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Who do you think was the greatest leader in the art of war? Your criterion for what "greatest" is may vary. Whether it be lasting influence, strategic intelligence, leadership ability, or the number of victories won, you would have to decide. Below is a fairly comprehensive list with brief biographies, courtesy of Britannica.com. Enjoy! A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Born July 23, 1883, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Fr. British field marshal and chief of the Imperial General Staff during World War II. Educated in France and at the Royal Military Academy (Woolwich), he served in World War I. Between the world wars he distinguished himself in staff duties and was in charge of military training (1936–37). Born c. 370,, Peuce Island [now in Romania] Chief of the Visigoths from 395 and leader of the army that sacked Rome in August 410, an event that symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire. A nobleman by birth, Alaric served for a time as commander of Gothic troops in the Roman army. Alba, Fernando Alvarez de Toledo Born Oct. 29, 1507, Piedrahita, Old Castile, Spain Alba also spelled Alva Spanish soldier and statesman famous for his conquest of Portugal (1580) and notorious for his tyranny as governor-general of the Netherlands (1567–73). In the Netherlands he instituted the Council of Troubles (nicknamed the Council of Blood), which set aside local laws and condemned thousands. Born Sept. 24 [Sept. 14, old style], 1583, Hermanice, Bohemia Wallenstein also spelled Waldstein, Czech Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna, or Valštejna Bohemian soldier and statesman, commanding general of the armies of the Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand II during the Thirty Years' War. His alienation from the Emperor and his political-military conspiracies led to his assassination. Born c. 450 BC, Athens [Greece] Brilliant but unscrupulous Athenian politician and military commander who provoked the sharp political antagonisms at Athens that were the main causes of Athens' defeat by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). Born Nov. 24 [Nov. 13, old style], 1729, Moscow Russian military commander notable for his achievements in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–91 and in the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1789 he was created a Russian count and a count of the Holy Roman Empire; in 1799 he was created a Russian prince. Born 356 BC, Pella, Macedonia Also known as Alexander III or Alexander of Macedonia king of Macedonia (336–323 BC). He overthrew the Persian Empire, carried Macedonian arms to India, and laid the foundations for the Hellenistic world of territorial kingdoms. Already in his lifetime the subject of fabulous stories, he later became the hero of a full-scale legend. Born Sept. 27, 1840, West Point, N.Y., U.S. American naval officer and historian who was a highly influential exponent of sea power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mahan was the son of a professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1859 and went on to serve nearly 40 years of active duty in the U.S. Navy. Born 849 Born March 6, 1779, Payerne, Switz. French general, military critic, and historian whose systematic attempt to define the principles of warfare made him one of the founders of modern military thought. Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington) Born May 1, 1769, Dublin, Ire. Died 453 Byname Flagellum Dei (Latin: Scourge of God) king of the Huns from 434 to 453 (ruling jointly with his elder brother Bleda until 445). He was one of the greatest of the barbarian rulers who assailed the Roman Empire, invading the southern Balkan provinces and Greece and then Gaul and Italy. In legend he appears under the name Etzel in the Nibelungenlied and under the name Atli in Icelandic sagas. Born February 15, 1483, principality of Fergana [now in Uzbekistan]
Also spelled Babar, or Baber, original name Zahir-ud-din Muhammad emperor (1526–30) and founder of the Mughal dynasty of India, a descendant of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan and also of Timur (Tamerlane). He was a military adventurer and soldier of distinction and a poet and diarist of genius, as well as a statesman. Born c. 1360 Byname Yildirim (The Thunderbolt) Ottoman sultan in 1389–1402 who founded the first centralized Ottoman state based on traditional Turkish and Muslim institutions and who stressed the need to extend Ottoman dominion in Anatolia. Born c. 505,, Germania, Illyria? [Greece] Byzantine general, the leading military figure in the age of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (527–565). As one of the last important figures in the Roman military tradition, he led imperial armies against the Sasanian empire (Persia), the Vandal kingdom of North Africa, and