Battles have ever been the last resource of good generals. A situation where chance and accident often baffle and overcome the most prudential and most able arrangements, and where superiority in numbers by no means ensures success, is such as is never entered into without a clear necessity for so doing. The fighting a battle only because the enemy is near, or from having no other formed plan of offence, is not the way of making war. Darius lost his crown and life by it: Harold, of England, did the same; and Francis I. at Pavia, lost the battle and his liberty. King John, of France, fought the battle of Poictiers, though ruin attended his enemy if he had not fought. The king of Prussia lost his country, and the reputation which Prussia acquired from Frederick II. by the battle of Jena.
A skilful general will give battle when his army’s situation cannot be worse, if defeated, than if it does not fight at all; and when the advantage may be great, and the loss little. Such was the duke of Cumberland’s at Hastenbeck, in 1757, and prince Ferdinand’s at Vellinghausen, in 1761. The reasons and situations for giving battle are so numerous, that to treat of them all would fill a large volume; the following are a few exigencies of state that require an army to attack the enemy at all events. Such were the causes of the battle of Blenheim, in 1704, of Zorndorff, in 1758, of Cunnersdorff, in 1759, and of Rosbach, in 1757, of Austerlitz, in 1805. An army is also obliged to engage when shut up in a post. An army may give battle to effect its junction with another army, &c.
The preparations for battle admit of infinite variety. By a knowlege of the detail of battles, the precept will accompany the example. The main general preparations are, to profit by any advantage of ground; that the tactical form of the army be in some measure adapted to it; and that such form be, if possible, a form tactically better than the enemy’s; and, in forming the army, to have a most careful attention to multiply resources, so that the fate of the army may not hang on one or two efforts; to give any particular part of the army, whose quality is superior to such part in the enemy’s army, a position that ensures action; and finally, to have a rear by nature, or if possible, by art, capable of checking the enemy in case of disaster.
The dispositions of battles admit likewise of an infinite variety of cases; for even the difference of ground which happens at almost every step, gives occasion to change the disposition or plan; and a general’s expedience will teach him to profit by this, and take the advantage the ground offers him. It is an instant, a coup d’œil which decides this: for it is to be feared the enemy may deprive you of those advantages or turn them to his own profit; and for that reason this admits of no precise rule, the whole depending on the time and the occasion.
With regard to battles, there are three things to be considered; what precedes, what accompanies, and what follows the action. As to what precedes the action, you should unite all your force, examine the advantage of the ground, the wind, and the sun, (things not to be neglected) and chuse, if possible, a field of battle proportioned to the number of your troops.
You must post the different kinds of troops advantageously for each: they must be so disposed as to be able to return often to the charge; for he who can charge often with fresh troops, is commonly victorious. Your wings must be covered so as not to be surrounded, and you must observe, that your troops can assist each other without any confusion, the intervals being proportioned to the battalions and squadrons.
Great care must be taken about the regulation of the artillery, which should be disposed so as to be able to act in every place to the greatest advantage; for nothing is more certain than that, if the artillery be well commanded, properly distributed, and manfully served, it will greatly contribute to gaining the battle; being looked upon as the general instrument of the army, and the most essential part of military force. The artillery must be well supplied with ammunition, and each soldier have a sufficient number of cartridges. The baggage, provisions, and treasure of the army, should, on the day of battle, be sent to a place of safety.
In battle, where the attacks are, there is also the principal defence. If an army attacks, it forms at pleasure; it makes its points at will: if it defends, it will be sometimes difficult to penetrate into the designs of the enemy, but when once found, succour succeeds to the discovery. Ground and numbers must ever lead in the arrangement of battles; impression and resource will ever bid fairest for winning them.
The most remarkable on record are
| B. C. | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1225. | The Theban war of the Seven Heroes against Eteocles. | ||||||||||||||
| 1184. | Troy taken after ten years siege. | ||||||||||||||
| 1048. | Jerusalem taken by David from the Jebusites. | ||||||||||||||
| 750. | War of the Romans against the Sabines. | ||||||||||||||
| 743. | The first Messinian war begins and continues 19 years, to the taking of Ithome. | ||||||||||||||
| 721. | Samaria taken. | ||||||||||||||
| 685. | The second Messinian war begins, continues 14 years to the taking of Ira, after 11 years siege. | ||||||||||||||
| 624. | Scythians make war in Asia Minor. | ||||||||||||||
| 612. | Nineveh destroyed by the Medes. | ||||||||||||||
| 596. | The war of the Persians against the Scythians, who are expelled by Cyaxeres. | ||||||||||||||
| 587. | Jerusalem taken by Nebuchadnezzar after a siege of 18 months. | ||||||||||||||
| 548. | War of Cyrus against Crœsus. | ||||||||||||||
| 509. | Civil war at Rome, the Tarquins expelled, monarchy abolished, and consuls chosen. | ||||||||||||||
| 504. | The Athenians take and burn Sardis. | ||||||||||||||
| 490. | Battle of Marathon. | ||||||||||||||
| 480. | Battle of Thermopylæ. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Salamis. | |||||||||||||||
| 479. | Platea | - | Same day Persians defeated at both places. | ||||||||||||
| Mycale | |||||||||||||||
| 470. | Cyprus, Persians defeated. | ||||||||||||||
| Eurymedon, Persians defeated. | |||||||||||||||
| 465. | Third Messinian war begins, continues ten years. | ||||||||||||||
| 448. | First sacred war concerning the temple of Apollo at Delphi. | ||||||||||||||
| 439. | War between Corinth and Corcyra. | ||||||||||||||
| 431. | The Peloponnesian war begins the 7th of May, lasts 27 years. | ||||||||||||||
| 409. | Carthage makes war on Sicily. | ||||||||||||||
| 405. | Battle of Egospotamos—the usurpation of Dyonisius. | ||||||||||||||
| 404. | Lysander takes Athens—end of the Peloponnesian war—30 tyrants reign. | ||||||||||||||
| 401. | Battle of Cunaxa—the younger Cyrus killed—the glorious retreat of the 10,000, and expulsion of the 30 tyrants. | ||||||||||||||
| 396. | Agesilaus carries the war into Persia. | ||||||||||||||
| 395. | The Corinthian war—Athens, Corinth, Thebes, Argos, against Lacedæmon. | ||||||||||||||
| 394. | Battle of Cnidus—Lacedæmonians under Pisander defeated by Conon. | ||||||||||||||
| A few days after Agesilaus defeats the allies at Choronea. | |||||||||||||||
| 390. | Battle of Attia—Rome taken by the Gauls. | ||||||||||||||
| 387. | War against Cyprus—ends in two years. | ||||||||||||||
| 371. | Leuctra, battle of—Epaminondas, general of Thebes, defeats the Lacedæmonians. | ||||||||||||||
| 363. | Mantinea battle gained by Epaminondas. | ||||||||||||||
| 360. | Methone, the first victory of Philip of Macedon over the Athenians. | ||||||||||||||
| 357. | Second sacred war, on the temple being attacked by the Phoceans, ends in 9 years. | ||||||||||||||
| 340. | Battle of Agrigentum—Timoleon defeats the Carthaginians. | ||||||||||||||
