Mcdowell never took the intiative in any campaign without being forced to by NCA.

Mcdowell never took the intiative in any campaign without being forced to by NCA.

The same thing could be said for Joseph E. Johnston (CSA). This was particularly true at Vicksburg. There were other Generals on both sides that never took the initiative but could not be considered the worst. I still think that the all-time worst American General HAS to be Burnside. In every major attack that he was responsible for the only thing he accomplished as a large number of KIA/wounded Union troops after a long period of time (Antietam, Fredericksburg, and the Crater).
After the Crater Grant basically took his command away and sent him on leave (from which he was never recalled).

Clark or the bloke in the Philippines...McArthey???? The one who wanted to use atomic weapons in Korea

How can you say MacArthur was one of the worst US generals? Thats crazy. He was outnumbered in the Pacific with troops, ships, planes, and supplies up until late 43. The overrated Ike and Monty were sucking up all the supplies in the European war leaving a couple left over units for MacArthur to use. If he was so horrible, why did he get to recieve the Jap surrender aboard the Missouri? Maybe it has to do with the fact that he led the outnumbered and outgunned us military forces in the early years of war to victory against a superior enemy time and time again. Regardless of what people think about him in Korea, his talents as a General were unsurpassed in the Pacific.

Ps.. I wouldn't pin all the blame on him for the Chinese intervention in Korea. The Chinese were willingly supplying the N. Koreans. MacArthur authorized the bombing of the bridges to cut off the N. Korean forces who were trying to retreat across them into China. (A textbook tactic) If Truman didn't want this to happen, he should have told Mac earlier than he did. By the time Truman grabbed his nuts, the bridges had already been destroyed. China was coming whether the bridges were destroyed or not. Mao was itching to get into Korea. Mac knew the Russians were providing air support for the commies, he took the initiative. Can you blame him?

I can't believe Patton was not listed more than once! He wanted to side with Hitler against the USSR!

Patton didn't want to side with the Nazis and fight the Russians. That statement is rather false. He did however want to fight the Russians after the Nazis fell. He was very smart and knew what was coming in following decades. Do you blame him? Christ man, everybody forgets that the "poor, peaceful Russians" signed an alliance with the nazis in 39. And don't insult peoples intelligence by calling it a non-aggression pact, it was this only on paper. They both agreed to conquer and divvy up Poland. If thats not an alliance, then what is? (Dont forget Russia also invaded Finland) I dont blame Patton one bit for wanting to fight the Russians.

Also, how in the hell can you put MacArthur in the "worst generals category?" He was a brilliant leader. Sure he had his faults. But everybody does. He wasn't perfect, but he definatly was good.

But for my opinion, the worst american general would have to have been Gen. Burnside of the Union army. Do a google search on him. He got more union troops slaughtered than any other general in US history. And if memory serves me right, he never even won a battle. He was inept in every leadership category.

Originally Posted by BigBert96

Patton didn't want to side with the Nazis and fight the Russians. That statement is rather false. He did however want to fight the Russians after the Nazis fell. He was very smart and knew what was coming in following decades. Do you blame him? Christ man, everybody forgets that the "poor, peaceful Russians" signed an alliance with the nazis in 39. And don't insult peoples intelligence by calling it a non-aggression pact, it was this only on paper. They both agreed to conquer and divvy up Poland. If thats not an alliance, then what is? (Dont forget Russia also invaded Finland) I dont blame Patton one bit for wanting to fight the Russians.

Also, how in the h**l can you put MacArthur in the "worst generals category?" He was a brilliant leader. Sure he had his faults. But everybody does. He wasn't perfect, but he definatly was good.

But for my opinion, the worst american general would have to have been Gen. Burnside of the Union army. Do a google search on him. He got more union troops slaughtered than any other general in US history. And if memory serves me right, he never even won a battle. He was inept in every leadership category.

There was a reason russia signed the pact with germany. Stalin planed to stab hitler in the back. the chance came when Hitler attacked france, but france fell too fast for russia to mobilize

Originally Posted by BigBert96

But for my opinion, the worst american general would have to have been Gen. Burnside of the Union army. Do a google search on him. He got more union troops slaughtered than any other general in US history. And if memory serves me right, he never even won a battle. He was inept in every leadership category.

Unfortunately, your memory does not serve you in this instance. Burnside did indeed command a successful campaign to take control of the North Carolina Sounds. You can read about it in the book "Burnside" by William Marvel or in the September issue of "America's Civil War" In spite of this, I agree that Burnside is the worst commander in U.S. Military History. His plans of attack at Fredericksburg the crater were sound but he had a total lack of the ability to react to changing circumstances as those two battles showed.

Thanks for the input claymore, I guess burnside did win one! He still sucked overall. But my original post was based more on Patton and why he wanted to fight the Russians. Fact still remains that Patton was right.

Well all i can say is that thats your opinion and I can't change it so lets just move on