Last Stand↕ | Year↕ | Location↕ | Defenders↕ | Known For↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Battle of Thermopylae | 480 BC | Greece | 300 Spartans + allies | 'Come and take them', 300 movie, narrow pass defense, Leonidas, epitome of sacrifice |
The Alamo | 1836 | San Antonio, Texas | ~200 Texian defenders | 'Remember the Alamo!', Davy Crockett, 13-day siege, Texas independence mythology |
Battle of Rorke's Drift | 1879 | South Africa | ~150 British soldiers | 150 vs 4,000 Zulu warriors, 11 Victoria Crosses, Zulu movie (1964), impossible defense |
Masada | 73-74 AD | Israel | Jewish Zealots (~960) | Mass suicide rather than surrender to Rome, mountain fortress, Israeli military oath site |
Little Bighorn (Custer's Last Stand) | 1876 | Montana, USA | ~210 US Cavalry (7th) | Custer's arrogance, Lakota/Cheyenne victory, Sitting Bull, worst US Army defeat in Indian Wars |
Battle of Saragarhi | 1897 | NW Frontier (Pakistan) | 21 Sikh soldiers | 21 Sikhs vs 10,000 Afghans, fought to the last man, commemorated as Saragarhi Day |
Battle of Camerone | 1863 | Mexico | 65 French Foreign Legion | 65 vs 2,000+ Mexican forces, Captain Danjou's wooden hand, Foreign Legion's most sacred day |
Siege of Bastogne | 1944 | Belgium | 101st Airborne Division | 'NUTS!' reply to German surrender demand, Battle of the Bulge, Band of Brothers, surrounded |
Fall of Constantinople | 1453 | Constantinople (Istanbul) | ~7,000 Byzantine defenders | End of Roman Empire, Ottoman cannon warfare, Constantine XI died fighting, changed history forever |
Battle of Shiroyama | 1877 | Japan | ~500 Samurai (Saigō Takamori) | Last samurai battle, swords vs guns, inspired 'The Last Samurai' movie, end of samurai era |
Pavlov's House | 1942 | Stalingrad, Russia | ~25 Soviet soldiers | Held an apartment building for 60 days, more Germans died attacking than taking Paris |
Wake Island | 1941 | Pacific Ocean | ~450 US Marines + civilians | 16-day defense after Pearl Harbor, 'Send us more Japs' (apocryphal), early WWII resistance |
Battle of Wizna | 1939 | Poland | ~720 Polish soldiers | 'Polish Thermopylae', 720 vs 42,000 Germans, Captain Raginis, 3-day defense, Sabaton song |
Defend of Brest Fortress | 1941 | Belarus | ~9,000 Soviet soldiers | Held for a month against Operation Barbarossa, 'I'm dying but I won't surrender', Soviet heroism |
Battle of Myeongnyang | 1597 | Korea | 13 Korean ships (Admiral Yi) | 13 ships vs 133 Japanese warships, greatest naval victory ever, Admiral Yi Sun-sin genius |
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