These refer to battles in which armies met on a single field of battle and fought, generally for one to several days. With more advanced weapons, military formations lost their impact and this type of battle died out in favor of grander military operations. As a general rule, this happened in the late 19th / early 20th century. The last war to have been fought on a battle-by-battle as opposed to campaign basis is generally held to be the Second Boer War.[citation needed] Many of these battles are ancient, and in many cases, the few historical records differ, sometimes wildly, on casualties. The figures used are what the contributors believe to be the most plausible compromise estimate.
Battle |
Conflict |
Casualties |
Year |
Battle of Salsu |
Goguryeo-Sui Wars |
0,097,000 ≈302,300 casualties [mostly from drowning][1] |
#0612 |
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa |
Reconquista |
0,102,000 ≈102,000 casualties |
#1212 |
Battle of Cannae |
Second Punic War |
0,092,000 92,000+ casualties[2] |
!9783 216 BC |
Battle of Arausio |
Cimbrian War |
0,080,000 80,000+ casualties[3][4][5] |
!9894 105 BC |
Battle of Wagram |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,079,000 79,000 casualties[6] |
#1809 |
Battle of Panipat Third Battle of Panipat |
Imperial Maratha Conquests |
0,075,000 75,000+ killed |
#1761 |
Battle of Ullais |
Muslim conquest of Persia |
0,071,000 71,000+ killed[7] |
#0633 |
Battle of Yarmouk |
Muslim conquest of Syria, Byzantine-Arab Wars |
0,120,000 70,000+ killed[8][9] |
#0636 |
Battle of Valea Albă |
Ottoman wars: European campaigns, Moldavian-Ottoman Wars |
0,070,000 70,000+ casualties |
#1476 |
Battle of Guandu |
Three Kingdoms |
0,070,000 70,000+ casualties |
#0200 |
Battle of Pliska |
Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars |
0,070,000 70,000+ casualties |
#0811 |
Battle of Watling Street |
Boudica's Uprising |
0,070,000 70,000+ casualties |
#0061 |
Battle of Siffin |
First Islamic civil war |
0,070,000 70,000 casualties |
#0657 |
Battle of Anchialus |
Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars |
0,070,000 70,000 casualties |
#0917 |
Battle of az-Zallaqah |
Reconquista |
0,070,000 ≈70,000 casualties |
#1086 |
Battle of Berestechko |
Khmelnytsky Uprising |
0,060,000 60,000+ killed |
#1651 |
Battle of Heunghwajin |
Third Goryeo-Khitan War |
0,060,000 60,000–70,000 casualties |
#1018 |
Battle of Walaja |
Muslim conquest of Persia |
0,055,000 55,000+ killed[7] |
#0633 |
Battle of Firaz |
Muslim conquest of Persia, Byzantine-Arab Wars |
0,055,000 55,000+ killed[10] |
#0634 |
Battle of Ilipa |
Second Punic War |
0,054,000 54,000 casualties |
!9793 206 BC |
Battle of Königgrätz |
Austro-Prussian War |
0,053,000 53,000 casualties |
#1866 |
Battle of Gettysburg |
American Civil War |
0,051,000 51,000 casualties |
#1863 |
Battle of Ajnadayn |
Muslim conquest of Syria, Byzantine-Arab Wars |
0,051,000 51,000+ killed[11] |
#0634 |
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,050,000 50,000 killed |
#1806 |
Battle of Dresden |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,050,000 50,000 killed |
#1813 |
Battle of Kosovo |
Ottoman wars: Expansion into Europe |
0,050,000 ≈50,000 killed |
#1389 |
Battle of Borodino |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,049,000 49,000 killed[12] |
#1812 |
Battle of The Saw Battle of "The Saw" |
Mercenary War |
0,045,000 45,000+ killed |
!9760 239 BC |
Battle of Lützen |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,045,000 ≈45,000 killed |
#1813 |
Battle of Aspern-Essling |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,045,000 ≈45,000 casualties |
#1809 |
Battle of Telamon |
Roman-Gaulish Wars |
0,040,000 40,000+ killed |
!9775 224 BC |
Battle of Legnica |
Mongol invasions in Poland |
0,040,000 40,000+ killed |
#1241 |
Battle of Vaslui |
Ottoman wars: European campaigns, Moldavian-Ottoman Wars |
0,040,000 40,000+ killed |
#1475 |
Battle of Manzikert |
Byzantine-Seljuk wars |
0,040,000 40,000+ killed |
#1071 |
Battle of Sekigahara |
Sengoku period of Japan |
0,040,000 40,000+ killed |
#1600 |
Battle of Alesia |
Gallic Wars |
0,040,000 40,000+ killed |
!9947 52 BC |
Battle of Lepanto |
Ottoman wars: Rhodes and Holy League |
0,040,000 40,000 killed |
#1571 |
Battle of Gaugamela |
Wars of Alexander the Great |
0,040,000 40,000 casualties |
!9668 331 BC |
Battle of Solferino |
Second Italian War of Independence |
0,040,000 40,000 casualties |
#1859 |
Battle of Bautzen |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,040,000 ≈40,000 casualties |
#1813 |
Battle of Kulikovo |
Mongol invasion of Rus |
0,040,000 ≈40,000 casualties |
#1380 |
Battle of Plataea |
Greco-Persian Wars |
0,037,000 77,000 killed[13] to 257,000 killed[14] |
!9520 479 BC |
Battle of Malplaquet |
War of the Spanish Succession |
0,037,000 37,000 killed or wounded |
#1709 |
Battle of Seneffe |
Franco-Dutch War |
0,035,000 ≈35,000 casualties |
#1674 |
Battle of Blenheim |
War of the Spanish Succession |
0,032,000 32,000 killed or wounded |
#1704 |
Battle of Crécy |
Hundred Years' War |
0,031,000 31,000 dead or wounded |
#1346 |
Battle of Hattin |
Crusades |
0,030,000 30,000+ killed |
#1187 |
Battle of Chalons |
Wars of Attila |
0,030,000 30,000+ killed |
#0451 |
Battle of the Metaurus |
Second Punic War |
0,030,000 30,000+ killed |
#0207 BC |
Battle of Prague |
Seven Years' War |
0,030,000 30,000 killed |
#1757 |
Battle of Mars-la-Tour |
Franco-Prussian War |
0,029,000 29,000 casualties |
#1870 |
Battle of Montgisard |
Crusades |
0,028,100 28,100 killed |
#1177 |
Battle of Friedland |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,028,000 28,000 casualties |
#1807 |
Battle of Gravelotte |
Franco-Prussian War |
0,028,000 28,000 casualties |
#1870 |
Battle of the Hydaspes River |
Wars of Alexander the Great |
0,025,000 25,000 killed and wounded |
!9673 326 BC |
Battle of Sedan |
Franco-Prussian War |
0,025,000 25,000 killed and wounded |
#1870 |
Battle of the Trebia |
Second Punic War |
0,025,000 ≈25,000 casualties |
!9781 218 BC |
Battle of Mohács |
Ottoman wars: Attack on Habsburg Empire |
0,024,000 24,000–30,000 killed |
#1526 |
Battle of Denain |
War of the Spanish Succession |
0,023,000 23,000+ killed |
#1712 |
Battle of Waterloo |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,022,000 22,000 killed |
#1815 |
Battle of Zama |
Second Punic War |
0,021,500 21,500 killed |
!9797 202 BC |
Battle of Antietam |
American Civil War |
0,021,000 ≈21,000 killed or wounded |
#1862 |
Battle of Versinikia |
Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars |
0,020,000 20,000–45,000 killed |
#0813 |
Battle of Towton |
Wars of the Roses |
0,020,000 20,000–30,000 killed |
#1461 |
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest |
Germanic Wars |
0,020,000 20,000–25,000 killed |
#0009 |
Battle of Carrhae |
Roman-Persian Wars |
0,020,000 20,000+ killed |
!9946 53 BC |
Battle of the Bosnian Highlands |
Croatian-Bulgarian War of 927 |
0,020,000 20,000+ killed |
#0927 |
Battle of Sluys |
Hundred Years' War |
0,020,000 20,000+ killed |
#1340 |
Battle of the Kalka River |
Mongol invasion of Rus |
0,020,000 ≈20,000 killed |
#1223 |
Battle of Thermopylae |
Greco-Persian Wars |
0,020,000 20,000 casualties[14] |
