Didn't really know where to put this but... I was wondering if there are any other military historians on here? If so, what's your favorite battle and why? It can be anything from Iwo Jima to Thermopylae to Cannae to Hastings, anything really. War might be terrible but it's still good to remember these great battles and have an appreciation for tactics etc. Mine's the Romans at Zama, because it was fought between two of the greatest generals of the classical world, and how hard both centres fought. Both armies numbered 35-40 thousand men, Hannibal had collected a large elephant corps. First, Scipio used horns and his skirmishers to make Hannibal's elephants, which he charged at the Roman lines first, panic, and they ended up turning around and crushing the Carthaginian left flank (Scipio also had his centre divide to form lanes for the few stray elephants to pass through, before finishing them off behind the Roman lines). Then Scipio quickly had Masinisa (sp?) the Numidian king follow up this good fortune and rout Hannibal's left flank (who actually routed on the orders of Hannibal, who wanted to draw the Roman cavalry away. They were defeated by the Roman cavalry however, who played a decisive later part). This was quickly followed by the intentional routing of the Carthaginian left flank by indigenous Italian cavalry. While all the cavalry were occupied, the two infantry centers met. Initially the Roman Hastii in Scipio's first line managed to break Hannibal's first line (he was personally leading the center), however, instead of allowing them to retreat through the ranks he forced them the retreating men to either flank of his second line, which he then threw at the Romans, resulting in Scipio being forced to reinforce his first line of Hastii with his second line of Principes (heavier infantry) who eventually got the upper hand after a bitter struggle with Hannibal again forcing the retreating men to either flank (this repeated action is an attempt to replicate to some extent his greatest victory at Cannae). Hannibal's third line was made up entirely of his veterans. There was a pause, as both sides redeployed, with Scipio positioning his remaining Hastii in the center, with Principes on the inner wings, and Triarii on the flanks. The Romans waited for Hannibal to attack, which he did. The resulting fight was the bloodiest of the battle, with both sides suffering heavy losses but neither gaining a clear upper hand (partly down to Scipio personally rallying his center when they were wavering) until the Roman cavalry made their belated return, slamming into the Carthaginian rear with the flanks being encircled by Scipio's reserves. The final results of the battle were the Carthaginians losing 20,000 men with the same figure taken captive. The Romans amazing only lost 2000 men, though the Carthaginian figures aren't an accurate reflection on how most of the battle went, because until the return of the Roman cavalry the battle could have gone in either's favor however the encircling of the remaining Carthaginians sealed their fate. Hannibal, who amazingly was one of the survivors, immediately sued for peace and the Romans agreed, though on harsher terms than the ones after the First Punic War. God that was fun to write, if anyone bothers reading it, hope you enjoyed, sorry it's a bit long, I got carried away. I'm interested to hear anyone else's favorite, never asked anyone this question before...
I have a particular affection (affection for war? No. Affection for History? Yes>) for the Eastern Front of World War 2. Namely the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk. Kursk, because it was the largest tank battle in the history of Warfare as well as possibly the most violent engagement fought between two foes with modern weapons. This was also the battle in which the Red Army under the command of Georgiy Zhukov fended off the largest joined armor/infantry offensive of the war and turned the tide on the Germans under Field Marshal Erich Von Manstein. An unimaginably bloody battle.
Its pretty top-secret and stuff you probably haven't heard of this before but my hands down no contest fav battle of all time... Operation: LRG CHEZ PIZA FREEDOM
The Battle of Verdun, fought between the Germans and the French in WWI, one of the most horrific battles of the modern era, the French called it the 'meat grinder' It was a battle of attrition which lasted about a year and cost each side abound half a million troops. All of these dead bodies were confined to an area a few square miles in length. Where the phrase' they shall not pass' was created.
The battle for Wake Island. One of the least known battles of WWII. Occured the day after Pearl Harbor and was one of the major rallying points for the Pacific War. My grandpa was one of the lucky ones to survive that battle, and the ensuing prisoner of war camps for 4 years. The Marines not only beat back countless attacks by the Japenese, both from the air and sea, but managed to sink a Japenese destroyer with a freakin Anti-Aircraft gun. Even during their stay in the Japenese camps, they still gave them hell. My grandpa would tell me that during their stay, they did everything they could to not help the enemy. Even going as far as to stand toe-to-toe with them, and tell them "Hell no", which gave my grandpa a swift crack across the back of his neck with a bamboo cane.
I love reading about most battles, anyone notice north side usually victorious? Epic rap battle? Hitler vs vader!
The Franco-Prussian War. The Prussians fucking raped the French upside down! I would have loved to be a Prussian General during that era.
Any battle involving George Patton or Erwin Rommel, those two may be the greatest generals of the modern age..
Peleliu was a tough fight. I like all the Marine Battles of WWII in the Pacific. Normandy Beach Landing. Battle of Antietam. Battle of Belleau Wood. Hue City, Khe Sahn. I am really like the Marine Corps, such a badass history. like someone already said the Peloponnesian War, I wrote a paper on it a while back Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, Heartbreak Ridge
I have a ton of favorite battles. Hard to pick a favorite.. Zama, Marathon, Stalingrad, Leipzig, Gaugamela, Alesia, and I've always been a sucker for D-Day.
The Pacific was definitely the toughest theatre of WWII, at least in Europe (not so much Russia...) the weather was never too atrocious, the jungle must've been like fighting a totally separate enemy, especially for all those young Americans who'd never experienced a jungle before. It's amazing your Grandfather fought at Wake Island Rayman, did he ever tell you many stories, I have no idea what it would be like in a Japanese POW camp, how hard were the conditions for them...? My favorite WWII battle is probably Arnhem during Market Garden (only because my Grandfather fought there), he had some amazing stories, I wish i'd got him to tell me more because he loved telling people. And Cavern, WWI is so harrowing, a million men dead at Verdun and it wasn't even the bloodiest fight of the war. I don't know how Europe managed to get over that war so quickly, how didn't anyone learn anything...