the Ostrogothic regime of Italy. Born December 18, 1912, Washington, D.C., U.S. Born Nov. 17, 1887, London, Eng. Byname Monty British field marshal and one of the outstanding Allied commanders in World War II. Of Ulster stock, Montgomery was educated at St. Paul's School, London, and the Royal Military Academy (Sandhurst). He distinguished himself during World War I and remained in the army, acquiring a reputation as an efficient and tough leader. Born 941, near Killaloe, Ire. Also called Brian Boru high king of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. In 976 Brian became king of a small state, later called Dál Cais, and also king of Munster, whose Eóghanachta rulers had been defeated (964) by Brian's half brother. Brian destroyed first the Eóghanachta septs and then the Northmen, constructing a fleet to drive them from the Shannon. Died Nov. 12, 1035 Carl Gustav Emil von Mannerheim Born June 4, 1867, Villnäs, Fin. In full Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Finnish military leader and conservative statesman who successfully defended Finland against greatly superior Soviet forces during World War II and served as the country's president (1944–46). Born April 2, c. 742 Also called Charles I, byname Charles the Great, French Charles le Grand, Latin Carolus Magnus, German Karl der Grosse king of the Franks (768–814), king of the Lombards (774–814), and emperor (800–814). As king of the Franks, Charlemagne conquered the Lombard kingdom in Italy, subdued the Saxons, annexed Bavaria to his kingdom, fought campaigns in Spain and Hungary. Born c. 688 Latin Carolus Martellus, German Karl Martell mayor of the palace of Austrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom) from 715 to 741. He reunited and ruled the entire Frankish realm and stemmed the Muslim invasion at Poitiers in 732. His byname, Martel, means “the hammer.” Born June 17, 1682, Stockholm King of Sweden (1697–1718), an absolute monarch who defended his country for 18 years during the Great Northern War and promoted significant domestic reforms. He launched a disastrous invasion of Russia (1707–09), resulting in the complete collapse of the Swedish armies and the loss of Sweden's status as a great power. Born Feb. 24, 1885, Fredericksburg, Texas, U.S. Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet during World War II. One of the navy's foremost administrators and strategists, he commanded all land and sea forces in the Pacific area. Born October 31, 1887, Chekiang province, China Wade-Giles romanization Chiang Chieh-shih, official name Chiang Chung-cheng soldier and statesman, head of the Nationalist government in China from 1928 to 1949, and subsequently head of the Chinese Nationalist government in exile on Taiwan. Born c. 1840,, Wallowa Valley, Oregon Territory Indian name In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat. Nez Percé chief who, faced with settlement by whites of tribal lands in Oregon, led his followers in a dramatic effort to escape to Canada. Born c. 466 King of the Franks and ruler of much of Gaul from 481 to 511, a key period during the transformation of the Roman Empire into Europe. His dynasty, the Merovingians, survived more than 200 years, until the rise of the Carolingians in the 8th century. While he was not the first Frankish king, he was the kingdom's political and religious founder. Born Oct. 20, 1792, Glasgow, Scot. Also called (1849–58) Sir Colin Campbell British soldier who was commander in chief of the British forces in India during the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Born April 5, 1937, New York, New York, U.S. In full Colin Luther Powell chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–93) and secretary of state from 2001, the first African American to hold either position. Born February 27, after AD 280?, Naissus, Moesia [now Niš,
Yugos.] Byname Constantine the Great, Latin in full Flavius Valerius Constantinus the first Roman emperor to profess Christianity. He not only initiated the evolution of the empire into a Christian state but also provided the impulse for a distinctively Christian culture that prepared the way for the growth of Byzantine and Western medieval world. Born 590–580 BC, Media, or Persis [now in Iran] Byname Cyrus The Great conqueror who founded the Achaemenian empire, centred on Persia and comprising the Near East from the Aegean Sea eastward to the Indus River. He is also remembered in the Cyrus legend—first recorded by Xenophon, Greek soldier and author, in his Cyropaedia —as a tolerant and ideal monarch. Born July 5, 1801, near Knoxville, Tenn., U.S. In full David Glasgow Farragut U.S. admiral who achieved fame for his outstanding Union naval victories during the American Civil War (1861–65). Born Jan. 26, 1880, Little Rock, Ark., U.S. U.S. general who commanded the Southwest Pacific Theatre in World War II, administered postwar Japan during the Allied occupation that followed, and led United Nations forces during the first nine months of the Korean War. Born Oct. 14, 1890, Denison, Texas, U.S. In full Dwight David Eisenhower 34th president of the United States (1953–61), who had been supreme commander of the Allied forces in western Europe during World War II. Born April 23, 1861, Brackenhurst, near Southwell, Nottinghamshire,
