Opinion: most courageous land battle by US troops in History

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NUTS!!
- BG Anthony C. McAuliffe
in response to the German demand for surrender
December, 1944
Bastogne, Belgium

Now, that's courage. Those men went in there completely surrounded, with little ammo or cold-weather gear, and held Bastogne against insurmountable odds. Then, ole' Blood and Guts had the nerve to think he saved their bacon. Hell, the 101st was just being kind enough to let the Germans live past Christmas. The Screaming Eagles don't need no threadhead to save them. DAT! (DumbA** Tanker)

Frank
 
Cold Harbor established the U.S. Army tactical style for the next hundred years, i.e., "Hey diddle diddle, straight up the middle!"
 
Ah, to get back on topic ;

I'm just as overwhelmed as anyone by the ferocious, desperate courage displayed by the destroyermen at The Battle off Samar, but we're talking about LAND battles here, huh?

I nominate the assault crossing of the Lower Rhine at Nijmegen during the Arnhem campaign. Think about it! Flimsy boats, improvised preparations, the enemy was ready for them, etc etc, and yet they prevailed! People who were present and later wrote books about the event said it was the greatest feat of arms they'd ever seen, or even heard of! I don't remember if it was the 82nd or 101st who did it, it doesn't matter, they ALL gave a good account of themselves.
 
What about the Battle of New Orleans? Buncha ragtag Americans whupped the british, and we haven't had any trouble with 'em since!:)
 
Honestly, ANY battle where an American goes in harms way for our freedoms is the most courageous (land) battle by US troops in History.

We've had some bloody engagements on land, in the sea and in the air. I don't think that one should rank supreme, all were heroic.
 
Posts like this usually result in the answers listed above. I think what gets lost in this are some truely heroic battles that are never known, at least not on a national/world level. All wars, all battles have men fighting men. Some of the hardest fought actions are foxhole vs foxhole. We only give notice when the battle is involving major units, hundreds/thousands of combatants on each side. Instead, I often think of actions such as Audy Murphy's. There were some courageous battlefield actions. Audy was awarded and publicly acknowledged, but there are many more who remain unknown. A local man was awared the CMOH a few years ago for his actions in WWII. It seems some long lost letters were recovered by his Unit Commanders daughter. She brought them to Washington and the local guy was given his due. The letters (reports really) contained great detail about ferocious fighting in the pacific, and the local guys actions. The report nominated him for several metals, which he now received 50+ years later.
What was even more amazing, the man had never told his tales when he returned home. None of his children or grandchildren knew what a hero he was. They're pretty proud of gramps.
Anyway, just wanted to put my 2 cents in. As far as major conflicts, hard to argue with any of the ones listed, they were all courageous, instilled with the very best of America.
usa.gif
 
Speaking of Cold Harbor, there was another interesting battle just down the road to the east of Richmond.

From the Henrico County site:

"At New Market Heights on September 29, 1864, Union black infantry troops dislodged Confederate defenders in a heroic action for which fourteen men received Medals of Honor. Two hundred more received a special medal commissioned by their general."

They got 14 of the 16 MOH awarded to black troops by the Union in the Civil War.

John
 
My vote goes to the side that won a whole war in 1861.

Cochise of the Chiricahua Apaches held off 5,000 US Cavalry with 36 troops. It was the Army that backed down from that little brawl, not knowing the Chiricahua were down to 17 combatants. The Chiricahua were a civilized bunch and had been trading guns with Mexico for generations, they had their own fairly competent gunsmiths and every single one of 'em could shoot, and knew their own territory.

It was still the most lopsided win I'm aware of.
 
You can draw a tactical straight line from Cold Harbor to trench warfare during WWI. Cold Harbor was insanity at its finest. It is well worth an afternoon to find the place and walk around. It is not one of the better preserved battlefields. What struck me was how small the field was compared to the casualties.

Grant said his only regret during the War of Northern Aggression was ordering the attack at Cold Harbor.
 
Grant said his only regret during the War of Northern Aggression...

It's unlikely that Grant ever used the phrase "War of Northern Aggression".

db
 
Mike Irwin, there's a great, fairly accurate account of the Battle off Samar (Ziggy Sprague's Taffy Three) in the novel "War and Remembrance". A fictional narrator, Pug Henry, made the observation about the action you describe of the DE's and DD's hurling themselves at the Kurita's vastly superior force (as best I can quote): "Our schoolchildren should be taught this <how Americans can fight, even without superior forces>; Our enemies should ponder it".

Confining myself to the question posed (land warfare), I suppose it would have to be one of the many battles fought during The Late Unpleasantness, either Pickett's charge, the defense of Little Roundtop.
 
"I don't remember if it was the 82nd or 101st who did it, it doesn't matter, they ALL gave a good account of themselves."

Um, I thought that was actually done by British troops, and only filmed with Americans for "A Bridge Too Far." Could be wrong, though.

I nominate Cold Harbor, as well. By that point, the troops knew perfectly well they were going to die during the futile assault on Lee's entrenched position. Earlier in the war, it's possible many involved in those massed assaults actually thought they would punch through. But by '64 that sort of thinking was long gone, though the massed assault remained. Marching into certain death must take some incredible courage. Determination in the face of a completely hopeless situation.
 
Bastogne is the pick of the bunch IMHO - its the only occasion I can think of that US troops faced and beat down the pride of the Wehrmacht while operating under a marked inferiority (unlike Normandy or Falaise).

Leyte Gulf was as good - one recalls HMSArdent and Acasta performing like, if ultimately futile, actions during the sinking of HMS Glorious in 1940 - but Kurita should have cleaned up the "jeep" carriers with or without those desperate attacks, especially given the attitude displayed by his countrymen of the Special Attack Corps.

Tarawa IMHO was the perfect proof of the old Roman axiom that you train hard and fight easy - the lessons learned in blood there should have been learned pre-war.
 
There were probably too many actions in too many wars to make one single battle the greatest demonstration of courage.

One thing that does spring to mind for me, is the US Army tankers during WWII fighting the Germans during the later part of the war. The M4 Sherman tank they were using as a main battle tank was a disgrace. It had no business on the battlefield trying to fight the much superior German Panther and Tiger tanks as well as the 88mm cannon used as an anti-tank gun. The Sherman was a death trap.

Tank casualities of the machines themselves for units like Third Armor Div. was 600%. Tank crews did not fair much better. Toward the end of the war incoming infantry replacements were dragooned into becoming tank crewmen, with very little training. There were not enough experienced tankers left to fill out the units except maybe one per tank out of crew of five IIRC.

How would you like riding into battle in a tank the Germans nicknamed the "Ronson" (named after the cigarette lighter) because of its tendency to burst into flame when hit because it was gasoline powered.
 
The Sherman was an excellent tank in 1942, decent in 1943, and a total failure in 1944-45. It was designed around maximizing shipping space on cargo ships, hence its tall shape and narrow treads, two things a tank should NEVER have. Add thin armor and a weak gun and you have death (for the crew) on wheels. At least the Brits had the good sense to stick a 17 pounder cannon on it to create the respectable Firefly variant.

So the U.S. tanker pick for 1944-45 isn't as crazy as it sounds.

Personally, I'd pick the Civil War, because it was the "nasty spot" where weapon technology leapt ahead, but medical science was still barely better then medieval. Tactics were out-of-date for the hardware used, resulting in casualties on a nearly unprecedented scale, and everyone knew that even fairly simple wounds could result in a slow, agonizing death from infection and disease.
 
I don't remember if it was the 82nd or 101st who did it, it doesn't matter, they ALL gave a good account of themselves.
Click to expand...
It was the 82nd. "Slim Jim" Gavin made the crossing with his troops, if I recall correctly. That particular action isn't as well known as it should be, and in my opinion is the single greatest feat of sheer ferocity and courage by any American unit during WWII.
 
To amplify on a couple of things that Sean discussed:

1. Joseph Lister only developed the concept of antiseptic conditions for medical treatment in 1861, and the medical establishment fought him tooth and nail for some time afterwards.

2. The typical infantry rifle in use at the time was .58 caliber, but a single shot percussion rifle. Trained shots could reload in 20 seconds or so, but that's a long time to wait when you're trying to keep someone at a safe distance. Lots of bayonet usage as a result. Nasty way to fight, or die.

FWIW,

emc
 
This strays slightly from the original post, but since there are a number of mililtary historians here it may be the best place to ask: a friend of mine contends that the bloodiest battle in the Pacific of WWII was not Iwo, Guam, etc., but was one of the lesser known engagements. Tarawa? Total KIAs, both sides, allies only, any thoughts? Neither of us can remember and since she's a 17 year old high school student I feel obliged to set her straight--whatever that is. Thanks for your help.
Ross
 
My Lai

>I think what gets lost in this are some truly heroic battles that are never known, at least not on a national/world level.

Have to agree with TheeBadOne; we never hear about most of the really brave acts (after all, they're dangerous!) Of those we've heard of, I'd have to nominate Hugh C. Thompson Jr. and his men who stood up to other American troops and helped stop the My Lai massacre. That took actual bravery, not just machine obedience which most SS or Soviet Guards troops could claim as well as ours.
 
"The Sherman was an excellent tank in 1942, decent in 1943, and a total failure in 1944-45. It was designed around maximizing shipping space on cargo ships, hence its tall shape and narrow treads, two things a tank should NEVER have. Add thin armor and a weak gun and you have death (for the crew) on wheels. At least the Brits had the good sense to stick a 17 pounder cannon on it to create the respectable Firefly variant."

I wouldn't even go that far, Sean.

Even by 1942 standards, when the T-34 first began to hit the ground, the Sherman was out of its league when fighting other armor.

But the Sherman was never designed with the thought that it would be fighting armor.

It was designed to meet the Army's requirements for a fast infantry support tank.

Slightly under half of the Shermans built were actually armed with the much more effective 76mm HV gun which, with American designed shells, was slightly superior in performance to the British 17-lb. gun.

The later Shermans, especially the "Easy8," were much more capable of handling German armor than their predecessors.
 
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