The Military History Thread

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May 7, 1590
Henry IV’s Siege of Paris

The campaign of 1590 had begun with the Catholic siege of Meulan and Henry IV’s siege of Dreux. In order to lift the siege of Dreux, Charles of Mayenne, head of the Catholic League, moved south to try and defeat Henry, but instead suffered a heavy defeat at Ivry (March 14, see posting) in which his army was scattered and almost destroyed. For a few days Paris, which was only 36 miles to the east, was almost defenseless, but instead of pressing his advantage Henry spent two weeks at Mantes, before slowly moving towards the city, the heart of League power. Although dominant now in most of France, Henry could not truly be king without the capital city. The city’s leaders first concealed news of the defeat, then, when it could no longer be concealed, presented it as divine punishment for lack steadfastness. Those who spoke of peace were thrown into the Seine.

Eventually, the Parisians recovered their nerve, while Mayenne had time to write to Philip II of Spain asking for help. However the Parisians failed to take full advantage of the time they had been given, and didn’t begin to stockpile food until it was almost too late. They did repair the walls, cast new cannon to replace the ones taken away by the various armies over the previous years, and purchased around 3000 hogsheads of food and 10,000 of wine. They also carried out a census of the population, which was calculated as between 200,000 and 220,000.

By the time Henry reached Paris, the city was well defended. The Duke of Nemours, who had been placed in command, had 5-8000 regular troops and 30-50,000 urban militia, many with military experience. Henry probably had around 15,000 regulars at any one time, from a total force of 20,000. Even so the defenders never risked any sorties against the thinly spread besiegers.

When Henry did eventually move, he advanced around the south of Paris, taking Corbeil and Melun on the Seine (southeast of Paris) and Lagny on the Marne (east of the city). Part of the army proceded to Provins, Bray-sur-Seine and Nogent-sur-Seine, which surrendered without resistance, and on April 29, the small garrison of Sens capitulated. Henry then put his army on the march against Paris.

The investment of the capital began on May 7, 1590, with royal troops occupying the neighborhoods of Saint-Denis and the villages of Gonesse, Louvres, Le Bourget and, on the 11th, the bridges of Saint-Maur, Charenton and Saint-Cloud.

At first morale within the city was high, helped by the many clergymen within the walls. On May 14 there was even a parade of armed monks and friars, led by Guillaume Rose, bishop of Senlis, although the impact of this was rather spoiled when one of the monks accidentally shot and killed the almoner of Cardinal Cajetan, who was watching the parade.

The next few weeks saw the reduction of several outlying positions, but on June 13, the king, hearing the Mayenne and his army were approaching, sent troops to Senlis and Compiegne, and had 2 artillery batteries erected, one on Montmartre and the other on the top of Montfaucon. On the 16th of June, a Parisian delegation going to seek help from Mayenne was intercepted at Aubervilliers. Henry sent the delegation back to the capital, charging it to urge the inhabitants to recognize him as king, and to submit to his obedience by promising them safety and freedom of conscience and religion. The royal demand was rejected.

On June 25, the royalists launched an assault on the Faubourg Saint-Denis, but were repulsed. Another attack on the 27th, against the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, also failed. On July 2, a royal force from Montmarte attacked by way of the Pourceaux market, but was halted by artillery near the Saint-Honoré gate. A supporting attack against the Faubourg Saint-Germain made some penetrations, but also ultimately failed. On July 12, a raid by 200 lansquenets near the Abbey of Saint-Antoine managed to seize large amounts of food and bring it into the city. The enxt day, a furious King Henri had his men burn several grain fields and then launched an assault on the neighborhoods of Saint-Denis and Saint-Martin, overthrowing the first defenses, but eventually failed again to make lasting gains. After much skirmishing, a major food raid by the garrison on the 23rd was turned back.

Food soon began to run out inside the city, and the inhabitants were reduced to eating horses, dogs and cats. There was a brief respite when the many monasteries were forced to hand out their food stocks, but this only delayed the famine. Eventually things got so bad inside the city that a council of the leading men decided to send Cardinal Gondy, Bishop of Paris and the Archbishop of Lyons to visit Henry and try and arrange negotiations that might lead to a universal peace. Henry was willing to meet with them, just outside the city, on August 7. He turned down their request, but offered to pardon the citizens of Paris if they surrendered, and gave then 8 days. The Parisians turned down these terms, and the siege continued.

Just as it looked as if the city would have to surrender, a relief army finally arrived. Philip II had ordered Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, his commander in the Netherlands, to come to the aid of the defenders of Paris. He entered France with 12,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry. On August 23, at Meaux, 28 miles east of the city, he met up with Mayenne with 6000 infantry and 2000 cavalry, giving him 18,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry.

The approach of Parma’s army caused something of a crisis in Henry’s army, where there was a prolonged argument about what to do next - how many troops to leave at Paris and how many to take to face Parma, and where to make a stand. Eventually Henry decided to take his entire army, which was now at a peak of strength, to face Parma around Bondy, 6 miles east of the city. Henry reached Bondy on August30, but when Parma’s army didn’t appear, he moved further north to Claye, 16 miles from the city. Parma had already achieved his main objective - with Henry’s army pulled away from the city, supplies flowed into Paris. Henry had gambled that Parma would be willing to risk a battle that could decide the war in a single day, but Parma had no interest in taking that risk.

For a week Henry and Parma faced each other east of Paris. However Parma wasn’t idle. Instead he was preparing to attack Lagny, on the south bank of the Marne. He built a bridge of boats across the river, and moved his artillery to bombard the city. The moment there was a breach in the walls, Parma’s army rushed across the bridge and captured the city. At first a thick fog and a southwesterly wind meant that Henry had no idea what was going on. When he did finally discover what was happening it was too late - Parma had left a rearguard facing Henry on the north bank of the river, and the alternative route, south past a bend in the Marne, was protected by swamps. Lagny fell on September 8.

