Questions tagged [battle]
Questions related to an historical battle, being a single engagement or combat in warfare between two or more armed forces.
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What is the reasoning behind these huge numbers for participants in the Battle of Grunwald 1410?
I was reading about the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War and I found this strange excerpt from current Wikispeedia, (which is based on an old Wikipedia ...
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1answer
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Did a submarine ever torpedo and sink a destroyer? [closed]
The naval battle of U-405 versus USS Borie sank the Borie, but that was due to its own action of ramming U-405, which had a stronger hull to withstand depth pressures.
Did a submarine ever sink a ...
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How effectively did Romans rotate/relieve lines with the cohort system? [duplicate]
There is a similar question on Reddit and the original poster of the question uses a YouTube video to demonstrate the point. That video showcases a rotation of Roman infantry in a cohort.
According to ...
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How true is this observation concerning battle?
I came across a quote:
“One who risks his life in battle has the best chance of saving it; one who flees to save it is most likely to lose it” (Anthologia Lyrica Graeca, ed. E. Diehl2 1936-42.)
The ...
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4answers
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How difficult was to escape from a naval battle after engaging into one during the Age of Sail?
So, I am designing a board game which includes pirates/imperial battles during the age of sail. While I have found a lot of information on the internet as well as books, papers and of course other ...
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1answer
298 views
Why were the Marines so badly outnumbered at the critical point at Guadalcanal?
Prior to the battle of Guadalcanal,, the Americans had landed 11,000 men on the island in August, 1942. This compares to the 5,000 or so men that the Japanese had on the island by the first week of ...
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What happened where in 1541? (Portuguese in the Horn of Africa)
Was trying to check the following description from the introduction to a board game:
In 1541, Portuguese soldiers [...] slipped into the port of Massawa
[and] join[ed] the Christian forces. At the ...
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1answer
232 views
Was the Kerensky Offensive doomed from the start?
I've been reading about Russia in the Great War during 1917, and what is quite surprising for me is the Kerensky Offensive. Primarily, what is surprising is that the army was in great material terms ...
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What pre-industrial battle used a tactic to split the enemy force in the middle in this way?
I remember watching a video on a pre-industrial battle (maybe even pre musket, but not sure) on a unique battle technique. Cavalry was involved, as well as slingshot and infantry. For some reason my ...
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Where can tactical maps for battles of the Mexican Revolution be accessed?
There are a bunch of resources on the Mexican revolution, but I've never seen an academical text that narrates the major battles in the struggle along with tactical maps.
Thus, I'm looking for a ...
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In the Battle of the Coral Sea, how could two Japanese scouts grossly mis-identify two American ships?
I've been reading the Wikipedia pages about the Pacific theatre in WW2; in the page describing the battle of the Coral Sea there is the following passage:
[...] the scout [from Shōkaku] confirmed ...
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1answer
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Did the Roman testudo protect the sides of the formation?
I have seen several images like these, where the soldiers in testudo formation hold shields above their heads and to their sides as well.
The soldiers standing in the extreme left or right column of ...
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3answers
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What is the technical term for a head on head battle?
I am writing an essay about how accurate the film "Braveheart" is. In the film Braveheart, the battle of Stirling Bridge is shown with the two armies facing each other. I would like to know what the ...
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1answer
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Why did the Persian army lose the battle of Marathon? [closed]
Persian army was an absolutely massive army,and persian empire defeated famous empires such as babylon using it, you know that then Greece wasn't a united country and it was built from different city-...
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What was the significance of the BEF moving into the gap between German forces in First Battle of the Marne?
The German troops fighting in the Battle of the Marne were exhausted and their commanders seemed to communicate very little. After the Marne they retreated to the river Aisne and more or less began ...
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When was the first electrical intra-battlefield communication?
When was the first time a commander used, for example, the telegraph to communicate with and coordinate different parts of the same battlefield?
I know that the telegraph was used extensively for ...
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1answer
243 views
Why didn't the Chinese attack Hungnam during the evacuation?
