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Christopher J. Petty

Michael E. Haskew

The Battle Digest summary includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned. After his early success in the Civil War’s Western Theater, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant moved south to capture the key railroad hub at Corinth and further cut into the Confederate hold on the Tennessee and Mississippi River Valleys. But Confederate Gen. Albert S. Johnston wasn’t playing by Grant’s script. Instead of waiting for Grant to combine armies with Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, Johnston moved north for a surprise attack. It almost worked. But after taking a beating the first day, a resolute Grant rallied his army and pushed the Confederates back, salvaging victory from what appeared to be certain defeat and further opening the Confederacy’s vulnerable Western flank. But Shiloh was also a sobering wake-up call for both sides. With carnage on a scale not seen before, all illusions of a short and low-cost war were shattered.

Savas Beatie

Battle Digest

Battle Digest: Shiloh

Get facts, maps, historical significance, strategies, and more in this concise summary of the Texas Revolution’s legendary “last stand. ” 

During the Texas Revolution, the Mexican Army clashed with Texan forces on several battlefields—the most famous of which was the Alamo. During this thirteen-day siege, a small group of defenders held out against overwhelming odds only to die in the final Mexican assault on the Alamo mission. Although it was clearly a tactical defeat for the Texans, this legendary “last stand” was a sentinel event during the Texas Revolution. Today, the Alamo still evokes sentiments of patriotism, courage, and determination against great odds.

Learn how Bowie, Travis, and Neill fought a desperate fight against the vastly superior army of General Santa Anna. Also learn how Santa Anna inadvertently let tactical victory turn into strategic defeat.

The Battle Digest summary includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned.

Battle Digest: The Alamo

A concise guide to this resounding American victory in the Revolutionary War, with facts, maps, historical significance, and more.

In 1781, after six years of fighting, the future of the American colonies was far from resolved. The British were still dominant on land and sea, and except for a few bright spots like Trenton and Saratoga, the Americans had been unable to match the skills of the strongest army of the time. Against this backdrop, the brilliantly executed Yorktown campaign, in the autumn of 1781, would effectively decide the war. With America’s resounding victory, the American Colonies would formally gain their independence two years later.

Learn how General Washington outfoxed the British with deception and maneuver, while the French Navy cleared the way for the final checkmate of General Cornwallis at Yorktown.

The Battle Digest summary includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned.

Battle Digest: Yorktown

A concise history of Custer’s Last Stand with maps, facts, historical significance, and more.

The battle of Little Bighorn, despite its relatively small size, was the worst defeat for the U.S. Army in the Indian Wars. Although it was a clear tactical victory for the Plains Indians, it also would be a significant strategic setback for their cause. The outrage resulting from the Indian victory only intensified efforts by the U.S. Army and its Department of the Missouri to pacify the Native Americans and return those who resisted to their reservations. Within months of their victory at the Little Bighorn, the Plains Indians were defeated in the Great Sioux War of 1876–1877 and their lands in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory were confiscated.

Learn why the controversial George A. Custer rushed into battle against his Indian opponents on that fateful day, and how Brigadier General Terry’s failure to synchronize his forces contributed to “Custer’s Last Stand.”

The Battle Digest summary includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned.

Battle Digest: Little Bighorn

A concise guide to the American-led coalition’s speedy defeat of Saddam Hussein in 1991, with maps, facts, historical significance, and more.

Just two years after the end of Iraq’s war with Iran, an emboldened Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm was the final phase of the U.S.-led Coalition’s effort to expel Saddam’s forces from his southern neighbor’s borders. In less than 100 hours of joint air and ground combat, the U.S. and its allies would not only triumph, but also demonstrate to the world the superiority of a new breed of weapons. The battle also had the unintended effect of renewing a pride and confidence in the U.S. military after the long shadow of Vietnam.

Learn how America built a coalition of nations to go to war, and how Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf used maneuver and deception to create one of the most lopsided victories in the history of warfare.

