Famous battles in history

Hi, guys!

I'm writing a brief article on the most famous/important battles in History. Since I cannot post the entire article, I'll give you the list. Please, tell me what you think of the list and if you want to add or remove any battle(s). Thanks in advance.

• Qadesh (1274 b.C.)
• Syracuse (415-413 b.C.)
• Thermophylae (480 b.C.)
• Salamis (480 b.C.)
• Marathon (490 b.C.)
• Gaugamela (331 b.C.)
• Cannae (216 b.C.)
• Zama (202 b.C.)
• Alesia (52 b.C.)
• Actium (31 b.C.)
• Teoteburg forrest (9 b.C.)
• Adrianople (378)
• Châlons (451)
• Tours (732)
• Hastings (1066)
• Acre-Arsuf (1197)
• Bannockburn (1314)
• Crécy (1346)
• Poitiers (1356)
• Agincourt (1415)
• Orléans (1428-1429)
• Grenada (1492)
• Tenochtitlan (1521)
• Pavia (1525)
• Mühlberg (1547)
• Lepanto (1571)
• Gravelines (1588)
• I Breitenfeld (1631)
• Naseby (1645)
• The Boyne (1690)
• Blenheim (1704)
• Poltava (1709)
• Culloden (1746)
• Leuthen (1757)
• I & II Saratoga (1777)
• Valmy (1792)
• Trafalgar (1805)
• Austerlitz (1805)
• Borodino (1812)
• Leipzig (1814)
• New Orleans (1815)
• Waterloo (1815)
• El Álamo (1836)
• Santa Fe/Angostura (1847)
• Chapultepec (1847)
• Solferino (1859)
• Puebla (1862)
• Gettysburgh (1863)
• Sedan (1870)
• Little Big Horn (1876)
• Rorke's Drift (1879)
• Omdurman (1898)
• Manila Bay (1898)
• Colenso (1899)
• Porth Arthur (1904-1905)
• Tannenberg (1914)
• I Marne (1914)
• I, II & III Ypres (1915-1917)
• Gallipolli (1915)
• Verdun (1916)
• Somme (1916)
• Jutland (1916)
• I to XII Isonzo (1915-1918)
• II Marne (1918)
• Meggido (1918)
• El Ebro (1938)
• Great Britain (1940)
• Atlantic (1939-1945)
• El Alamein (1942)
• Anzio-Cassino (1944)
• Normandy (1944)
• Ardennes (1944-1945)
• Stalingrad (1942-1943)
• Kursk (1943)
• Singapore (1942)
• Midway & Coral Sea (1942)
• Guadalcanal (1942-1943)
• Philippines Sea (1944)
• Leyte Gulf (1944)
• Kohima-Imphal (1944)
• Iwo Jima & Okinawa (1945)
• Den Bien Phu (1954)
• Operation 'Focus' (1967)
• Tet Offensive (1968)
• The Sinai (1973)
• Port Stanley (1982)
• Operation 'Desert Storm' (1991)
• Mogadishu (1993)

 

wow, nice list... bet you put in alot of effort into this one

 

Very good listing !!!
I agree wirth most of them though a bit unbalanced towards WW2 thougt it fits with your chosen title of "famous" rather than significant.

Apart from that I have some things I would do different but it's really a matter of personal taste.
- the Armada (AFAIK the Spannish never called it invincible )
- too much Napoleon and no Alexander (Arbela ?)
- I would put Koenigsgratz/Sadowa alongside Solferino, the rise of Prussia was much more significant than the unification of Italy.
- The destruction "Kamikaze" of the Chinese fleet.

As a comparison I give you Terraine's abridged list of Fuller's "The decisive battles of the western world". (unfortunately I dont' have the full edition) that, as the title says, is more "decisive" than "famous" in his choices so will choose battles with long lasting effects over more famous but less strategically significant ones (Metaurus over Cannae is an obvious example).

Salamis and Platea (480 bc and 479 bc)
Arbela (331 bc)
Metaurus and Zama (207 bc and 202 bc)
Teutoburger Wald (ad 9)
Chalons ((451)
The siege of Constantinople (717 718)
Tours (732)
Hastings (1066)
Sluys (1340) and Crecy (1346)
Orleans (1429)
The fall of Costantinople (1453)
Malaga (1487) and Granada (1492)
Breitenfeld (1631) and Lutzen (1632)
Blenheim (1704)
Rossbach and Leuthen (1757)
Valmy (1792)
Trafalgar (1805)
Leipzig (1813)
Waterloo (1815)
Vionville, Gravelotte and Sedan (1870)
Tannenberg and Marne (1914)
Amiens (1918)
Warsaw (1920)
Kiev (1941)
Viasma-Briansk (1941) we would probably call it Typhoon.
Stalingrad (1942)
Normandy (1944)

 

Might have missed it, but you have Battle of Britain....what about Battle or Fall of France 1940.

Welcome back, hope your staying awhile?

 

Sorry I'd also mention one more....Since you have 1066 Hatings....Stamford Bridge, as this ended the threat of any future Viking invasion of England for all time.

 

-Hannibal's victories at Ticinus and Trebia in 218bc, and at Trasimene lake in 217bc?

-Battle of Zama

-Saladin's capture of Jerusalem?

-Battle of Grunwald?

-Alexander Nevsky's the battle of Neva? or Battle of Lake Peipus?

-I don't see any of the "Golden Horde" Battles, surely the Mongols deserve a mention!?

-The Battle of Kulikovo most definitely deserves a mention as this was the final Mongol defeat in Russia and the largest battle in Mid-Evil Europe.

-ROCROI, 1643

-The Alamo?

-Battle of Moscow?

-Pearl Harbor? (while some may not consider this a "BIG" battle, it was certainly significant).

 

AH! Stamford Bridge, I forsee another battle soon to be fought the victors appear to be in red

 

Well I see almost nothing in Asia until WWII.

Others to consider (aside from some already mentioned). Not sure if important of famous is the main criteria so some of these may be rejected for insufficient standing in one or the other.
Clontarf, Crimean war battle of Sevastopol (includes the Charge of the Light Brigade, the less famous but more significant charge of the heavy brigade, and the origin of the thin red line), battle for San Juan Hill), Siege of Port Arthur, Boxer siege of Beijing, Alesia, most of Hannibal's battles including his last one, Yorktown, Bull Run (both), Vicksburg, Siege of Khartoum ... If you can define a bit more detail on what you criteria are we might be able to help more or actually help you refine the cirteria.

This is more a campaign than a battle. Some of the battles within might fit.

This was a series of battles. The siege of Hue might count though.

The operation was a lot more than just the Battle for Kuwait. Probably better to zero in on that.

Not sure if this one should be here. Certainly the forces involved weren't very large and they weren't fighting over anything very important. It did have some political ramifications but ...

 

Earlier comments have captured most of my additions but I would add:

Masada (73AD);
Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill)(1775) because of the bloody nose it gave to the British;
Wake Island (1941) because it rallied America during the early days of the war;
The Crusades (various) because of the pattern of violence in the Holy Land that they propagated;

 

how about the BOWER war in 1899? ia that classed as one? i am not up with you guys in different types of wars.

 

I saw this one mentioned in passing, but I'll put it up again anyway. With a link to a great first person account from the Tzarist Russian Fleet's side!

The Battle of Tsushima Straight during the short and devastating Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05.

See:

Tsushima

For one man's diary account of the battle. His writings show the gamet of emotions, from elation at what he thinks is a major Japanese error, to the depths of despair as he realizes what has happened to the Fleet. The site is a favorite of mine, scroll down to the very bottom and read the whole thing from the Home Page.

 

Thank you all for the replies, critique and suggestions!

I am glad you got my intention, famous battles, and also excused the arbitrary criteria. Though one other thing is that the article must be brief, so it's more recomendable to take out rather than to add up.

I'll certainly include Yorktown, Slip.

And take out New Orleans. I wanted to include one of the 1812 War, but the whole war seems so irrelevant after all...

I actually mentioned Mukden and Tsushima in the commentary to Porth Arthur. ¿Should I exchange them instead?

I'll have to look up Decatur...

Gravelines is the battle listed as an excuse to mention the Armada thing.

Königsgratz/Sadowa is a good suggestion! Also, the fall of Constantinople (1453) and Warsaw (1920). Thanks, Oldsoldier!

Of course there's the Battle of Britain, listed as 'Great Britain' (1940). No, I don't find any reason why to include the Battle of France, except perhaps to annoy a couple Frenchies.

Stamford Bridge as weel. Thanks, Urqh.

Rocroi and Kulikovo are good too. I'll add Rocroi just because I like Captain Alatriste! (See how arbitrary the criteria is?)

Moscow would be important as it actually defined the entire war on the eastern front... but I'll go after the famous Stalingrad and Kursk. Otherwise I'll be tempted to include Operation 'Bagration' and Berlin.

Pearl Harbour is tempting... but, you see, battles recquire actual response from the opponent being attacked.

Nor will you... I confess my utter ignorance (and apathy) on Asian History, as well as a cynnical Western-centrism.

The Boer War is listed as Colenso (1899). Very bad British defeat...

