6 of the Best Generals in History

It’s too difficult to declare any one person as the greatest general of all time, but few would have a stronger claim than Napoleon Bonaparte, the minor Corsican noble who became Emperor of France and defined an entire era of warfare. Napoleon was able to command massive conscript armies that could mobilize with unprecedented speed both on and off the battlefield. He developed a sophisticated hierarchical system that divided his armies into corps headed by subordinate generals, many of whom were extremely accomplished in their own right. His attention to logistics was unrivaled as well, and he even helped develop the invention of canned food, allowing his troops to survive off their rations for longer. 

His longevity as commander is impressive, fighting in 43 battles and only losing 5, all of his losses coming as the underdog. Even baseball-style statistical analysis puts Napoleon in a league of his own. More importantly, he merged war and politics better than perhaps anyone in history, understanding that diplomatic pressure and propaganda could have just as much of an effect on the battlefield as cannons and rifles. He took a nation under siege from all sides and turned it into a dominant force for decades, and even after his eventual final defeat at Waterloo, Europe was never quite the same again.

Though Alexander’s military career and indeed life were relatively short, few men in history have had as much influence. He won all nine major battles he led, often against some of the most advanced armies in the known world that greatly outnumbered his own. Alexander’s men were able to overcome the odds so frequently not because of his tactics, but because of his exceptional ability to read the tides of battle and react accordingly. They were therefore able to adapt to the unique challenges put before them, from war elephants to Mongolian horse archers. These exotic enemies were imposing to the more typical and traditional ranks of the Macedonian’s army, but Alexander’s troops were always superior in supplies and training.

Alexander’s conquests took him through Persia, Syria, Egypt, Babylon, and India, leaving many defeated empires and cities named Alexandria in his wake. His empire bridged the gap between Europe and Asia, helping to facilitate trade between the East and West while spreading Greek culture and identities to many places around the world. He may have barely lived for three decades, but his daring, unlikely victories shaped the world in ways few people throughout history could ever hope to match.

Hannibal Barca was a legendary Carthaginian general who commanded many hard-fought battles over the mighty Roman Empire during the Second Punic War. Though Carthage would ultimately be defeated by Rome, Hannibal wrote himself into history by winning several battles against the richest, largest army in the world, inheriting his leadership position after the death of Carthage’s previous two generals—who happened to be his father and brother-in-law. Hannibal invaded the Iberian Peninsula with an aggressive, decisive campaign, and negotiated an alliance with the Gauls, neighboring enemies of Rome.

He then led the most daring and spectacular maneuver in military history: marching his army, including hordes of war elephants, over the Alps and into Italy. Hannibal would inflict some key defeats to the Romans on their home soil before returning home to Carthage to preserve resources and defend against a Roman counter-attack. All of this was accomplished with a multicultural, multilingual army that could still coordinate and pull off advanced tactics. Although he would be decisively defeated at the Battle of Zama, very few generals gave the Roman Empire as hard of a time as Hannibal did.

Genghis Khan’s brutally efficient conquests made the Mongol Empire the largest contiguous civilization history has ever seen, and much of that expansion is down to his greatest subordinate, Subutai. Subutai conquered over 30 nations and won 65 pitched battles spanning across Eurasia. He took time to work his way up the ranks, commanding a more modest army at first until the death of Genghis Khan, upon which the fiercely loyal Subutai was given control of a great Mongol horde that had stunning victories over the Jin Dynasty, followed by conquest of Russia and decisive victories in Hungary and Poland. 

Relatively little is known of Subutai, particularly of his character and personal life, and there’s uncertainty over quite how much of his deeds were mythologized. Regardless, if the information we have is true, Subutai remains one of the most efficient and fearsome generals in history.

Considered by some to be the United States’ best ever battlefield commander, Douglas MacArthur was undoubtedly brilliant—and undoubtedly controversial. MacArthur graduated top of his class at West Point, albeit with some attitude problems, and led the brief occupation of Veracruz before serving during World War I in a variety of positions. He eventually became a general and Chief of Staff for the Army, and guided the military through the Great Depression while also serving as field marshal for the Philippines Army, building their defense force despite inadequate resources. 

He came out of retirement to serve in World War II, securing many key victories in the Southwest Pacific Theatre despite a lack of support from his superiors. He later led troops in the Korean War, but was eventually removed by President Truman for insubordination. MacArthur left behind a complicated legacy; he clashed frequently with authority but got results with his heroic victories in the Pacific that halted the Japanese and the North Koreans, all while working with insufficient resources and support.

There may have been no underdog more successful in the 20th century than Vietnamese military legend Vo Nguyen Giap. A lifelong anti-colonist, Giap was originally a professor before escaping to China after his forbidden political views were discovered; his wife and sister-in-law were killed for their beliefs. He learned the ways of guerilla warfare from the success of Mao Zedong, and used tactics to target the weaknesses of the French, like their susceptibility to road ambushes, and dampen their strengths, like making France’s total air superiority much more irrelevant. This strategic prowess allowed him to defeat the French and earn Vietnamese independence.

He became the commander in chief of the North Vietnamese army that successfully repelled the Americans through his guerilla tactics; the American army, much more accustomed to conventional warfare, could not adapt. The two Vietnams would be reunited and have remained so ever since.