Henry made one last attempt to end the siege, launching a night attack on the walls on September 10 or 11 (the two best sources disagree on the dates). The attack went in on the opposite side of the walls from Lagny, and almost caught the defenders napping, but the Jesuits from a college near to the attack discovered it just in time and held off the first few troops to reach the top of the wall before they could get established.

Both of the main armies soon moved away from Paris. Parma had other concerns, so after taking Corbiel in October, he withdrew back to the Netherlands. Henry’s men soon retook Lagny and Corbiel, but this had little impact. By this point Henry had already made the surprising decision to disperse his army, on the grounds that supplies were running short. He garrisoned a number of key places around Paris, and then sent parts of the army into Maine, Normandy, Picardy, Champagne and Burgundy, while he took a small force to harass Parma as he left France.

Henry IV finally converted to Catholicism, reportedly declaring that "Paris is well worth a Mass". The war-weary Parisians turned on the Catholic League’s hardliners when they continued the conflict even after Henry had converted. Paris jubilantly welcomed the formerly Protestant Henry in 1593, and he was crowned King of France the following year.

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May 8, 1889
Bagamoyo Expedition

The German East Africa Company (DOAG) ruled the new German colonial territory there, by agreement with the Sultan of Zanzibar. However, the mismanagement and greed of the DOAG soon provoked war with the Arab and Swahili inhabitants of the coastal zone. The most serious grievance was a new law requiring all landowners to produce written evidence of ownership or face forfeiture; in a country where few people were literate or had ever kept written records, this was seen as a mere pretext for dispossessing them. The last straw came when the German resident in the port of Pangani ignored an agreement that the DOAG and Zanzibari flags be flown side by side and cut down the Sultan’s flag.

Commonly referred to as the Abushiri Rebellion, the uprising was not technically a rebellion at all, since most of the combatants had never sworn allegiance to Germany in the first place. Its leaders were Abushiri bin al-Harthi, a member of an old family which had led opposition to Zanzibar, and Bwana Heri bin Juma, a prominent Seguhha chief who had adopted Arab ways. Abushiri was now a plantation owner, but had made his fortune as a slaver, which enabled the Germans to present the war as a campaign against the slave trade. Abushiri’s forces were a collection of Arabs, Baluchi ex-mercenaries, Arabized Swahilis and tribal warriors from the interior, altogether about 20,000 men. The Indian merchants of Zanzibar, whose trade was also threatened by the Germans, are said to have supplied the rebels with guns, including breech-loading rifles, and ammunition. However, the British supported the German war effort with a naval blockade, restricting further import of weapons.

In August 1888, there were only 56 German agents a few local askaris; these were either blockaded in their stations or forced to flee to Bagamoyo, where German warships kept a semblance of order. In Pangani, the resident and 50 askaris were placed under siege. After a German naval party sacked the town and then withdrew, leaving the defenders to face the wrath of the locals, the Sultan of Zanzibar sent 2 companies of regulars, but these, and most of the DOAG askaris defected to the rebels. The stations at Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo still held out. On January 25, 1889, Abushiri’s lieutenant Suleiman bin Sef attacked Dar es Salaam with 1000 Swahili fighters, but was defeated with heavy losses. The Germans then requested a cease-fire, which Abushiri agreed to, unaware that an expedition was being prepared to rescue the DOAG and restore German prestige.

Hermann von Wissmann, an explorer who had made his name in the Congo, was appointed in February 1889 to suppress the “rising” and impose German authority. With the connivance of the British and Portuguese, he had raised a fairly powerful force on a budget, recruiting Sudanese soldiers from Egypt and Ngoni from Mozambique (whom the Germans referred to as Zulus) There were also 19 German officers and 56 NCOs. The “Wissmanntruppe” was landed at Bagamoyo in May. Wissmann found the town defended by a few loyal askaris and several hundred musket-armed Nyamwezi traders who had thrown in with the Germans. A detachment was sent to Dar es Salaam. The expedition against Abushiri’s stronghold near Bagamoyo numbered 200 marines and sailors, 40 Army NCOs used as sharpshooters, 4 companies of Sudanese and one of Ngoni, about 500 men in total, with a 60mm mountain gun and 2 revolver cannon.

Wissmann’s first clash, at Abushiri’s camp in Useguhha, a few hours march away, set the pattern for the war. About 800 Arabs and local allies defended behind a wooden palisade, with at least 1 old muzzle-loading cannon. While the Sudanese advanced and exchanged fire, the revolver cannon quickly silenced the Arab artillery. However, the small 37mm shells had little effect on the men behind the palisade, so Wissmann was obliged to deploy for an assault. About half the defenders then advanced into the open to engage the German right until the marines stormed the palisade, followed by a company of Sudanese. Most of the 400 Arabs outside the boma retired into the bush, but at least 100 of those trapped inside were killed. The Germans lost 9 dead and 7-13 wounded.

The results of the victory were far-reaching. Many of Abushiri’s fighters dispersed into the bush to carry on guerrilla warfare, although their leaders raised a new army. Lt. Rochus Schmidt, defending Dar es Salaam, organized a counterattack on his own initiative and routed the besiegers. The besiegers of Bagamoyo departed.

In July, an expedition captured Pangani. In November, Abushiri made another attempt on Bagamoyo, with 6000 men. His attacks were met by Wissmann’s troops in square and beaten off with the loss of over 400 dead. The pursuit by tribal irregulars overran the Arab rearguard and captured its artillery. This defeat broke the morale of the Arab army, which never reformed. Abushiri himself was betrayed by a local chief and handed over to the Germans. On December 15, he was hanged in Bagamoyo.

Bwana Heri remained in the field, but was defeated at Mlembule in January 1890. a few remnants held out in the south, but the capture of Lindi on May 12, after 2 days of street fighting, marked the end of the war.

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May 9, 1918
2nd Ostend Raid

In 1915–1916, the German navy had developed Bruges into a major naval center with large concrete bunkers for U-boats, extensive barracks and training facilities, and similar facilities for other classes of raider. Bruges was therefore a vital asset in the German navy's struggle to prevent Britain from receiving food and matériel. This significance was not lost on British naval planners and 2 previous attempts to close the exit at Ostend, the smaller and narrower of the Bruges canals, had ended in failure. On September 7, 1915, four Lord Clive-class monitors had bombarded the dockyard, while German coastal artillery returned fire. Only 14 rounds were fired by the British with the result that only part of the dockyard was set on fire. In a bombardment on September 22, the lock gates were hit causing the basin to drain at low tide.

Two years passed before the next attempt on the Ostend locks. The 1st Ostend Raid was conducted in tandem with the similar Zeebrugge Raid (see posting) led by Acting Vice-Adm. Roger Keyes on April 23, 1918. Both attacks largely failed, but while at Zeebrugge the operation came so close to success that it took several months for the British to realize that it had been unsuccessful, at Ostend the attack had ended catastrophically. Both blockships intended to close the canal had grounded over half a mile from their intended location and been scuttled by their crews under heavy fire, which caused severe casualties. Thus while Zeebrugge seemed to be blocked, Ostend was open wide, nullifying any success that might have been achieved at the other port.

Keyes planned a return to Ostend with the intention of blocking the canal and closing the harbor and trapping the 18 U-boats and 25 destroyers present for months. Volunteers from the force that had failed in April aided the planning with advice based on their experience, and Keyes devised an operational plan to attack the canal mouth at Ostend once again. Two obsolete cruisers - the aged HMS Sappho and the battered veteran of Zeebrugge, HMS Vindictive - were fitted out as blockships by having their non-essential equipment stripped, their essential equipment reinforced and picked crews selected from volunteers. The forward ballast tanks were filled with concrete to both protect their bows during the attack, and act as a more lasting obstacle once sunk. Vindictive was commanded by Cmdr. Alfred Godsal; her crew were all volunteer veterans of the previous attempt. The two sacrificial cruisers were, as with the previous attack, accompanied by 4 heavy monitors under Keyes, 8 destroyers under Commodore Hubert Lynes in HMS Faulknor and 5 motor launches. Like the blockships, the launches were all crewed by volunteers; mostly veterans of previous operations against the Belgian ports.

The plan was similar to the previous operation. Weather dependent, under cover of a smoke screen, aerial bombardment and offshore artillery, the blockships would steam directly into the channel, turn sideways and scuttle. They would be covered by fire against German shore positions from the heavy monitors at distance and at closer range by fire from the destroyers. This was vital because Ostend was protected by a very strong 11” gun position known as the Tirpitz Battery. Once the operation had been concluded, the motor launches would draw along the seaward side of the blockships, remove the surviving crews and take them to the monitors for passage back to Britain.

Preparations were completed by the first week of May and on May 9 the weather was nearly perfect for the attack. The armada departed Dunkirk shortly after dark. Two minutes after midnight, the force suffered a setback when Sappho suffered a minor boiler explosion and had to turn back. Although this halved the ability of the force to block Ostend, Lynes decided to continue, and at 0130, the force closed on the port. Torpedoes fired from motor launches demolished machine gun posts on the ends of the piers marking the canal, beginning the attack. In spite of sudden fog, 10 heavy bombers then dropped incendiaries, but did not cause significant damage. At the same time, long range guns of the Royal Marine Artillery opened fire from Allied positions around Ypres.

Godsal and Lynes had carefully consulted available charts of Ostend following the previous failure caused by German repositioning of navigation buoys. This careful study was, however, rendered worthless by the fog which obliterated all sight of the shore. Steaming back and forth across the harbor entrance as the monitors and shore batteries engaged in a long range artillery duel, Godsal looked for the piers marking the entrance to the canal. As he searched, 2 German torpedo boats sailed to intercept, but in the heavy fog they collided and, disabled, limped back to shore. During this period, Godsal's motor launches lost track of the cruiser in the murk, and it was not until the 3rd pass that Vindictive found the entrance, accompanied by only 1 of the launches. Heading straight into the mouth of the canal, Vindictive became an instant target of the German batteries and was badly hit, seriously damaging the port propeller.

Godsal intended to swing Vindictive broadside on into the channel mouth, but the right screw broke down completely, preventing the cruiser from fully turning. Before this was realized on the bridge, a shell struck Commander Godsal, killing him instantly. Most of the bridge crew was killed or wounded by the blast, including First Lt. Victor Crutchley, who staggered to the wheel and attempted to force the ship to make the full turn into the channel. The damaged propeller made this maneuver impossible and the drifting cruiser floated out of the channel and became stuck on a sandbank outside, only partially obscuring the entrance.

Realizing that further maneuver would be pointless, Crutchley ordered the charges blown and the ship evacuated. The rescue mission, however, was not going as planned. Of the 5 motor launches, only 1 had remained alongside in the fog; ML254 commanded by Lt. Geoffrey Drummond. The launch was riddled with bullets; her commander was wounded and her executive officer dead. Despite her sheltered position behind the cruiser, fire from shore continued and a number of those aboard suffered broken ankles as they jumped onto the heaving deck. ML254 then began slowly to leave the harbor mouth, carrying 38 survivors of Vindictive's 55 crew huddled on deck, where they remained exposed to fire from the shore.

