The Best Hated Man in the Army
So, Ambrose Bierce said.
...the best hated man that I ever knew, and his very memory is a terror to every unworthy soul in the service.
Note the word "unworthy". Adding to the praise that:
He convicted Sheridan of falsehood, Sherman of barbarism, Grant of inefficiency. He was aggressive, arrogant, tyrannical, honorable, truthful, courageous—skillful soldier, a faithful friend and one of the most exasperating of men.
But General William Babcock Hazen was for the controversial author of The Devil's Dictionary:
...my commander and my friend, my master in the art of war,
Nobody is perfect. Learn to live with imperfection. "Perfect people" tend to be uninteresting folks.
(Source: Ambrose Bierce, "The Crime at Pickett's Mill". This is a short story published in the 1890s in the book In the Midst of Life - also known as Tales of Soldiers and Civilians.)