Land Battles Index
Hub
Land battles — set-piece engagements between organised armies on chosen or contested ground — are the canonical units of military history, the moments at which strategy, tactics, leadership, weapons, and morale resolve into decisive (or indecisive) outcomes. The subdomain covers land battles as a research domain across every era and civilisation: the ancient pitched battles (Kadesh 1274 BC, Marathon 490 BC, Gaugamela 331 BC, Cannae 216 BC, Zama 202 BC, Alesia 52 BC, Adrianople 378); the Chinese set-pieces (Red Cliffs 208, Fei River 383, Talas 751); the medieval Europe and crusader battles (Tours 732, Hastings 1066, Hattin 1187, Bouvines 1214, Agincourt 1415, Chaldiran 1514); the Mongol field battles (Liegnitz 1241, Ain Jalut 1260); the Indian and Japanese set-pieces (Panipat, Sekigahara 1600); the early-modern engagements (Pavia 1525, Lepanto 1571, Breitenfeld 1631, Lützen 1632, Rocroi 1643, Blenheim 1704, Poltava 1709, Plassey 1757, Saratoga 1777); the Revolutionary and Napoleonic land battles (Marengo 1800, Austerlitz 1805, Jena 1806, Borodino 1812, Leipzig 1813, Waterloo 1815); the long-nineteenth-century battles (Solferino 1859, Gettysburg 1863, Sadowa 1866, Sedan 1870, Mukden 1905); and the modern battles (Marne 1914, Verdun 1916, Tannenberg 1914, Stalingrad 1942–43, Kursk 1943, Normandy 1944, Dien Bien Phu 1954, Inchon 1950, Khe Sanh 1968, the Battle of 73 Easting 1991, the Battle of Bakhmut 2023–24). Notes examine order of battle, terrain, weather, combined-arms performance, command decision-making, casualties, and strategic and political consequences. The land engagements of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (Waterloo, Austerlitz, the Pyramids, Maida, Assaye) that the current vault focus visits are one slice of this much longer history. Adjacent to MOC_Conflicts, MOC_Military_Forces, MOC_Weapons_Technology, and MOC_Persons.
Primary Notes
(empty — populated as content is added)
Roadmap
(planned notes as red-links — add as research identifies gaps)
Methodology
- Battle Reconstruction — Terrain, Sources, and the Reliability Problem
- Order-of-Battle Studies and Casualty Reconstruction
Ancient
- Battle of Kadesh 1274 BC — Egyptian-Hittite Encounter and the First Recorded Battle
- Battle of Marathon 490 BC — Athenian Defeat of Persian Invasion
- Battle of Gaugamela 331 BC — Alexander Crushes Darius III
- Battle of Cannae 216 BC — Hannibal’s Double Envelopment
- Battle of Zama 202 BC — Scipio Defeats Hannibal
- Battle of Alesia 52 BC — Caesar’s Double Encirclement
- Battle of Adrianople 378 — Gothic Cavalry Defeats Rome
Medieval
- Battle of Tours 732 — Charles Martel Halts the Umayyad Advance
- Battle of Hastings 1066 — Norman Conquest of England
- Battle of Hattin 1187 — Saladin Destroys the Crusader Army
- Battle of Agincourt 1415 — English Longbow Tactics in the Hundred Years’ War
- Battle of Liegnitz and Mohi 1241 — Mongol European Campaign
- Battle of Ain Jalut 1260 — Mamluks Halt the Mongol Advance
- Battle of Sekigahara 1600 — Tokugawa Triumph in Japan
Early Modern
- Battle of Pavia 1525 — Imperial Defeat of France in the Italian Wars
- Battle of Breitenfeld 1631 and Lützen 1632 — Swedish Tactical Innovation
- Battle of Rocroi 1643 — French Defeat of the Spanish Tercio
- Battle of Blenheim 1704 — Marlborough’s Coalition Victory
- Battle of Poltava 1709 — Peter the Great Defeats Charles XII
- Battle of Plassey 1757 — British Conquest of Bengal
- Battle of Saratoga 1777 — American Turning Point
Age of Sail (current vault focus)
- Battle of Waterloo 1815 — Overview
- Battle of Austerlitz 1805 — Napoleon’s Masterpiece
- Battle of the Pyramids 1798 — Egyptian Campaign
- Battle of Maida 1806 — British Amphibious Victory in Italy
- Battle of Assaye 1803 — Wellington in India
- Battle of Borodino 1812 — Russian Defence in Depth
Long Nineteenth Century
- Battle of Solferino 1859 — French-Sardinian vs Austrian and the Birth of the Red Cross
- Battle of Gettysburg 1863 — Civil War Turning Point
- Battle of Sadowa 1866 — Prussian Victory in the Austro-Prussian War
- Battle of Sedan 1870 — French Defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
- Battle of Mukden 1905 — Largest Land Battle of the Pre-1914 Era
Modern
- Battle of the Marne 1914 — Strategic Halt of the Schlieffen Plan
- Battle of Verdun 1916 — Attritional Warfare on the Meuse
- Battle of Tannenberg 1914 — German Eastern Front Encirclement
- Battle of Stalingrad 1942–43 — Urban Attrition and Soviet Counter-Offensive
- Battle of Kursk 1943 — Largest Tank Engagement in History
- Battle of Normandy 1944 — Amphibious Invasion and the Breakout
- Battle of Dien Bien Phu 1954 — Decisive French Defeat in Indochina
- Battle of Inchon 1950 — Korean War Amphibious Landing
- Battle of 73 Easting 1991 — Armoured Engagement in the Gulf War
- Battle of Bakhmut 2023–24 — Attritional Urban Warfare in the Russo-Ukrainian War
Cross-Cutting
- See also: MOC_Conflicts
- See also: _Home