Wars, Battles, Revolutions, Crusades, Rebellions, Revolts, Riots, Strikes, Mutinies, Movements, Uprisings, Massacres, Plots, Conspiracies, Cabals, Scandals, Disasters, Assassinations, Affairs, Raids, Purges, Crises, Marches, and Other Hostile Incidents
Egyptian
Battles
Kadesh (1274 BC, Syria) - Ramses II (Egypt) defeated Muwatallis
(Hittite)
Carchemish (605 BC, Turkey) - Nebuchadnezzar II (Babylon) defeated
Egyptians
Persian
Wars
Marathon (490 BC, Greece) - Miltiades (Greece) defeated Darius (Persia)
near Athens;
Pheidippides
ran to Athens with the news
Thermopylae (480 BC, Greece) - Leonidas I (Sparta) delayed Xerxex I's
(Persia) advance at a
narrow
mountain path
Salamis (480 BC, Greece) - Themistocles's (Athens) navy defeated Xerxes
I (Persia) near Athens
Plataea (479 BC, Greece) - Greeks defeated Persian infantry
Peloponnesian
War
Mantinea (418 BC, Greece) - Sparta defeated Alcibiades (Athens)
Aegospotomai (4 05 BC, Dardanelles) -Lysander (Sparta) defeated
Athenians in the Hellespont
Thebes
- Sparta War
Leuctra (371 BC, Greece) - Epaminondas (Thebes) defeated Sparta
Mantinea (362 BC, Greece) - Epaminondas (Thebes) defeated Sparta and
Athens but was killed
Macedonian
Battles
Chaeronea (338 BC, Greece) - Philip II (Macedonia) defeated Athens and
Thebes
Granicus (334 BC, Asia Minor) - Alexander the Great (Macedonia)
defeated Persians
Issus (333 BC, Syria) - Alexander the Great (Macedonia) defeated Darius
III (Persia), who had
massacred
Alexander's injured soldiers at Issus
Gaugamela (Oct. 1, 331 BC, Iraq) - also Arbela; Alexander the Great
(Macedonia) defeated
Darius
III (Persi)
Hydaspes (326 BC, India) - Alexander the Great (Macedonia) defeated
King Porus
Ipsus (301 BC, Asia Minor) - Antigonus I was killed, and Alexander's
empire was split among
Ptolemy
I, Seleucus I, and Antigonus's descendants
Second
Punic War
Cannae (216 BC, Italy) - Hannibal (Carthage)
destroyed the army of Varro and Paulus Aemilius
(Rome)
Zama (202 BC, Tunisia) - Scipio Africanus (Rome) defeated Hannibal,
ending the war
Roman
Battles
Carrhae (53 BC, Turkey) - Orontes (Parthia) defeated Crassus (Rome),
and executed him
Alesia (52 BC, France) - Julius Caesar (Rome) defeated Vercingetorix
(Gaul)
Pharsalus (48 BC, Italy) - Julius Caesar defeated Pompey the Great
Philippi (42 BC, Greece) - Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and
Cassius, who had
assassinated
Julius Caesar
Actium (Sept. 2, 31 BC) - Octavian and Agrippa defeated Antony and
Cleopatra (Egypt)
Teutoburg Forest (9, Germany) - Arminius (Cherusci) defeated Varus
(Rome)
Milvian Bridge (312, Italy) - Constantine the Great, after seeing a
vision of a cross, defeated
Maxentius
near Rome, converted to Christianity, and became emperor
Adrianople (378, Turkey) - Visigoths destroyed the Eastern Romans under
Valens near Edirne
Chalons (451, Gaul) - Flavius Aetius (Rome) and Theodoric I (Visigoths)
defeated Attila the Hun
and
Gaiseric (Vandal)
Muslim
Battles
Uhud (625, Arabia) - Khalid (Mecca) defeated Muhammad
Yarmuk (637, Syria) - Khalid (Muslim) defeated Byzantines and captured
Damascus
Medieval
Battles
Tours (732, France) - also Poitiers; Charles Martel (Frank) stopped
Moor invasion
Stamford Bridge (Sept. 25, 1066) - Harold II (England) defeated Tostig
and Harold III (Norway)
Hastings (Oct. 14, 1066, East Sussex England) - William of Normandy
defeated Harold II
(England)
at Senlac Hill; Harold was killed; battle depicted in Bayeux Tapestry
