Who was the greatest general of all time?

Question: Who was the greatest general of all time!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

It depends on your criteria!. Here are some strong cases!.

(1) Alexander the Great!. He won stunning victories against the Persian Empire, conquering it completely, and stretching his hand across Southwest Asia in a relatively small amount of time!. He was a very strong general!.

(2) Themistocles of Athens!. He was the true mind behind the battles of the Second Persian War: Thermopylae, Artemisium, and Salamis were all his doing: the initial Persian advance was halted at Thermopylae and Artemisium, and the Persian nose was bloodied, and the Persian navy was soundly crushed at Salamis, that forced the army to withdraw, before they were finished off at Plataea!. I think there's a good case for this man, since he had great foresight and planning, combined with strong battle leadership!.

(3) Belisarius of Byzantium!. He was the greatest general of Justinian, and he reconquered most of the Western Roman Empire long after it had fallen, temporarily reuniting the Roman Empire under Constantinople!.

There's more out there, but those 3 men give you a good start!. A further short list!? Julius Caesar, Oda Nobunaga, Erwin Rommel, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Saladin, Frederick the Great of Prussia!. Probably missing some, but I'm just listing off the top of my head!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

General George Patton

The battle performance of the U!.S!. Third Army under Patton's command, from the start of its operations in Normandy until V-E Day, is said to have been outstanding!. According to Charles M!. Province,

The enemy lost an estimated 1,280,688 captured [including 515,205 captured after the end of combat in the last week of the war - ed!.], 144,500 killed, and 386,200 wounded, adding up to 1,811,388!. By comparison, the Third Army suffered 16,596 killed, 96,241 wounded, and 26,809 missing in action for a total of 139,646 casualties!.[19]

Prisoners of war taken during or after military engagements can be counted, whereas an opposing military force’s losses in killed and wounded can usually be only estimated, and there has been a tendency in all military forces at all times to exaggerate casualties inflicted on the enemy!. The above figures on German troops killed or wounded by Patton’s Third Army seem questionable considering the overall relation between Allied and German casualties during the 1944/45 campaign in northwestern Europe!. According to Charles B!. MacDonald,

Since D-day in Normandy the Germans in the west alone had lost 263,000 dead, 49,000 permanently disabled, and 8,109,000 captured!. Allied casualties were 186,900 dead, 545,700 wounded, and 109,600 missing (some later declared dead and others later repatriated as prisoners of war)!.[20]

If both Province’s and MacDonald’s figures are accurate, this would mean that Patton’s Third Army inflicted 55% of all German killed in action (KIA) or died of wounds (DOW) during the 1944/45 campaign in northwestern Europe (144,500 out of 263,000), whereas its own losses of these categories were only 9% of the Allies’ total losses (16,596 out of 186,900)!. While Patton’s Third Army would have inflicted much higher losses on the enemy than it suffered, all other Allied units, on average, would have suffered losses that were considerably higher than those they inflicted on the enemy:

Overall 1944/45 Campaign German KIA/DOW: 263,000; Allied KIA/DOW: 186,900; German KIA/DOW per 100 Allied KIA/DOW: 141

Patton’s Third Army German KIA/DOW: 144,500; Allied KIA/DOW: 16,596; German KIA/DOW per 100 Allied KIA/DOW: 871

Other Allied units German KIA/DOW: 118,500; Allied KIA/DOW: 170,304; German KIA/DOW per 100 Allied KIA/DOW: 70

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Hattusilis, Rameses, Kurash, Hannobaal, Scipio, Alexander, Pericles, Attius, Belisarius, Charlemagne, Saladin, Temujin, William of Orange, Gustavus Adolphus, Frederich II, Napoleon, Lee, Grant!.!.too many to throw into the mix!. You'll have to narrow it down by generation and weaponry skills!. Www@QuestionHome@Com