The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World

 

THE FIFTEEN DECISIVE BATTLES OF THE WORLD

It is an honourable characteristic of the Spirit of this Age, that projects of violence and warfare are regarded among civilized states with gradually increasing aversion. The Universal Peace Society certainly does not, and probably never will, enrol the majority of statesmen among its members. But even those who look upon the Appeal of Battle as occasionally unavoidable in international controversies, concur in thinking it a deplorable necessity, only to be resorted to when all peaceful modes of arrangement have been vainly tried; and when the law of self-defence justifies a State, like an individual, in using force to protect itself from imminent and serious injury. For a writer, therefore, of the present day to choose battles for his favourite topic, merely because they were battles, merely because so many myriads of troops were arrayed in them, and so many hundreds or thousands of human beings stabbed, hewed, or shot each other to death during them, would argue strange weakness or depravity of mind. Yet it cannot be denied that a fearful and wonderful interest is attached to these scenes of carnage. There is undeniable greatness in the disciplined courage, and in the love of honour, which make the combatants confront agony and destruction. And the powers of the human intellect are rarely more strongly displayed than they are in the Commander, who regulates, arrays, and wields at his will these masses of armed disputants; who, cool yet daring, in the midst of peril reflects on all, and provides for all, ever ready with fresh resources and designs, as the vicissitudes of the storm of slaughter require. But these qualities, however high they may appear, are to be found in the basest as well as in the noblest of mankind. Catiline was as brave a soldier as Leonidas, and a much better officer. Alva surpassed the Prince of Orange in the field; and Suwarrow was the military superior of Kosciusko. To adopt the emphatic words of Byron:-- "'Tis the Cause makes all, Degrades or hallows courage in its fall."..   The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: from Marathon to Waterloo is a book written by Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy and published in 1851. This book tells the story of the fifteen military engagements (from Marathon to Waterloo) which, according to the author, had a significant impact on world history. Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World, from Marathon to Waterloo (local copy), first published in 1851 (with later editions), by Edward Shepherd Creasy (1812-1878) The Battle of Gaugamela The Battle of Tours The Siege of Orléans The Spanish Armada The Battle of Poltava The Battle of Valmy 1 The Battle of Marathon, B.C. 490 (86 KB) 2 Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse, B.C. 413 (51 KB) 3 The Battle of Arbela, B.C. 331 (67 KB) 4 The Battle of the Metaurus, B.C. 207(77 KB) 5 Victory of Arminius over the Roman Legions under Varus, A.D. 9 (65 KB) 6 The Battle of Chalons, A.D. 451 (40 KB) 7 The Battle of Tours, A.D. 732 (31 KB) 8 The Battle of Hastings, A.D. 1066 (88 KB) 9 Joan of Arc's Victory over the English at Orleans, A.D. 1429 (51 KB) 10 The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, A.D. 1588 (69 KB) 11 The Battle of Blenheim, A.D. 1704 (60 KB) 12 The Battle of Pultowa, A.D. 1709 (41 KB) 13 Victory of the Americans over Burgoyne at Saratoga, A.D. 1777 (70 KB) 14 The Battle of Valmy, A.D. 1792 (42 KB) 15 The Battle of Waterloo, A.D. 1815 (156 KB) The Battle of Waterloo Each chapter of the book describes a different battle. The fifteen chapters are: The Battle of Marathon, 490 BC Excerpt: Two thousand three hundred and forty years ago, a council of Athenian Officers was summoned on the slope of one of the mountains that look over the plain of Marathon, on the eastern coast of Attica. The immediate subject of their meeting was to consider whether they should give battle to an enemy that lay encamped on the shore beneath them; but on the result of their deliberations depended, not merely the fate of two armies, but the whole future progress of human civilization. Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse, 413 BC Known as the Battle of Syracuse. Excerpt: Few cities have undergone more memorable sieges during ancient and mediaeval times than has the city of Syracuse. The Battle of Gaugamela, 331 BC Also called the Battle of Arbela. Excerpt: ... the ancient Persian empire, which once subjugated all the nations of the earth, was defeated when Alexander had won his victory at Arbela. The Battle of the Metaurus, 207 BC Excerpt: That battle was the determining crisis of the contest, not merely between Rome and Carthage, but between the two great families of the world... Victory of Arminius over the Roman Legions under Varus, AD 9 Known as the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Excerpt: ..that victory secured at once and forever the independence of the Teutonic race. The Battle of Châlons, AD 451 Also called the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields or the Battle of the Catalun. Excerpt: The victory which the Roman general, Aëtius, with his Gothic allies, had then gained over the Huns, was the last victory of imperial Rome. The Battle of Tours, AD 732 Also called the Battle of Poitiers. Excerpt: the great victory won by Charles Martel ... gave a decisive check to the career of Arab conquest in Western Europe. The Battle of Hastings, AD 1066 Excerpt: ..no one who appreciates the influence of England and her empire upon the destinies of the world will ever rank that victory as one of secondary importance. Joan of Arc's Victory over the English at Orléans, AD 1429 Known as the Siege of Orléans. Excerpt: ..the struggle by which the unconscious heroine of France, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, rescued her country from becoming a second Ireland under the yoke of the triumphant English. Defeat of the Spanish Armada, AD 1588 Excerpt: The England of our own days is so strong, and the Spain of our own days is so feeble, that it is not easy, without some reflection and care, to comprehend the full extent of the peril which England then ran from the power and the ambition of Spain, or to appreciate the importance of that crisis in the history of the world. The Battle of Blenheim, AD 1704 Excerpt: Had it not been for Blenheim, all Europe might at this day suffer under the effect of French conquests resembling those of Alexander in extent and those of the Romans in durability. The Battle of Pultowa, AD 1709 Also called the Battle of Poltava. Excerpt: The decisive triumph of Russia over Sweden at Pultowa was therefore all-important to the world, on account of what it overthrew as well as for what it established Victory of the Americans over Burgoyne at Saratoga, AD 1777 The Saratoga Campaign was an attempt by Great Britain to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. The primary thrust of the campaign was made by an army of 8,000 men under the command of John Burgoyne from Quebec that moved up Lake Champlain and down the Hudson to Saratoga, New York, where the bulk of the army was forced to surrender after the climactic Battles of Saratoga in September and October. The Battle of Valmy, AD 1792 Excerpt: ..the kings of Europe, after the lapse of eighteen centuries, trembled once more before a conquering military republic. The Battle of Waterloo, AD 1815 Excerpt: The exertions which the allied powers made at this crisis to grapple promptly with the French emperor have truly been termed gigantic, and never were Napoleon's genius and activity more signally displayed than in the celerity and skill by which he brought forward all the military resources of France... [edit] Point of view The book is a product of the Victorian era, and Creasy's descriptions of the battles and their impact on history are from a decidedly Eurocentric, and specifically Anglocentric, point of view. There is also significant emphasis placed on the events of, at the time, recent history: one-third of the battles are from within a century and a half of Creasy's writing. [edit] Derivative works Since the publication of Creasy's book, other historians have attempted to modify or add to the list. The Battle of San Jacinto In 1899 The Colonial Press published Decisive Battles of the World by Edward Shepherd Creasy with a Special Introduction and Supplementary Chapters On the Battles of Gettysburg 1863, Sedan 1870, Santiago and Manila 1898, by John Gilmer Speed (Revised Edition) In 1908 Harper & Bros published an edition with 8 battles added. Quebec; Yorktown; Vicksburg; Gettysburg; Sedan; Manila Bay; Santiago; and Tsushima. In 1920 the Viscount