Manzikert (1071, Turkey) - Alp-Arslan (Seljuks) defeated Romanus IV
Diogenes (Byzantium);
led
to Seljuk conquest of Anatolia
Bouvines (July 27, 1214, Lille France) - Philip II (France) defeated
John (England) and Otto IV
(HRE),
forcing England out of northern France
Dunbar (1296, Scotland) - England defeated Baliol (Scotland), who had
allied with France
Stirling Bridge (Sept. 11, 1297, Scotland) - Wallace (Scotland)
defeated Earl of Surrey (England)
Bannockburn (June 24, 1314, Scotland) - Robert I (Scotland) defeated
Edward II (England) at
Stirling
Castle
Tannenberg (July 15, 1410, Poland) - also Grunwald; Witold and Ladislav
(Poland and Lithuania)
defeated
von Jungingen (Teutonic Knights)
Flodden Field (Sept. 9, 1513, England) - Earl of Surrey (England),
leading Henry VIII's army,
defeated
and killed James IV (Scotland)
Pavia (1525, Italy) - Charles V (HRE) defeated Francis I (France)
Crusades
First (1095 - 1099) - called by Urban II at Council of Clermont; led by
Robert of Flanders,
Bohemond of Taranto, Godfrey of Bouillon, and Raymond
of Toulouse; captured Jerusalem;
set up Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Latin Kingdom of
Jerusalem states in "Outremer"
Second (1144 - 1148) - called by Eugenius III; led by Louis VII
(France) and Conrad III (HRE);
lost
at Dorylaeum and Damascus; freed Lisbon from Moors
Third (1187 - 1192) - after Saladin retook Jerusalem, Richard I
(England), Philip II (France), and
Frederick I (HRE) reestablished Latin Kingdom but
failed to take Jerusalem; Frederick
drowned in Calycadnus River
Fourth (1199 - 1204) - called by Innocent III; Venetians took Zara in
Hungary and
Constantinople
Albigensian (1208 - 1229) - called by Innocent III and Gregory IX;
Louis XIII persecuted
believers
in dualism (Cathars) in southern France
Children's (1212) - led by Stephen of Cloyes and Nicholas of Cologne;
never reached Holy Land
Fifth (1228) - called by Gregory IX; Frederick II (HRE) negotiated for
control of Jerusalem
Seventh (1248 - 1250) - Louis IX (France) captured Damietta in Egypt
but lost at Cairo
Hundred
Years War
Crecy (Aug. 26, 1346, France) - Edward III and son Edward the Black
Prince (England) defeated
Philip
VI (France); English longbow very effective
Poitiers (Sept. 19, 1356, France) - Edward the Black Prince (England)
captured John II the Good
(France),
who was held for ransom
Agincourt (Oct. 25, 1415, France) - Henry V (England)
defeated D'Albret (France); French troops
trapped
in mud slaughtered by English bowmen
Wars
of the Roses (English Civil War)
St. Albans (1455, England) - Margaret of Anjou (Lancaster), wife of
Henry VI, defeated Earl of
Warwick
(York)
Northampton (1460, England)
Towton (Mar. 29, 1461, England) - Earl of Warwick (York) and duke of
York defeated Duke of
Somerset (Lancaster); replaced Henry VI with Edward
IV as king; bloodiest battle in England
Barnet (Mar. 1471, England) - Duke of Clarence and Edward IV
(Lancaster) defeated Earl of
Warwick
(York), who was killed
Tewkesbury (1471, England) - Edward IV (York) defeated Margaret of
Anjou (Lancaster), wife
of
Henry VI; Henry was murdered in the Tower
Bosworth Field (Aug. 22, 1485, Leicestershire) - Henry Tudor
(Lancaster) defeated Richard III
(York);
Thomas and William Stanley joined Henry; Richard III was unhorsed and killed
Mughal
Battles
Panipat (1526, India) - Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi and established
Mughal Dynasty.