Now, seriously... All the battles come with a comment on, in which closely-linked battles are mentioned, such as Hue and Khe Nanh in 'Tet Offensive'. I'll also include some footnotes explaining what do I mean by 'battle' and that the definition is much broader by the late XX century.

I'll certainly will. Would Falaise by alright?

Thanks again, guys!

 

As long as you label it as about famous and important battles you should be safe. Trying to include all would results in a whole series of books rather than an article.

If it was important battles I'd say you definitely should include some of those of involving the Mongols but none of them are famous at least in the West.

Good luck on things. This is a topic that's going to be difficult to hold to a reasonable size but researching it should be quite interesting.

 

The Invasion of Poland/ Battle of Warsaw (1939)
Battle of Berlin (1945)
Battle of Falleujah (2004)

 

I appreaciate your inputs, gentlemen. Here is the fianl list (which happened to have the magic number 100):

• Qadesh (1274 b.C.)
• Marathon (490 b.C.)
• Thermophylae (480 b.C.)
• Salamis (480 b.C.)
• Syracuse (415-413 b.C.)
• Gaugamela (331 b.C.)
• Cannae (216 b.C.)
• Zama (202 b.C.)
• Alesia (52 b.C.)
• Actium (31 b.C.)
• Teoteburg forrest (9 b.C.)
• Masada (72-73)
• Adrianople (378)
• Châlons/Catalaunian Fields (451)
• Tours (732)
• Garigliano River (915)
• Hastings (1066)
• Acre-Arsuf (1197)
• Bannockburn (1314)
• Crécy (1346)
• Kulikovo (1380)
• Agincourt (1415)
• Orléans (1428-1429)
• Constantinople (1453)
• Bodsworth Field (1485)
• Grenada (1492)
• Tenochtitlan (1521)
• Pavia (1525)
• Mühlberg (1547)
• Lepanto (1571)
• Gravelines (1588)
• I Breitenfeld (1631)
• Rocroi (1643)
• Naseby (1645)
• The Boyne (1690)
• Blenheim/II Höchstadt (1704)
• Poltava (1709)
• Culloden (1746)
• Leuthen (1757)
• I & II Saratoga (1777)
• Yorktown (1781)
• Valmy (1792)
• Trafalgar (1805)
• Austerlitz (1805)
• Borodino (1812)
• Leipzig (1814)
• Waterloo (1815)
• El Álamo (1836)
• Santa Fe/Angostura (1847)
• Chapultepec (1847)
• Sevastopol (1854)
• Solferino (1859)
• Puebla (1862)
• Gettysburgh (1863)
• Königgratz/Sadowa (1866)
• Sedan (1870)
• Little Big Horn (1876)
• Rorke's Drift (1879)
• Manila Bay (1898)
• Omdurman (1898)
• Colenso (1899)
• Porth Arthur (1904-1905)
• Tannenberg (1914)
• I Marne (1914)
• Gallipolli (1915)
• Verdun (1916)
• Jutland (1916)
• Somme (1916)
• III Ypres/Passchendaele (1917)
• XII Isonzo/Caporetto (1915-1918)
• II Marne (1918)
• Meggido (1918)
• Warsaw (1920)
• El Ebro (1938)
• Atlantic (1939-1945)
• Great Britain (1940)
• Singapore (1941-1942)
• Midway & Coral Sea (1942)
• Stalingrad (1942-1943)
• Guadalcanal (1942-1943)
• El Alamein (1942)
• Kursk (1943)
• Anzio-Cassino (1944)
• Kohima-Imphal (1944)
• Normandy (1944)
• Philippines Sea (1944)
• Operation 'Market-Garden' (1944)
• Leyte Gulf (1944)
• Ardennes/Bulge (1944-1945)
• Iwo Jima & Okinawa (1945)
• Incheon (1950)
• Den Bien Phu (1954)
• Operation 'Focus' (1967)
• Tet Offensive (1968)
• The Sinai (1973)
• Port Stanley (1982)
• Operation 'Desert Storm' (1991)
• I Mogadishu (1993)

 

Nice magic number and as perfect as anything like this can practically be, good luck with your article, you certainly bit more than I would dare (as a comparison Fuller on a similar theme wrote 3 thick volumes) !

I recognized all of the names but Mühlberg and operation focus though I guessed what the last one was was by the date. As the list is frozen it might be interesting to re-post it as a quiz/poll and see how many (and which) other members can't immediately place though our knowledge of military history is generally well above average so we are not a good statistical sample.

PS: I sill believe Teotoburger is 9 AD not BC.

 

You are indeed correct, OldSoldier... it is 9 AD.

As for Mühlberg, here is the wikipedia article for the battle, in case you haven't already searched it, and the famous painting of the emperor by Tizian: