List of guerrillas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


List of notable guerrilla activists, ordered by country:

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by with reliable sources.

A[]

Afghanistan[]

Albania[]

Algeria[]

  • Abdel Kadir
  • Saadi Yacef
  • Ali La Pointe

Angola[]

  • Jonas Savimbi

Argentina[]

Austria[]

  • Andreas Hofer
  • Otto Skorzeny - involved in many unconventional operations in World War II

B[]

Bangladesh[]

  • Kader Siddique in Tangail
  • Hemayet Uddin in Faridpur
  • Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan in Narsingdi

Belgium[]

  • Jacob Collaert - Flemish admiral who served as a privateer and one of the Dunkirkers in Spanish Habsburg service during the Dutch Revolt.

Bolivia[]

Brazil[]

  • Anita Garibaldi
  • Carlos Marighella
  • Giuseppe Garibaldi

Bulgaria[]

  • Kaloyan

C[]

Cambodia[]

  • Pol Pot

Cameroon[]

Canada[]

Chad[]

Chechnya[]

  • Aslan Maskhadov
  • Dzhokhar Dudayev
  • Akhmed Zakayev
  • Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev
  • Imam Shamil in Daghestan
  • Amir Ibn al-Khattab
  • Sheikh Abdul Halim
  • Shamil Basayev

Chile[]

China[]

  • Sun Tzu - ancient Chinese general and military strategist who authored The Art of War
  • Mao Zedong
  • Zhou Enlai
  • Sun Yat-sen
  • Bai Chongxi
  • Chiang Kai-shek
  • Gan Ning
  • Cao Cao
  • Zang Ba

Colombia[]

  • Jacobo Arenas
  • Manuel Marulanda
  • Camilo Torres

Cuba[]

  • Fidel Castro
  • Camilo Cienfuegos
  • Che Guevara
  • Antonio Maceo

Cyprus[]

  • Georgios Grivas

D[]

Democratic Republic of the Congo[]

Dominican Republic[]

E[]

Egypt[]

  • Inaros - (Egyptian rebel ruler) together with Athenian allies fought for a year and a half in the marshes in north Egypt against Persians.

El Salvador[]

Eritrea[]

  • Isaias Afewerki
  • Hamid Idris Awate
  • Woldeab Woldemariam

Estonia[]

Ethiopia[]

F[]

Finland[]

France[]

  • François le Clerc - 16th-century French privateer known as "Jambe de Bois" (Peg Leg) who is credited as the first pirate in the modern era to have a "peg leg".
  • Bertrand du Guesclin
  • Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot - Quebec born member of the Compagnies Franches de la Marine who was a leader of the Acadian militia in the resistance to the Expulsion of the Acadians.
  • Sébastien Rale
  • Jean-Louis Le Loutre
  • Pierre Georges - member of the French Communist Party during World War II
  • Charles de Gaulle
  • Nancy Wake
  • Georges Cadoudal
  • Joseph Epstein
  • Jean-Baptiste du Casse
  • Jean Fleury
  • Jean Ango

Frisia[]

G[]

Germany[]

  • Arminius - Germanic chieftain who orchestrated the legendary ambush against the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
  • Klein Henszlein - German pirate from 1560 to 1573 who raided shipping in the North Sea
  • Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck
  • Thomas Müntzer
  • Otto Skorzeny - Austrian elite operative who conducted unconventional operations in World War II for Nazi Germany
  • Franz von Rintelen
  • Johann Ewald
  • Carl von Clausewitz
  • Felix von Luckner

Greece[]

Guatemala[]

Guinea[]

  • Samory Touré

H[]

Haiti[]

I[]

Republic of India[]

  • Shivaji Maharaj
  • Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja in Kerala
  • Sangolli Rayanna in Karnataka
  • Komaram Bheem in Andhra Pradesh
  • Alluri Sita Rama Raju in Andhra Pradesh
  • Malik Ambar
  • Patel Sudhakar Reddy
  • Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan
  • Sayeed Salahudeen
  • Yasin Malik

Indonesia[]

  • General Sudirman - military commander of Republican Indonesian forces during Indonesia's fight for independence from the Dutch in the 1940s
  • Abdul Haris Nasution

Iran[]

  • Babak Khorramdin
  • Hassan-i Sabbah
  • Ismail I
  • Mostafa Chamran
  • Massoud Rajavi

Iraq[]

  • Saladin
  • Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
  • Abu Ayyub al-Masri
  • Muqtada al-Sadr
  • Zayd ibn Ali
  • Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
  • Abu Muslim
  • Abu Azrael

Ireland[]

Irish Republican[]

  • Michael Collins - Irish Republican Army guerrilla leader during British rule of Ireland
  • Tom Barry
  • Gerry Adams - suspected Provisional IRA Army Council member
  • Martin McGuinness - suspected Provisional IRA Army Council member
  • Seamus Costello - Official IRA member
  • Stakeknife - senior Provisional IRA member and British government informant, alleged to be Freddie Scappaticci
  • Bobby Sands - Provisional IRA member and hunger striker
  • Francis Hughes - Provisional IRA member and later hunger striker
  • Dominic McGlinchey - Provisional IRA and later INLA leader
  • Frank Aiken

Ulster Loyalist[]

