At Alesia, (51 B.C.) Caesar completed the subjugation of Gaul, by destroying in detail two hostile armies aggregating 470,000 men. The Roman army consisted of 43,000 heavy infantry, 10,000 heavy cavalry and 10,000 light cavalry.
At Pharsaleus, (48 B.C.) Caesar with 22,000 Roman veterans routed 45,000 soldiers under Pompey and acquired the chief place in the Roman state.
At Angora, (1402) Tamerlane, with 1,400,000 Asiatics, destroyed the Turkish army of 900,000 men, commanded by the Ottoman Sultan Bajazet, in the most stupendous battle of authentic record.
After giving his final instructions to his officers, Tamerlane, it is recorded, betook himself to his tent and played at Chess until the crisis of the battle arrived, whereupon he proceeded to the decisive point and in person directed those evolutions which resulted in the destruction of the Ottoman army.
The assumption that the great Asiatic warrior was playing at Chess during the earlier part of the battle of Angora, undoubtedly is erroneous. Most probably he followed the progress of the conflict by posting chess-pieces upon the Chessboard and moving these according to reports sent him momentarily by his lieutenants.
Obviously, in the days when the field telegraphy and telephone were unknown, such method was entirely feasible and satisfactory to the Master of Strategetics and far superior to any attempt to overlook such a confused and complicated concourse.
At Bannockburne (June 24, 1314), Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, with 30,000 Scots annihilated the largest army that England ever put upon a battlefield.