Attention Military History Buffs!

[Adente 1,000]

Hello to all you fans of Military History out there! So, the question is quite simple here: What are your favorite battles of history, and why?

 

Here's mine

 

10) Battle of Hastings. No real reason, I just like the battle for some reason...

 

9) October (Yom Kippur) War. While not a single battle, the Sinai campaign is fascinating to study.

 

8) The Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Unconventional warfare at its finest trumps a well trained and well equipped professional colonial army.

 

7) The Battle of Bladensburg. The single most embarrassing defeat America has ever suffered in battle.

 

6) The Battle of Mogadishu. A very interesting example of professionalism enduring against massive odds.

 

5) Battle of Lectura. A Thebian army outmaneuvers and destroys a Spartan Phalanx, providing inspiration for Alexander the Great's world conquering tactics.

 

4) Battle of Nagashino: The most decisive use of a massed volley against cavalry in history. 

 

3) Battle of Hattin: Saladin claims total victory over a massive Crusader army.

 

2) Battle of Cannae. A tactical masterpiece, Hannibal's greatest triumph.

 

1) The Battle of Kursk. The greatest tank battle in history.

[Dopey Hooves 90]

I don't really have favorite battles of history. I like all of them. Because, all of them helped out are generation is some way. Everything happens for a reason.

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

Alright! My list wont be exhaustive but it should have many of my favorites.

 

• Battle of Tours (732) - Charles Martel and the Franks defeat the Islamic Umayyads in southern France, preventing further Muslim penetration into Europe.
• Siege of Toledo (1085) - King Alfonso VI of Castile captures the Toledo, the capital of al-Andalus, from the Muslims, spearheading the Spanish Reconquista.
• Siege of Antioch (1097-98) - Crusader army besieges and captures Antioch only to be besieged by Turkish forces two days later. Allegedly, the monk Peter Bartholomew experienced visions in which it was revealed to him the location of the Holy Lance (the spear used to pierce the side of Jesus, mentioned in the Gospel of John) within Antioch. The spear was apparently discovered, boosting Crusader morale and allowing them to break the siege.
• Siege of Jerusalem (1099) - Crusaders besiege and capture Jerusalem from the Fatimids. Through the use of sly tactics the Crusaders were able to fool the defending garrison into believing one of the siege towers was being constructed at one location, and during the night the tower was disassembled and rebuilt about a half-mile away, allowing the Crusaders to enter Jerusalem from a weaker point.
• Siege of Constantinople (1204) - A Crusading army diverts from their plans to re-capture the Holy Land and, instead, sack Constantinople. Just a funny detail.
• Sack of Rome (1527) - The renegade army of Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, many of whom were Lutheran mercenaries, stormed the city of Rome, pillaging much of it. A small force of 189 Swiss Guards took formation in front of St. Peter's Basilica, delaying the invaders long enough for Pope Clement VII to escape to safety through the tunnels underneath Rome.
• Battle of Lepanto (1571) - A fleet of the Holy League, an alliance of Catholic maritime nations established by Pope Pius V, under the command of Don John of Austria, defeated an Ottoman fleet, destroying many of their best ships and killing many of their experienced naval crewmen.

 

Those are some I thought of.

[Adente 1,000]

@@Lady Rarity Pony,

 

Wow, you're a big fan or the Christian/Muslim conflicts of history! Especially the Crusades. I mean, with the exception of the Sack of Rome, every single one of your battles was a Christian vs. Muslim battle or a Crusade. Are you familiar with the Battle of Montgisard by chance? 

[Allosauridae 54]

Honestly I study other points in history.  (obviously looking at my sig, lol)

I do study human history though, but mainly at different points, like "accidents" or small things.  I didn't study too much into ancient wars, I studied more of the civilization.

 

Pearl Harbor.   I like to study the ships, I had a relative there apparently... I have yet to get that "dug into" since some of my family history is a nag to get at.  Critical moment in WW2 b/c it got the US fully into the war.

 

Bismark... was a battle to sink her and in the end the German's scuttled her.  The grandest battleship in my mind due to her hull.  England didn't sink her.  She could have possibly changed the outcome of the war so to me it was a critical moment in a big war.

 

 

That's 2 battles I can think of off the top of my head.

[Yamato 1,348]

The Battle of Hiroshima.

Because there wasn't one. YEAH! AMERICA!

 

But seriously, isn't picking a favorite battle kinda messed up?

[BronyWithRage 26]

The Battle of Actium - One of the most important battles of all time. Truly the absolute end of an era.

The Battle of Cannae - One of the worst military catastrophes ever. But where after the Republic truly learned how to fight.

The Battle of Zama - The last battle of the Second Punic War. Carthage was never quite the same after this, and wouldn't ever regain its power.

The Battle of Teutonberg Forest - 3 whole legions were destroyed completely. The names of those legions were never used again, and the whole incident really ruined the Roman expansion plans.

The Battle of Carthage - This battle resulted in the complete destruction of the Carthaginian Empire and civilisation. I bet the survivors weren't so smug about Cannae after that.

Edited June 14, 2013 by BronyWithRage

[Allosauridae 54]

The Battle of Hiroshima.

Because there wasn't one. YEAH! AMERICA!

 

But seriously, isn't picking a favorite battle kinda messed up?

Not really because you can learn from history.  (this coming from someone that doesn't like war)

With different battles or "incidents" such as the Lusitania you can learn quite a bit from it... the technology, the mistakes, the lack of humanity with some people and so forth.

(Again, I really don't care for the greed & darkness of human history... actually why I like "pre-human" history more.)

[Adente 1,000]

 

 

But seriously, isn't picking a favorite battle kinda messed up?

 

Perhaps it is a little morbid, but I simply have 'favorite' battles because of things like the tactics employed during the battle or the history surrounding the battle, like the buildup and the aftereffects. 

[Nobody Special 210]

The Battle of the Bulge, no real reason why. It is just one of thos that is very difficult to forget with time, if you know what I mean.

Other than that D-Day was one that is not my favorite, but it shows people who don't understand the cost of war. They say after D-Day the water was red with blood for three days. If that doesn't make you think about the cost of war, then I have no idea what will.

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

@@Lady Rarity Pony,

 

Wow, you're a big fan or the Christian/Muslim conflicts of history! Especially the Crusades. I mean, with the exception of the Sack of Rome, every single one of your battles was a Christian vs. Muslim battle or a Crusade. Are you familiar with the Battle of Montgisard by chance? 

Yup!

 

Catholic history and the Crusades in particular are a favorite area of mine to study. I haven't studied it enough, however, to recall the battle you mention.

 

Although, since you mentioned it, I searched it. It's a pretty impressive battle!

[Yamato 1,348]

 

 

Perhaps it is a little morbid, but I simply have 'favorite' battles because of things like the tactics employed during the battle or the history surrounding the battle, like the buildup and the aftereffects. 

 

Well, if we're talking tactics here, it's hard to beat Gaius Julius Caesar and Hannibal when it comes to land warfare. Those dudes were freakin' brilliant. But I must say that my favorite conflict (or lack thereof) was the Cold War. Two superpowers dukin' it out for dominance inspiring countless scientific and technological advances. Yeah, that's where it's at...

[Two-of-Hearts 168]

I'm not very big into military history, nor can I say I have favorite battles. My focus has always been western intellectual and philosophical history. But that being said I guess my Dad's Vietnam war stories kind of count, although he didn't participate in any famous battles like the Tet Offensive, he did fire his mortar at the enemy. I think my favorite story he told me was this one time he got called up for a mortar strike. They put their shells down range, and afterwards a general (yes a general) came up to my dad and asked who had been shooting the mortars. My dad just about crapped himself because he thought for sure he had messed up big time. Still my dad said that he had shot the mortar and the general shook his hand and told him that was some of the best artillery gunnery that he had ever seen.

Oh but if you want me to list more conventional historical battles.

 

Battle of Stirling Bridge… yes in part because of Braveheart, but also because I’m a descendent of John de Warren, one of the English generals that was defeated by Wallace… yes my dad is so big into genealogy that he actually listed all of John de Warren’s descendents all the way to my Great Great Grandma. And he has a hand drawn family tree that he made in college to prove it. Its actually kind of a tired inside joke, but whenever my dad catches me watching Braveheart when its on tv, he always says something like ‘oh watching your ancestors get whooped huh?’  and I’m like, yeah yeah dad I know know.

 

October War/Yom Kipper War – Yeah its war not a battle, though it’s almost to the point of being a very large battle verses a small war. This is the last battle/war that actually piqued my interest enough to read up on, so I guess it makes this list. The Israel/Palastine conflicts are interesting to me because the Israelis are badass, and the Yom Kipper War is interesting because it had a lasting legacy in choice of military hardware for Muslim extremists… The RPG-7. Why do the Taliban and other Muslim militant groups stock up on RPGs? Well it goes back to the Yom Kipper War. The Egypitions had fewer tanks than the Israelis but they had bought up tons of RPG launchers. Although the Israelis were eventually victorious, Egyption infantry with RPGs were able to put a huge dent in Israeli armored forces, and after the war the militants of Islam looked at the RPG and said ‘yeah, this thing works… get more of them.’

 

Battle of Tours – Charles the Hammer routs the invading Muslims from France. Cool and all, but I mostly like this battle just because one of my history professors would always get so worked up when talking about it. “Charles Martel… Charles the HAMMER! Because he crushed the invaders!”  …yeah, it was just fun seeing my professor that animated.