1. Napoleon Bonaparte
Born
a Corsican, Napoleon became by far the most able general of the modern
age, rising from obscurity during the Revolution to Consul and Emperor
of the French Empire which spanned from Madrid to Moscow and from Oslo
to Cairo. Originally an artilleryman, he led campaigns that conquered
the Italian States, Austria, Egypt, Prussia, Spain, the Netherlands,
Swedish Pomerania, parts of the Caribbean, and large swathes of Russia.
Leading brilliant campaigns, using concentrated force in lightning
strikes on the field, developing independent and complete army corps (a
system still modeled today), installing puppet rulers, conscripting
troops from each nation he subdued, and inspiring a host of marshals who
were all able tacticians themselves (Murat, Massena, Bernadotte, Ney,
and many others), Napoleon revolutionized warfare. No less than four
international alliances of powers were required to bring his empire to
its knees, and without the simultaneous pressure or Russian winter,
British naval domination, Spanish guerillas, and Wellington’s stolid and
unbreakable Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese Army, very likely Bonaparte would
have sat astride the his European conquests for years to come.
2. Hannibal Barca
The
most feared opponent Rome ever faced, this Carthaginian general was
raised to the task of defeating the Romans from early childhood by his
father, Hasdrubal. Hannibal abandoned previous Carthaginian tactics of
passive naval superiority, and marched a force on elephants over the
Italian Alps. Defeating the Romans at nearly every battle he fought, he
made a Roman general, Quintus Fabius Maximus, famous merely for being
able to delay Hannibal’s advance without enormous loss of life (Fabius
was granted the title “Cunctator”, or delayer, by the Roman senate). At
Cannae, Hannibal’s forces, cobbled together and suffering from losses,
routed an enormous Roman army, killing or capturing upwards of fifty
thousand enemies. Eventually defeated by Scipio Africanus and deserted
by his government, he remained a scourge the Romans invoked to justify
razing Carthage.
3. Salah ad Din
Saladin,
as he is known in our language, was the most outstanding leader of the
Crusades, hampering the fledgling crusader states and European invasions
with equal aplomb. Known for his calm and rationality, his lack of
fanaticism, and his respect for his opponents, he conquered Syria,
Egypt, and most of modern day Israel steadily and without great
difficulty. He was enormously respected by nearly all of his rivals, and
maintained an epistolary friendship with Richard the Lionheart, sending
him gifts, horses, and his own physician.
4. Robert E. Lee
Lee,
perhaps the most successful commander in history against numerically
and materially superior forces, was the gentle genius in charge of the
Army of Northern Virginia and most Confederate forces during the Civil
War. He developed a reputation of near omniscience among both enemies
and allies, and soundly thrashed Union forces soundly on numerous
occasions. His losses, few as they were, were generally more devastating
to his opponents than himself, and Ulysses S. Grant, the only general
to successfully corner Lee, was forced to adopt a strategy of attrition,
rather than any attempt to outfight Lee.
5. George Washington
Washington
was the pivotal, and probably most successful, leader of the American
revolutionary forces vying for independence from the British Empire.
Though ably assisted by several subordinates (including Benedict Arnold,
whose military acumen has been overshadowed by his famous betrayal),
Washington proved the uniting force of the Continental Army, leading it
to victory at Trenton and Yorktown, and holding the piecemeal forces
together in the hard winter at Valley Forge.
6. Julius Caesar
The
famed consul of Rome was perhaps the ablest of the late Republic’s
military leaders, vying with his co-consul, Pompey for glory in
subjugating territory to Rome’s expansionist will. His campaign against
the Gauls is still required reading in many military academies, and his
defeat of Pompey nearly granted him the kingship of firmly republican
Rome. The political and personal treachery that ended his life and
provided the opportunity for his nephew, Octavian, to become emperor, is
legendary, but Caesar’s successes were more reliant on the loyalty and
victory of his armies than political maneuvering.
7. Joan of Arc
The
maid of Orleans is the only commander on this list to have had to share
command in even her finest moments of victory, but as she is also the
only woman, one feels an exception is in order. A French peasant girl
who claimed visions from God, she traveled to Charles II, the French
king losing the war to the English. Though she was hampered by
skepticism at first, Joan influenced several important French victories,
leading charges personally, and inspiring French troops to renewed
fervor.
8. George S. Patton
The
most controversial figure of the Allied forces in WWII, Patton himself
may have believed himself to be reincarnated from more ancient warriors,
carrying their bravery and experience into his battles. A promising
early career helping Pershing hunt Pancho Villa jumpstarted Patton into
the armored corps, where he became a mentor to Eisenhower (later
promoted over his head). In WWII, he gladly used the Germans’ blitzkrieg
against them, using the maneuverability of American armored units to
out maneuver German lines and gaining large amounts of ground over short
periods of time. His infamous incidents, including troops under his
command executing more than one massacre, and Patton’s slapping of a
supposedly cowardly soldier in a field hospital, contributed to his
decline, but more than anyone else, he led the Allies to victory in
Europe.
9. Frederick the Great
Frederick
II of Prussia was a student of modern warfare, and later its guiding
voice in the late 18th century. He modernized the army of his disjointed
pseudo-German kingdom, and fought continuous wars against Austria, the
dominating power of the Holy Roman Empire at the time. Known for both
his books and treatises on warfare, as well as leading troops into
battle personally (he had six horses shot from under him).
10. Attila the Hun
Leader
of the Hunnish empire that stretched from the borders of modern day
France to the steppes of Russia, this thorn in the side of both Roman
and Byzantine empires assembled a massive force of all the tribes and
nations traditionally viewed as provincial savages – Huns, Goths,
Ostrogoths, Vandals, and many more, and nearly conquered mainland
Europe. In the template of other “barbarian” conquerors to come after
him, like Genghis Khan, he showed the lie of assumed Western
superiority; and whenever your enemies names you “the Scourge of God”,
you can assume you’ve proved yourself a respected threat.