Favorite Generals

[OlafHelmsborg]

However, just want to note this is favorite generals. Not best generals! :)

[kvnchrist]

When people talk of Patton, they are describing a myth. Patton was an aggressive panzer-general, but this does not equate to brilliance. In every campaign Patton took part in, the Germans were outnumbered, outgunned, and in the process of retreating.

 

Here is the story of the Patton’s WW2 Europe campaign in a nutshell: Acute German shortages on the one hand, and on the other and tremendous Allied resources which could provide an overwhelming level of firepower and a unending stream of replacements that could compensate for the grossest tactical failures. Add skilled public relations and a press hungry for heroes, and you had the circumstance so favourable that even an average panzer-general like Patton could seem like one of history’s greatest commanders.

 

I've been thinking and I think this is a red herring. The situation a person finds themselves in doesn't make them great, If it did any person who had an abundance would automatically be mundane, no matter what they did and where they did it. Would Rommel be mediocre if he had more resources during the Africa campaign? I think not.

 

Could you please give an example of some of these gross tactical blunders you speak of in the context of the person we are discussing.

[M48A5]

My pick would be General George Washington. He took a ragtag group of farmers and tradesman and with them defeated the most powerful army in the world, at that time.