One of the missing launches, ML276 now caught up. Drummond called to ML276's commander, Lt. Rowley Bourke, that he believed there were still men in the water and Bourke immediately entered the harbor to search for them. Drummond proceeded to the rendezvous with the destroyer HMS Warwick, overloaded and sinking. Bourke entered the harbor but could not find the lost men. Despite heavy fire, Bourke returned to the scene of the wreck 4 times before finding 3 men clinging to an upturned boat. Hauling them aboard, Bourke turned for the safety of the open sea, but as he did, two 6” shells hit, smashing the lifeboat and destroying the compressed air tanks. This stalled the engines and caused a wave of corrosive acid to wash over the deck, causing severe damage. Under heavy fire, the boat staggered out of the harbor and was taken under tow by another late-arriving launch.

Offshore, as Warwick's officers, Keyes' staff and the survivors of Vindictive gathered on deck to discuss the operation, an enormous explosion rocked the ship causing her to list severely. Warwick had struck a mine and was now in danger of sinking herself. The destroyer Velox was lashed alongside and survivors transferred across to the sound ship. This ragged ensemble did not reach Dover until early the following morning, with Warwick still afloat. British casualties were reported in the immediate aftermath as being 8 dead, 10 missing and 29 wounded. German losses were 3 killed and 8 wounded.

The channel was ostensibly closed off from the open sea, even if the position of the blockship meant that smaller ships could get through. In fact, the entire operation had been rendered moot before it even began, due to events at the wider canal in Zeebrugge. British assessments of that operation had proven optimistic and the channel there had not been properly closed. Small coastal submarines of the UC class had been able to pass through the channel as early as the morning after the Zeebrugge Raid and German naval engineers were able to dredge channels around the blockages at both ports over the coming weeks.

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326 BC
2nd Samnite War, Part 1

Following the 1sr Samnite War (see posting), tensions continued. In 328 BC, the Romans established a colony at Fregellae in Campania, in an area supposed to be under Samnite control. It was an old Volscian town, that had been taken from the Volsci and destroyed by the Samnites. Paleopolis ("old city") was the older settlement of Neapolis (“new city”, modern Naples, which was a Greek city) and was very close to larger settlement of Neapolis. Livy said that it attacked Romans who lived in Campania. Rome asked for redress, but was rebuffed and declared war. In 327 BC the 2 consular armies headed for Campania. One camped near Neapolis, while the other kept watch for a rumored Samnite intervention, and reports that they were supporting Paleopolis with troops. The Samnites denied the rumors, and also complained about the founding of Fregellae, which they thought an act of aggression. They called for war in Campania.

Quintus Publilius Philo positioned his army between Paleopolis and Neapolis to isolate them from each other. In 326 BC 2 leading men of Naples, upset at the misbehavior of Samnite soldiers in the city, aided the Romans in taking the city In Samnium the towns of Allifae, Callifae, and Rufrium were taken by the Romans. The Lucanians and Apulians (from the heel of Italy) allied with Rome. News of an alliance between the Samnites and the Vestini (of the Adriatic coast, northeast of Samnium) now reached Rome. In 325 BC the consul Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva ravaged their territory, forced them into a pitched battle and took the towns of Cutina and Cingilia. The dictator Lucius Papirius Cursor, who had taken over the command of the other consul, who had fallen ill, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Samnites in an unspecified location in 324 BC. The Samnites sued for peace and the dictator withdrew. However, the Samnites rejected Rome’s terms and agreed only a 1-year truce, which they denounced when they heard that Papirius intended to continue the fight. Livy also said that in that year the Apulians became enemies of Rome. Unfortunately, this information is very vague as the region was populated by three separate groups, the Messapii in the south, the Iapyges in the center and the Dauni in the north. We do not know who in this area became enemies of Rome. The consuls for 323 BC fought on 2 fronts, with C. Sulpicius Longus going to Samnium and Quintus Aemilius Cerretanus to Apulia. There were no battles, but much land was laid waste. In 322 BC there were rumors that the Samnites had hired mercenaries and Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina was appointed Dictator. The Samnites attacked his camp in Samnium. A fierce battle followed and eventually the Samnites were routed. The Samnites offered peace again, but this was rejected by Rome

In 321 BC the consuls Titus Veturius Calvinus and Spurius Postumius Albinus were encamped in Calatia (a Campanian town near Capua). Gavius Pontius, the commander of the Samnites, placed his army at the Caudine Forks and sent some soldiers disguised as shepherds towards Calatia. Their mission was to spread rumors that the Samnites were about to attack the city of Luceria in Apulia, an ally of Rome. The consuls decided to march to the aid of this city and to take the quicker (but less safe) route through the Caudine Forks. These were 2 narrow wooded defiles in the Apennines with a plain between. The passage from the first to the second was a narrow and difficult ravine. The Samnites blocked this with felled trees and boulders. When the Romans passed through, they also blocked the rear entry. The Romans were surrounded and set up a fortified camp. Pontius sent a messenger to his father Herennius, a retired statesman, to ask for advice. His council was to free the Romans immediately. Gavius rejected this and Herenius’ second message was to kill them all. Gaius thought that his father had gone senile, but summoned him to the Forks. Herennius said that the first option would lead to friendship with Rome and that with the second one, the loss of 2 armies would neutralize the Romans for a long time. When asked about a middle course of letting them go and imposing terms, he said that this "neither wins men friends nor rids them of their enemies." Shaming the Romans would lead them to seek revenge. Gavius decided to demand a Roman surrender; the consuls had no choice but to accept. The Romans came out unarmed, underwent the humiliation of passing under the yoke and suffered the mockery of the enemy. (The yoke was a symbol of subjugation in which the defeated soldiers had to bow and pass under a yoke used for oxen.). A truce followed until 316 BC.

