21 of the Greatest American Generals

Currently, the highest rank in the Army, Air Force and Marines is General. These days, the highest achievable military rank is four-star general, although during WWII, notable leaders such as Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur held the prestigious five-star general rank. The five-star rank, however, ceased to exist during peacetime.

George Washington served as the very first Commanding General of the Continental Army. The number of generals increased during the Civil War to around 1,000 but has since declined.

While the military has consistently remained under civilian control throughout America's history, distinguished generals hold a special status. Becoming a general has frequently served as a pathway to the presidency, with twelve generals eventually assuming the highest office - half of whom served during and after the Civil War. The leadership and decisiveness that marked their military careers played a pivotal role in their political ascents. (Read about the biggest battles of the Civil War.)

Distinguished generals often emerged during pivotal historical moments, taking charge in crucial battles, influencing the course of entire wars, and overseeing unprecedented numbers of troops. Their leadership and wartime experience served as major milestones in their paths to attaining the highest political office as president.

Washington has to top this list. As commanding general of the Continental Army, he was more responsible for the victory of the U.S. over Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. He was the first of 12 generals who later became president. In 1976, President Gerald Ford promoted Washington to "General of the Armies of the United States," a rank topping every general in the United States Army.

Jackson, America's seventh president, was crucial to the U.S. during the War of 1812, defeating the Creek Indians, who were allies of the British, and the British themselves at the Battle of New Orleans.

Grant, yet another general who became president, was the most important general of the Civil War. Highly successful in engagements in the West, President Abraham Lincoln made him head of all U.S. armies, after which he defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee and ended the war.

Sherman was Grant's second in command throughout the Civil War, and took over in the Western U.S. when Grant moved East to run the war for the Union. He is best known for his "March to the Sea" from Atlanta to Savannah, the first example of "total warfare" which destroyed vast amounts of Confederate property.

Sheridan was in charge of Grant's cavalry throughout most of the Civil War. However, he is best known for his cruel war against Native Americans in the West. Under his command, thousands of Indians were killed, and tribes were forced onto reservations.

It is reasonable to ask why Lee belongs on a list of American generals since he was the leading general of the Confederacy. Lee, however, was skilled enough to keep the much larger Union Army at bay though the Civil War and engineered several of the South's greatest victories.

Pershing was the leader of the U.S. Troops during WWI. He oversaw what was known as the American Expeditionary Forces. America's late entry into the war tipped the scales toward the British and French, who had been in a military stalemate against the Germans for years. The effect was a German defeat.

MacArthur commanded the U.S. armed forces in the Pacific theater during WWII and defeated the Japanese. He also led allied forces during the Korean War that prevented the communist North Korean and China from overrunning the peninsula. One of his greatest contributions was not as a soldier. He was critical in rebuilding Japan in the years immediately following WWII.

Marshall's name is not anywhere near as well known as Eisenhower's or Patton's. However, his efforts in WWII were just as important. As the Army's chief of staff, he spent a great deal of time with President Franklin Roosevelt determining the strategy of the U.S. forces. Marshall also was the architect of the plan to rebuild Western Europe after the war.

Eisenhower was the supreme commander of all Allied forces in Europe and Africa. He was the engineer of the Western Allies victory over Germany. Eisenhower was another general who eventually became president of the United States.

Patton was arguably the most famous general of WWII after Eisenhower. Known as a tactical genius, he oversaw Allied victories in Africa, Italy, France, and Germany.

Bradley was another of Eisenhower's chief subordinates. He commanded a large portion of the D-Day landing force. Later in WWII, he ran the Twelfth United States Army Group, which was one of the largest forces in U.S. history.

Ridgway served in senior posts during WWII. However, he was best known for overseeing the UN forces during the Korean War, and turning around those forces that had been badly damaged by the North Koreans.

Schwarzkopf commanded Operation Desert Storm, the American-led military action that liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Following a six-week-long air bombardment of Iraq and its positions in Kuwait, the ground campaign involving 700,000 troops began on Feb. 24, 1991. The campaign lasted only 100 hours, as coalition forces quickly retook Kuwait and destroyed or incapacitated most of the Iraqi army while sustaining only minimal casualties.

Westmoreland is best known for his role commanding all troops in the Vietnam War. He has been blamed for misleading both the government and the public about the U.S. progress, and the eventual defeat of American-backed forces.

Haig was well-known for commanding U.S. troops in Europe during the 1970s. However, the peak of his career was as White House Chief of Staff under Gerald Ford.

Combining a stern righteousness with battlefield brilliance, Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, in collaboration with Robert E. Lee, defeated the Union Army at both battles of Bull Run and at Chancellorsville. It was at Chancellorsville where Jackson was shot by friendly fire and died.

Considered to be a military genius despite his lack of formal military training, the charismatic Forrest acted as a semi-independent Confederate cavalry commander during much of the Civil War. His command conducted raids against Union supply and communication lines, depots, and garrisons in many states in the war's Western sector. Forrest's campaigns were especially damaging to Union General Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. Some contend that Forrest forestalled Vicksburg's fall in July of 1863 by several months.

Taylor was a career soldier who fought in every significant conflict in the 19th century until he became president in 1849. It was his success in defeating Mexico in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) that made him a national hero and eventually landed him in the White House.

Harrison led troops against British-Native American alliances during the War of 1812. He's best known for defeating the Shawnee at the Battle of Tippecanoe and the Battle of the Thames. The former battle served as the general's campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Harrison was the son of a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, himself a general during the Civil War.

Petraeus is credited with using his counterinsurgency skills to turn around the Iraq war. Petraeus recognized that the military was not effectively using the lessons of counterinsurgency. Because of his expertise in counterinsurgency operations and successful leadership as a division commander, President George W. Bush selected him to lead all forces in Iraq. The renewed emphasis on counterinsurgency tactics championed by Petraeus is credited with turning the tide of the Iraq War