6. This book is dedicated to my good friends Carol Hoffman,
Paula Herbst, and Audrey and Alan Taylor,
without whose incredible support this volume
would not have been completed;
and to my niece Julie Grossman
and my nephew Bradley Grossman,
who wanted to see their name in print
and finally get the chance.
7.
8. Breathes There the Man
Sir Walter Scott
Breathes there the man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned,
As home his footsteps he hath turned
From wandering on a foreign strand?
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim,
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentrated all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.
9.
10. Contents
List of Entries
xi
Introduction
xv
Entries A to Z
1
Bibliography
367
Index
403
11.
12. List of Entries
Abbas I Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail Bogdanovich
Abercromby, Sir Ralph Basil II
Æthelstan Bazaine, François-Achille
Aetius, Flavius Beatty, David, first earl Beatty, Viscount Borodale of
Agricola, Gnaeus Julius Wexford, Baron Beatty of the North Sea and of
Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius Brooksby
Ahenobarbus, Cnaeus Domitius Belisarius
Alaric I Benbow, John
Albert, archduke of Austria Beresford, William Carr, Viscount Beresford
Alexander, Sir Harold Rupert Leofric George, Bernadotte, Jean-Baptiste-Jules, prince de
first earl Alexander of Tunis Pontecorvo
Alexander the Great Berwick, James FitzJames, first duke of
Alfred the Great Birdwood, Sir William Riddell, Baron Birdwood of
Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman, first viscount Anzac and Totnes
Allenby of Megiddo Blake, Robert
Alp-Arslan Mohammed Ibn Da’ud Blücher, Gebhard Leberecht von
Alva, Fernando álvarez de Toledo, duke of Boscawen, Edward
Amherst, Jeffrey, Baron Amherst of Montreal Boudicca
Anson, George, Baron Anson of Soberton Braddock, Edward
Antony, Mark Bradley, Omar Nelson
Astley, Jacob, Baron Astley Brauchitsch, Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von
Attila the Hun Brereton, Sir William
Augereau, Pierre-François-Charles, duc de Brock, Sir Isaac
Castiglione Brusilov, Alexei Alexseievich
Augustus Budenny, Semyon Mikhailovich
Bagration, Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Buller, Sir Redvers Henry
Baird, Sir David Burgoyne, John
xi
13. xii list of entries
Caesar, Julius Gaius French, Field Marshal Sir John Denton Pinkstone,
Campbell, Sir Colin, Baron Clyde first earl French of Ypres and High Lake
Charles XII Gaiseric
Charles, archduke of Austria Gates, Horatio
Charles Martel Genghis Khan
Churchill, John, first duke of Marlborough Giap, Vo Nguyen
Clare, Richard FitzGilbert de, second earl of Gordon, Charles George
Pembroke Grant, Ulysses Simpson
Clark, Mark Wayne Greene, Nathanael
Clinton, Sir Henry Gustav II
Clive, Robert Clive, Baron Haig, Douglas, first earl Haig and Baron Haig of
Condé, Louis II de Bourbon, prince de Bemersyde
Coote, Sir Eyre Halsey, William Frederick, Jr.
Cornwallis, Charles, first marquis and second earl Hamilcar Barca
Cornwallis, Viscount Brome, Baron Cornwallis Hamilton, Sir Ian Standish Monteith
of Eye Hancock, Winfield Scott
Crassus, Marcus Licinius Hannibal
Cromwell, Oliver Harold II
Cyrus the Great Hawke, Edward, first baron Hawke of Towton
Darius I Hawkins, Sir John
Davout, Louis-Nicolas Henry V
Dayan, Moshe Hindenburg, Paul Ludwig Hans von Beneckendorf
Decatur, Stephen und von
Decius, Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Holland, Henry Rich, first earl of
Denikin, Anton Ivanovich Hood, Samuel, first viscount Hood
Dewey, George Hooker, Joseph
Drake, Sir Francis Hopton, Ralph, first baron Hopton
Early, Jubal Anderson Howard, Charles, second baron Howard of
Edmund II Ironside Effingham and first earl of Nottingham
Edward I Howe, Richard, Earl Howe
Edward II Hunyadi, János
Edward III Ivan IV
Eisenhower, Dwight David Ivanov, Nikolai Yudovich
Epaminondas Jackson, Andrew
Essex, Robert Devereux, third earl of Jackson, Thomas Jonathan