Spurius Postumius told the senate that Rome was not bound by the guarantee at the Caudine Forks because it was given without the authorization of the people, that there was no impediment to resuming the war and all that Rome owed to the Samnites were the persons and the lives of the guarantors. An army and the guarantors to be surrendered were sent to Samnium. Once there, Postumius jostled the knee of a priest and claimed that he was a Samnite who had violated diplomatic rules. Gavius Pontius denounced Roman duplicity and declared that he deemed the Roman guarantors not surrendered. The peace he had hoped for did not materialize. Meanwhile, Satricum (a town in Latium) defected to the Samnites, who also took Fregellae.

In 316 BC the dictator Lucius Aemilius besieged Saticula. A large Samnite army encamped near the Romans and the Saticulans made a sortie. Aemilius was in a position which was difficult to attack, drove the Saticulans back into the town and then confronted the Samnites, who fled to their camp and left at night. The Samnites then besieged the nearby Plistica, which was an ally of Rome. In 315 BC the dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus took over the operations at Saticula. The Samnites had raised fresh troops, encamped near the city and were trying to force a battle to divert the Romans from the siege. Quintus Fabius concentrated on the city and the Samnites harassed the Roman rampart. Quintus Aulius Cerretanus attacked the Samnites harassing the Roman camp. He killed the Samnite commander and was killed himself. The Samnites left and went on to seize Plistica. The Romans transferred their troops in Apulia and Samnium to deal with Sora, a Roman colony in Latium near the border with Samnium, which had defected to the Samnites and killed the Roman colonists. The Roman army headed for there, but heard that the Samnites were also moving and were getting close. The Romans took a diversion and engaged the Samnites at the battle of Lautulae, where they were defeated and Quintus Aulius killed. He was replaced by Gaius Fabius.

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326 BC
2nd Samnite War, Part 2

In 314 BC the new consuls, Marcus Poetelius and Gaius Sulpicius, took new troops to Sora. The city was in a strong position, but a deserter offered to betray it. He told the Romans to move their camp close to the city and the next night he took 10 men on an almost impassable and steep path up to the citadel. He then shouted that the Romans had taken it. The inhabitants panicked and opened the gates. The conspirators were taken to Rome and executed and a garrison was installed. Three Ausoni cities that had defected after Lautulae were also betrayed to the Romans. A conspiracy was discovered in Capua and the Samnites decided to try to seize the city. They were confronted by both consuls. The right wing of Poetelius routed its Samnite counterpart. However, Sulpicius, confident of victory, had left his left wing to join Poetelius and without him his troops came close to defeat. When he re-joined them, the Samnites fled to Malventum, in Samnium. The consuls went on to besiege Bovianum, the capital of the Petrians, the largest of the 4 Samnite tribes, and wintered there. In 313 BC they were replaced by the dictator Gaius Poetelius Libo Visolus. The Samnites took Fregellae and Poetelius moved to retake it, but the Samnites had left at night. He placed a garrison and then marched on Nola (near Naples) to retake it. He set fire to the buildings near the city walls and took the city.

In 312 BC, while the war in Samnium seemed to be winding down, there were rumors of an Etruscan mobilization. While the consul M. Valerius Maximus Corvus was in Samnium, his colleague Publius Decius Mus, who was sick, appointed Gaius Sulpicius Longus as dictator, who made preparations for war. In 311 BC the consuls Gaius Junius Bubulcus and Quintus Aemilius Barbula divided their command. Junius took on Samnium and Aemilius took on Etruria.The Samnites took the Roman garrison of Cluviae. Junius retook it and then moved on Bovianum and sacked it. The Samnites sought to ambush the Romans., but failed disastrously and were crushed. Meanwhile, the Etruscans besieged Sutrium, an ally which the Romans saw as their key to Etruria. Aemilius came up and the Etruscans offered battle. It was a long and bloody fight. The Romans were starting to gain the upper hand, but darkness stopped the battle. There was no further fighting that year as both the Etruscans and Romans had suffered heavy casualties.

In 310 BC Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus went to Sutrium with reinforcements and was met by a superior force of Etruscans, who were heavily defeated. The Etruscan cities of Perusia, Cortona and Arretium sued for peace and obtained a 30-year truce. Meanwhile, the other consul, Gaius Marcius Rutilus, captured Allifae (in Campania) from the Samnites. The small Roman fleet was sent to Pompeii and from there they pillaged the territory of Nuceria. Greedy for booty, the sailors ventured too far inland and the country folk killed many of them. The Samnites received a report that the Romans had been beaten by the Etruscans and had decided to confront Gaius Marcius, who confronted them and a bloody but indecisive battle.

The Senate appointed Lucius Papirius Cursor as dictator. However, Quintus Fabius had a grudge against Papirius. A delegation of former consuls was sent to persuade him to accept the Senate's decision, and Fabius reluctantly accepted Papirius, who relieved Marcius at Longula, a Volscian town near the Samnite border. Meanwhile, a fierce battle was fought in Etruria by an unspecified Etruscan army levied (presumably by Etruscans who had not signed the treaty) by using the lex sacrata (an arrangement with religious connotations whereby the soldiers had to fight to the death). It confronted the Romans at the Battle of Lake Vadimo. This was drawn-out affair and the reserves were called in. It was finally resolved by the Roman cavalry which dismounted and fought as a fresh line of infantry, breaking the exhausted enemy ranks.

In 309 BC, Cursor won a major battle against the Samnites and celebrated the finest triumph yet seen thanks to the spoils. The Etruscan cities broke the truce and Quintus Fabius easily defeated the remnants of their troops near Perusia, which surrendered. In 308 BC, Quintus Fabius was elected consul again. His colleague was Publius Decius Mus. Fabius took on Samnium and also fought an unspecified battle where the Marsi joined the Samnites. The Paeligni, who also sided with the Samnites, were defeated next. In Etruria Decius obtained a 40-year truce and grain supplies from Tarquinii, seized some strongholds of the Volsinii and ravaged wide areas. All the Etruscans sued for a treaty, but he conceded only a 1-year truce. There was a revolt by the Umbrians who gathered a large army and said that they would ignore Decius and march on Rome. Decius undertook forced marches, encamped northeast of Rome, and called on Fabius for help. Fabius marched to Mevania, near Assisi, where the Umbrians were camped. The surprised Umbrians were heavily defeated. The leaders of the revolt surrendered and the rest of Umbria capitulated within days.

