In his Life of Sertorius, the ancient biographer Plutarch (c. A.D. 45-120) remarked that “The most warlike and successful generals have been one-eyed men.” He then went on to list a few.
King Antigonus I of Asia (r. 332-301 B.C.), one of Alexander’s Successors, has lost an eye in combat, and was nicknamed “Monopthalmos – The One-Eyed” historians).
Hannibal (247–183 B.C.), the great Carthaginian commander, had lost an eye to an infection.
King Philip II of Macedon (r. 359-336 B.C.), the father of Alexander the Great, lost an eyed in battle.
Quintus Sertorius (c. 123-72 B.C.), the famous Roman rebel commander, had lost an eye in combat.
Not a bad lot, actually, as these men were certainly among the most effective commanders in the Classical world.
Baybars, the Mamluke general and later Sultan of Egypt (r. 1260-1277), who defeated Mongols and all other comers, had became blind in one eye as a young man, due to a cataract
Masamune Date (1567-1636), noted samurai and general, was blinded in one eye as a child – he was nicknamed "Dokuganryu—The One-Eyed Dragon”
Moshe Dayan (1915-1981, the Israeli general and later Defense Minister, lost an eye on campaign against the Vichy French in Syria in 1941.
Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1747-1813), who defeated Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, had lost the use of one eye, variously reported as due to combat or a cataract
Liu Bocheng or Po-cheng (1892-1986), one of the most notable Red Chinese commanders, who survived the Long March, and fought in the Chinese Civil Wars and World War II, had lost an eye as a young man, and was also nicknamed, “The One-Eyed Dragon”
Andre Massena (1758-1817), among the most distinguished of Napoleon’s marshals, was accidentally blinded in one eye in 1808 by Marshal Berthier during a shooting party, though this apparently did not affect his military skills..
José Millan Astray (1879-1954), the founder of the Spanish Foreign Legions, lost an eye in the Moroccan Wars, as well as an arm and several fingers from the other hand.
Lord Nelson (1758-1805), lost the sight of his right eye in action in 1794, though he made good use of it at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801
Sir Archibald Wavell (1883-1950), who commanded in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and later India, during World War II, had lost an eye in 1915 in Flanders.
Garnet Joseph Wolseley (1833-1913), Queen Victoria’s finest commander, lost an eye during the Crimea War
Yamamoto Kansuke – Haruyuki (1501-1561), a noted samurai and general, is traditionally believed to have been blind in one eye
Jan Žižka (c. 1360-1424), the noted Hussite general, had lost an eye as a child, which did not prevent him from winning a lot, nor did complete blindness later hamper his final battle.
So Plutarch was certainly right that having only one eye has been no bar to distinction as a warrior, though the notion that one-eyed men make the most successful commanders is perhaps exaggerated.
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