Eugène, prince de Savoie-Carignan Jellicoe, John Rushworth, Earl Jellicoe of Scapa
Fairfax, Sir Thomas, third baron Fairfax, Baron Joffre, Joseph-Jacques-Césaire
Fairfax of Cameron John III Sobieski
Farragut, David Glasgow John of Austria
Fisher, John Arbuthnot, Baron Fisher of Jones, John Paul
Kilverstone Junot, Jean-Andoche Alexandre, duc d’Abrantes
Fleetwood, Charles Kamimura, Hikonojo, Baron Kamimura
Foch, Ferdinand Khaled ibn al-Walid
Franks, Tommy Ray Kitchener, Horatio Herbert, first earl Kitchener of
Frederick II Khartoum and Broome
14. list of entries xiii
Kluge, Hans Günther von Nevsky, Alexander, Saint
Kublai Khan Newcastle, William Cavendish, duke of
Kuropatkin, Alexei Nikolaevich Ney, Michel, duc d’Elchigen, prince of the Moskowa
Kutuzov, Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev Nimitz, Chester William
Lafayette, Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves Roch-Gilbert du Nivelle, Robert-Georges
Motier, marquis de Nogi, Maresuke, Kiten
Lambert, John Norfolk, Thomas Howard, second duke of
Lannes, Jean, duc de Montebello Nur-ad-Din
Lee, Robert Edward Oda, Nobunaga
Leslie, Alexander, first earl of Leven Oudinot, Nicolas Charles, duc de Reggio
Leslie, Sir David, first baron Newark Oxford, John de Vere, 13th earl of
Lincoln, Benjamin Paskevich, Ivan Fedorovich
Lucan, George Charles Bingham, third earl of Patton, George Smith, Jr.
MacArthur, Douglas Paullus Macedonicus, Lucius Aemilius
Macbeth Paulus, Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst
MacMahon, Marie-Edmé-Patrice-Maurice de, duc Penn, Sir William
de Magenta Perry, Oliver Hazard
Makharoff, Stepan Osipovich Pershing, John Joseph
Marion, Francis Pétain, Henri-Philippe-Benoni-Omer-Joseph
Masséna, André, duc de Rivoli Philip II
Maurice, prince of Orange and count of Nassau Philip VI
McClellan, George Brinton Phocion
Mehmet II Plumer of Messines, Herbert Charles Onslow
Miltiades Plumer, first viscount
Moltke, Helmuth Johannes Ludwig, count von Pompey
Moltke Radetzky, Joseph Wenzel Anton Franz Karl, count
Moltke, Helmuth Karl Bernard, count von Moltke Radetzky von Radetz
Monash, Sir John Raglan, FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, first
Monck, George, duke of Albemarle baron
Monmouth, James Scott, duke of Ramses II
Montagu, Edward, second earl of Manchester Rennenkampf, Pavel-Georges Karlovich von
Montcalm de Saint-Véran, Louis-Joseph de Richard I the Lion-Hearted
Montcalm, marquis de Richard III
Montfort, Simon de, earl of Leicester Ridgway, Matthew Bunker
Montgomery, Bernard Law, first viscount Roberts, Frederick Sleigh, first earl Roberts of
Montgomery of Alamein Kandahar
Montrose, James Graham, first marquis of Robert the Bruce
Moore, Sir John Rodney, George Brydges, first baron Rodney of
Murat, Joachim Stoke-Rodney
Napier, Sir Charles Rokossovsky, Konstantin Konstantinovich
Napier, Sir Charles James Rommel, Erwin Johannes Eugen
Napoleon Bonaparte Rooke, Sir George
Narses Rosecrans, William Starke
Nebuchadnezzar Rupert, Prince
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount Nelson Saladin
15. xiv list of entries
Samsonov, Alexander Vasilyevich Togo, Heihachiro, Count
Santa Anna, Antonio López de Tromp, Cornelis Maartenszoon Van
Sargon II Tromp, Maarten Harpertszoon
Saxe, Hermann Maurice, comte de Turenne, Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne, vicomte de
Scheer, Reinhard Vernon, Edward
Schwarzkopf, H. Norman Wallace, Sir William
Scipio Africanus Waller, Sir William
Scott, Winfield Warwick, Richard Neville, earl of
Sheridan, Philip Henry Washington, George
Sherman, William Tecumseh Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, first duke of
Slim, William Joseph, viscount Slim Wet, Christiann Rudolf de
Suchet, Louis-Gabriel, duc d’Albufera da Valencia William I
Taylor, Zachary Wolfe, James
Theodoric the Great Xerxes
Tilly, Johann Tserclaes, Count von Yamamoto, Isoroku
Timur Zhukov, Georgi Konstantinovich
16. Introduction
It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.
