The Battle Files
Each Battle File is presented under the following headings:
- War
- The name of the war and, for battles fought during more prolonged wars, the campaign as well.
- When
- When the battle took place. As far as possible, I have specified the date(s) but for ancient battles this is not always practical and so only the year has been included.
- Where
- The location of the battle. Often, this is the current name of the place as opposed to the name as it would have been recognised at the time of the battle.
- Why
- The objective of one or both sides before the battle.
- Armies
- These are displayed in the format, senior commander: army. In many cases, especially in larger scale battles, subordinate commanders are also mentioned within the breakdown of the army.
- Casualties
- Numbers of those killed, wounded and captured during the battle. It is often difficult to obtain accurate figures for casualties, especially for older battles. Where I have found discrepancies between sources I have either used the most likely figure or taken an average.
- Outcome
- The outcome of the battle and any important repercussions.
- Description
- A brief description of the main events of the battle. For very small-scale engagements, this has not been included.
You can browse the Battle Files by Century, War or Commander or you can use the search. Please note that not all wars and commanders are listed, only the ones with more battles associated with them. So, if you are looking for a specific battle and cannot find it within any of the wars or commanders listed, then either browse within the appropriate century or search for it.