The 15 Best Military Commanders In Human History, Ranked

Of all of history's great military commanders, who was number one? We did a deep dive into the achievements of generals from antiquity through the 20th century, and found these to be the 15 best of all time.

#GenghisKhan #Napoleon #Military

15. Simón Bolívar | 0:00
14. King Leonidas of Sparta | 1:15
13: Tamerlane | 2:34
12. Themistocles | 3:42
11. Charlemagne | 4:32
10. Frederick the Great | 5:32
9. Hernán Cortés | 6:34
8. Vo Nguyen Giap | 7:46
7. Saladin | 8:55
6. Hannibal Barca | 10:01
5. Dwight D. Eisenhower | 11:06
4. Napoleon | 12:03
3. Genghis Khan | 13:17
2. Julius Caesar | 14:17
1. Alexander the Great | 15:15

Voiceover by: Tim Bensch

[GrungeHQ]

Who do you think is the G.O.A.T. military commander?

[Sunbeard.]

Genghis khan's general Subutai should have been added to this list. He never lost a battle with 65 victories. Unprecedented military genius! Hands down!

[jameswaterfield]

Eisenhower does NOT belong in this list, as he never commanded troops in battle! He was a great administrator, who knew how to delegate. All the achievements he made were through other peoples efforts, a bit like Edison really. Also, wouldn't a qualifier for this list be that the leader involved, never lost a battle? Like Sir Arthur Wellesley or to create such clever tactics, that your force consistently defeats foes with far greater power, like Thomas Cochrane or Horatio Nelson. I do note a distinct lack of British leaders here! Oh and I forgot. William "Uncle Bill" Slim, who took charge of a defeated army, turned it round and soundly defeated the Japanese on the mainland, it should also be noted, that two divisions of the 14th army were only prevented from destroying the Viet Minh, by the French returning to south east Asia and, basically, telling them that "It's OK, we are back, we can finish the job"! They, of course dithered enough for the Viet Minh to re-arm and re-equip and, eventually, soundly defeat first the French and then the US armies.

[BobbyRyan]

Khalid ibn al Waleed is easily a top 5 commander the fact that he isn't even on this list says how much people in the west don't even know who he was. Which is pretty sad.

[davidbarkin]

Leonidas, one of the Great Generals in history? Really?

[jpx]

Eisenhower was a consummate 5-star staff general of generals, but Eisenhower never led troops at a combat level. There was always another general between Eisenhower and the fighting. 

If you want an American general the usual top two picks are George Patton and US Grant.

[Dan-ufvh]

a popularity commanders instead of the best commanders

[stevearmstrong]

Grigory Zhukov. I'm just saying. The guy did more generaling than anyone else. He put more violence against more violence than anyone else. Not even close.

[Schimenator]

Leonidas' victory at Thermopylae? Whaaaat?

[olivierpuyou]

Rather strange ranking...
Napoleon won more battles than Caesar, Hannibal and Alexander the Great combined and most often outnumbered.

[laogalaxy]

Tamerlane should be way higher. He didn't have super generals like Genghis Khan to help him. The success of his battles and wars depended on him so much.

[ld]

You dare to place Napoleon FOURTH!? FRANCE SHALL NOT STAND FOR THIS INSULT!

[marcsongini]

Generalship excellence is more than battlefield tactics. There’s intelligence, supply chain management, long term strategic planning, diplomacy, the ability to lead and inspire men. And luck. This mixes things up and doesn’t do precise comparisons.

[far]

Naader Shah of Persia (Iran) in 18th Century.

[jackofswords]

You missed out Wellington. The General who was never defeated. From India to Portugal, Spain, France and Belgium. He defeated every one of Napolian's generals sent against him and even Napoleon himself at Waterloo.

[billybobobenner]

Eisenhower was an effective administrator but as a Military Commander he should be nowhere near this list. You are missing many great commanders like Subatai, Scipio Africanus and The Duke of Marlborough.

[raf]

Khalid ibn al waleed the man who never been defeated destroyed the Roman and Byzantine empire, who outnumbered him by 10x, and was one of the sole reason why Islam’s golden age began? You’re telling me he doesn’t deserve to be on the list? He should be atleast top 5

[ulyrhee]

Where's Attila?
Where's naval commander
Yi sunshin ?, who never lost a battle against japanese armada while greatly out numbered.
English Naval commander Nelson against
Spanish armada?
Wheres the desert fox Rommel?
Where's the israelite commander Joshua who went on conquering and conquering while wandering?

Also should Eisenhower be on this list? He had alot of help, no?

[davidk]

With all due respect, Mongol generals Subutai Baghatur and Jebe should be included on this list.

[bonganindlovu]

Shaka Zulu and Marshall Zhukov are missing