I found over 22 lists of the best/most important military battles of all time and combined them into one meta-list. The list below contains the 77 battles or military engagements that were on three or more of the original source lists, organized by rank (this is, with the battles on the most lists at the top). Each listing contains the name(s) of the battle, the date, the location, the war or conflict in which the battle took place, the major combatants, and the result of the battle. For the same list of battles organized chronologically, and including detailed descriptions for some of the battles (I’m still working on this), go HERE.
On 22 lists
Battle of Hastings
Date: Oct. 14, 1066
Location: Hastings, East Sussex, England
War/Conflict: Norman Conquest of England
Combatants: Normans (led by William, Duke of Normandy) vs. Anglo-Saxon England (led by King Harold Godwinson)
Result: Norman victory; brought much of England under Norman rule.
A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry (c. 1070-1080) showing the death of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings. The tapestry is located in Bayeux, France.
On 21 lists
Battle of Waterloo
Date: June 18, 1815
Location: Waterloo, Belgium (then Netherlands)
War/Conflict: Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)
Combatants: Seventh Coalition (UK, Netherlands, Prussia, Hanover, Nassau, Brunswick) (led by Duke of Wellington & Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher) vs. France (led by Napoleon Bonaparte)
Result: Seventh Coalition victory. End of Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon exiled to St. Helena.
The Battle of Waterloo is a painting completed in June 1815 by William Sadler. It is located in the Pyms Gallery in London.
On 19 lists
Battle of Gaugamela (Battle of Arbela)
Date: Oct. 1, 331 BCE
Location: Tel Gomel, near Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
War/Conflict: Wars of Alexander the Great
Combatants: Macedonia & Hellenic League (led by Alexander the Great) vs. Persian Achaemenid Empire (led by Darius III)
Result: Alexander the Great’s forces victorious over the Persians, effectively ending the Achaemenid Empire.
Battle of Alexander versus Darius (c. 1644-1650), painted by Pietro da Cortona and now located in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.
Battle of Stalingrad
Date: July 1942- February 1943
Location: Stalingrad, Russia
War/Conflict: World War II (Eastern Front)
Combatants: USSR (Soviet Union) (led by Georgy Zhukov, etc.) vs. Germany (led by Friedrich Paulus)
Result: Soviet victory. Considered turning point of World War II in favor of the Allies.
Soviet troops attack German forces in the Battle of Stalingrad on Nov. 26, 1942. Hulton Archive/Getty Images
On 17 lists
Siege of Yorktown (Battle of Yorktown)
Date: September-October, 1781
Location: Gloucester and Yorktown, Virginia, U.S.
War/Conflict: American Revolutionary War
Combatants: United States (led by George Washington) vs. Great Britain (led by Charles, Lord Cornwallis)
Result: American victory. Led Britain to eventual peace treaty recognizing U.S. independence.
Assault on Redoubt No. 10 (Yorktown) is a 1974 painting by H. Charles McBarron, Jr. located at the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Virginia.
On 15 lists
Battle of Marathon
Date: 490 BCE
Location: Marathon, Greece
War/Conflict: Greco-Persian Wars (First Persian Invasion of Greece)
Combatants: Greek States (Athens & Plataea) (led by Militiades, et al.) vs. Persian Empire (led by Datis, et al.)
Result: Greek victory. Ended first Persian invasion of Greece.
A relief depicting the Battle of Marathon on a Roman sarcophagus from c. 150-160 CE. The relief, which is copied from an older Greek painting, is now in the Museo di Santa Giulia in Brescia, Italy.
Battle of Tours (Battle of Poitiers; Battle of the Palace of the Martyrs)
Date: Oct. 10, 732 CE
Location: Moussais-la-Bataille, France
War/Conflict: Early Muslim Conquests: Invasion of Gaul
Combatants: Christian Franks (led by Charles Martel) vs. Islamic Umayyad Caliphate (led by Abdul Rahman al Ghafiqi)
Result: Frankish victory; some say the battle halted Muslim expansion into Europe.
Battle of Poitiers, October 732, an 1837 painting by Charles de Steuben, is located at the Palace of Versailles, in the Hall of Battles.
On 14 lists
Battle of Gettysburg
Date: July 1-3, 1863
Location: Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania
War/Conflict: American Civil War
Combatants: Union/North/USA (led by George Meade) vs. Confederacy/South (led by Robert E. Lee)
Result: Union victory; considered the turning point of the war in favor of the North.
A print by L. Prang & Co. of Thure de Thulstrup’s painting Hancock at Gettysburg (c. 1887), showing Pickett’s Charge. Restoration by Adam Cuerden.
On 11 lists
Battle of Thermopylae
Date: July, August or September, 480 BCE
Location: Thermopylae, near Lamia, Greece
War/Conflict: Greco-Persian Wars (Second Persian Invasion of Greece)
Combatants: Greeks (Sparta, Thespiae, Thebes, etc.) under Leonidas I of Sparta v. Persian Achaemenid Empire under Xerxes I
Result: Persian victory; Persia gained control over Phocis, Boeotia, and Attica.
Leondas at Thermopylae is an 1814 painting by Jacques-Louis David. It is now at the Louvre in Paris.
Battle of Cannae
Date: August 2, 216 BCE
Location: Apulia, Roman Republic (Italy)
War/Conflict: Second Punic War
Combatants: Roman Republic (led by Gaius Terentius Varro & Lucius Aemilius Paulus) vs. Carthage (led by Hannibal)
Result: Carthaginian victory; gave Carthage control of part of southern Italy; led to defection of some Roman allies.