  • Billy Wright - Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader
  • John Gregg - senior Ulster Defence Association (UDA) member, attempted to assassinate Gerry Adams
  • Johnny Adair - aka "Mad Dog", UDA commander
  • Lenny Murphy - notorious Ulster Loyalist operative who led the Shankill Butchers

Israel[]

  • Menahem ben Judah - leader of the Sicarri
  • Judas Maccabeus - Jewish priest who led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167-160 BCE)
  • Avraham Stern
  • Menachem Begin
  • Yitzhak Shamir
  • Yohai Ben-Nun
  • Haim Bar-Lev
  • Aharon Davidi
  • Yekutiel Adam - a member of the Haganah that conducted raids into enemy territory.
  • Ehud Barak - took part in a commando guerrilla like but controversial raid in Lebanon.
  • Yonatan Netanyahu
  • Ze'ev Almog
  • Ami Ayalon
  • Ariel Sharon - member of the Haganah. His unit in the Haganah conducted hit-and-run raids on enemy forces. He was also a member of the controversial guerrilla/commando like group known as Unit 101 which had been scrutinized and condemned for some of its operations.
  • Danny Matt
  • Mordechai Gur
  • Rafael Eitan

Italy[]

  • Spartacus
  • Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus
  • Giuseppe Garibaldi
  • Giuseppe Mazzini
  • Carmine Crocco
  • Ninco Nanco
  • Licio Visintini - decorated Italian naval officer who conducted unconventional amphibious warfare like missions against allied shipping in World War II

J[]

Japan[]

K[]

Korea[]

Kosovo[]

Kenya[]

Kurdistan[]

L[]

Laos[]

  • General Vang Pao in Kingdom of Laos
  • Pa Chay Vue
  • Ong Kommandan
  • Ong Keo

Latvia[]

Lebanon[]

  • Hassan Nasrallah

Lesotho[]

  • Ntsu Mokhehle

Liberia[]

  • Charles Taylor
  • Prince Johnson

Libya[]

  • Omar Mukhtar

Lithuania[]

M[]

Malaysia[]

  • Force 136
  • Chin Peng, Malayan Communist Party
  • Japanese Red Army (Nihon Sekigun)
  • Mahathir Mohamad

Mexico[]

  • Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Chiapas, Mexico
  • Pancho Villa of the Mexican Revolution.
  • Emiliano Zapata of the Mexican Revolution.
  • Lucio Cabañas
  • Miguel Hidalgo of the Mexican War of Independence.
  • Davy Crockett of the Texas Revolution, died at the Fall of the Alamo.
  • Sam Houston of the Texas Revolution.
  • William Barret Travis of the Texas Revolution, died at the Fall of the Alamo.
  • Juan Seguín of the Texas Revolution.
  • James Bowie of the Texas Revolution, died at the Fall of the Alamo.
  • James Fannin of the Texas Revolution, murdered in the Goliad Massacre.
  • Victorio: Apache chief and warlord, active in both Mexico and the United States. Apache Wars.
  • Geronimo of the Apache Wars, active in both Mexico and the United States.
  • Bernardo Reyes, warlord during the Mexican Revolution.
  • Francisco I. Madero, revolutionary general during the Mexican Revolution.

Mongolia[]

  • Genghis Khan
  • Tolui
  • Jebe
  • Subutai

Morocco[]

Mozambique[]

Myanmar[]

N[]

Namibia[]

  • Jakobus Morenga
  • Hendrik Witbooi

Nepal[]

  • Prachanda

Netherlands[]

  • Pier Gerlofs Donia
  • Wijerd Jelckama
  • Abraham Blauvelt
  • Michiel Andrieszoon - Dutch buccaneer active in the 1680s.
  • Jan Willems (Dutch buccaneer)
  • Cornelis Jol
  • Roche Braziliano

Nicaragua[]

Nigeria[]

  • Ateke Tom
  • Henry Okah
  • Mujahid Dokubo-Asari
  • Odumegwu Ojukwu
  • Philip Effiong

Norway[]

  • Martin Linge

P[]

Pakistan[]

Palestine[]

Peru[]

Philippines[]

Poland[]

Portugal[]

  • Viriathus

R[]

Romania[]

  • Mircea I of Wallachia
  • Vlad the Impaler
  • Stephen III of Moldavia

Rwanda[]

  • Paul Kagame
  • Fred Rwigyema

S[]

Saudi Arabia[]

Scotland[]

Serbia[]

  • See list of Serbian hajduks
  • Serbian Revolutionaries (1804–15)
  • Serbian Chetnik Organization (1903–08)
  • Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army (1941–45)


Sierra Leone[]

  • Foday Sankoh

Singapore[]

  • Lim Bo Seng, Force 136
  • Tan Chong Tee, Force 136

South Africa[]

  • First Boer War
  • Second Boer War
    • Boer
    • Boer Commando
    • Louis Botha
    • Christiaan de Wet
    • Jan Smuts
    • Koos de la Rey
    • Deneys Reitz
    • Piet Joubert
    • Martinus Theunis Steyn
    • Schalk Willem Burger
    • Piet Cronjé
  • Others
    • Nelson Mandela
    • Potlako Leballo
    • Walter Sisulu
    • Jacob Zuma
    • Joe Slovo
    • Chris Hani
    • African National Congress (ANC)
    • African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL)
    • Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC)

Soviet Union[]

  • Mikhail Frunze
  • Stepniak - Russian radical
  • Stepan Bandera
  • Viktor Leonov - Soviet sailor whose experiences as a Soviet Naval Scout would be a precursor to the Russian special operations called the Spetsnaz
  • Sydir Kovpak
  • Semyon Rudniev
  • Vasily Zaitsev - Soviet Sniper who killed 225 enemy soldiers
  • Serge Obolensky

Spain[]

Sudan[]

  • John Garang
  • Khalil Ibrahim
  • Muhammad Ahmad
  • Osman Digna
  • Rabih az-Zubayr
  • Sebehr Rahma

Suriname[]

  • Ronnie Brunswijk

Syria[]

  • Syrian civil war
  • Others
    • Sultan al-Atrash

T[]

Thailand[]

  • See Bang Rachan
  • Phraya Phichai

Tunisia[]

Turkey[]

U[]

Uganda[]

  • Yoweri Museveni
  • Alice Auma (Alice Lakwena)
  • Joseph Kony

Ukraine[]

  • Nestor Makhno
  • Maria Nikiforova

United Kingdom[]

  • Glyndŵr Rising
  • American Revolution
    • Banastre Tarleton - British Cavalry officer of the British Legion (American Revolution) in the American revolution
    • Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe of the Queen's Rangers in the American Revolution
    • Christopher Carleton - led raids in the American Revolution
    • Patrick Ferguson
    • William Caldwell
  • War of 1812
    • James FitzGibbon
    • William Johnson Kerr
    • Tecumseh - Native-American guerrilla leader who served the British in the War of 1812
    • Phineas Riall
    • Adam Muir - Battle of Maguaga
    • James Gordon
    • George Cockburn
    • James Lucas Yeo - conducted 3 raids. The second British raid at Charlotte, New York, at the mouth of the Genesse River (June 15, 1813). Performed the raid at the battle of Fort Oswego. And the raid at Sodus, New York (June 19, 1813)
    • Cecil Bisshopp
    • William Caldwell
    • John Brant
    • Gordon Drummond
    • William Mulcaster
  • World War I
    • T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) in Arabia
  • World War II
    • David Stirling - Scottish born officer who was the founder of the Special Air Service
    • Tommy Macpherson - Scottish born British-army officer who conducted guerrilla operations in World War II
    • Roy Farran - in command of Operations Wallace and Hardy
    • Orde Wingate - (founder of the Chindits) in Palestine and Burma
    • Mike Calvert - British soldier nicknamed "Mad Mike" who participated in Chindit operations and was influential in promoting the ideas of unconventional warfare by Orde Wingate.
    • Jack Churchill - British soldier named "Mad Jack" who fought in World War II armed with a longbow, bagpipes, and a Scottish broadsword.
    • Ursula Graham Bower - led the Nagas against the Japanese during World War II
    • Nancy Wake - New Zealand born female operative who joined the Special Operations Executive and participated in operations with the French Resistance in World War II
    • Virginia Hall - American spy who worked with the Special Operations Executive in the European theatre of World War II before joining the American Office of Strategic Services.
    • Fitzroy Maclean worked with Tito and Yugoslav Partisans during World War II
    • Ivan Lyon - member of the Z Special Unit
    • Robert Grainger Ker Thompson - famous British military officer and counter-insurgency expert who served in the Burma Campaign
    • Carol Mather
    • John Durnford-Slater
  • Malayan Emergency
    • Robert Grainger Ker Thompson - famous British military officer and counter-insurgency expert
  • Other
    • Henry Mainwaring - nicknamed "The Dread Pirate".
    • Edward Davis (buccaneer) - English buccaneer active in the Caribbean during the 1680s.
    • William Kyd - 15th-century English pirate active in Southwest England from the 1430s until the 1450s.
    • John Nutt - notorious 17th-century English pirate who raided the coasts of Southern Canada and Western England for over three years before his capture.
    • Henry Jennings - 18th-century English privateer from the colony of Bermuda
    • Samuel Bellamy - "Black Bellamy"
    • Howell Davis - Welsh pirate
    • Charles Bellamy - English pirate raided colonial American shipping in New England and later off the coast of Canada.
    • William Dampier
    • Blackbeard - one of the most notorious pirates from England
    • James Alday
    • John Bear (pirate)
    • William Rous
    • William Parker

United States[]

  • James–Younger Gang
    • Jesse James
    • Cole Younger
  • Revolutionary War
    • John Parker
    • Benjamin Cleveland
    • Elijah Clarke
    • John Sevier
    • Ethan Allen
    • William Campbell
    • Francis Marion
    • Andrew Pickens
    • Thomas Sumter
    • Samuel Whittemore
    • William Richardson Davie
    • James Williams
    • Isaac Shelby
    • John Schenck
    • Philemon Dickinson
    • William Moultrie
    • John Sullivan
    • Seth Warner
    • Marinus Willett
    • Nathanael Greene
    • Daniel Morgan
    • Return J. Meigs Sr.
    • William Barton
    • John Glover
    • Edward Hand
    • William Maxwell - American Continental general whose guerrilla actions are notable in the Forage War, Battle of Cooch's Bridge, and Battle of Connecticut Farms.
    • Henry Lee III
    • Allan McLane
    • Benjamin Tallmadge
    • William Washington
    • David Wooster
    • Timothy Murphy - his exploits of guerrilla-like actions are shown in What Manner of Men: Forgotten Heroes of the American Revolution by Fred J. Cook in Chapter III
    • Thomas Knowlton
    • John Stark
    • Anthony Wayne - led a famous surprise night attack in the Battle of Stony Point.
    • Adam Hyler - German who immigrated to America and became a privateer harassing the British fleet by destroying ships, capturing crews, and conducting raids.
    • George Wait Babcock
    • Jeremiah O'Brien - led the first American attack in the Raid on St. John (1775)
    • Gustavus Conyngham - Irish-born American officer in the continental navy and a privateer who has been called "the most successful of all Continental Navy Captains."
    • John Rathbun - officer in the Continental Navy whose most well known exploit was his own raid at Nassau. Not to be confused with the first Raid of Nassau
    • John Barry
    • Herbert Woodbury
    • Noah Stoddard
    • John Paul Jones
    • Jonathan Haraden - his unconventional type of warfare at sea are mentioned in What Manner of Men: Forgotten Heroes of the American Revolution by Fred J. Cook in chapter IX.
    • Nicholas Biddle
    • David Hawley
  • Northwest Indian War
    • United States
      • Charles Scott (governor) - led the Blackberry Campaign which was a series of raids against the Western Confederacy
      • James Wilkinson - statesman and soldier who led a raid against the Native Americans in the Battle of Kenapacomaqua.
      • John Hardin
      • Benjamin Logan
    • Native Americans
      • Little Turtle - famous Sagamore chief who used decoys, hit and run maneuvers, and effective ambushes in his engagements against the Americans in the Harmar campaign.
      • Buckongahelas
      • Egushawa
      • Blue Jacket
  • Quasi-War
    • Silas Talbot
    • Isaac Hull
    • Daniel Carmick
    • Stephen Decatur Sr.
    • Benjamin Stoddert
    • David Porter
  • First Barbary War
    • Andrew Sterett - officer in the United States Navy flying British colors as a ruse deceived and surprise attacked Tripolitan polacca Tripoli in the action of 1 August 1801.
    • Stephen Decatur - American naval Lieutenant who led a surprise hit and run raid in the Second Battle of Tripoli Harbor successfully destroying the USS Philadelphia previously captured by Tripolitans.
    • Thomas Macdonough
  • War of 1812
    • Alexander Macomb
    • Benjamin Forsyth
    • Daniel Appling
    • Lodwick Morgan
    • Bennet C. Riley
    • Duncan McArthur
    • John Coffee
    • Philip Reed
    • Azariah C. Flagg
    • Richard Mentor Johnson
    • Jacob Brown
    • Ninian Edwards
    • Davy Crockett
    • Richard Lawson
    • Thomas C. Hoomes
    • James Massey
    • Guilford Dudley Young
    • Cyrenius Young
    • James Caller
    • Dixon Bailey
    • John Tipton
    • Nathan Boone
    • Benjamin Howard
    • Jehial Dimock
    • Buckner F. Harris
    • Samuel Dale
    • Robert H. Dyer
    • John Swift - led a hit-and-run surprise attack that killed four British soldiers and capturing 8 British soldiers. Mentioned in The War of 1812 : A Complete Chronology with Biographies of 63 General Officers by Bud Hannings. Page 186
    • Caleb Hopkins
    • Joseph Willcocks
    • Abraham Markle
    • Pushmataha - Choctaw Chief who fought on the American side in the Creek War
    • Red Jacket
    • George McGlassin
    • Andrew Jackson - conducted a surprise hit-and-run night attack at Villeré Plantation at December 23, 1814 leading to the Battle of New Orleans
    • Thomas Hinds - American cavalry officer who commanded American dragoons that conducted night hit-and-run attacks against the British in the Campaign of New Orleans. This is mentioned in the history book The War of 1812: A Complete Chronology with 63 General Officers by Bud Hannings page 276.
    • Peter B. Porter - American general who secretly led his force traveling along a hidden road using the cover of the woods in Jacob Brown's plan of the surprise hit-and-run raid/sortie that successfully destroyed three enemy batteries in the Siege of Fort Erie. Mentioned in The War of 1812: A Complete Chronology with Biographies of 63 General Officers by Bud Hannings page 230. In another engagement in the British raid on black rock, Peter B. Porter with a combined force regulars, militia, and 30-40 pro-American Seneca Native Americans ambush the British raiders in the dark. The Seneca Native American warriors serving under Peter B. Porter's command concealed themselves in a ravine ambushed/attacked the British. The Americans and their Seneca allies conflict considerable damage on the withdrawing British raiding force. This is shown in Lossing's War of 1812: Lossing’s Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812 by Benson Lossing. Chapter XXVIII. Also confirmed in Harper's Magazine, Volume 27 by Making of America Project. Pages 608–609. Peter B. Porter also took part in a successful ambush set up and led by a pro-American Seneca leader Red Jacket that decimated a British force. Peter and his ally Red Jacket only suffered around a dozen casualties while killing at least ninety of their foes. This ambush is mentioned in the historic article Dispatches from the War of 1812 | Guerrillas in a Thrilla | The Battle of Chippawa, Part 2 written by Mason Winfield.
