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Top 10 Biggest Cowards In History
Transcript
00:00Bob telegraphed the governor to claim their reward. He thought he'd be welcomed as a hero.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:09for the most interesting stories behind historical acts of alleged cowardice.
00:14You're a disgrace. Give his head a good kicking, make you feel better. All in good time.
00:20Number 10. William Hull. What exactly constitutes an act of cowardice? It's often a malleable
00:27thing that can shift depending upon one's point of view. The motives behind William Hull's
00:31surrender to General Isaac Brock during the War of 1812 could be perceived as honorable.
00:37Hull begged for time. He sent a note to Brock asking for a three-day ceasefire.
00:42The American general was under the assumption that the combined British and Native American
00:47forces would ultimately rout his men. Hull's surrender was intended, in Hull's own words,
00:53designed to spare his battalion the horrors of a massacre. American officials didn't see
00:58it that way, however, and Hull was court-martialed for cowardice in 1814.
01:03His sentence of death was ultimately commuted by President James Madison,
01:07thanks largely in part to Hull's service records during the Revolutionary War.
01:11William Hull did not have Lydia Bacon's courage. The American general disintegrated.
01:17Number 9. Horatio Gates. What a difference a couple of years makes!
01:22The military career of Horatio Gates was notable for both victory and defeat. The former was at
01:29the Battle of Saratoga during the Revolutionary War. However, Gates' legacy is complicated by an
01:34embarrassing showing at the Battle of Camden in 1780. The major general's forces lost to Britain's
01:51Lord Cornwallis, despite the Americans having the upper hand in terms of numbers. Gates' leadership
01:57was ultimately lacking, and he allowed a thousand of his men to be captured by the British.
02:02His chaotic organizational skills couldn't even be relied upon in retreat,
02:07with Gates himself essentially abandoning the field on horseback.
02:17Number 8. James H. Ledley. The Siege of Petersburg lasted over ten months during
02:22the American Civil War, and was mired by embarrassing military gaffes such as this one
02:28at the Battle of the Crater. The Union forces should have made the most out of the titular
02:33crater blown into Confederate forces by their mines. Instead, the end results were mass confusion
02:39and mass casualties. Meanwhile, General James H. Ledley lurked safely behind a bunker, reportedly
02:46drinking alcohol while his men perished. An inquiry into Ledley's conduct was committed
02:50shortly thereafter, effectively ending his military career.
02:53Number 7. Ted Kennedy.
03:08The presidential hopes of then-Senator Ted Kennedy were effectively squashed after the
03:12Chappaquiddick incident back in 1969. Kennedy's car overturned in a body of water after he left
03:18a party on Martha's Vineyard. A young woman in the car, Mary Jo Kopechny, became trapped
03:24within the submerged vehicle, and perished at the scene. Kennedy, for his part, claimed that
03:36he had attempted to rescue Kopechny, both at the time of the accident and later on with his cousin
03:41and an associate. However, Kennedy neglected to inform the police about the accident until the
03:47next day. Accusations of impropriety, drunk driving, and cowardice followed Kennedy until
03:52his death in 2009. Number 6. Gidgen Johnson Pillow.
04:10It always pays to possess friends in high places. Gidgen Johnson Pillow helped James K. Polk win
04:15the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in 1844. Polk wound up being
04:21instrumental in bailing out Pillow during his multiple military missteps. This included downgrading
04:27a potential court-martial for insubordination in 1848. Later, Pillow joined the Confederates in the
04:33Civil War, tarnishing his reputation further at the Battle of Fort Donelson in 1862. The command
04:39post got hot potatoed from Pillow to Brigadier General Simon Buckner. The latter surrendered
04:44his Confederate forces to Ulysses S. Grant, while Pillow and the man who had passed command onto him,
04:50John B. Floyd, turned tail and ran away. Number 5. Lloyd Fredendall. Army leadership can be relieved
04:57of their command posts for a number of reasons. Lloyd Fredendall was a U.S. Lieutenant General
05:03during World War II who was replaced by Major George S. Patton after the infamous Battle of
05:08Kasserine Pass. Up against Rommel, what we need is the best tank man we've got. Somebody tough
05:13enough to pull this outfit together. Patton? Possibly. Those under Fredendall's command were said to
05:20have referred to his leadership style as cowardly, and the lieutenant's demeanor as boastful, yet
05:26without the desire to back up his words with actions. The final nail in the coffin for Lloyd
05:32Fredendall as a leader came as a result of Speedy Valley, a bunker Fredendall had built during
05:37Kasserine Pass. The general essentially hid out there as his Allied forces suffered casualties,
05:43yet blamed the failure of this operation upon everybody but himself. Number 4. Lavrentiy Beria.