In 307 BC Fabius was made proconsul to conduct the campaign in Samnium. He defeated the Samnites in a pitched battle near Allifae and besieged their camp. The Samnites surrendered, passed under the yoke and their allies were sold into slavery. There were some Hernici among them and they were sent to Rome, where an inquiry was held to determine whether they were conscripts or volunteers. All of the Hernici, except the peoples of the cities of Aletrium, Ferentium and Verulae, declared war on Rome. Quintus Fabius left Samnium, and the Samnites seized Calatia and Sora with their Roman garrisons. In 306 BC, the consul Publius Cornelius Arvina headed for Samnium and his colleague Quintus Marcius Tremulus took on the Hernici. The enemies took all the strategic points between the camps and isolated the two consuls. However, the Hernici did not engage in pitched battle, lost 3 camps, sued for a 30-year truce and then surrendered unconditionally. Meanwhile, the Samnites were harassing Publius Cornelius and blocking his supply routes. Quintus Marcius came to his aid and was attacked. He advanced through the enemy lines and took their camp, which was empty, and burned it. On seeing the fire, Publius Cornelius joined in and blocked the escape of the Samnites, who were slaughtered when the two consuls joined forces. In 305 BC the Samnites made forays in Campania.

In 305 BC the consuls were sent to Samnium. Lucius Postumius Megellus marched on Tifernum and Titus Minucius Augurinus on Bovianum. There was a battle at Tifernum where some of Livy's sources say that Postumius was defeated, while others say that the battle was even and he withdrew to the mountains at night. The Samnites followed and encamped nearby. Postumius then left a garrison at this camp and marched to his colleague who was also encamped facing the enemy. He instigated Titus Minucius to give battle, which dragged on until the late afternoon. Then Postumius joined in and the Samnites were slaughtered. The next day the consuls begun the siege of Bovianum, which fell quickly. In 304 BC the Samnites sent envoys to negotiate a peace. The suspicious Romans sent the consul Publius Sempronius Sophus to Samnium with an army to investigate the true intentions of the Samnites. He traveled all over Samnium and everywhere he found peaceable people who gave him supplies. Livy said that the ancient treaty with the Samnites was restored. He did not specify what the terms were.

Several other peoples were either annexed or forced to become allies in the next few years. However, Rome’s dominance of central Italy was not yet complete. It would take one more war with the Samnites to settle the issue for once and all.

[Mal Hombre]

Samnite prisoners of war were some of the earliest Gladiators,A "Samnite" became a type of fighter until they were supplanted by the Myrmillo and Secutors.

[Ennath]

The Samnite class of gladiator was armored with only a leather greave on the left leg and a band on the right ankle. He had a helmet with crest, rim and visor and carried a large rectangular shield. His weapon was usually a short sword, but some apparently used a short spear instead.

[Ennath]

May 10, 1796
Battle of Lodi

In the first stage of his campaign in Italy Napoleon Bonaparte had knocked Piedmont out of the war. He now faced an Austrian army under Gen. Johann Beaulieu. Beaulieu's task was to prevent Bonaparte from crossing the Po. One of the terms of the armistice with Piedmont was that the French were allowed to cross the Po at Valenza, west of the main Austrian defensive position at Pavia. Beaulieu's deployments were made with that idea in mind, although he did have detachments spread out along the Po.

Bonaparte decided to turn the Austrian left by crossing the Po at Piacenza. On May 6, he began his advance along the southern bank of the river, and by May 9, the French had successfully advanced onto the north bank. Only the lack of a proper pontoon train had slowed them, but this delay gave Beaulieu a chance to escape from the trap. By May 10 the main Austrian army had escaped across the River Adda, leaving Milan undefended.

The town of Lodi was located on the west bank of the River Adda. The town was fortified, with 4 bastions protected by ditches, but the Austrians made no attempt to defend the town. As French skirmishers entered, the last Austrian troops in Lodi retreated across the bridge to the east bank. The rearguard, under General Karl Sebottendorf, took up a strong defensive position at the eastern end of the bridge and prepared to defend the line of the Adda. The road to Milan was open to Bonaparte, but as always he was more concerned with the defeat of his opponent's army. He realized that he had to force the Austrians away from the east bank of the Adda before Beaulieu could reinforce his position. He had about 17,500 men and 20 guns immediately available.

As the French entered Lodi, they made their way towards the bridge. The span was defended from the far bank by 9 battalions of infantry and 14 guns. Sebottendorf, also had 4 squadrons of Neapolitan cavalry at his disposal, giving him a total of 6600 men, who were mostly exhausted after a hasty forced march. He would be reinforced during the battle by another 3000 men. Sebottendorf decided that it was inadvisable to retire in daylight, and opted to defend the crossing until nightfall. One eye-witness (a grenadier called Vigo-Roussillon) stated that the Austrians had men attempting to destroy the bridge, but that the French stopped their efforts by bringing up guns to fire along its length. It should have been fairly easy to prevent a French crossing because the bridge was wooden, and could have been burnt. It was about 200 yards long, and was a very simple structure consisting of piles driven into the river bed every few yards, with beams laid to form a roadway.

The French advance guard was not strong enough to try to cross the bridge, so several hours passed while further French forces came up. During the afternoon, a violent cannonade began, as French guns arrived and were positioned to fire across the river. It has been suggested that Bonaparte was personally involved in directing some of the guns, and that his troops began to refer to him as le petit caporal (the little corporal), as this was a corporal’s job, but there is no contemporary evidence to back this up.