D'Abernon published The Eighteenth Decisive Battle of the World: Warsaw, 1920, in which he claimed that the next battle on the list was the battle of Warsaw, fought in 1920 by the Polish and Bolshevik forces during the Polish-Bolshevik War. In 1930 Texas historian Clarence Wharton published San Jacinto: The Sixteenth Decisive Battle, in which he made the case for adding the final battle of the Texas Revolution to Creasy's list. In 1936 the San Jacinto Monument was given an inscription that echoed Wharton's view: "Measured by its results, San Jacinto was one of the decisive battles of the world. The freedom of Texas from Mexico won here led to annexation and to the Mexican-American War, resulting in the acquisition by the United States of the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma. Almost one-third of the present area of the American Nation, nearly a million square miles of territory, changed sovereignty." In 1954-1956, British historian J.F.C. Fuller published The Decisive Battles of the Western World and their Influence upon History. In 1956, historian and author Fletcher Pratt published The Battles that Changed History, stories of conflicts that forever changed the course of world events. He listed 16 battles from Arbela to Midway. In 1964, American historian Lt. Col. Joseph B. Mitchell published Twenty Decisive Battles of the World, an update of Creasy's list with five additions: The Vicksburg Campaign, 1863. By capturing the Mississippi River during the American Civil War, the Union separated the Confederacy into two halves. Battle of Sadowa, 1866. This Prussian victory over the Austrians during the Seven Weeks War paved the way for a German empire. First Battle of the Marne, 1914. The British and French prevented a German assault of Paris and an early German victory in World War I. Battle of Midway, 1942. The beginning of the United States offensive in the Pacific Ocean during World War II and the devastating loss of four Japanese aircraft carriers. Battle of Stalingrad, 1942-43. The defeat of the German attempt to conquer the Soviet Union and a significant loss of German resources in World War II. In 1976, Noble Frankland and Christopher Dowling published Decisive Battles of the Twentieth Century, which listed 23 battles, from the Battle of Tsushima to the Tet Offensive. [edit] In popular culture Referring to Creasy's work in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance, Major-General Stanley boasts that he is able to "quote the fights historical; from Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical." [edit] External links The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World at Project Gutenberg Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World from Marathon to Waterloo according to Edward Shepherd Creasy, edited by P. Sandboge

1 The Battle of Marathon, B.C. 490 2 Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse, B.C. 413 (51 KB) 3 The Battle of Arbela, B.C. 331 (67 KB) 4 The Battle of the Metaurus, B.C. 207(77 KB) 5 Victory of Arminius over the Roman Legions under Varus, A.D. 9 6 The Battle of Chalons, A.D. 451 7 The Battle of Tours, A.D. 732 (31 KB)   8 The Battle of Hastings, A.D. 1066 9 Joan of Arc's Victory over the English at Orleans, A.D. 1429   10 The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, A.D. 1588 (69 KB) 11 The Battle of Blenheim, A.D. 1704 12 The Battle of Pultowa, A.D. 1709 13 Victory of the Americans over Burgoyne at Saratoga, A.D. 1777 14 The Battle of Valmy, A.D. 1792 (42 KB) 15 The Battle of Waterloo, A.D. 1815 (156 KB)

Scene inspired by the Battles of Alexander the Great" - Attributed to Panayiotis Douxaras (1662-1729) “…the Maiden lets you know that here, in eight days, she has chased the English out of all the places they held on the river Loire by attack or other means: they are dead or prisoners or discouraged in battle. Believe what you have heard about the earl of Suffolk, the lord la Pole and his brother, the lord Talbot, the lord Scales, and Sir Fastolf; many more knights and captains than these are defeated.” -Letter from Joan to the citizens of Tournai “…the struggle by which the unconscious heroine of France, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, rescued her country from becoming a second Ireland under the yoke of the triumphant English”

Alexander the GreatNy Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.

