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Last stand is a loose military term used to describe a body of troops holding a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties or is completely destroyed, while also inflicting high casualties on the opponent. Except in rare exceptions, such as Rorke's Drift and the Battle of Longewala, the defending force is usually annihilated.
The situation can arise in one of two ways. Sometimes, perhaps because of geography or lack of supplies or support, the troops in question cannot retreat from their position without being instantly destroyed by the enemy. At other times, the troops in question are forced to follow orders and cannot consider retreat, even though the moral choice is open to them. In both cases, surrender to the enemy is an option, but either the group as a whole or their commanding officer decides instead to "go down fighting". In some cases the soldiers may consider that surrender may also result in their deaths, and that to fight to their deaths is a better choice in the circumstances. This sometimes comes from strategic or moral considerations, as the defenders conclude that their own sacrifice is essential to the wider success, or at least survival, of their campaign.
A siege will often lead to a last stand by the defenders of the besieged city. However, while sieges are generally characterised by a lengthy engagement, last stands are generally brief and decisive.
480 BC - 1000 AD
| Name | Date | Defending army | Attacking army | Ratio | Details |
| Battle of Thermopylae | 480 BC | 300 Spartans and 6,700 other Greeks | 60,000 to 300,000 Persian army (modern estimates)
800,000 to 2,100,000 Persian army (ancient sources) |
1:9 to 1:43
1:114 to 1:300 |
King Leonidas and his Spartan soldiers, accompanied by a force of allied Greek city states, held back a much larger Persian force under Xerxes for three days in one of the most memorable and eulogized last stands in classical antiquity. *Historical ranges vary (see Battle of Thermopylae). |
| Battle of the Persian Gate | 330 BC | 700 Persians | 10,000 to 17,000 Macedonians | 1:25 | Ariobarzanes led the Persian resistance at the Persian Gate, in a last stand against Alexander the Great and killed a large number of Alexander's Macedonian troops. Despite Ariobarzanes' skillful tactics, Alexander defeated him and burned Persepolis to the ground. |
| Battle of the Hydaspes River | 326 BC | 22,000 Pauravas | 41,000-135,000 Macedonian army | 1:2 to 1:6 | Porus' smaller Paurava Indian army fell against Alexander the Great's large army near the Hydaspes in Punjab, where Alexander's army suffered up to 4,300 casualties in another Pyrrhic victory. Alexander was impressed and spared Porus' life. |
| Siege of Numantia | 134-133 b.c.e. | ~4,000 militia | 60,000 legionaries | 1:15 | The culminating and pacifying action of the long-running Numantine War between the forces of the Roman Republic and those of the native Celtiberian population of Hispania Citerior. The city refused to surrender and starvation set in. Cannibalism ensued; eventually some began to commit suicide with their whole families. The remnant population finally surrendered only after setting their city on fire. Scipio took it and had its ruins levelled. |
| Catiline Conspiracy | 62 BC | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Catiline and his army were annihilated at Pistoria (now Pistoia). "eave to your enemies a bloody and mournful victory." |
| Siege of Masada | 73 | 1,000 Jews | 15,000 Romans | 1:15 | Jewish Zealot rebels committed mass suicide rather than face the prospect of surrender to the Roman army at Masada |
| Battle of Nihawānd | 642 | 100,000-150,000 | 30,000 | 3:1 to 5:1 | The Sassanid Empire fought its final battle against the Arab conquerors. The Arabs outmaneuvered and defeated the Sassanid force, effectively ending the empire. |
| Battle of Karbala | 680 | 73 | 30,000+ | 1:410 | Muhammad's grandson Husayn ibn Ali- (Husayn, Son of Ali) with 71 men fought a military detachment from the forces of Yazid I, the Umayyad caliph, numbering in the thousands, in Battle of Karbala. Husayn and all his men died. |
| Battle of Roncevaux Pass | 778 | Roland and his warriors fought to the last man against the Basques. | |||
| Battle of Maldon | 10 August 991 | approximately 200 Anglo-Saxons | 2,000-4,000 Vikings | 1:10 to 1:20 | A handful of Anglo-Saxon warriors led by Byrhtnoth fought and were eventually overwhelmed by a force of 2,000 - 4,000 Vikings. |
1000 - 1700
| Name | Date | Defending army | Attacking army | Ratio | Details |
| Sack of Baghdad | 1258 | 50,000 Baghdadis | 150,000 Mongol army | 1:3 | The defending army of Baghdad under Caliph Al-Musta'sim made a last stand against Hulagu Khan's large invading army consisting of Mongols, Armenians, Persians, Georgians and Turks. The destruction of Baghdad brought an end to the Abbasid Caliphate and the Islamic Golden Age. |
| Battle of Posada | November 1330 | 10,000 | 30,000+ | 1:3 | After having agreed to an armistice, Basarab's guides led the 30,000-strong Hungarian army into an ambush; the Hungarians were slaughtered by the 10,000-strong Wallachian army led by Basarab I. When the Hungarian king Charles I Robert saw his knights being killed, he gave his royal insignia to one of his captains (who was subsequently killed) and fought his way back to Hungary in disguise. |
