Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

New Wineskins

Home
Evangelical
The Savior Generals, by Victor Davis Hanson

The Savior Generals, by Victor Davis Hanson

Last updated on: July 3, 2013 at 9:00 am by Josh Daffern

The Savior Generals, by Victor Davis Hanson 2013-07-03T09:00:27-06:00 Josh Daffern

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Savior Generals is an incredible perspective of a unique set of generals: five men who saved wars that were lost. While military commanders such as Napoleon, Washington, or Eisenhower all deserve their due, the five chosen for this book all came into wars at the point where they were all but lost and salvaged incredible victory from certain defeat.

Themistocles – This ancient Athenian general saved classical Greek civilization from annihilation by the conquering Persian army. King Xerxes and his insurmountable Persian army had staged an invasion of Greece that simply seemed unstoppable. Themistocle’s foresight to raise an armada of Greek trirenes and his ability to draw Xerxes into a favorable naval battle won a war (and classic Western civilization) that all believed was lost.

Flavius Belisarius – By the time Belisarius enters into world history, the western portion of the great Roman Empire had long since rotted away. The eastern portion of Byzantium had stood for centuries but faced decline on all front. A general of the Emperor Justinian, Belisarius had a successful military career in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and Europe that saw the empire expand in the face of profound opposition and ensure the longevity of the Byzantine Empire for another 900 years.

William Tecumseh Sherman – This side of history it’s too easy to assume that victory for the North was assured in the Civil War. Far from it. In the summer of 1864, with a presidential election coming in a few short months, virtually everyone had written off Abraham Lincoln’s reelection chances. The war had gone on for four years with no end in sight. Horrific battles such as Antietam wiped out tens of thousands of troops with nothing to show for it. Even the recent promotion of Ulysses S. Grant hadn’t seemed to turn the tide. Lincoln was dangerously down in the polls to the Democratic candidate, who was under pressure to make peace with the South (and continue slavery) upon election. The only thing that could salvage Lincoln’s reelection was a major victory. Sherman gave him just that. By marching successfully to Atlanta, occupying it, and destroying the second largest transportation hub in the South before Election Day gave Northerners the hope they needed to reelect Lincoln and see a successful end to the war.

Matthew Ridgway – In the winter of 1950, Korea was all but lost. The seesaw war had gone back and forth. Communist North Korea’s surprise attack had pushed the allies to the southern most tip of the peninsula. Only a daring attack by Douglas MacArthur turned the tide, with the Allies pushing the North Korean army to their border with China. Victory seemed to be assured. And then the Chinese army poured across the border with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. All momentum was lost. The allies were being pushed back. The capital of Seoul was lost again. The allies were contemplating evacuating the whole peninsula. Some even claimed the only way to win the war was to bomb China with nuclear weapons. And then Matthew Ridgway took command. By inspiring his troops and making sound tactical decisions, he turned around a war that all had assumed was lost.

David Petraeus – Iraq in 2007 was a deadly place to be. A three-week war quickly led to claims of victory by the Americans, but the unending sectarian violence and terrorist attacks slowly drained away the support for the war. By 2007, body counts were lining up, many said that Iraq was in the midst of a civil war, and foreign insurgents were pouring into Iraq to kill Americans. Everyone had given up on Iraq. Then President Bush approved a very controversial “surge” and the champion of it to command the forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus. Through a change in military tactics, Petraeus snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and helped the Americans conclude their war on somewhat favorable terms.

LESSONS LEARNED

1. These men exhibit greatness for securing victory from unenviable conditions. It’s one thing for a general to go in and win a war with better troops, training, and resources. It’s even more remarkable for men to stand up where others failed and achieve victories from what everyone assumed could only be defeats.

2. The backgrounds of these men were average at best. None of these generals graduated at the top of their class. Many had mediocre lives before their wars. For many, the wide-range of real world experiences and failures helped prepare them to meet conventional problems in unconventional ways.

3. The key to their success was how they dealt with people. One of the most fascinating things to discover was how strong people skills ran throughout these five generals. They walked into situations that many others had tried before and failed. When they turned around their wars, it wasn’t because of a new piece of technology. It wasn’t because of a massive wave of reinforcements. They simply knew how to treat people. They knew how to inspire their troops. They knew how to empower their subordinates. They knew how to treat the locals. With the advancement of technology and weaponry, the difference between success and failure many times comes down to how you deal with people.

An incredible lesson for the church can be drawn from this. For most pastors, success or failure is not determined by your training, your education, or your position. It comes down to how you treat people. If you can lead, inspire, and empower people, you will be successful.

Previous Post

July 1, 2013

The Most Valuable Commodity in the World

Next Post

July 4, 2013 Young Patriots: The Remarkable Story of Two Men, Their Impossible Plan, and the Revolution that Created the Constitution, by Charles Cerami

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Family Matters Ministry in the Trenches Morning Brew MTVpastor New Wineskins Top Menu Truth from Life Uncategorized Watch Sermons

Select a Month June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In 2 Corinthians, Paul describes a man being caught up to the third heaven. How many years before writing did this happen?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Twelve years Seven years Ten years Fourteen years