Eng. Field marshal, the last great British leader of mounted cavalry, who directed the Palestine campaign in World War I. Born June 17, 1239, Westminster, Middlesex, Eng. Byname Edward Longshanks son of Henry III and king of England in 1272–1307, during a period of rising national consciousness. He strengthened the crown and Parliament against the old feudal nobility. He subdued Wales, destroying its autonomy; and he sought (unsuccessfully) the conquest of Scotland. Born June 15, 1330, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Eng. Also called Edward Of Woodstock, Prince D'aquitaine, Prince Of Wales, Duke Of Cornwall, Earl Of Chester son and heir apparent of Edward III of England and one of the outstanding commanders during the Hundred Years' War, winning his major victory at the Battle of Poitiers (1356). His sobriquet, said to have come from his wearing black armour, has no contemporary justification. Born c. 1043, Vivar, near Burgos, Castile [Spain] Spanish El Cid, also called El Campeador (“the Champion”), byname of Rodrigo, or Ruy, Díaz de Vivar Castilian military leader and national hero. His popular name, El Cid (from Spanish Arabic al-sid, “lord”), dates from his lifetime. Born Nov. 15, 1891, Heidenheim an der Brentz, Württemberg,
Ger. In full Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel, byname The Desert Fox, German Der Wüstenfuchs German field marshal, best known for his spectacular victories as commander of the Afrika Korps in World War II. Born Oct. 18, 1663, Paris French in full François-eugène, Prince De Savoie-carignan, German Franz Eugen, Prinz Von Savoyen-carignan field marshal and statesman of the Carignan line of the House of Savoy, who, in the service of the Austrian Holy Roman emperor, made his name as one of the greatest soldiers of his generation. Born Oct. 2, 1851, Tarbes, France Marshal of France and commander of Allied forces during the closing months of World War I, generally considered the leader most responsible for the Allied victory. Born Sept. 1, 1453, Córdoba, Andalusia [now in Spain] Byname El Gran Capitán (Spanish: “The Great Captain”) Spanish military leader renowned for his exploits in southern Italy. Born c. 1540, –43, Devonshire, Eng. English admiral who circumnavigated the globe (1577–80), played an important role in defeating the Spanish Armada (1588), and was the most renowned seaman of the Elizabethan Age. Born c. 1475,, Trujillo, Extremadura, Castile [Spain] Spanish conqueror of the Inca empire and founder of the city of Lima. Born Jan. 24, 1712, Berlin Byname Frederick the Great, German Friedrich der Grosse king of Prussia (1740–86), a brilliant military campaigner who, in a series of diplomatic stratagems and wars against Austria and other powers, greatly enlarged Prussia's territories and made Prussia the foremost military power in Europe. Born Sept. 30, 1832, Cawnpore, India Also called (from 1892) Baron Roberts Of Kandahar British field marshal, an outstanding combat leader in the Second Afghan War (1878–80) and the South African War (1899–1902), and the last commander in chief of the British Army (1901–04; office then abolished). Foreseeing World War I, he was one of the earliest advocates of compulsory military service. Born June 4, 1833, Golden Bridge, County Dublin, Ire. British field marshal who saw service in battles throughout the world and was instrumental in modernizing the British army. Born Dec. 16, 1742, Rostock, Mecklenburg [Germany] Byname Marschall Vorwärts (“Marshal Forward”) Prussian field marshal, a commander during the Napoleonic Wars, who was important in the victory of Waterloo. Born 1155, or 1162, or 1167, near Lake Baikal, Mongolia Genghis also spelled Ching-gis, Chingis, Jenghiz, or Jinghis, original name Temüjin, also spelled Temuchin Mongolian warrior-ruler, one of the most famous conquerors of history, who consolidated tribes into a unified Mongolia and then extended his empire across Asia to the Adriatic Sea. Born Dec. 31, 1880, Uniontown, Pa., U.S. In full George Catlett Marshall general of the army and U.S. Army chief of staff during World War II (1939–45) and later U.S. secretary of state (1947–49) and of defense (1950–51). The European Recovery Program he proposed in 1947 became known as the Marshall Plan. He received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1953. Born Dec. 26, 1837, Montpelier, Vt., U.S. U.S. naval commander who defeated the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War (1898). Born Nov. 11, 1885, San Gabriel, Calif., U.S. U.S. Army officer who was an outstanding practitioner of mobile tank warfare in the European and Mediterranean theatres during World War II. His strict discipline, toughness, and self-sacrifice elicited exceptional pride within his ranks, and the general was colourfully referred to as “Old Blood-and-Guts” by his men. Born February 22 [February 11, Old Style], 1732, Westmoreland county,