| Defence of Meerut Fort | January 1399 | Much smaller | Much larger | The army of Tamerlane was stopped by Ilyaas Awaan, the military commander of Meerut Fort in northern India. Tamerlane's experienced army vastly outnumbered Awaan's small defending force, but Awaan stopped Tamerlane for two months. It was only after the death of Awaan that Tamerlane's army was able to take the fort. Tamerlane developed great respect for Awaan and openely praised his bravery and courage. He later mentioned Awaan in his memoirs as the opponent who gave him the fiercest resistance with an extremely small force. | |
| First Siege of Krujë | June 1450 | 1,500 Albanians | 150,000 Ottomans | 1:100 | After leaving a protective garrison of 1,500 men under his trusted lieutenant Vrana Konti (also known as Kont Urani), Skanderbeg harassed the Ottoman camps around Krujë and attacked the supply caravans of Sultan Murad II's army. By September, the Ottoman camp was in disarray, as morale sank and disease ran rampant. The Ottoman army acknowledged that the castle of Krujë would not fall by strength of arms, and lifted the siege and made their way to Edirne. |
| Fall of Constantinople | May 1453 | 7,000 Byzantine Greeks and Latin allies | 80,000-200,000 Ottomans | 1:11 to 1:21 | Constantinople was captured by the Turks under Mehmed II after a two-month siege. On May 28, 1453 the Turks stormed the city. Though the Byzantines and their Western allies held off the first two waves of the Turks, the third wave broke through. Emperor Constantine XI, seeing that the battle was lost, begged his fellow soldiers to kill him: "the city is fallen but I yet live, isn't there a Christian here to take my head?" When his soldiers refused to, he stripped off his imperial insignia, and, sword in hand, fought to the death like a common foot soldier. His death signalled the death-knell of the Byzantine Empire, bringing an end to the last remnant of the Roman Empire. |
| Sack of Rome (1527) | 1527 | 189 Members of the Papal Swiss Guard | 20,000 rampaging troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor | 1:106 | The city of Rome fell, after a hard fought battle, to the unruly army of Charles V, who had lost all control of his men. On May 6, 1527 the mercenaries and cuthroats of Charles' army stormed the walls of Vatican Hill and began to slaughter what was left of the defenders. After executing a number of men, the bulk of the raiders made their way to St. Peter's Basilica with the intent of looting Christianity's finest treasures. In order to buy time for Pope Clement VII to escape through a secret passage to the relative safety of Castel Sant'Angelo, the Papal Swiss Guard formed up on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica itself and fought for some time against the hordes of men attempting to enter the church. Of the 189 members of the Guard on duty that day, only 42 survived the brutal fighting. The Captain of the Guard was among the fallen. The occupation of Rome by the unruly forces of Charles V lasted for almost nine months. |
| Siege of Eger | 1552 | 2,100 Hungarians | 150,000 - 200,000 Ottomans (around 80,000 combat troops) | 1:40 to 1:100 | Due to heavy losses in troops and morale, the Ottoman army ultimately retreated. |
| Great Siege of Malta | 1565 | 700 Knights of Malta and 5,000 Maltese soldiers (mostly irregulars) | 48,000 Ottomans (around 36,000 effective combat troops) | 1:8 | Ottomans chose to besiege Maltese islands in order to later invade Italy after conquering Malta. The Knights Hospitaller made a last stand to provide time for the Christian to kingdoms prepare for the Ottoman threat. The main mistake of the Ottomans was failure to attack the biggest Maltese forts, Fort Saint Angelo and Fort Saint Michael, instead exhausting their force taking Fort St. Elmo and Birgu. After a 115-day long siege, due to heavy losses in troops and morale, the Ottoman army ultimately retreated to the sea. |
| Battle of Szigetvár | August 1566 | 2,300 Croats and Hungarians | 90,000 Turks | 1:39 | All but seven defenders under the leadership of Croatian ban Nikola Šubić Zrinski were killed, while the Ottoman Turks suffered up to 25,000 killed. |
| Battle of Myeongnyang | October 26 1597 | 13 Korean panokseon battleships | 333 Japanese fleet | 1:25 | During the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598), Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin held the strait from a fleet of 133 Japanese warships and at least 200 Japanese logistical support ships. Many Japanese warships were sunk or disabled during the battle and the Japanese were forced to retreat. Given the disparity in numbers, the battle is regarded as one of Admiral Yi's most remarkable victories. |
| Battle of Pavan Khind | 1660 | 150 Marathas under Baji Prabhu Deshpande | Bijapuri Army (15,000+) | 1:100 | Baji Prabhu Deshpande defended Pavan Khind, a small pass and huge cliffs between Kolhapur and Satara, with 150 men against the Bijapur army for more than 14 hours, allowing Shivaji to escape to a safer place. |
