All About History Book Of Greatest Battles

180 Pages·2016·50.07 MB·English

by  Collective

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BATTLES
INSIDE
GREATEST
BATTLES
DISCOVER THE EPIC CONFLICTS THAT SHAPED THE WORLD
Includes
detailed
battle maps
MARATHON HASTINGS BOSWORTH WATERLOO

GREATEST
BATTLES
Much of history is determined by victories and defeats in battle.
Such confl icts mark a turning point for the nations involved,
having been fought in the name of defending their identity, ideals
and population – or for causes close to the heart. War has been
the chosen course for seeking resolution throughout time, from
before the Persian invasion at Marathon in 490 BCE, to the
Falklands War in 1982 and beyond. Through detailed battle maps
and diagrams we will examine the strategies that guided some of
the world’s most signifi cant campaigns. You’ll read about the men
who became heroes when they went beyond the call of duty and
understand the impact of heavy bloodshed for all those on the
frontline. Take a closer look at the equipment that would decide
between success or failure, and uncover how such events have
shaped the identity of societies across the globe.

GREATEST
BATTLES
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All About History Book of Greatest Battles Third Edition © 2016 Imagine Publishing Ltd
ISBN 978 1785 464 652
In association with
Greatest Battles
Contents
08 1 0 of history’s 66 Battle of
bloodiest battles Sekigahara
Discover ten of the deadliest battles How one battle saw a Japanese
from throughout history Samurai warlord lose his shogunate
18 Battle of
72 Battle of Quebec
Marathon

Explore America’s 1775 defeat during
Uncover the story of an iconic
the American Revolutionary War
battle between Greece and Persia
76 Battle of
22 B attle of
Trafalgar
Thermopylae
An iconic conflict that resulted in
Understand the epic slash between
carnage at sea
300 Spartans and the Persian
Empire 80 Battle of
Austerlitz
26 B attle of
Gaugamela A meeting of some of Europe’s
most historic empires in 1805
A battle of epic proportions for
Alexander the Great and Darius III 88 Battle of 118
Borodino
30 B attle of Actium
A conflict of the Napoleonic Wars
Find out how this battle of Rome
that saw 70,000 injured
was forced onto the water
134
92 Battle of
34 Battle of
Waterloo
Hastings

Napoleon and Wellington call an
The historic Anglo-Saxon conflict
end to the Waterloo campaign
that shaped Britain in 1066
96 B attle of
38 Battle of Stirling
Gettysburg
Bridge
Perhaps the most famous turning
’Braveheart’ William Wallace and
point in the American Civil War
the event that made him an icon
100 Spain: the rise
46 Battle of and fall of a
Bannockburn superpower
A landmark moment in Scottish Review one nation’s most
history that saw Edward II defeated memorable encounters
54 B attle of 110 Battle of
Agincourt Verdun
The iconic battle between Henry
Remember the devastation of this
V’s England and the French
1916 bloodbath
58 B attle of
114 Battle of
Bosworth
the Somme
The historic and conclusive battle

