Figure 1.--Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny was a highly decorated Tsarist and Soviet cavalryman and military commander. During the Russian he became a close political ally of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Much has been written about the great generals of World War II. Less about the worst generals. Here the grand-fathery looking Budyonny with his trade mark nustache has to be at or very close to the top of the list. He was convinced that the tank could not possiblt replaced the horse and hechampioned the cpricecution of the chief Red Army general promoting tanks and mechnized warfare.

Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny was a highly decorated Tsarist and Soviet cavalryman and military commander. During the Russian he became a close political ally of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Much has been written about the great generals of World War II. Less about the worst generals. Here Budyony has to be at or very close to the top of the list. He is one of the two top Red Army commanders who survived Stalin's bloody purges. The story goes that ehen NKVD officers attempted to arrest Budyonny at his home. he pulled out a pistol, phoned Stalin and angrily demanded that they be sent away. Stalin complied. It is difficult to believe that his arrest had not been cleared with Staslin. He not only survived, but led the attacks on renowned Red Army Commander Mikhail Tukhachevsky, known as the Red Napoleon. It was Tukhachevsky who conceived of mobile combined arms warfare which he called deep tactics--essentially Blitzkrieg or modern warfare which in German hands came very close to destroying the Red Army (1941). Buyonnty rejected the tank as an effective weapon, famously stating that when war began 'they would call for the cavalry'. Another candidate for worse World War II general is Frederich Paulis who lost a 0.3 million men at Staligrad. Budyonny was the commander in charge of the Kiev kessel where 0.6 million Soviets were killed or captured--the largest military disaster in all of history, But unlike Paulis, Budyonny not only escaped the encirclement, but was decorated by Stalin. Most Soviet generals who failed, were executed for incompetence. Not Budyonny.

Created: 1:49 PM 4/16/2026
Last updated: 1:49 PM 4/16/2026