Famous Military Leaders a to z

Ulysses S. Grant served as U.S. general and commander of the Union armies during the late years of the American Civil War, later becoming the 18th U.S. president.

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

Nathan Hale graduated from Yale University in 1773, joined the American Revolution and was hanged by the British for espionage in 1776.

Alexander Hamilton, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and major author of the Federalist papers, was the United States' first secretary of the treasury.

Walter Haut is best known for drafting a 1947 press release for the U.S. Army that claimed a "flying disc" had landed in Roswell, New Mexico.

John Hawkins was a 16th century British naval commander and slave trader who entered into conflict with Spain.

Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th president of the United States and oversaw the end of the rebuilding efforts of the Reconstruction.

Adolf Hitler appointed Rudolf Hess deputy of the Nazi party in 1939. Following World War II, Hess was convicted at the Nuremberg Trials and sentenced to life in prison.

Heinrich Himmler was commander of Hitler's Schutzstaffel, and later of the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. After World War II, he committed suicide to escape capture.

Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. He initiated World War II and oversaw fascist policies that resulted in millions of deaths.

Crazy Horse was an Oglala Sioux Indian chief who fought against removal to an Indian reservation. He took part in the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Statesman Samuel Houston was a key political figure in the creation of the state of Texas. He was elected the first president of the Republic of Texas in 1836.

Victoriano Huerta was dictatorial president of Mexico, whose regime united disparate revolutionary forces in common opposition to him.

Kim Il-sung was the leader of North Korea from 1948 until his death in 1994, heading a communist and highly militaristic administration.

Stonewall Jackson was a leading Confederate general during the U.S. Civil War, commanding forces at Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.

Daniel James, an alumni of the famous Tuskegee Institute, was the first African-American four-star general in the U.S. Air Force.

Martyr, saint and military leader Joan of Arc, acting under divine guidance, led the French army to victory over the British during the Hundred Years' War.

Kim Jong-un became the leader of North Korea in 2011, having inherited his position from his father Kim Jong-il.

Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar turned the Roman Republic into the powerful Roman Empire. A coup ended his reign, and his life, on the Ides of March.

Paul Kagame is a Rwandan military leader and politician who is best known for defeating Hutu extremist forces to end the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Russian inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov created one of the most popular guns in history, the AK-47. This automatic rifle first debuted in 1947 and is still being made today.

Mongolian general and statesman Kublai Khan was the grandson of Genghis Khan. He conquered China, founding and becoming the first emperor of the country's Yuan Dynasty.

Mohammad Ayub Khan was president of Pakistan from 1958 to 1969, giving birth to modern-day Pakistan. He introduced a system of basic democracies in 1960.

Henry Knox was a bookstore owner who became a Major General under George Washington during the American Revolution and later Secretary of War.

Toussaint l'Ouverture was a leader of the Haitian independence movement during the French Revolution.

Bernard Law Montgomery led the British Eighth Army in North Africa during World War Two and oversaw British participation during the D-Day invasion.

T. E. Lawrence was a British Army officer during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule. He became known as Lawrence of Arabia, based on the 1962 film.

Robert E. Lee was the leading Confederate General during the U.S. Civil War and has been venerated as a heroic figure in the South.

James Longstreet was the principle general of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving under Robert E. Lee.

Antonio López de Santa Anna was a 19th century Mexican military officer who acted as the country’s president and dictator at different periods.

Douglas MacArthur was an American general best known for his command of Allied forces in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

Macbeth was king of Scotland during the 11th century. He was also the basis for Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

Alfred Thayer Mahan was an American naval officer and historian who was an exponent of sea power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Maurice was duke and elector of Saxony (southeastern Germany) during the 16th century.

Maximilian was the Archduke of Austria and the Emperor of Mexico from 1863-1867. He was executed in 1867 by President Benito Juárez's victorious forces.

John McCain is a military hero and Republican U.S. Senator defeated by Barack Obama in the 2008 United States presidential election.

Stanley A. McChrystal led the Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq during the Persian Gulf Wars and was top Commander of American forces in Afghanistan.

Mohammed was the founder of the religion of Islam, accepted by Muslims throughout the world as the last of the prophets of God.

The fifth president of the United States, James Monroe is known for his "Monroe Doctrine," disallowing further European colonization in the Americas.

Thomas H. Moorer was a U.S. Navy admiral and naval aviator who later served as chief of naval operations (1967-70), and then as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1970-4).

Henry Morgan was a Welsh Admiral who raided Spanish settlements in the late 17th century. He is accounted as one of the most notorious buccaneers in history.

Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon I, was emperor of France from 1852 to 1870. His downfall came during the Franco-Prussian War, when his efforts to defeat Otto Von Bismarck ended in his capture.

U Ne Win was a Burmese military general who staged a coup and ruled his country from 1962 until 1988.

Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia was commander in chief of Tzar Nicholas II's army during WWI. The Russian Revolution ended his career.

Chester W. Nimitz was commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet during World War II. A brilliant strategist, he commanded all land and sea forces in the central Pacific.

Manuel Noriega was the military ruler of Panama who ran a corrupt puppet government there until the United States drove him out in 1990.

Bernardo O'Higgins is best known for being the leader of Chilean independence from Spain and its first leader.

James Edward Oglethorpe was an 18th century member of British Parliament who also founded the U.S. colony of Georgia.

General George Patton led the Third Army in a very successful sweep across France during World War II in 1944. He was skilled at tank warfare.

Ancient Greek statesman Pericles, leader of Athens from 460–429 B.C., organized construction of the Parthenon and developed a democracy based on majority rule.

Matthew C. Perry was a 19th century U.S. Naval officer who fought in the Mexican War and headed an important naval expedition to Japan.

Juan Perón was an army colonel who became president of Argentina (1946-52, 1952-55, 1973-74) and was the founder and leader of the Peronist movement.

U.S. Army General David Petraeus became director of the CIA in 2011. He resigned from the post in 2012, after his extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell was publicized.

King Philip II of Spain, also known as Philip the Prudent, ruled one of the world's largest empires. The Philippines are named after him.

Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, prompting a bloody conflict over Kansas' slavery status.

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was an American Revolutionary War veteran, South Carolina legislator and two-time presidential candidate.

Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet overthrew the Allende government in 1973 and stayed in power until 1998. He was never tried for alleged human rights abuses.

Horace Pippin was a self-taught, African-American painter whose art documented slavery and his experiences in World War I.

Colin Powell was the first African American appointed as the U.S. Secretary of State, and the first, and so far the only, to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Ramses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth dynasty in Egypt. He is best known for defending his country against invaders in three great wars.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was one of German's most popular generals during World War II, and gained his enemies' respect with his victories as commander of the Afrika Korps. Implicated in a plot to overthrow Hitler, Rommel took his life in 1944.

A New York governor who became the 26th U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt is remembered for his foreign policy, corporate reforms and ecological preservation.

Donald Rumsfeld is a political figure known for being the secretary of defense under both President Gerald Ford and President George W. Bush.

Prince Rupert, a 17th century soldier, statesman and scientist, is best known for his talent as a Royalist commander of the English Civil War (1642 - 1651).

Army medic Clarence Eugene was awarded the Medal of Honor for treating wounded Vietnam soldiers amidst gunfire despite having been shot in both legs himself.

Saul was best known as the first King of Israel circa 1046 BC.