Dictionary of Battles and Sieges [3 volumes]: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity through the Twenty-first Century

1412 Pages·2006·10.12 MB·English

by  Tony Jaques

Dictionary of Battles and
Sieges: A Guide to 8,500
Battles from Antiquity
through the Twenty-first
Century, Volumes 1–3
Tony Jaques
Greenwood Press
Dictionary of Battles
and Sieges
EDITORIAL BOARD
Daniel Coetzee, Board Leader Tim Moreman
Independent Scholar Independent Scholar
London London
Frances F. Berdan Bill Nasson
Professorof Anthropology Departmentof Historical Studies
California State University, San Bernardino University of Cape Town, SouthAfrica
JeremyBlack David Nicolle
Professorof History Honourary Research Fellow
Exeter University, Devon,UnitedKingdom NottinghamUniversity, United Kingdom
David A.Graff Kaushik Roy
Associate Professor Lecturer,Department ofHistory
Department of History PresidencyCollege, Kolkata, India
KansasState University
Dennis Showalter
Kevin Jones Professorof History
University College, London Colorado College
John Laband Stephen Turnbull
Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada Lecturer in JapaneseReligious Studies
Departmentof Theology and Religious Studies
Carter Malkasian
Leeds University, United Kingdom
Center forNavalAnalyses
Michael Whitby
Toby McLeod
Professorof Classics and Ancient History
Lecturer inModern History
University of Warwick, Coventry
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Dictionary of Battles
and Sieges
A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity
through the Twenty-first Century
Volume 1
A–E
Tony Jaques
Foreword by Dennis Showalter
GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut (cid:1) London
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Jaques,Tony.
Dictionaryofbattlesandsieges:aguideto8,500battlesfromantiquitythroughthetwenty-firstcentury/
TonyJaques;forewordbyDennisShowalter.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–313–33536–2(set:alk.paper)—ISBN0–313–33537–0(vol.1:alk.paper)—ISBN0–313–33538–9
(vol.2:alk.paper)—ISBN0–313–33539–7(vol.3:alk.paper) 1. Battles—History—Encyclopedias. 2. Sieges—
History—Encyclopedias. 3. Militaryhistory—Encyclopedias. I. Title.
D25.J33 2007
355.403—dc22 2006015366
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright#2007byIssueOutcomesProprietaryLimited
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2006015366
ISBN:0–313–33536–2(set) ISBN-13:978–0–313–33536–5(set)
0–313–33537–0(vol.1) 978–0–313–33537–2(vol.1)
0–313–33538–9(vol.2) 978–0–313–33538–9(vol.2)
0–313–33539–7(vol.3) 978–0–313–33539–6(vol.3)
Firstpublishedin2007
GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.greenwood.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This dictionary isdedicatedto thememoryof myfather, PatJaques, 1903–1980.

Contents
Foreword by Dennis Showalter y ix
Preface y xi
Chronological Reference Guide y xxiii
Alphabetical Listing of Battles and Sieges y 1
Appendix y 1139
Bibliography y 1147
Index y 1171

Foreword
Whywriteandpublishabooklikethis?Why,in complexity and order invites comparison to a
an age of increasingly-sophisticated electronic mosaic or a tapestry. As an overview of orga-
search agents, search agents able not merely to nizedviolence,thevolumeisinaclassbyitself.
compilelists,butcategorizeandcross-reference Yetthequestionremains:why?Particularlyat
theircontents,didTonyJaquesandGreenwood atimewhenmilitaryhistoryisturningawayfrom
Press collaborate on this Dictionary of Battles itshistoricfocusoncombat,emphasizinginstead
and Sieges? thestructureofarmedforces,therelationshipof
Utilitarian considerations play a part. It is military institutions to their societies, the cul-
useful even in the computer age to have a tural, intellectual and psychological aspects of
compendium like this one ready to hand. It is war—whyreinforceanobsolescentparadigm?
convenient to let one’s fingers do the walking TheDictionaryofBattlesandSiegesprovides
throughactualprintedpages;andstimulatingto convincing evidence that war is an integral part
pursue the comparisons across space and time ofthehumanexperience.Fromitsemergenceas
suggested by alphabetical listings of common a species, mankind has competed with other
events. A technologically-oriented critic, how- species for survival. Individuals and cultures
ever, might be excused for dismissing these ar- have defended and aggrandized themselves by
gumentsasexercisesinnostalgia:examplesofa organizedviolence.Theadjectiveisasimportant
vestigial mind-set no less dated than quill pens asthenoun.Homosapiensinapristinestateisa
and typewriters. poor squib indeed, ill equipped physically by
Perhaps, then, we might consider this work natureeithertofightortorun.Homofaber,man
fromanaestheticperspective,asatributetothe the tool-maker, is a very different proposition.
intelligence and theenergy of itsauthor.In that Archaeological evidence indeed suggests he
contexttheDictionaryissurelyatourdeforce. might more accurately be called ‘‘man the
Nothingremotelylikeitexists;nothingremotely weapons-maker.’’Andthehumanforebrainthat
like it will be needed in the foreseeable future. enabledthedevelopmentofweaponsenabledas
Jaquesdrawsreferencesfromsixcontinentsand well an understanding that those weapons were
four millennia. Their scale extends from epic most effective when employed cooperatively,
engagements that lasted weeks and involved even in the random clashes of small hunting
millionstofrontierskirmisheswithafewdozen partiesthatprobablyevolvedintothefirstbattles.
men to a side. Their location ranges from fa- That understanding has shaped the nature of
miliar cockpits and choke points—Flanders in war from its beginning—certainly from the be-
Europe,theBosporusinAsiaMinor,Panipatin ginning of recorded history. Recent debates on
northern India—to remote dots on a map, with the existence of a distinctive ‘‘Western way of
nodiscerniblesignificanceofanykind.Yeteach war,’’withauniqueemphasisondecisivebattle,
has its place in a structure whose synergy of haveobscuredtheuniversalcentralityoffighting