I also have a thing for naval battles. There is something very dynamic about them.

Qadesh is a personal favourite of mine. The idea of large open plains filled with Hitite and Egyptian chariots, thundering across the field followed by runners, fascinates me. Also, I am very interested in the totally different ways that the two sides used essentially similar war engines - the Hitites being strong engagement chariots, the Egyptians being mobile firing platforms.

Operation Pedastal would be another on the list, but largely because my Grandfather was involved with that one.

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just read Operation Pedastal on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pedestal
It's hard to think how people put their lives on hold and indeed in jeopardy to fight a war, even one with a nationally realised cause behind it. Whatever their personal feelings and reasons the fact remains that they did. You can't but admire the courage and determination of the individuals, on both sides.

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Sekigahara was this monster battle in 1600 between 5 Daimyos, fighting to see who would become the next shogun.  wiki link  The total number of troops cited in the WIki article is a lot less than I've heard from other sources, but *shrug*.  The entire battle took place during a thick fog, and there were huge casualties.  It's considered one of the bloodiest battles in Japanese history (at least on their islands).  Also, we're almost to the 408th anniversary:  October 21.

It's about as important to japanese history as Gettysburg was to the resolution of the ACW.

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I believe you meant Canae considered to be one of the classic battles of all time, possibly rivalled by Davout's victory at Auerstedt

As for Sekigehara, I would suggest that Nagashino was actually more important in Japanese history as the Takeda clan were in some respects the most powerfull in Japan up to this battle (it is also the subject of the film Kagemusha - one of my favourites)

But I do agree with CS, that the battles to be a spectator are those which properly employed strategy and tactics rather than brute force and ignorance or "mere pounding" to quote Wellington - and there are a really huge number to choose from in virtually every era and continent.

The thread also raises a question that has fascinated me - how did Generals learn their trade before the advent of the nineteenth century military colleges, and how effective have those colleges been since their inception?

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Well being a former military professional (?) , I can say based on my study of History, the Combat Leaders before the 19th Century, they probably learned from the old-timers that managed to live that long.  Probably a lot of Trial & Error too ...    Now as far as Sandhurst, West Point, etc., doing their job ... I'd say generally pretty well overall. However some men are just born to the trade, like Patton, Rommel, Monty, etc.

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Operation Pedestal would be another on the list, but largely because my Grandfather was involved with that one.

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Navy. He took shrapnel to his hand and leg when the Indom took an aft hit. He managed to make it to Malta, where he caught a ship home and spent the rest of the war in hospital (I believe). I still have the ship plaques of those he served on.

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Any battles during the Age of Sail; how can you go wrong with cannons and broadsides?  I'd be a Freebooterz Kaptain!

The entire AWI; I would want to train the Continental Army and Militia.  Teach them how to effectively fight a sustained conflict rather than the traditional Napoleonic style.  Hard cover is your best friend!

2nd Battle of El Alamein; easily the focal point of the war in Afrika.  But honestly the early exploits of the LRDG would be more fun.

Battle of Mogadishu; A friend of mine was there in the 3/75 Rangers, he left just 10 days before that all went down.  I didn't know those guys directly but I would stand with them any day.  


Our military exploits were actually published in print, the author was a fellow soldier I served with.  I would not recommend the book however as the author has a problem with reality, keeping different incidents separate; and general truthfulness.

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I hope you don't think it ghoulish if I say I really like hearing the tales (even in brief) of some of the exploits of the people who have been at the sharp end as it were. It shows they are real people that you can understand, in part where they are coming from. Even if you can't hope to know what they have come from. (If that makes sense?)

For Musket and shot type battles I would say The Alamo. Yeah, yeah say what you want but it's a battle that grips the imagination.

Pirates! The chance to swash some buckle! Who could resist. I'm looking forward to Pirate Day.

I believe you meant Canae

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I really enjoyed reading about the LRDG and SAS, but after 3 trips to the NTC ... I hate the desert !                                                   After seeing the footage of the Mog battle, I often thought that as a Mech Cdr how I would have handled the rescue/recovery op ...  Rolling Hot with a Mech Co Tm relief column. M1s(M60s) in the lead, with M2s(M113s) right behind them. Main Guns and Weapons alternating, blazing away thru the town. Using a lot of ammo and causing a lot of collateral damage.   And getting relieved after it was over ...

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Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

Battle of the Line- humanity defiant against the Minbari onslaught.

If we restricted to battles that have already happened in this timeline, then would have been great to have seen the likes of Hannibal, Napoleon or Rommel at work. On tactical level did Napoleon ever fight a poor battle?

Cheers

James

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Funnily enough I am here today as a diret result of Operation Pedastal. My grandfather served in Royal Navy, nothing fancy, just a Leading Seaman on board one of the cruisers. Cant remember which one- his main ship was Leander but I think that was later in war.

When convoy eventually docked at Malta he met my grandmother and within a month they were married. A brief honeymoon at naval base back in Scotland and then IIRC off to the artic convoys. So he experienced both temparature extremes.

One of the details I loved about Opertaion Pedastal was that island Malta was initially defended by 3 ancient old British biplanes, that were named Faith, Hope & Charity.

Cheers

James

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If I could go back to any battle it would be either Thermopilae or Rorkes Drift . I'd also like to witness the events at  Saragarhi for the shear bravery of it's defenders.

Google and Wikipedia are certainly getting a work out lately.

Saragarhi

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According to my various UN army mates who either were there or had to listen to all their colleagues who were they both a) thought the Yanks in their general mission made a complete pigs ear of things but b) in that battle won at the cost of horrific civilian casualties, effectively running the enemy out of men and stores but then c) didn't follow up, instead allowing themselves (or being told to stay by the bosses back home) to be bottled up in their base by a few people with mortars. All in all leaving them fairly baffled as to what their overall strategy was.

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