Famous Military Leaders a to z

Filipino leader Emilio Aguinaldo led his country to achieve independence after fighting off both the Spanish and the Americans.

Hafez al-Assad served as president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. He is widely criticized for his brutal tactics but also praised for stabilizing the country.

King Alexander I of Yugoslavia ruled the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1921–29) and of Yugoslavia (1929–34).

Marcus Antonius is best known as the Roman general who was a lover of Cleopatra. The two committed suicde after their defeat by Octavian.

James Armistead was an enslaved African American, best known for his work as a spy during the American Revolution.

Benedict Arnold was an American Revolutionary War general best known for his defection from the Continental Army to the British side of the conflict in 1780.

Soldier and revolutionary leader José Gervasio Artigas is regarded as the father of Uruguayan independence, which occurred years after his exile.

Attila the Hun was one of the most successful barbarian rulers of the Hunnic Empire, attacking the Eastern and Western Roman empires.

As Emperor of Rome from 161-180, Marcus Aurelius kept the empire safe from the Parthians and Germans, but is best known for his intellectual pursuits.

American empresario Stephen Austin, a.k.a. “the father of Texas,” created the first Anglo American colony in the Tejas region of Mexico, later to become Texas.

Vernon Baker was a highly decorated soldier and the only living black WWII veteran to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Nazi leader Klaus Barbie was head of the Gestapo in Lyon from 1942 to 1944, and was held responsible for the death and deportation thousands.

Jean-Bedel Bokassa was the president of the Central African Republic (1966-1976) and a self-proclaimed emperor of the Central African Empire (1976-1979).

Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military leader who was instrumental in the revolutions against the Spanish empire.

Napoleon Bonaparte was a military general who became the first emperor of France. His drive for military expansion changed the world.

Subhas Chandra Bose was a 20th century organizational and military leader who fought for India’s freedom from British rule.

Jim Bowie was a fighter in Texas Revolution who died during the defense of the Alamo. He became an American folk hero and the "Bowie Knife" is named after him.

Sitting Bull was a Teton Dakota Indian chief under whom the Sioux tribes united in their struggle for survival on the North American Great Plains.

Ambrose Burnside is best known for his leadership as a general of the Union army in the Civil War, and for originating the fashion of sideburns in the United States.

Venustiano Carranza was a revolutionary during Mexico's civil war and became the Mexican Republic's first president in 1917.

Kit Carson was an American frontiersman, trapper, soldier and Indian agent who made an important contribution to the westward expansion of the United States.

Marxist Cuban political leader Fidel Castro helped lead the Cuban Revolution, and served as president of Cuba from 1976 to 2008.

Charles of Blois was a rival duke of Brittany in the mid-1300s.

Michael Collins was a hero of the Irish struggle for independence, who directed guerrilla warfare during the intensification of the Anglo-Irish War.

Ronald Colman was an Academy Award-winning British actor.

Constantine I was the first Christian Roman Emperor. He ruled at the beginning of the 4th century and began the evolution of the empire into a Christian state.

British navigator James Cook discovered and charted New Zealand and Australia's Great Barrier Reef on his ship Endeavor, and later disproved the existence of the fabled southern continent Terra Australis. His voyages provided the first accurate map of the Pacific.

Hernán Cortés, marqués del Valle de Oaxaca, was a Spanish conquistador who overthrew the Aztec empire and won Mexico for the crown of Spain.

Jacques Cousteau was a French undersea explorer, researcher, photographer and documentary host who invented diving and scuba devices, including the Aqua-Lung. He also conducted underwater expeditions and produced films and television series, including the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. 

Cuauhtémoc was the last Aztec Emperor, ruling from 1520 to 1521. He was tortured and killed by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1522.

George Custer was an American general who in 1876 led 210 men into battle at Little Bighorn against Native Americans. Custer and his men were killed.

Idi Amin was a Ugandan president best known for his brutal regime and crimes against humanity while in power from 1971-1979.

Willie Davenport was an Olympic athlete and medal winner and one of only a few Americans to compete in both the Summer and Winter games.

Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr., was the first African-American general for the U.S. Army, after starting as a volunteer in the Spanish-American War.

One of Spain's most famous writers, Miguel de Cervantes created one of the world's greatest literary masterpieces, Don Quixote, in the early 1600s.

Charles de Gaulle rose from French soldier in World War I to exiled leader and, eventually, president of the Fifth Republic. He served as president from 1959 to 1969.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines was a military leader who worked with Toussaint l'Ouverture and gave the country of Haiti its name.

John Dickinson, an American statesman often referred to as the "Penman of the Revolution," wrote letters that helped turn opinion against the Townshend Acts created by the Parliament of Great Britain.

Alfred Dreyfus was a French army officer who was wrongly convicted of treason based primarily on anti-semitism. The scandal was known as the Dreyfus Affair.

Tammy Duckworth is the first Asian-American congresswoman for Illinois and the first disabled female veteran to take a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Prince Andrew, the brother of Prince Charles, is the Duke of York and fourth in line to the British throne.

Heinrich Eberbach was a German General der Panzertruppen in the German Army of World War II.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, promoted Atoms for Peace at the United Nations General Assembly in order to ease Cold War tensions.

Arab statesman Faisal I was king of Iraq from 1921 to 1933 and a leader in advancing Arab nationalism during and after World War I.

Henry Ossian Flipper was the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. As second lieutenant with the 10th Cavalry, he was framed for embezzlement.

J.F.C. Fuller was a 20th century British military officer, author, advocate of tank warfare and supporter of fascist movements.

James Garfield is best known as the 20th president of the United States. He was assassinated after only a few months in office.

Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye is best known for his explorations of the northern U.S. and Canadian provinces.

Geronimo was a Bedonkohe Apache leader of the Chiricahua Apache, who led his people's defense of their homeland against the military might of the United States.

John Glenn was the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth, completing three orbits in 1962. He has also served as an Ohio senator.

Hermann Göring was a leader of the Nazi Party. He was condemned to hang as a war criminal in 1946 but took his own life instead.

Che Guevara was a Marxist revolutionary allied with Fidel Castro who went on to become an iconic cultural hero.