Virginia [U.S.] Byname Father of His Country American general and commander in chief of the colonial armies in the American Revolution (1775–83) and subsequently first president of the United States (1789–97). Born Dec. 1 [Nov. 19, Old Style], 1896, Kaluga province, Russia
Marshal of the Soviet Union, the most important Soviet military commander during World War II. Born June 1829, No-Doyohn Canyon, Mex. Indian name Goyathlay (“One Who Yawns”). Bedonkohe Apache leader of the Chiricahua Apache, who led his people's defense of their homeland against the military might of the United States. Born May 30, 1869, Caserta, Italy Italian army general and the father of strategic air power. Born July 4, 1807, Nice, French Empire [now in France] Italian patriot and soldier of the Risorgimento, a republican who, through his conquest of Sicily and Naples with his guerrilla Redshirts, contributed to the achievement of Italian unification under the royal House of Savoy. Born Dec. 9, 1594, Stockholm, Sweden Born 247 BC, North Africa Carthaginian general, one of the great military leaders of antiquity, who commanded the Carthaginian forces against Rome in the Second Punic War (218–201 BC). Born June 25, 1886, Gladwyne, Pa., U.S. Byname Hap Arnold air strategist, commanding general of the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, who long and successfully advocated a separate air force ranking equally with the Army and the Navy. Born Dec. 10, 1891, London Also called (1946–52) Viscount Alexander Of Tunis, or (1942–46) Sir Harold Alexander prominent British field marshal in World War II noted for his North African campaigns against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and for his later commands in Italy and western Europe. Born January 27, 1848, Kagoshima, Satsuma province, Japan Admiral who led the Japanese fleet to victory in the Russo-Japanese War. In the process, he developed new tactics for closing with an advancing enemy fleet. Born June 17, 1888, Kulm, Ger. German general and tank expert who became one of the principal architects of armoured warfare and the blitzkrieg between World Wars I and II, and who contributed decisively to Germany's victories in Poland, France, and the Soviet Union early in World War II. Born October 26, 1800, Parchim, Mecklenburg [Germany] In full Helmuth Karl Bernhard, Count (graf) Von Moltke chief of the Prussian and German General Staff (1858–88) and the architect of the victories over Denmark (1864), Austria (1866), and France (1871). Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne de Turenne Born Sept. 11, 1611, Sedan, Fr. French military leader, marshal of France (from 1643), one of the greatest military commanders during the reign of Louis XIV. Born April 24, 1856, Cauchy-à-la-Tour, Fr. French general who was a national hero for his victory at the Battle of Verdun in World War I but was discredited as chief of state of the French government at Vichy in World War II. He died under sentence in a prison fortress. Born Oct. 28, 1696, Goslar, Saxony [Germany] General and military theorist who successfully led French armies during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48). Born 1485, Medellín, near Mérida, Extremadura, Castile
[Spain] Cortés also spelled Cortéz Spanish conquistador who overthrew the Aztec empire (1519–21) and won Mexico for the crown of Spain. Born June 24, 1850, near Listowel, County Kerry, Ire. British field marshal, imperial administrator, conqueror of the Sudan, commander in chief during the South African War. Born Sept. 29, 1758, Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, Eng. In full Horatio Nelson, Viscount Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe, also called (1797–98) Sir Horatio Nelson, or (1798–1801) Baron Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe British naval commander in the wars with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, who won crucial victories in such battles as those of the Nile (1798) and of Trafalgar (1805), where he was killed by enemy fire on the HMS Victory. Born April 4, 1884, Nagaoka, Japan Japanese naval officer who conceived of the surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Born Dec. 28 [Dec. 16, Old Style], 1897, Lodeino, near Veliky Ustyug,