—Robert E. Lee
T he history of warfare can be considered the history of humankind. But
stories behind the wars—behind the leaders who led soldiers into bat-
tle—are equally important. This is not a work on why battles are fought, or
their ultimate disposition. This is a review of the lives and actions of those who
commanded armies, some vast and some small, in battle.
At Adrianople in Thrace, August 378, the Eastern Roman emperor Va-
lens took on the Goths, led by Fritigern. Historians believe, through histories
written at the time and other evidence, that Valens commanded 20,000 men,
while Fritigern had about 100,000 behind him. Valens and nearly the entire
Roman army was massacred, one of the worst military defeats of ancient times.
However, the Roman historian Ammianus’s epic tale of the clash survives even
today: “Dust rose in such clouds as to hide the sky, which rang with fearful
shouts. In consequence, it was impossible to see the enemy’s missiles in flight
and dodge them . . . all found their mark, and [these] darts brought death
on every side. The barbarians poured on in huge columns, trampling down
horse and man and crushing our ranks so to make ordinary retreat impossible.”
Nearly 1,700 years later, warfare is still part of our lives. As American and other
coalition forces fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, tales of battles fought are being
written for future historians—and another leader, Tommy Franks, takes his
place among those who have held the title general.
In the midst of the buildup of American and British troops to invade
Afghanistan in October 2001, journalist David White wrote in the Financial
Times: “No one starts a war—or rather no one in his right senses should do
so—without being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war
and how he intends to conduct it.” The history of warfare—and humans’ role
xv
17. xvi Introduction
in it—has been studied over the centuries through writings, reminiscences, and
strategies. The character, responsibilities, and service of these soldiers, from the
earliest of times to the present, are all examined in this work. The forces they
led and the battles they fought are all observed and considered.
In his Military Dictionary (1810), Charles James observes:
The best modern generals have never lost sight of the brilliant examples
that they have been left; they have never ceased to call into practice the
tactics of the ancients, as far as the difference of arms and a change of
manners would allow. To those who peruse the histories of the 17th and
18th centuries and read over the actions of the most celebrated gener-
als this observation will appear peculiarly apposite. It is justified in the
uniform conduct of the great Condé, Prince Eugène, Turenne, Marlbor-
ough, Marshal Saxe and Frederick the Great. . . . Impressed as it were by
the result of cumulative reflection they overlook immediate occurrences,
plunge into futurity and snatch out of the womb of time the ultimate
issue of events.
But James wrote this at the dawn of the 19th century. Over the period
of human history, writers have studied the inner workings of the military and
military science. In the sixth century b.c., Sunzi (Sun Tzu) wrote, “An Army
should always be ready but never used.” Napoleon Bonaparte allegedly stated,
“Victory belongs to the most persevering.” A commander, be it of a land or
sea force, stands above all as the leader, the chief officer of his force, the chief
strategist, the chief inspiration for those who follow him. A leader has to em-
body the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness.
As armies have gained in their abilities to fight differing kinds of wars, these
responsibilities and virtues have grown. From the beginning of human history,
when troops marched into battle with spears and knives, to today’s airborne
missiles and machine guns, this role has expanded. This work examines how
these leaders used the tools given them.
While such words as commander or leader are universally understood, the
terms general and admiral have only come into use within the last 500 years.
Thus, such leaders as Nebuchadnezzar, Belisarius, Mark Anthony, Julius Cae-
sar, Gnaeus Pompeius, Nur-ad-Din, Richard Neville, and Alexander Nevsky
are included in this book though none was termed admiral or general. The
custom of so naming commanders of armed forces became common in Europe
in the 16th century, and over time, certain terminology became standard.
The basic fighting unit, a regiment or battalion, was led by a lieutenant
colonel or colonel. Two or more regiments were called a brigade, commanded
by a brigadier general (one star), while two or more brigades formed a division,
commanded by a major general (two stars). Two or more divisions formed an
army corps under a lieutenant general (three stars), while two or more corps
became an army under a general (four stars). As armies and navies became ever
larger, a five-star rank became necessary for commanders in chief with several
armies under their command. In the United States, this officer is titled Gen-
18. Introduction xvii
eral of the Army, although in some nations the much older term field marshal
is used. The same general principle applies to naval officers who may lead a
flotilla, then a squadron, then a fleet, and then fleets; the highest rank is Fleet
Admiral (Admiral of the Fleet in Great Britain).