The Death of Paulus Aemilius at the Battle of Cannae is a 1773 painting by John Trumbull. It is now at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Battle of Cajamarca (Cajamarca massacre)
Date: Nov. 6, 1532
Location: Cajamarca, Peru
War/Conflict: Spanish Conquest of Peru
Combatants: Spanish Empire (led by Francisco Pizarro) vs. Inca Empire (led by Atahualpa)
Result: Spanish victory resulted in capture of Atahualpa, massacre of his supporters, and fall of the Inca Empire. Not a true battle but an ambush and seizure of the Incan ruler and massacre of his attendants. 
The Capture of Atahualpa (c. 1920-1927), a painting by Juan Lepiani, is now at the Lima Art Museum.
Normandy Landings & Battle of Normandy
Date: June 6, 1944-August 30, 1944
Location: Normandy, France
War/Conflict: World War II
Combatants: US, UK, Canada, Free France, et al. (led by Dwight D. Eisenhower) vs. Germany (led by Gerd von Rundstedt, Erwin Rommel, et al)
Result: Allied victory; led to successful Allied invasion of France.
Into the Jaws of Death is a photograph by Robert F. Sargent, taken on June 6, 1944 at Omaha Beach, Normandy.
On 10 Lists
The Spanish Armada (including the Battle of Gravelines)
Dates: July-August 1588
Location: English Channel and North Sea
War/Conflict: Anglo Spanish War; Eighty Years’ War
Combatants: England & Dutch Republic (led by Lord Howard of Effingham) vs. Habsburg Spain (led by Duke of Medina Sidonia, Juan Martinez de Recalde, et al.)
Result: English/Dutch victory; thwarted Spanish invasion of England.
Defeat of the Spanish Armada (1796), a painting by Philip James de Loutherbourg, is now at the Royal Museums in Greenwich.
Battle of Poltava
Date: July 8, 1709
Location: Poltava, Cossack Hetmanate, Tsardom of Russia (present-day Ukraine)
War/Conflict: Great Northern War
Combatants: Swedish Empire and Cossack Hetmanate (led by Charles XII, Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld & Carl Gustaf Creutz) vs. Russian Empire, Cossack Hetmanate, and Kalmyk Khanate (led by Peter I, Boris Sheremetev, et al.)
Result: Russian coalition victory. Loss of status for Swedish Empire; beginning of Russian supremacy in eastern Europe.
Battle of Poltava (1726) is a painting by Pierre-Denis Marten. It is now located at the Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg.
On 9 Lists
Siege of Orléans
Date: October 12, 1428-May 8, 1429
Location: Orléans, France [Europe]
War/Conflict: Hundred Years’ War
Combatants: England and Burgundy (led by Thomas Montagu, William de la Pole, et al) vs. France and Scotland (led by Jean de Dunois, Joan of Arc & La Hire)
Result: French victory. England’s failure to capture Orleans was a turning point in the war in favor of the French.
Joan of Arc at the Siege of Orléans (1886-1890), a painting by Jules Eugène Lenepveu, is now located in the Panthéon de Paris. According to Joan’s trial testimony, however, she did not wear plate mail at the siege.
Battle of Tsushima (Naval Battle of the Sea of Japan)
Date: May 27-28, 1905
Location: Straits of Tsushima, Korea Strait (between Korea and Japan)
War/Conflict: Russo-Japanese War
Combatants: Japan (led by Tōgō Heihachirō) vs. Russia (led by Zinovy Rozhestvensky)
Result: Japanese victory ended the Russo-Japanese War.
The Battle of Tsushima is a 1905 painting by Tōjō Shōtarō.
Tet Offensive (including Battle of Saigon and Battle of Huế)
Dates: January 30-March 20, 1968
Location: South Vietnam
War/Conflict: Vietnam War
Combatants: South Vietnam & US (led by Cao Văn Viên & William Westmoreland, et al.) vs. Viet Cong & North Vietnam (led by Nguyễn Chí Thanh & Võ Nguyên Giáp, et al.)
Result: Tactical victory for South Vietnam; strategic victory for North Vietnam.
A Viet Cong soldier in the southern Cuu Long delta with an anti-tank gun during the Tet Offensive in spring 1968. (AFP/Getty Images)
On 8 lists
Battle of Salamis
Date: September, 480 BCE
Location: Saronic Gulf, near Salamis Island, Greece
War/Conflict: Greco-Persian Wars; Second Persian Invasion of Greece
Combatants: Greek city-states (led by Eurybiades & Themistocles) vs. Persian Achaemenid Empire (led by Xerxes I, et al.)
Result: Greek victory; Persian army forced to withdraw from Attica.
The Naval Battle of Salamis (1882), a painting by Konstantinos Volanakis, now belongs to the Hellenic Navy.
Battle of Blenheim
Date: Aug. 13, 1704
Location: Blindheim, Höchstädt, Bavaria
War/Conflict: War of the Spanish Succession
Combatants: Grand Alliance (England, Holy Roman Empire, Dutch Republic & Scotland), led by Duke of Marlborough, et al. vs. France & Bavaria (led by Duke of Tallard, et al.)
Result: Grand Alliance victory. Ensured safety of Vienna and prevented collapse of the Grand Alliance.
The Battle of Blenheim (c. 1743), a painting by John Wooton, is located at the National Army Museum in London.
Battle of Trafalgar
Date: 1805
Location: Atlantic Ocean off the southwest coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar, near the town of Los Caños de Meca.
War/Conflict: Napoleonic Wars; War of the Third Coalition.
Combatants: United Kingdom (led by Horatio Nelson) vs. France & Spain (led by Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, et al.)
Result: British victory removed the immediate threat of a French invasion of the UK.
The Battle of Trafalgar is an 1836 painting by Clarkson Frederick Stanfield.
