Top Military/Armies of history

[Brian Williams]

IYHO, who do you think of when you are asked "Which army was the best"...

In other words who would you rate as some of the top organized Armys of the History of the world in terms of training, supply, staff/officer/enlisted, combat proven.etc. I am not talking about hordes (Goths) or fighters (American Plains Indians), but organized military units.


Not in any specific order
1. Sparta
2. Roman legions
3. the Germans pre 1943
4. WW1 and WW2 Marine Corps
5. the Isrealis circa 60's and 70's

 

[bad LT]

Gota include some others:
1. Alexander the Greats Army - he concored the world and defeated many armies 6-8 times his size

2. Mongols under Ghengas Khan - ditto

3. 3rd Amry Under Patton - kicked much Nazi a%% in the BIG WAR

 

[modifiedbrowning]

Napolean's army was pretty good until he tried to invade Russia.
The Prussians were really good in their day.

 

[George Hill]

1. Roman Legion.
2. The Muslim Army which ran up to Constantinople and around North Africa and up through Spain... only to be stopped by #3.
3. Charles Martel, aka "The Hammer" and the creator of "Heavy Cavalry" that changed the whole social order of Europe. His army crushed the Muslims advance and pushed them out of Gaul back over the mountains back into Spain.
4. Napoleon.
5. Patton.
6. George Washington.
7. The Army Air Corps.
8. Charlemagne.
9. Otto I
10. The Vandals. (who's rampage across Europe even then still has meaning today as the word describing those who create chaos and destruction)

 

[Wildalaska]

Yall gonna rate ol Blood and Guts so high ya ought to toss Zhukov in there, both got their reps on the blood of their soldiers......

WildmostamericangeneralsareundistinguishedAlaska

 

[George Hill]

Sorry WA -Pushed the wrong blue button! Why is "EDIT" where "REPLY" should be?

Anyways... As I was about to say - Napoleon pretty much owned Europe for awhile, so that puts him right up there.

 

[middy]

1. United States Armed Forces: Any other conventional military force, past or present, is outclassed and annihilated against this courageous, well trained, and high tech group of American kids.

2. The Mongols: Genghis Khan's unstoppable horsemen, who carved out an unprecedented empire from Poland to the South China Sea, from the Persian Gulf to Korea.

3. Carthaginian Cavalry: Followed Hannibal over the alps. In the winter. Played around in Italy for 15 years, trouncing the Romans more often than not, even while outnumbered, with their advanced cavalry tactics.

4. The Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus: The direct ancestor of the modern U.S. Army, they taught the rest of the world the power of teamwork, self-respect, and innovation.

5. The British. Since the middle ages the British military tradition has consistently fielded a world-class army, with too many brilliant leaders to name.

6. Napoleon's great armies proved once and for all that the French do make excellent soldiers... as long as their leader is not French.

 

[HungSquirrel]

The French.

 

[jobu07]

The prussians were pretty good, small and efficient were thier motto. Threatened to use that tool a lot too. Charlamagne seemed pretty good too, united all of Germany and all. I'll agree Napolean had a good army, a little too ambitious though. The old Roman legions were pretty top notch for a while. I mean, everyone seems to have been on top at one time or another. We all fall down eventually...

 

[oweno]

Say what you want about the way he waged war, Sherman's army rates near the top.

Sheridan's cavalry was pretty good too.

As was the Army of Northern Virginia in places like Chancellorsville. Flat out amazing feat of generalship.

 

[HankB]

The gladiator army of Spartacus was pretty good - it crushed a number of Roman legions, and it took the combined might of multiple Roman armies to defeat it.

The WWII Air Commando groups of the USAAF were quite effective, combining bombers, fighters, and troop carrier/cargo aircraft in one organization.

The Boers of South Africa really chewed up the British, and were only forced to capitulate when the Brits rounded up Boer women and children and placed them into concentration camps.

 

[MrMurphy]

The Boers weren't really an organized army, they were guerrila groups of farmers on "Commando" (mounted infantry i.e dragoons) which is where the Commando term comes from in WW2 (the guy who suggested it was South African).

 

[Lonestar.45]

All good choices above. I'll have to throw in the Texian army of the pre-Republic of Texas. Whipped Santa Anna and made sure he stayed south of the border.

Best of all time? The US Military forces, no question. Since the time of George Washington to the present, there has been no other military with quite as impressive a record.

 

[Nazirite]

What about William Wallace and those crazy Scots.

 

[mattk]

A bunch of you guys are going to hate to read this but I vote for the Vietnamese. In a number of conflicts the Viets have proven to be outstanding fighters.
Examples include the French Indochina War. The Sino-Vietnamese Conflict to name a few.

 

[Ala Dan]

I voted for the Vietnamese as well. Old Charile was well trained and
highly motivated, and engaged in some mighty fierce battles with
U.S. troops.

 

[El Tejon]

Using your criteria, it must be the Mongols.

Training: from birth. Mongol boys were expected to excel at three things in life--wrestling (Mongolia Sut Gao "fast wrestling" is still a much respected form of martial art), horsemanship, and marksmanship (on and off horse). It was a martial culture; the purpose of living was to fight.

Supply: mobile and fed off enemy. Privation was part of Mongol culture, i.e. they weren't a bunch of soft, flabby sissies whining about their gullets.

Staff: it was not a mob, but organized down to squad level. Leadership was beyond outstanding.

Combat Proven: history gives all the evidence you need here.

Just my $.02.

mattk, don't you mean Sino-Viet conflictS.

 

[NMshooter]

Which Roman legions? It makes a big difference...

The Mongols were amazingly effective, making people think they had "hordes" when they did not.

Napoleon did well early on, then he turned into another "frontal assault" general.

The Germans did pretty well for themselves on the Eastern Front, but the Soviets had Hitler on their side, so the Germans were ultimately doomed...

The American military does well when it its leaders are willing to use the indirect approach. Sometimes Patton did that, sometimes he didn't.

The Vietnamese did very well, but they paid for it.

I bet the IDF is wishing they had the force they used to have...

 

[cxm]

Not Too Hard

This is fairly straight forward:

1. Spartans
2. Romans
3. Ottoman Turks
4. First Republic (Franch... retch!!1)
5. British Army (Emprie era and WWI/WWII)
6. Confederate Army
7. Germans WWI/WW II
8. Russian WWII
9. U.S. Army WW II
10. Israili 1967

 

[rhkirk1]

There is no better army than the Army of Northern Virginia prior to Gettysburg.

 

[Bear Gulch]

What are your criteria? I would be willing to nominate the Red Army at Stalingrad, except their victory was chiefly a function of STAVKA being willing to feed more troops into the meat grinder.

 

[smokemaker]

In the 30's and early 40's the Japanese were on a tear across the Pacific, until they awoke the sleeping giant.

The Vietnamese were no slouches.

I'd also have to throw a vote for Sherman's army. But the Confederates had their elites too. The Germans from 1939 to June or so of 1944. Mogols, Romas, Ottomans, Napoleans army, IDF, all top shelf.

But remember who finishes world wars. That would be the US armed forces.

 

[T.Stahl]

How about the Swiss Army?
They haven't lost a war since...uuh...when?

 

[richyoung]

1. Spartans, - when led by Brasidas, or at Thermopolae.
2. The Ten Thousand, as chronicled by Xenophon.
3. Alexander the Great's army.
4. Roman legions, especially when led by Julius Ceaser or Constantine
5. Patton's Third Army
6. Anything following Marshal Zhukov's orders
7. Anything following Robert E. Lee's orders
8. Third Reich, pre-'43, particulary on the Eastern Front, but not Rommel, so much.
9. "The Hammer"
10. The multi-generational Muslim offensive finally stopped by the Hammer.
11. Anything led by Sun Tzu - (hey, we are still reading about him...)
12. Anything led by Clauswitz - (ditto)
13. Anything led by Napolean - (ditto)
14. The Mongols - (would have been higher if they had a classier opponent to show their mettle against...)
15. IDF - up til Lebanon - (ditto)
16. U.S. -Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm (ditto)
17. U.S. - Operation Iraqi Freedom (ditto)
18. Army of the Republic of Texas (ditto)
19. U.S. Army - Mexican-American War (ditto)
20. Finland - against S.U. and then Germany, very good accounting for themselves against desperate odds.

 

[Bulldozer]

Best Armies -- My Votes

7th Century BC Assyrians under Sennacherib and Assurbanipal -- combined arms concept of archers, slingers, 3 and 4-man chariots, infantrymen with long spears, and light cavalry. First to use iron weapons in large quantities.

5th Century BC Persians under Cyrus and Darius. They used the first modern "centralized" concept of generalship. Immortlas carried both bow and spear, but their weakness was lack of heavy armor.

Hoplites of Philip and Alexander. 'nuf has been said in prior posts.

Hannibal's carthigian forces. ditto.

Norman Knights under William the Conqueror in 1066.

The Mongols under Genghis and Kublai Khan.

Spanish Conquistadors under Pizzaro and Cortes. Look how small groups savaged a population many times their size.

Post English Civil War -- "New Model Army". This marks the professional development of the British military tradition. Thank Cromwell for this development.

Turkish Jannisaries.

18th century Prussians

Stonewall Jackson's "Foot Cavalry", 1st Virginia brigade

The Gurkha Regiments

The Zulu Armies under Shaka. he created new weapons (assegai) and tactics to conquer huge swathes of what is now South Africa.

The Boers. Incredible case of David kicking in Goliath's teeth.

The Afrika Corps under Rommel.

IDF Air Force and Armored Corps in the 67 and 73 Wars.