History's Greatest Battles: From The Battle Of ... !!TOP!!
Never again would Hitler be able to launch an offensive in the west on such a scale. An admiring British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill stated, "This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory." Indeed, in terms of participation and losses, the Battle of the Bulge is arguably the greatest battle in American military history.
History's Greatest Battles: From the Battle of ...
These refer to battles in which armies met on a single field of battle and fought each other for anywhere from one to several days. This type of battle died out in favor of grander military operations.
The bloodiest day in the history of the British Army was suffered during the initial stages of a battle that would last for several months, result in over a million dead, and leave the tactical situation largely unchanged. The plan was for an artillery barrage to pound the German defences to an extent that the attacking British and French could just walk in and occupy the opposing trenches. The bombardment did not have the devastating effect expected. As soon as the soldiers emerged from the trenches, German machine-gun positions opened up. Poorly coordinated artillery meant that advancing infantry was often shelled by their own supporting fire or left dangerously exposed as their creeping barrage left them unprotected. By nightfall, few of the objectives had been taken, despite massive loss of life. The attack would continue in a similar vein until October that year.
The battle of Leipzig represents the most decisive defeat suffered by Napoleon, and the largest battle fought on European soil prior to the outbreak of World War One. Facing attacks from all directions, the French army performed remarkably well, holding attackers at bay for more than nine hours before being overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers. With defeat imminent, Napoleon began an orderly withdrawal across the single bridge still standing. The bridge was blown too early, stranding 20,000 French soldiers, many of whom would drown whilst attempting to cross the river. The defeat opened the door for an Allied advance into France itself.
The article is problematic in comparing the casualties for the 1st day of the Somme against the whole battle losses of Stalingrad. So gives skewed results. But we should acknowledge that warfare changed from 1 day battles up to the 1800s to lengthy battles in WWI and II.
Here is a battle that was left out. The siege of Baghdad (1258). According to wikipedia it left over 2.1 million people dead. _of_Baghdad_(1258) Also interesting from wikipedia is a list of deadliest battles in history. _of_battles_by_casualties
The victory also changed France's fortunes in the Hundred Years' War and is now known as a pivotal moment leading to a French victory. Historians today believe that the battle saved France from centuries of English rule.
All of these battles could have had had an enormous cultural impact had they turned out differently. From imported goods to architectural and engineering knowledge, different rulers have brought different cultural benefits as well as disastrous doctrines to entire regions. Did we miss any decisive historical battles from the list? Be sure to let us know.
Yet to ensure a list is truly trustworthy, it should probably be one put together by someone like Micheal Clodfelter. He has compiled casualty data from wars and battles across the centuries, and done so as comprehensively as possible.
Each battle follows in ascending order. The figures do not include civilian dead (unless stated), or POWs who later died in captivity. Also please note that Clodfelter says the estimates of military dead given for the Battles of Hankow, Beylorussia and Berlin are taken from particularly broad estimates that are more unreliable than the other figures here.
Running from August 23, 1942 to February 2, 1943, Stalingrad led to 633,000 battle deaths. Furthermore, Clodfelter points out that this does not even include deaths sustained by Italian, Romanian and Hungarian troops on the flanks of the battlefront.
Finally, the Fall of Constantinople is such a key event in medieval history, that it is sometimes referred to as the end of the Middle Ages, and the ushering in of the Early Modern period. However, some historians disagree and instead prefer to turn to 1492, which is the final battle on this list of the greatest medieval battles.
The battle also gave rise to the apocryphal story of Pheidippides, who supposedly ran the first marathon from Marathon to Athens to announce Greek victory, only to drop dead. [History's 10 Most Overlooked Mysteries]
The French won the siege of Orléans, France, in May 1429 largely because of Joan of Arc, a teenage peasant whose visions of God led her to fight in the Hundred Years' War. The English seemed to be winning their nearly six-month siege of the city; but when St. Joan appeared in the city, rallying the citizenry, suggesting tactical decisions and participating in battle, the French retook the banks of the Loire River and defeated the invaders. The win boosted the morale of the dispirited French, who had been badly beaten at Agincourt, France, by Henry IV. Many say the battle saved the France from centuries of English rule.