The granting of such titles has often been merely an honor, a token of
gratitude from a nation. Frequent reference is made in this book to command-
ers being given the rank of field marshal for a notable victory, even though they
only led a division in the battle concerned. Thus, Congress specifically created
the six-star rank of General of the Armies for John J. Pershing (though he
never wore the insignia). George C. Marshall was awarded the rank of five-star
general, but he was not a commander in the field, and for this reason he was
excluded from consideration in this book.
It should also be remembered that when a country sends an army to fight
with an ally, the army commanders may be of equal rank, but one will have
authority over the other, with government agreement; Eisenhower and Mont-
gomery in the Second World War are typical examples. In this book, I have
used commonly understood terms for clarity wherever possible.
I set out at the start with a list of some 1,000 names of military leaders I
hoped to examine. The one main objective was to focus on those generals and
admirals who had fought at least one major battle—on sea or land—which was
important to history. With this key goal in mind, the list was whittled down
to the entries that comprise this work. Any errors of fact or other errors are
entirely mine. Finally, the reader should note that all dates are rendered in the
European—and military—style of day-month-year.
I would like to thank the following people and institutions, without whose
help this work would never have been completed: The staff of the British Li-
brary, London, where much of this book was written; the staff of the New
York Public Library, who aided in finding some important material not found
anywhere else; the staff of the Hayden Library of Arizona State University,
Tempe, Arizona, where much of the research for this work was conducted; and
the staff of the Maricopa County Library, Phoenix, who ably retrieved for me
many books via interlibrary loan.
—Mark Grossman
19.
20. A
Abbas I (Abbas the Great) (1571–1629) shah With internal dissent and rebellion crushed, Abbas
of Persia turned back to the potential external enemy: the Otto-
Abbas the Great (ruled 1587–1629), known for his man Empire. He opened his attack in 1601, with his
military exploits in the Persian Gulf and in what is now forces taking the city of Tabriz (now the capital of East
modern-day Iraq, was the grandson of Shah Tahmasp Azerbaijan province, Iran) in 1604. The mountainous
and the son of Shah Mohammed Mirza Khudabanda area in what is now known as the Caucasus also fell to
(d. 1595). Abbas may have been named after Abbas (d. Abbas’s forces, most notably Georgia and Shirvan. Al-
653), the uncle of Mohammed and of Caliph Ali. Abbas though Abbas’s military exploits in this area were largely
I was named as ruler of Khurasan (now modern Kho- successful, Ottoman resistance caused the conflict to last
rasan, Iran) in 1581, and six years later, he succeeded his until the end of his reign.
father as shah when Mohammed abdicated. In 1606, Abbas fought off a major offensive by
As he took the throne of Persia (now Iran), Abbas’s the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Ahmed II, includ-
reign was challenged by a revolt in Persia and the threat ing a significant clash at Sis, where 20,000 Turks were
of an invasion by forces of the Ottoman Empire (cen- killed in a single battle. Although Turkey sued for peace,
tered in what is now modern Turkey). Abbas paid trib- they continued to fight Abbas and his empire in various
ute to the Ottomans to forge a peace and end the threat clashes. However, for many years there was relative peace
of incursion; he was then given a free hand to turn on in his kingdom. It was not until 1616 that Abbas again
the rebellious forces within his country and defeat them. moved against the Turks, fighting a two-year war that
A military campaign against rebelling Uzbeks (now part culminated in a major victory in 1618. In 1622, Abbas’s
of Uzbekistan) in Khurasan was also successful. In 1598, army marched on the island of Hormuz, in the Strait of
after a lengthy and protracted war, he ended the threat Hormuz, and, with the assistance of the English East
from the Uzbeks when his forces took control of the city India Company, threw out the Portuguese merchants
of Moshad (now one of Iran’s major cities). As the first who controlled that island’s trade. Abbas then moved
of the Safavid leaders, Abbas helped establish modern the center of trading activity to the city of Gombroon
Persia—later renamed Iran—as a single state, and his (now in Iran), renamed it Bandar Abbas, and established
advocacy of a single language—in this case, Farsi—uni- a foothold in the major markets of the Persian Gulf. In
fied that nation. 1623, Abbas’s forces took Baghdad, now in modern
21. Abercromby, Sir Ralph
Iraq, but when they tried to extend their hold on Mosul though his career was crowned by several notable victo-
(in modern northern Iraq) and Basra (in modern south- ries, Abercromby is remembered more as the restorer of
ern Iraq, near the Persian Gulf ), his troops were thrown high professional standards in the British Army than as
back and could not hold either city. In another clash, he a master of tactics.”