Ottoman
Battles
First Kosovo (June 15, 1389, Serbia) - Murad I (Ottoman) defeated Lazar
(Serbia) on the "Field of
Blackbirds";
Murad was killed but his son Bayazid I led Ottomans to victory
Ankara (1402, Turkey) - Tamerlane captured Bayazid I (Ottoman)
Second Kosovo (1448, Serbia) - Murad II (Ottoman) defeated Hunyadi
(Hungary)
Constantinople (1453, Turkey) - Muhammad II captured Byzantine capital
Mohacs (Aug. 29, 1526, Hungary) - Suleiman I (Ottoman) defeated and
killed Louis II (Hungary)
Vienna (1529, Austria) - Ferdinand I (HRE) ended Suleiman I's siege of
Vienna
Lepanto (Oct. 7, 1571, Greece) - Don Juan's (Austria) navy defeated Ali
Pasha (Ottomans)
Thirty
Years War
White Mountain (1620, Germany) - von Tilly (Catholic), under Ferdinand
II (HRE), defeated
Frederick
V (Bohemia)
Breitenfeld (Sept. 17, 1631, Germany) - Gustavus Adolphus (Sweden)
defeated von Tilly
(Catholic)
Lutzen (Nov. 6, 1632, Germany) - Gustavus Adolphus (Sweden) and Bernard
(Protestant)
defeated
Wallenstein (Catholic) near Leipzig, but Gustavus was killed
English
Revolution
Edgehill (Oct. 23, 1642, England) - indecisive battle between Cavaliers
(King) and Roundheads
(Parliament)
Marston Moor (July 2, 1644, England) - Cromwell (Parliament) defeated
Cavaliers
Naseby (June 14, 1645, England) - Cromwell's New Model Army defeated
Graham (Scottish
Highlanders)
and Cavaliers
Preston (Aug. 17 - 19, 1648, England) - Cromwell defeated Scots
Dunbar (1650, England) - Cromwell defeated Scots
Glorious
Revolution
Boyne (July 11, 1690, Drogheda Ireland) - William III (new Protestant
English king) defeated
James
II (deposed Catholic English king)
War
of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne's War)
Blenheim (Aug. 13, 1704, Bavaria) - Duke of Marlborough (England) and
Eugene of Savoy
(Austria)
defeated French
Ramillies (1706, Belgium) - Duke of Marlborough (England) defeated
France, forcing them out of
the
Netherlands
Oudenaarde (1708, Europe) - Duke of Marlborough (England) and Eugene of
Savoy (Austria)
defeated
the Duke of Vendome (France), forcing Louis XIV to sue for peace
Malplaquet (1709, France) - Duke of Marlborough (England) and Eugene of
Savoy
(Austria)
defeated French; bloodiest battle of the war
Great
Northern War
Narva (1704, Estonia) - Russians took city from Sweden
Poltava (July 8, 1709, Ukraine) - Peter I (Russia) defeated Charles XII
(Sweden)
War
of the Polish Succession
Danzig (1733 - 1734, Poland) - Stanislaw (Poland) surrendered to
Russia, allowing Augustus III
to
be king of Poland
War
of the Austrian Succession (King George's War)
Dettingen (June 27, 1743, Bavaria) - George II (British) defeated
French; last monarch to
personally
lead troops in battle
Seven
Years War (French and Indian War)
Rossbach (1757, Europe) - Seydlitz (Prussia) defeated France
Plassey (1757, India) - Clive (British) defeated Bengal
Plains of Abraham (Sept. 13, 1759, Quebec) - Wolfe (British) defeated
Montcalm (France); both
commanders
were mortally wounded
American
Revolution
Lexington and Concord (Apr. 1775, MA) - Francis Smith, under Gage
(British), tried to seize
colonists'
gunpowder; Paul Revere warned of his advance
Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775, MA) - Howe (British) dislodged Prescott and
Putnam (US) but
endured heavy casualties; Ward (US) had ordered
fortification of Bunker Hill but
Americans actually located at Breed's Hill
Quebec (Dec. 30-31, 1775, Quebec) - Carleton (Canada) defeated Arnold
and Montgomery (US),
who
had captured Montreal but was killed here; ended US invasion of Canada
Long Island (Aug. 27, 1776, NY) - Howe (British) defeated Washington
(US) in Brooklyn; first
large
battle of the war
Harlem Heights (Sept. 16, 1776, NY) - Washington (US) forced Howe
(British) to retreat in
Manhattan
Trenton (Dec. 26, 1776, NJ) - Washington (US) crossed Delaware River
and defeated Rall
(Hessian)
Princeton (Jan. 3, 1777, NJ) - Washington (US) defeated Cornwallis
(British); Mercer (US) was
killed
Saratoga (June - Oct. 1777, NY) - Burgoyne (British) surrendered to
Gates, Arnold, and Morgan
(US);
two battles fought at Freeman's Farm
Oriskany (Aug. 6, 1777, NY) - Herkimer (US) helped Gansevoort (US) hold
onto Fort Stanwix,
under
siege by St. Leger (British) and Brant (Mohawk)