The Hungnam evacuation was a notable event during the early years of the Korean War. Retreating to the port of Hungnam from the recent defeat at Chosin Reservoir, UN forces managed to evacuate about ...
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1answer
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What was the aftermath of a battle in the Middle Ages? How did wounded soldiers proceed?
The Red Cross was founded by 1859 over these circumstances:
Until the middle of the 19th century, there were no organized and/or well-established army nursing systems for casualties and no safe and ...
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Which battle was the most lopsided result in terms of casualties?
I have recently read about two ancient battles that were won by a much smaller army and/or lead to very different casualties:
Defeat of Boudica - according to Roman accounts only 400 Romans died as ...
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0answers
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Have two generals ever agreed to fight one on one to avoid a battle? [duplicate]
In fiction, there's a scene sometimes occur where 2 armies are facing each other in preparation for battle, but the leaders parlay and agree to fight one on one to determine the outcome with minimum ...
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1answer
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Were the Japanese aware of Desmond Doss's actions?
I read about the amazing story of Desmond Doss and wonder if the Japanese at all aware, during the Battle of Okinawa of the extent of his actions at the time? I know a few individual Japanese would ...
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What battle of WW2 is depicted in this Battlefield V level?
What battle of World War II is depicted in this Battlefield V level?
Credit goes to the game makers of course, as it is their property.
Slight update: I cannot quite remember the map name, but I ...
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Why is a pocket-battleship large in size ?
Why is it called a pocket-battleship when it’s large in size? Isn’t anything with pocket as prefix meant to be small ?
I was reading up on Graf Spee - The German pocket-battleship.
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Has there ever been an encirclement without superior numbers or mobility
I can't find any examples. It seems like encirclement is always just a result of some other advantage, and doesn't affect the battle in itself.
For example the classic case is Cannae. The ...
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An American Civil War battle where a general was ordered to advance to a certain point and wait . . . so waiting was all he did?
I'm trying to pin down something I once read about what went wrong with the Union's plans for a certain battle in the American Civil War. I think I once read a few paragraphs about this in a book by ...
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1answer
511 views
How many vehicles were involved in Operation Gothic Serpent (Mogadishu, October 3-4, 1993)?
I wanted to know how many vehicles (include their model and which country used it), aircraft and infantry were deployed in Operation Gothic Serpent in Mogadishu in October 1993.
Specific numbers of:
...
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1answer
154 views
Who was a Roman General for a short time?
I'm trying to remember the name and battle that a Roman General. I might be unintentionally mixing parts of it up with other historic parts. The story goes the Roman Empire need someone to lead their ...
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Why did General Dupont surrender in the Battle of Bailén?
General Dupont's had, from my inexpert view, quite a superior army when he fought the Spanish forces at the Battle of Bailén. This battle was in fact the first defeat in open field of the Napoleonic ...
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1answer
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Why didn't the Hungarians help the battle of Kosovo?
I am curious why the Hungarians, as the first neighbor of then Serbia and Bosnia, who sent troops to confront the invasion of the Ottomans, didn't also participate given that it was obvious that the ...
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Where was the Battle of Antioch (613 CE) fought?
The Byzantines were severely defeated in this battle by their Sassanid counterparts.
But where did this battle take place i.e. what was the precise location of this battle?
According to Wikipedia, ...
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How did knights in full suits of armor eventually die in combat? What were the most common causes of death for soldiers in full-body plate armor? [closed]
I've heard about the battle of Agincourt that many knights probably died of drowning as they fell and their helmets filled with mud. It got me thinking: If you're going into battle on foot and in full-...
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Has any medieval army ever fought 3 or more distinct battles on the same day?
In the fantasy fiction A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of thrones, during Robert's Rebellion, three battles were fought in the same day, in the same place.
There where particular conditions that lead to ...
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479 views
Are there any contemporary references to the Battle of Badr outside of the Qur'an?
As the question reads, I'm trying to find sources for the Battle of Badr outside of the Qur'an from the same time period.
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Was the French Commander-in-Chief Gamelin a terrible general?
While doing some research on France's defeat in 1940, I saw that some harshly criticize the French Commander-in-Chief Gamelin and blame him for its speedy downfall (of course there isn't only one ...
