List of military disasters

Last updated April 13, 2024

A military disaster is the defeat of one side in a battle or war which results in the complete failure of the losing side to achieve their objectives. It often, but not always, involves a high and disproportionate loss of life. The causes are varied and include human error, inferior technology, logistical problems, underestimating the enemy, being outnumbered, and bad luck.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Ancient era

Battle of Marathon (490 BC).^[5]^[6] A large Persian force was destroyed and routed by a smaller Athenian force.
Battle of Salamis (480 BC).^[7]^[8] A huge Persian fleet was defeated by a united Greek force.
Syracuse Expedition (415–413 BC).^[9]^[10] A large force from Athens failed to conquer the city of Syracuse, weakening the Athenian military position and depriving the city of much-needed manpower.
Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC).^[11]^[12] Alexander the Great annihilated a much larger Persian army, thus ultimately conquering the Middle-east.
Battle of Cannae (216 BC).^[13]^[14] Hannibal destroyed the 16 Roman and Allied legions led by Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro. In all, perhaps more than 80 percent of the entire Roman army was dead or captured (including Paullus himself).
Battle of Zama (202 BC).^[15]^[16] A Roman army of 34,000 under Scipio Africanus annihilated the Carthaginian army of 50,000 under Hannibal, thus bringing an end to the Second Punic War.
Battle of Carrhae (53 BC).^[17]^[18] Crassus with 40,000 soldiers marched into Parthia, expecting to be victorious, chose to march a direct route through the desert instead of the mountains of the north. He and his army were entirely annihilated by 9,000 Parthian soldiers.

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD).^[19]^[10]^[20] Germanic warriors ambushed and destroyed three Roman legions.
Battle of Adrianople (378 AD).^[21]^[22] The Emperor Valens was killed while Gothic heavy cavalry ambushed and decimated his Roman heavy infantry.

Medieval era

Battle of Tours (732).^[23]^[24] The Muslim Moors marched into southern France meeting no foes, until encountering the Christian Frankish forces led by Charles Martel at Tours. Despite the Moorish advantage over the Franks militarily, they were defeated decisively by the Franks.
Battle of Hattin (1187).^[25]^[26] Overconfident Crusader forces from Jerusalem became trapped in a waterless desert area, and thus became easy prey for the Muslim forces of Salah-ud-din (Saladin)
Battle of Agincourt (1415).^[27]^[28]^{[ page needed ]} A large French army with a large contingent of knights was defeated by Henry V's much smaller army.

16th century

Battle of Flodden Field (1513).^[29]^[10] A Scottish invasion of England was defeated, resulting in the death of the popular King James IV of Scotland, as well as most of Scotland's nobles.

Spanish Armada (1588).^[30]^[28]^{[ page needed ]} An English fleet sent fire ships into the Spanish invasion fleet destroying some and scattering the rest effectively ending the invasion threat. The Armada would later run into storms and almost half the ships never returned to Spain, as well as more than half of the troops.

18th century

Battles of Saratoga (September–October 1777).^[31]^[10]^{[ page needed ]} John Burgoyne's British Army was captured after the battle by the Continental Army under Horatio Gates.

19th century

Charge of the Light Brigade (1854).^[32]^[28]^{[ page needed ]} A British cavalry unit charged an active enemy artillery position due to miscommunication and suffered heavy casualties for no real advantage.
Battle of Fredericksburg (1862).^[33]^[10] One-sided battle in which the Union Army advanced on entrenched Confederate Army units resulted in very high casualties during the American Civil War.
Battle of the Little Bighorn (June 1876).^[34]^[10]^{[ page needed ]} Montana Territory. Lieutenant Colonel George Custer attacked a superior force of armed Lakota Sioux warriors. He was killed and five of the twelve companies of 7th Cavalry Regiment were annihilated. 268 U.S. troopers were killed and 55 were wounded.
Battle of Isandlwana ^[35]^[10] (January 22, 1879). In the first major battle of the Anglo-Zulu War, a Zulu impi overwhelmed and defeated two battalions armed with modern rifles and artillery. The battle was a major victory for the Zulus during the opening stages of the war.

20th century

Battle of Tsushima ^[36]^[37] (1905) During the Russo-Japanese War, the bulk of the Russian Baltic Fleet, under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky, sailed over halfway around the world (18,000 nautical miles (33,000 km)) in order to relieve the blockade by Japan of the Russian Far East Fleet at Port Arthur, but was mostly sunk, scuttled, or surrendered in action against an Imperial Japanese Navy fleet under Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, which took minimal losses.

First World War

Gallipoli campaign ^[38]^[39] (April 1915 to January 1916). A combined British, Commonwealth and French attempt to capture Istanbul became a stalemate on the Gallipoli Peninsula and was abandoned with 300,000 casualties.

Second World War

Fall of Singapore ^[40]^[41] (February 1942). It was the largest surrender of Commonwealth troops in history and destroyed the linchpin of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command. Although the Japanese invasion force was half of the size of the defending force, Japanese air attacks on the city and lack of water proved decisive. Prime Minister Winston Churchill considered it to be the worst defeat in British military history, and it's been credited for undermining British prestige in Southeast Asia.
Battle of Midway (June 1942).^[42]^[43]^[28]^{[ page needed ]} One of the turning points of World War II (Pacific Theatre).^[44] Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy planned to invade the American navy base at Midway Island. U.S. Navy intelligence had broken Japan's main naval code and anticipated the attack. Japan lost four fleet carriers ^[42] in three days, due to ill timing of fuelling and arming of aircraft, American fortitude and good fortune, cryptographic intelligence intercepts of Japanese signals, and, ultimately, poor planning by Yamamoto.^[45]

Center of Stalingrad after liberation in 1943
Battle of Stalingrad ^[46]^[28]^{[ page needed ]}^[10] (winter of 1942–43). One of the turning points of World War II (European Theater). German General Friedrich Paulus failed to keep a mobile strategic reserve and the Sixth Army was surrounded by a rapid Soviet flanking attack. Rubble caused by German bombing and artillery fire left their tanks unable to enter the city. The 250,000+ German troops in Stalingrad surrendered despite Adolf Hitler’s promise that they would never leave the city.^{[ citation needed ]}

Cold War era

Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954).^[47]^[10]^{[ page needed ]}^[28]^{[ page needed ]} The French Far East Expeditionary Corps advanced deep into northwestern Vietnam near Điện Biên Phủ to cut off the Viet Minh's supply lines from Laos and force it into a confrontation. The Viet Minh besieged the French and smuggled heavy artillery through mountain terrain, preventing resupply by air with anti-aircraft guns. The defeat forced the French Armed Forces to withdraw from North Vietnam in 1954.

Related Research Articles

The Celts or Celtic peoples were a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia, identified by their use of Celtic languages and other cultural similarities. Major Celtic groups included the Gauls; the Celtiberians and Gallaeci of Iberia; the Britons, Picts, and Gaels of Britain and Ireland; the Boii; and the Galatians. The relation between ethnicity, language and culture in the Celtic world is unclear and debated; for example over the ways in which the Iron Age people of Britain and Ireland should be called Celts. In current scholarship, 'Celt' primarily refers to 'speakers of Celtic languages' rather than to a single ethnic group.

The Punic Wars were a series of wars between 264 and 146 BC fought between the Roman Republic and Ancient Carthage. Three wars took place, on both land and sea, across the western Mediterranean region and involved a total of forty-three years of warfare. The Punic Wars are also considered to include the four-year-long revolt against Carthage which started in 241 BC. Each war involved immense materiel and human losses on both sides.

The Second Punic War was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Italy and Iberia, but also on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia and, towards the end of the war, in North Africa. After immense materiel and human losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were once again defeated. Macedonia, Syracuse and several Numidian kingdoms were drawn into the fighting, and Iberian and Gallic forces fought on both sides. There were three main military theatres during the war: Italy, where Hannibal defeated the Roman legions repeatedly, with occasional subsidiary campaigns in Sicily, Sardinia and Greece; Iberia, where Hasdrubal, a younger brother of Hannibal, defended the Carthaginian colonial cities with mixed success before moving into Italy; and Africa, where Rome finally won the war.

