Who do you think is the greatest general in the history of the United Kingdom?

[Julie4]

I'm hesitating between two, but I'm waiting to see if the majority of people here will think the same as me.

[Anonymous]

Easy. King Richard I, Couer de Lion.
(8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199)

He was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony; Lord of Cyprus; Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes; and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. His military successes in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade, the Siege of Acre and conquest of Jaffa in Israel, only demonstrate how incredible a commander he really was.

It takes tremendous resources and charisma to gather an army, equip it, field it, feed it, transport it all the way across Europe and the Mediterranean—to go fight in land you’ve never been to, against an enemy you’ve never even met. And then you not only manage to keep your army together, and fed, you also win? Again? And again? Let’s not forget, it isn’t like the English were used to fighting in the desert heat. His conquest of Cyprus is nuts.

He also hated Jews with a passion and sometimes did mass executions of prisoners, but when it comes to an English general (a king is a general, especially when he literally leads his own army) there are few that can compare with his land victories. These weren’t naval engagements he wa winning, and the vaunted English navy had yet to even be conceived.

[RavVid]

Sir John Monash. Definitively the greatest general because he was knighted on the battlefield in 1918 for breaking the German Army. It had been 200 hundred years since the last general had been so honored. General Slim was also so honored in WW2.

If you don't accept an Aussie general being UK's greatest general well Wellington is an obvious pick but I tend to think the first Churchill was the better.

The most consequential was Cromwell despite what the Irish will say.

Pick of the litter I think was Alfred the Great. He more supervised than general'ed but he was there and if you rubbed him out the English don't exist, and England wasn't unified.

[Julie4]

I hesitate between Marlborough and Wellington. Wellington's victory was decisive in making the United Kingdom the world's leading power, and he was politically astute.

However, the victory at Waterloo deserves to be awarded at least as much to Prussia.

Marlborough really did give the UK a decisive edge in world domination.

[purplepoppy]

Originally Prussia did get the credit. when a scale mini model of the battle was commissioned it was very evident of prussias role. People complained it downplayed the British so they repainted the soldiers to make it more a British victory

[RavVid]

It is hard to say which great man is the greatest or even if it makes sense. Marlborough or Wellington? And how do you judge that? The sixth coalition's doctrine of never giving battle to Napoleon but only to his Marshal's worked well.

With my family's association with Bulow I am honored bound to think Prussia deserves more credit then it gets for Waterloo. :)

I am inclined to think if you erased Wellington there would not have been as much difference in the what-if as there would have been if you erased Malborough.

Wellington wasn't so politically astute domestically by the way. As PM he is reputed to have said after his first cabinet meeting "I gave them their orders and, damnme, they wanted to discuss them!". Being a PM wasn't quite the same as being a general. :)

[RavVid]

@purplepoppy it was Wellington himself that complained at all the Prussian uniforms!

[ManofHistory]

Hmmm, probably Henry V. His success in the 100-years war really helped to place England in a spot of global dominance for the next several hundred years.

Another candidate is William the conqueror; however, I don't think he was as good of a general as Henry V.

I really can't say for sure. UK history is so vast and wide spread. I could say Wellington, Cromwell, Bill Slim, or Marlborough.

I have a soft spot for Horatio Nelson, even though he was an admiral and wasn't as strategically gifted as some others.

What do you think?

[Julie4]

I hesitate between Marlborough and Wellington. Wellington's victory was decisive in making the United Kingdom the world's leading power, and he was politically astute.

However, the victory at Waterloo deserves to be awarded at least as much to Prussia.

Marlborough really did give the UK a decisive edge in world domination.

[ManofHistory]

I could see either of those being considered the greatest general. Wellington did defeat probably the best general in history, Napoleon, but Napoleon had already been defeated and Europe wasn't going to let him rise back to power. Prussia did a ton to help England at Waterloo and I believe that if Napoleon had won Waterloo, he would've been defeated at the next battle or the one after that.

I don't know quite as much about Marlborough, but I know he was very successful against the Sun King. I do know that he is generally considered one of England's greatest generals.

[Soteris]

Hmm.. I dont know. The UK does not scream "Greatest General" to me. They were more of a naval power. Possibly John Churchill (1650 to 1722) but that is partially because I dont know many other alternatives.

[Skull_Anon]

Boris Johnson I think 💀

Was nice to offer me a cup of tea once ☕

[Andres77]

It depends on the resources available to you.

[Mettbltt]

Best general wellington and best admiral nelson

[AngryCarl2]

Montgomery. That is all.

[OddBeMe]

Wellington.