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What happened at the Battle (or not?) of Luding Bridge, during the Long March of Chinese Communists in 1935?
I've just finished reading Mao: The Unknown Story by Chang and Halliday. She seems very biased against Mao and revels in accusing him of lying and manipulating. If this were to be taken as a serious ...
asked Dec 21 '17 at 8:47
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica
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Why did few French and no Dutch pilots (but many Poles and Czechs) take part in the Battle of Britain?
Among the non-British pilots, at least 141 were Polish, 84 Czech and 28 Belgian, but only 13 were French and none were Dutch, Norwegian or Danish.
The reasons why there were many Polish, Czech and ...
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Why were there so many US military deaths outside of the major battles in WW2?
Recently I have started to take a huge interest in WW2. I've been researching new information everyday about it. But one of the things I've been interested in is the number of deaths each country ...
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Was anyone blamed for Japan's defeat at Tai'erzhuang?
The battle of Tai'erzhuang was the first major Chinese victory in the Second Sino-Japanese war. IJA 10th and 5th divisions, aiming to take Tai'erzhuang and ultimately Xuzhou, were instead held up in ...
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How long did the battle of Bosworth last?
How long the battle of Bosworth actually last?
The Wikipedia article on the Battle of Bosworth Field doesn't say anything about how long the battle lasted.
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How many tons of bombs were dropped on Britain between 1940 July 10 and September 7?
1940, July 10 to September 7, was the part of the Battle of Britain before the Blitz. In other words, it was the part where the Luftwaffe primarily focused on airfields, factories, and if I'm not ...
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Would occupying Big Round Top have been a good idea for the Confederates?
A lot of attention was given at the end of the 19th century to the "what if" the Confederates occupied the Little Round Top at Gettysburg, but there's the Big Round Top nearby and the Confederates ...
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Why did the Germans spare Allied troops trapped at Dunkirk?
I haven't seen the movie but know enough of the story to understand that Allied troops had fallen back to Dunkirk for evacuation but were trapped there until transport came.
I also understand that ...
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1answer
214 views
Which fortress east of Ancient Megiddo did Thutmose III go to during the siege?
After the ancient Battle of Megiddo, the rebels fell back to the city of Megiddo and the Egyptian army was victorious. The Egyptian army besieged the city of Megiddo by building a moat and a wooden ...
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Why weren't the Egyptians attacked on sight in the ancient Battle of Megiddo?
In 1457 BC, Thutmose III and his army had to pass the mountains to reach Megiddo. He had three passes he could go through, one in the North, called Jokneam Pass, and another pass in the South, called ...
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Were ancient (Greek) battles fought like duels between heroes? [closed]
In dramas on TV and film we are often shown a "hero" standing in front of the army, fighting alone against a "villain". Their soldier comrades don't help out much, as we would expect them to do in ...
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1answer
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Who is the officer/soldier in a cave that received a morale boost from a spider?
Today on the radio, I heard about a commander or an officer who was in a cave waiting for a battle to start and he was feeling that he will be defeated because of the large enemy forces (he was in a ...
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2answers
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Physics of a heavy cavalry charge?
Can someone explain a heavy cavalry charge?
A bunch of 500kg animals smashes into a dense crowd of men at speed of 40km/h. This simply cannot end good for neither side. Let's say the charge fails. The ...
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1answer
287 views
Which town or village in Britain lost the greatest percentage of men in WWI due to “Pals Battalions”?
The British decision to create "Pals Battalions" of men from a single town or village led to unanticipated disasters when Pals battalions ran into heavy resistance, with large numbers of men from a ...
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1answer
521 views
What's the story behind this photo from WWI?
Warning: the photograph below is very graphic and may disturb some viewers, hence the spoiler tag. Click at your own risk.
The picture shows the skeletal corpse of a dead German infantryman (the ...
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1answer
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What was the largest battle fought by ancient Rome?
What was the largest battle, by number of participants, in which ancient Rome took part? Not counting sieges.
A quick Google search reveals nothing authoritative, but some discussion threads mention ...