Bennington (Aug. 16, 1777, VT) - Stark (US) defeated Burgoyne (British)
and Hessians Baum
and
Breymann
Brandywine (Sept. 11, 1777, PA) - Howe (British) continued advance from
Chesapeake to
Philadelphia
despite Washington's (US) resistance
Germantown (Oct. 4, 1777, PA) - Washington's (US) attack on Howe's
(British) troops near
Philadelphia
failed; Greene (US) arrived late
Monmouth (June 28, 1778, NJ) - draw between Washington (US) and Clinton
(British), who
continued march to NYC; Charles Lee (US) disobeyed
orders and retreated; Molly
Pitcher legend
Vincennes (Feb. 23, 1779, IL) - Clark (US) recaptured city and Fort
Sackville from Hamilton
(British)
Savannah (Oct. 9, 1779, GA) - Lincoln (US) and d'Estaing (France)
failed to recapture Savannah
from
Prevost (British)
Camden (Aug. 16, 1780, SC) - Cornwallis (British) defeated Gates (US)
and de Kalb (France)
King's Mountain (Oct. 7, 1780, SC) - Americans defeated Ferguson
(British)
Cowpens (Jan. 17, 1781, SC) - Morgan (US) defeated Tarleton (British)
Guilford Courthouse (Mar. 15, 1781, NC) - Cornwallis (British) defeated
Greene (US) but
sustained
heavy losses
Yorktown (Oct. 19, 1781, VG) - Cornwallis (British) surrendered to
Washington (US), Comte de
Grasse,
and Comte de Rochambeau (France)
Indian
Wars
Fallen Timbers (Aug. 20, 1794, OH) - Wayne defeated Little Turtle
(Indian), Indians were forced
to
sign the Treaty of Greenville the next year
Tippecanoe (Nov. 7, 1811, IN) - WH Harrison (US) fought the Prophet
(Shawnees), brother of
Tecumseh
Rosebud (June 17, 1866, US) - Crazy Horse (Oglala Sioux) defeated Crook
(US)
Little Bighorn (June 25, 1876, MT) - Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse
(Sioux) defeated Custer (US);
"Custer's
Last Stand"; all 225 soldiers killed
Napoleonic
Wars
Nile (Aug. 1-2, 1798, Egypt) - Nelson in the Vanguard defeated
the French in naval battle
Marengo (June 14, 1800, Italy) - Napoleon (France) defeated von Melas
(Austria), gaining Italy
Trafalgar (Oct. 21, 1805, near Spain) - Nelson (British) defeated
Villeneuve (France) in naval
battle, preventing invasion of England; Nelson said
"England expects that every man
will do his duty" and was killed
Austerlitz (Dec. 2, 1805, Moravia) - Napoleon had just captured Vienna;
he defeated Austrians
and
Russians
Borodino (Sept. 7, 1812, Russia) - Kutuzov (Russia) stopped Napoleon's
(France) advance 70
miles
west of Moscow; described in Tolstoi's War and Peace
Leipzig (Oct. 16-19, 1813, Germany) - also Battle of the Nations; Sixth
Coalition (Russia,
Prussia,
Britain, Sweden, Austria) defeated Napoleon; largest battle of the war
Waterloo (June 18, 1815, Belgium) - duke of Wellington (British) and
Blucher (Prussia) defeated
Napoleon
and Ney (France); attack at La Haye Sainte
War
of 1812
Queenston Heights (Oct. 13, 1812, Ontario) - Van Rensselaer's (US)
troops refused to reinforce
Scott
(US), who was forced to surrender
Thames (Oct. 5, 1813, Ontario) - WH Harrison (US) defeated Proctor
(British) at the Moravian
Mission;
RM Johnson (US) killed Tecumseh (Shawnee)
Chateauguay (Oct. 26, 1813, Quebec) - de Salaberry (Canada) turned back
Purdy (US), an
advance
unit of Hampton's force advancing to Montreal
Lundy's Lane (July 25, 1814, Ontario) - draw between Brown (US) and
Drummond (British) near
Niagara
Falls; bloodiest battle of the war
Plattsburgh (Sept. 11, 1814, NY) - also Battle of Lake Champlain;
Macdonough (US) defeated
Downie
(British) in naval battle; Prevost (Canada) withdrew from NY
Bladensburg (1814, DC) - led to Cockburn (British) burning DC,
including the White House
New Orleans (Jan. 8, 1815, LA) - Jackson (US) defeated Pakenham
(British); war had actually
ended
two weeks earlier with Treaty of Ghent
Creek
War
Horseshoe Bend (Mar. 27, 1814, AL) - Jackson (US) defeated Creeks; led
to Treaty of Fort
Jackson,
ceding land in AL and GA
South
American Independence Battles
Chacabuco (Feb. 12, 1817, Chile) - San Martin and O'Higgins defeated
Maroto (Spain) near
Santiago
Boyaca (Aug. 7, 1819, Colombia) - Bolivar defeated Spanish
Ayacucho (Dec. 9, 1824, Peru) - Sucre defeated La Serna (Spain), ending
Spanish control in
South
America
Greek
Independence
Navarino (Oct. 20, 1827, Greece) - British, French, and Russian navy
defeated Ibrahim Pasha
(Ottoman)
near Pylos