| 338. | Battle of Cheronea. | ||||||||||||||
| 335. | Thebes destroyed by Alexander the Great, when he left only Pindar the poet’s house standing. | ||||||||||||||
| 334. | Battle of Granicus—Alexander. | ||||||||||||||
| 333. | Battle of Issus. | ||||||||||||||
| 331. | Battle of Arbella. | ||||||||||||||
| 301. | Battle of Ipous—Antigonus defeated. | ||||||||||||||
| 312. | Tuscan war commenced. | ||||||||||||||
| 278. | Battle at Delphi. Gauls under Brennus cut to pieces. | ||||||||||||||
| 264. | First Punic war lasts 23 years. | ||||||||||||||
| 262. | Sardis, Antiochus Soter defeated there by Eumenes. | ||||||||||||||
| 256. | Regulus defeated by Xanthippus. | ||||||||||||||
| 234. | Sardinian war continues 3 years. | ||||||||||||||
| 222. | Battle of Sellafia. | ||||||||||||||
| 218. | Second Punic war begins, lasts 17 years. | ||||||||||||||
| 217. | Battle of Thrasymene. | ||||||||||||||
| 216. | Battle of Cannæ. | ||||||||||||||
| 208. | Battle of Mantinea. | ||||||||||||||
| 202. | Battle of Zama. | ||||||||||||||
| 197. | Battle of Cynocephale—Philip defeated. | ||||||||||||||
| 168. | Battle of Pydna. This battle closed the Macedonian empire. | ||||||||||||||
| 149. | Third Punic war. | ||||||||||||||
| 146. | Carthage destroyed by the Romans. | ||||||||||||||
| 111. | Jugurthine war begins, continues 5 years. | ||||||||||||||
| 105. | Battle on the Rhine, the Tuetones defeat 80,000 Romans. | ||||||||||||||
| 102. | Tuetones defeated by C. Marius at Aquæ Sextia. | ||||||||||||||
| 91. | Social war begins, continues three years, finished by Sylla. | ||||||||||||||
| 89. | Mithridatic war begins, continues 26 years. | ||||||||||||||
| 88. | Wars of Marius and Sylla, last six years. | ||||||||||||||
| 73. | War of the Slaves under Spartacus, lasts two years, ended by Pompey and Crassus. | ||||||||||||||
| 54. | England invaded by Julius Cæsar. | ||||||||||||||
| 48. | Battle of Pharsalia. | ||||||||||||||
| 45. | Battle of Munda. | ||||||||||||||
| 43. | Battle of Mutina. | ||||||||||||||
| 42. | Battle of Philippi. Death of Brutus. | ||||||||||||||
| 31. | Battle of Actium. Death of the Republic; beginning of the Empire. | ||||||||||||||
| A. D. | |||||||||||||||
| 10. | Varus the Roman general, defeated in Germany. | ||||||||||||||
| 70. | Jerusalem destroyed by Titus, August 31. | ||||||||||||||
| 73. | Byzantium taken by the Romans. | ||||||||||||||
| 196. | Byzantium destroyed by Severus. | ||||||||||||||
| 269. | The Goths conquered by Claudius, who massacres 300,000 of them. | ||||||||||||||
| 340. | Battle of Aquileia, Constantine the younger defeated and killed by Constans. | ||||||||||||||
| 405. | Battle of Fesulæ, Stilicho defeats 200,000 Goths. | ||||||||||||||
| 410. | Rome taken and plundered by the Goths. | ||||||||||||||
| 440. | England ravaged by the Picts and Scots. | ||||||||||||||
| 455. | Rome taken and plundered by the Vandals. | ||||||||||||||
| 547. | Rome re-taken by the Goths. | ||||||||||||||
| 553. | Rome re-conquered by the Emperor. | ||||||||||||||
| 613. | Jerusalem pillaged by the Persians, and 90,000 inhabitants killed. | ||||||||||||||
| 622. | Carthage destroyed by the Saracens. | ||||||||||||||
| 637. | Jerusalem taken by the Saracens. | ||||||||||||||
| 640. | Egypt conquered by the Saracens. | ||||||||||||||
| 787. | Danes, their first descent upon England, at Portland. | ||||||||||||||
| 895. | The Danes under Rollo, make their first descent on France. | ||||||||||||||
| 1016. | Battle of Ashdown, between Canute and Edmund. | ||||||||||||||
| 1017. | Danes under Canute conquer England. | ||||||||||||||
| 1041. | Danes expelled from England. | ||||||||||||||
| 1066. | England invaded by the Normans. | ||||||||||||||
| 1066. | Battle of Hastings, where Harold was slain, and William the Norman became king of England. | ||||||||||||||
| 1074. | The last Danish invasion of England, when they were bribed to depart. | ||||||||||||||
| 1095. | First Crusade—Jerusalem taken and re-taken. | ||||||||||||||
| 1100. | Jerusalem taken by Robert, duke of Normandy. | ||||||||||||||
| 1147. | Second Crusade. | ||||||||||||||
| 1187. | Jerusalem finally conquered by Saladin. | ||||||||||||||
| 1189. | Third Crusade—Siege of Acre. | ||||||||||||||
| 1192. | Battle of Ascalon, in Palestine. | ||||||||||||||
| 1203. | Fourth Crusade. | ||||||||||||||
| 1204. | Constantinople taken by the Latins. | ||||||||||||||
| 1205. | Zenghis Khan, till his death in 1227, gains various battles in Asia. | ||||||||||||||
| 1215. | Prussia subdued by the Mercian Knights. | ||||||||||||||
| 1214. | Battle of Bovines, 25 July. | ||||||||||||||
| 1217. | Battle of Lincoln, 19 May. | ||||||||||||||
| 1218. | The Fifth Crusade. | ||||||||||||||
| 1219. | Prussia revolted to Poland. | ||||||||||||||
| 1261. | Constantinople recovered by the Greeks. | ||||||||||||||
| 1064. | Battle of Lewis, 14 May. | ||||||||||||||
| 1265. | Battle of Evesham, 4 Aug. | ||||||||||||||
| 1314. | Battle of Bannockburn, 25 June. | ||||||||||||||
| 1333. | Battle of Halydown-Hill, 19 July. | ||||||||||||||
| 1346. | Battle of Cressy, 26 Aug. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Durham, when David, king of Scots, was taken prisoner, 17 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| 1347. | Calais taken by the English, August 4. | ||||||||||||||
| 1356. | Battle of Poictiers, when the Fr. king and his son were taken prisoners, 19 Sept. | ||||||||||||||
| 1357. | John, king of France, taken prisoner by Edward the Black Prince, brought to England, and ransomed for 3,000,000crowns, but being unable to pay this sum, he returned to England, and died in prison 1364. | ||||||||||||||
| 1370. | Timour (vulgarly called Tamerlane) appears a warrior, and conquers Asia, reigns 35 years. | ||||||||||||||
| 1388. | Battle of Otterburn, between Hotspur and earl Douglas, 31 July. | ||||||||||||||
| 1403. | Battle of Shrewsbury, 12 July. | ||||||||||||||
| 1415. | Battle of Agincourt, 25 Oct. | ||||||||||||||
| 1421. | Battle of Beauge, 3 April. | ||||||||||||||
| 1423. | Battle of Crevaut, June. | ||||||||||||||
| 1424. | Battle of Ferneuil, 27 Aug. | ||||||||||||||
| 1429. | Battle of Herrings, 12 Feb. | ||||||||||||||
| 1453. | Mahomed II. takes Constantinople, and begins the Turkish Empire in Europe, which put an end to the eastern empire. | ||||||||||||||
| Same year, the wars of the two Roses in England commence. | |||||||||||||||
| 1455. | Battle of St. Alban’s, 22 May. | ||||||||||||||
| 1459. | Battle of Blackheath, 23 Sept. | ||||||||||||||
| 1460. | Battle of Northampton, 10 July. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Wakefield, 24 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| 1461. | Battle of Tourton, 29 March. | ||||||||||||||
| 1464. | Battle of Hexham, 15 May. | ||||||||||||||
| 1469. | Battle of Banbury, 26 July. | ||||||||||||||
| 1470. | Battle of Stamford, March. | ||||||||||||||
| 1471. | Battle of Barnet, 14 April. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Tewkesbury, 4 May. | |||||||||||||||
| 1485. | Battle of Bosworth, 22 Aug. | ||||||||||||||
| 1487. | Battle of Stoke, 6 June. | ||||||||||||||
| 1494. | Battle of Formonte, 6 July. | ||||||||||||||
| 1497. | Battle of Blackheath, 22 June. | ||||||||||||||
| 1513. | Battle of Flouden, 9 Sept. when James IV. king of Scots, was killed. | ||||||||||||||
| 1515. | Battle of Marignano, Francis I. gains victory, 14-15-25 Sept. | ||||||||||||||
| 1516. | Egypt conquered by the Turks. | ||||||||||||||
| 1525. | Battle of Pavia, Francis I. loses all but honor, 24 Feb. | ||||||||||||||
| 1542. | Battle of Solway, 24 Nov. | ||||||||||||||
| 1547. | Battle of Pinkey, 20 Sept. | ||||||||||||||
| 1557. | Battle of St. Quintin, 10 Aug. | ||||||||||||||
| 1558. | Calais retaken by the French, January 10. | ||||||||||||||
| 1596. | Cadiz, in Spain, taken by the English. | ||||||||||||||
| 1632. | Battle of Lutzen, Gustavus Adolphus, killed. | ||||||||||||||
| 1641. | Battle of Naseby, June. | ||||||||||||||
| 1642. | Battle of Edgehill, 24 Oct. | ||||||||||||||
| 1643. | Battle of Shatton, 16 May. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Lansdown, 5 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Roundawaydown, 13th July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Newbury, 20 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| 1644. | Indians, in New England, at war amongst themselves. | ||||||||||||||
| 1644. | Battle of Marston-moor, 2 July. | ||||||||||||||
| 1650. | Battle of Dunbar, 3 Sept. | ||||||||||||||
| 1651. | Battle of Worcester, 3 Sept. | ||||||||||||||
| 1658. | Ostend attempted to be taken by the French, but they were defeated with great loss. | ||||||||||||||
| 1658. | Dunkirk taken by the English, June 24. | ||||||||||||||
| 1662. | Battle of Steinkirk. | ||||||||||||||
| 1675. | Providence, the town of, in Rhode Island, almost destroyed by Indians. | ||||||||||||||
| 1675. | Medfield, town of, in Massachusetts, about half-burnt by the Indians, Feb. | ||||||||||||||
| 1676. | Northampton, and several other towns in Massachusetts, burnt and plundered by the Indians, March. | ||||||||||||||
| 1679. | Battle of Bothwell-bridge, 22 June. | ||||||||||||||
| 1686. | Buda taken from the Turks by the Imperialists. | ||||||||||||||
| 1690. | Battle of Staffarda, Catenat defeats the duke of Savoy. | ||||||||||||||
| Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, taken by the Massachusetts forces. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Boyne, Ireland, 1 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Casco fort, New Hampshire, taken by the French and Indians. | |||||||||||||||
| 1691. | York-town, in the province of Maine, burnt and plundered by the Indians, Jan. 25. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Aughrim, Ireland, 22d July. | |||||||||||||||
| 1700. | Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, retaken by the French. | ||||||||||||||
| 1703. | Deerfield in Massachusetts, burnt, and the inhabitants carried off by the French and Indians, as prisoners, February. | ||||||||||||||
| 1704. | Battle of Blenheim, 13 Aug. | ||||||||||||||
| 1705. | Battle of Cassano, passage of the Adda, by prince Eugene. | ||||||||||||||
| 1706. | Battle of Turin, prince Eugene defeats the French. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Ramillies, on Whitsunday. | |||||||||||||||
| Charleston, South Carolina, invaded by the French, who were repulsed with loss. | |||||||||||||||
| 1708. | Battle of Oudenard, 30 June. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Wynendale, 28 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| 1709. | Battle of Malplaquet, Eugene defeats Villeroy. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Blarignies, 14 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Pultowa, Charles XII. defeated. | |||||||||||||||
| Canada unsuccessfully attacked by the New-Yorkers. | |||||||||||||||
| 1710. | Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, re-taken by the English, when it received the name of Annapolis. | ||||||||||||||
| 1711. | Canada attacked by the British troops and those of New England. | ||||||||||||||
| 1712. | Indian war in North Carolina. | ||||||||||||||
| 1715. | Battle of Dumblain, 12 Nov. | ||||||||||||||
| 1717. | Indians instigated by a Jesuit to make incursions upon the colony of Massachusetts. | ||||||||||||||
| 1734. | Dantzic taken by the Swedes. | ||||||||||||||
| 1743. | Dettingen, the battle of, won by the English and allies, in favour of the queen of Hungary, 26th June. | ||||||||||||||
| 1744. | Battle of Fontenoy, 30 Apr. | ||||||||||||||
| 1745. | Louisburgh taken by the Massachusetts forces, June 17. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Preston-pans, 21 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| 1746. | Battle of Falkirk, 17 Jan. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Culloden, 16 Apr. | |||||||||||||||
| Madras taken from the English. | |||||||||||||||
| 1747. | Battle of Laffeldt, 20 July. | ||||||||||||||
| 1749. | Louisburg given up to the French. | ||||||||||||||
| 1755. | Fort Du Quesne, (now Pittsburgh) battle of, July 9. | ||||||||||||||
| 1756. | Oswego taken by the English. | ||||||||||||||
| Grenada, the island of, taken by Admiral Rodney, Feb. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Lobositz, 1 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| 1757. | Battle of Rosbach, 5 Nov. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Reichenberg, 21 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Gros Jegerndorff, 30 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Breslau, 22 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Lissa, 5 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Hastenbeck, 26 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Kolin, 13 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Prague, 6 May. | |||||||||||||||
| 1758. | Fort Du Quesne (Pittsburg) taken by General Forbes. | ||||||||||||||
| Hanover desolated by the French. | |||||||||||||||
| Louisburgh re-taken, July 22. | |||||||||||||||
| Dresden taken by the Prussians. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Sandershausen, 23 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Crevelt, 23 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Meer, 5 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Zorndorff, 25 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Sandershagen, 10 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Munden, 11 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Hochkirken, 14 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| 1759. | Battle of Kunersdorf, 12 Aug. | ||||||||||||||
| Niagara taken by the English, July 24. | |||||||||||||||
| Ticonderoga taken by the English. | |||||||||||||||
| Quebec taken by the English, September 13. | |||||||||||||||
| Canada taken by the English, September 13. | |||||||||||||||
| Arcot, Carnatic, taken by the English from the Hindoos. | |||||||||||||||
| Frankfort upon the Oder, the Prussians and Russians, 20,000 men on field of battle. | |||||||||||||||
| Dresden taken by the Imperialists. | |||||||||||||||
| Crown Point taken from the English. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Bergen, 13 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Zullichau, 23 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Coefeld, 1 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Minden, 1 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Torgau, 8 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Pretsch, 29 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Plains of Abraham, 13 Sept. Wolf killed. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Maxen, 20 and 21 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| 1760. | Montreal taken by the English. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Cosdorff, 20 Feb. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Quebec, 28 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Grabensteyn, 4 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Corbach, 24 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Emsdorff, 9 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Warburg, 31 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Strehlen, 2 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Leignitz, 15 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Torgau, 2 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Dresden taken by the Prussians again. | |||||||||||||||
| Chamblee taken from the French by the British, Sept. 7. | |||||||||||||||
| 1761. | Cherokee Indians in Carolina, defeated by the Americans under Col. Grant. | ||||||||||||||