took the city of Kandahar (also Qandahar, in modern Abercromby was born in the village of Tullibody,
Afghanistan), but it was lost to the Uzbeks in 1630, a in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, on 7 October 1734,
year after Abbas’s death. the eldest son of George Abercromby. He was edu-
During his reign, Abbas was also known for his cated at the prestigious Rugby school and later studied
numerous public works projects, most notably at the law at the University of Leipzig and Edinburgh Uni-
Persian capital of Esfahan. He died in 1629 at the age versity. Entering into a military career, he was offered
of either 58 or 59. His tomb at Kashan, located in the a cornet’s commission in the 3rd Dragoon Guards in
Shrine of Habib ibn-Musa, is considered one of the mar- March 1756. He saw action with this unit in the Seven
vels of that age. Years’ War (1756–63) and rose to become a lieutenant
Modern historians remember Abbas not only for colonel in 1773 and brevet colonel in 1780. In 1781,
his unification of Persia but for his skillful use of the he was named a colonel in the King’s Irish Regiment.
military to crush internal rebellion and meet external However, because he sympathized with the American
threats. His drafting of two English brothers, the merce- colonists fighting for independence, he felt it better to
naries Sir Robert and Sir Anthony Sherley, to train the leave the military than continue and possibly be forced
Persian army in modern fighting methods unknown to to fight in a war in which he did not believe. He retired
most of the Middle Eastern world, rank him as one of in 1783.
the lesser-known but more important military leaders in Abercromby decided to enter the political realm: He
world history. Historian Tom Magnusson writes: “A re- was elected to a seat in Parliament from Clackmannan,
markable monarch, Abbas was intelligent and farsighted Scotland, but he quickly tired of his duties and left office;
but sometimes cruel and harsh; he was a skillful and he was succeeded by his brother Robert (1740–1827),
energetic administrator and general, and his reform of who also later served as a general in the British army.
the Persian army made it very nearly the equal of the When France declared war on England in 1793, Ralph
Ottoman army.” Abercromby again took up arms for England and was
named as commander of a brigade under the duke of
References: Keegan, John, and Andrew Wheatcroft, York, second son of George III. Serving for a time in Hol-
“Abbas,” in Who’s Who in Military History from 1453 to the land, he saw action at La Cateau (16 April 1794) and was
Present Day (London: Routledge, 1996), 1–2; Monshi, wounded at Nijmwegen. He was in charge of the Brit-
Eskandar Beg, History of Shah 4 Abbas the Great—Tarike ish withdrawal from Holland in the winter of 1794 and
4 lam ar aye 4 bbas I, translated by Roger M. Savory (Boul-
a A conducted this duty so well that he was honored with a
der, Colo.: Westview Press, 1978); Sherley, Sir Anthony, Knighthood of the order of the Bath. In 1795, the king
His Relation of his travels into Persia: . . . (London: Printed named him to succeed Sir Charles Grey as commander in
[by Nicholas Okes] for Nathaniell Butter, and Joseph chief of British forces in the West Indies.
Bagfet, 1613); Magnusson, Tom, “Abbas I the Great,” in In 1796, Abercromby once again went into battle,
The Encyclopedia of Military Biography, edited by Trevor seizing the islands of Grenada, Trinidad, St. Lucia, St.
N. Dupuy, Curt Johnson, and David L. Bongard (Lon- Vincent, and the then-French settlements of Demerara
don: I. B. Taurus, 1992), 2. and Essequibo. He was then recalled to England, where
in 1797 he was appointed as head of the English army in
Ireland. However, the Irish government blocked his ef-
Abercromby, Sir Ralph (1734–1801) British forts to reform the army. Abercromby resigned his com-
general mission after less than a year in office. That same year,
Sir Ralph Abercromby’s several important military victo- 1797, he was made second in command to the duke of
ries were matched by his command of the British army, York, with whom he had previously served, in the En
in which he restored discipline and morale. Historians glish drive to retake Holland, which ended in disaster
Martin Windrow and Francis K. Mason write: “Al- and failure.
22. Æthelstan
In 1801, Abercromby was sent to Egypt to help shire, U.K.: Wordsworth Editions Ltd., 1997), 3–4;
drive the French out of that country. When the English Bruce, George, “Abukir II,” in Collins Dictionary of Wars
army landed at Aboukir Bay on 2 March 1801, 5,000 (Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995), 1.
