Krakyn said:
I have a deep love for the Gallic general Vercingetorix.
He lived from 82 B.C. to 46 B.C., and was the leader of the Gauls at the end of their rebellion of against the Roman Empire. He was one of the last people to stand up to Julius Caesar before he became dictator, and was able to inflict heavy losses to his troops before finally falling to a siege at Alesia.
Vercingetorix is always compared to people like William Wallace and George Washington; he was a noble rebel who stood up for the independence of his free territory, and united almost all of Gaul (current day France, Germany, and everything in between) in battle.
He probably died cold and alone, strangled in his prison cell...
Vercingetorix was executed in public as part of a ceremony of victory... poor bloke...
Mine would have to be Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.
In my oppinion one of the greatest soldiers the world has ever seen (Alongside those such as Alexander, Caesar and Ghengis Khan), for his sheer military genius and ability to inspire troops. I believe, and so did he as a matter of fact, that his greatest battle was Assaye in India.
In that battle, Wellesley commanded around 13,500 men and defeated a combined enemy force at least three times his number.
The final butcher's bill was 6,000 dead on the enemy side (not including wounded) and a combined total of 1,500 dead and wounded on the British side. (Four times less)
Born in 1769, Wellesley was one of the few British subjects to be given a state funeral after his death in 1852 of natural causes. (A few notable figures who also recieved one include Winston Churchill and Lord Horatio Nelson) He was oddly ashamed about his Irish roots.
He remained the British commander in chief until his death, and was prime-minister for a brief spell as well. He also famously defeated the French forces in Portugal, Spain and France during the Napoleonic wars.
Many people argue over who was the better general - Wellesley or Napoleon. Think of this: Wellesley only ever lost one battle in his entire career, Napoleon lost an entire campaign (Russia) and when the two came head to head at Waterloo, Wellesley was sightly outnumbered and had seen less battlefields than the emperor, yet still triumphed.
Ironic, however, that Britain's greatest soldier recieved his training in a French College no?