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as the Varian Disaster by Roman historians, was a major battle between Germanic tribes and the Roman Empire that took place somewhere near modern Kalkriese from September 8–11, 9 AD, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus and their auxiliaries. The alliance was led by Arminius, a Germanic officer of Varus's auxilia. Arminius had acquired Roman citizenship and had received a Roman military education, which enabled him to deceive the Roman commander methodically and anticipate the Roman army's tactical responses.

The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia. The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and the capture of the Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes played an important role in undermining Byzantine authority in Anatolia and Armenia, and allowed for the gradual Turkification of Anatolia. Many Turks, travelling westward during the 11th century, saw the victory at Manzikert as an entrance to Asia Minor.

A Pyrrhic victory is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Such a victory negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burebista</span> 1st-century BC Thracian king of the Getae and Dacians

Burebista was the king of the Getae and Dacian tribes from 82/61 BC to 45/44 BC. He was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the Dacian kingdom, which comprised the area located between the Danube, Tisza, and Dniester rivers, and modern day Romania and Moldova. In the 7th and 6th centuries BC it became home to the Thracian peoples, including the Getae and the Dacians. From the 4th century to the middle of the 2nd century BC the Dacian peoples were influenced by La Tène Celts who brought new technologies with them into Dacia. Sometime in the 2nd century BC, the Dacians expelled the Celts from their lands. Dacians often warred with neighbouring tribes, but the relative isolation of the Dacian peoples in the Carpathian Mountains allowed them to survive and even to thrive. By the 1st century BC the Dacians had become the dominant power.

The Battle of Caporetto took place on the Italian front of World War I.

Russo-Turkish wars or Russo-Ottoman wars were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European history. Except for the war of 1710–11, as well as the Crimean War which is often treated as a separate event, the conflicts ended disastrously for the Ottoman Empire, which was undergoing a long period of stagnation and decline; conversely, they showcased the ascendancy of Russia as a European power after the modernization efforts of Peter the Great in the early 18th century.

The Battle of Ecbatana was fought in 129 BC between the Seleucids led by Antiochus VII Sidetes and the Parthians led by Phraates II, and marked the final attempt on the part of the Seleucids to regain their power in the east against the Parthians. After their defeat, the territory of the Seleucids was limited to the area of Syria.

Marie Émile Fayolle was a French general during World War I and a diplomat, elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France.

The focale, also known as a sudarium, was a woolen or linen scarf worn by ancient Roman military personnel. It protected the neck from chafing by the armor and was used for warmth. The focale is depicted widely in military scenes from Roman art, such as the relief sculpture on the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum and Trajan's Column. It is shown loosely knotted in the front, but is sometimes visible with the ends tucked inside the cuirass.

The Coolus helmet was a type of ancient Celtic and Roman helmet popular in the 1st century BCE. It was typically made in bronze or brass and, like the Montefortino type with which it co-existed, was a descendant of Celtic helmet types. The explanation of the choice to use bronze can be attributed to the type of warfare that the helmet was used for; also the cultural affinities have influence on why the helmet was made the way that it was. Within a long process of evolution, Roman military armor for the head developed from early pre-Roman helmets. Rome itself had no proper tradition of such objects, as most of the soldiers of the Early Republic made use of helmets produced by the Etruscans, whose craftsmen were known for their ability to make vessels.

Commemorative Medal for Loyalty to the Fatherland 1915 or Commemorative Medal of the Great Serbian Retreat, better known as the Albanian Commemorative Medal was a single-classed military medal awarded to all Serbian military personnel who participated in the Great Serbian Retreat of World War I.

Paul J. Springer is an American author, professor, and military historian.

The Battle of Histria, c. 62–61 B.C., was fought between the Bastarnae peoples of Scythia Minor and the Roman Consul Gaius Antonius Hybrida. The Bastarnae emerged victorious from the battle after successfully launching a surprise attack on the Roman troops; Hybrida escaped alongside his cavalry forces leaving behind the infantry to be massacred by the Bastarnian-Scythian attackers.

Indabibi was a ruler of ancient Elam in 649 BCE and perhaps 648. He is sometimes referred to as Indabigash. He was the successor of Tammaritu II and the predecessor of Humban-Haltash III. Elam was located to the east of the more powerful Assyrian Empire, and the reign of Indabibi occurred during the reign of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.

The Pompeian–Parthian invasion of 40 BC occurred after the Pompeians, backed by the Parthian Empire, had been defeated during the Liberators' civil war by Mark Antony and Octavian.

Warfare in Sumer predominantly consisted of small-scale conflicts between nearby city-states. Sumerian armies consisted of bronze-armoured soldiers armed with various weapons, including spears, swords and sickle-swords, engaging each other in phalanx-like formations. When besieging cities, battering rams and sappers would be used to breach the defences; on the open battlefield, chariots were also used. Most wars were fought because of inter-city rivalries, or for wealth, resources, and prestige. Military victories were later glorified in Mesopotamian art — a major source of historical information.

References

↑ McNab 2005, pp. 4–11.
↑ Chrystal, Paul (2015-11-30). "Introduction". Roman Military Disasters: Dark Days & Lost Legions. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-7395-7.
↑ Withington, John (2016-09-23). "Introduction". Britain's 20 Worst Military Disasters: From the Roman Conquest to the Fall of Singapore. History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-8127-9.
↑ Spilsbury, Julian (2015-04-02). "Introduction". Great Military Disasters: From Bannockburn to Stalingrad. Quercus. ISBN 978-1-78429-215-7.
↑ McNab 2005, pp. 24–26.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Marathon". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 28.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Salamis". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Syracuse Expedition". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Spilsbury, Julian (2015-04-02). Great Military Disasters: From Bannockburn to Stalingrad. Quercus. ISBN 978-1-78429-215-7.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Gaugamela". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
↑ McNab 2005, pp. 32–34.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 38.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Cannae". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 42.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Zama". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 46.
↑ Chrystal, Paul (2015-11-30). "The First Century: the Social War, Spartacus, Mithridates, Crassus, the Parthians, and the Gauls". Roman Military Disasters: Dark Days & Lost Legions. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-7395-7. Carrhae was the worst Roman disaster, and Rome's darkest day, since the catastrophic Battle of Cannae in 216 BC some 163 years earlier.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Teutoborg Forest". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
↑ McNab 2005, pp. 54–56.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 58.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Adrianople". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 72.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Tours". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 82.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Hattin". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 106.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Parragon (2012). Great Military Disasters. Parragon. ISBN 978-1-4454-6436-7.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 123.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 136.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 174.
↑ Withington, John (2016-09-23). "The Charge of the Light Brigade, 1854". Britain's 20 Worst Military Disasters: From the Roman Conquest to the Fall of Singapore. History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-8127-9.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 206.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 210.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 214.
↑ Kuehn, John T. (2020-01-16). "Tsushima Strait". The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6269-4.
↑ Eden, Steven (1996). Military blunders II : the twentieth century. New York, NY: MetroBooks. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-56799-388-2.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 228.
↑ Withington, John (2016-09-23). "Gallipoli, 1915". Britain's 20 Worst Military Disasters: From the Roman Conquest to the Fall of Singapore. History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-8127-9.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 256.
↑ Withington, John (2016-09-23). "The Fall of Singapore, 1942". Britain's 20 Worst Military Disasters: From the Roman Conquest to the Fall of Singapore. History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-8127-9.
1 2 Sandler, Stanley (2001). World War II in the Pacific: An Encyclopedia. Garland Publishing. p. 947.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 262.
↑ McNab 2005, pp. 260–262.
↑ Willmott, H. P. (1983). The Barrier and the Javelin: Japanese and Allied Strategies, February to June 1942. United States Naval Institute Press. pp. 396, 518. ISBN 978-1-59114-949-1.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 268.
↑ McNab 2005, p. 292.

Works cited

McNab, Chris (2005). The World's Worst Military Disasters: Chronicling the Greatest Battlefield Catastrophes of All Time. Rochester: Grange Books. ISBN 978-1-84013-808-5.