of Britain’s War of the Roses A devastating blow to all sides
6
18
156
118 Battle of
Cambrai
How Britain and German forces
coped with the emergence of tanks
126 Dieppe Raid
76 30 A failed attempt by the Allies to
make up for losses at Dunkirk
134 D-Day landings
One of the most famous and iconic
92 efforts of WWII
144 Battle of Kursk
Two war-hardened and formidable
foes clash over the Kursk salient
152 Battle of Iwo
Jima
A five-week battle of US Marines
and Japanese islanders in WWII
156 Battle of
Ia Drang
How Major Bruce P Crandall
earned his Medal of Honour
160 Battle of
Goose Green
One of the defining moments of
the Falklands War of 1982
164 25 greatest last
stands
The definitive guide to history’s
most courageous last stands
7
Greatest Battles
10
OF HISTORY’S
BLOODIEST
BATTLES
Discover the death and destruction of warfare, from bitter
ancient feuds to the modern world’s bloodiest conflicts
Alexander crashes his cavalry
into the Persian horsemen
8
10 of history’s bloodiest battles
B
e it for feuds, gold, honour or to set men win conflicts, as the Swiss military writer Antoine- victory and they have also acted as a benchmark
free, warfare has survived as the single Henri Jomini wrote: “The superiority of armament on how war should be practised, even to this
most enduring human endeavour in history. may increase the chances of success in war, but it day. Throughout all of these developments have
While intellectual advancement has cured does not of itself win battles.” The increasing use of been the war leaders themselves, the men who
disease, built vast metropolises and created technology has created the need for better trained, have commanded the battlefield and led men to
a truly globalised world, the pursuit of war has not better motivated troops, the hapless conscript eternal glory or disgraceful defeat using the finest
diminished nor has its lethality to the men and fighting for his lord has been replaced with the fit weaponry their nations can muster. Despite the
women compelled to fight them. Relentless warfare seasoned professional willing and able to fight and progress of industry and technology in creating
fought by opposing states has created an ever more keep fighting until the end. ever more sophisticated weapons there has never
urgent drive to harness doctrine and technology Warfare has also captured the imagination of been an advancement that has stopped one simple
to create dominance on the battlefield; be it learned individuals who have studied the ‘art’ of truth; that in war humans kill and are killed.
Rome’s heavy infantry cutting through barbarian waging war, developing endless volumes of text on Here, ten of history’s bloodiest battles are
hordes, the mounted knight running down how to inflict the maximum amount of destruction presented to show this undeniable truth. Each
hapless medieval infantry, siege engines levelling on the enemy while limiting friendly losses to section has a summary at the bottom in which
Renaissance cities or highly disciplined musket- an acceptable minimum. These men, be they casualties are the closest approximations available
armed infantry wiping out Napoleonic armies. philosophers, poets, politicians and psychopaths, and include those that have been killed as well
In the modern age, the ability to utilise have all been driven either by the promise and as wounded. Some of the battles featured have
sophisticated technology to simultaneously adventure of glorious warfare or by a patriotic been fought for greed, ambition or the desire for
conquer the land, sea and sky has given militaries need to defend their homeland. The words of conquest. All of them have been remembered for
unparalleled dominance on the battlefield. Of Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Clausewitz, Liddel Hart and the destruction and devastating loss of life that
course, technology and doctrine alone does not many others have taught and inspired generals to they caused.
BATTLE OF ISSUS
333 BCE
Alexander the Great’s stunning victories centre, facing the enemy across a river while dirt by the weight of his cavalry and the shields of
throughout the 3rd century BCE united an empire positioning his cavalry on his two flanks. Darius, his hoplites. With the central position lost, Darius
that stretched from the deserts of Egypt to the the Persian leader, assumed that Alexander’s sounded a retreat and was cut down, spreading
frontiers of India. Originating from Macedonia in flanks were his weakest point and launched a full- panic through the Persian ranks. As the Persians
northern Greece, Alexander’s ambition to build his scale cavalry assault on the left wing. Alexander fled, Alexander rallied his cavalry one last time
father’s empire into a world-leading power plunged ordered his cavalry positioned on his left to hold and pursued the Persians until dusk, butchering
the whole of the eastern Mediterranean and Persia their ground while his hoplites and the Persian them as they fled.
into unrelenting warfare. The Battle of Issus infantry slogged it out in the centre. Both the
started his great campaign in the east, defeating hoplites and the cavalry managed to hold the
COMBATANTS
the Persians in the open field and opening up the Persians back, creating a dangerous stalemate.
Macedon Vs the Achaemenid Empire
endless landmass of Persia for Alexander and his Alexander then saw that his best chance for
CASUALTIES
vast army. It was a battle noted for its savagery; victory was a cavalry charge on the Persian right
Macedon: 7000
Alexander was an uncompromising war leader and crashed his cavalry into the Persian cavalry
Achaemenid Empire: 20,000
who would accept nothing less than total victory on his side, breaking their line and forcing Darius
LEGACY
when his armies were in the field. to break and run. Rather than pursue, Alexander
Alexander marched into Persia and brought
His victory stemmed from his use of terrain, his wheeled his cavalry round and charged again
about the collapse of the Persian empire. He
well-trained and equipped hoplites and the poorly into the backs of the Persian infantry. Spears and
also married into the Persian royal family,
disciplined Persian hordes that were assembled shields broke under Alexander’s onslaught and the
cementing his hold in the Middle East.
against him. Alexander lined his hoplites in the invincible armies of Persia were trampled into the
9
Greatest Battles
BATTLE OF MALPLAQUET
11 SEPTEMBER 1709
The Battle of Malplaquet was fought to the the intense barrage of firepower that confronted The British charge
into the French centre
thunderous sound of cannon and the crescendo them. The British then smashed the French centre
of musket fire. An alliance of countries, which affecting a rout, allowing British cavalry to storm
included Great Britain, Prussia, Austria and the in and mop up the survivors. Despite the alliance
United Provinces (the Dutch Republic), went to carrying the day the casualties sustained by their
war to secure Europe from encroaching French troops meant that they could not go after the
control of Spain and her vast overseas empire. fleeing French forces; there simply weren’t enough
The battle that formed part of the War of Spanish men to action a proper pursuit. This allowed the
Succession represented one of the bloodiest clashes French to live to fight another day.
of the whole campaign. It was also the most lethal
engagement fought that century. The body count
COMBATANTS
of the alliance forces and French forces numbered
Great Britain, Austria, United Provinces,
into the tens of thousands as gunpowder, cannon
Prussia Vs France and Bavaria
fire and heavy horse turned Malplaquet field into a
CASUALTIES
bloody slaughterhouse.
The alliance: 21,000
The French allowed the alliance forces to come
France and Bavaria: 11,000
on to them, giving them the advantage of defence,
LEGACY
cutting down the Austrian and Dutch troops that
Malplaquet saw the use of musket on a large
were trying to flank them. In the end, the French
scale, convincing commanders it was easier to
positions on the flanks were overwhelmed but not hold positions than it was to attack.
after thousands of alliance men lay dead through
BATTLE OF TOWTON
29 MARCH 1461
Known as the bloodiest battle ever fought
on English soil, this was one of the climactic
engagements of the War of the Roses. Fought in the
freezing fields of Yorkshire it pitted the House of
York, who had captured the king and forced him to
accept their dominance over the throne, against the
House of Lancaster.
The Yorkists were outnumbered but their
leader, Lord Fauconberg, ordered them to take
advantage of the strong winds blowing towards
the Lancastrians and use arrows to thin out
their numbers. This had a devastating effect on
Lancastrian moral, since their arrows could not
reach the Yorkists because they were firing upwind.
The battle then descended into brutal hand-
to-hand combat which lasted hours, staining the
falling snow blood red. By its end, thirty thousand
men lay dead on the cold Yorkshire field.
COMBATANTS
House of York Vs House of Lancaster
CASUALTIES
The Battle of Towton fought in a snowstorm House of York: 10,000
House of Lancaster: 20,000
“Thebattlethendescendedintobrutalhand- LEGACY
- With the Lancastrians defeated, the Yorkist
to-handcombatwhichlastedhours,staining control of the throne was secured with
Edward being made king in June 1461. He was
thefallingsnowbloodred” the first Yorkist king of England.

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