| Dominica taken by the English. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Langensaltz, 15 Feb. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Grümberg, 21 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Vellinghausen, 16 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Kirkdenckern, 15 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Einbeck, 24 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| 1762. | Battle of Dobeln, 12 May. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Wilhelmstahl, 24 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Fulda, 23 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Friedberg, 30 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Freyberg, 10 and 29 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| 1773. | Dantzic taken by the Prussians. | ||||||||||||||
| 1774. | Fort William and Mary, in New-Hampshire, seized by the inhabitants, who possessed themselves of a quantity of powderand military stores, Dec. 14. | ||||||||||||||
| 1775. | Cedars, fort at the, given up to the British by Major Rutherfield, March 15. | ||||||||||||||
| Engagement at Concord and Lexington. The grenadiers and light infantry of the British army at Boston, under colonelSmith, 10th foot, and Major Pitcairn, detached to destroy the magazines at Concord, 20 miles from Boston, 18-19 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Another detachment march under earl Percy, of 16 companies of infantry and a corps of marines, 19 April. | |||||||||||||||
| At Lexington, 15 miles from Boston, fell in with the continentals about five in the morning. The British fire on themand a skirmish is continued to Concord; the British are forced to retreat to Boston, driven before the Americans like sheep; the British lost 114 killed,and 127 wounded, beside 52 missing: the Americans had 62 men killed and wounded; about the third recovered of their wounds. | |||||||||||||||
| Ticonderoga taken by Ethan Allen, “in the name of Great Jehovah and the continental Congress,” containing 120 piecesof iron ordnance, between 6 and 24 pounders, 50 swivels, 2 ten inch mortars, 1 howitzer, 1 cohorn, 10 tons of leaden ball, 3 carts laden with flints, 30 new field carriages, a quantity of shells, 100 stand of small arms, 10 casks gun-powder, 2 pieces of brass artillery, 3 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Crown Point taken by the Americans, May 14. | |||||||||||||||
| Bunker’s-hill, the British began the attack about noon; the British lost 1440 men killed, 857wounded; among the killed were 26 commissioned officers, and 81 among the wounded. The Americans had 452 men killed,301 wounded and missing; among the killed was the gallant Dr. Warren, who commanded the American forces. The American fire was conducted with great judgment;and the British were blockaded in Boston, 17 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Charlestown, Massachusetts, burnt by the British, June 17. | |||||||||||||||
| Stonington, Connecticut, set on fire by the British, Sept. 3. | |||||||||||||||
| Canada invaded by the American forces, October. | |||||||||||||||
| Chamblee taken by the Americans commanded by Col. Brown and Major Livingston, October 18. | |||||||||||||||
| Falmouth, New England, destroyed by the British forces, October 18. | |||||||||||||||
| Chamblee fort, in Canada, attacked by the Americans, Oct. 20. | |||||||||||||||
| Chamblee taken by Montgomery, 124 barrels gun-powder, 6564 musket cartridges, 150 stand French made arms, 3 mortars, 61 shells,83 stand English arms; and other valuable military and naval stores, 3 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Montreal taken by the Americans, Nov. 12. | |||||||||||||||
| St. John’s taken by Montgomery, 17 brass ordnance, 2 eight inch howitzers, 22 iron ordnance, shot, shells, powder, 800 standsmall arms, and naval stores, 13 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Storm of Quebec, Montgomery falls, Arnold wounded, the Americans obliged to retreat, but encamp on the Plains of Abraham, 31 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| Great Bridge in Virginia, battle of, in which the British were defeated, Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| 1776. | Norfolk, in Virginia, burnt by order of Lord Dunmore the British governor, and great damage sustained, Jan. 1. | ||||||||||||||
| Chamblee fort retaken by the British, Jan 18. | |||||||||||||||
| Highlanders, and regulators of N. Carolina, defeated with great loss near Moore’s Creek bridge, by Gen. Moore, Feb. 27. | |||||||||||||||
| Dorchester Point fortified in the night, so as to render Boston no longer tenable by the British, March 4. | |||||||||||||||
| Boston evacuated precipitately, the British leaving behind their arms, military stores and provisions; sir Archibald Campbell,with 1700 men, enters the harbor, and are made prisoners by general Washington, 18 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Crown Point re-taken by the British. | |||||||||||||||
| British attack on the Cedars, Arnold capitulates; Americans treated with barbarity; congress annuls the capitulation inconsequence, 26 May. | |||||||||||||||
| British tories defeated at Moore’s creek, in North Carolina, by colonel Caswell, and the tory leader Macleod killed. | |||||||||||||||
| Portsmouth, Virginia, destroyed by the British, June 1. | |||||||||||||||
| General sir H. Clinton attacks Sullivan’s island, in concert with Sir P. Parker, and is defeated by general Lee, 15 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Montreal retaken by the British, June 15. | |||||||||||||||
| Charleston, S. C. attacked by a squadron of ships under Sir Peter Parker, and a body of troops under Generals Clinton andCornwallis, who were defeated with great slaughter, June 25. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Long Island, or Flat bush; the American lines attacked by sir William Howe, with 20,000 men, and the American army suffersgreat loss from an injudicious disposition of the forces; the retreat however was conducted with admirable skill, in thirteen hours 9000 men with artillery, andall their equipage, crossed an arm of the sea a mile wide, in the face of a superior and victorious army. In this action the Americans had 2000 men killed andwounded, and 1000 taken prisoners. 26 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Fort on Sullivan’s Island, unsuccessfully attacked by the British, June 28. | |||||||||||||||
| New-York surrendered to the British forces, Sept. 15. | |||||||||||||||
| General Arnold opposes the force sent by Carleton from Canada against Ticonderoga, but is defeated on Lake Champlain; he makes anadmirable retreat to Crown point, 11 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of White Plains; generals Knyphausen, Cornwallis, and Percy, commanded columns; Howe commander in chief of the British,with 15,000 effectives; general Washington commander in chief of the American army, consisting of 5000 regulars, and 11,000 militia; the British attack theAmerican entrenchments but are defeated, 28 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Fort Washington, near King’s Bridge, taken by the British, with a loss of 1000 men! 15 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Fort Lee, near New-York, taken by the British, Nov. 18. | |||||||||||||||
| Newport, R. Island, taken by the British, Dec. 7. | |||||||||||||||
| General Washington surprises the Hessians at Trenton; general William Irvine commanding the advance; general Cadwallader, the secondcolumn, and general Washington the principal division, general Greene and general Sullivan formed his suite; the enemy and their artillery were captured, 26 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
Strength of British and American armies in 1776.
| |||||||||||||||
| 1777. | Princetown, battle of, when the Americans under General Washington, defeated the British with great loss, Jan. 2. | ||||||||||||||
| Providence, the island of, taken by Commodore Hopkins, March. | |||||||||||||||
| Danbury, town of, in Connecticut, burnt by the British, and large quantities of continental stores destroyed, April 26. | |||||||||||||||
| Ticonderoga taken by the British, 5 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Action at Hubberton, the British general Frazer attacks the retreating Americans under colonel Francis, and defeats them, 6 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Fairfield, in Connecticut, burnt by the British, July 7. | |||||||||||||||
| Bennington battle, 16 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| General Stark defeats the Hessian general Baum, and colonel Breyman, on Walloon Creek, 16 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Fort Stanwix, alias Fort Schuyler, the siege of, raised by Sir John Johnson and Lieut. Col. St. Leger, Aug. 22. | |||||||||||||||
| Eutaw Springs, the battle of, in which General Green defeats the British, Sept. 8. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Brandywine; the dispositions of the British were masterly in this action; the American army discomfittedand make a precipitate but circuitous retreat, 11 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Massacre at the Paoli, by sir Charles Grey, 20 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Philadelphia taken by the British under General Howe, Sept. 26. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Germantown; 800 English, 900 Americans killed and wounded; the British lost general Agnew and colonel Bird;the Americans, colonel Haslet, of Delaware state, a gallant officer, 4 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Stillwater, about 600 men killed on each side; no victory; the action as intrepid as any known for the numbers;Burgoyne retreats and entrenches himself at Saratoga, 17 September. | |||||||||||||||
| British entrenchments near Lake George attacked by general Gates, and the British completely beaten; the British generalFrazer, and the Hessian colonel Breyman killed; Arnold who commanded on the right, was wounded in the tendon Achilles; Gates took 200 prisoners and 9 brass field pieces. Burgoyne makes a precipitate retreat to Saratoga, where he capitulates on the 17th of October, surrendering 5790 men, and 35 pieces of field artillery, &c. 17 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Esopus, in New-York, was totally destroyed by the British, with great quantities of stores, October 15. | |||||||||||||||
| Kingston, in Ulster county, New-York, burnt by the British, October 15. | |||||||||||||||
| Action at Red Bank, the Hessian general Donop killed, and the British attack frustrated, and the ship of war Augusta blown up, 22 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Forts Montgomery and Clinton taken by the British, October. | |||||||||||||||
| Martha’s Island, pillaged by the British, who carried off 300 oxen, and 2000 sheep. | |||||||||||||||
| Attack of Mud Fort, (now Fort Mifflin) by Cornwallis; gallantly defended by Col. Samuel Smith, 15 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
Strength of British and American armies in 1777.
| |||||||||||||||
| 1778. | Battle of Savannah, 15 Jan. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Monmouth, the British retreat by forced marches to New York, 28 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Wyoming, out of 417 Americans stationed there, 360 were inhumanly butchered by a party of Tories and Indians,commanded by Col. John Butler, July 1. | |||||||||||||||
| Dominica taken by the French under the Marquis de Bouille, when 164 pieces of cannon and 24 brass mortars werefound therein, Sept. 7. | |||||||||||||||
| Attack of Savannah, 28 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| 1779. | Sunbury taken by Gen. Provost, Jan. 9. | ||||||||||||||
| Briars creek, American general Ashe defeated, 3 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Portsmouth, in Virginia, invaded again by the British, under Sir George Collier and General Matthews, who burntvast quantities of property there, May 10. | |||||||||||||||
| Stoney Point and Verplanks taken by the British under general Vaughan, 30 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Stonoferry, in Carolina, the battle of, June 20. | |||||||||||||||
| Grenada taken by the French, July 6. | |||||||||||||||
| Norwalk, in Connecticut, burnt by the British, July 7. | |||||||||||||||
| General Wayne storms and takes Stony Point, 16 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Pawlus-hook taken by the Americans under General Lee, when 30 of the British were killed, and 160 made prisoners, July 19. | |||||||||||||||
| A conflagrating war carried into Connecticut, by governor Tryon and general Garth, New Haven taken; Fairfield,Norwalk, and Greenfield burnt to the ground, July. | |||||||||||||||
| Newhaven, town of, ravaged by the British, July. | |||||||||||||||
| General Lincoln attacks the British under colonel Maitland, 27 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Attack of the British lines at Savannah, by Lincoln and D’Estaign, who are repulsed and raise the siege, 9 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Fort of Omoa, key to the Bay of Honduras, taken by the British from the Spaniards, Oct. 20. | |||||||||||||||
| 1780. | Fort on Sullivan’s Island taken by the British, May 6. | ||||||||||||||
| Wachaws, North Carolina, where Colonel Tarleton surprised 300 Americans, of whom he killed by far the greatest number, May. | |||||||||||||||
| Charleston, South Carolina, taken by the British, after a siege of several weeks, by Gen. Clinton, 12 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Elizabethtown, New-Jersey, taken by the British, June 7. | |||||||||||||||
| Springfield attacked and burnt by the British from New York; the British severely handled and forced to retire, 23 June. | |||||||||||||||
| General Sumpter, after three repulses storms and takes the British post at Rocky Mount, on the Catawba river; butabandons it and attacks the post at Hanging Rock, 30 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Camden, Gates against Cornwallis, both armies set out at midnight, and their advanced guards began theaction at 2 o’clock in the morning, 16 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Tarleton attacks Sumpter on the Wateree, a skirmish without any other effect than the display of enterprise andintrepidity on both sides, 18 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Augusta, Georgia, attacked by American general Clark, without success, 14 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Tarleton attacks Sumpter at Black Rock, on the Tyger river, and is defeated; both commanders severely wounded, Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of King’s Mountain, in which a party of American mounted riflemen collected from Kentucky, Georgia, and theCarolinas, attack and kill the tory leader Ferguson, and take 800 of his party prisoners, 7 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Clermont, S. C. taken by Colonel Washington, Dec. 4. | |||||||||||||||
| 1781. | Richmond, in Virginia, destroyed by the British under General Arnold, Jan. 5. | ||||||||||||||
| Hillsborough, in Carolina, the royal standard erected there by Lord Cornwallis, Feb. 20. | |||||||||||||||
| Colonel Henry Lee, with his legion, attacks a body of tories upon the Haw river, within a mile of Tarleton’s encampment,and cuts them to pieces, 25 Feb. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Guilford court house; general Greene commanded the Americans; general Cornwallis the British; a hardfought battle, the Americans defeated, but the victory was fatal to the victors, 15 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Fort Watson, South Carolina, taken by the Americans, April 15. | |||||||||||||||
| Camden, battle at, in South Carolina, between General Green and Lord Rawdon, when the Americans retreated, April 25. | |||||||||||||||
| Petersburgh, in Virginia, the shipping and stores destroyed at, by Phillips and Arnold, April 26. | |||||||||||||||
| Fort Motte, in South Carolina, taken by the Americans, May 12. | |||||||||||||||
| Camden, S. C. burnt by the British, May 13. | |||||||||||||||
| Fort Granby, in South Carolina, taken by the Americans, May 15. | |||||||||||||||
| Fort Cornwallis, at Augusta, taken by the Americans under Gen. Marion and Col. Lee, June 5. | |||||||||||||||
| Augusta, Georgia, taken by Col. Pickens and Lee, 5 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of the Cowpens, general Morgan defeats Tarleton, whose whole force is cut to pieces; the British had 600 menkilled on the field; the Americans 12 killed and 60 wounded, 7 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Ninety-six. 19 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Grotton, in Connecticut, burnt by Gen. Arnold, Sept. 6. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle or Hobkirks hill, general Greene and lord Rawdon, 8 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Eutaw Springs, the British under general Stewart, defeated by general Greene; the standard of the 3d British regiment,or old Bulfs, taken by the Americans; the American colonel Washington wounded and taken by the British, 8 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| New London, Connecticut, burnt by Benedict Arnold, Sept. 13. | |||||||||||||||