English soldiers faced a large French force under the
command of General Louis Friant. Historian George
Bruce writes: “The landing [of the English] was effected Abrantes, duc de See Junot, Jean-Andoche
under a heavy musketry and artillery fire, which cost the Alexandre, duc d’Abrantes.
assailants 1,100 killed and wounded. The French were
driven from their positions with a loss of 500 men.”
Aboukir is known to historians as an important Æthelstan (Athelstan) (ca. 894–95–939) English
English military victory. After this success, Abercromby king
advanced to the important French threshold of Alex- Crowned on the King’s Stone at Kingston-upon-
andria. In the midst of the battle on 21 March 1801, Thames (with a claim to be the first undisputed king
Abercromby was hit in the thigh by a rifle ball. He was of all England), Æthelstan is most remembered for his
taken from the field and placed on the English flag- warfare against the Scots and Welsh. According to sev-
ship Foudroyant, but surgeons were unable to remove eral sources, he was born in either 894 or 895, the son
the ball. As Abercromby lay dying, according to one ac- of Edward the Elder (870–924), who served as king of
count, one of his men placed a blanket under his head. England from 899 to 924, and Edward’s wife Egwina
“What is it you have placed under my head?” he in- (or Ecgwyn). Edward’s father was Alfred the Great (ca.
quired. When told it was a soldier’s blanket, he replied, 849–899), the great Saxon king whose battles to save
“Only a soldier’s blanket? Make haste and return it to England from Danish invasions culminated in the cap-
him at once!” ture of London and victory at the battle of Edington
Seven days after being shot, Abercromby suc- (878). When Edward the Elder died, his son Æthelstan
cumbed to his wound at the age of 66. His body was succeeded on 4 September 924, and he was crowned at
moved to Malta, and he was laid to rest there. The battle Kingston-upon-Thames shortly afterward. A year later,
of Alexandria, where he lost his life, was a significant one the new monarch signed a treaty with Sihtric of York,
for the French, who found the English troops to be their to avoid warfare for Northumbria. However, when Sih-
equal and whose casualties were extremely heavy. The tric died in 927, Æthelstan expelled Sihtric’s brother,
English lost 1,464 men, including Abercromby. Guthfrith, and as his forces moved into Northumbria.
A wave of sympathy for the dead general swept over He met with several tribes, including the Northumbri-
England, and the House of Commons voted to erect a ans and Strathclyde Britons, who agreed to allow him
memorial in his honor in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. to take control, the first southern English king to do so.
His widow was made Baroness Abercromby of Aboukir Thereafter he called himself rex totius Britanniae (king
and Tullibody, given a pension of £2,000 a year, and al- of all Britain).
lowed to keep the title in her family for two additional In 934, Æthelstan’s forces invaded Scotland by land
generations. A memoir of the later years of Abercrom- and sea; his land forces quickly moved as far north as
by’s life (1793–1801) by his third son, James (who was Dunottar, while the navy seized Caithness. He took con-
Speaker of the House of Commons, 1835–39, and be- trol over Scotland, but three years later a mighty con-
came Lord Dunfermline), was published in 1861. federation formed by King Constantine III of Scotland,
the Welsh of Strathclyde, Owen of Cumberland, and
References: Dunfermline, James Abercromby, Lord, Lieu- two Norwegian leaders, Anlaf Godfredsson and Anlaf
tenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, K.B., 1793–1801: a Sihtricsson, set out to end his reign. These forces con-
Memoir by his son James Lord Dunfermline (Edinburgh, fronted Æthelstan’s army—which was supported by his
Scotland: Edmonston and Douglas, 1861); Rough, Sir half brother Edmund—at Brunanburh. Since the 12th
William, Lines on the Death of the Late Sir Ralph Aber- century, historians have tried to locate the exact site of
cromby. (London: J. Bell, 1801); Windrow, Martin, and the battle, to no avail; many historians believe it was
Francis K. Mason, “Abercromby, Sir Ralph,” in The fought in either northwestern England or southwestern
Wordsworth Dictionary of Military Biography (Hertford- Scotland, near the Solway Firth. What little informa-
23. aetius, Flavius
tion that exists comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tenborough, F. L., ed. and trans., The Laws of the Earli-
for 937: est English Kings. (New York: Russell Russell, 1963);
Garnett, James Mercer, Elene; Judith; Æthelstan, or, The
In this year King Aethelstan, Lord of warriors, Fight at Brunanburh; Byrthnoth, or, The Fight at Maldon;
ring-giver to men, and his brother also, and The Dream of the Rood: Anglo-Saxon Poems. Translated
Prince Eadmund, won eternal glory by James Mercer Garnett (Boston: Ginn Company,
in battle with sword edges 1901); Philpotts, Robert, What Happened at Maldon?