1700 - 1870
| Name | Date | Defending army | Attacking army | Ratio | Details |
| Battle of Culloden | 16 April 1746 | 5,400 Jacobites | 9,000 British troops | roughly 1:2 | The last battle between the Jacobite forces commanded by Prince Charles Edward Stuart (aka "Bonnie Prince Charlie") and the forces of King George II ended the Rising of the '45. |
| Fourth Mysore War | 4 May 1799 | 30,000 Mysore troops | 60,000 British troops | roughly 1:2 | Tipu Sultan was betrayed in this war by one of his commanders, Mir Sadiq, a traitor who was bought by the British. Tippu Sultan died defending his capital on May 4. The Kingdom of Mysore became a princely state of British India. |
| Defensa del Parque de Artillería de Monteleón | May 2 1808 | 37 Spanish soldiers | Hundreds of French soldiers | ? | Pedro Velarde y Santillán led the defence of the artillery barracks in Madrid during the spontaneous popular uprising against Napoleon. Hundreds were killed, among them Velarde and nearly all of his troops. |
| Battle of the Alamo | 23 February - 6 March 1836 | 185 defenders | 1800 - 2000 Mexican troops | 1:11 | The Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution was the first and last stand for the volunteers from Coahuila y Tejas. The garrison commander, South Carolinan attorney Willian Barret Travis, meant to delay Santa Ana's invasion on the north shore of the Rio Brazos, buying time for Sam Houston to build up his army. The garrison held out for 12 days. On the 13th day, every defender died in a surprise, pre-dawn attack. Overall casualties for the Mexicans numbered around 600 dead. Over 200 Mexicans were killed outright, and another 400 or more died of their wounds in the ensuing weeks. The battle was a Pyrrhic victory for Santa Ana, who could ill-afford to lose a third of his fighting force to such a small collection of volunteers. |
| Battle of Blood River | 16 December 1838 | 470 Voortrekkers defenders | 10,000-20,000 Zulu attackers | 1:21 to 1:43 | 470 Boer Voortrekkers successfully defended an impromptu laager of wagons against 10,000 Zulus. |
| Battle of Gandamack | 13 January 1842 | 80 British Soldiers | 4000+ Afghan Tribesmen | The remains of a British and East India Company army retreating through the Khyber Pass made a desperate last stand against Afghan tribesmen who had been sniping and charging them for weeks in the thick of an Afghan winter. Having dwindled from a force of around 14,000 men, the survivors, consisting mainly of officers and men from the 44th East Essex Regiment and officers of the Bengal Artillery, formed a rough square formation on the top of a rocky snow-clad hilltop near the village of Gandamack and fought to the last. Only a handful of wounded were taken prisoner. | |
| Battle of Chapultepec | 13 September 1847 | Niños Héroes - Six Mexican cadets fought to the last man, after General Bravo ordered them to fall back during the Siege of Chapultepec; one of the last events of the Mexican-American War | |||
| Battle of Camarón | 30 April 1863 | 65 Legionnaires | 800 Mexican cavalry and 1200 infantry | 1:12 | The French Foreign Legion's stand at Camerone (Spanish: Camarón), Mexico. Capt. Jean Danjou and his company of men, with pack mules carrying supplies, were caught in the open by Mexican cavalry while attempting to locate and reinforce the French relief column from Veracruz. They formed square and fought their way under attack to the hacienda of Camerone, where they continued fighting until only three were left. The survivors surrendered to the Mexicans, on the terms that they keep their weapons and receive safe conduct to their own lines. The Mexicans honored their word. The battle established the reputation of the Legion as an elite corps. |
| Battle of Port Hudson | May 23-July 9 1863 | 4,652-6,800 Confederate troops | 30,000-40,000 Union troops | 1:6 | Major General Franklin Gardner defended the last Confederate bastion on the Mississippi River against two major attacks by the Union Army of the Gulf, commanded by Major General N P Banks and a Union flotilla led by Admiral David G. Farragut. It was the longest siege in US military history, with the highest casualty rate suffered by Union Army during the Civil War. The Union flotilla was severely damaged, making it the worst defeat suffered by Farragut during the war. |
| Battle of Ringgold Gap | 27 November 1863 | 10,000-20,000 Confederate troops | 30,000-60,000 Union troops | 1:3 | The division of Confederate Major General Patrick Cleburne held the pass of Ringgold Gap in Northwest Georgia to cover the retreat of the Confederate Army of Tennessee against the entire Union Army corps of Joseph Hooker of the Army of the Potomac. Cleburne's division took approximately the same number of casualties as their enemy, while outnumbered 3:1. Just two days before, the same division had successfully held Tunnel Hill, the north end of Missionary Ridge, against the four divisions of Major General William T. Sherman's corps on the third day of the Third Battle of Chattanooga. The center of the line two miles (3 km) south, under the direct command of Gen. Braxton Bragg, collapsed under assault by the troops of George Henry Thomas. |
