June 25 in Military History — On This Day

Second Battle of the Taku Forts

China's only significant military victory of the entire Opium War era. The Qing garrison had rebuilt and significantly strengthened the Taku Forts, adding iron obstacles in the river channel. When British Admiral Hope led a gunboat assault without adequate reconnaissance, the attack was repulsed with heavy British casualties — 464 killed or wounded, including Hope himself. American Commodore Josiah Tattnall violated U.S. neutrality to rescue British sailors, uttering his famous line: 'Blood is thicker than water.'

China's sole major victory temporarily restored Qing confidence and humiliated Britain — but it also guaranteed that the next British expedition would arrive in overwhelming force determined to obliterate all resistance.

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Battle of Little Bighorn

Custer's 7th Cavalry attacked the largest encampment of Plains Indians ever assembled — perhaps 7,000 people including 2,000 warriors — along the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. Splitting his command into three columns, Custer led five companies directly into the encampment from the north while Reno and Benteen attacked from other angles. Custer's 210-man battalion was completely surrounded and annihilated in under an hour. Reno and Benteen's survivors held a hilltop under siege for two days before relief arrived.

Little Bighorn, or the Battle of the Greasy Grass as the Lakota call it, was the greatest Native military victory of the Plains Wars era. It shocked the nation, accelerated the military campaign against the Lakota, and transformed Custer into a national martyr — despite his tactical recklessness. The victory was ultimately the beginning of the end, as it brought overwhelming U.S. military force down on the Northern Plains.

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⚔️📍 Little Bighorn River, Montana Territory1876

Battle of Little Bighorn — Custer's Last Stand

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer divided his 7th Cavalry and attacked a Lakota and Northern Cheyenne village far larger than expected. Custer's force of 210 men was encircled and annihilated by warriors under Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull.

Little Bighorn was the greatest Native American military victory against the U.S. Army and made Custer a permanent legend — though it also accelerated the military campaign that defeated the Plains nations within two years.

Outcome

Native American victory; Custer and 210 men killed

Casualties

268

Korean War

North Korea's surprise invasion of South Korea on June 25, 1950 drew a UN coalition — overwhelmingly American — into three years of savage combat. The war swung wildly: UN forces were nearly pushed into the sea at Pusan, then MacArthur's brilliant Inchon landing drove the North Koreans back, then Chinese intervention in October 1950 shattered the advance. By 1951 the front had stabilized near the 38th parallel where it began, and two more years of grinding trench warfare produced the armistice of July 27, 1953.

Korea demonstrated that the Cold War would be fought in blood on the periphery of the great power contest. It tripled the U.S. defense budget, locked in containment as American strategy, and established the precedent of limited war — fighting without seeking total victory to avoid nuclear escalation. The peninsula remains divided to this day, with the armistice technically never replaced by a peace treaty. The 'Forgotten War' established the pattern of costly proxy conflicts that defined the Cold War era.

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Paris Back-Channel Ceasefire Negotiations

French President Macron offered Paris as the venue for emergency back-channel talks between US and Iranian envoys, mediated by Oman's Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi. The meetings — held in secret at the French Foreign Ministry — explored the parameters for a ceasefire: Iran signaled willingness to pause nuclear activities in exchange for a halt to further strikes and sanctions relief; the US sought verifiable destruction of remaining centrifuges and IAEA access. The talks did not produce an agreement but established the framework for Oman-mediated discussions that continued through July 2025.

The Paris talks demonstrated that even at the height of the military exchange, both sides maintained interest in diplomatic resolution. The involvement of France — a key JCPOA signatory — gave European states their first significant role in US-Iran crisis diplomacy since 2018. The talks' existence was revealed publicly only after the initial agreement on a temporary halt to further strikes.

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