Ah...the age old debate. I realize the following suggestions will present further consternation, but I can think of no other definitive way to template this very important activity.

Categories:

1. Tacticians
2. Strategists
3. Masters of the Operational Art

Periods:

1. Antiquity
2. Medieval
3. Early Modern Era to 1792
4. Modern to 1919
5. 20th century
6. OOTW

A GOOD READ:

(Note: "An All-Time Command Team" by Lieutenant Col. George L. Simpson (1937) The Infantry Journal Reader by Col. Joseph I. Greene. Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. 1943)