On Oct. 19, 1781, the British forces led by General Cornwallis were handily defeated at Yorktown, Va., after being flanked by the French naval fleet at sea and American forces on land. Over the course of the Revolutionary War, the scrappy colonists had become a fairly efficient fighting machine under General George Washington. The rather boring battle led the British to surrender and retreat from the American colonies, paving the way for the United States of America to be born. [5 Influential Leaders Who Changed the World]
On February 28, 1836 General Edmund Gaines with 1,100 troops from New Orleans were crossing the Withlacoochee River, he also was attacked by Osceola with more than 1,500 warriors. Lt. James F. Izard was killed during the battle; when the fort was constructed it was named Ft. Izard in his honor during this 10 day battle. This was the only battle involving the entire force of Seminole warriors. The war Chiefs of Osceola, Alligator and Jumper were all involved, resulting in the only time when U.S. soldiers were held siege by the Indians.
Japanese casualties were just three ships sunk, over 100 dead, and around 530 wounded. Sir George Sydenham Clarke, a British officer and colonial administrator at the time, wrote that "the battle of Tsu-shima is by far the greatest and the most important naval event since Trafalgar."
The BATTLE OF BELLEAU WOOD: Marines fought one of their greatest battles in history at Belleau Wood, France, during World War I. Marines helped to crush a German offensive at Belleau Wood that threatened Paris. In honor of the Marines who fought there, the French renamed the area "the Wood of the Brigade of Marines." German intelligence evaluated the Marines as "storm troops" -- the highest rating on the enemy fighting scale. In reference to the Marine's ferocious fighting ability, German troops called their new enemy "Teufelhunden" or "Devildogs," a nickname in which Marines share pride.
Chesapeake, Va., is a great place for history buffs. Since the arrival of colonial settlers in 1620, Chesapeake has played a major role in the birth of the United States of America. In fact, Chesapeake is home to the Battle of Great Bridge. This Revolutionary War battle helped solidify the Continental Army's reclaim on Virginia and drive the British Government from the colony.
No Iowa-class battleship gave more distinguished service than USS New Jersey. In World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, and the Persian Gulf, the New Jersey earned a total of 19 Battle and Campaign stars, making her the most decorated battleship in American history, the most of any surviving U.S. Navy ship, and the second-most decorated ship in American history. (The carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), which the New Jersey frequently escorted, earned 20 battle stars in World War II but sadly was scrapped after the war.) The New Jersey also received a Naval Unit Commendation for her service in Vietnam, and Presidential Unit Citations from the Republic of the Philippines and the Republic of Korea. The Guinness Book of World Records awarded USS New Jersey the title as the fastest battleship in history.
On October 18, 1943, many months ahead of schedule, USS New Jersey was ready for duty. She was deployed to Maine until mid-December in case the German battleship Tirpitz, which had attacked Spitzbergen in September, attempted to leave Norway to raid the critical North Atlantic convoys. However, Tirpitz sustained enough damage from British midget submarines that she required months of repairs. With Tirpitz neutralized, the New Jersey was the last U.S. battleship deployed to the North Atlantic during the war.
Recognizing that an American capture of Okinawa would enable the invasion of its Home Islands, Japan launched an all-out offensive against the invasion fleet on April 6, 1945. Almost seven hundred Japanese planes attacked the fast carriers and invasion fleet, and the giant battleship Yamato and escorts embarked on a one-way attack aimed at Okinawa. On April 7, while still hundreds of miles from Okinawa, Yamato and several escorts were sunk by 280 American planes from the carriers, while the New Jersey protected the carriers from attacking aircraft. This pointedly illustrated the new roles of carriers and battleships.
On November 8, 1945, USS New Jersey became the flagship of Admiral John H. Towers, who had helped pioneer naval aviation. Both Spruance and Towers went on to command the Pacific Fleet. On January 18, 1946, the New Jersey became the flagship of Admiral Frederick C. Sherman, who had commanded carriers in battles from Coral Sea to Leyte Gulf.
On November 22, 1951, as delegates at Panmunjom agreed that the current battleline would be the truce line, USS New Jersey was relieved by the newly arrived Wisconsin (later relieved by Iowa). The New Jersey headed back to her homeport of Norfolk via Long Beach and the Panama Canal. Her remaining sixteen twin 20mm mounts were removed, and a Navy librarian removed any books from her library that might be deemed subversive in the McCarthy era. 041b061a72