| Battle of Acosta Ñu | 16 August 1869 | 6,000 mostly children | 20,000+ Brazilian troops | 1:3 | During the Triple Alliance War, while retreating from Asuncion, a Paraguayan army consisting mostly of children held back a Brazilian regiment, until being massacred. |
1870 - 1930
| Name | Date | Defending army | Attacking army | Ratio | Details |
| Battle of the Little Bighorn | 25 June 1876 | 208 US Cavalry under Custer | 1800 Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe | roughly 1:9 | Custer's famous "Last stand". The Federal cavalry officer and hero of Gettysburg refused an extra battalion of men from General Terry and left a battery of Gatling guns at the Steamboat Far West on the Yellowstone River, knowing he was facing superior odds. Four days later he stumbled upon a very large encampment, 3.5-5 miles long on the west side of the Little Bighorn. His Crow scouts rode off at that point. Custer then divided his forces in a three-way pincers move. The defenders beat back the initial attacks, forced Custer's supporting columns under Reno and Benteen into a defensive position, and pursued Custer and his men up onto a long, open ridge. The entire force with Custer died. Reno and Benteen's men, dug in over three miles (5 km) away, survived a three-day siege until relieved by General Terry. |
| Battle of Shipka Pass | 21 August 1877 | 5000 Russian soldiers and Bulgarian Opalchentsi | 30,000 Turkish soldiers | 1:6 | 5000 Russian soldiers and Bulgarian Opalchentsi led by General Darozhinsky repelled 30,000 troops commanded by Suleiman Pasha at the Battle of Shipka Pass. |
| Battle of Shiroyama | 24 September 1877 | 300-400 samurai under Satsuma | 300,000 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army | 1:750 to 1:1000 | 300 samurai faced 300,000 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army at the Battle of Shiroyama. |
| Battle of Isandlwana | 22 January 1879 | 1,400 British soldiers | 22,000 Zulu troops | 1:16 | A British force of 1,400 men was overwhelmed by a 22,000 strong Zulu army at the Battle of Isandlwana and suffered over 1300 dead. |
| Rorke's Drift | 22 January 1879 | 139 British infantry | 4,000-5,000 Zulu warriors | 1:29 to 1:36 | 150 British soldiers successfully defend the supply station at Rorke's Drift against 4,000 Zulu warriors. This engagement resulted in the largest number of Victoria Crosses ever awarded to a regiment in a single battle. |
| Battle of Tomochic | 20 October 1892 | In the last battle of the Tomochic revolt, 100 Serrano riflemen stood against 1200 Federal troops for seven days in the Tomochic forest and finally in the town itself. | |||
| Shangani Patrol | 3 December 1893 – 4 December 1893 | 34 British South Africa Police | 3,000 Matabele warriors | 1:88 | The Shangani Patrol was a group of white Rhodesian settlers killed in battle on the Shangani River in Zimbabwe. The incident achieved a lasting, prominent place in Rhodesian colonial history as part of the mythology of white conquest. |
| Battle of Saragarhi | 12 September 1897 | 21 Sikhs | 10,000 Afghan and Orakzai troops | 1:476 | The Battle of Saragarhi was fought between 21 Sikhs of the 4th Battalion (then 36th Sikhs) of the Sikh Regiment of Great British India, defending an army post, against 10,000 Afghans and Orakzai tribesmen. |
| Battle of San Juan Hill | July 1, 1898 | 800 Spanish | 15,000 Americans, 4,000 Cubans | 1:24 | The Americans suffered almost three times as many losses compared to the Spaniards. |
| Battle of El Caney | July 1, 1898 | 500 Spanish | 8,500 Americans, 1,000 Cubans | 1:19 | The Spanish army held off the more heavily-armed Americans for 12 hours while waiting in vain for reinforcements. |
| Siege of Baler | - | 50 Spaniards | Between 300 and 2,000 Filipinos grossing as the siege advanced | 1:6 to 1:40 | Fifty Spanish soldiers and four officers defended this site, surrounded for a whole year, not knowing that the Filipino-Spanish war was over. |
| Siege of Mafeking | October 1899 - May 1900 | 2000 UK Combatants | 8000 Boer Combatants | 1:4 | The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking (now Mafikeng) in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell, who went on to found the Scouting movement, into a national hero. The lifting of the Siege of Mafeking was a decisive victory for the British and a crushing defeat for the Boers. |
| Battle of Tirad Pass | 2 December 1899 | 60 Filipino troops | 500 American soldiers | 1:8 | The stand of 60 Filipino soldiers under General Gregorio del Pilar covered the retreat of President Emilio Aguinaldo during the Philippine-American War. |
| Battle of Gallipoli | April-December 1915 | Ottoman forces | Coalition Armies | The Gallipoli campaign took place between April and December 1915 in an effort to take the Dardanelles from the Turkish Ottoman Empire (an ally of Germany and Austria) and thus force it out of the war. Some 60,000 Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders were part of a larger British force. Some 26,000 Australians and 7,571 New Zealanders were wounded; and 7,594 Australians and 2,431 New Zealanders were killed. In numerical terms, Gallipoli was a minor campaign, but it took on considerable national and personal importance to the Australians and New Zealanders who fought there. Bouvet and Irresistible are sunk together with coalition dreams to get Istanbul. | |
| Battle of Doiran | 18 September 1918 | 35,000 Bulgarian troops (1 Division) | at least 75,000 British and Greek troops (6 Divisions) | 1:2,5-3 | The stand of the Bulgarian 9th Infantry Division on the fortified position around Doiran under General Vladimir Vazov against superior Allied forces. The Bulgarians inflicted 59,000 casualties on the enemy while losing 494 soldiers. The Bulgarian victory saved the country from an Allied occupation. |
| Lost Battalion | 2 – 7 October 1918 | An American battalion under Major Charles White Whittlesey held out in the Argonne Forrest. | |||
| Battle of Zadwórze | August 171920 | 330 mostly ill-equipped Polish irregulars | Bolshevik 1st Cavalry Army | The result is a Russian tactical victory, but a Polish strategic victory. The Polish force, although inflicting heavy losses, was almost completely annihilated. Their stand did manage to halt the Soviet advance and prevent the Bolsheviks from seizing Lwów, effectively buying time for the Polish defense of Warsaw. | |
1930 - 1945
| Name | Date | Defending army | Attacking army | Ratio | Details |
| Defense of Sihang Warehouse | 26 October – 1 November 1937 | 414 Chinese | 414 Chinese soldiers defended the Sihang Warehouse against Japanese forces. | ||
| Battle of Westerplatte | 1 September – 7 September 1939 | 182 Polish soldiers 25 civilians | 3,500 German soldiers plus
47-70 Stuka dive bombers |
1:18 | The Polish garrison held out for a week against the German invaders. The exact number of German losses remains unknown or undisclosed, but are estimated to be in the range of several hundred. Polish casualties were much lower - 15 killed and 53 wounded. |
| Defense of the Polish Post Office in Danzig | 1 September1939 | 57 Polish militiamen | Unknown German forces | Unknown |
The Polish garrison of the post office held out against the German assault, while under heavy bombardment, from 0445 to 1800 hours, refusing a call at 1500 hours to surrender. Only six defenders were killed in action; however, after surrender, all but four of them were executed as partisans. |
| Battle of Wizna | 7 September – 10 September 1939 | 720 Polish soldiers
6 artillery guns, 42 MGs |
42,200 German soldiers
350 tanks, considerable artillery and aircraft support |
1:58 | The Polish defense line held for three days, halting and hindering the German offensive in the area. |
| Battle of Suomussalmi | 7 December 1939 – 8 January 1940 | 11,000 Finnish soldiers | 45,000-50,000 Soviet soldiers | Roughly 1:4 | The Battle of Suomussalmi was a battle in the Winter War conflict. In this one-month battle the vastly superior Soviet forces lost against the light Finnish ski troops. In this battle the Motti tactic was used successfully. |
| Siege of Tobruk | April 10, 1941– November 27, 1941 | 14,000 British, Indian, Australian, Czech and Polish soldiers | 35,000 Germans and Italian soldiers | 2:5 | The longest siege in British history, it proved the tanks vulnerability against anti-tank mines, entrenched infantry and artillery fire. A total of three attempts were made to relieve the siege. Despite the numerical and armory advantage of the Axis, the defenders were able to hold due to the naval superiority of the Royal Navy; not only supplies, but the British 70th Infantry Division and the Polish Carpathian Brigade were able to replace the Australian 9th Division and a brigade of 18th Division. The siege also saw a number of Indians and Czech. |
| Battle of Wake Island | December 8, 1941-December 23, 1941 | 449 Marines, 68 US Navy personnel and 1221 civilian construction workers | 2500 Japanese infantry, supporting air and naval forces. | 1:6 | After a 16-day siege, several unsuccessful landing attempts, the loss of two destroyers and nearly 30 aircraft, and extensive damage to its landing fleet, the Japanese succeeded in getting USMC Maj. Devereux to surrender "honorably". The Japanese lost an estimated 900 dead and over 1100 wounded. 49 US Marines, 3 naval personnel, and 70 civilian workers died. Most of the American survivors either died as POWs or were murdered by the Japanese after the surrender, for bringing disgrace on his Imperial Majesty's forces. 98 Americans were kept on the island as slave labor, but were eventually machine-gunned en masse in October 1943. One survivor who escaped the massacre scratched a monument to the dead on a coral rock reading: 98 US PW 5-10-43. He was later recaptured and personally beheaded by Admiral Sakaibara. |
| Battle of Moscow | October 1941 - January 1942 | Defense of the Soviet 316th Rifle Division under command of General Ivan Panfilov at Dubosekovo near Volokolamsk during the Battle of Moscow. | |||
| Defence of Brest Fortress | 22 June – 30 July 1941 | 3,500-4,000 Soviet soldiers | 30,000-40,000 German soldiers | roughly 1:10 | The defenders were cut off from the outside world and ran out of food, water and ammunition, but still fought and counter-attacked to the very end. |
| Battle of Dražgoše | 9 January – 11 January 1942 | ~200 Slovenian partisans | ~2000 Wehrmacht troops with supporting artillery | 1:10 | In the first confrontation between Slovenian partisans and occupying German forces, the village of Dražgoše was razed to the ground following three days of ferocious fighting in which nine partisans and more than 100 German soldiers were killed. Following the partisan retreat, Germans rounded up the locals, executed adult males and older boys on-site, and interned the rest of the population in concentration camps. |
| Battle of Pasir Panjang | 13 February 1942 | 1,400 Malay, British, Indian and Australian soldiers | 13,000 Japanese troops | 1:9 | Soldiers from the Royal Malay Regiment, The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, the British 2nd Loyals Regiment, the 44th Indian Brigade and the 22nd Australian Brigade made a futile attempt to stop the advancing Japanese towards the centre of Singapore. In the final hours of battle, a Malay soldier, 2nd Lieutenant Adnan Bin Saidi, led a 42-man platoon against thousands of invaders, leaving a sole survivor. The Japanese suffered a disproportionately high number of casualties, and tortured Adnan before executing him. |
| Battle of Corregidor | 5 May – 6 May 1942 | 13,000 American and Filipino soldiers | 75,000 Japanese troops | 1:6 | The 4th Marine Regiment fell under the advance of the Imperial Japanese Army's final assault at the Battle of Corregidor. |
| Battle of Buna-Gona | 16 November 1942 – 22 January 1943 | Japanese defence of the Papuan beachheads at the Battle of Buna-Gona. | |||
| Battle of Ramou | May – 14 September 1944 | 1,260 Japanese Troops | 50,000 Chinese (Nationalist) Troops | 1:40 | One Japanese regiment fought five Chinese divisions in South China, near Burma. Three Japanese soldiers were ordered by Major Kanemitsu, the officer commanding, to report to headquarters after their position fell and became the only survivors. There was no air cover or supply. |
| Battle of Arnhem Bridge – | 17-20 September 1944| | 9000 paratroopers, 1st British Airborne Division | 2 German Panzer divisions. | 1:4+ | The 1st British Airborne Division was charged with securing and holding the bridge--the final bridgehead leading into Germany--against anticipated light opposition until Field Marshal Montgomery's heavy armoured divisions could arrive to relieve them. Allied aerial reconnaissance never identified the two understrength German Panzer divisions resting in the area and Montgomery's troops never got there. Once the Paratroopers had seized the bridge, the Germans counterattacked in force, eventually forcing the bridge, and fighting it out with Britain's crack parachutists in three brutal days of house-to-house fighting while suffering heavy casualties themselves. In the end, about 1000 were evacuated, with the rest of the survivors wounded or captured. The 1st British Airborne suffered 90% casualties. |
| Battle of Angaur. | 20 September – 30 September 1944 | 1,400 Japanese Troops | 15,000 American Troops | 1:10 | The Japanese defense of Angaur. |
| Siege of Bastogne | 19 December 1944-December 26 1944 | about 12,000 US Paratroopers | Roughly 15 Divisions of Germans | 2:25 | Under their impetuous commander, Anthony McAuliffe the vastly outnumbered, underequipped, and exhausted 101st Airborne Division seized the town of Bastogne early in the Battle of the Bulge to defend this strategic crossroads from the German Advance. Completely surrounded by the Germans on December 22, the 101st could only be sustained by airdrops from C-47s. When the German commander, General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz asked the 101st's acting commander, Anthony McAuliffe to surrender, McAuliffe's famously terse reply was "Nuts!". Nonetheless, the unit held off a German Panzer division, until eventually relieved by George S. Patton's US Third Army on December 26. |
| Battle of Iwo Jima. | 19 February – 26 March 1945 | 22,000 Japanese Troops | 110,000 American Troops | 1:5 | The Japanese defended Iwo Jima against a combined land, sea, and air assault by the United States. |
| Battle for Berlin | 16 April – 8 May 1945 | 766,750 German Soldiers | 2,500,000 Soviet soldiers | 1:3 | Last stand of the German army against Soviet forces in the German capital. |
1946 - Current Day
| Name | Date | Defending army | Attacking army | Ratio | Details |
| Bukit Kepong Incident | 23 February 1950 | 25 police and auxiliary police personnel | 200 Communists | 1:8 | A police station near Muar, Malaysia was besieged by Communist guerrillas. |
| Battle of Chosin Reservoir | 26 November 1950 – December 13, 1950 | About 30,000 U.S. and British soldiers | 60,000 Chinese. | Roughly 1:2 | UN forces were surrounded by China's People's Liberation Army units. USMC Maj. Gen. O.P. Smith had planned for the contingency, and ordered a fighting retreat by the US' 1st Marine Division. It cut his way out, bringing out all his dead and wounded, and leaving the remnants of 4 shattered Chinese divisions in his path. In contrast, the Army's Task Force Faith failed to break out. |