05:50Many of us wonder how we might react if we ever had to stare down the barrel of a gun.
05:55Lavrentiy Beria was a serial sexual predator and a sycophantic member of Joseph Stalin's secret
06:01police. Beria's reputation as a shrewd politician was evidenced by the wealth of blackmail material
06:07the internal affairs minister compiled against both colleagues and enemies. Some women will do
06:13anything to get their husbands released. Yeah, and she did everything. I thank the union for bringing
06:18me so many devoted wives and f***ing lightsabers. Yet, when justice came calling for Lavrentiy Beria
06:25in 1953, his reaction was anything but brave or defiant. The man reportedly fell to his knees,
06:32groveling and begging for his life to be spared. This was not to be, however,
06:37and Lavrentiy Beria was shot at point-blank range after a short trial without the benefit
06:42of counsel or appeal. Uh, Beria has been reprimanded. It's unforgivable, but...
06:51Number 3. Robert Ford. Have you done this? I swear to God, I didn't. This next entry has remained
07:00within the public consciousness thanks to films such as 2007's The Assassination of Jesse James
07:06by the coward Robert Ford. Ford actually rode alongside James and his brother as a member of
07:11the James Younger gang, but he would eventually become infamous for shooting Jesse James in the
07:16back of the head. Robert Ford and his brother, Charlie, decided to take Missouri Governor
07:21Thomas T. Crittenden up on his bounty for James's death. There's a $10,000 price on his head,
07:27offered by Governor Crittenden of Missouri, and Bob Ford wants to cash in. The Fords would
07:34later re-enact their cowardly attack from behind in various saloon shows,
07:38yet today, Robert Ford's legacy remains that of a coward rather than an outlaw.
07:44Number 2. Eddie Slovik. Another bolo, Slovik. Well, I'm really sorry. Keep the peace downrange, son.
08:02Yes, sir. Sergeant. Yes, sir. The United States military hasn't executed a soldier for desertion
08:09since the death of Eddie Slovik back in 1945. This World War II era soldier fully admitted to
08:15his desertion, as well as the fear of frontline combat that initiated his request to be stationed
08:20in a rear guard position. The soldier also claimed that his execution was influenced in part to his
08:26past history as a petty criminal prior to his military service. Slovik wasn't the only one of
08:31his kind to be given a death sentence during this time, with many others having their sentences
08:35commuted. Slovik, however, had no such luck. Slovik, and his final remains, were interred in
08:41an area housing soldiers that had been executed for wartime murders and sexual assaults.
09:05If you're on your phone, make sure you go into settings and switch on your notifications.
09:12Number 1. Francesco Scatino. Captain Scatino is accused of causing this shipwreck and then
09:17abandoning it, as well as multiple manslaughter. Hopefully, this trial will reveal exactly why
09:23such a sophisticated ship hit the jagged rocks. We've seen a lot of historical examples of
09:28cowardice thus far in this list, but the case of Francesco Scatino is a comparatively recent story
09:33that made headlines back in 2012. Scatino was the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship
09:39during its fatal capsizing in January of that year. The naval disaster resulted in 33 deaths
09:45after the Costa Concordia accidentally struck an underwater rock. He was indicating the one
09:51that was submerged because he was indicating the one on the right side, and that's why I was asking,
09:56sorry, it's dark, I cannot see which ladder you mean. Scatino, for his part, abandoned his ship
10:04prior to the evacuation of everybody on board. He received scathing nicknames such as Captain Coward
10:10and Chicken of the Seas, yet the Costa Concordia disaster was truly no laughing matter. Instead,
10:16Francesco Scatino was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his actions. There is a difference
10:22between crime and action. This case is being treated like a crime. I don't understand why.
10:28What, to you, defines a coward? How do you think you'd react in a real life-or-death situation?
10:34Sound off in the comments below. Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
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