AI: Sicilian Expedition, Battle of Cannae, Teutoburg Forest, Battle of Red Cliffs, “Kamikaze” or Divine Wind, Battle of Agincourt, Battle of Tenochtitlán, Battle of Lepanto, Spanish Armada, Battles of Saratoga, Battle of Little Bighorn, Battle of Isandlwana, Battle of Tannenberg, Battle of France, and Battle of Stalingrad Compared: 15 Militarily Disasters
Sicilian Expedition (415-413 BC, Sicily): “The Athenians, on the other hand, became so confident that they would conquer Sicily that they quite forgot that they had an enemy to deal with.” – Thucydides (Historian who chronicled the Peloponnesian War)
Battle of Cannae (216 BC, Italy): “Cannae… a Roman disaster which has no parallel.” – Livy (Roman historian)
Teutoburg Forest (9 AD, Germany): “Quintili Vare, legiones redde!” (“Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!”) – Attributed to Emperor Augustus (upon hearing of the Roman defeat)
Battle of Red Cliffs (208 AD, China): “A feather may be too light to feel, yet it can tickle one to death.” – Zhuge Liang (Strategist for the allied forces, emphasizing the impact of seemingly small things)
“Kamikaze” or Divine Wind (1274 & 1281, Japan): “The wind of the gods arose and drove the Mongol ships ashore.” – Japanese account of the 1281 typhoon
Battle of Agincourt (1415, France): “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” – Shakespeare (from his play Henry V, capturing the spirit of the English army)
Battle of Tenochtitlán (1521, Mexico): “The city was so filled with the stench of the dead that no one could endure it.” – Bernal Díaz del Castillo (Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest)
Battle of Lepanto (1571, Eastern Mediterranean): “From the fury of the Turk, deliver us, O Lord.” – Battle cry of the Holy League
Spanish Armada (1588, England Channel): “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.” – Queen Elizabeth I (rallying her troops)
Battles of Saratoga (1777, America): “These are the times that try men’s souls.” – Thomas Paine (on the importance of the American victory)
Battle of Little Bighorn (1876, America): “It was an annihilation. Nothing less.” – Lieutenant Edward Godfrey (one of the few survivors of Custer’s detachment)
Battle of Isandlwana (1879, South Africa): “If we go forward, we die. If we go backward, we die. So let us go forward and die.” – Zulu warrior, highlighting their courage
Battle of Tannenberg (1914, East Prussia): “This is the revenge for the Battle of Grunwald!” – Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg (referencing a historic German defeat by Polish-Lithuanian forces)
Battle of France (1940, France): “The Führer has achieved a victory greater than any in history.” – German radio broadcast announcing the fall of France
Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943, Russia): “Not one step back!” – Joseph Stalin’s order to the defenders of Stalingrad, emphasizing the city’s strategic importance