January 13 in Military History — On This Day

⚔️📍 Troyes, France1128

Council of Troyes Approves the Knights Templar

Pope Honorius II formally approved the Knights Templar at the Council of Troyes, giving the military-religious order its official rule and the blessing of the Catholic Church. Bernard of Clairvaux composed the order's rule and became its chief advocate.

The Templars became the most powerful military order of the Crusades, pioneering banking, logistics, and military architecture across the Christian world.

Outcome

Knights Templar officially established

Battle of Chorrillos

In the campaign to take the Peruvian capital, Baquedano's army stormed the fortified defensive lines at Chorrillos south of Lima, overrunning Piérola's improvised army of conscripts and reservists in a bloody day of fighting. The resort town was sacked and burned in the aftermath.

Chorrillos broke the main Peruvian defence of Lima; the destruction and looting that followed left lasting bitterness. Only the Miraflores lines now stood between Chile and the capital.

Full battle details →

Northeastern Syria Offensive

On January 13, 2026, the transitional government launched a full offensive against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the last major armed authority outside its control. Beginning in eastern Aleppo Governorate around Dayr Hafir and Maskanah, it widened on January 17 into Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Al-Hasakah. Government forces took roughly 80 percent of the northeast within a fortnight — including the prison camps holding tens of thousands of suspected ISIS members and their families, whose custody had been the SDF's main claim on Western support. Reported casualties run to about 1,000 combatants and 152 civilians in the first week. A preliminary ceasefire held from January 18, and on January 30 a US-mediated agreement transferred administrative control of the region to Damascus, with SDF units to be integrated into the national army as whole formations.

The agreement created a path toward integrating northeastern institutions into the Syrian state while explicitly raising Kurdish rights and citizenship. It should not be treated as proof that Kurdish autonomy had already ended.

Full battle details →