Russia One of the outstanding Soviet generals in World War II, who was a leader of the offensive against the Germans. Born Jan. 2, 1727, Westerham, Kent, Eng. Commander of the British army at the capture of Quebec from the French in 1759, a victory that led to British supremacy in Canada. Born c. 1376 Military commander and national hero of Bohemia who led the victorious Hussite Protestant armies against the German king Sigismund, foreshadowing the revolution of military tactics two centuries later in his introduction of mobile artillery. Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval Born Sept. 15, 1715, Amiens, France French military officer and engineer whose developments of French artillery contributed to the brilliant military successes of Napoleon in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Born c. 1412, Domrémy, Bar, France Byname The Maid of Orléans, French Sainte Jeanne d'Arc, or La Pucelle d'Orléans national heroine of France, a peasant girl who, believing that she was acting under divine guidance, led the French army in a momentous victory at Orléans that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France during the Hundred Years' War. Born February 1559, Tilly, Brabant, Spanish Netherlands Outstanding Bavarian general who was the principal commander of the Catholic League in Germany during the Thirty Years' War. Born Jan. 25, 1841, Ceylon [now Sri Lanka] British admiral and first sea lord whose reforms between 1904 and 1910 ensured the dominance of the Royal Navy during World War I. Born 1722, Sutton, Bedfordshire, Eng. British general, best-remembered for his defeat by superior American forces in the Saratoga (N.Y.) campaign of 1777, during the U.S. War of Independence. John Churchill (Duke of Marlborough) Born May 26, 1650, Ashe, Devon, Eng. One of England's greatest generals, who led British and allied armies to important victories over Louis XIV of France, notably at Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), and Oudenaarde (1708). Born Sept. 1, 1878, Chichester, Sussex, Eng. British army officer, military theoretician, and war historian who became one of the founders of modern armoured warfare. Born Sept. 13, 1860, Laclede, Mo., U.S. Byname Black Jack U.S. Army general who commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe during World War I. Born, Feb. 25, 1778, Yapeyú, viceroyalty of Río de
la Plata [now in Argentina] Argentine soldier, statesman, and national hero who helped lead the revolutions against Spanish rule in Argentina (1812), Chile (1818), and Peru (1821). Born July 12/13, 100? BC, Rome [Italy] In full Gaius Julius Caesar celebrated Roman general and statesman, the conqueror of Gaul (58–50 BC), victor in the Civil War of 49–46 BC, and dictator (46–44 BC), who was launching a series of political and social reforms when he was assassinated by a group of nobles in the Senate House on the Ides of March. Born June 1, 1780, Burg, near Magdeburg, Prussia Prussian general whose writings, especially On War, advocated the concept of total war, in which all the enemy's territory, property, and citizens are attacked. Died 642 Byname Sif, or Sayf, Allah (Arabic: “Sword of God”) one of the two generals (with ‘Amr ibn al-‘A s) of the enormously successful Islamic expansion under the Prophet Muhammad and his immediate successors, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. Born April 15, 1912, Man'gyondae, near P'yongyang, Korea [now in
North Korea] Original name Kim Song Ju communist leader of North Korea from 1948 until his death in 1994. He was the nation's premier from 1948 to 1972, chairman of its dominant Korean Workers (Communist) Party from 1949, and president and head of state from 1972. Born 1215 Kublai also spelled Khubilai, or Kubla Mongolian general and statesman, grandson of Genghis Khan. He conquered China and became the first emperor of its Yüan, or Mongol, dynasty. Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot [Top] Born May 13, 1753, Nolay, Burgundy, France In full Lazare-Nicolas-Marguerite Carnot, byname Organizer of Victory or The Great Carnot, French Organisateur de la Victoire or Le Grand Carnot French statesman, general, military engineer, and administrator in successive governments of the French Revolution. Born Aug. 17, 1603, Forstena, Swed. Swedish field marshal and artillerist who transformed the use of field artillery, making it mobile to a previously unknown degree. He won important victories in the Thirty Years' War and in Sweden's war against Denmark (1643–45). Born c. 675, –680, Germanicia, Commagene, Syria Byname Leo The Isaurian Byzantine emperor (717–741), who founded the Isaurian, or Syrian, dynasty, successfully resisted Arab invasions, and engendered a century of conflict within the empire by banning the use of religious images (icons). Born Dec. 5, 1907, Huang-kang, Hupeh province, China Chinese military leader who, as a field commander of the Red Army, contributed to the Communists' 22-year struggle for power and held many high government and party posts. Born Nov. 20, 1753, Versailles, Fr. French soldier and the first of Napoleon's marshals. Though Berthier was not a distinguished commander, Napoleon esteemed him highly as chief of staff of the Grande Armée