Most epic battles

[KillerMongoose]

Battle of Golden Spurs

In 1302, the French army was trying to subdue the rebellious County of Flanders but they persisted. When they went to Bruges to "negotiate" peace, many of the rebellious Flemish and guild leaders escaped the city at night. Angry, the French harassed citizens of Bruges, particularly the families of the rebels. When they found out, the Flemish rebels went back into Bruges and murdered every Frenchman in the city, using the shibboleth "Schilt ende vriend" to distinguish Frenchman from Fleming.

The French sent a force of 8,000 (2500 heavy cavalry, 1000 crossbowmen, 1000 spearmen, 3500 light infantry) led by Robert II Count of Artois. The Flemish force was made up entirely of urban militia and 400 nobles, men came from all over Flanders to join in battle, 3000 from Bruges, 2500 from the Bruges suburbs, 2500 from Ghent, and 1000 from Ypres. The forces stand at 8000 for the French and 9000 for the Flemish. According to the commonly accepted military tactics of the time, each of the French knights should equal at least 10 militiamen, and an infantry force could never stand before heavy cavalry. The Flemish urban militia were trained regularly and were well-equipped, using weapons such as the goedendag, a 4-6 foot long staff that fluted out at the top to provide extra striking power, capped with a stout iron spike, supposedly given its name because Flemish militia would shout "Goedendag!" ("Good day!") as they struck Frenchmen with it; and long pikes known as the geldon.

Flemish urban militiaman armed with a goedendag

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The field of battle was laced with ditches and streams dug by the Flemish. Many of these had been concealed by dirt and branches. The French felt confident when they saw the Flemish infantry form up and prepare for battle. After a largely ineffective skirmish between the archers, the French sent their infantry to attack. The fighting went mildly well for the French but after only 10 minutes, Robert II Count of Artois recalled all of the infantry so that the cavalry could claim the victory. The Flemish reformed while the French cavalry struggled through the ditches and when they met, the French horses were stopped by the unbreakable wall of pikes and destroyed as suddenly men with goedendags burst from behind the pikemen and slaughtered the weary, disorganized, and muddy French knights, many had probably even fallen off of their horse if their horse itself hadn't fallen. The Flemish, both ordered to take no prisoners, and enraged at atrocities committed by the French upon entering Flanders, took no prisoners and killed Frenchmen without mercy. Robert II Count of Artois was unhorsed in the fight and when he asked to be ransomed the Flemish militia responded "We don't speak French" and killed him. After Robert's death, the French began to flee but the Flemish pursued them over 10km. Some contemporary accounts place the total dead at 10,000 dead and wounded but the accuracy of this number is debatable; roughly 1000 French knights lay dead on the field, their golden spurs collected as a trophy and hung in the Church of Our Lady in Kortrijk.

A (large) image of a French knight struggling to attack the Flemish militia

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A battle occurred in August of 1304 which many French will claim as a victory but in reality it is much different. After a day of fighting, there was no victor and the battle was undecided, a French force under Guy de Saint-Pol tried to flank and surround the Flemish but were thrown back easily. The Flemish (led again by William of Julich and also by Philip of Chieti) launched a bold charge which surprised the French. The Flemish drove all the way to the royal tents and unhorsed and wounded the French King Philip IV but he fled the field, escaping only because several knights covered his hasty flight. The victory was in sight for the Flemish, but then William of Julich was slain in battle. The Flemish left wing, commanded by John I Marquis of Namur, had not attacked and for whatever reason (probably the news of William's death) he decided to leave the field with his troops. The Flemish right wing which had driven the French so far back and shamed the French king and paid for it in the blood of their courageous leader decided to pull back. The Flemish pulled out of the field and the French, battered, bloodied, and more than likely afraid, decided not to pursue the Flemish. When the battle was all over, the Flemish had left the field but on it they left many thousands of dead Frenchmen including both nobles and common soldiers alike. Compared to the Flemish, the French had suffered heavy casualties. The French will go on to claim a victory and that they "forced a Flemish retreat" but in reality the Flemish withdrew only after shattering the French army.

With the French cavalry halted by the Flemish infantry, Philip IV was nearly slain

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[Jocam]

Battle of Camden (0:50 for epicness)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUFTcrbRyEM[/youtube]

Have you even read on how the battle actually went?

[Reverse]

The Battle of The Somme. Not just the first, but the entirety of it.
This video is more biased then I would have liked, since it only covered the British side. But it was still very good.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cK5xL6QBM0[/youtube]

[GoblinOverlord]

The Battle of The Somme. Not just the first, but the entirety of it.
This video is more biased then I would have liked, since it only covered the British side. But it was still very good.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cK5xL6QBM0[/youtube]

Well, there are a few German moments..... 

[Major Sharpe]

My favourite battles are those of small specialist forces completely outnumbered against a less developed force but still coming out on top such as:
Rorkes drift
Agincourt
Assaye
Cajamarca
And Thermopylae (I know the Persians won the battle but they still lost in a tactical way)

[Gokiller]

My favourite battles are those of small specialist forces completely outnumbered against a less developed force but still coming out on top such as:
Rorkes drift
Agincourt
Assaye
Cajamarca
And Thermopylae (I know the Persians won the battle but they still lost in a tactical way)

I remember seeing a documentary about that one, where some historians search for the reason why the French lost. What men the English had the terrain etc. Though I wonder how exactly were the French less developed in that battle?

[Major Sharpe]

My favourite battles are those of small specialist forces completely outnumbered against a less developed force but still coming out on top such as:
Rorkes drift
Agincourt
Assaye
Cajamarca
And Thermopylae (I know the Persians won the battle but they still lost in a tactical way)

I remember seeing a documentary about that one, where some historians search for the reason why the French lost. What men the English had the terrain etc. Though I wonder how exactly were the French less developed in that battle?

That is one example that doesn't fit in to my first sentence I just put it there because it was still a smaller force beating a larger force with the same (or better) technology simply because:

RULE BRITANNIA!!!

[Bastard]

My favourite battles are those of small specialist forces completely outnumbered against a less developed force but still coming out on top such as:
Rorkes drift
Agincourt
Assaye
Cajamarca
And Thermopylae (I know the Persians won the battle but they still lost in a tactical way)

I remember seeing a documentary about that one, where some historians search for the reason why the French lost. What men the English had the terrain etc. Though I wonder how exactly were the French less developed in that battle?

That is one example that doesn't fit in to my first sentence I just put it there because it was still a smaller force beating a larger force with the same (or better) technology simply because:

RULE BRITANNIA!!!

Well, we had longbows. The horses couldn't carry the heavily armoured knights through the fields.

The French lost three dukes, nine Counts and over ninety bannerets. This is expected when you have seven thousand longbowmen on either side of a narrow valley, the French army was positioned to stop the English advance to Calais.

The English had 6000-9000 men, while the French had 12000-36000. It was a slaughter, the longbows punctured through the armour while the French were locked down in the mud. The English lost 112 men, and the French 10000, with 1500 Noble prisoners took by the English.

[Nipplestockings]

My favourite battles are those of small specialist forces completely outnumbered against a less developed force but still coming out on top such as:
Rorkes drift
Agincourt
Assaye
Cajamarca
And Thermopylae (I know the Persians won the battle but they still lost in a tactical way)

I remember seeing a documentary about that one, where some historians search for the reason why the French lost. What men the English had the terrain etc. Though I wonder how exactly were the French less developed in that battle?

Battlefield Detectives? I saw that too, it was very interesting.

[von_Bismarck]

Not just longbows, even some arquebuses were used in Agincourt. Despite that it was still pretty much a medieval battle.

[Bastard]

Not just longbows, even some arquebuses were used in Agincourt. Despite that it was still pretty much a medieval battle.

Really? I wasn't aware of that.
I can't see anything about that on wikipedia, but meh...that's wikipedia.


Edit: I another thing I found quite awesome was  "Upon hearing that his youngest brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester had been wounded in the groin, Henry took his household guard and stood over his brother, in the front rank of the fighting, until Humphrey could be dragged to safety. The king received an axe blow to the head which knocked off a piece of the crown that formed part of his helmet."

[von_Bismarck]

Not just longbows, even some arquebuses were used in Agincourt. Despite that it was still pretty much a medieval battle.

Really? I wasn't aware of that.
I can't see anything about that on wikipedia, but meh...that's wikipedia.


Edit: I another thing I found quite awesome was  "Upon hearing that his youngest brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester had been wounded in the groin, Henry took his household guard and stood over his brother, in the front rank of the fighting, until Humphrey could be dragged to safety. The king received an axe blow to the head which knocked off a piece of the crown that formed part of his helmet."

The arquebuses were used mostly in the later part of the war.
Some examples:
Battle of Castillon
In many ways, this battle played out like the Battle of Crécy in “reverse.” The French guns devastated the advancing English. It is reported each shot killed six men at a time. The battle itself was “highly characteristic of the period” with the strong field fortification of the French and the small-arms fighting of the Battle.

Battle of Agincourt
The first reported use of the arquebus was in the Battle of Agincourt, 1415.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_warfare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years%27_War

[Needsomemore]

I'd say the Dutch raid on medway was a pretty epic attack. Since we have no naval battles in here yet  I thought let's throw one in

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_the_Medway

[Bastard]

Not just longbows, even some arquebuses were used in Agincourt. Despite that it was still pretty much a medieval battle.

Really? I wasn't aware of that.
I can't see anything about that on wikipedia, but meh...that's wikipedia.


Edit: I another thing I found quite awesome was  "Upon hearing that his youngest brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester had been wounded in the groin, Henry took his household guard and stood over his brother, in the front rank of the fighting, until Humphrey could be dragged to safety. The king received an axe blow to the head which knocked off a piece of the crown that formed part of his helmet."

The arquebuses were used mostly in the later part of the war.
Some examples:
Battle of Castillon
In many ways, this battle played out like the Battle of Crécy in “reverse.” The French guns devastated the advancing English. It is reported each shot killed six men at a time. The battle itself was “highly characteristic of the period” with the strong field fortification of the French and the small-arms fighting of the Battle.

Battle of Agincourt
The first reported use of the arquebus was in the Battle of Agincourt, 1415.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_warfare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years%27_War

Interesting, thanks.

[Turin Turambar]

I would like to add the Battle of Tannenberg and I do not mean the one from 1410 where the Germans lost, I mean the one from 1914.
The German forces were outnumbered agains the Russian armies but they closed in on them and defended against an escape attempt from the 1st Russian Army Corps. Their General commited suicide on the next day.
In summary the Germans lost less than 10.000 men while the Russians had over 30.000 and nearly 100.000 captured enemied soldiers.
Here a drawing of Paul von Hindenburgs staff: