Case Studies Flashcards
Describe the sequence of events of the battle of Agincourt
(1415)
- French army was 3000 larger than English, French had more knights but English had double the bowmen
1) Henry V placed angled spikes to cover flanks and diffuse cavalry charges
2) Bowmen were positioned at the front of the army
3) English bowmen fired at the French who could not defend but only make a charge
4) French cavalry charge was destroyed by the spikes whilst Bowmen were constantly picking them off
5) French were forced to retreat, English cavalry were sent to pick off the deserters
describe the sequence of events of the battle of Falkirk
(1298)
- English army outnumbered the Scottish
- William Wallace was not a member of the nobility so may of his soldiers were quick to desert when things didn’t seem to go well
1) Edward launched a cavalry attack, they were initially slowed down by the marsh however they eventually reached and confronted the Scottish flanks - This forced Scottish cavalry of the field and created a gap between the archers and schiltrons
2) Cavalry turned to attack the schiltrons however Wallace’s schiltrons were well disciplined and held off the attack
3) the battle was then decided by Edward’s longbows who showered the Scottish with arrows, the Scottish had no way to protect against this, it created gaps in the army and allowed Edward to attack their weak spots
describe the sequence of events of the battle of Naseby
(1645)
- Parliament had larger army (new model army)
- Battle was played out in a regular plain field with little tactical advantages
1) New Model Army line advances as does the royalist line, general fighting ensues
2) New model Army cavalry is broken and Royalist Cavalry go to attack the baggage train for plunder
3) Royalists continue attack as New Model Army continues to loose ground
4) Royalist cavalry breaks and Cromwell sends his first line after them but keeps the rest under control
5) Cromwell sends his 2nd and 3rd line to attack the royalists infantry flanks, Fairfax rallies the rest of the army and the infantry surrender
6) After a brief further fight the royalists flee or surrender
describe the sequence of events of the battle of Waterloo
(1815)
- Wellington had a strong defensive position on a ridge with Hougoumont and Papelotte covering his flanks
- Wellington positioned his most trusted forces by the 2 villages to break up the French assault
- Napoleon was suffering with piles (he couldn’t ride his horse and was ill tempered), he had also sent off a large portion of his army to chase the Prussians
1) Napoleon launched an attack with heavy artillery but much of the artillery fire was drained by the mud or flew over wellington due to his position on the ridge
2) Napoleon launched an attack on Hougoumont hoping it would divert Wellington forces, but English forces with the use of squares held off the French and tied up a quarter of Napoleons infantry
3) Prussian forces began to arrive, Napoleon launched an assault to the centre of the field in large columns, 200 men wide. Wellington repelled them with his defences forces being organised in squares
4) Ney captured the farmhouse and set up artillery, this could have defeated Wellington but Napoleon refused to provide reinforcements so Wellington was able to plug the gap by leading a group of Grenadiers
5) Napoleon sent in the imperial guard but they failed, the French were driven off the field
describe the sequence of events of the battle of Balaclava
(1854)
1) Russian troops took Turkish-controlled redoubts and causeway heights, they planned to tow away captured guns
2) 2,300 Russian cavalry charge at Turkish and British forces, artillery and grapeshot however manage to repel them
3) 300 British cavalry charged at Russian cavalry uphill, charge was successful and made the Russians retreat
4) Raglan sends a messaged by Captain Nolan to Lucan, from Lucan’s position the area was not visible, Lucan ordered Cardigan to attack the guns that were visible despite them both knowing it was a stupid idea
5) The light cavalry charged the guns but were defeated by the surrounding guns and suffered heavy casualties
Describe the main events of the battle of the somme
1st Day:
-100,000 troops sent over the top to try take land fron Germans, 57,000 dead
-Germans manage to reclaim much of the land
-British send tanks which manage to advance 2.5km, of all the tanks only 21 make it as many broke down
-Germans launch large scale arial attack that wipe out British observations
-Mid-November the final batte of the somme took place on the River Ancre
Total casualties:
-1,120,000
What was the role of general Haig in the battle of the somme
Against him:
-He failed to learn from the failure of the earlier massed infantry attacks
-He used the new weapons, like tanks, badly and with little effect
-He ignored the advice of other generals
For Him:
-Generals from every army believed that massed attacks would work
-He knew he had to put the Germans under pressure so that they do not send soldier sot fight at verdun
-New weapons were not effective so old tactics had to be used
What strategies were used in Iraq?
The Coalition used the strategy of “Shock and Awe” (overwhelming military force), this consisted of 3 parts:
Preparing the battlefield:
-Destroying Iraqi intellegence and observations
Ground attack:
-US forces covered 1,000km of land and captured Baghdad
-The Coalition had about 195,000 soldiers whilst Iraq had a total of 1.3 million
At the same time and Air attack:
-B2 stealth bombers wen on 34 hour round trips for bombing
-30,000 bombs total used
What were the reasons for the outcome in Iraq?
Stage 1: The attack (2003)
- Coalition had better weapons, e.g. Iraqi tanks could not penetrate Coalition tanks
- Iraqi fighter planes were not used to avoid destruction from Coalition forces
2) Coalition ahd more money to sepnd: - USA spent $50 billion on the war in 2003 and UK spend 1 billion pounds for each year of the war