from 1805. Responsible for the operation of Napoleon's armies, he was called by the Emperor “the man who has served me longest and has never failed me.” Born 1337 Byname Louis The Good, French Louis Le Bon duke of Bourbon (from 1356), count of Clermont and of Forez. He was an ally of Bertrand du Guesclin, the Breton-French hero, and a staunch supporter of John II of France; when John was taken prisoner by the English at Poitiers, Bourbon became one of the hostages delivered to the English as a guarantee of the payment of the ransom. Born April 23, 1598, Breille, Holland Dutch admiral, the highest ranking sea commander (from 1636) under the stadholder during the Dutch wars with Spain and England during the first half of the 17th century. His victory over the Spanish in the Battle of the Downs (1639) signalled the passing of Spain's power at sea. Born December 26, 1893, Shaoshan, Hunan province, China Wade-Giles romanization Mao Tse-tung principal Chinese Marxist theorist, soldier, and statesman who led his nation's communist revolution. Leader of the Chinese Communist Party from 1931, he was chairman (chief of state) of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1959 and chairman of the party until his death. Born Nov. 13, 1567, Dillenburg, Nassau In full Maurice, Prince Of Orange, Count Of Nassau, Dutch Maurits, Prins Van Oranje, Graaf Van Nassau hereditary stadholder (1585–1625) of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, or Dutch Republic, successor to his father, William I the Silent. His development of military strategy, tactics, and engineering made the Dutch army the most modern in the Europe of his time. Born March 30, 1432, Adrianople, Thrace, Ottoman Empire Byname Mehmed Fatih (Turkish: Mehmed the Conqueror) Ottoman sultan from 1444 to 1446 and from 1451 to 1481. A great military leader, he captured Constantinople and conquered the territories in Anatolia and the Balkans that comprised the Ottoman Empire's heartland for the next four centuries. Born Jan. 10, 1769, Sarrelouis, Fr. One of the best known of Napoleon's marshals (from 1804), who pledged his allegiance to the restored Bourbon monarchy when Napoleon abdicated in 1814. Upon Napoleon's return in 1815, Ney rejoined him and commanded the Old Guard at the Battle of Waterloo. Born 1584, Mimasaka or Harima, Japan Original name Miyamoto Masana, also called Niten. Famous Japanese soldier-artist of the early Tokugawa period (1603–1867). Born May 20, 1915, Deganya, Palestine [now in Israel] Soldier and statesman who led Israel to dramatic victories over its Arab neighbours and became a symbol of security to his countrymen. Born 1881, Salonika [now Thessaloníki], Greece Original name Mustafa Kemal, also called Mustafa Kemal Pasa soldier, statesman, and reformer who was the founder and first president (1923–38) of the Republic of Turkey. He modernized the country's legal and educational systems and encouraged the adoption of a European way of life, with Turkish written in the Latin alphabet and with citizens adopting European-style names. Born Aug. 15, 1769, Ajaccio, Corsica French in full Napoléon Bonaparte, original Italian Napoleone Buonaparte, byname The Corsican, or The Little Corporal, French Le Corse, or Le Petit Caporal French general, First Consul (1799–1804), and emperor of the French (1804–1814/15), one of the most celebrated personages in the history of the West. He revolutionized military organization and training; sponsored the Napoleonic Code; the prototype of later civil-law codes. Born Aug. 7, 1742, Potowomut, R.I. [U.S.] American general in the U.S. War of Independence (1775–83). Born Aug. 22, 1934, Trenton, N.J., U.S. U.S. Army officer who commanded Operation Desert Storm, the American-led coalition that liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in the Persian Gulf War (1991). Born 1534, Owari Province, Japan Original name Kichihoshi, later Saburo Japanese warrior, member of the Fujiwara family, who overthrew the Ashikaga shogunate and ended a long period of feudal wars by unifying half of Japan's provinces under his rule. As virtual dictator, Nobunaga restored stable government and established the conditions that led to the unification of the country. Born April 25, 1599, Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, Eng. English soldier and statesman who led parliamentary forces in the English Civil Wars; he was lord protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1653 to 1658 during the republican Commonwealth. Born Feb. 12, 1893, Clark, Mo., U.S. U.S. Army officer who commanded the highly effective 12th Army Group, which helped ensure the Allied victory over Germany during World War II; later he served as first chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (1949–53). Born Nov. 23, 912 Byname Otto The Great, German Otto Der Grosse duke of Saxony (as Otto II, 936–961), German king (from 936), and Holy Roman emperor (962–973), who consolidated the German Reich by his suppression of rebellious vassals and his decisive victory over the Hungarians. His use of the church as a stabilizing influence created a secure empire and stimulated a cultural renaissance. Born Oct. 2, 1847, Posen, Prussia [now Poznan, Pol.] In full Paul Ludwig Hans Anton Von Beneckendorff Und Von Hindenburg German field marshal during World War I and second president of the Weimar Republic (1925–34). His presidential terms were wracked by political instability, economic depression, and the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, whom he appointed chancellor in 1933. Born June 9 [May 30, Old Style], 1672, Moscow, Russia Russian in full Pyotr Alekseyevich, byname Peter the Great, Russian Pyotr Veliky tsar of Russia, who reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V (1682–96) and alone thereafter (1696–1725) and who in 1721 was proclaimed emperor (imperator). He was one of his country's greatest statesmen, organizers, and reformers. Born 382 BC Byname Philip Of Macedon 18th king of Macedonia (359–336 BC), who restored internal peace to his country and then, by 339, had gained domination over all Greece by military and diplomatic means, thus laying the foundations for its expansion under his son Alexander III the Great. Born Sept. 29, 106 BC, Rome Latin in full Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus one of the great statesmen and generals of the late Roman Republic, a triumvir (61–54 BC), the associate and later opponent of Julius Caesar. He was initially called Magnus (the Great) by his troops in Africa (82–81 BC). Died 211 BC Roman general, consul in 218 BC and later proconsul, during the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage. Born Oct. 7, 1734, Tullibody, Clackmannan, Scot. Soldier whose command restored discipline and prestige to the British army after the disastrous campaigns in the Low Countries between 1793 and 1799. He prepared the way for the successful campaign against Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt. Born Sept. 8, 1157, Oxford Byname Richard The Lion-heart, or Lion-hearted, French Richard Coeur De Lion duke of Aquitaine (from 1168) and of Poitiers (from 1172) and king of England, duke of Normandy, and count of Anjou (1189–99). His knightly manner and his prowess in the Third Crusade (1189–92) made him a popular king in his own time as well as the hero of countless romantic legends. He has been viewed less kindly by more recent historians and scholars. Born July 11, 1274 Original name Robert VIII de Bruce, or Robert the Bruce king of Scotland (1306–29), who freed Scotland from English rule, winning the decisive Battle of Bannockburn (1314) and ultimately confirming Scottish independence in the Treaty of Northampton (1328). Born Jan. 19, 1807, Stratford, Westmoreland county, Va., U.S. In full Robert Edward Lee Confederate general, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, the most successful of the Southern armies during the American Civil War (1861–65). In February 1865 he was given command of all the Southern armies. His surrender at Appomattox Courthouse April 9, 1865, is commonly viewed as signifying the end of the Civil War. Born 1137/38, Tikrit, Mesopotamia Arabic in full Sala h Ad-din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub (“Righteousness of the Faith, Joseph, Son of Job”), also called Al-malik An-na sir Sala h Ad-din Yusuf I Muslim sultan of Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Palestine, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and the most famous of Muslim heroes. In wars against the Christian crusaders, he achieved final success with the disciplined capture of Jerusalem (Oct. 2, 1187), ending its 88-year occupation by the Franks. Born March 2, 1793, Rockbridge County, Va., U.S. Byname of Samuel Houston U.S. lawyer and politician, a leader of the struggle by U.S. emigrants in Mexican territory to win control of Texas (1834–36) and make it part of the United States. Sebastien Le Prestre De Vauban Born May 15, 1633, Saint-Léger-de-Foucherest [now Saint-Léger-Vauban],
Fr. French military engineer who revolutionized the art of siege craft and defensive fortifications. He fought in all of France's wars of Louix XIV's reign (1643–1715). Born 1470, Amasya, Ottoman Empire [now in Turkey] Byname Yavuz (“The Grim”) Ottoman sultan (1512–20) who extended the empire to Syria, the Hejaz, and Egypt and raised the Ottomans to leadership of the Muslim world. Born c. 1787 Zulu chief (1816–28), founder of southern Africa's Zulu Empire, who created a fighting force that devastated the entire region. Born July 24, 1783, Caracas, New Granada [now in Venezuela] Byname The Liberator, Spanish El Libertador South American soldier and statesman who led the revolutions against Spanish rule in New Granada (renamed Colombia, or Gran Colombia, in 1819 and including Venezuela and Ecuador as well as