Battle of Britain and the Blitz
Date: July 1940-May 1941
Location: Airspace over Britain and English Channel.
War/Conflict: World War II
Combatants: UK & Canada (led by Hugh Dowding, et al.) vs. Germany & Italy (led by Hermann Göring, et al.)
Result: British victory. Axis strategic failure, although significant damage inflicted.
A Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber flying over Wapping and the Isle of Dogs in East London on September 7, 1940 during the Blitz.
Battle of Midway
Date: June 4-7, 1942
Location: Midway Atoll, North Pacific Ocean
War/Conflict: World War II; Pacific War
Combatants: US (led by Chester Nimitz, et al.) vs. Japan (led by Isoruku Yamamoto, et al.)
Result: American victory. Considered one of the turning points of the Pacific War in favor of the Allies.
SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the USS Hornet approach the burning heavy cruiser Mikuma on June 6, 1942.
On 7 lists
Battle of Zama
Date: 202 BCE
Location: Zama, Carthage (now Tunisia)
War/Conflict: Second Punic War
Combatants: Roman Republic & Eastern Numidia (led by Scipio Africanus) vs. Carthage & Western Numidia (led by Hannibal)
Result: Roman victory. Led to end of Second Punic War.
This tapestry from 1688-1690 depicting the Battle of Zama is based on a design by Giulio Romano. It was made by the Gobelins Manufactory and is now in the Louvre in Paris.
Battle of Adrianople (Battle of Hadrianopolis)
Date: August 9, 378 CE
Location: Adrianople, Thrace (now Edirne in Turkey)
War/Conflict: Gothic War; Roman-Germanic Wars
Combatants: Goths & Alans (led by Fritigern, et al.) vs. Eastern Roman Empire (led by Emperor Valens, et al.)
Result: Victory for the Goths and Alans. Death of Roman Emperor Valens.
The Goth Cavalry at the Battle of Adrianople (c. 2001), a painting by Giuseppe Rava.
Battle of Manzikert
Date: August 26, 1071
Location: near Manzikert, Armenia, Byzantine Empire (now Malazgirt, Muş Province, Turkey)
War/Conflict: Byzantine-Seljuk Wars
Combatants: Byzantine Empire (led by Romanos IV, et al.) vs. Seljuk Empire (led by Alp Arslan)
Result: Seljuk victory. Beginning of Turkic rule and settlement in Anatolia.
This diorama of the Battle of Manzikert was painted by Alexander M. Samsonov in 2009. It is located at the Istanbul Military Museum.
Battle of Agincourt
Date: Oct. 25, 1415
Location: Azincourt, County of Saint-Pol, France (now Paz-de-Calais, France)
War/Conflict: Hundred Years’ War
Combatants: England (under Henry V, et al.) vs. France (under Charles D’Albret, et al.)
Result: English victory. Began period of English dominance that lasted until 1429.
A depiction of the Battle of Agincourt in The Chronicle of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, a French illuminated manuscript dating to c. 1470-1480. It is located in the Army Museum in Paris.
Fall of Constantinople (Siege of Constantinople)
Date: April 6-May 29, 1453
Location: Constantinople, Byzantine Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey)
War/Conflict: Byzantine-Ottoman Wars
Combatants: Ottoman Empire & Serbia (led by Mehmed II) vs. Byzantine Empire, Papal States, Kingdom of Sicily & Crown of Aragon (led by Constantine XI)
Result: Ottoman victory. End of the Byzantine Empire.
A depiction of the Ottomans attacking Constantinople with cannons and ladders.
Battle of Lepanto
Date: Oct. 7, 1571
Location: Gulf of Patras, Ionian Sea, Greece
War/Conflict: Fourth Ottoman-Venetian War; Ottoman-Habsburg wars
Combatants; Holy League (Spanish Empire, Italian city-states), led by John of Austria vs. Ottoman Empire (led by Ali Pasha)
Result: Holy League victory
The Naval Battle of Lepanto (c. 1577) is a painting attributed to Jacopo Tintoretto.
Battle of the Plains of Abraham (First Battle of Quebec)
Date: September 13, 1759
Location: Plains of Abraham, Quebec, New France (now Quebec City, Canada)
War/Conflict: Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War).
Combatants: Great Britain (led by James Wolfe, et al) vs. France and Indigenous Nations (led by Montcalm, et al.)
Result: British victory.
A 1797 engraving based on a sketch made by Hervey Smyth, General Wolfe’s aide-de-camp during the siege of Quebec showing the taking of Quebec on September 13, 1759.
Battle of Valmy
Date: Sept. 20, 1792
Location: Between Sainte-Menehould and Valmy in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France.
War/Conflict: War of the First Coalition; French Revolutionary Wars.
Combatants: France (led by Charles François Dumouriez & François Christophe de Kellermann) vs. Prussia, Holy Roman Empire, and Army of Condé (led by Duke of Brunswick, et al)
Result: French victory. Important psychological victory that led the National Convention to end the monarchy and establish a French Republic.
The Battle of Valmy is a 1826 painting by Horace Vernet. It is now located at the National Gallery in London.
First Battle of the Marne (Miracle on the Marne)
Date: Sept. 6-10, 1914
Location: Marne River near Brasles, east of Paris, France
War/Conflict: World War I
Combatants: Entente (France & UK), led by Joseph Joffre, et al. vs. Germany (led by Helmuth von Moltke, et al.)
Result: Entente victory. Stopped German advance toward Paris, frustrating Schlieffen Plan. Followed by four years of trench warfare.
French soldiers (including colonial troops) during the First Battle of the Marne.