    • James Miller - American general who secretly led the other American force secretly traveling in a ravine in Jacob Brown's plan of the surprise hit-and-run raid/sortie that successfully destroyed three enemy batteries in the Siege of Fort Erie. Mentioned in The War of 1812: A complete Chronology with Biographies of 63 General Officers by Bud Hannings page 230. In the Battle of Lundy's Lane, James Miller with at least 300 men crept up to a hill taking concealed positions behind a rail fence with thick shrubs. James Miller had his concealed men rest their muskets on the fence surprising/ambushing the British cannoneers killing them all successfully before transitioning to a conventional assault driving of other British soldiers lying near thus taking the hill. This is mentioned in Lossing's War of 1812: Lossing’s Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812 by Benson Lossing Pages 819–821.
    • John E. Wool - in the battle of Queenstown, Wool led a commando-like strike team of 60 men through unguarded terrain hidden in the thicket of maple trees that successfully surprised and captured an enemy cannon thus defeating their crew. Mentioned in 'Union 1812: The Americans who Fought the Second War of Independence by A. J. Langguth page 215. Wool also commanded an American force that was a part of that harassed or ambushed the British from behind cover white retreating in the Battle of Plattsburgh. Mentioned in The Battles of Plattsburgh: September 11, 1814 by Keith A. Herkalo.
    • John Miller - conducted a hit-and-run like sortie in the Siege of Fort Meigs with mixed results.
    • William Dudley - conducted a hit-and-run attack in the Siege of Fort Meigs with mixed results. William Dudley was killed in this hit-and-run attack while 150 men of his 800-man force reached safely to fort Meigs.
    • William Henry Harrison - came up with concepts and ideas of hit-and-run tactics during the Siege of Fort Meigs.
    • Alexander Smyth - American brigadier general who directed American raids across the Niagara River in the Battle of Frenchman's Creek which produced some good results which had little to no lasting effect.
    • Andrew Holmes - American army officer who led his mounted raiders to victory in the Battle of Longwoods.
    • Daniel Bissell - American general who used the cover of the woods and tactical maneuvers to successfully raid/destroy the enemy grain and flower in the Battle of Cook's Mills.
    • John B. Campbell - American soldier who led a surprise foray in the Battle of the Mississinewa and a controversial incursion in the Raid on Port Dover.
    • Thomas Pinckney - commanded American riflemen who concealed themselves by the shrubbery on the low ground near the river at Bladensburg bridge. Pinckney's concealed riflemen poured deadly volleys into exposed masses of British troops crossing the bridge. This is mentioned in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 28 edited by Henry Mills Alden page 439. This is also confirmed in a well documented history book Lossing's War of 1812: Lossing’s Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812 written by Benson Lossing Chapter XXXIX.
    • James Wilkinson - American commander who came up with plans and concepts to use all the militia in hit-and-run tactics, ambushes, and harassment against the British forces in the battle of Bladensburg, but was disapproved by James Madison and James Monroe who wanted to fight a set piece battle which led to disaster. This is mentioned in the history book Neither Victor nor Vanquished: America in the War of 1812 by William Weber page 136.
    • Regiment of Riflemen
    • American Militia
    • Indiana Rangers
    • American Privateers
    • Melancthon Taylor Woolsey - American naval officer who prepared an effective ambush against the British in concert with Daniel Appling in the Battle of Big Sandy Creek.
    • Otway Burns - American privateer who would later become a North Carolina State Senator
    • Thomas Boyle - one of the most successful Baltimore privateerss who conducted unconventional incursions at sea capturing British shipping and bringing them back to the United States.
    • David Porter (naval officer) - American naval officer whose usual tactic was to raise British colors to surprise and capture British ships.
    • Jesse Elliot - American naval officer who commanded a hit and run raid that successfully captured HMS Caledonia and successfully destroyed HMS Detroit.
    • John Percival - American naval officer who used a fishing boat Yankee with about 36 armed volunteers hidden in the deck cabin to deceive, surprise/ambush, and successfully capture
    • John Ordronaux (privateer) - very successful French-born privateer who preyed on British merchant ships, outran about seventeen British warships, and brought back to the US goods worth $250,000 and $300,000.
    • William Josephus Stafford - American privateer who commanded Dolphin and successfully captured many British shipping bringing them back to the United States.
    • Francis Gregory - his exploits of raiding and sabotaging British ships are mentioned in Small Boats and Daring Men: Maritime Raiding, Irregular Warfare, and the Early American Navy by Benjamin Armstrong in pages 84–89.
    • James Kirker
    • Joshua Hailey
    • George R. Roberts
    • Thomas Boyle
    • James DeWolf
    • Arthur Sinclair - American naval commander who conducted a hit-and-run raid at St. Mary River, Upper Canada capturing a small merchantman, the Mink. After capturing the merchantman in the raid, Sinclair withdrew back to American lines in Michilimackinac. Shown in The A to Z of the War of 1812 by Robert Malcomson. page 498
    • Daniel Turner - in extension of Arthur Sinclair's hit and run raid at St. Mary River. Turner with a detachment of seamen alongside regulars under Andrew Holmes penetrate deeper into enemy territory and destroy buildings, possessions, and burning a schooner. Turner withdraws back to American territory in Michilimackinac reuniting with Arthur Sinclair. Shown in The A to Z of the War of 1812 by Robert Malcomson. page 498
    • Winfield Scott - conducted a hit-and-run raid at York, Upper Canada from July 31, 1813 – August 1, 1813. Winfield's American raiding force freed prisoners in jail, made wounded soldiers their captives (on paper), and confiscated British military baggage left there and whatever else they could find. The next day, the American raiders found a hidden bateaux and carted off 400 barrels of food. Winfield and his American force of raiders set fire to barracks, a wood yard, and a storehouse on Gibraltar Point. Winfield and his force of American raiders withdrew safely. Mentioned in The A to Z of the War of 1812 by Robert Malcomson page 622.
    • Isaac Chauncey - American naval officer who with his flotilla transported Winfield Scott's force of raiders in the successful hit-and-run raid at York, Upper Canada from July 31, 1813 – August 1, 1813. Show in A to Z of the War of 1812 by Robert Malcomson page 622.
    • Joshua Barney
    • George W. Burbank
    • Nathanial Shaler
    • Johnston Blakeley
    • Joseph Tarbell - conducted a hit-and-run night attack on the British navy with gunboats and riflemen with mixed or limited results. This is mentioned in the history book The Encyclopedia of the War of 1812: A Political, Social, and Military History by Spencer C. Tucker page 123.
    • J. Rowland - raided British shipping and vessels
    • Bill Johnston - Canadian amphibious guerrilla/pirate who fought for the American side.
    • William Henry Allen
    • Charles Stewart
    • Clement Cathell
    • James Barnes
    • Samuel Barstow
  • Texas Revolution
  • Seminole Wars
    • United States of America
      • William S. Harney
      • Bennet C. Riley
      • Joseph Marion Hernandez - commanded an American force that made two successful stealthy raids/assaults on the Seminoles. Mentioned in History of the Second Seminole war, 1835-1842 by John K. Mahon pages 211-214
      • Andrew Jackson - disguised his ship with a British flag to lure Hillis Hadjo into a trap and successful capture.
      • Gabriel J. Rains
    • Seminoles and their allies
      • Micanopy
      • Osceola - Native American freedom fighter
      • Thlocklo Tustenuggee
      • Billy Bowlegs
      • Ar-pi-uck-i - Seminole guerrilla leader who used cover, concealment, and evasive tactics in Lake Okeechobee, Loxahtchee, and Pine Island Ridge
      • John Horse
      • Hillis Hadjo
  • Mexican-American War
    • United States of America
      • Fabius Stanly - American naval lieutenant who led raids against the Mexican armed forces.
      • Joseph Lane - United States Army American general who led a hit and run surprise attack on the Mexican armed forces at the Skirmish at Matamoros
      • John Coffee Hays - Hay's well planned ambush mentioned in Mixed Blessing: the Role of the Texas Rangers in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 written by Ian B. Lyles, pages 43–44
      • Samuel Hamilton Walker
      • Albert G. Blanchard - feigned retreat luring the Mexicans into John Coffee Hays' ambush in Mixed Blessing: the Role of the Texas Rangers in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 written by Ian B. Lyles, pages 43–44
      • Ezekiel "Stuttering Zeke" Merritt - conducted a hit-and-run raid capturing 170 horses. Mentioned in historic book Bear Flag Lieutenant: The Life Story of Henry L. Ford [1822-1860] written by Fred Blackburn Rogers page 263.
      • William B. Ide
      • Henry Ford - conducted 3 incursions/raids on enemy houses/bases destroying enemy weapons, capturing prisoners, and rescuing hostages before returning to friendly lines. Mentioned in Bear Flag Lieutenant: The Life Story of Henry L. Ford [1822-1860] written by Fred Blackburn Rogers pages 268–270.
    • Mexico
  • Utah War
    • Lot Smith
    • Daniel H. Wells
    • Brigham Young
    • Isaac C. Haight
    • John D. Lee
  • Civil War
    • Confederacy
      • Bloody Bill Anderson
      • Champ Ferguson
      • William Quantrill
      • Dan Showalter
      • John Singleton Mosby
      • John Hunt Morgan
      • John Hanson McNeill - led an independent irregular Confederate military company called McNeill's Rangers commissioned under the Partisan Ranger Act
      • Earl Van Dorn
      • Adam Rankin Johnson - gained notoriety for his incursion known as the Newburgh Raid where he gained the nickname "Stovepipe Johnson"
      • Archie Clement
      • Joseph C. Porter - Confederate officer who was a key leader in the guerrilla campaigns in northern Missouri
      • John Mobberly
      • Jack Hinson - Confederate partisan sniper
      • John Jackson Dickison - at times called by scholars or historians as "the Swamp Fox of the Confederacy" or "the Confederate Swamp Fox"
      • William McWaters - Confederate guerrilla who with his fellow bushwackers conducted a successful but controversial sabotage mission known as the Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy
      • Joseph Wheeler
      • Jubal Early
      • J. E. B. Stuart
    • Union
      • John Brown
      • Charles R. Jennison
      • James H. Lane
      • Daniel R. Anthony
      • Newton Knight
      • Owen Brown
      • Benjamin Grierson
      • William B. Cushing
      • Samuel C. Means - captain of the Loudoun Rangers
      • Henry Young
      • Harriet Tubman - female African American who infiltrated slave territory bringing slaves to safe zones, played a major role in the Raid on Combahee Ferry, and provided critical intelligence to the Union.
      • James Montgomery - Union Jayhawker who was in command of the Union forces in the Raid on Combahee Ferry and conducted other raids against the confederates.
      • Henry Baxter
      • James J. Andrews
      • Abel Streight
      • Hugh Judson Kilpatrick
      • Gouverneur K. Warren - Union Army general who executed a deadly ambush in the Battle of Bristoe Station
      • William Henry Powell
      • William W. Averell
      • Samuel P. Carter
      • George W. Taylor
      • Samuel P. Cox
      • George Stoneman
      • James H. Wilson
      • Thomas R. Kerr
      • John R. Kelso - his exploits of covert guerilla-like actions are mentioned in his book Bloody Engagements: John R. Kelso's Civil War written by himself.
  • Powder River Expedition (1865)
    • United States
      • Patrick E. Connor - American brigadier general who led a surprise raid-like incursion in the Battle of the Tongue River; the incursion has had some controversy and debate.
      • Jim Bridger - army scout alongside Frank North who scouted and discovered the Arapaho village allowing Patrick E. Connor to make his controversial surprise attack in the Battle of the Tongue River
      • Frank North - led a successful dawn surprise-like attack with his Pawnee Scouts on the Cheyenne which became known as the Powder River Massacre which also might have some controversy or debate.
    • Native Americans
      • Red Cloud - very important leader of the Oglala Lakota people.
      • Dull Knife - great chief of the Cheyenne who alongside Red Cloud harassed the Americans at the Battle of Bone Pile Creek.
      • Sitting Bull
      • Roman Nose - alongside Sitting Bull led the Native Americans in ambushing, harassing, and skirmishing against the U.S. armed forces in the Powder River Battles
  • Snake War
  • Great Sioux War of 1876
    • United States
      • Ranald S. Mackenzie
      • George Crook
      • Frank North - organized and commanded the Pawnee Scouts
      • Wesley Merritt - planned an ambush which let to little to no high body count in the Battle of Warbonnet Creek
    • Native Americans
  • Apache Wars
    • United States
    • Apache and their allies
      • Flechas Rayada
      • Mangas Coloradas - Apache tribal chief who led raids and ambushes against the Mexicans and Americans
      • Cochise - chief or leader of the Chokonen band of the Chiricahua Apache who also led raids and ambushes against the Mexicans and Americans
      • Victorio
      • Nana (chief)
      • Chato (Apache)
      • Juh
      • Baishan (Apache)
      • Geronimo - Native American freedom fighter
  • Philippine–American War
    • Frederick Funston - American brigadier general who planned, led, and executed the raid that captured Emilio Aguinaldo.
    • United States Armed Forces - led a rear surprise attack/ambush decimating an army of would be ambushers in the Battle of Lonoy
    • Elwell Stephen Otis - American commander of a hit-and-run raid-like mission that successfully destroyed a Filipino artillery gun in the Battle of Olongapo
  • World War 1
    • Theodore Roosevelt Jr. - planned and ordered a successful raid at Cantigny that captured 33 prisoners and documents with intelligence. This is mentioned in Infantry in Battle by Charles T. Lanham, pages 43–47
    • Michael Valente
    • John L. Barkley - his exploit of surprising/ambushing and decimating an army of Germans are mentioned in his memoir written by himself and an article One Man’s Ambush written by Edward G. Lengel
  • United States occupation of the Dominican Republic
  • United States occupation of Nicaragua
    • Chesty Puller
    • Harold C. Roberts - surprised bandits, used fire and maneuver tactics including use of cover, and attempted an ambush.[2]
    • Evans Carlson
    • Merritt Edson
    • Wilburt S. Brown
  • United States occupation of Haiti
  • World War II
    • Aaron Bank - famous officer of the Office of Strategic Services who is considered the founder of the United States Army Special Forces also known as the "Green Berets".
    • Donald Blackburn - American advisor to the Philippine Commonwealth Army who conducted a guerrilla insurgency on the island of Luzon against the Japanese.
    • James M. Cushing
    • Evans Carlson - commander of the Marine Raiders whose notable unconventional warfare type of successes were the Raid on Makin Island and the Carlson's patrol.
    • William Orlando Darby - United States Army officer who led the famous "Darby's Rangers" which would evolve into the U.S. Army Rangers.
    • Joseph Beyrle - American paratrooper who conducted his own sabotage like warfare behind German lines before fighting alongside the Red Army after escaping German captivity a few times.
    • Merritt Edson
    • Carl F. Eifler
    • Wendell Fertig - American civil engineer who organized and commanded an America-Filipino guerrilla army on the Japanese - occupied, southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
    • Roger Hilsman - American who served in the Merrill's Marauders and then with the Office of Strategic Services as a guerrilla leader in the China Burma India Theater of World War II
    • Virginia Hall - American female spy who worked as an agent for the American Office of Strategic Services in Europe after previously working for the British Special Operations Executive.
    • William R. Peers
    • Russell W. Volckmann - United States Army infantry officer and a leader of the guerrilla resistance in the Philippines and considered a co-founder of the United States Army Special Forces