| Battle of the Imjin River | 22 April – 25 April 1951 | 750 British soldiers | Approx. 70,000 Chinese soldiers | 1:94 | The last stand of the Gloucestershire Regiment at Gloster Hill cost the Chinese over 10,000 dead and resulted in the 63rd Army being removed from the line. Out of 750 men of the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, only 160 mustered for roll-call after the battle. The Glosters won between them 2 Victoria Crosses, 1 George Cross, 3 Distinguished Service Orders and 3 Military Crosses. Out of the British 29th Brigade, over 1000 men were killed or captured by the Chinese. |
| Outpost Harry | June 10 – June 18, 1953 | 5 Companies between 500 and 700 Greek and US troops of the UNC | 13-15,000 Chinese troops | 1:26 | Outpost Harry was a strategic "military Hot Spot" and dearly desired by the Chinese. If the UN forces lost the outpost, the U.S. Eighth Army would have had to withdraw approximately 6 miles (10 km) to the next defensible line. Furthermore, a Chinese victory at Outpost Harry may have whet the appetite for more war and disheartened the American public to a point where it might have accepted an armistice term less favorable than was eventually was the case. The United Nations held the position and it was the last battle of the Korean War. |
| Battle of Dien Bien Phu | 13 March – 7 May 1954 | 10,800 French | 63,000 Vietnamese | 1:5 | The final battle of the First Indochina War pitted French Union forces against Viet Minh forces under General Vo Nguyen Giap. |
| Battle of Rezang La/Chushul | 18 November 1962 | 123 Indian soldiers from Kumaon Regiment of Indian Army | Approx. 7000 Chinese soldiers | 1:57 | The 13th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment led by Shaitan Singh at Rezang La (Sino-Indian War). Of the 123 Indian soldiers, 109 died. |
| Landing Zone (LZ) X-Ray in the Battle of Ia Drang | 14 November – 17 November, 1965 | 1000 American Soldiers | Vietnam People's Army (Peoples' Army of Vietnam, North Vietnamese Army) (4000) | 1:4 | The 1st Battalion/7th Cavalry, the 2nd Battalion/7th Cavalry, and the 1st Battalion/5th Cavalry at the Battle of Ia Drang. |
| Battle of Long Tan | 18 August – 19 August, 1966 | Australian Army (108) | North Vietnamese Army, Viet Cong (1,500-2,650) | 1:15 | The Battle of Long Tần is arguably the most famous battle fought by the Australian Army during the Vietnam War. It was fought in a rubber plantation near the village of Long Tần, about 4 km north-east of Vung Tau, South Vietnam on August 18–19, 1966. |
| Battle of Longewala | 5 December – 6 December, 1971 | 1 Indian Company (120) | 1 Pakistani Armoured Brigade (3,000) | 1:20 | The Indian 'A' company of 120 odd soldiers of the 23rd Battalion, Punjab Regiment, managed to hold a 2,000-3,000 strong assault force of the 51st Infantry Brigade of the Pakistani Army, backed by the 22nd Armoured Regiment, before the Indian Air Force flew in. |
| Battle of Khe Sanh | 21 January – 8 April, 1968 | 6,000 Marines, 350 tactical fighter-bombers, 60 B-52s, 30 reconnaissance aircraft, 40,000 tons of bombs | 20,000 North Vietnamese | roughly 1:3 | 6,000 U.S. forces, primarily Marines backed up by 350 tactical fighters and 60 B-52s, successfully defended this base against 20,000 North Vietnamese forces. Roughly 40,000 tons of bombs were dropped in around 12000 sorties. |
| Last Stand of Recon Team Kansas | 6 August 1971 | 6 US Special Forces, 8 Montagnard tribesmen | 1500 North Vietnamese | roughly 1:107 | Recon Team Kansas lost 3 US Special Forces members and 6 Mantagnards during an ambush by NVA |
| Battle of An Loc | April 13-July 20, 1972 | 6000 South Vietnamese troops, VNAF soldiers, and USAF bombers | 35000 PAVN and Viet Cong soldiers | roughly 1:6 | As a part of the Easter Offensive, the PAVN and National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) sought to seize the city of An Loc for its strategic position between Cambodia and Saigon. Facing a combined 6 PAVN and NLF divisions totaling 35000+ soldiers with only one division at its disposal, the ARVN resisted aggressively to a much larger enemy. |
| 22 October 1973 | The Barak Armored Brigade defending the southern Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War. | ||||
| Battle of Xuan Loc | April 1975 | 6,000 ARVN soldiers | 40,000 North Vietnamese | 1:7 | During last major battle of the Vietnam War, the Battle of Xuan Loc, the vastly outnumbered ARVN 18th Division stood and fought at Xuan Loc. |
| Battle for Hill 3234 | 7 January – 8 January, 1988 | 39 Soviet paratroopers | well-armed force of 200-400 Mujahideen | roughly 1:5 - 1:10 | Battle for Hill 3234 was a defensive battle fought by the Soviet paratroopers in Afghanistan in 1988 against the much larger Afghan rebel force.Shortly after landing on Hill 3234, the 39-man unit came under attack by a coordinated and well-armed force of 200-400 Mujahideen. The first attack came at 15:30 on January 7 and was followed by 11 more attacks until just before dawn on January 8 when the Mujahideen withdrew leaving Hill 3234 in the hands of the Soviet paratroopers. Ironically, the exhausted and mostly wounded Soviets were nearly out of ammunition after the final attack and may not have been able to withstand a 13th assault.