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From the most brutal beginnings Genghis Khan (left) survived to unite the Mongolian tribes and conquer territories including Afghanistan. Alexander The Great (right) had conquered Greece by the age of 22 1. GENGHIS KHAN   1162-1227 Originally known as Temüjin of the Borjigin, Genghis was born holding a clot of blood in his hand. His father was khan of a small tribe, but he was murdered when Temüjin was still very young. The new tribal leader wanted nothing to do with Temüjin's family, so with his mother and five other children, Temüjin was cast out and left to die. Of all those in this list, he is the only one to start with nothing. From the most brutal beginning possible, Genghis survived to unite the Mongolian tribes and conquer territories as far apart as Afghanistan and northern China. He left a mountain of skulls that remained for years in China. Genghis Khan paved the way for his grandson Kublai to become emperor of a united China and founder of the Yuan dynasty. In all, Genghis conquered almost four times the lands of Alexander the Great. He is still revered in Mongolia and in parts of China. 2. ALEXANDER THE GREAT 356-323 BC At different times, Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar and Caligula all visited Alexander's glass tomb in Alexandria, Egypt. Augustus kissed the ancient corpse and accidentally broke the nose; Caligula stole Alexander's breastplate... Alexander was born a prince of Macedonia and tutored by Aristotle. By the age of 22, he had conquered Greece and set sail to Asia Minor. Here, in what is now central Turkey, he cut in half the famous Gordian Knot, fulfilling a Greek legend that whoever unravelled it would rule the world. In Syria, he destroyed the armies of Darius III and gained control of the entire Eastern Mediterranean coast. He entered Egypt as a liberator. From there, he fought in India, where his legendary horse Bucephalus was killed. He was still on campaign at the age of 33 when a fever destroyed his health. At the time his empire stretched from Greece to northern India. Despite being illiterate, Tamerlane was highly intelligent. He spoke at least three languages and invented a variant of chess. He conquered Persia, Armenia, Georgia and part of Russia 3. TAMERLANE 1336-1405 'Timur the Lame' was born in modern day Uzbekistan, about 400 miles north of the city of Kabul. He had a slight paralysis down one side as a child, which meant his early career was in politics. Despite being illiterate, he was highly intelligent. He spoke at least three languages and invented a variant of chess. He rose quickly to become senior minister to the Mongol khan, then Tamerlane overthrew the khan and began a reign of warfare, slaughter and, yes, mountains of skulls. Tamerlane revered Genghis and claimed to be descended from his second son. He used the city of Samarkand as his base, which Genghis himself had conquered. From there, Tamerlane conquered Persia, Armenia, Georgia and part of Russia. Atilla The Hun ruled territories from Germany to the Caspian Sea for almost 20 years 4. ATILLA THE HUN 406-453 The man known as 'The Scourge of God' inherited his throne in modern day Hungary in AD 434. He began his rule by slaughtering Goth tribes in modernday Germany and Austria, then attacked the enfeebled Roman empire. At one point Atilla offered to marry the Western Emperor's sister, but made it clear that the dowry would be half her brother's lands. This splendid offer was refused. 'The whole breadth of Europe... was at once invaded, and occupied and desolated, by the myriads of barbarians whom Atilla led into the field,' wrote Edward Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Atilla ruled territories from Germany to the Caspian Sea for almost 20 years. On his wedding night, he drank heavily and passed out. Whether it was a nosebleed or a rupture, Atilla choked to death on his own blood. Charlemagne defended a Christian Europe from Muslim Saracens and pagan Saxons, often beheading thousands in a single day 5. CHARLEMAGNE 742-814 Charles the Great, King of the Franks, ruled a European empire based mainly around France, Germany and parts of Italy. Although he could not write, he spoke Teutonic, Latin and Greek. He was 6ft 4in, a monstrous height for the period, which has since been confirmed by measurement of his skeleton. Oddly, his father was known as Pepin the Short and was around 5ft tall. Charlemagne's first campaign came at the age of 27, when the Pope sought his aid in repelling the Lombards of Italy. Charlemagne smashed