On the 5th November 1854 a smaller British and (yes) French army beat off an assault by the Russians at Inkerman in the Crimea. It was known as “The Soldier’s Battle” as men fought small engagements due to poor visibility in dense fog.
The Russians had massed 32000 men on the Allied flank and headed for the 2700 man 2nd Division, commanded today by the aggressive Pennefather. Instead of falling back in the face of superior numbers, he advanced. The British had their rifles to thank this day as they took a terrible toll on the musket armed Russian Infantry, who were hemmed in by the valley’s bottle neck shape. The British 2nd Division pushed the Russians back onto their reinforcements and should have been routed by the Russians’ numbers, but the fog and the British Light Division saved them. Three successive Russian commanders were killed in this engagement.
The Russians other 15000 men approached and assailed the Sandbag Battery, but they were routed by 300 British defenders vaulting the wall, blunting the lead Battalions, who were then attacked in the flank. More Russian attacks ensured the Battery exchanged hands several times.
The British 4th Division was not as lucky. Arriving on the field, its flanking move was itself flanked and its commander, Cathcart, killed. This enabled the Russians to advance, but not for long. They were soon driven off by French units arriving from their camps and made no more headway.
The battle was lost and they had to withdraw.
This was the last time the Russians tried to defeat the Allied troops in the field. Despite this reverse, however, the Russian attack had seriously stalled the Allies from capturing Sevastopol. They had to instead, spend one harsh winter on the heights overlooking the city, before it fell in September of 1855.
The British suffered 2573 casualties, the French 1800 and the Russians 11959.
9th August 378 AD: A Roman Emperor dies in battle
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On the 9th August 378AD the Romans suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of their former allies, the Visigoths. The Gothic commander was Fritigern. The battle was fought at Adrianople, in Thrace. The Roman Emperor, Valens, was killed along with his bodyguard.
He had thought to crush the smaller Gothic army while in its encampment. Instead his Cavalry was routed when the Gothic Cavalry, which had been away on a foraging party, fortuitously turned up on the battlefield and drove off both the Roman left and right Cavalry. It then turned on the Roman Infantry’s flanks, until the centre was surrounded. By this point many had already fled the field.
Two thirds of the Roman Eastern field army was killed. The Visigoth army then moved on Constantinople. Here they were denied by its walls. The newly created Eastern Roman Emperor, Theodosius, who had been a General, made peace with the Goths three years later. This time they would remain allied in exchange for lands in Thrace.
Meanwhile, the Western Roman Emperor Gratian was fighting the Vandals in Gaul. -
On the 9th August 48 BC Julius Caesar defeated the far larger army of Pompey at Pharsalus in Greece.
But this one I will save for next year! -
@wittmann:
On the 9th August 48 BC Julius Caesar defeated the far larger army of Pompey at Pharsalus in Greece.
But this one I will save for next year!Caesar very underrated military commander.
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Just been reading about this lot while brainstorming ideas for the next Conquest of the Empire.
Being a great warrior wasn’t always a good idea; many successful soldier Emperors were assassinated by their own troops when they got too big for their boots.
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Than you Flashman. Most of those assassinated were at the end of the Empire, when things were stsrting to fall apart.
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@rjpeters70:
Underrated by whom? I think a lot of professional military historians (Tim Hoyt at Naval War College for one) see Caesar as one of the finest ever, far better than Alexander or Napolean. When you look at the number of people and provinces he defeated, it is staggering. Then you compare that with the number of casualties his forces took (damn, damn few), and it is breathtaking.
He is on my short list of best.
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