Eventually, at about 6 PM, the French prepared for an attack, with Marc Antoine de Beaumont's cavalry being sent to ford the river upstream, and a column consisting of the 2nd Battalion of Carabiniers being readied inside the walls of the town. The carabiniers then stormed out of the gates and onto the bridge. Vigo-Roussillon stated that the enemy artillery fired one salvo when the troops were part-way across, causing numerous casualties, at which point the column wavered and halted, but a number of senior French officers rushed to the head of the column and led it forward again. These included André Masséna, Louis Berthier, and Jean Lannes. Some of the French climbed down the piles and waded through the water, firing as they went. The Austrian troops were already exhausted, probably demoralized by the French cannonade, and also seem to have been worried about being cut off by the French cavalry. Their morale collapsed as the carabiniers rushed forwards, and a hasty retreat ensued, the fugitives making the most of the gathering dark to make their escape towards Crema, though some brave units discouraged the French from pursuing too closely.

Austrian losses were 3200 men killed or wounded, and 2000 captured. In addition, 12 cannons, 2 howitzers and 30 ammunition wagons had been lost. French losses were around 1000.

The Battle of Lodi was not a decisive engagement since the Austrian army had successfully escaped. But it became a central element in the Napoleonic legend and, according to Napoleon himself, contributed to convincing him that that his destiny would lead him to achieve great things. He had successfully convinced his men to make a series of costly attacks on a strongly held position, and had proved that he could inspire them.

Ironically the victory at Lodi was followed almost immediately by terrible news from Paris. With Piedmont out of the war Gen. Kellermann's Army of the Alps was free to enter Italy, and the Directory decided to give him command of the war against Austria. Bonaparte was to turn south to deal with the Papal States. He sent two letters back to Paris, in which he argued strongly against a divided command. Although neither letter actually contained a threat to resign, it was clear that that was what he had in mind, and the Directory relented. Bonaparte kept the command, and was free to turn his attention to the capture of Mantua.

[Ennath]

May 11, 1939
Battle of Khalkin Gol

In 1939, Manchuria was a puppet state of Japan known as Manchukuo, and the Mongolian People's Republic was a communist satellite of the Soviet Union. The Japanese maintained that the border between Manchukuo and Mongolia was the Khalkin Gol (Khalka River) which flows into Lake Buir. In contrast, the Mongolians and their Soviet allies maintained that the border ran some 10 miles east of the river, just east of Nomonhan village.

The principal Japanese force in Manchukuo was the Kwantung Army, containing some of the best Japanese units in 1939. However, the western region was garrisoned by the newly formed 23rd Infantry Division at Hailar under Lt. Gen. Michitaro Komatsubara and included several Manchukuan army and border guard units all under the direct command of 6th Army. The Kwantung Army, which had long been stationed in Manchuria far from the Japanese home islands, had become largely autonomous and tended to act without approval from, or even against the direction of, the Japanese government.

Soviet forces consisted of the 57th Special Corps, deployed from the Trans-Baikal Military District. They were responsible for defending the border between Siberia and Manchuria. The Mongolian troops mainly consisted of cavalry brigades and light artillery units, and proved to be effective and agile, but lacked armor and manpower in sufficient numbers.

On May 11, 1939, a Mongolian cavalry unit of 70-90 men entered the disputed area in search of grazing for their horses neared Nomonhan in search of grazing land for their horses, and was driven west of Khalkin Gol by Manchukuan cavalry. Two days later, the enraged Mongolians returned with a larger force and occupied the region. The aggressive Kwantung Army used this as an excuse to move into the Russian sphere of influence, and dispatched 23rd Division’s 64th Regiment (Col. Takemitsu Yamagata) and recon regiment (Lt. Col. Yaozo Azuma). These forced the Mongolians to retire. When the Japanese pulled back, their mission seemingly accomplished, the Mongolians returned again, this time with Soviet support. Azuma moved to evict them, but his regiment was surrounded and all but destroyed on May 28, with 63% casualties.

Both sides began building up their forces in the area. Soon, Japan had 30,000 men in the theater. The Soviets dispatched a new corps commander, Georgy Zhukov, who arrived on June 5, with more motorized and armored forces. J. Lkhagvasuren, Corps Commissar of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army, was appointed Zhukov's deputy.

Throughout June, there were reports of Soviet and Mongolian activity on both sides of the river near Nomonhan and small-scale attacks on isolated Manchukan units. At the end of the month, Lt. Gen. Komatsubara, was given permission to "expel the invaders". He planned a 2-pronged approach. One force (26th, 71st and 72nd Infantry Regiments, and a battalion of 64th Regiment), marched for Baintsagan Hill and then Kawatama Bridge. Another force (3rd and 4th Tank Regiments, part of 6th Infantry Regiment, a battalion of 28th Regiment, and a battalion of 13th Field Artillery Regiment) aimed for Soviet positions on the east bank of the Khalkin Gol and north of the Holsten River.

The northern task force, attacking on July 3, succeeded in crossing the Khalkin Gol, driving the Soviets from Baintsagan Hill, and advancing south along the west bank. However, Zhukov, perceiving the threat, launched a counterattack with 450 tanks and armored cars without infantry support. The Soviet armored force attacked on three sides, forcing the Japanese to fall back over the river on July 5. Meanwhile, the Japanese southern attack, which commenced on July 2, met stiff resistance; it was able to reach the Kawatama Bridge where it was supposed to make contact with the northern prong. In heavy fighting on the 5th, the Japanese lost half their tank force. A Soviet counterattack on July 9 threw the Japanese back, and the following day the Japanese command withdrew its battered tank forces, leaving the troops little armored support for future actions.

The two armies continued to spar with each other over the next 2 weeks near the confluence of Khalkin Gol and Holsten River. Zhukov, whose army was 465 miles away from its base of supply, assembled a fleet of 2600 trucks to supply his troops, while the Japanese suffered severe supply problems due to a lack of similar motor transport.

On July 23-25, the Japanese launched another large-scale assault, sending the 64th and 72nd Infantry Regiments against the Kawatama Bridge. Japanese artillery supported the attack with a massive barrage that consumed more than half of their ammunition stores. The attack made some progress but failed to reach the bridge. The Japanese had suffered over 5000 casualties in the battles at the Kawatama Bridge since late May. Soviet losses were much higher but more easily replaced. The battle drifted into a stalemate.

The Japanese planned a 3rd offensive for late August, but Zhukov struck first. At 0545 on August 20, 57,000 men, 498 tanks, and 557 aircraft, supported by 2 Mongolian cavalry divisions, crossed the river in a major attack. Once the Japanese were pinned down by the attack of Soviet center units, Soviet armored units swept around the flanks and attacked the Japanese in the rear, achieving a classic double envelopment. Japanese commanders on the scene were slow in informing their superiors, and were forced to fight with what they had on hand; a counterattack on the 24th failed with 50% losses. The failure was blamed by Japanese analysts on “lack of fighting spirit” rather than firepower.

When the Soviet wings linked up at Nomonhan village on August 25, Japanese 23rd Division was trapped. On August, 26 a Japanese relief attack failed. On the 27th, 23rd Division attempted to break out, but also failed. When the surrounded forces refused to surrender, they were again hit with artillery and air attacks. By August 31, Japanese forces on the Mongolian side of the border were destroyed, leaving remnants of 23rd Division on the Manchurian side.

Lt. Gen. Komatsubara gathered his forces for a counterattack, but was frustrated by messages from Tokyo requesting him to hold his position. In early September, politicians successfully negotiated an agreement, and a ceasefire was signed in Moscow on September 15. The parties agreed that the border between Mongolia and Manchukuo was to be at Nomonhan, the Mongolian claim. Prisoners were returned and a commission set up to resolve the border disputes.

The Japanese Army claimed that it had suffered 8440 killed and 8766 wounded out of the 75,000 men committed, but actual number of troops killed might be in the 20,000s. The Soviet Union claimed that it had suffered 9284 casualties out of the 57,000 men committed, but the Soviets might have understated the figure as well; the actual number of casualties might be 21-24,000. For his success, Georgy Zhukov was made a Hero of the Soviet Union and promoted to the rank of general.

The campaign provided valuable experience for the Soviets, especially in the use of large tank forces and ground-air cooperation. The Japanese did not learn these lessons and continued to rely on infantry, poor tanks, and “bushido spirit”.

The result of the battle significantly influenced the future direction of Japanese expansion. Due to the inability to expand into Mongolia, the Japanese Army lost prestige at the Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo. The Navy, stepping up to fill the void that the Army had once occupied, gained support for its plan to move against European holdings in the Pacific. Looking further down the road, the ceasefire at the end of this battle would slowly evolve into the basis for the 1941 Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact, which would free up the bulk of Soviet forces in Asia for actions in the Russo-German war.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by Ennath

July 1, 552
Battle of Taginae

After the collapse of the West Roman Empire in the late 5th century, the East Roman Empire continued almost as if nothing had happened. The Byzantines regarded themselves as the lineal successors of the old Roman Empire; therefore, they felt it was their duty to reclaim those lands of the fallen empire. This movement was pushed hard by East Roman emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565). He instituted a war of reconquest against the Ostrogothic kingdom which had established itself in Italy and Sicily. Surprisingly, the “barbarians” ruled Italy well, basically using the old Roman governmental system, which yielded a smooth transition of power. Theodoric the Great, who ruled the Ostrogoths from 493 to 526, conquered Dalmatia, as well as southern Gaul. Justinian had ordered the invasion of the Ostrogothic kingdom in 535, with only limited success. This was due to other conflicts, mainly with the Sassanid Persians in the Middle East and the Vandal kingdom of North Africa. Finally, in 551 Justinian determined that he wanted to put a definitive end to the Ostrogoths in Italy once and for all. To that end, he delegated the task to one of his most trusted aides, the eunuch Narses. At the time Narses took command of this army, he was around 73 years of age. Apparently, Emperor Justinian did not regard him as a possible rival for the throne, and did not think he would survive the rigors of campaigning.

I believe as well that there was a religious and sectarian motive behind the Byzantine aggression against the Gothic Kingdom, which went on for nearly 20 years before succeeding, partly due to being interrupted by one of the earliest recorded disease pandemics, the AD 540-41 Plague of Justinian.

No doubt the Byzantines thought they were restoring the Western Roman Empire. Almost certainly the "liberated" people in what is now modern day Italy were much better off under Gothic occupation and I bet a lot of former Romans sided with the Goths against Justinian. The Goths were a rational and civilised people compared with Ancient Rome.

Also, the Goths were Christians, as were the Byzantines by now; but they followed different teachings and this was a major driver in the conflict. The Goths were followers of Arius and believed that Jesus being the son of God meant that he was not co-eternal, but arrived later than God and the Holy Ghost. Meanwhile the Byzantines were Nicean Christians, whose version of the faith survives little changed as the modern Greek Orthodox Church. The Nicean creed is trinitarian, believing that one God takes three manifestations - this is universal now in the major Christian sects, with non-trinitarian thought relegated to fringe sects such as the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses.

But in fact one of the motives for the Byzantine-Gothic war was a disagreement over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

I'm sure this is exactly what Jesus would have done - waged a cruel and bloody war of aggression against people who were minding their own business.