“Consider some of these ‘mad’ commanders from the pages of military history.”
GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON ONCE DESCRIBED HIMSELF AS the best “ass-kicker in the United States Army.” It’s a claim that’s not without merit.
In just nine short months beginning in July of 1944, the flamboyant four-star led his Third Army half way across France and into Germany killing, wounding or capturing 1.4 million enemy troops and liberating more than 10,000 cities and towns along the way.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, described Patton as “indispensable to the war effort” and wrote that his very name “struck terror at the hearts of the enemy.”[1]
German field marshal Gerd von Rundstedt agreed.
He’s your best,” the commander of all Axis forces in Western Europe told the American press shortly after his capture.[2]
Yet, George Patton is remembered as much for his many peculiarities as he is for his penchant for winning battles. When he wasn’t hammering the Axis, the former cavalryman, known as “Old Blood and Guts”, scribbled odd poetry. A notorious martinet, Patton demanded his officers wear pressed uniforms with neckties and shave — even in war zones. He designed his own outfit for tank crews – a garish green leather tunic with a diagonal row of shiny buttons topped by a gold football helmet.
Patton’s fiery temper was legendary. When not suffering ridicule for publicly upbraiding America’s wartime allies, he faced censure for callously slapping his own shell-shocked troops.
Perhaps most bizarre of all was Patton’s deeply held belief that he was a reincarnated warrior from bygone ages. The general claimed that in past lives he fought as an ancient Greek hoplite, a Roman soldier, a Carthaginian spearman, a medieval knight, a Cro-Magnon hunter and one of Napoleon’s field marshals.
Even Patton’s staunchest defenders described him as eccentric; his own estate’s official website opts for the word “complicated”. Others have been less charitable. British field marshal Alan Brooke reached for words like “wild” and “unbalanced” to characterize him. [3]
But if Patton was indeed peculiar, he is certainly in good company. Consider some of these mad commanders from the pages of military history:
Raging Alexander
Alexander the Great may have conquered much of the known world in the 4thCentury BCE, but he was still unable to master his own temper. His fits, often brought on by bouts of heavy drinking, bordered on the psychotic. Following one particularly prodigious bender, the 30-year-old emperor went berserk and stabbed his close friendCleitus with a javelin. Ironically, the murder occurred at the tail end of a banquet held at Samarkand that the Macedonian ruler hosted to celebrate Cleitus’ own promotion.
Cadorna’s Sadism
When it comes to assailing subordinates, few can match Luigi Cadorna. In fact, at times the 64-year-old Italian First World War field marshal seemed more interested in killing his own men than the enemy. In just one 1915 offensive alone, he callously squandered the lives of up to 250,000 Italian soldiers! And those not cut down by enemy machine gun fire were just as likely to face malicious prosecution by Cadorna for failing to make good on his suicidal battle plans. In fact, nearly six percent of all men in the Italian army were eventually brought up on some charge or another by the aging tyrant; more than 750 were executed on his watch. No nation shot more of its own during the First World War than Italy.
Read the Remainder at Military History Now