Oda and Tokugawa troops used arquebusiers, fieldworks, terrain, and infantry to defeat Takeda Katsuyori’s army. Later chronicles popularized a precise system of three rotating volleys against repeated cavalry charges, but historians debate both that formation and the degree to which the Takeda force was predominantly mounted.
Nagashino became an emblem of firearm adoption in Japan, although it did not abruptly end mounted warfare or establish a uniquely modern tactical system in a single afternoon.
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When the British evacuated Philadelphia after France entered the war, Washington pursued. General Charles Lee ordered an inexplicable retreat just as battle was joined. Washington rode furiously to the front and, reportedly furious, relieved Lee on the spot and turned the retreat into a battle. The Continental Army fought the British regulars to a standstill in 100-degree heat — the professional army Valley Forge had created proved itself equal to the redcoats. Molly Pitcher legend originates here.
Monmouth was the last major battle in the North. The new French alliance shifted British strategy south, and Washington's army had proven it could fight on equal terms. General Lee was court-martialed and never held command again.
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