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Battle of Cyzicus

Athenian naval strategy at the battle of Cyzicus: Alcibiades’ decoy force draws the Spartan fleet out into open water, and then turns about to engage them. Squadrons commanded by Thrasybulus and Theramenes move in behind the Spartan ships, to cut off their line of retreat, trapping the Spartans between three groups of Athenian warships; a […]

Battle

Battles of the Azores, (1582–1583)

Naval battles between Spain and France, the first in the Central Atlantic. Although the death of King Sebastian of Portugal in 1578 had made Philip II of Spain the clear heir to the Portuguese throne, eight of Portugal’s nine strategic Azores islands opted to recognize as king Sebastian’s illegitimate son, Dom Antonio de Crato. Forced […]

Battle

Battle of Wadi al-Batin

“BERMBUSTERS” Wadi El Batin – 24 February 1991. Amidst the destruction of prior coalition airstrikes, M1A1s of Task Force 1-32 Armor, 1st Cavalry Division, breach the berm forming leading edge of Iraq’s border defenses. Event Date: February 26, 1991 Battle between U. S. VII Corps and the Tawakalnah Mechanized Division of the Iraqi Republican Guard […]

Battle, Ottoman

Battle of Cerignola, (April 21, 1503)

‘‘Gran Capitan’’ Gonzalo di Córdoba Spain’s ‘‘Gran Capitan’’ Gonzalo di Córdoba had been beaten by a Franco-Swiss army at Seminara in 1495. To counter Swiss tactics, at Cerignola he dug a ditch in front of his line. This broke up the cadence of the Swiss pikers, exposing them to murderous Spanish arquebus fire. Once the […]

Battle, Ottoman

Battle of Cerignola, (April 21, 1503)

Battle, British, Germany

Landings at Bagamoyo

Balloon ship Manica which was present. British troops continued to push south and towards the coast but it was suggested on 12 August 1916 that the Navy seize the port of Bagamoyo, which the British believed would be heavily defended. Then they heard that it had a garrison of only fifty men. So the British […]

Battle, British

Capture of Magdala, (13 April 1868)

The Fortress of Magdala, prior to its destruction in April 1868. British troops posing at a captured sentry post above Koket-Bir gate at Magdala fortress. The mission of the British expeditionary force sent to Abyssinia in 1867-1868, under the command of Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal Lord) Sir Robert C. Napier, was to free the […]

Battle

Battle of Fleurus, (June 21/July 1, 1690)

Prince Waldeck commanded the main Allied army in Flanders in 1690, while the French were generaled by maréchal Luxembourg. After much maneuvering, the French approached Fleurus at the end of June, where the Allies stood waiting. French dragoons swam the Sambre River, taking a key crossing from the rear. The rest of the army followed, […]

Armies, Battle

First Day Somme Part I

On 1 July 1916 the barrage swelled up to a crescendo at 06.30 and the men got ready to advance across No Man’s Land. This is the moment that has come to symbolise the whole of the Great War. The ‘lions led by donkeys’ school see it as a savage indictment of the stupidity of […]

Armies, Battle

First Day Somme Part II

Without the benefit of hindsight, rightly or wrongly, Haig was determined to resist tactical interference from Joffre and decided to reinforce the relative degree of success attained in the south. To this end he reorganised his forces, directing the Fourth Army under Rawlinson to push on in the southern sector, while Gough’s Reserve Army (later […]