The Soviet forces sustained 37 casualties (out of a force of 39 men), including 9 men killed and 28 injured. |
| Battle of Vukovar | August 25 and November 18, 1991 | 2,000 Croatian National Guard | 36,000 Mixture of various Serb forces | 1:18 | Only one brigade of Croatian soldiers clashed with the JNA army, then the fourth biggest army in Europe. JNA troops, consisting of mostly Serbian soldiers, completely enclosed the city. Most Croatian soldiers were killed (about 2,000) while the other side suffered enormous losses (about 10,000). Up to this date, there has been no official confirmation of the latter. The city was completely obliterated by 700,000 different projectiles (during only 3 months of the battle), and occupied until 1998. |
| Battle of Mogadishu | October 3 and 4, 1993 | 160 USSOF and UNOSOM II | 2,000+ Somali National Alliance - affiliated militias | 1:13 | US soldiers from the 1st SFOD-D and the 75th Ranger Regiment went into hostile territory, but two UH-60 Black Hawks were shot down and the US soldiers ended up besieged in the city with support form 160th SOAR. They were contact with UN force later at night and evacuated from the city in the morning. Two Delta Force troopers, MSG Gary Gordon and SFC Randy Shughart were awarded Medal of Honor for volunteering to secure the second crash site. |
| Battle of Hill 776 | 29 February – 1 March, 2000 | 85 Russian paratroopers | ~2,000 Chechen mujahideen | ~1:24 | During one of the last major battles of the Second Chechen War, a vastly outnumbered company of Russian airborne troops stood and fought against an assault by Chechen rebels on Hill 776 near Ulus-Kert in the Chechen Republic. All but one of the 85 Russians died - 400 rebels were killed. |
| Operation Red Wing | 25 June, 2005 | 4 Navy Seals | ~150 Taliban insurgents | ~Roughly 1:38 | US Navy Seals from Seal Team 10, attempted to hold off 150 Taliban insurgents. All but one of the 4 Navy Seals died, an estimated 35 Taliban insurgents died. Additionally, 8 Navy Seals and 8 Army Nightstalkers were killed in a helicopter. |
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008) |
See also
References
- Thomas Kelly (University of Minnesota) (2003), "Persian Propaganda - A Neglected Factor in Xerxes' Invasion of Greece and Herodotus", Iranica Antiqua 38, p. 198, gives 60,000 to 300,000 as a common range of modern estimates.
- Philip De Souza, The Greek and Persian Wars, 499-386 BC, p. 41, gives 150,000 to 200,000 as a modern consensus.
- ^ Aryo Barzan, Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present By David Eggenberger, pg 305
- Age of Faith, Durrant
- ^ National Geographic, University of Michigan, vol. 191, 1997:
"In 1253, the Persian writer Ala-ad-Din Ata-Malik Juvaini recorded Hulagu's preparations for his Baghdad expedition. With the cavalry were a thousand expert artillerymen from China. The army swelled with troops from vassal states: Armenians, Georgians, Persians, Turks. By one estimate, the force grew to 150,000 men."
- Edwin Pears, The Destruction of the Greek Empire and the Story of the Capture of Constantinople by the Turks
- Bryan Perrett, Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds. London: Arms and Armour, 1993; pp. 26-37.
- Bryan Perrett, Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds. London: Arms and Armour, 1993; pp. 38-47.
- Perrett, Bryan. Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds. London: Arms & Armour, 1993.
- The Battle of An Loc/Indiana University Press