Greatest military blunders in history

[antiestablishmentarian]

What do posters here consider to have been the greatest and most costly military blunders in history? The first recorded battle dates from 2271 BC when the Akkadians defeated the Sumerians at the Battle of Uruk, so there is a long history of warfare and military blunders to choose from.

For myself, a couple of episodes stand out. One is McArthurs decision, against all sensible military advice, to advance to the Yalu River during the Korean War, which invited the Chinese intervention and led to heavy casualties from the cold and the enemy in subarctic conditions in the North Korean mountains. Another episode which stands out for its far-reaching results and as an example of supreme tactical blundering is the Battle of Salamis, where the Persians were induced to sacrifice numerical advantage in ships by sailing into a Greek trap. This battle effectively ended Persian hopes of taking the Peleponnese by sea and land.

[Munnkeyman]

For me it has to be Napoleons march on Russia in 1812.
He started on the Russian border with 422,000 men and finished with 10,000 fit for service as illustrated by Minard's famous chart.


It effectively cost Napoleon and France 500,000 soldiers and his grip on Europe was lost. I still don't think the French have ever recovered from it.

[Skrimshander]

i dont knw about greatest, but Gallipoli 1915 springs to mind. Churchill called it the soft underbelly of europe

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/gallipoli.htm

[charley]

Suppose
Battle of the Somme
Galipoli
Stalingrad
UN intervention in Somalia 1993
Russian invasion of Afghanistan
American invasion of Afghanistan

[Kev Bar]

Hitler and Stalin getting "playing the man" at the Grad.

[charley]

Apparently they used a ten year old tourist map as the blueprint for the landings at Gallipoli ,don't know how true that is

[Kev Bar]

Suppose
Battle of the Somme
Galipoli
Stalingrad
UN intervention in Somalia 1993
Russian invasion of Afghanistan
American invasion of Afghanistan

A frat boy punch up in comparasion to the others on your list.

[charley]

A frat boy punch up in comparasion to the others on your list.

Blackhawk down was on again last week so it kind of sprung to mind.

[Kev Bar]

Apparently they used a ten year old tourist map as the blueprint for the landings at Gallipoli ,don't know how true that is

I think I saw that when flicking thru a short history of WW1 last week.

[Kid Ryder]

Blunders on the personal level...

'They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist...'

John Sedgwick - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[TotalMayhem]

Don't forget Dien Bien Phu...

Had Navarre taken care of the Commies then (and the US not withheld air support), there may not have been a Vietnam War. It cost 'em dearly a few years later.

[charley]

Little Bighorn?

[TotalMayhem]

Little Bighorn?

While Little Big Horn is probably the most famous victory of Native Americans, it was certainly paled by St. Claire's defeat in the "Battle of the Thousand Slain".

[Digger Out]

there has to be a few : Somme, Gallipoli, Napolean and Hitler's march on Russia,

[antiestablishmentarian]

Another blunder in Irish history was the failure of the anti-Treaty side to take the fight to the Treaty side while they had the upper hand in terms of men and matériel in the early months of 1922.