10 Epic Military Last Stands

[RayKalm]

10 Epic Military Last Stands - YouTube

 

[IBRIS]

Battle of Chamkaur (Khalsa vs Mughal) 1704
48 vs. Thousands

 

[Sashan]

Battle of Thermopylae
Battle of Saragarhi
Battle of Pavan Khind

- These 3 comes to my mind.

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I would say Battle of Longewale but it is not last stand

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Also couple of more - Battle of Alamo

Siege of Bastogne - but again it is not last stand

 

[Sashan]

And Rani Padmini's last stand against Alaudin Khilji.

 

[Rusty]

Adnan bin Saidi at the Battle of Pasir Panjang Singapore

"Adnan led a 42-strong platoon from the Malay Regiment in the defense of Singapore against the invading Japanese. The soldiers fought at the Battle of Pasir Panjang, at Pasir Panjang Ridge in the Bukit Chandu (Opium Hill) area on 12–14 February 1942. Although heavily outnumbered, Adnan refused to surrender and urged his men to fight until the end. They held off the Japanese for two days amid heavy enemy shelling and shortages of food and ammunition. Adnan was shot but carried on fighting until he succumbed to his injury. After the battle was lost, the Japanese soldiers tied his body to a cherry tree and bayoneted it."

Adnan bin Saidi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It was also said that the Japanese were so pissed at him that they even tried to find his family and execute them

 

[Sashan]

Battle of Karbala - very relevant to the Muslim world
Battle of Swiss Guards - relevant to Catholics

 

[AUz]

Battle of Chamkaur (Khalsa vs Mughal) 1704
48 vs. Thousands

Is it true or just another fake story? No disrespect intended but 48 vs thousands is kinda unbelieveable... 48 vs 250-300 is VERY possible.... but thousands?

 

[TalkToMe:D]

the Spartan story from the movie 300 comes in mind,

Another great battle was the Battle of Saraighat, where under the abled leadership of Ahom Commander Lachit Borphukon repealed the attacks of the mighty Mughal emperor and resisted them from Entering Assam, and as a result Mughals could never conquer Assam.

 

[TalkToMe:D]

Battle of Saraighat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[S.Y.A]

battle of hilli 1971

Battle of Hilli - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[S.Y.A]

and musaylmah kazzab's last stand against Hazrat Khalid bin Waleed in Garden of Death

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Siege of Medina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

world war 1, ottoman last stand in Hijaz

 

[Xestan]

battle of hilli 1971

Battle of Hilli - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now this is what we call "The last stand". Salute to the brave soldiers!

 

[EastWest]

Now this is what we call "The last stand". Salute to the brave soldiers!

btw ..the brigadier was saved by Indian military doctors.... Now this is what we call 'great human beings'...Truly proud of Indian Army...

And it was no last stand...The Pakistani soldiers surrendered..

 

[S.Y.A]

btw ..the brigadier was saved by Indian military doctors.... Now this is what we call 'great human beings'...Truly proud of Indian Army...

And it was no last stand...The Pakistani soldiers surrendered..

they were supposed to do this as the indians were to treat the prisoners well according to statement of surrender, nothing what you may call great humans, and BTW what else will you call it if not last stand?

 

[S.Y.A]

Last stand

Last stand is a loose military term used to describe a body of troops holding a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties or is completely destroyed, as happened in "Custer's Last Stand" at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.[1]

Bryan Perrett suggests that although the majority of last stands throughout history have seen the defending force overwhelmed, on rare occasions the outnumbered defenders succeed in their desperate endeavours and live to fight another day, and he lists the Battle of Rorke's Drift as one such engagement.[2]

Tactical significance

A "last stand" is a last resort tactic, and is chosen because the defending force realizes the benefits of fighting outweigh the benefits of retreat or surrender. This usually arises from strategic or moral considerations, leading defenders to conclude that their sacrifice is essential to the greater success of their campaign or cause, as happened at the end of the Battle of Thermopylae,[3] or the Battle of Saragarhi or the Battle of Pavan Khind.

The situation can arise in several ways. One situation is that retreat by the defending force would lead to immediate defeat, usually due to the surrounding geography or shortage of supplies or support, as happened to the Royalist infantry on Wadborough Hill after the Battle of Naseby.[4][5]

Sometimes, rather than face annihilation at the hands of a pursuing victorious army, a rearguard will be tasked by the commander of the defeated army with hindering the advance of the victorious army. Even if the rearguard is destroyed in a last stand, its sacrifice may buy their commander time to disengage without losing the majority of his army as happened during the Battle of Roncesvalles or the Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940.[6] The Iraqis also employed this tactic at the conclusion of the first Gulf War, where the Americans were forced to spend so much time destroying the Lion of Babylon tanks of the Tawakalna Division that the remainder of the Republican Guard was able to retreat successfully.[7]

The term has also been used to describe the last pitched battle of a war where the position of the defending force is hopeless but the defending force considers it their duty not to surrender until forced to do so, as happened to the last Royalist field army of the First English Civil War at the Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold.[8]

At the end of a siege

A siege may lead to a last stand by the defenders (see for example the Battle of the Alamo or the Siege of Constantinople (1453)).[9] Last stands at the end of sieges became less common after the Hague Conventions came in force. Before the 20th century, if a besieged garrison refused any offered terms of surrender and the attackers subsequently breached the defences, the defenders were only given quarter at the discretion of the attackers, something they were not likely to do if they perceived that by holding out, with no hope of relief, the defenders had needlessly squandered lives. Under the laws of war as they are now "...it is especially forbidden - ... To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion; [and] To declare that no quarter will be given ...",[10] it is unlawful for an attacking force to kill a garrison if they attempt to surrender even if it is during the final assault on a fortified position.

Historical significance

Last stands loom large in history due to the pull on popular imagination. Historian Nathaniel Philbrick argues:[11]

Long before Custer died at the Little Bighorn, the myth of the Last Stand already had a strong pull on human emotions, and on the way we like to remember history. The variations are endless — from the three hundred Spartans at Thermopylae to Davy Crockett at the Alamo — but they all tell the story of a brave and intractable hero leading his tiny band against a numberless foe. Even though the odds are overwhelming, the hero and his followers fight on nobly to the end and are slaughtered to a man. In defeat the hero of the Last Stand achieves the greatest of victories, since he will be remembered for all time.

read it very carefully