Heroic last stands throughout history

[Tekania]

Custer's last stand comes to mind, wouldn't exactly call it heroic, but I would call it a cool last stand

There's a fine line between heroic and stupid..... Custer crossed it.

[The lepearchauns]

I personally like the US navy at the Battle of Leyte(particularly the battle off Samar). It wasnt a last stand for the navy, however it was for the battle group.

What essentially amounted to the entire Japanese navy(at this point) including the 2 largest battleships ever built was bearing down on US troops in the Philippines. They managed to trick the largest fleet of the US navy to sail in essentially the wrong direction(they sent another large force to the north including most of their carriers) and left the entire operation to a scouting group meant to take out submarines. When under attack the group launched every plane, weapons or not to attack the battleships and cruisers while the US escort carriers escaped under smoke cover from the rest of the task force. Soon it was apparent that this wasnt enough and the destroyers and escorts turned to attack a Japanese force of over 10x its size(in tonnage). They landed dozens of torpedo hits on high value targets before either being sunk or retreating to the carriers. A submarine task force managed to hold back the largest fleet in the Japanese navy long enough for air support to come in from the surrounding fleets and eventually turned back the attack.

The US lost 2 of its 6 Carriers(Gambier Bay and St. Lo), 2 of 3 destroyers(Johnston and Hoel), and 1 of its destroyer escorts(Samuel B Roberts). According to reports, all but 1 American ship received heavy damage.

The Japanese force lost 4 heavy cruisers, 1 destroyer but retreated when they thought their battleships were in danger

It has to be one of the most important naval battles in history and a last stand for the task force protecting the American troops at Leyte. It started as 13 on 21 and ended as 7 on 16 but the US still managed to beat back an unprecedented attack.

I know its not technically a last stand as there were surviving ships on both sides, but it was for half of the task force. Thats why I picked it. This was the 300 of naval battles...only this time some of the spartans lived and the Persians failed.

*making a correction to this. 1 of the largest battle ships in the world was sunk the day before...so only 1 was in the actual battle. That slipped my ind when writing this

[Lackadaisical2]

back to topic.
Battle of Saragarhi ,1897. 21 sikh soldiers of british indian army faced abt 10000 afghani tribesmen.

They're Sikh, thats cheating.

Battle of Shiroyama.Because they fought for a way of life.

All their friends were pretty lame, which I guess makes the last stand somehow more noble, but ultimately ineffective, unlike some of the last stands listed here.

[Euronion]

Custer's last stand comes to mind, wouldn't exactly call it heroic, but I would call it a cool last stand

There's a fine line between heroic and stupid..... Custer crossed it.

yhep, but the last part when they were in a circle, huddled together, the American flag in the middle, firing the last of their bullets surrounded by a superior force, was pretty cool.

[Morrdh]

Gloster Hill, Battle of the Imjin River, Korea, 1951.

A thousand men of the 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment cut off and surrounded held out for two days against a Chinese army before eventually being overrun.

British (the 29th Infantry Brigade) casualties from the actual battle as a whole was 141 killed, 1,169 wounded, missing or captured.

Chinese casualties are believed to have been in excess of 10,000.

[Rubiconic Crossings V2 rev 1f]

'Last stands' typically involve either military incompetence or barbarism. I see no reason why they should necessarily be celebrated.

I mean, the final siege of Constantinople in 1453 holds some historical resonance for me, but I see no reason to celebrate it.

Also, this thread will likely turn into a tiresome debate over Thermopylae between people who think 300 is history, and a smaller group who are actually familiar with the Persian War.

Japanese at Iwa Jima

I'm not sure that there was any military mistakes made...regarding Arch's comments that all last stands stem from incompetence...then again where would one say that the incompetence had its root cause (waking the tiger)....

ultimately though your use of the word barbaric trumps all because that defines war...it is barbaric.

[Modder River]

The 66th Foot at the Battle of Maiwand, 27th July 1880, and the stand of the Last Eleven:

"Surrounded by the whole of the Afghan army, they fought on until only eleven men were left, inflicting enormous loss on their enemy. These men charged out of the garden, and died with their faces to the foe, fighting to the death. Such was the nature of their charge, and the grandeur of their bearing, that although the whole of the ghazis were assembled around them, no one dared to approach to cut them down. Thus, standing in the open, back to back, firing steadily and truly, every shot telling, surrounded by thousands, these officers and men died; and it was not until the last man was shot down that the ghazis dared advance upon them. The conduct of these men was the admiration of all that witnessed it."

"History does not afford any grander or finer instance of gallantry and devotion to Queen and country than that displayed by the 66th Regiment at the battle of Maiwand on the 27th of July 1880"

[Revolutopia]

Gandalf against the Balrog was a pretty epic last stand, what with that "You Shall Not Pass!".....what do you mean it is not historically true?

[Ragnarsdomr]

No love for the Battle of Hong Kong?

[West fiji]

The battle of the chosin reservoir- Approximately 30000 marines stood up against a much larger Chinese force, while they were surrounded in temperatures well below zero. Many men suffered horrible injuries related to the the extreme cold

[Northwest Slobovia]

Victories of small, isolated forces against much larger forces are more interesting to me. For example, the victory of the Knights of St. John and their Maltese allies over the Ottoman army during the Great Siege (1565). As Patton said, the idea is not to die for your cause, but get the other bastard to die for his.