On 6 lists
Battle of Actium
Date: 31 BCE
Location: Ionian Sea, near Actium (now Aktio), Greece
War/Conflict: Roman Civil War; Final War of the Roman Republic; War of Actium.
Combatants: Forces of Octavian vs. Forces of Mark Antony & Ptolemaic Egypt (led by Cleopatra)
Result: Victory of Octavian’s forces. Led to suicides of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Gave Octavian ability to consolidate power to become de facto emperor.
A Roman relief from the early 1st Century CE showing the Battle of Actium. The relief was extensively restored in the 16th or 17th century. It is now in the collection of the Dukes of Cardona in Cordoba.
Battle of Teutoburg Forest (Varus Disaster)
Date: September 8-9, 9 CE
Location: Kalkriese, Bramsche, Lower Saxony, Germania, Roman Empire (Germany)
War/Conflict: Roman Wars of Conquest; Imperial Germanic Campaigns
Combatants: Germanic Peoples (led by Arminius) vs. Roman Empire (led by Publius Varus)
Result: Decisive Germanic victory. Ended period of Roman expansion under Augustus.
A lithograph depicting the Battle of Teutoberg Forest by Martin Disteli and dating to c. 1836-1838. The print is now in the Zentralbibliothek Solothurn in Switzerland.
Battle of Hattin
Date: July 3-4, 1187
Location: Horns of Hattin, Galilee, Palestine (now Israel)
War/Conflict: Wars of the Crusader States
Combatants: Kingdom of Jerusalem, County of Tripoli, Principality of Antioch, Knights Templar, Knights Hospitaller, et al. (led by Guy of Lusingna, et al.) v. Islamic Ayyubid Sultanate (led by Saladin, et al.)
Result: Ayyubid victory made the Muslims the dominant military power in the area, prompting the Third Crusade.
Gustave Doré’s 1877 lithograph entitled Crusaders Surrounded by Saladin’s Army.
Siege of Tenochtitlán
Date: May-August, 1521
Location: Tenochtitlán, Mexico (present day Mexico City)
War/Conflict: Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
Combatants: Spanish Empire, Tlaxcalan, Chalco & Huexotzinco (led by Hernán Cortés, et al.) vs. Aztec Empire (led by Cuauhtémoc & Coanacoch)
Result: Spanish and Tlaxcalan victory. Fall of the Aztec Empire. Creation of the Kingdom of New Spain.
Conquest of Mexico by Cortés is a painting by an unknown Mexican artist dating to c. 1650-1700.
Battle of Vienna
Date: Sept. 12, 1683
Location: Kahlenberg Mountain, near Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire (now Vienna, Austria)
War/Conflict: Great Turkish War; Ottoman–Habsburg wars; Polish–Ottoman War
Combatants: Ottoman Empire & vassal states (led by Kara Mustafa Pasha, et al.) vs. Holy Roman Empire, Hapsburg Monarchy & Poland-Lithuania (led by John III Sobieski, Charles of Lorraine, et al.)
Result: Victory of the Christian Coalition, following which the Ottomans gained no further ground in Europe.
A painting of the Battle of Vienna by an unknown artist dating to the late 17th Century.
Battles of Saratoga (Battle of Freeman’s Farm and Battle of Bemis Heights)
Date: September 19 & October 7, 1777
Location: Stillwater, south of Saratoga, New York, U.S.
War/Conflict: American Revolutionary War
Combatants: United States (led by Horatio Gates, Benedict Arnold, etc.) vs. Great Britain (led by John Burgoyne, et al.)
Result: American victory. Surrender of Burgoyne. Considered a turning point in the war in favor of the US and led to French intervention on the side of the revolutionaries.
A depiction of the first Battle of Saratoga, the Battle of Freeman’s Farm, on September 19, 1777. I have been unable to locate the artist, date, or location of this painting.
Battle of Leipzig (Battle of the Nations)
Date: Oct. 16-19, 1813
Location: Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony (now Germany)
War/Conflict: War of the Sixth Coalition; Napoleonic Wars
Combatants: Russia, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, UK, et al. (led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, Gebhard von Blücher and Swedish Crown Prince Charles John) vs. France & the Rhine Confederation (led by Napoleon Bonaparte)
Result: French defeat. Considered by some the deciding battle of the Napoleonic Wars, leading to Napoleon’s forced abdication and exile in April-May 1814.
The Battle of Leipzig is an 1815 painting by Vladimir Moshkov.
Battle of Antietam (Battle of Sharpsburg)
Date: Sept. 17, 1862
Location: Washington County, near Sharpsburg, Maryland and Antietam Creek
War/Conflict: American Civil War
Combatants: United States (Union/North), led by George B. McClellan vs. Confederacy (South), led by Robert E. Lee
Result: Strategic Union victory but tactically inconclusive. Provided President Lincoln with political capital to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
An 1887 lithograph of the Battle of Antietam by L. Prang & Co., based on a painting by Thure de Thulstrup. The image depicts the charge of the Iron Brigade near the Dunker Church on September 17, 1862.
Huaihai Campaign (Battle of Hsupeng)
Date: November 6, 1948 – January 10, 1949
Location: Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, China
War/Conflict: Chinese Civil War
Combatants: Republic of China (led by Liu Zhi, et al.) vs. Chinese Communist Party (led by Sun Yu, Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, et al.)
Result: Communist victory. Allowed Communist to occupy areas north of the Yangtze River. Gave momentum to Communists. Led to Chiang Kai-Shek stepping down as Nationalist president.
People’s Liberation Army troops attack the Nationalist lines during the Huaihai campaign.
