From Switzerland, the names that I can think of without looking them up:
General Guisan, led the Swiss troops during World War II (i.e. organized the defense of Switzerland - no fighting of course); he’s well-known because he led the country during the most recent war on its borders
General Dufour - the leader of the winning side in the 1847 civil war in Switzerland, the Sonderbund (protestants vs. catholics)
Divico - tried to lead a mass exodus of the Helvetians from modern-day Switzerland to modern-day France to escape the invading Germans from the North. Divico was beaten by Julius Caesar and the Helvetians had to return to modern-day Switzerland.
Pish tosh. Oh, OK, the Op did ask about Generals and the like.
Well… in that case… and still fudging from the OP, I’ll offer a Brit, Major Bagnold (yes, yes… just a Major… but with a very odd and detached command) :), who led the Long Range Desert Group, which consisted (initially) of NZ troops released to the Brits by Fryberg, and was later quite a Commonwealth operation.
Maybe Papineau and Mackenzie, but I think they qualify more as political leaders than military leaders. Wolfred Nelson apparently did command Patriote forces during the Rebellions, and while he’s not especially well-known I did know his name.
Mind you, that wasn’t his real name, which was the rather boring Peter Wessel. Still, you have to figure that a guy who would come to get the nickname of Thunder Shield was not destined for life as a bank clerk.
In the Creek War, Americans killed Creek civilians, and Creeks killed American civilians (and Creeks killed Creek civilians. It was a Creek civil war). In fact, one of the things that brought the Americans into the war was the Fort Mims Massacre, where Creek Red Sticks killed almost 300 American civilians, including women and children. In fact, there weren’t that many civilian Creek deaths in the war.
Oh, Upham unquestionably had balls enough for a dozen ordinary men, and could well from his biography have been a thorough-going asshole in ordinary life, though he calmed down after the war - but there are times when an asshole is just what you need, as long as it’s mostly the other side he’s being an asshole too. A bit like Douglas Bader if you ask me. (Interesting that they were both at Colditz at the same time, but neither’s biography mentions the other. It’s surprising that the old castle was able to accommodate those two outsize personalities.)
Revenons a nos moutons…
Ah, the LRDG. And in a similar vein, Orde Wingate, a card-carrying oddball but one who handed the Japanese a few surprises at the very least.
I doubt anyone outside Scotland would have heard of William Wallace if not for Braveheart. He wasn’t mentioned in any of my history textbooks, that’s for sure (although the schools I went to only taught Scottish history as it related to English history, such as when James VI took the English throne too).
Oh, OK, the Op did ask about Generals and the like.
