Today in Military History – September 25th

Today in Military History – September 25^th

1066: Battle of Stamford Bridge

This battle was fought between the English army of King Harold Goodwinson and the invading Norwegian force of King Harald Hadrada. The English king’s brother, Tostig Godwinson, also participated in the battle on behalf of the Vikings in revenge for the banishment imposed on him by his brother. Both King Hadrada and Tostig were killed on that battle, along with most of the Norwegians.

Read another story from us:Battle of Stamford Bridge – The Victory that Lost England for the Anglo-Saxons 

Battle of Stamford Bridge

1597: Siege of Amiens

The French recovered the city of Amiens, which had previously been captured by the Spanish. The Spanish had captured the city on 11^th of March by executing a ruse: soldiers dressed as peasants managed to infiltrate the city, overpower the gate guards, and allow a bigger group of soldiers to get in.

Henry IV sent his army to recapture it. The army had to defend against an attempt by the city garrison to break the siege. It also had to set up a blockade against Spanish reinforcements and subsequently drive them off, but Henry’s army was eventually successful. Siege of Amiens 1597 showing the English positions (left) & French positions

Read another story from us: Military Reforms of King Henry The Eighth – He Built Up A Modern Fighting Force In Medieval England

1775: American Revolutionary War hero, Ethan Allen, is captured by British forces

Ethan Allen led a small force of American and Quebec militia to capture Montreal. Unfortunately, Major John Brown, who was supposed to provide additional forces and support, did not arrive. Allen was surrounded and then captured by the forces of the British General, Guy Carleton.

Read another story from us: Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold, & the Green Mountain Boys – Capture of Fort Ticonderoga

Engraving depicting Allen before his captors in Montreal

1915: Battle of Loos commences

This battle took place on the Western Front during WWI. Being the biggest British attack of 1915, it is often referred to as “The Big Push.” The British used chlorine gas, which it was hoped would overpower the primitive German gas masks. However, in some places, they failed to account for the wind direction so that the gas ended up blowing across British troops. This resulted in 2,632 British gas casualties, although there were only 7 deaths.

Read another story from us: When the British 1st Used Poison Gas – Battle of Loos

While The Big Push was successful in some places, namely the capture of the village of Loos in the Southern end, the overall battle was won by Germany in the end. The British had 59,247 casualties, while the Germans only had about 26,000. British infantry advancing through gas at Loos, 25 September 1915.

1915: The Second Battle of Champagne commences

The Germans had time to reinforce their front, so a second defensive line was placed three lines behind the first. Concrete pillboxes with machine guns were also constructed in between the defensive lines. Although the French used chlorine gas as soon as the attack started, they couldn’t penetrate the second line.

On the 6^th of November 1915, the push was abandoned all-together, resulting in a German victory. The Allies had lost 145,000 men in that battle, while the Germans had only 72,500 casualties, of which 25,000 were captured.

Read another story from us: Second Battle of Champagne WWI – High Hopes and Lessons Learned

American troops during the Champagne-Marne offensive in a forest fighting Germans. By Don Troiani CC BY 2.0

1943: Soviet troops liberate Smolensk

Read another story from us: The 1941 Battle of Smolensk

Under cover of Maxim MG fire Soviet soldiers storm enemy positions somewhere along the Russian Front

During the Battle of the Dnieper, and following a whole night of street fighting, Soviet troops completed the liberation of Smolensk.