On 5 lists
Battle of the Metaurus
Date: June 23, 207 BCE
Location: Metauro River, between Fano and Fossombrone, Roman Republic (now Italy)
War/Conflict: Second Punic War
Combatants: Roman Republic (led by Marcus Livius & Gaius Claudius Nero) vs. Carthage (led by Hasdrubal Barca)
Result: Roman victory. Confirmed Roman control over Italy and forced Hannibal to withdraw to Bruttium.
An undated painting by artist and author Radu Oltean depicting The Battle of the Metaurus.
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
Date: October 28, 312 CE
Location: Ponte Milvio, northern Rome, Roman Empire (now Italy)
War/Conflict: Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy
Combatants: Forces of Roman Emperor Constantine vs. Forces of Roman Emperor Maxentius
Result: Victory for Constantine and death of Maxentius established Constantine as sole ruler of the Roman Empire.
Giulio Romano’s painting of The Battle of the Milvian Bridge was made between 1520 and 1524 and is located in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.
Battle of the Yarmuk
Date: August 15-20, 636 CE
Location: near the Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk) River, east of the Sea of Galilee, Syria (near Syria’s borders and Israel)
War/Conflict: Arab-Byzantine Wars; Wars of Muslim Conquest
Combatants: Rashidun Caliphate (Islamic), led by Khalid ibn al-Walid, et al. vs. Byzantine Empire, Ghassanid Kingdom & Tanukhids (led by Emperor Heraclius, et al.)
Result: Rashidun victory led to annexation of Byzantine Syria into the Rashidun Caliphate.
An undated painting by an unknown artist depicting the Battle of Yarmuk.
Battle of Lechfeld (Second Battle of Augsburg)
Date: Aug. 10-12, 955 CE
Location: Lechfeld plain, near Augsburg, Bavaria, East Francia (now Germany)
War/Conflict: Hunnic Wars
Combatants: Kingdom of Germany, et al. (led by King Otto I, Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, et al.) vs. Principality of Hungary (led by harka Bulcsú, et al.)
Result: German victory. Preserved the Kingdom of Germany and ended further invasions by the Huns into Latin Europe.
An 1860 painting by Michael Echter depicting the Battle of Lechfeld.
Siege of Vienna
Date: Sept. 27-Oct. 15, 1529
Location: Vienna, Holy Roman Empire (Vienna, Austria)
War/Conflict: Ottoman wars in Europe; Ottoman–Habsburg wars
Combatants: Holy Roman Empire & Spanish Hapsburg Empire (led by Niklas Graf Salm) vs. Ottoman Empire & Moldavia (led by Suleiman the Magnificent & Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha)
Result: The Ottomans failed to conquer Vienna. The Hapsburg-Ottoman Wars would continue for 150 years.
The Relief of Vienna (c. 1683-1694) is a painting by Frans Geffels. De Agostini/Getty Images
Battle of Sekigahara
Date: Oct. 21, 1600
Location: Sekigahara/Aonogahara, Mino Province (now Gifu Prefecture), Japan
War/Conflict: Sekigahara Campaign (Sengoku Period)
Combatants: Western Army (Toyotomi clan, led by Ishida Mitsunari) vs. Eastern Army (Tokugawa clan, led by Tokugawa Ieyasu & Ii Naomasa)
Result: Eastern Army victory. Beginning of Tokugawa shogunate.
This painted screen depicting the Battle of Sekigahara is an 1854 replica of a painting by by Sadanobu Kanō made in the 1620s.
Battle of Plassey
Date: June 23, 1757
Location: Plassey (Palashi), on the banks of the Hooghly River in Bengal, India (now Nadia District, West Bengal, India)
War/Conflict: Seven Years’ War
Combatants: Great Britain/British East India Company (led by Robert Clive) vs. Bengal State & France (led by Siraj ud-Daulah, Nawab of Bengal)
Result: British victory. De facto beginning of British East India Company rule in India; creation of Bengal puppet state under Mir Jafar.
An 1821 watercolor by William Heath depicting Robert Clive at the Battle of Plassey.
Battle of Sedan
Date: Sept. 1-2, 1870
Location: Sedan, France
War/Conflict: Franco-Prussian War
Combatants: North German Confederation (Prussia & Saxony) & Bavaria (led by Wilhelm I, Otto von Bismarck & Helmuth von Moltke) vs. France (led by Emperor Napoleon III,Patrice de MacMahon & Augusts-Alexandre Ducrot)
Result: German victory, with Napoleon III taken prisoner. Although France continued to fight, the battle effectively decided the war.
A photograph taken during the fighting at La Moncelle during the Battle of Sedan on September 1, 1870. It may be the first photo ever taken of an ongoing battle.
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Date: March 13-May 7, 1954
Location: Điện Biên Phủ, French Indochina (now Vietnam)
War/Conflict: First Indochina War
Combatants: France & State of Vietnam (led by Christian de Castries) vs. Democratic Republic of Vietnam, including Viet Minh (led by Võ Nguyên Giáp)
Result: Decisive defeat of the French led quickly to the end of the war and signing of the 1954 Geneva Accords, which required French withdrawal and the division of Vietnam into North and South.
French paratroopers landing at Dien Bien Phu.
On 4 lists
Battle of Kadesh
Date: probably May 1274 (some sources date it approximately 20 years earlier)
Location: Orontes River, near Kadesh (along current Lebanon-Syria border)
War/Conflict: Egyptian-Hittite War
Combatants: Egyptian Empire (led by Ramesses II) vs. Hittite Empire (led by Muwatalli II)
Result: Inconclusive result. Ramesses II managed to avoid capture and survive, despite being outmaneuvered by the Hittites.
An engraving from The Illustrated History of the World for the English People (c. 1881-1884) showing Ramesses II at the Battle of Kadesh.
Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (Battle of Châlons; Battle of Maurica)
Date: June 20, 451 CE
Location: Near Châlons, Gaul (Châlons-en-Champagne, Grand Est Region, France)
War/Conflict: Hunnic Wars; Hunnic Invasion of Gaul; Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Combatants: Western Roman Empire, Visigoths, Franks, Burgundians, Saxons, et al. (led by Flavius Aetius & Theodoric I) v. Hunnic Empire, Amali Goths, Rugii, Sciri, et al. (led by Attila the Hun)
Result: Inconclusive. The battle stopped the Huns from further advancement into Roman territory, but the Huns looted and pillaged much of Gaul and seriously damaged Rome and the Visigoths militarily.
An illustration from the Chronica Hungarorum (1488) by Johannes de Thurocz showing Attila at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains.
Siege of Constantinople
Date: July 15, 717- August 15, 718 CE
Location: Constantinople, Thrace, Bithynia & Sea of Marmara (now Istanbul, Turkey)
War/Conflict: Arab-Byzantine Wars; Early Muslim Conquests
Combatants: Islamic Umayyad Caliphate (led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik) vs. Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria (led by Leo III the Isaurian & Tervel of Bulgaria)
Result: Byzantine-Bulgarian victory. The failure of the siege ensured the survival of the Byzantine Empire, the end of 100 years of war, and a postponement (by many centuries) of Muslim advances into southeastern Europe.
Khan Tervel at the Battle with the Arabs at Constantinople is a painting by Vasil Goranov.
Battle of Ain Jalut
Date: September 3, 1260
Location: near Ayn Jalut (Ma’ayan Harod), Jezreel Valley, Galilee, Mamluk Sultanate (now Israel)
War/Conflict: Mongol Wars of Conquest
Combatants: Mamluk Sultanate (led by Qutuz, Baybars & Al-Mansur of Hamah) vs. Ilkhanate, Cilician Armenia & Georgia (led by Kitbuqa Noyan & Al-Ashraf Musa)
Result: Mamluk victory. As a result, the Mongols withdrew from the Levant and ceded occupied territories to the Mamluks.
Mamluk horsemen in battle with the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut, a painting by Peter Dennis.
Battle of Crécy
Date: Aug. 26, 1346
Location: near Crécy-en-Ponthieu, Picardy, France
War/Conflict: Hundred Years’ War (Edwardian Phase)
Combatants: England (led by King Edward III)vs. France, Bohemia & Duchy of Lorraine (led by King Philip VI)
Result: English victory. The battle reduced the French army’s ability to relieve the subsequent siege of Calais, which fell to the English in 1347.
An illustration by Loyset Liédet in an illuminated manuscript of Jean Froissart’s Chronicles (c. mid-15th Century) depicting the Battle of Crécy. The manuscript is now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.
Battle of Breitenfeld
Date: September 1631
Location: near Breitenfeld, Saxony (now Leipzig, Saxony, Germany)
War/Conflict: Thirty Years’ War
Combatants: Sweden & Saxony (led by Gustavus Adolphus & Johann George I) vs. Holy Roman Empire/Catholic League (led by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly)
Result: Swedish-Saxon victory, which allowed Gustavus Adolphus to launch an invasion of southern Germany.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden at the Battle of Breitenfeld (c. 1631-1677) is a painting by Johann Jakob Walter. It is located in the Strasbourg Historical Museum, France.
Battle of Naseby
Date: June 14, 1645
Location: Naseby, England
War/Conflict: English Civil War
Combatants: Parliamentarians (led by Sir. Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell) vs. Royalists (led by Charles I and Prince Rupert)
Result: Parliamentarian victory. The battle destroyed the main Royalist army, including veteran infantry, artillery, and many arms and ended any real hope of Royalist victory.
An 18th Century depiction of the Battle of Naseby by an unknown artist.
Battle of Borodino (Battle of Moscow)
Date: Sept. 7, 1812
Location: Borodino, Russian Empire (now Russia)
War/Conflict: Napoleonic Wars; French Invasion of Russia
Combatants: France, Poland, Italy, Naples, Bavaria, et al. vs. Russia
Result: Disputed/inconclusive. The French pushed the Russian line back, but failed to meet its objectives of destroying the Russian army (which retreated in formation to fight again) or ending the war.
The Battle of Moscow, 7th September 1812 (1822) is a painting by Louis-François, Baron Lejeune. It is now in the Museum of the History of France.
Battle of Königgrätz (Battle of Sadowa)
Date: July 3, 1866
Location: Sadowa, near Königgrätz on the upper Elbe River, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now Hradec Králové, Czech Republic)
War/Conflict: Austro-Prussian War
Combatants: Prussia (led by Wilhelm I & Helmuth von Moltke) vs. Austrian Empire & Saxony (led by Ludwig Benedek & Prince Albert)
Result: Prussian victory. The decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War, it led to the Peace of Prague the same year, cleared the path to German unification, and put Prussia in a good position when war with France came in 1870.
The Battle of Königgrätz, 3rd July, 1866 (c. 1869) is a painting by Georg Bleibtreu. It is located at the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin.
Battle of Verdun
Date: February-December, 1916
Location:on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France.
War/Conflict: World War I
Combatants: German Empire (led by Erich von Falkenhayn, et al.) vs. France (led by Joseph Joffre, et al.)
Result: French victory; successfully repulsed a German offensive. The combatants suffered over 700,000 casualties and the fighting destroyed nine French villages. It is estimated that over 10 million unexploded shells (both explosive and chemical) remain in the soil around Verdun.
A photograph that may show German soldiers in a trench during the Battle of Verdun. Note that some photos circulating online are actually from a 1928 reenactment film.
Battle of Warsaw (Miracle on the Vistula)
Date: August 15-25, 1920
Location: Warsaw, Poland
War/Conflict: Polish–Soviet War
Combatants: Poland (led by Józef Piłsudski) vs. Soviet Union (led by Mikhail Tukhachevsky)
Result: Polish victory. The loss seriously crippled the Red Army. Poland went on to secure its independence and sign a peace treaty with Russia and Ukraine the same year, securing its borders until 1939.
Polish infantry during the Battle of Warsaw.
Allied Strategic Bombing of Japan (including atomic bombs)
Date: April 1942-August 9, 1945, with strategic raids beginning in June 1944
Location: Hiroshima, Japan and Nagasaki, Japan
War/Conflict: World War II
Combatants: US, UK, and Republic of China (led by Henry H. Arnold, Kenneth Wolfe, Curtis LeMay, et al.) vs. Japan (led by Hideki Tojo, et al.)
Result: Japan surrendered following the dropping of the second atomic bomb. The air raids destroyed much of Japan’s industrial capacity, killed many civilians, and destroyed large urban areas, rendering many people homeless. The air raids were a factor in the surrender, although experts debate the magnitude of this factor. There is also some evidence that the air raids may have reduced civilian morale. The morality of the bombings has been debated for decades.
B-29 bombers drop incendiary bombs on Yokohama, Japan on May 29, 1945.
On 3 lists
Battle of Megiddo
Date: April 15, 1457 BCE (or possibly 1479 or 1482 BCE)
Location: Megiddo, Canaan (now Israel, near the city of Haifa)
War/Conflict: Canaanite Rebellion
Combatants: Egyptian Empire (led by Thutmose III) vs. Canaanites, Kadesh, Megiddo, et al. (led by the King of Kadesh and the Prince of Megiddo)
Result: Egyptian victory led to territorial expansion of the Egyptian Empire and reestablished Egyptian dominance in the Levant.
A 15th Century BCE relief sculpture from the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, Egypt shows Thutmose III slaying Canaanite captives after the Battle of Megiddo.
Sicilian Expedition and Siege of Syracuse
Date: 415-413 BCE
Location: Syracuse, Sicily (now Italy)
War/Conflict: Peloponnesian War
Combatants: Delian League (led by Athens), Segesta & the Etruscans (led by Nicias, Demosthenes, et al.) vs. the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta), Corinth & Syracuse (led by Gylippus & Hermocrates)
Result: Spartan-Syracusan victory. Some consider the battle, in which Athens incurred severe losses of ships and soldiers, a turning point in the war in favor of Sparta. The Athenian loss encouraged Athens’s other enemies and sparked rebellions.
The Naval Battle in the Harbor of Syracuse (engraving, 1890).
Battle of Gaixia (Last Stand at Wu River)
Date: December, 203 BCE
Location: Gaixia (present day Guzhen County, Anhui), China
Conflict: Chu-Han Contention
Han forces under Liu Bang defeat Western Chu under Xiang Yu
Combatants: Kingdom of Han (led by Han Xin & Liu Bang) vs. Kingdom of Western Chu (led by Xiang Yu)
Result: Han victory resulted in Han control of China and inauguration of the Han Dynasty, led by Liu Bang.
An undated depiction of the Battle of Gaixia by an unknown artist.
Battle of Alesia (Siege of Alesia)
Date: September, 52 BCE
Location: Alise-Sainte-Reine, France
Conflict: Gallic Wars
Combatants: Roman Republic (led by Julius Caesar) vs. Gallic confederation (led by Vercingetorix & Vercassivellaunos)
Result: Roman victory completed the Roman conquest of Gaul, which now became incorporated into the Roman Republic.
Melchior Feselen’s painting of the Siege of Alesia (1533) is now at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Battle of Pharsalus
Date: August 9, 48 BCE
Location: Palaepharsalus, Greece
War/Conflict: Caesar’s Civil War/Caesar’s Invasion of Macedonia
Combatants: Forces of Julius Caesar vs. Forces of Pompey
Result: Julius Caesar defeated Pompey in the decisive battle of Caesar’s civil war, leading Pompey to flee in disguise to be killed in Egypt. Although the victory did not end the war, it brought many of Rome’s eastern provinces into Caesar’s camp.
An undated depiction of the Battle of Pharsalus by an unknown artist.
Battle of Badr (Raid of Badr; The Day of the Criterion)
Date: March 13, 624 CE
Location: near Badr, Hejaz, Arabia
War/Conflict: Muslim-Quraysh War
Combatants: First Islamic State/Sahaba (led by Muhammad) vs. Quraysh Meccans (led by Amr ibn Hishām/Abu Jahl)
Result: Muslim victory. Led to alliance with Medina and other tribes outside Medina.
An illustration from a c. 1594 manuscript of the Siyer-I Nebi (Life of the Prophet) showing Hamza and Ali leading the Muslim armies at Badr.
Siege of Jerusalem
Date: July 7-15, 1099
Location: Jerusalem, Fatimid Caliphate (now Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine)
War/Conflict: First Crusade
Combatants: Crusaders (led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Raymond IV of Toulouse, et al.) vs. Fatimid Caliphate (led by Iftikhar ad-Dawla)
Result: Crusader victory. Led to the founding of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 15th July 1099 (1847) is a painting by Émile Signol. It is now in the Palace of Versailles.
Battle of Grunwald (First Battle of Tannenberg)
Date: July 15, 1410
Location: between Grünfelde and Tannenberg, State of the Teutonic Order (now Grunwald and Stębark, western Masuria, Poland)
War/Conflict: Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War.
