- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Who is the GOAT of all U.S generals?
Posted on 9/28/23 at 12:25 pm to tide06
Posted on 9/28/23 at 12:25 pm to tide06
quote:
All of Grants Corp and division commanders did. They all but tore their hair out begging him to call off his attacks.
The confederates thought it was madness.
None of this is true.
quote:
But once Lee was dug in Grant should’ve gone elsewhere as the odds for success were very poor.
All of this is easy to say in hindsight. However, the odds of a Union success at Cold Harbor were better than what you might like to think. Talk to the rangers at the battlefield today or read Gordon Rhea’s definitive history of the Overland Campaign and they will tell you what I’m telling you now. The plan as formulated had a decent shot at success. A general advance of the entire Army of the Potomac on June 3, 1864. However, where Meade (the actual commander of the assault) screwed up was failing to give the various corps commanders any guidance on what their objectives were. They were expected to do their own reconnaissance and coordinate with one another to decide on attack objectives. Many failed to do so.
And so when the attack went forward it wasn’t the 60,000 men as originally planned, but just 20,000 men that went forward in fits and starts. Fighting was savage in Hancock’s sector but aside from the Union’s II Corps, none of the other northern divisions showed much enthusiasm for the assault. Some didn’t even attack at all.
The Army of the Potomac had reached the limits of its endurance by this time. Not only that, but by this point in the campaign the relationship between Grant and Meade had grown frosty to say the least. There was very little coordination between the two staffs at Cold Harbor due to the petulance and hostility. As a result, shite went down hill fast.
0
Posted on 9/28/23 at 1:31 pm to Truama_dawg
MacArthur. I know about almost all of his foibles and what an odd, theatrical, narcissistic old duck he was. However, he saved South Korea from becoming communist and that was a very, very significant thing. Inchon looks like an obvious bit of strategy from the perspective of the 21st Century, but it was genius at the time. Also, Japan’s place in the world today is the result of much that he accomplished there post WW2.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 1:35 pm to Truama_dawg
Stonewall Jackson, Nathaniel Greene, or George Patton are probably the most gifted tactical generals in US history
Posted on 9/28/23 at 1:46 pm to beachdude
i named MacArthur on the first page, and he has not been a popular choice. i agree with you that he is among the greatest ever, but i find it interesting that you picked Korea to use as evidence. yes, he prevented them from falling to communism initially, but he also fricked up badly by provoking the Chinese into coming into the war.
great point on his post-war Japan accomplishments. he doesnt get enough credit for that either, in my opinion. he is almost single-handedly responsible for putting conditions into place that made Japan into what it is now.
great point on his post-war Japan accomplishments. he doesnt get enough credit for that either, in my opinion. he is almost single-handedly responsible for putting conditions into place that made Japan into what it is now.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 1:52 pm to Oilfieldbiology
In May of 1945, the Red Army was suffering severe manpower problems. Most of their first line infantry divisions had only 2,000 to 3,000 men. A nominal full strength infantry battalion of those days would normally be close to 1,000 men.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 1:56 pm to Sam Quint
quote:
MacArthur
I mean, his performance during the Philippine Campaign in 1941-42 was just atrocious. He allows his entire Air Force to be destroyed on the ground despite hours of warning that the war has already started. But even worse, he blew up literal mountains of supplies, including enough food to feed his army for the better part of a year, in Manila because he wasted time and didn’t even to think to start moving supplies to Corregidor until it was far too late.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 1:57 pm to Sam Quint
Yes. I’m aware of what happened in Korea. William Manchester, one of his biographers and one who was certainly critical of MacArthur, entitled his book “American Caesar”. That is some pretty famed company to keep.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 2:00 pm to Darth_Vader
quote:
Chesty Puller
Ah, historical revisionism.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 2:03 pm to beachdude
I'm with ya, and I've read American Caesar. 
Posted on 9/28/23 at 2:41 pm to Truama_dawg
P. G. T. Beauregard
Posted on 9/28/23 at 2:49 pm to DisplacedBuckeye
quote:
Ah, historical revisionism.
Are you accusing me of being a history revisionist? If so, on what grounds?
Posted on 9/28/23 at 4:25 pm to Rip Torn
quote:
Stonewall Jackson
quote:
are probably the most gifted tactical generals in US history
Does not compute.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 4:55 pm to GetCocky11
quote:
Henry Knox dragged those cannon over the Berkshires from Ticonderoga to Boston in winter.
Hauled those cannons over frozen icy bodies of water. One of those cannons broke through and sank. They recovered it and kept trucking.
Knox and Greene were indeed Washington's best generals.
I am surprised that no one has mentioned Louisiana's John Archer Lejeune of Pointe Coupee.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 5:37 pm to Darth_Vader
quote:
I mean, his performance during the Philippine Campaign in 1941-42 was just atrocious. He allows his entire Air Force to be destroyed on the ground despite hours of warning that the war has already started. But even worse, he blew up literal mountains of supplies, including enough food to feed his army for the better part of a year, in Manila because he wasted time and didn’t even to think to start moving supplies to Corregidor until it was far too late.
He hung Wainright out to dry. I can't think of MacArthur without thinking of that.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 6:48 pm to Darth_Vader
Yes.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 7:13 pm to Truama_dawg
General Studies
Posted on 9/28/23 at 7:13 pm to DisplacedBuckeye
quote:
Yes.
So it is your contention that Chesty Puller didn't lead his 1st Marine Regiment in fruitless frontal assaults against fortified Japanese positions on the island of Peleliu, thereby losing 1,749 of his 3,000 men in just 10 days of combat?
Posted on 9/28/23 at 7:31 pm to Truama_dawg
Gen. Benjamin Lincoln (revolutionary war)
Coordinated guerilla/partisan warfare along with conventional forces in what was essentially enemy territory with more loyalists in the South than rebels among the population.
War was won in the South.
Coordinated guerilla/partisan warfare along with conventional forces in what was essentially enemy territory with more loyalists in the South than rebels among the population.
War was won in the South.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 7:31 pm to Truama_dawg
Lee
Page 14 of 17
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News