Texas
Revolution
Gonzales (Oct. 2, 1835, TX) - Texans defeated Mexicans;
"Come and Take It" flag
Alamo (Feb. 23 - Mar. 6, 1836, TX) - Santa Anna (Mexico) captured fort
in San Antonio under
Travis,
Bowie, and Crockett (Texas)
San Jacinto (Apr. 21, 1836, TX) - Houston (Texas) forced surrender of
Santa Anna (Mexico);
"Remember
the Alamo! Remember Goliad!" battle cry
Mexican-American
War
Palo Alto (May 8, 1846, TX) - Taylor defeated Arista (Mexico) near
Brownsville
Buena Vista (Feb. 22-23, 1847, Saltillo Mexico) - Taylor (US) defeated
Santa Anna (Mexico);
Davis
led the "MS Rifles"
Vera Cruz (Mar. 9, 1847, Mexico) - Scott (US) landed at Vera Cruz and
began march to Mexico
City
Cerro Gordo (Apr. 17-18, 1847, Mexico) - Scott (US) continued advance
from Veracruz to
Mexico
City despite resistance of Santa Anna (Mexico)
Contreras (Aug. 19-20, 1847, Mexico) - Valencia (Mexico) repelled
Pillow's (US) advance unit of
Scott's
army, but Lee (US) regrouped and captured the hill guarding the route to
Texcoco
Chapultepec (Sept. 12-13, 1847, Mexico) - Scott (US) captured inner
defenses of Mexico City
from
Santa Anna (Mexico)
Crimean
War
Balaklava (Oct. 25, 1854, Russia) - Russian attempted to raise siege of
Sevastopol failed; "Charge
of
the Light Brigade" under earl of Cardigan commemorated in a Tennyson poem
Italian
Independence
Magenta (June 4, 1859, Italy) - Napoleon III (France) and Sardinia
defeated Franz Cyulai
(Austria)
Solferino (June 24, 1859, Italy) - Napoleon III (France) and Sardinia
defeated Francis Joseph I
(Austria);
inspired Dunant to found Red Cross
American
Civil War
Fort Sumter (Apr. 12-14, 1861, SC) - Anderson (Union) surrendered to
Beauregard (Confederate)
near
Charleston
First Bull Run (July 21, 1861, VG) - also First Manassas; Beauregard
(Confederate), reinforced
by JE Johnston, stopped McDowell's (Union) advance to
Richmond; Bee gave Jackson
"Stonewall" nickname
Pea Ridge (Mar 7-8, 1862, AR) - also Elkhorn Tavern; Curtis (Union)
defeated Van Dorn
(Confederate),
protecting MO
Hampton Roads (Mar. 8-9, 1862, VG) - Virginia (Confederate) sunk
Congress and Cumberland
(Union)
but was stopped by the Monitor (designed by Ericsson); first ironclads
battle
Shiloh (Apr. 6-7, 1862, TN) - also Pittsburg Landing; draw between
Grant (Union) and AS
Johnston (Confederate); Johnston was killed and
Beauregard took over; Buell reinforced
Grant; Grant was advancing towards Corinth MS;
"Hornet's Nest"; Sarah Bell’s Peach
Orchid, Owl Creek
Harpers Ferry (1862, VG) - Jackson (Confederate) defeated Miles
(Union); largest Union
surrender
of the war
Seven Days Battles (June 25 - July 1, 1862, VG) - Lee (Confederate)
stopped McClellan's
(Union) Peninsular Campaign; battles included
Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Harrison's
Landing, Garnett's Farm, Golding's Farm, Savage's
Station, Allen's Farm, White Oak Swamp,
Glendale, and Malvern Hill
Second Bull Run (Aug. 29-30, 1862, VG) - also Second Manassas; Lee
(Confederate), with
Longstreet
and Jackson, defeated Pope (Union); forced Union out of VG;
Chantilly
Antietam (Sept. 17, 1862, MD) - McClellan (Union) forced Lee
(Confederate) to retreat to VG;
Union success led to Emancipation Proclamation;
French and Richardson (Union) drove Hill
(Confederate) out of "Sunken Road" or
"Bloody Lane"; Burnside fought Hill
Fredericksburg (Dec. 13, 1862, VG) - Lee (Confederate) stopped
Burnside's (Union) drive to
Richmond; Burnside had just replaced McClellan in
command of the Army of the Potomac
Stones River (Dec. 31 1862 - Jan. 2 1863, TN) - also Murfreesboro; draw
between Rosecrans
(Union)
and Bragg (Confederate); highest casualty rate of the war
Vicksburg (Apr. - July 1863, MS) - Grant (Union) laid siege to and
captured Vicksburg, defended
by
Pemberton (Confederate); battles at Champion Hill and Big Black River
Chancellorsville (May 1-3, 1863, VG) - Jackson (Confederate) stopped
Hooker's (Union) advance
on
Richmond; Jackson was accidentally killed by his men while spying
Brandy Station (June 9, 1863, VG) - also Battle of Fleetwood Hill;
largest Civil War cavalry
fight;
Stuart (Confederate) forced retreat of Pleasonton (Union)
Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863, PA) - Meade (Union) defeated Lee
(Confederate); Longstreet
(Confederate)
attacked Union's left; Pickett (Confederate) charged Cemetery Ridge at
Little Round Top, defended by Sickles and Sykes
Chattanooga (Sept. - Nov. 1863, GA & TN) - Bragg (Confederate)
defeated Rosecrans (Union) at
Chickamauga GA Sept. 19-20, but Thomas and Grant
(Union) defeated Bragg at Lookout
Mountain (Battle above the Clouds, led by Hooker) and
Missionary Ridge Nov 24-25;
Union gained control of TN
Wilderness (May 5 - 8, 1864, VG) - draw between Grant and Meade (Union)
and Lee
(Confederate);
Grant suffered greater casualties but continued towards Spotsylvania
Spotsylvania (May 8-18, 1864, VG) - Lee (Confederate) stopped Meade
(Union), but Grant
continued
drive to Richmond; attack on "Bloody Angle", center of Lee's line
Cold Harbor (June 3, 1864, VG) - Lee (Confederate) defeated Grant
(Union) decisively
Cherbourg (June 19, 1864, France) - Winslow, captain of the Kearsarge
(Union) sunk Alabama
(Confederate),
captained by Semmes
Kennesaw Mountain (June 27, 1864, GA) - JE Johnston (Confederate)
failed to stop Sherman's
(Union)
Atlanta campaign
Winchester (Sept. 19, 1864, VG) - Rodes (Confederate) failed to stop
Sheridan's (Union)
Shenandoah
Valley Campaign
Cedar Creek (Oct. 19, 1864, VG) - Sheridan (Union) returned from a
conference in Washington to
lead
a counterattack defeating Early (Confederate)
Franklin (Nov. 30, 1864, TN) - Schofield (Union) continued advance to
Nashville despite
resistance
of Hood (Confederate), who tried to get Sherman to follow him into TN
Nashville (Dec. 15-16, 1864, TN) - Thomas (Union) forced Hood
(Confederate) to retreat to MS
Appomattox Courthouse (Apr. 9, 1865, VG) - Lee (Confederate)
surrendered to Grant (Union)
French
Invasion of Mexico
Puebla (May 5, 1862, Mexico) - Zaragoza (Mexico) defeated invading
French forces
Queretaro (1867, Mexico) - Maximilian surrendered to Diaz and Juarez
War
of the Triple Alliance (Paraguayan War)
Cerro Cora (1870, South America) - Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay
defeated Lopez (Paraguay)
Seven
Weeks War (Austro-Prussian War)
Koniggratz (July 3, 1866, Austria) - also Sadowa; von Moltke (Prussia)
defeated Austria
Franco-Prussian
War
Sedan (Sept. 1, 1870) - von Moltke (Prussia) defeated Maurice de
MacMahon and Felix de
Wimpffen
(France), and captured Napoleon III
War
of the Pacific
Point Angamos (1879, South America) - Chile, which had captured
Antofagasta, defeated Daza
(Bolivia)
and Peru; Chile then occupied Tacna and Arica, gaining nitrate-rich Atacama
African
Colonial Battles
Blood River (Dec. 16, 1838, South Africa) - Afrikaners defeated Zulus
during Great Trek
Adowa (March 1, 1896, Ethiopia) - Menelek II (Ethiopia) defeated Italy
Khartoum (1898, Sudan) - Kitchener (British) defeated Mahdi (Sudan),
who had massacred
Gordon's
forces there in 1885
Fashoda (1898, Sudan) - Kitchener (British) captured fort from Marchand
(France)
Spanish-American
War
Manila Bay (May 1, 1898, Philippines) - Dewey (US) defeated Spain in
naval battle
San Juan Hill (July 1, 1898, Cuba) - Shafter (US) and T Roosevelt's
Rough Riders captured hill
Russo-Japanese
War
Port Arthur (1904, Russia) - Russians surrendered after Japanese
shelling
Mukden (1905, China) - largest land battle of the war
Tsushima (May 27-28, 1905, Sea of Japan) - Japan defeated Russia in
naval battle; first time an
Asian
nation defeated a modern European nation
World
War I
Tannenberg (Aug. 1914, East Prussia) - von Hindenburg and Ludendorff
(Germany) defeated
Samsonov
(Russia), who committed suicide
First Marne (Sept. 5-10, 1914, France) - Joffre (France), along with
Foch, d'Esperey (France), and
French (British), forced retreat of Kluck, von Bulow,
and von Moltke (Germany); battles
included Ourcq, Petit Morin, Gond Marshes, and Vitry
le Francois
First Ypres (Oct. - Nov. 1914, Belgium) - French (British) stopped
German drive to capture
French
ports; it ended the "race to the sea" after First Marne
Coronel (Nov. 1, 1914, near Chile) - von Spee (Germany) decisively
defeated Cradock (Britain),
who
had wanted to protect trade routes off South America
Second Ypres (Apr. 22 - May 25, 1915, Belgium) - draw between Allies
and Germany; first use
of
poison gas by Germany
Gallipoli (Apr. 25 1915 - Jan. 8 1916, Turkey) - Ataturk (Turkey) and