    • Hugh B. Miller - U.S. naval officer stranded on an island who systematically ambushed and attacked Japanese soldiers with just hand grenades and a bayonet.
    • Robert Prince - American officer in the U.S. Army's 6th Ranger Battalion who was the main architect of the plan for the Raid at Cabanatuan.
    • Henry Mucci - colonel of United States Army Rangers who led the Raid at Cabanatuan with Robert Prince as the planner of the mission.
    • Peter J. Ortiz
    • Ray C. Hunt
    • Victor H. Krulak
    • Edwin Ramsey
    • Iliff David Richardson
    • Arthur W. Wermuth
    • Robert Lapham
    • Jack Hendrick Taylor - sometimes considered or referred to as the "first Navy SEAL".
    • Richard Winters - took part in an ambush against a German horse drawn supply convoy. Mentioned in Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne, from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest written by Stephen E. Ambrose page 91. Also mentioned in Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends written by Dick Hill pages 62–64. Conducted a commando-like hit-and-run raid destroying four artillery guns successfully in the Brécourt Manor Assault. And successfully ambushed and wiped out a 7-man German machine gun crew at another battle. Mentioned in Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters written by Dick Winters pages 137–138.
    • William Guarnere
    • Chick Parsons
    • Arthur D. Simons
    • Samuel V. Wilson
    • Vincent R. Kramer
  • Korean War
    • Donald Nichols
    • Merrill Newman
    • Colt Terry - whose experience of unconventional warfare in the Korean War before becoming a Green Beret are shown in Colt Terry, Green Beret written by Charles D. Patton published at the Texas A&M University Press
    • Robert H. Barrow - came up with a cunning tactic that allow his marines to ambush/surprise and kill more than 50 enemy troops. Mentioned in U.S. Marines in the Korean War by pages 203-204
    • Colonel John McGee
    • Tony Poe
    • Vincent R. Kramer
    • Underwater Demolition Teams
    • Korean War Ranger Companies
    • JACK
    • CIA SAC
  • Vietnam War
    • Rudy Boesch - operative in Seal Team 2 in Vietnam War
    • David Hackworth - involved in the creation and command of Tiger Force
    • Carlos Hathcock - United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper who has 93 confirmed kills
    • Tony Poe - legendary paramilitary officer in Vietnam from the CIA's Special Activities Division
    • Colt Terry - one of the original Green Berets whose successful unconventional type of warfare exploits are mentioned in his official biography Colt Terry, Green Beret written by Charles D. Patton published at the Texas A&M University Press.
    • Roy Boehm - first officer in charge of Seal Team two.
    • Richard J. Meadows
    • John Plaster
    • Richard Marcinko
    • Ira A. Hunt Jr.
    • George Bacon
    • Michael D. Healy
    • Billy Waugh
    • Harry Griffith Cramer Jr.
    • Thomas R. Norris
    • Robert J. Pruden
    • Arthur D. Simons
    • William Colby
  • Laotian Civil War
  • War in Afghanistan
    • Matt Bissonnette
    • Brandon Webb
    • Robert J. O'Neill
    • Nicholas Irving
    • Edward Byers
    • Robert Harward
    • Francis J. Wiercinski - took part in a successful ambush wiping out nine enemy combatants while commanding his unit alongside a U.S. Special Operations Force team. Mentioned in A Different Kind of War: The US Army in Operation Enduring Freedom: October 2001 – September 2005 by Donald Wright pages 148–149.
    • Joseph Votel
    • Jonathan Idema - controversial American non commissioned reserve special operations vigilante.
    • Brent Bennett
    • Jason Amerine
    • Del Bennington - a U.S. Green Beret who led native Pashtun fighters in a successful ambush against an enemy force. Mentioned in Weapon of Choice: U.S. Army Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan by Charles H. Briscoe page 177.
  • Iraq War
  • Symbionese Liberation Army
  • Weather Underground
  • Black Panther Party
    • Huey P. Newton
  • Others
    • Michael G. Vickers - legendary paramilitary officer in first Afghan war from the CIA's Special Activities Division
    • Robert Rogers - French and Indian War
    • Touch the Clouds - Native American warrior
    • Orlando Bosch - Cuba, America and South America
    • Nat Turner - leader of slave rebellion
    • Daniel Boone - famous frontiersmen, Indian fighter, and American Revolutionary War hero.
    • Billy the Kid
    • Railroad Bill
    • Devil Anse Hatfield
    • Apache Kid - renegade Apache during the Renegade period of the Apache Wars
    • Pancho Villa
    • Queho
    • Robert Clay Allison
    • Ike Clanton
    • Billy Clanton
    • John Henry "Doc" Holliday
    • Dangerfield Newby
    • Daniel Shays
    • Denmark Vesey
    • Dan Seavey - also known as "Roaring" Dan Seavey" who was a notorious timber pirate involved in poaching, human trafficking, and hijacking etc.
    • Lewis Wetzel - scout, frontiersman, and Indian fighter
    • William Hardin - American Revolutionary War soldier, farmer, rancher, marksman, hunter, and Native American killer
    • John L. Bullis

Uruguay[]

  • Pepe Mujica
  • Raúl Sendic - during the 1960s and '70s in Uruguay

V[]

Venezuela[]

Vietnam[]

W[]

Western Sahara[]

  • Ma al-'Aynayn
  • El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed
  • Mohamed Abdelaziz
  • Brahim Gali

Y[]

Yugoslavia[]

Z[]

Zimbabwe[]

  • Joshua Nkomo
  • Robert Mugabe

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The U.S. Army Campaigns of the Mexican War, The Occupation Of Mexico May 1846-July 1848" (PDF). history.army.mil.
  2. ^ "The Sandino Rebellion, 1927-1934". www.sandinorebellion.com.

External links[]

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