After wresting Milan from imperial control, the French army of King Francis I of France moved camp to Pavia, Italy, where a decisive battle on 24 February 1525, with the Imperial-Spanish army of the Holy Roman Empire, led to a French defeat. The Battle of Pavia was the final conflict... More
Between 23 July–3 September 1916 the Allies launched an offensive on the German defensive position on Pozières Ridge, as part of the Battle of the Somme. Of the five Allied divisions involved, three belonged to 1 Anzac Corps. On 23 July at 12.30 am the Australian 1st and 3rd Brigades... More
The Battle of Raymond was fought on 12 May 1863 in Raymond, Mississippi. It led to a Union victory and was between 12,000 Union soldiers, under Major General James B. McPherson, and 4,400 Confederates, under Brigadier General John Gregg. The Confederate commander at Vicksburg, Lieutenant General John Pemberton, wanted to... More
In late 1778, the British shifted the Revolutionary War south, where there was more loyalist support. Lt Colonel Campbell was sent to Savannah, Georgia, where, in December 1778, he routed the American rebel forces. Brigadier General Prevost joined him and was tasked with persuading loyalists to join the British cause.... More
The battle of Sekigahara exemplified the tortuousness of Japanese feudal politics rather than military prowess. The death of strongman Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1598) left the regents of his infant son in control of western Japan. Eastern Japan was the fiefdom of Tokugawa Ieyasu. On a foggy morning in October 1600, armies... More
After the successful battles at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in February, the Army of the West Tennessee, commanded by Ulysses S. Grant, continued their campaign into Confederate territory. The Union plan called for the army to concentrate its scattered units at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. There they... More
Over the course of the night of 6 April, Buell’s 18,000-strong Army of the Ohio arrived, crossed the river and filed into position along the centre and left of the Union line. Further reinforcements arrived in the form of a reserve division commanded by Major General Lew Wallace, who joined... More
In the late 1330s, tensions between England and France heightened. Philip VI was King of France, despite Edward III’s claims to the throne, resulting in the Hundred Years’ War. There were raids on English coastal towns and the cloth trade was in jeopardy. Yet failed attacks and a series of... More
Sir Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington) entered Portugal in early July with 20,000 British troops, intending to link with General Cuesta’s Spanish army. Meanwhile Cuesta, confronted by Joseph Bonaparte’s larger French army, had withdrawn to Talavera beside the Tagus, with the French in pursuit. Coming upon the now... More
Fought from 26–30 August 1914, the Battle of Tannenberg demonstrated the strength of German organization and training and the weaknesses of its Russian counterpart. The generals of the two Russian armies invading Prussia barely spoke to one another; field communications were addressed through the military governor of Warsaw, and actions... More
The Azores was one of the last parts of the Portuguese overseas empire to resist the Spanish king, Phillip II. António, Prior of Crato, an exiled claimant to the Portuguese throne, secured support from the English and French to sail a fleet to the islands. Under the command of Filippo... More
The Battle of the Frontiers was a series of running engagements between the combatants on the western front at the beginning of World War I. The French, led by Marshal Joffre, were attempting to realize their preconceived offensive strategy, Plan XVII, by invading Alsace Lorraine. However, the Germans gained the... More