employed against an enemy that overwhelmed him 10 to 1 (sometimes 100 to 1) and managed to inflict 10 times more casualties than he suffered. The Mannerheim defensive line remains in WWII history as one of the most efficient defense mechanisms ever devised. Also, his skills as a politician managed to secure a truce before the country was conquered by the Soviet Union and late enough so Germany would not be able to retaliate. He also managed to wrestle much support from the German army without binding his armies or country in any way to the Germans.

As a side note, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was an effective and somewhat brilliant military strategist, unfortunately though, few sources exist that are unbiased and the use of his 'talents' towards a horrible goal cannot be overlooked.