around Brunanburh. They split the shield-wall, The Story of the Battle of Maldon, August 991 (London:
they hewed battle shields with Blackwater Books, 1991); Macrae-Gibson, O. D., “How
the remnants of hammers. Historical Is the Battle of Maldon?,” Medium Ævum, 39,
The sons of Eadweard, it was only befitting no. 2 (1970): 89–107; Dumville, David N. “Between
their noble descent Alfred the Great and Edgar the Peacemaker: Æthelstan,
from their ancestors that they should often First King of England,” in Wessex and England from Al-
defend their land in battle against fred to Edgar: Six Essays on Political, Cultural, and Ecclesi-
each hostile people, astical Revival (Woodbridge, U.K.: Boydell Press, 1992),
horde and home. The enemy perished, 141–171.
Scots men and seamen,
fated they fell. The field flowed
with blood of warriors, from sun up Aetius, Flavius (Aëtius) (ca. 390–454) Roman
in the morning, when the glorious star general
glided over the earth, God’s bright candle, Noted chiefly for having defeated A ttila and the
eternal lord, till that noble creation Huns in what was the last major military victory for the
sank to its seat. There lay many a warrior Roman Empire before it fell, Flavius Aetius was born
by spears destroyed; at Dorostolus, in the province of Moesia (now near the
Northern men Black Sea in the Balkans). He was the son of Gauden-
shot over shield, likewise Scottish as well, tius, who is identified simply as a master-general in the
weary, war sated. Roman army cavalry, later to become master of the horse
and count of Africa. Moesia was a Roman stronghold in
It remains unknown whether this “account” was writ- the Balkan area when Aetius was born. At some point in
ten by an observer or a mere writer wishing to catalog his youth, he was kidnapped by barbarians and raised as
this great battle. Few historians mention the casualties one of them, first by the Goths and later by the Huns;
inflicted at Brunanburh; historian George Bruce reports he was raised personally by Rhuas, the king of the Huns.
that there was “great slaughter.” In any event, Æthelstan Aetius acquired the knowledge of barbarian tactics, and
prevailed. in 424 he commanded a force of some 60,000 barbar-
Æthelstan lived for two years following his great vic- ians into what is now Italy.
tory at Brunanburh. He died on 27 October 939, was Following the death of the Roman emperor Hono-
buried at Malmesbury Abbey, just south of Wiltshire, and rius on 15 August 423, there was a fierce struggle to suc-
was succeeded by his half brother Edmund. His reign had ceed him. Although Honorius’s relative Valentinian had
lasted a short 15 years, but in that time he established positioned himself to become emperor, the throne was
himself as a significant figure in English history. Æth- seized by Ioannes (also called Johannes), the primicerius
elstan was the first English king to develop relations with notatiorum (chief notary), who was backed by ambassa-
other European rulers, and his half sisters married into the dors Aetius and the Huns. The Eastern Roman emperor
royal families of France and the Holy Roman Empire. Theodosius II sent ambassadors to Rome, and they per-
suaded some of Ioannes’s aides to betray him; he was
References: Hilliam, David, “Athelstan,” in Kings, arrested, taken to a small village, and executed. When
Queens, Bones and Bastards: Who’s Who in the English Mon- word of Ioannes’s arrest (but not his execution) arrived
archy from Egbert to Elizabeth II (Phoenix Mill, Thrupp, at the Huns’ camp, Aetius set out with a force to rescue
Stroud, U.K.: Sutton Publishing Limited, 2000), 17; At- him. Valentinian, taking control of Rome, offered Aetius
24. aetius, Flavius
a pardon and named him the count of Italy in exchange The battle lasted throughout the day; it is estimated that
for his ending any war against Ioannes’s killers. Aetius perhaps 300,000 men died, although many historians
accepted this offer, which led to his becoming one of the dispute this number. The end of the fight came when,
most important generals in the Western Roman Empire. in the darkness, Thorismund and his men charged down
In 429, he was named a magister utriusque militum (mas- the hill from the heights he had seized and drove the
ter of the soldiers). Huns and Ostrogoths into flight.