The Battle Digest summary includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned.

Battle Digest: Desert Storm

Flint Whitlock

A concise guide to the Normandy invasion with facts, maps, historical significance, strategies, and more.

Operation Overlord, commonly referred to as “D-Day, ” was the Allied invasion to secure a foothold in northern France to enable the final offensive into Germany. The Normandy invasion would be the largest combined air-sea assault landing in history. This massive feat would finally enable the Allies to deploy forces on the continent, of sufficient size and scale, to bring about the beginning of the end of Hitler and his Third Reich.

Learn how General Eisenhower managed to attack German weakness with Allied strength as well as how intelligence and deception were crucial to the outcome.

The Battle Digest summary includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned.

Battle Digest: D-Day

Get facts, maps, historical significance, strategies, and more in this concise summary of Robert E. Lee’s victory in Virginia. 

The Confederate victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville is considered the crowning military achievement of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Against the numerically superior Union Army of the Potomac, Lee took a calculated risk by dividing his Army of Northern Virginia in what would become the largest flanking maneuver of the Civil War. The risk paid off with a stunning victory.

Learn how “Fighting Joe” Hooker squandered his good strategy with his timid leadership, and how Robert E. Lee took prudent risk to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Battle Digest summary includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned.

Battle Digest: Chancellorsville

A concise summary of the fight that sparked the American Revolution, with key facts, maps, images, historical significance, and more.

Tension between Britain and her North American colonies had been building for years. After numerous protests and acts of defiance, things took a serious turn after the December 1773 Boston Tea Party, when an irate King George III and Parliament took more drastic action to teach their rebellious citizens in Massachusetts a lesson. After they shut down Boston’s port, dissolved elected government, and placed the colony under military occupation, the dry tinder of Colonial resentment was ready to ignite. 

The spark came on the morning of April 19, 1775, as a British force moved west to destroy military supplies secretly stored in Concord. When the column came upon a small company of militia waiting on Lexington Green, the fateful “shot heard round the world” rang out—and the American Revolution had begun. Learn about this world-changing encounter in this summary that includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned.

Battle Digest: Lexington-Concord

A concise summary of this turning point in the American Revolution with facts, maps, historical significance, strategies, and more. 

By the summer of 1780, Great Britain held the advantage in the American Revolution. A strategic shift to the south had borne fruit. British forces controlled the major ports of Savannah and Charleston, and Maj. Gen. Charles Cornwallis had recently trounced American forces under Gen. Horatio Gates at Camden, South Carolina. But Gen. Nathanael Greene, Gen. George Washington’s newly appointed southern commander, was about to turn things around. Instead of massing his forces, he divided them, sending Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan southwestward.

When British forces caught up to Morgan at Cowpens in January 1781, he was more than ready. Morgan’s victory was a tactical masterpiece, echoing Hannibal’s ancient triumph over the Romans at Cannae. Cowpens set in motion a chain of events leading to Yorktown and, ultimately, American independence.

Learn how Daniel Morgan effectively used the Continental militia while designing a tactical plan to exploit the overconfidence and aggressiveness of his British opponent, Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton.

The Battle Digest summary includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned.

Battle Digest: Cowpens

Get facts, maps, historical significance, strategies, and more in this concise summary of the notoriously bloody Civil War battle. 

During the late summer of 1862, Confederate forces launched their first invasion of the North. When Union forces met them near Sharpsburg, Maryland, along Antietam Creek, the result was the “bloodiest day” in American military history. Although the battle of Antietam was a tactical draw, Union Gen. George McClellan stopped Lee’s invasion. It was a significant enough strategic “victory” to discourage European intervention in the Civil War and for President Abraham Lincoln to broaden the moral aspects of the conflict by issuing his famous Emancipation Proclamation.

Learn why Robert E. Lee took great risk in dividing his army as he moved north, and how General McClellan squandered an opportunity for victory with his uncoordinated assaults during the battle.

The Battle Digest summary includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned.