Military Commanders
Strategists who decided history on the field.
records written
Ancient era
Hadrian
January 24, 1976 CE – July 10, 138 CE
14th Roman Emperor (117–138)
Ancient era
Constantine the Great
February 27, 272 CE – May 22, 337 CE
Roman emperor from 306 to 337 and first to convert to Christianity (272–337)
Ancient era
Boudicca
30 CE – 61 CE
Queen of the British Iceni tribe
Ancient era
Vercingetorix
80 BCE – 46 BCE
Protohistoric chieftain of the Arverni tribe, defeated by Julius Caesar during the Gallic wars
Ancient era
Sun Tzu
544 BCE – 496 BCE
6th century BCE Chinese general and military strategist
Ancient era
Cao Cao
155 CE – 220 CE
Chinese warlord and statesman (155–220)
Ancient era
Zhuge Liang
181 CE – August 23, 234 CE
Chinese statesman and military strategist (181–234)
Medieval era
William the Conqueror
November 8, 1028 – September 9, 1087
King of England from 1066 to 1087, Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087 (1028–1087)
Medieval era
Saladin
1138 – March 4, 1193
Sultan who united the Muslim world and retook Jerusalem with famed chivalry
Medieval era
Tariq ibn Ziyad
670 CE – 720 CE
8th-century Muslim general
El Cid
d. 1099
11th century Castilian nobleman and military leader
Medieval era
Genghis Khan
May 31, 1162 – August 25, 1227
Founder of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history
Medieval era
Kublai Khan
1215 – 1294
Founding emperor of the Yuan dynasty, grandson of Genghis Khan (1215–1294)
Medieval era
Timur
April 9, 1336 – February 19, 1405
The founder of the Timurid Empire (1370–1405)
Medieval era
Suleiman the Magnificent
November 6, 1494 – September 6, 1566
The tenth and greatest Sultan of Ottoman Empire (1520–1566)
Medieval era
Joan of Arc
1412 – May 30, 1431
Peasant girl who led French armies and became a saint and national symbol
Early Modern era
Gustavus Adolphus
December 9, 1594 – November 6, 1632
Swedish king (regent 1611–1632) (1594–1632)
Early Modern era
Oliver Cromwell
April 25, 1599 – September 3, 1658
English military and political leader (1599–1658)
Early Modern era
Oda Nobunaga
June 23, 1534 – June 21, 1582
Japanese samurai and warlord (1534–1582)
Early Modern era
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
February 2, 1536 – September 18, 1598
Japanese samurai and daimyo (1537–1598)
Early Modern era
Alexander Hamilton
January 11, 1757 – July 12, 1804
American Founding Father and statesman (1755/1757–1804)
Early Modern era
Marquis de Lafayette
September 6, 1757 – May 20, 1834
French general and politician (1757–1834)
Modern era
Napoleon Bonaparte
August 15, 1769 – May 5, 1821
French emperor and general whose campaigns redrew the map of Europe
Early Modern era
Duke of Wellington
May 1, 1769 – September 14, 1852
British Field Marshal, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1828–1830, 1834 (1769-1852)
Early Modern era
Horatio Nelson
September 29, 1758 – October 21, 1805
British admiral (1758–1805)
Early Modern era
Toussaint Louverture
May 20, 1743 – April 7, 1803
Haitian national hero (1743–1803)
Early Modern era
Simon Bolivar
July 24, 1783 – December 17, 1830
Venezuelan statesman and military officer (1783–1830)
Early Modern era
Jose de San Martin
February 25, 1778 – August 17, 1850
Argentine general and independence leader (1778–1850)
Modern era
Harry S. Truman
May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972
President of the United States from 1945 to 1953; politician (1884–1972)
Modern era
Dwight D. Eisenhower
October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969
President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 (1890–1969)
Modern era
Richard Nixon
January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994
President of the United States from 1969 to 1974 (1913–1994)
Modern era
Otto von Bismarck
April 1, 1815 – July 30, 1898
German statesman and Chancellor (1815-1898)
Modern era
Charles de Gaulle
November 22, 1890 – November 9, 1970
French general and statesman (1890–1970)
Modern era
Nikita Khrushchev
April 3, 1894 – September 11, 1971
Leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964
Modern era
Gamal Abdel Nasser
January 15, 1918 – September 28, 1970
President of Egypt from 1956 to 1970
Modern era
Anwar Sadat
December 25, 1918 – October 6, 1981
President of Egypt from 1970 to 1981
Modern era
Yitzhak Rabin
March 1, 1922 – November 4, 1995
Israeli politician, statesman and general (1922–1995)
Modern era
Chiang Kai-shek
October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975
Chinese politician, military leader, and President of the ROC (1887–1975)
Contemporary era
Thomas Sankara
December 21, 1949 – October 15, 1987
President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987
Modern era
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
September 5, 1857 – September 19, 1935
Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of the astronautic theory (1857-1935)
Modern era
Sergei Korolev
December 30, 1906 – January 14, 1966
Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer (1907-1966)
Modern era
Wernher von Braun
March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977
German and later American aerospace engineer and space architect (1912–1977)
Early Modern era
Samuel de Champlain
August 13, 1567 – December 25, 1635
16/17th-century French explorer of North America
Medieval era
Juan Ponce de Leon
April 8, 1460 – 1521
Spanish explorer and conquistador
Early Modern era
Meriwether Lewis
August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809
American explorer (1774-1809)
Early Modern era
William Clark
August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838
American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor (1770-1838)
Early Modern era
Davy Crockett
August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836
American frontiersman and politician (1786–1836)
Modern era
Ernest Shackleton
February 15, 1874 – January 5, 1922
Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer (1874–1922)
Modern era
Robert Peary
May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920
Explorer from the United States (1856–1920)
Modern era
Chuck Yeager
February 13, 1923 – December 7, 2020
American World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound (1923–2020)
Contemporary era
Yuri Gagarin
March 9, 1934 – March 27, 1968
First human in space aboard Vostok 1
Modern era
Valentina Tereshkova
b. March 6, 1937
Russian cosmonaut and pilot, first woman to have flown in space (born 1937)
Modern era
John Glenn
July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016
American astronaut and politician (1921–2016)
Modern era
Clark Gable
February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960
American actor (1901–1960)
Modern era
Arthur Ashe
July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993
American tennis player (1943–1993)
Modern era
Howard Hughes
December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976
American aviator, engineer, industrialist, and film producer (1905–1976)
Modern era
Pervez Musharraf
August 11, 1943 – February 5, 2023
Pakistani soldier and politician (1943-2023)
Modern era
Ayub Khan
May 14, 1907 – April 19, 1974
President of Pakistan from 1958 to 1969
Contemporary era
Junaid Jamshed
September 3, 1964 – December 7, 2016
Pakistani recording artist
Medieval era
Khan Jahan Ali
1380 – October 25, 1459
Bangladeshi saint