them in the field and took the crown of Lombardy as his own. From his capital of Aachen in modern-day Germany, he went on to fight 53 campaigns, most of which he led himself. He defended a Christian Europe from Muslim Saracens and pagan Saxons, often beheading thousands in a single day. He died aged 72 from a fever. Thutmose III never lost a battle in 18 summer campaigns (right). By the time of his death, Ashoka The Great (left) ruled India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan 6. PHARAOH THUTMOSE III OF EGYPT 1479-1425 BC Responsible for the obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle on the bank of the Thames, Thutmose III never lost a battle in 18 summer campaigns. He was one of the first rulers to understand supply lines and sea power. Having inherited the throne of Egypt aged seven, he spent the first two decades as co-regent with his father's wife. When she died, he conquered lands in Palestine, Syria, Nubia and Mesopotamia. It was Thutmose III who established Egypt as a major power in the eastern Mediterranean and his reign was a golden era of temple building and great riches (and he was humane in his treatment of the vanquished). He died aged 61. 7. ASHOKA THE GREAT 304-232 BC Born to the Mauryan (ancient Indian) imperial house, Ashoka loved to hunt and was a warlike young man, the favourite of his father. When his father died, Ashoka killed all his brothers and went on a brutal rampage to expand the empire. It culminated in the slaughter by the Daya river, where more than 100,000 citizens were killed by his army. Afterwards Ashoka was appalled at the carnage and vowed then to embrace Buddhism. He was a changed man. The laws that followed were relatively just and he set up pillars with his edicts carved on them across India. He even promoted vegetarianism and treated all his subjects as equals regardless of caste. By the time of his death, he ruled India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan. Cyrus The Great became the first emperor of Persia, uniting the tribal Medes and Persians 8. CYRUS THE GREAT 580-529 BC Of a minor royal family, Cyrus became the first emperor of Persia, uniting the tribal Medes and Persians. As well as the usual mountains of skulls, he created what may be the first charter of human rights, available to be seen at the British Museum. He freed the Jews in Babylon when he conquered that city. Despite his benevolent side, Cyrus spent years conquering lands, murdering his enemies and establishing a vast empire that stretched from India to Greece.     Ch'in Shih Huang (left) inherited a minor throne in China at the age of 15. Under the rule of Augustus Caesar (right), the Roman empire expanded into Hungary, Croatia and Egypt as well as securing Spain and Gaul 9. CH'IN SHIH HUANG 259-210 BC The boy known as Ch'eng inherited a minor throne in China at the age of just 13. As an adult, he was a superb organiser. His achievement was not just in conquering the different regions of China in just nine years, but unifying them as an empire. With two trusted ministers, he established a bureaucracy, taxation, standardised weights and measures and a system of ruthless punishments for lawbreaking. The first emperor of China is perhaps most famous for the terracotta army guarding his tomb. More than 8,000 life-sized warriors were created, as well as 600 horses and 130 chariots. In the centralised government he created, the emperor was almost a figurehead. The structure of government was so successful that when Shih Huang died at 49, his two most powerful ministers carried on without him for four years before they quarrelled and his death became public knowledge. 10. AUGUSTUS CAESAR 63 BC-14 AD Born Octavian, the great-nephew of Julius Caesar was technically the first Roman emperor. He was made Consul after Caesar's death, then formed a triumvirate with Mark Anthony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. They secured their power in Rome by executing thousands. The title Augustus, meaning 'exalted', was granted by the senate. Octavian changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar to honour his predecessor, creating a tradition that would last 2,000 years  -  to the German Kaisers and Russian Czars. Augustus was not a battle king. However, under his rule, the Roman empire expanded into Hungary, Croatia and Egypt as well as securing Spain and Gaul. He added more land than Julius Caesar and was worshipped as a god in Rome. Alexander-de-Grote. 16c. Museum Boijmans. Neth. Alexander de Grote. Gerard de Jode engr. 16c. Museum Boijmans Neth.