| Battles of Porto Novo and Mooteapollam, E. Indies. | |||||||||||||||
| 1782. | Floating batteries, the, destroyed before Gibraltar, Sept. 13. | ||||||||||||||
| Surrender of Yorktown, by Cornwallis, with his whole army, consisting of 7000 men, to the united armies of America andFrance, under the command of general Washington, which closed the battles of the American revolution, 17 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Mohawk river, battle at, when Colonel Willet defeated the British, Oct. 24. | |||||||||||||||
| 1790. | The Miami Indians defeat General Harmar with great loss, September 30. | ||||||||||||||
| 1791. | The Indians defeat Gen. St. Clair with great loss, Nov. 4. | ||||||||||||||
| Bangalore, battle of, Cornwallis captures the place. | |||||||||||||||
| 1792. | Ostend taken possession of by the French under Dumourier, Dec. | ||||||||||||||
| Nice taken by the French under General Anselm, Sept. 29. | |||||||||||||||
| Savoy, part of the king of Sardinia’s dominions, taken by the French under General Montesquieu, Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Jemappe, Dumourier, French 40,000, Clairfayt, Austrians 28,000, Nov. 5. | |||||||||||||||
| Frankfort treacherously given up to the Austrians, when 1300 Frenchmen were massacred by the Hessians, and severalwhose lives were spared had their hands cut off, Dec. 2. | |||||||||||||||
| 1793. | Neuingen, the battle of, between the combined armies and General Dumourier, when the French were defeated with great loss, March 20. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Tirlemont, Clairfayt defeats Dumourier, March 18. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of St. Amand, in which Dampierre the French commander was killed by a cannon ball, in an engagement near the woodsof Rhemes and Vicoigne, when the allies were defeated with great loss; General Clairfayt and Duke of York commanded the coalesced army, May 8. | |||||||||||||||
| Famars, battle of, between the French and combined powers, when the former were defeated, by Cobourg and Duke of York, May 23. | |||||||||||||||
| Carlberg, the battle of, when the French under Custine, defeated the Prussians, May 18. | |||||||||||||||
| Arlon, French and Austrians, latter defeated, 9 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Valenciennes, taken by the combined powers, and soon after retaken, June. | |||||||||||||||
| Marseilles, which had revolted against the convention, subdued Aug. 24. | |||||||||||||||
| Verdun, the French garrison, taken by the Prussians, and retaken soon after, Sept. 2. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Weissemberg, (or attack and repulse of,) Aug. 27. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Hondschoote, French under Houchard commander, Marshal Freytag taken, duke of York escapes, Sept. 6. | |||||||||||||||
| Dunkirk besieged by the combined army under the Duke of York, August 25, who were repulsed with great slaughter, Sept. 7, following. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Dunkirk, Duke of York and Marshal Freytag defeated by the French under Houchard and Jourdan, 32 24-pounders, and68 other pieces of cannon taken by the French, Sept. 8. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Pirmasens, on the Rhine, Duke of Brunswick victorious over the French. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Saorgia, King of Sardinia beaten, Sept. 20. | |||||||||||||||
| Spaniards defeated at Perpignan under Ricardos. | |||||||||||||||
| Boufflers, from 8 in the morning to 7 at night, Austrians retreat under cover of night. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Maubeuge, Cobourg Austrian, Jourdan French, lasted two days, from day light ’till night. | |||||||||||||||
| Jeremie fort, St. Domingo, taken by the British, Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Limbach, battle of, when the French were victorious, Sept. 14. | |||||||||||||||
| Maubeuge, the battle of, between the Austrians and the French, when the former were defeated with great loss, Oct. 15 & 16. | |||||||||||||||
| Toulon surrendered to the English Admiral Lord Hood, who took possession of the town and shipping in the name of Louis XVII.when the tree of liberty, which had been erected there, was converted into a gibbet for the republicans. On December 19, following, the republicans attackedthe town in a most vigorous manner; when the combined forces, finding that all future resistance was useless, after having set fire to the shipping, arsenals,&c. made a precipitate retreat. | |||||||||||||||
| Tirlemont, battle of, when after a contest of several days, the French under Dumourier were defeated. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Deuxponts, Hoche and Wurmser, Hoche victorious at 4 o’clock, afternoon, loss of Austrians 6000, French 2000, 21 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Hagenau, Hoche gains a victory, 8-9 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| Action five days at Weissemberg, and Austrians driven from Balberotte, 31 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| 1794. | Noimoutier, the island of, taken from the Insurgents of La Vendee, by the arms of the French Republic, Jan 3. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle between Russians and Poles, former defeated, 4 Jan. | |||||||||||||||
| Fort Vauban taken by the French, Jan. 7. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Villers en Couchée, 24 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Cateau. | |||||||||||||||
| Moucron, battle of, when the allied forces under Clairfayt were totally defeated by the French under Pichegru, April 26. | |||||||||||||||
| Courtray, the same, 11 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Tournay, battle of, between the French and English, when the former were defeated, May 10; again between the French and combinedpowers, when the latter were defeated with great loss, May 17 & 18 following. | |||||||||||||||
| Lannoy, Pichegru defeats duke of York, 18 May, takes 60 pieces; here the duke won the race, but lost the battle. | |||||||||||||||
| Turcoing, Pichegru and Clairfayt, a victory on neither side, though a desperate battle, 22 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Coilloure, the Spanish garrison of, also Port Vendre, Fort St. Elmo, &c. with 8000 prisoners, taken by the French under Gen.Dugoumier, May. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Espierres, 25 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Hoogleden, Macdonald defeats Clairfayt, 13 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Charleroy, a garrison consisting of 3000 Austrians, surrendered to the French under Gen. Jourdan, June 25. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Fleurus, Jourdan victorious over Cobourg, began at 3 o’clock in the morning; the French three times fell back from thepowerful artillery of the Austrians, and returned fresh to the fight. The French word of battle was, no retreat to day, for 9 hours victory indecisive;when Jourdan collecting his corps de reserve, Lefebvre leading the cavalry, the Austrians were put to the route. In this action reconnoitering with balloons waspractised with the greatest effect, the combined forces lost about 8000 men killed and 15000 prisoners, June 28. In consequence of this victory, Le Chateau deNamur soon after submitted to the French republic. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Bellgarde, in the Eastern Pyrennees, Spaniards defeated, French general Mirabel, killed, 13 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Fontarabia, the key of Spain, was taken by the French, July. | |||||||||||||||
| Chandernagore taken from the French by the British, July. | |||||||||||||||
| Indians defeated by Gen. Wayne, Aug. 20. | |||||||||||||||
| Juliers, the fortress of, submitted to the French, when all the provinces west of the Rhine fell into their hands. | |||||||||||||||
| Boxtel, Moreau pursues duke of York, 14, 15, 16, Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Bellegarde taken after an action, the last place possessed by the coalesced powers in France, 18 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Warsaw, between the Russians and Poles, in which Kosciusko was taken prisoner covered with wounds, 10 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Rerzese, in Poland, in which Suwarrow annihilated the Poles, took all their artillery, 19 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Berterzel, Moreau, beats the Duke of York; general Fox wins a race here, 19 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Praga, the suburb of, near Warsaw in Poland, taken by the Russian General Suwarrow, who gave the barbarous orders to his army togive quarters to no one, in consequence of which, upwards of 30,000 Poles, men, women and children, were massacred, Nov. 4. | |||||||||||||||
| Nimeguen, port of, evacuated by the British, Nov. 7. | |||||||||||||||
| Warsaw, the capital of Poland, taken by the Russians under Suwarrow, Nov. 9. | |||||||||||||||
| Maestrecht, the garrison of, consisting of 8000 Austrians, surrendered to the French, Nov. 9. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of the Black Mountain, Eastern Pyrennees, in which Dugomier, commander of the French, gained a complete victory, but fellin the battle; took 50 pieces of cannon and the Spanish founderies of Egui and Orbaycette, 17 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Another battle, French took tents for 50,000 men, at Figueras, 20 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Graves, the fortress of, taken by the French, Dec. 30. | |||||||||||||||
| 1795. | Battle of Bommel, in Holland, French under Moreau, took 120 pieces of cannon, 7 Jan. | ||||||||||||||
| Grenada, bloody battle fought between the French and English in that island, in which the latter were defeated, March 3. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Quiberoon, Puissaye defeated by Hoche, 3 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| 1796. | Battle of Kreutsnach, in which the French general Moreau, defeats the Austrian generals Kray and Wurmser, 4 Jan. | ||||||||||||||
| Bonaparte’s first campaign in Italy. | |||||||||||||||
| Montenotte, Bonaparte with 56,000 men, defeats Boileau with 84,000, took from theAustrians 40 pieces of cannon, 11 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Fonubio, 7 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Pavia, 17 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Milessimo, 11 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Dego, the same, 14 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Mondovi, in which the French general Stengel was killed, 22 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Lodi, over Boileau, 11 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Passage of the Mincio and battle of Borghetta, 4 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Renchen, Moreau victorious over the Austrians, 28 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Etingen, the corps of Condé cut to pieces, 1 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Neukirchen, Lefebvre defeats the Austrians, 6 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Castiglione lasted five days, Wurmser defeated, 70 field pieces, 15,000 prisoners, and Killed 6000, 2 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Peschiera, 6 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Roveredo, 6 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Bassano, 8 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Castellaro, 14 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Legonaro, 11 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Caldiero, 12 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Arcole, 15 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Altenkirken, Jourdan defeats Wurmser, 1 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Moreau attacks Wurmser and defeats him at Frankenthal, 15 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Moreau defeats the Austrians at Nordlingen, 10 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Jourdan defeated and retreats from Frankfort towards the Rhine, 30 Aug. to 3 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Desaix defeats the Austrians at Marienburg and covers Moreau’s retreat, 7 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| 1797. | Battle near Laforma on the Adige, 13 Jan. | ||||||||||||||
| Provera beaten and made prisoner at La Favorita, 15 Jan. | |||||||||||||||
| Passage of Tagliamento and defeat of the Archduke near Gradisca; who narrowly escapes, 16 Feb. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Tagliamento, Austrians under arch duke Charles, defeated by Massena, 16 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Neuwied, Hoche defeats the Austrians under Kray, and takes 4000 prisoners, 18 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Tarvis in the Noric Alps, Massena defeats the Austrians, 20 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Lavis, Joubert defeats the Austrians, 22 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Pufero, Austrians defeated by general Guyeux, 23 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Tarvis, fought above the clouds, Austrians defeated by Massena, the imperial cuirassiers annihilated, 25 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of the defiles of Neumark, Massena defeats the Austrians, 2 April. | |||||||||||||||
| 1798. | General Berthier, enters and occupies the city of Rome, in consequence of the assassination of general Duphot, and an attemptto assassinate Joseph Bonaparte the French ambassador, 10 Feb. | ||||||||||||||
| General Brune takes possession of Fribourg in Switzerland, after a severe action, 3 March. | |||||||||||||||
| A revolt in Ireland, several actions between the Irish and British troops with various success, during this month, April. | |||||||||||||||
| Action at Killalla, 19 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Action at Hacketstown, between the Irish insurgents and British troops; same day actions in Clare, Lucan, Lusk, and Kilcullen, 25 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Action at Tarragh, very desperate and bloody; same day the insurgents in Wexford, capture a British detachment, 27 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle at Enniscorthy, Ireland; same day a desperate action near Limerick, 28 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Arklow, the Irish insurgents defeat the British regulars, 29 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Vinegar Hill, the British under general Fawcett, defeated, 30 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Action at Newtownbarry, the British compelled to retreat before the insurgents; the pike the chief weapon of the Irish, 1 June. | |||||||||||||||
| The insurgents from Wexford, defeat the British under colonel Walpole, the colonel is killed, and the cannon are taken bythe insurgents, 4 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Desperate action at New Ross, county Wexford; the British army under general Johnson, severely cut up, their cannon taken,and lord Mountjoy killed. Several actions during this month in which the British are defeated, 5 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Antrim, lord O’Neil killed, with a pike, 7 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Ballinahinch, the British army severely handled by the insurgent general Munroe, who was wounded and taken prisonerand afterwards executed; the British in vengeance burned the town of Saintfield, 12 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Insurgents camp at Vinegar hill, stormed by general Lake, and carried with great slaughter, 21 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Sir Charles Asgill, defeated by a body of insurgents, under the command of Murphy, an Irishpriest, 23 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Sir Charles Asgill, attacks the Irish insurgents on Kilconnel Hill, and defeats them, but with the loss of 1000 men;the insurgents lose as many with all their cannon, and their leader Murphy falls in battle, 26 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Several actions in this month between the revolted Irish and British troops, July. | |||||||||||||||
| A French army under general Humbert, lands in Ireland, and takes possession of Kilalla, 22 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Humbert attacks Lake at Castlebar, and defeats him, taking six pieces of British artillery, 27 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Underwalden in Swisserland, between the adherents of the aristocracy of Berne and the French, underSchauenburg; the town of Stantz was burnt to the ground, 9 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| The Irish insurgents defeat a British force at Rathfarnham, 18 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Desperate action at Kilcock, the British troops suffer from the pike, 28 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| General Mack commences hostilities in Italy against the French, by an attack on five different points of the French lines,in the Roman territory, 22 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Porto Fermo, on the Adriatic, the French defeat the Neapolitans and take their cannon and baggage, 28 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Macdonald defeats the Neapolitans at Civita Castellano, 5 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| Again defeats Mack at Calvi, 8 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| Championnet defeats Mack in a general action, 11 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| Macdonald defeats the Neapolitans under Dumas. The fruit of these battles, was 12,000 prisoners, 99 pieces of cannon,21 standards, 3000 horses, and all the baggage of the Neapolitan armies. | |||||||||||||||
| Egypt conquered by the French. | |||||||||||||||
| 1799. | Battle of el Arish, Bonaparte defeats the Mamalukes, 9 Feb. | ||||||||||||||
| Jaffa taken by storm, by generals Lasnes and Bonaparte, 5 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Sadaseer, near Periptnam, first action on the invasion of Mysore, 5 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Luciensteig, Massena forces that place with dreadful slaughter; and thus gains the key of Tyrol and the Grisons, 7 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle at Loubi, on the river Jordan, near Nazareth; Bonaparte, Murat, and Junot commanded, 8 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Kleber defeats the Syrians at Led-Jarra, 10 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Esdrelon, near Mount Tabor, 17 March. | |||||||||||||||
| General Desolles scales the Julian Alps, takes the intrenched defiles of Tauffers in the rear, and gains a completevictory over Laudohn, 17 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Ostrach, Jourdan with 40,000 men, is attacked by the archduke with 80,000, and is forced to retreat, 21 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Samanhout, a new and elegant disposition, infantry squares formed the two flanks, cavalry in a square the centre; the troopsto oppose were Mamalukes and horsemen. Davoust commanded the French horse, Friant and Belliard the two squares of infantry, 22 March. Several battles atBiramba, Bardis, Girgé, gained by Desaix in this month. | |||||||||||||||
| Stockach, Jourdan attacks Archduke, but is defeated and forced to retreat; Jourdan’s force under 40,000 men, the Archduke’sabove 80,000; the battle was principally fought by infantry and was terrible; 10,000 men lay on the field of battle, 25 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Scherer and Moreau attack the Austrians between the Garda and Adige, gain a hard earned victory, fought from day break to 11 atnight, 26 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Scherer and Moreau attack general Kray before Verona, and are defeated, 30 March. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Magnan, the French are defeated, 5 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle Malanelly, E. Indies, 5 April. | |||||||||||||||
| Lacourbe defeats Bellegarde in the Engadine, 1 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Seringapatam taken by storm, Tippoo put to death, partition of Mysore followed, 4 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Attack of St. Jean d’Acre, and Bonaparte forced to raise the siege, 7 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Moreau defeats the Russians on the Po, 12 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Lecourbe defeats the Austrians on the Reuss, 2 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Zurich, the Austrian Generals Hotze, and Wallis, Kerpen and Hillier wounded; and Judinot and Humbert of the French, 5 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Modena, Macdonald defeats Hohenzollern, 10 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of the Trebia, at St. Juliano, Moreau and Suwarrow; the French defeated, 18 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Chebrisa, Bonaparte against the Mamelukes; a new disposition, echellons of squares with artillery and baggageof each square in its centre—and giving a front and flank fire. | |||||||||||||||
| Turks land and take Aboukir after a battle very desperate, the Turks defeated,Bonaparte embarks for France, 15 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of the Pyramids, the same order of battle—very decided victory over Murad Bey, 21 July. | |||||||||||||||
| Second battle of Zurich, most terrible and brilliant, Massena attacks the Archduke; indecisive, 14 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Suwarrow attacks Joubert at Novi, who is killed, Moreau takes the command but is forced to retreat, a bloody battle, 15 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Helder, 27 Aug. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Bergen, in Holland, general Brune attacks Abercrombie, 10 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Second battle, the British and Russians under the Duke of York, defeated by Brune, and forced to retire within intrenchments, 19 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Third battle of Zurich, terrible and decisive, one of the most brilliant in history; Massena commanded, the Austrian generalHotze killed, the French triumph, 7 to 24 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Fossano, 14 Sept. | |||||||||||||||
| Gaeta, Aquila taken by storm, Mack defeated, and the Neapolitans capitulate to Championnet, 1 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Bergen, 1 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Sand hills near Bergen, 2 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Egmont, duke of York again defeated and capitulates, 6 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Fossano, French defeated by Melas, 4 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| 1800. | Egypt conquered by the English. | ||||||||||||||
| Moreau crosses the Rhine, and defeats the Austrians at Engen, 2 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Gremback, same, 3 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Biberach, same effect, 9 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Severe action at Memmingen, Kray forced to retreat, 11 May. | |||||||||||||||
| Signal defeat of five Austrian columns, by two French on the Iller, 5 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Hochstedt, the Austrians defeated by Moreau, 18 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Action at Ungerhausen, 26 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Celebrated battle at Hohenlinden, gained by Moreau, takes 80 pieces of cannon and 10,000 prisoners; action began at day breakand ended at 4 o’clock. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Casteggio, Austrians defeated by Berthier, 8 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Marengo, one of the most brilliant in history, and important in its consequences; it lasted 11 hours; decided thefate of Italy, and placed the iron crown on the head of the Bonaparte Dynasty, 14 June. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle at Muhldorf, 1 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| 1801. | Alexandria, Egypt, Abercrombie fell, French defeated by Hutchinson, 21 March. | ||||||||||||||
| 1805. | Battle of Wertingen in Bavaria, the first of the coalition of Austria and Russia; Austrians defeated and alltheir cannon taken, Oct. 8. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Guntzburg, marshal Ney defeats the Austrians, 9 Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle on the Adige, Massena forces a passage at Verona, and defeats the archduke Charles, Oct. 18. | |||||||||||||||
| Surrender of Ulm by Mack, October 20. | |||||||||||||||
| Murat defeats prince Ferdinand at Nuremburg, Oct. 21. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Caldiero, Massena attacks the whole Austrian line, defeats them; captures one of their divisions; the arch dukeescapes at night, Oct. 30. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Amstetten, the Russians defeated by Murat, 4 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Marienzel, Davoust defeats the Austrian General Meerfeldt, 8 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Mortier defeats the Russians under Kutasoff at Diernstein, Nov. 11. | |||||||||||||||
| Murat and Lasnes defeat the Russians under Kutasoff at Holabrunn, 15 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Soult again at Guntersdorff, 16 Nov. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Austerlitz or of the three emperors, 500 pieces of cannon and 150,000 men were engaged in this battle, which was oneof the most profound in the history of tactics, and the most brilliant in the annals of victory; 150 pieces of artillery were taken by the victors; this battledeprived the house of Austria of the title of Emperor of Germany, 2 Dec. | |||||||||||||||
| 1806. | Battle of Jena, Oct. 14. | ||||||||||||||
| Prussia subdued by Bonaparte. | |||||||||||||||
| 1807. | Dantzick taken, May 20. | ||||||||||||||
| Battle of Spaudau, June 5. | |||||||||||||||
| Battle of Lonutten, same day. | |||||||||||||||
| Deppen, battle of, Marshal Ney makes a fictious retreat, and cuts a body of Russians to pieces, June 6. | |||||||||||||||
| Eylau, battle of, very bloody and desperate, Russians lost 30,000 men killed, June 6-12. | |||||||||||||||
| Friedland, battle of, this action decided the fate of the Coalition, and produced the peace of Tilsit on the 7th July succeeding.This battle stands in the same rank with Jemappe, Fleurus, Nordlingen, Zurich, Marengo, Jena and Austerlitz. | |||||||||||||||