Colombia), Peru, and Upper Peru (Bolivia). He was president, actually dictator, of both Colombia (1821–30) and Peru (1823–29). Born 1435 Byname Stephen the Great, Romanian Stefan cel Mare voivod (prince) of Moldavia (1457–1504), who won renown in Europe for his long resistance to the Ottoman Turks. Born November 1494/, April 1495 Byname Süleyman the Magnificent, or The Lawgiver, Turkish Süleyman Muhtesem, or Kanuni sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566, who not only undertook bold military campaigns that enlarged his realm but also oversaw the development of what came to be regarded as the most characteristic achievements of Ottoman civilization in the fields of law, literature, art, and architecture. flourished 4th century BC Also spelled Sun-tzu reputed author of the Chinese classic Ping-fa ( The Art of War ), the earliest known treatise on war and military science. The book is traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (personal name Sun Wu), a military strategist and general who served the state of Wu near the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC). It is more likely, however, that it was written early in the Warring States (403-221 B.C.). Died c. 720 Also spelled Tarik Ibn Zeyad general who led the Muslim conquest of Spain. Born c. 524 BC Athenian politician and naval strategist who was the creator of Athenian sea power and the chief saviour of Greece from subjection to the Persian Empire at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. Born Jan. 21, 1824, Clarksburg, Va. [now in W.Va.], U.S. Byname Stonewall Jackson Confederate general in the American Civil War, one of its most skillful tacticians, who gained his sobriquet “Stonewall” by his stand at the First Battle of Bull Run (called First Manassas by the South) in 1861. Born Dec. 14, 1775, Annesfield, Lanarkshire, Scot. British admiral, who ranks among the greatest of British seamen. Born 1336, Kesh, near Samarkand, Transoxania [now in Uzbekistan]
Also spelled Timour, byname Timur Lenk, or Timurlenk (Turkish: “Timur the Lame”), English Tamerlane, or Tamburlaine Turkic conqueror of Islamic faith, chiefly remembered for the barbarity of his conquests from India and Russia to the Mediterranean Sea and for the cultural achievements of his dynasty. Born c. 1743,, Bréda, near Cape François, Saint-Domingue
[Haiti] Louverture also spelled L'Ouverture, original name (until c. 1793) François Dominique Toussaint leader of the Haitian independence movement during the French Revolution, who emancipated the slaves and briefly established Haiti as a black-governed French protectorate. Born April 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio, U.S. Original name Hiram Ulysses Grant U.S. general, commander of the Union armies during the late years (1864–65) of the American Civil War, and 18th president of the United States (1869–77). Born 1912, An Xa, Vietnam Vietnamese military and political leader whose perfection of guerrilla as well as conventional strategy and tactics led to the Viet Minh victory over the French (and to the end of French colonialism in Southeast Asia) and later to the North Vietnamese victory over South Vietnam and the United States. Born Oct. 30, 1882, Elizabeth, N.J., U.S. In full William Frederick Halsey, Jr., byname Bull Halsey U.S. naval commander who led vigorous campaigns in the Pacific theatre during World War II. He was a leading exponent of warfare using carrier-based aircraft and became known for his daring and imaginative tactics. Born February 8, 1820, Lancaster, Ohio, U.S. American Civil War general and a major architect of modern warfare. He led Union forces in crushing campaigns through the South, marching through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–65). Born c. 1028, Falaise, Normandy Byname William The Conqueror, or The Bastard, or William Of Normandy, French Guillaume Le Conquérant, or Le Bâtard, or Guillaume De Normandie duke of Normandy (as William II) from 1035 and king of England from 1066, one of the greatest soldiers and rulers of the Middle Ages. He made himself the mightiest feudal lord in France and then changed the course of England's history by his conquest of that country. Born c. 1270,, probably near Paisley, Renfrew, Scot. One of Scotland's greatest national heroes, leader of the Scottish resistance forces during the first years of the long, and ultimately successful, struggle to free Scotland from English rule. Born June 13, 1786, Petersburg, Va., U.S. American army officer who held the rank of general in three wars and was the unsuccessful Whig candidate for president in 1852. He was the foremost American military figure between the Revolution and the Civil War. Born 431 BC, Attica, Greece Greek historian, author of the Anabasis. Its prose was highly regarded by literary critics in antiquity and had strong influence on Latin literature.
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