In one of the most celebrated naval engagements of the war, USS Constitution encountered HMS Guerrière in the North Atlantic and reduced her to a floating wreck in under thirty minutes. British cannon shot was observed to bounce off Constitution's thick oak hull, earning the ship her legendary nickname 'Old Ironsides.' Guerrière was so badly damaged she could not be taken as a prize and was burned. The victory electrified the young American republic, which had feared that its small navy could not stand against the Royal Navy.
The victory shattered the myth of Royal Navy invincibility, boosted American morale enormously, and inspired a generation of naval officers. Constitution's survival in battle became a potent symbol of American resilience and the nickname 'Old Ironsides' passed into national legend.
Full battle details →
In the approach to Mexico City, American forces used the Pedregal — a massive lava field — to outflank Mexican defenses. Once again Lee conducted the key reconnaissance, finding a path through the Pedregal that allowed a flanking force under Persifer Smith to reach Valencia's rear. The assault lasted only seventeen minutes, routing Valencia's force and sending survivors fleeing toward Churubusco.
Contreras removed the final obstacle south of Mexico City and demonstrated again the decisive value of engineer reconnaissance. The rapid victory preserved American momentum and prevented Valencia from reinforcing the stronger Mexican positions at Churubusco. Winfield Scott famously praised Lee's work at Contreras as the greatest feat of arms of any officer in the campaign.
Full battle details →
Following Gravelotte, Marshal Bazaine's Army of the Rhine — 180,000 men, the largest and best-equipped French force in existence — retreated into the fortress city of Metz and was surrounded by the German Second Army under Prince Friedrich Karl. Bazaine conducted several sorties that accomplished nothing and eventually ceased all offensive effort, conducting what his critics characterized as a passive defense amounting to deliberate inaction. Food and ammunition ran low through September and October. Bazaine entered into negotiations with the enemy and with the deposed imperial government about political arrangements that might justify a capitulation. On October 27, 1870, the garrison surrendered: 173,000 French soldiers became prisoners of war, together with 1,570 cannon. It was the largest surrender in French history.
The capitulation of Metz was the decisive strategic event of the war. With 180,000 prisoners secured, Moltke was able to redeploy the Second Army to assist with the siege of Paris and the suppression of the provincial armies being raised by Gambetta. The surrender also destroyed Bazaine's reputation permanently — he was court-martialed after the war and sentenced to death for treason, commuted to imprisonment, from which he eventually escaped to Spain. The scale of the disaster made French recovery without foreign intervention essentially impossible.
Full battle details →
The peasants of Tambov province, driven to desperation by Bolshevik grain requisitioning that left them starving, rose in revolt under SR leader Alexander Antonov. At its peak in 1921, the Green Army rebellion numbered 40,000 fighters and controlled the entire province. Tukhachevsky was sent to crush the uprising with 50,000 Red Army troops and a decree authorizing the use of poison gas against villages sheltering rebels — the first use of chemical weapons against a Russian population. By 1922 the revolt was suppressed through mass executions, deportations, and the taking of hostages.
The Tambov Rebellion was the largest peasant uprising against Soviet rule. Tukhachevsky's use of poison gas and concentration camps against Russian peasants was a grim preview of what Soviet power would do to its own population under Stalin.
Full battle details →