Combatants: Kingdom of Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, et al. (led by King Władysław II Jagiełło & Grand Duke Vytautas) vs. Teutonic Order, et al. (led by Ulrich von Jungingen)
Result: Polish-Lithuanian victory. Led to the eventual decline of the Teutonic Order; shifted the balance of power in Central and Eastern Europe, and marked the rise of the Polish-Lithuanian union as the dominant regional force.
The Battle of Grunwald (1878) is a painting by Jan Matejko. It is now in the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland.
First Battle of Panipat
Date: April 21, 1526
Location: near Panipat, Sultanate of Delhi (now Haryana, India)
War/Conflict: Mughal Wars of Conquest
Combatants: Mughals (led by Babur) vs. Delhi Sultanate (led by Ibrahim Khan Lodi)
Result: A Mughal victory marked the beginning of Mughal rule in India. The Mughal Empire lasted 200 years.
A page from an illustrated manuscript of the Baburnama (Memoirs of Babur) dating to the late 16th Century and depicting the death of Sultan Ibrahim Khan Lodi at the Battle of Panipat.
Battle of Mohács (1526)
Date: August 29, 1526
Location: Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary (now Hungary)
War/Conflict: Ottoman Wars in Europe; Hungarian-Ottoman Wars
Combatants: Ottoman Empire (led by Suleiman the Magnificent & Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha) vs. Kingdom of Hungary, et al. (led by King Louis II, et al.)
Result: Ottoman victory. The battle marked the beginning of the Ottoman-Hapsburg wars, which lasted until 1791, and the decline of Hungary as an independent power.
A book illustration depicting the Battle of Mohács from 1555, by Johann Schreier.
Battle of Ayacucho (Battle of La Quinua)
Date: December 9, 1824
Location: Pampa de Ayacuchon, near Quinua, Spanish Empire (now Peru)
War/Conflict: Peruvian War of Independence
Combatants: Patriots (Peru & Gran Colombia), led by Antonio de Sucre & Agustin Gamarra vs. Royalists/Spanish Empire (led by José de la Serna & José de Canterac)
Result: Victory for the Patriots led to the capitulation of the Royalists and the consolidation of the independence of the Peruvian Republic.
The Battle of Ayacucho is a painting by Martin Tovar y Tovar (1827-1902). It is located in the National Gallery of Art in Caracas, Venezuela.
Battle of San Jacinto
Date: April 21, 1836
Location: Buffalo Bayou & banks of San Jacinto River, Texas (now La Porte & Deer Park, Harris County, Texas, U.S.)
War/Conflict: Texas Revolution
Combatants: Centralist Republic of Mexico (led by Antonio López de Santa Anna, et al). vs. Republic of Texas (led by Sam Huston, et al.)
Result: Texan victory. The capture of General Santa Anna several days later led to the Treaties of Velasco, which de facto recognized the independence of the Texas Republic, although no official armistice was signed until 1843.
The Battle of San Jacinto (1895) is a painting by Henry Arthur McArdle.
Battle of Manila Bay (Battle of Cavite)
Date: May 1, 1898
Location: Manila Bay, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish Empire (now the Philippines)
War/Conflict: Spanish–American War
Combatants: United States (led by George Dewey) vs. Spain (led by Patricio Montojo)
Result: American victory. Marked the end of the Spanish colonial period in Philippine history.
Battle of Manila Bay (1898) is a painting by James Gale Tyler.
Battle of the Atlantic
Dates: September 1939-May 1945; peak activity June 1940-December 1943
Locations: Atlantic Ocean, Rio de la Plata, North Sea, Irish Sea, Labrador Sea, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Outer Banks, Arctic Ocean
War/Conflict: World War II
Combatants: UK, US, USSR, Canada, Brazil, et al. (led by Dudley Pound, Royal E. Ingersoll, et al.) vs. Germany & Italy (led by Erich Raeder, Angelo Parona, et al.)
Result: Allied victory. Although Axis surface-raiders and U-boats caused significant damage to Allied merchant and military ships, the Axis never interrupted supply lines to Britain, failed to mount a comprehensive blockade of Britain, and failed to prevent the build-up of Allied invasion forces.
A photo showing the scuttling of the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in Montevideo Harbor following the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939. The Graf Spee sank nine merchant ships during the first three months of the war.
Attack on Pearl Harbor (Hawaii Operation)
Date: Dec. 7, 1941
Location: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, US
War/Conflict: World War II
Combatants: United States (led by Husband E. Kimmel & Walter Short) vs. Japan (led by Isoroku Yamamoto & Chūichi Nagumo)
Result: Japanese victory. The Japanese attack destroyed much of the American naval fleet (but not the three aircraft carriers, which were out to sea that day, or the repair yards and fuel depots). The attack was followed by mutual declarations of war by the US and Japan, and shortly thereafter by the US, Germany, and Italy.
Photo taken from a Japanese plane during the attack on Pearl Harbor, looking east. A torpedo has just hit USS West Virginia on the far side of Ford Island. Japanese planes are visible in the right center (over Ford Island) and over the Navy Yard at right. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Battle of Guadalcanal
Date: August 7, 1942-February 9, 1943
Location: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
War/Conflict: World War II
Combatants: US, UK, Australia & New Zealand (led by Robert L. Ghormley, Alexander A. Vandegrift, Alexander M. Patch, et al.) vs. Japan (led by Isoruku Yamamoto, Hitoship Imamura, et al.)
Result: Allied victory. Japan abandoned Guadalcanal to focus on the other Solomon Islands. The campaign marked the Allies’ transition from defensive to offensive operations.
U.S. Marines landing at Guadalcanal at the start of the campaign, August 7, 1942.