von Sanders (Germany)
prevented Hamilton (British) from advancing; Monro
(British) evacuated; physicist
Moseley killed
Verdun (Feb. 21 - Nov. 26, 1916, France) - Petain, Nivelle, and Mangin
(France) stopped von
Falkenhayn's
(Germany) advance; Petain said "they shall not pass"
Jutland (May 31 - June 1, 1916, North Sea) - draw between Jellicoe
(British) and Scheer
(Germany);
only major naval battle of WWI; German fleet never again left port
First Somme (June 24 - Nov. 13, 1916, France) - draw between Haig
(British) and Germans;
largest one-day casualties in British history; last
use of cavalry in W Europe; first use of
tanks by British
Vimy Ridge (Apr. 1917, France) - Byng (British) captured the ridge from
Germans
Caporetto (Nov. 1917, Italy) - also 12th Battle of Isonzo;
von Below (Germany) and Austria
forced
retreat of Cadorna (Italy)
Cambrai (Nov. 20 - Dec. 3, 1917, France) - Byng (British) advanced
against Germans along
Hindenberg
/ Siegfried Line, but was then driven back; first large-scale use of tanks
Second Somme (Mar. 21 - Apr. 5, 1918, France) - Haig (British) and Foch
(French) stopped
Ludendorff's
(Germany) advance, at high cost
Second Marne (July 15-17, 1918, France) - Allies stopped Ludendorff's
(Germany) offensive
Chateau-Thierry, Saint Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne (fall 1918, France) -
large American involvement
under
Mitchell; Meuse-Argonne was largest US involvement in the war
Chaco
War
Ballivian (1934, Bolivia) - Paraguay defeated Bolivia
Spanish
Civil War
First Battle for Madrid (1936-1937, Spain) - Republicans, aided by USSR
and the International
Brigades,
defended Madrid against fascist Falangists and Nationalists under Franco
Guernica (Apr. 26, 1937, Spain) - German planes of the Condor Legion
bombed Basque town of
Guernica;
commemorated by Picasso painting
May Events (May 1937, Spain) - infighting among Republican forces in
Barcelona; socialists
gained
control
Battle of Brunete (July 1937, Spain) - Republicans indecisively
attacked Nationalists near Madrid
Battle of the Ebro (July - Nov. 1938, Spain) - Nationalists inflicted
heavy losses on Republicans
World
War II
Britain (1940-1941, Britain) - Royal Air Force (British) stopped
Goering's Luftwaffe (Germany);
prevented
German invasion of Britain
Leningrad (Sept. 1941 - Jan. 1944, USSR) - Germans and Finns laid siege
to Leningrad; part of
Operation
Barbarossa (invasion of Russia); supply lines across Lake Ladoga
Coral Sea (May 4-8, 1942, near New Guinea) - Nimitz (US) stopped
Japanese advance on Port
Moresby; Lexington sunk; first Japanese
setback and first naval battle fought entirely
by carrier-based aircraft
Midway (June 4-7, 1942, Pacific) - Nimitz (US) defeated Yamamoto
Isoroku (Japan); Yorktown
and
four Japanese carriers sunk
Stalingrad (July 17 - Nov. 18, 1942, USSR) - Chuikov (USSR) defended
Stalingrad (Volgograd)
against
von Paulus (Germany); Zhukov (USSR) finally forced German surrender
Guadalcanal (Aug. 7 1942 - Feb 7 1943, Solomon Islands) - US captured
island from Japanese;
battles
at Santa Cruz Islands and Tassafronga
El Alamein (Nov. 4, 1942, Egypt) - Montgomery (British) defeated
Rommel's (Germany) Afrika
Korps;
followed by Operation Torch amphibious assault on North Africa
Kasserine Pass (Feb. 14, 1943, Tunisia) - Rommel (Germany) advanced but
then was stopped by
Fredendall
and Eisenhower (US)
Kursk (July 5 - Aug. 6, 1943, USSR) - Popov (USSR) defeated von Kluge
(Germany); greatest
tank
battle in history
Tarawa (Nov. 20-23, 1943, Gilbert Islands Kiribati) - US took island
from Japan
D-Day (June 6, 1944, France) - Normandy invaded by British (Gold and
Sword Beaches) under
Montgomery, Canadians (Juno Beach), and Americans
(Utah and Omaha Beaches) under
Bradley; Germans had expected attack on Calais by
Patton
Philippine Sea (June 19-20, 1944, Philippines) - US decisively defeated
Japan; "Great Marianas
Turkey
Shoot"; largest carrier battle of the war
Leyte Gulf (Oct. 23-26, 1944, Philippines) - Halsey (US) defeated
Kurita and Toyoda Soemu
(Japan);
first use of kamikazes; largest naval battle ever; Princeton and Musashi
sunk
Bulge (Dec. 16 1944 - Jan 31 1945, Belgium) - also Battle of the
Ardennes; Patton (US) defeated
von
Rundstedt and von Manteuffel (Germany), who had driven a wedge into Allied
lines
Iwo Jima (Feb. - Mar. 1945, Japan) - name means "Sulfur
Island", US captured island after bloody
battle; Rosenthal photographed raising of flag at Mount Suribachi
Okinawa (Apr. - June 1945, Japan) - Geiger (US) captured island from
Ushijama (Japan); Yamata
sunk;
largest land battle in the Pacific in the war
Korean
War
Inchon Invasion (Sept. 15, 1950, Korea) - MacArthur (US) broke out of
Pusan Perimeter;
Ridgway
later replaced MacArthur
First
Indochina War
Dien Bien Phu (Mar. 13 - May 7, 1954, Vietnam) - Vo Nguyen Giap (Viet
Minh) defeated de
Castrie
(France), leading to Geneva Accords and ending French empire in Indochina
Second
Indochina War
Tet Offensive (Jan. - Feb. 1968, Vietnam) - NLR diverted attention to
Khe Sanh, then invaded
many cities before being driven back; Westmoreland (US) was replaced the next month
by Abrams
Messenian
War (668 BC, Greece) - Sparta rebelled against Messenia; Aristomenes was
betrayed by King
Aristocrates of Arcadia at the Battle of the Great
Trench
First
Punic War (264-241 BC, Mediterranean) - Hamilcar Barca (Carthage) conquered
Spain but lost to
Romans in Sicily
Third
Punic War (149-146 BC, Mediterranean) - Scipio Aemilianus Africanus (Rome)
destroyed Carthage,
as Cato the Elder had encouraged
Jugurthine
War (111-106 BC, North Africa) - Sulla (Rome) defeated Jugurtha (Numidia)
Gempei
War (1180-1185, Japan) - Minamoto Yoritomo (Minamoto clan) defeated Taira
Kiyomori (Taira
clan) at Battle of Dannoura and established Kamakura
Shogunate
Eighty
Years War (1568 - 1648, Europe) - Netherlands gained independence from Spain
War
of the Three Henrys (1587 - 1589, France) - French religious war; included
battles at Auneau and
Coutras; ended by Edict of Union
King
Philip's War (1675 - 1676, MA) - Winslow (Plymouth) defeated King Philip
(Wampanoag Indians);
battles included Great Swamp and Hadley
War
of the Devolution (1667 - 1668, Europe) - Louis XIV (France) demanded the
Spanish Netherlands as
a dowry for Philip IV's (Spain) daughter
Marie-Therese
War
of the League of Augsburg (1688 - 1697, Europe) - Louis XIV (France) fought
the League of
Augsburg (also called the Grand Alliance; England,
Holland, Denmark, Austria), mainly in the Spanish
Netherlands; battle in North America at Port Royal
War
of Jenkins's Ear (1739 - 1741, Americas) - trade war between Britain and
Spain; ignited by Spanish
seizure of Jenkins's ship Rebecca; merged with
War of Austrian Succession
French
Revolution (1789-1799, France) - Third Estate of the Estates-General formed
National Assembly
and swore in Tennis Court Oath to create a
constitution; stormed Bastille July 14 1789; radicals gained
control in 1792, establishing National Convention;
guillotined Louis XVI and wife Marie Antoinette;
Vendee peasants rebelled against conscription;
established Committee of Public Safety; Maximilien
Robespierre, leader of the Jacobins, led Reign of
Terror; crushed Royalist and Girondist (moderates,
Corday stabbed Marat) insurrections; Robespierre
beheaded Danton; Thermidoreans beheaded
Robespierre; Directory of five members established
1795; launched Napoleonic Wars; 1799 coup
established Consulate; Napoleon Bonaparte became
dictator
Tripolitian
War (1801 - 1805, North Africa) - Decatur and Eaton (US) forced pasha of
Tripoli to retract
demand for tribute after capturing the Philadelphia
Peninsular
War (1808 - 1814, Spain) - part of Napoleonic Wars; Napoleon tried to make his
brother
Joseph king of Spain; battles at Vitoria, Badajoz,
and Salamanca
Mexican
Independence (1810 - 1821, Mexico) - led by Hidalgo, then Morelos, then
Guerrero and Iturbide
Second
Seminole War (1835 - 1842, FL) - Osceola led Seminoles against US
First
Opium War (1839-1843, China) - China confiscated opium in Guangzhou; Britain
sent warships and
made China cede Hong Kong and open ports for trade
War
of the Axe (1846 - 1847, Africa) - British fought Kaffirs
Second
Opium War (1856-1860, China) - Guangzhou police boarded the Arrow;
British burned Summer
Palace in Beijing
Boshin
Civil War (1868 - 1869, Japan) - Meiji overthrew Tokugawa shogunate
Russo-Turkish
War (1877 - 1878, Eastern Europe) - Alexander II (Russia) defeated Abd
Al-Hamid II
(Ottoman Empire); independence gained for Romania, Serb