61 articles
José María Cañas
José María Cañas was a Salvadoran-born general in Costa Rica who fought William Walker in the National War of 1856–1857 and was executed in 1860.
José María Paz
José María Paz (1791–1854) was an Argentine general and Unitarian leader who fought in the independence and civil wars and led the Liga del Interior opposing Juan Manuel de Rosas.
Joseph Chatoyer
Joseph Chatoyer was the paramount chief of the Black Caribs (Garifuna) of St Vincent who led Carib resistance in the Carib Wars and was killed by British forces in 1795.
Juan Antonio Álvarez de Arenales
Juan Antonio Álvarez de Arenales (1770–1831) was an Argentine general born in Spain who organized guerrilla warfare in Upper Peru and led liberating campaigns in the Peruvian highlands.
Kassa Haile Darge
Kassa Haile Darge, also written Kassa Haylu (Amharic: ካሣ ኀይሉ ዳርጌ), was an Ethiopian prince and governor who commanded the northern front against Italy's 1936 invasion.
Leopoldo Galtieri
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri (1926–2003), Argentine army general and de facto president 1981–1982, third junta head; ordered the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas invasion, lost the war, resigned, was sentenced to 12 years in 1986, pardoned by Menem, arrested again in 2002.
Mamady Doumbouya
Mamady Doumbouya, born 1984, is Guinea's president and former special forces commander who led the 5 September 2021 coup against Alpha Condé, ruled the transition, won the December 2025 election with 86.7%, and was sworn in 17 January 2026.
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega, Panamanian general and de facto dictator 1983–1989, former CIA informant, PDF commander; indicted for drug trafficking, deposed by the December 1989 US invasion (Operation Just Cause), imprisoned in the US, France, and Panama, died 2017.
Mariano Escobedo
Mariano Escobedo (1826–1902) was a Mexican general and politician who commanded the Army of the North during the French Intervention and accepted Maximilian's surrender at Querétaro in 1867.
Mariano Matamoros
Mariano Matamoros (1770–1814) was a Mexican priest and insurgent general, José María Morelos's chief lieutenant in the War of Independence, executed by the royalists in 1814.
Mengistu Neway
Mengistu Neway (1919–1961) was an Ethiopian brigadier-general and commander of the Imperial Body Guard who, with his brother Germame, led the failed December 1960 coup against Emperor Haile Selassie.
Mohamed Farrah Aidid
Mohamed Farrah Aidid (Maxamed Faarax Xasan Caydiid), Somali general and Habr Gedir faction leader; USC chairman and SNA head, rival of Ali Mahdi, target of the 1993 UN/U.S. manhunt and Battle of Mogadishu, self-declared president 1995, died August 1996.
Muhoozi Kainerugaba
Muhoozi Kainerugaba (General MK) is Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces, son of President Yoweri Museveni, founder of the Patriotic League of Uganda, and the widely presumed heir whose declared 2031 presidential bid and 2026 actions dominate succession politics.
Mustafa ben Ismail
Mustafa ben Ismail (Mustapha ben Ismaël), c. 1769 to 1843, was an Arab chieftain of the Douairs tribe who became a French general during the conquest of Algeria.
Olufemi Oluyede
Olufemi Olatubosun Oluyede (born 1968) is a Nigerian Army general, Chief of Defence Staff since 30 October 2025, formerly 24th Chief of Army Staff, infantry officer of the 39th Regular Course.
Olusegun Obasanjo
Olusegun Obasanjo, born in 1937 in Abeokuta, Nigeria, is a retired army general who served as military Head of State (1976–1979) and as elected President (1999–2007).
Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed
Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed (born 1966, Kadiqali, South Darfur) is a Sudanese major general, former army officer, and head of the Rapid Support Forces operations department, sanctioned by the US in May 2024 and by the UN Security Council on 8 November 2024 under resolution 1591 (2005) for Darfur abuses.
Pablo González (Mexican revolutionary general)
Pablo González, born Pablo González Garza (1879–1950), was a Mexican Constitutionalist general from Nuevo León, a top commander under Carranza who organized Zapata's 1919 assassination.
Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa, born José Doroteo Arango Arambula (1878–1923), was a Mexican revolutionary general who commanded the División del Norte, governed Chihuahua, and raided Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916.
Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba
Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba is a Burkinabè lieutenant-colonel who led the January 24, 2022 coup against Roch Kaboré, ruled Burkina Faso as interim president for eight months, and was ousted by Ibrahim Traoré in September 2022, later extradited from Togo in 2026.
Philip Effiong
Philip Effiong (1925-2003), also Efiong, Nigerian Army officer and Biafra's Vice President and second-in-command under Ojukwu; final head of state who announced Biafra's surrender on 12 January 1970 and signed at Dodan Barracks on 15 January 1970.
Quintín Bandera
Quintín Bandera (José Quintino Bandera Betancourt, also written Quintín Banderas) was an Afro-Cuban general who fought in all three of Cuba's wars of independence, from 1868 to 1898.
Ricardo Pérez Godoy
Ricardo Pío Pérez Godoy was a Peruvian army general who led the July 1962 coup deposing President Manuel Prado Ugarteche and headed the governing junta until his removal in March 1963.
Ricardo Trevilla Trejo
Ricardo Trevilla Trejo (born 1961, Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche) is a Mexican General de División DEM and Secretary of National Defense since 1 October 2024 under Claudia Sheinbaum, succeeding Luis Cresencio Sandoval; former Jefe del Estado Mayor Conjunto.
Samora Machel
Samora Moisés Machel (1933–1986), Mozambican revolutionary, first president of independent Mozambique from 1975, led FRELIMO from 1970 and died in the disputed 1986 Mbuzini Tupolev Tu-134 crash.
Sani Abacha
General Sani Abacha was a Nigerian Army general who seized power in a 1993 coup and ruled Nigeria as military head of state until his death in 1998.
Serafín Sánchez
Serafín Sánchez, full name Serafín Gualberto Sánchez Valdivia, was a Cuban major general who fought in all three Cuban wars of independence, dying in combat in 1896.
Toussaint Louverture
Toussaint Louverture (Toussaint Bréda, c. 1743–1803), Haitian Revolution leader: enslaved at Bréda, freed 1776, Spanish then French general, governor for life under his 1801 constitution, arrested by Leclerc in 1802, died at Fort de Joux.
Victoriano Huerta
Victoriano Huerta, Mexican general and dictator (1854–1916), seized the presidency in the February 1913 Decena Trágica coup, was implicated in Madero's assassination, ruled seventeen months, and resigned July 1914.
Waidi Shaibu
Waidi Shaibu (born 1971, Olamaboro, Kogi State) is a Nigerian Army lieutenant general and 25th Chief of Army Staff, appointed by President Tinubu on 24 October 2025 after commanding Operation Hadin Kai in the North-East.