21 June 1813 - The Battle of Vitoria.

The last major battle of the 1808-14 Peninsula War to be fought on Spanish soil.

By the spring of 1813 the French had been driven out of much of Spain towards the border with France, among those fleeing was Joseph Bonaparte Napoleon's brother whom he'd installed as King of Spain. He had around 60,000 men under the command of Marshal Jean-Baptiste, Count Jourdan. Opposing him was an army of British, Portuguese and Spanish numbering 81,000 led by the Marquess of Wellington. 

Attacking in four columns Wellington defeated the French with casualties about equal. However the French fled in such haste leaving behind their artillery and baggage train loaded with five years of loot that discipline broke down in the Allied ranks leaving Wellington unable to continue the pursuit as his men got drunk on plunder. 

Joseph crossed the border into France a week later never to return, although he was not formally deposed until October.

There is a slight dispute as to how many battlesWellington commanded and won in the war against the Napoleonic French in Portugal and Spain but it’s around twenty two. He was quite unbeatable but he did have the most amazing soldiers at his command, they were the unbeatables

22 June 1679 - The Battle of Bothwell Brig.

In 1638 thousands of Scots signed the Solemn League and Covenant, a document that rejected England's attempts to impose an Anglican form of worship on the Scottish Presbyterian Church. Its supporters were known as Covenanters.

Despite assertions to respect the Covenant King Charles II reneged on many of his promises once he had been restored in 1660. A Covenanter rebellion in 1666 was easily subdued, but the next in 1679 was more serious.

It began in May with the murder of the Archbishop of St Andrews, a deserter from the Covenanter cause. His killers quickly raised rebellion which gained traction when a body of government troops was defeated at Drumclog on 1 June. In response King Charles sent his illegitimate son, James, Duke of Monmouth north with an army of 5,000. The two forces met across the river Clyde at Bothwell Brig (Bridge) the Covenanters with 6000 men under Robert Hamilton who held the south side of the bridge. At first his artillery kept Monmouth at bay, but once he ran out of gunpowder government troops swarmed across the bridge easily overwhelming the undisciplined Covenanters. Up to 600 were killed with few losses for Monmouth. Hamilton escaped to The Netherlands as the rebellion collapsed.   

22 June 1679 - The Battle of Bothwell Brig.

In 1638 thousands of Scots signed the Solemn League and Covenant, a document that rejected England's attempts to impose an Anglican form of worship on the Scottish Presbyterian Church. Its supporters were known as Covenanters.

Despite assertions to respect the Covenant King Charles II reneged on many of his promises once he had been restored in 1660. A Covenanter rebellion in 1666 was easily subdued, but the next in 1679 was more serious.

It began in May with the murder of the Archbishop of St Andrews, a deserter from the Covenanter cause. His killers quickly raised rebellion which gained traction when a body of government troops was defeated at Drumclog on 1 June. In response King Charles sent his illegitimate son, James, Duke of Monmouth north with an army of 5,000. The two forces met across the river Clyde at Bothwell Brig (Bridge) the Covenanters with 6000 men under Robert Hamilton who held the south side of the bridge. At first his artillery kept Monmouth at bay, but once he ran out of gunpowder government troops swarmed across the bridge easily overwhelming the undisciplined Covenanters. Up to 600 were killed with few losses for Monmouth. Hamilton escaped to The Netherlands as the rebellion collapsed.   

So, the king reneged & had an illegitimate son? Talk about moral turpitude? Drumclog is another great name from the British Isles. 

St Andrews 

Bothwell Brig(Bridge)

Charles II was a pragmatist who said what he had to to be restored to the Throne. He had to give way to Parliament gaining more power, but he could afford to do the dirty on the Scots. 

He had several illegitimate children, as many as 15 by numerous mistresses. Many of the boys were given titles, Duke of Monmouth for instance, while many of the girls were married off to rich Lords. Yet no children with his wife.   

23 June 1757 - The Battle of Plassey.

The battle which gave GB control over Bengal and much of northern India.

For the background see 20 June. After the British recaptured Calcutta in January 1757 they embarked on a campaign to gain control of Bengal by not only defeating the Nawab of Bengal but the French too who also had trading posts in the area. 

The French fort at Chandannagar was taken in March whereupon the French threw their lot in with the Bengalis. Advancing into Bengal with just 3100 men the British commander Robert Clive came up against Suraj ud Dowlah and around 50,000 troops augmented by French artillery. Ordinarily Clive would not have sought battle against such odds but he knew of disaffection in the enemy ranks and arranged the desertion of the men loyal to Mir Jaffar, a man eager for Suraj's Throne even if under British suzerainty.

The battle was little more than a rout with only the French gunners putting up much resistance. For the loss of just 27 men Clive put the Bengalis to flight. Suraj was murdered days later and replaced by the duplicitous Jaffar. The British East India Company vastly extended its territory with the victory at Plassey being seen as the true beginning of the British Empire in India.    

24 June 1314 - The Battle of Bannockburn.

Scotland's great victory over the English which all but guaranteed Scottish independence.

It took eight years for Robert the Bruce to gain the upper hand in Scotland, but by 1314 only three garrisons remained in English hands, the most important being Stirling. In 1313 the Scots agreed a truce with the commander at Stirling Sir Philip Mowbray to expire on 24 June 1314, if by then the besieged English garrison had not been relieved they would surrender to the Scots.   

As the date drew near King Edward II belatedly led an army north to rescue Stirling from imminent surrender. On 23 June his army of up to 25,000 arrived within sight of Stirling south of a boggy stream, the Bannock Burn where King Robert's army of no more than 8000 awaited him on the other side. 

The first skirmishes took place that day. A body of English knights attempted to outflank the Scots in a dash to the castle but were driven back. Also on that first day the famous incident of Sir Henry de Bohun spotting King Robert charged forward to take him on in single combat only to be killed by a single blow from the King.

The main battle took place the next day with the English crossing the Burn under cover of darkness and lined up east of Stirling with their backs to the river Forth. Several cavalry charges failed to dislodge the Scots who finally were able to push forward and break the English lines. King Edward barely escaped, but over 11,000 of his men were killed with more captured, the Scots lost only a few hundred at most. Stirling surrendered as pledged the same day.

It would be another 14 years before England would accept Scottish independence, but never in those 14 years would they mount an invasion, in fact it was the Scots who twice invaded northern England to press home their advantage before peace was signed in 1328.   

24 June 1314 - The Battle of Bannockburn.

Scotland's great victory over the English which all but guaranteed Scottish independence.

It took eight years for Robert the Bruce to gain the upper hand in Scotland, but by 1314 only three garrisons remained in English hands, the most important being Stirling. In 1313 the Scots agreed a truce with the commander at Stirling Sir Philip Mowbray to expire on 24 June 1314, if by then the besieged English garrison had not been relieved they would surrender to the Scots.   

As the date drew near King Edward II belatedly led an army north to rescue Stirling from imminent surrender. On 23 June his army of up to 25,000 arrived within sight of Stirling south of a boggy stream, the Bannock Burn where King Robert's army of no more than 8000 awaited him on the other side. 

The first skirmishes took place that day. A body of English knights attempted to outflank the Scots in a dash to the castle but were driven back. Also on that first day the famous incident of Sir Henry de Bohun spotting King Robert charged forward to take him on in single combat only to be killed by a single blow from the King.

The main battle took place the next day with the English crossing the Burn under cover of darkness and lined up east of Stirling with their backs to the river Forth. Several cavalry charges failed to dislodge the Scots who finally were able to push forward and break the English lines. King Edward barely escaped, but over 11,000 of his men were killed with more captured, the Scots lost only a few hundred at most. Stirling surrendered as pledged the same day.

It would be another 14 years before England would accept Scottish independence, but never in those 14 years would they mount an invasion, in fact it was the Scots who twice invaded northern England to press home their advantage before peace was signed in 1328.   

What, no mention of Mel Gibson, Mark? Shame on you!!

"With their backs to the river" seems a dangerous military position to me.

They thought they could easily overwhelm the Scots with superior numbers.  

25 June 1876 - The Battle of Little Big Horn.

272 men of the 7th Cavalry led by George Custer killed in an ill-judged attack on a Lakota camp.

Tommy, you said you've been?

25 June 1876 - The Battle of Little Big Horn.

272 men of the 7th Cavalry led by George Custer killed in an ill-judged attack on a Lakota camp.

Tommy, you said you've been?

Yes, on the anniversary in 2006. There was a reenactment which was very realistic. Young Indians riding horses full speed, bareback, whooping & hollering..................impressive indeed. 

Must have put a dampener on the Centenary celebrations.  

Every nation has its own tales of disaster underestimating an "inferior" opponent. We had a taste of it at the beginning of the Zulu War. 

Every nation has its own tales of disaster underestimating an "inferior" opponent. We had a taste of it at the beginning of the Zulu War. 

So did the Zulus

26 June 1794 - The Battle of Fleurus.

The decisive battle for control of the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium).

In June 1794 the French laid siege to Charleroi in the Austrian Netherlands capturing it on 25 June. The following morning an Austro-Dutch relief army of 59,000 arrived led by Prince Josias of Coburg to find there was no siege to relieve, nevertheless he lined up to take on the French army of 82,000 under Gen. Jean-Baptiste Jourdan.

The battle lasted until nightfall and resulted in a hard fought French victory, with both sides losing around 5000 killed and wounded. Failing to defeat the French meant that Prince Josias was compelled the retreat leaving the Austrian Netherlands at the mercy of the French, Brussels fell in mid July and the Austrians lost their Low Countries province for ever.

The battle is also noteworthy as the first to involve aerial reconnaissance with the French deploying an observation balloon.