Military History Buffs: Give me your Top 5 Military Commanders of all time.

[BestServedCold]

Quote: Originally Posted by Salhus

Oliver Cromwell has to get a mention in here...

Ok here's a mention for Cromwell, he was a terrible ruler (or should I say "Lord Protectorate) and I would rather kill myself than allow him to have any power over me or my county.

[Blitz1942]

Quote: Originally Posted by dickey1331

Commander Adolf Hitler Divisional Generals George S. Patton Robert E. Lee Douglas MacArthur Alexander the Great

I like your Divisional Commanders, but Hitler was an absolutely terrible Commander in Chief. Instead of sending more aid to Rommel so he could capture Egypt and the Suez Canal, he launched Barbarossa to invade the Soviet Union. Even worse, he attacked Russia during the summer, so it would be winter by the time the Germans reached Moscow. He also never approved proper winter supplies/clothes for the forces fighting on the Eastern Front at that time. In the Battle of Stalingrad, he wouldn't let Paulus or the 6th Army retreat and regroup as the Russians surrounded the city. He delayed the attack on Kursk by several months so he could have a unit of Panther tanks in on the attack (which allowed the Russian's to gain more intel and prepare for the attack). Hitler (and most of his staff) were certain the attack on Normandy was a diversion and convinced the attack would come at Calais and wouldn't commit the Panzer reserves to Normandy until several days after D-Day. And instead of doing something creative, he sent his Panzers through the Ardennes for a second time during the war for Battle of the Bulge.

The Germans could have had the StG44 in mass production in 1941 (the original Maschinenkarbine 41 was the original design brought forth in 1940), but Hitler refused it multiple times because he felt the undersized intermediate round would be far less effective than the full sized round of the Kar98. Mass production of the Messerschmidt Me-262 was delayed by a couple years because Hitler wanted it to be a bomber rather than a fighter. Because of that delay, a plane designed by the Horton brothers (the Horton 229 flying wing) never received proper testing. If it would have received proper testing, it likely would have been the first stealth fighter ever made, and could have greatly turned the war around.

[AustSaint]

Davout was the best of napoleon's marshals, he deserves an honorable mention.

[Dice]

I'm surprised no one has brought up Cyrus the Great. This guy established the First powerful Persian Empire back in the 6th century BC that spanned three continents: Europe, Africa and most of Asia.

[Bighoff]

If I needed a Navy give me Horatio Nelson and Isoroku Yamamoto.

[Dice]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bighoff

If I needed a Navy give me Horatio Nelson and Isoroku Yamamoto.

No love for any of the great Spainish Admirals? Spain didn't have the greatest Navy in the world for years for nothing.

[Bighoff]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dice

No love for any of the great Spainish Admirals? Spain didn't have the greatest Navy in the world for years for nothing.

England surpassed Spain. Though I did forget about Yi Sun Shin.

[Dice]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bighoff

England surpassed Spain. Though I did forget about Yi Sun Shin.

Of course they did. Took them like 3 centuries to do it.