Reply With Quote^plus, Forrest Gump was named after him.
Most Underrated Commanders
This really isn't a poll. It does tie in rather well with the others though. This shouldn't turn into a slugfest...I hope.
My pick:
Nathan Bedford Forrest--
Self made from start to finish in life. Caused so much harm physically and mentally to his enemies for the size of units under his command that at one point Sherman stated he would gladly exchange the lives of 10,000 of his men if Forrest would just die. Unconventional, completely unpredictable and brilliant, and largely overhshadowed by Lee and Jackson, in my opinion, very undeservedly.
There are many others worth mentioning. Who is/are your pick/s?
^plus, Forrest Gump was named after him.
there is meany on this list like: Jan Żiska(sp?) -Czech commander of husites(sp?), he invented whole new style of fighting and is almoust unknown outsides. Whole bunch of Polish and Lithuanian commanders of 16 and 17th century only one is well known in europe king Jan III Sobieski afther his victory in Viena, but before this battle he was briliant field commander not only in strategy but also great in tactics. There are prabably thousands of great commanders from small nations that pass almoust unnoticed by westerners.
Re: Most Underrated Commanders
With all due respect to our anglo-US brethen here, but just about any comander who is not either brit or american has been underrated due to a lack of knowledge about their exploits. You can select between Spanish, Swedish, Austrian and French commanders to name a few amongst the most underrated.Originally Posted by Werewolf01
Re: Most Underrated Commanders
You mean like Gustavus Adolphus? J/K, you have a very valid point. You might want to thrwo the Germans in with the Brits and Americans, oh yeah, and toss the French in too (so I disagree with you there), and the Russians, and proabaly the Japanese (to a lesser extent). But, the point is still valid.With all due respect to our anglo-US brethen here, but just about any comander who is not either brit or american has been underrated due to a lack of knowledge about their exploits. You can select between Spanish, Swedish, Austrian and French commanders to name a few amongst the most underrated.
Bonus.^plus, Forrest Gump was named after him.
You go with the history you know.
It is true, but still I think that anyone interested in military/history should learn as much as possible.
Forrest, BTW, was a truly tough and ingenious commander.
as a brief history, previously posted but really good, here is the story of the almogavares.
On the begining of the 14th century, the bizantine emperor requested help to stop the turks´s advances. The kingdom of Aragon sent the almogavares (mainly to get them away). These guys were all veterans of the Reconquista.
The almogavares were mainly light infantry, fought on foot, open formations, and were extremely ferocious and cruel. Their war cry Desperta, ferro is legendary. 6,500 almogávares arrived in Greece were they defeated and killed to the last man 13,000 turks (no prisioners- those were different times)- basically anyone over the age of 10 in the turkish army. In a second battle, they killed 20,000 turks, only 1,500 turks got away (against, no prisioner with no surrender terms given or asked). A third battle on Greece ended with 18,000 dead turks. These guys were more lethal than the grim reaper. Between battles, these guys fought amogst themselves or even with allies, like 3,000 genoveses that insulted them (again all were killed) while they were in Constantinople.
At this time, the bizantine emperor Andrónico I rightfully asked himself if he had done a bad mistake by hiring these beasts, so he invited the almogavares chief, Roger de Flor, to a dinner, and for dessert he made the Alanic mercenaries kill him and 100 of his officers, thinking that the almogavares, without officers would simply surrender. You could imagine his suprise when he sent his army to take the almogavares surrender, but came back with 26,000 less soldiers (and bear in mind the almogavades were 6,000+ in numbers). Not only that, but having found out that the alanic mercenaries, having been paid, had returned to their land with their families, decided to pay them back. They intercepted the alanic mercenaries, killed 8,000 and kept their women. As a ¨bonus¨ they pillaged, burned raped, and plundered much of Greece. After that they formed 2 duchies (Athens and Neopatria or New Nation) which remained loyal to Aragon for about 3 generations. End of story
P.S Eventually the descendants of the Almogavares were conquered by the turks
Yes, Forrest was one of the most brilliant cavalry commanders my country has ever produced. I happen to have a fascination with the Napoleonic Wars but it's not the kind of thing that's taught in school here. The Seven Years War got some notice as I grew up in Vermont and Rogers Rangers were active around here back in the day..... I completely agree that military history buffs should endeavor to learn little known conflicts from all over the world.
I happen to think that Forrest would have eaten Patton for lunch anyday. In one raid he got shot point blank in the spine, but still managed to get on a horse and get a northern soldier on the horse as a human shield while he made his getaway. I know you mentioned CJ, but I will do it again, on the American Civil War read Shelby Foote books on it (3 volumes), great stuff
RIP Mr. Foote
Here's a few-
Scipio Afric**** (defeated Hannibal at Zama)
Christiaan de Wet (Boer War guerilla leader)
Johanan Hyrc**** (Hasmonean king of Israel)
Its a matter of opinion whether these figures are underrated or just less publicized: as someone else has posted Gustavus Adolphus basically ran wild through the Baltic states and eastern Europe for many years.
Turenne and Vauban both come to mind.
General George H. Thomas, The Rock of Chickamauga.
Few has heard of him nowadays, but he held his ground in Chickamauga against the entire Confederate army to allow the rest of his defeated army to escape, after his commanding General Rosecran had already rode off.
After replacing General Rosecran as the commander of the Army of Cumberland, he restored the morale and fighting spirit of his army while besieged at Chattanooga. His army then went on to storm the Missionary Ridge at the Battle of Chattanooga in the face of enemy fire in one of the most successful charges in the American Civil War.
In Dec 1864, he fought the Battle of Nashville, which destroyed Hood's army. This was considered by some to be the "perfect battle" of the American Civil War in which the defeated army did not retreat to fight another day, as most armies did in those days.
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