!9519 480 BC |
Battle of Ulm |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,018,000 18,000 killed |
#1805 |
Battle of Eckmühl |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,018,000 18,000 casualties |
#1809 |
Battle of Salamanca |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,018,000 18,000 casualties |
#1812 |
Battle of Oudenarde |
War of the Spanish Succession |
0,018,000 18,000 casualties |
#1708 |
Battle of Lake Trasimene |
Second Punic War |
0,016,500 16,500 killed |
!9782 217 BC |
Battle of Austerlitz |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,016,000 16,000 killed or wounded |
#1805 |
Battle of Tuyutí |
War of the Triple Alliance |
0,016,000 ≈16,000 killed or wounded |
#1866 |
Battle of Ramillies |
War of the Spanish Succession |
0,015,500 15,500+ killed |
#1706 |
Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas |
Second Balkan War |
0,015,000 15,000 killed |
#1913 |
Battle of Narva |
Great Northern War |
0,015,000 15,000 killed |
#1700 |
Battle of Fontenoy |
War of the Austrian Succession |
0,015,000 15,000 killed |
#1745 |
Battle of Assaye |
Second Anglo-Maratha War |
0,013,000 13,000 killed |
#1803 |
Battle of Breitenfeld |
Thirty Years' War |
0,013,000 13,000 killed |
#1631 |
Battle of Hohenfriedberg |
War of the Austrian Succession |
0,013,000 13,000 casualties |
#1745 |
Battle of Custoza |
Austro-Prussian War |
0,013,000 13,000 casualties |
#1866 |
Battle of Vitoria |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,012,500 12,500 casualties |
#1813 |
Battle of Tours |
Muslim conquests |
0,012,000 ≈12,000 killed |
#0732 |
Battle of Flodden Field |
War of the League of Cambrai |
0,011,500 11,500 killed |
#1513 |
Battle of Bannockburn |
First War of Scottish Independence |
0,011,000 11,000+ killed |
#1314 |
Battle of Issus |
Wars of Alexander the Great |
0,010,500 10,500+ killed |
!9666 333 BC |
Battle of Mons Graupius |
Roman conquest of Britain |
0,010,500 10,500+ killed |
#0083 |
Battle of Adrianople |
Gothic War (376–382) |
0,010,000 ≈10,000–25,000 killed |
#0378 |
Battle of Grunwald |
Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War |
0,010,000 10,000–15,000 killed |
#1410 |
Battle of Ascalon |
First Crusade |
0,010,000 10,000–12,000 killed |
#1099 |
Battle of Villiers |
Franco-Prussian War |
0,010,000 10,000–12,000 killed |
#1870 |
Battle of Bach Dang |
Mongol invasions of Vietnam |
Template:Formatun:0001000 10,000–11,000 killed |
#1288 |
Battle of Omdurman |
Mahdist War |
0,010,000 10,000 killed |
#1898 |
Battle of Schellenberg |
War of the Spanish Succession |
0,010,000 10,000 killed or drowned |
#1704 |
Battle of Rocroi |
Thirty Years' War |
0,009,500 9,500 killed |
#1643 |
Battle of Krbava field |
Ottoman-Croatian wars |
0,009,000 9,000+ killed |
#1493 |
Battle of Lund |
Scanian War |
0,009,000 9,000 killed |
#1676 |
Battle of Kesselsdorf |
War of the Austrian Succession |
0,009,000 9,000 killed |
#1745 |
Battle of Cynoscephalae |
Second Macedonian War |
0,008,000 ≈8,000 killed |
!9802 197 BC |
Battle of Isandlwana |
Anglo-Zulu War |
0,007,300 7,300 killed (inc. 1,400 of 2000 British troops) |
#1879 |
Battle of Hastings |
Norman Conquest of England |
0,007,300 7,000 killed (5,000 Anglo-Saxons, 2,000 Normans) |
#1066 |
This list includes sieges, as well as modern battles that were fought almost exclusively in urban areas. Such battles were often very bloody, resulting in high loss of life. Battles that involved sieges or attacks on cities as secondary to the main operation are listed under "operations".
This list is sortable. Click the box next to a column heading to sort by that criterion.
Siege |
Conflict |
Casualties |
Year |
Battle of Stalingrad |
Eastern Front, World War II |
1,530,000 1,530,000+ killed or wounded |
#1942–1943 |
Siege of Leningrad |
Eastern Front, World War II |
1,500,000 1,500,000 killed |
#1941–1944 |
Battle of Smolensk |
Eastern Front, World War II |
0,230,000 650,000-700,000 killed, wounded or captured |
#1943 |
Battle of Berlin |
Eastern Front, World War II |
0,230,000 540,000+ killed |
#1945 |
Battle of Wuhan |
Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II |
0,540,000 540,000 casualties |
#1938 |
Warsaw Uprising |
World War II |
0,250,000 250,000+ killed |
#1944 |
Fall of Tenochtitlan |
Spanish conquest of Mexico |
0,220,000 220,000+ killed |
#1521 |
Battle of Okinawa |
Pacific War, World War II |
0,218,000 218,000 killed (some missing) |
#1945 |
Battle of Shanghai |
Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II |
0,200,000 200,000+ killed |
#1937 |
Battle of Budapest |
Eastern Front, World War II |
0,158,000 158,000–350,000 killed (inc. civilians) |
#1944–1945 |
Battle of Alesia |
Gallic Wars |
0,150,000 150,000–200,000 killed |
!9947 52 BC |
Battle of Baghdad |
Mongol invasions |
0,140,000 140,000–1,000,000 killed (inc. civilians) |
#1258 |
Second Arab Siege of Constantinople |
Byzantine-Arab Wars |
0,500,000 130,000–200,000 killed |
#0717-718 |
Battle of Manila |
Pacific War, World War II |
0,120,000 120,000 killed |
#1945 |
Third Battle of Nanking |
Taiping Rebellion |
0,100,000 100,000 killed |
#1864 |
Fall of Constantinople |
Byzantine-Ottoman wars |
0,090,000 90,000 killed |
#1453 |
Battle of Changde |
Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II |
0,090,000 90,000 killed |
#1943 |
Siege of Carthage |
Third Punic War |
0,079,000 79,000 casualties |
!9850 149 BC |
Siege of Sevastopol |
Crimean War |
0,070,000 70,000 killed |
#1854–1855 |
Siege of Jerusalem |
First Jewish-Roman War |
0,060,000 60,000–1,100,000 killed or wounded (inc. civilians) |
#0070 |
Second Siege of Saragossa |
Peninsular War |
0,050,000 64,000 killed |
#1809 |
Second Siege of Jinju |
Imjin War |
0,060,000 60,000+ killed |
#1593 |
Siege of Belgrade |
Ottoman Conquest of the Balkans |
0,040,000 50,000+ killed |
#1456 |
Siege of Pleven |
Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) |
0,050,000 50,000 killed |
#1877–1878 |
Siege of Jerusalem |
First Crusade |
0,040,000 40,000+ killed |
#1099 |
Siege of Kazan |
Russo-Kazan Wars |
0,040,000 40,000–50,000+ killed |
#1552 |
Siege of Paris |
Franco-Prussian War |
0,036,000 36,000 |
#1870–1871 |
Battle of Odessa |
Eastern Front, World War II |
0,034,307 34,307 killed |
#1941 |
Battle of Suomussalmi |
Winter war, World War II |
0,034,307 27,850 killed |
#1939-1940 |
Battle of Szigetvár |
Ottoman wars: Attack on Habsburg Empire |
0,025,000 25,000+ killed |
#1566 |
Sack of Magdeburg |
Thirty Years' War |
0,025,000 25,000+ killed |
#1630 |
Siege of La Rochelle |
French Wars of Religion |
0,020,000 20,000+ killed |
#1572–1573 |
Siege of Sarajevo |
Bosnian War |
0,012,000 12,000 killed (inc. civilians) |
#1992–1995 |
Second Siege of Danzig |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,011,400 11,400 casualties |
#1807 |
This list includes major operations, i.e. prolonged battles or offensive operations fought over a large area.
Operation |
Conflict |
Casualties |
Year |
Operation Barbarossa |
Eastern Front, World War II |
2,700,000 2,700,000+ killed |
#1941 |
Battle of the Dnieper |
Eastern Front, World War II |
2,700,000 2,000,000-2,750,000 total casualties |
#1943 |
Brusilov Offensive |
Eastern Front, World War I |
1,825,000 1,825,000 killed or wounded |
#1916 |
Battle of Kursk |
Eastern Front, World War II |
1,338,000 1,338,000 killed or wounded |
#1943 |
Battle of Moscow |
Eastern Front, World War II |
0,900,000 900,000-1,700,000+ killed |
#1941–1942 |
Battle of the Somme |
Western Front, World War I |
1,058,422 + or - 1,000,000 killed, missing or wounded. |
#1916 |
Napoleon's Invasion of Russia |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,750,000 750,000 killed or wounded |
#1812 |
Battle of Changping |
Warring States |
0,700,000 700,000+ killed |
!9739 260 BC |
Battle of Lemberg |
Eastern Front, World War I |
0,500,000 500,000+ killed |
#1914 |
Operation Bagration |
Eastern Front, World War II |
0,360,000 360,000 killed |
#1944 |
Battle of Gallipoli |
Middle Eastern Theatre, World War I |
0,450,000 316,000 casualties |
#1915–1916 |
Battle of Kiev |
Eastern Front, World War II |
0,313,600 313,600 killed or wounded |
#1941 |
Battle of Verdun |
Western Front, World War I |
0,305,440 305,440 [perhaps double] killed and missing |
#1916 |
Battle of Tannenberg Line |
Eastern Front, World War II |
0,220,000 220,000 killed |
#1944 |
Battle of France |
Western Front, World War II |
0,185,000 185,000 killed or missing |
#1940 |
Battle of Passchendaele |
Western Front, World War I |
0,130,000 130,000 killed and missing |
#1917 |
Battle of Okinawa |
Pacific War, World War II |
0,125,000 125,000 killed and missing |
#1945 |
Operation Mars |
Eastern Front, World War II |
0,120,000 ≈120,000–270,000 killed |
#1942 |
First Battle of the Marne |
Western Front, World War I |
0,100,000 160,000 killed |
#1914 |
Operation Overlord |
Western Front, World War II |
0,080,200 107,200 killed |
#1944 |
Operation Karbala-5 |
Iran-Iraq War |
0,105,000 105,000 killed |
#1987 |
Battle of Cambrai |
Western Front, World War I |
0,100,000 100,000 killed |
#1917 |
Battle of Leipzig |
Napoleonic Wars |
0,090,000 90,000 killed |
#1813 |
Invasion of Poland |
World War II |
0,083,639 83,639 killed |
#1939 |
Operation Ramadan |
Iran-Iraq War |
0,080,000 80,000 killed |
#1982 |
Battle of Monte Cassino |
World War II |
0,074,000 74,000 casualties |
#1944 |
Battle of Mărăşeşti |
World War I |
0,074,000 74,000 casualties |
#1917 |
The Overland Campaign |
American Civil War |
0,070,139 70,139 casualties |
#1864 |
First Battle of Ypres |
World War I |
0,060,000 60,000 killed |
#1914 |
Meuse-Argonne Offensive |
Western Front, World War I |
0,054,000 54,000 killed |
#1918 |
Battle of Gettysburg |
American Civil War |
0,051,000 51,000 casualties |
#1863 |
Third Battle of Kharkov |
Eastern Front, World War II |
0,050,000 50,000 killed |
#1943 |
Battle of Tannenberg |
Eastern Front, World War I |
0,050,000 ≈50,000 killed |
#1914 |
Battle of the Marshes |
Iran-Iraq War |
0,049,000 49,000 killed |
#1984 |
Battle of Greece |
Balkans Campaign, World War II |
0,040,000 40,000+ killed |
#1941 |
Battle of the Ebro |
Spanish Civil War |
0,036,000 36,000 killed |
#1938 |
Battle of Mukden |
Russo-Japanese War |
0,036,000 36,000 killed |
#1905 |
Battle of the Bulge |
Western Front, World War II |
0,035,120 35,120 killed |
#1944 |
Guadalcanal campaign |
Pacific War, World War II |
0,035,000 35,000 killed |
#1942–1943 |
Second Battle of El Alamein |
North African campaign, World War II |
0,030,000 30,000–35,000 killed |
#1942 |
Battle of Suomussalmi |
Winter War |
0,028,000 28,000 killed |
#1939–1940 |
Battle of Chosin Reservoir |
Korean War |
0,027,500 27,500 killed |
#1950 |
Battle of Iwo Jima |
Pacific War, World War II |
0,027,000 27,000 killed |
#1945 |
Operation Desert Storm |
Gulf War |
0,025,000 25,000–40,000 killed |
#1991 |
Operation Badr |
Iran-Iraq War |
0,027,000 25,000–27,000 killed |
#1985 |
Operation Dawn V |
Iran-Iraq War |
0,025,000 25,000 killed |
#1984 |
Battle of Inchon |
Korean War |
0,015,000 15,000 killed |
#1950 |
Battle of Caporetto |
World War I |
0,015,000 15,000+ deaths |
#1917 |
Battle of Turtucaia |
Romanian Campaign, World War I |
0,014,000 14,000 killed |
#1916 |
Battle of Leyte Gulf |
Pacific War, World War II |
0,013,500 13,500 killed |
#1944 |