[Blazedtown]

Stalingrad. The cause was evil, but the men of the 6th Army did something truly heroic in scope. They were surrounded from the end of November to early February. By Christmas they knew all hope was lost. Sick, starving, frozen, and running out of supplies, they held out for 6 weeks after their fate was sealed. The men could have defied orders and quit, like they did in the west in 1945. They held out because they knew that if they quit the soviet forcing they were tying down at Stalingrad would be able to join the Soviet winter counter offensive, and could have destroyed the entire southern flank of the Eastern front, causing a total collapse of the Germany army. It is a testament to human willpower.

[Suidwes-Afrika]

yhep, but the last part when they were in a circle, huddled together, the American flag in the middle, firing the last of their bullets surrounded by a superior force, was pretty cool.d

If I am not mistaken, the American cavalrymen actually fled from their attackers at the first sound of gunfire. Many were shot in the back while attempting to run, look it up.

[Hathradic States]

The Battle of Berlin. 300,000-ish Germans against several million Russians.


The Battle of Thermoplae (sp?), 300 Spartans, 40,000 Thebians against quite a bit more Persians.

[Greymark]

Wake Island.

[Krasny-Volny]

The Knights of St. John at Rhodes come to mind right now. They surrendered, but only after an incredible bloodbath which saw fanatical resistance on the part of the defenders.

[Greymark]

And the Knights of St. John at Malta. 22,000-48,000 Turks vs. 6,100-8,500 Knights and citizen levies. I'd say that qualifies.

[Shofercia]

Not really last stands, since defenders didn't all die, but the Battle of Torzhok was truly amazing. Several thousands Mongols were held by back several hundred Russians, who later ended up escaping through an underground tunnel. The Mongols were extremely pissed off - they took massive losses in taking the town, and had no women to rape. They destroyed the entire town in vengeance, but the people escaped. If only other Russian towns/cities would've fought so valiantly. They also massively censored the Battle of Torzhok from Russians, but censorship-shmensorship - we know what happened

Firstly Gallipoli War is an entirely unbelievable last stand against imperialists. '' I am not ordering you to fight, I am ordering you to die. Ataturk '' it was the key to victory. Also it is an important detail that a group of soldiers without any weapon runs through the heavily armed enemy soldiers only in order to keep them back for a while until the regular troops arrive and they all die.

The other one is Hasan Tahsin, a journalist who shot the first bullet of the National War for Independence on Greek invading forces that occupied Izmir, and then killed by them.

Gallipoli was amazing. It wasn't just Ataturk's speeches, but his actions, him being in the frontlines, and properly positioning his men in a counter-WWI line formation.

Also, I've seen Stalingrad mentioned, and Chuikov's Army was truly bad ass, (they also took Berlin,) - but what about the Battle of Moscow? Until reinforcements arrived, the outnumbered Russians fought a delaying action against Nazis, that was so successful that it enabled the reinforcements to concentrate and attack in force, instead of attacking piecemeal - thus granting USSR the first major WWII Strategic Victory on land.

[The Republique Dardania and Gazmania]

The Hebrew Zealots of Masada...


Oh -wait, they all killed themselves, can that (still) be considered a “last stand”?

[Farnhamia]

There's a fine line between heroic and stupid..... Custer crossed it.

yhep, but the last part when they were in a circle, huddled together, the American flag in the middle, firing the last of their bullets surrounded by a superior force, was pretty cool.

Except it never happened. According to Indian accounts and archaeology, Custer's troop was overrun by a single charge and the troopers broke and ran, the Indians riding them down. Sorry.

[Farnhamia]

The Battle of Berlin. 300,000-ish Germans against several million Russians.


The Battle of Thermoplae (sp?), 300 Spartans, 40,000 Thebians against quite a bit more Persians.

300 Spartans, 500 warriors from Tegea, 500 from Mantinea, 120 from Arcadian Orchomenos, 1000 from the rest of Arcadia, 200 from Phlius, 80 from Mycenae, 700 Corinthians, 400 Thebans, 1000 Phocians and the Opuntian Locrians. Come on, you can look this stuff up.

[Ekaterina]

Thermopylae.
It may have resulted in the death of every last Greek soldier there, but it at least proved a major inconvenience for the Persians.

[The lepearchauns]

If you look at the battle of Thermopylae, it certainly wasnt 300. From what ive read, the Greek force numbered up to 10000, the 300 only refers to the Spartans that led the defense. There were 1300 soldiers guarding the pass that the Persians used to surround them and up to 8000 waiting at the other end of the pass. If you include the Athenian navy just off the coast, it probably numbered near 20000. It was impressive none the less, just get the numbers right

[Bales Rant]

Siege of Bastogne in WWII; 12,000 Americans vs. 120,000 Germans.

[Hathradic States]

The Battle of Berlin. 300,000-ish Germans against several million Russians.


The Battle of Thermoplae (sp?), 300 Spartans, 40,000 Thebians against quite a bit more Persians.

300 Spartans, 500 warriors from Tegea, 500 from Mantinea, 120 from Arcadian Orchomenos, 1000 from the rest of Arcadia, 200 from Phlius, 80 from Mycenae, 700 Corinthians, 400 Thebans, 1000 Phocians and the Opuntian Locrians. Come on, you can look this stuff up.

Why the bloody hell was I thinking 40k Thebians? O.o

I blame sickness.