One of Aetius’s chief rivals for power was Count Edward Creasy, who named Châlons as one of the
Bonifacius (Boniface), the comes (count) of Africa, who, 15 most decisive battles in world history, writes: “But
siding with the Vandals in Africa, marched on Rome to when the morning broke and revealed the extent of the
end Aetius’s influence. When the Hunnic and Vandal carnage with which the plains were heaped for miles,
armies met in battle at Rimini (432), Aetius killed Boni- the successful allies saw also and respected the resolute
facius with his own javelin. attitude of their antagonist. Neither were any measures
From 433, Aetius was involved in the Roman wars taken to blockade him in his camp, and so to extort by
in Gaul (modern France) against many of the barbarian famine that submission which it was too plainly perilous
tribes there, including the Visigoths and Franks. How- to enforce with the sword. Attila was allowed to march
ever, few of his military accomplishments are noted by back the remnants of his army without molestation, and
historians. In 436, Aetius and a Hunnic army defeated even with the semblance of success.” The battle was crit-
the Burgundians, a group of East Germanic tribesmen, ically important in the history of Europe since it halted
after they had invaded Upper Belgica (now north and the advancement of the Huns to France and broke the
east of the River Loire in modern France). Aetius’s vic- hitherto unstoppable Attila, who died two years later. As
tory against this tribe was so complete—more than a result, the Huns were never the power they had been
20,000 Burgundians died in battle, as opposed to few before Châlons-sur-Marne.
Romans and Huns—that the clash is remembered in Aetius’s dreams of victory were short-lived. In Sep-
history in The Nibelungenlied, an epic poem written in tember 454, he was about to marry one of his sons to the
Middle High German around 1200. daughter of Roman emperor Valentinian III. However,
Aetius’s greatest military victory is that of Châlons- during an argument over whether Aetius’s son could
sur-Marne, also called the battle of Maurica or Cam- become emperor, Valentinian drew a dagger and mur-
pus Mauriacus, or the battle of the Catalunian Plains. dered the general. The foul deed would cost the Roman
On 20 September 451, Aetius, commanding groups of Empire its very existence: Lacking a reliable military
barbarian soldiers, including Visigoths and Burgundi- commander to stave off outside threats, Rome would
ans—both of whom he had previously defeated—faced be invaded and destroyed in two decades’ time. Aetius’s
Attila and the Huns, Aetius’s former allies. Attila had death was avenged when one of his friends accosted Val-
turned against the Roman Empire to rampage across entinian at the Campus Martius in Rome and stabbed
Rome-controlled Europe, devastating the Balkans and him to death.
exacting tribute from the Eastern Roman Empire. When
the Huns turned on Gaul, Western Roman emperor References: Gwatkin, H. M., et al., eds., The Cambridge
Marcian called on Aetius to defeat his former allies. At Mediaeval History, 8 vols. (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge
Châlons-sur-Marne, Attila gathered the forces of many University Press, 1911–36), I:418–419; Hodgkin,
barbarian tribes, including the Ostrogoths, the Gepids, Thomas, Italy and Her Invaders, 6 vols. (Oxford, U.K.:
the Thuringians, and the Franks. To start the battle, Ae- Clarendon Press, 1880–89); Mócsy, András, Pannonia and
tius dispatched Thorismund, the son of King Theodoric Upper Moesia: A History of the Middle Danube Provinces of
of the Visigoths, and his forces to seize an area that over- the Roman Empire (London: Routledge K. Paul, 1974);
looked the whole field; Thorismund battled back the “Challons, Battle of,” in The Hutchinson Dictionary of
Hunnic forces to take the area. The Huns joined the Ancient and Medieval Warfare (Oxford, U.K.: Helicon
Ostrogoths to assault the main Visigothic regiment, but Publishing, Ltd., 1998), 64–65; “Flavius Aetius,” in Com-
the Visigoths held despite the death of King Theodoric. mand: From Alexander the Great to Zhukov—The Great-
A contingent of Gepids attacked a position held by Ro- est Commanders of World History, edited by James Lucas
mans and Franks, but they, too, could not break through. (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1988), 39–40.
25. Agricola, Gnaeus Julius
Agricola, Gnaeus Julius (37–93) Roman general It was at this time that the new Roman emperor,
Although Gnaeus Agricola is remembered for his con- Domitian, recalled Agricola to Rome, probably out of
quests of the British Isles, most of the information on jealously of Agricola’s conquest of the British islands. Ag-
him comes from notes taken by his son-in-law, the ricola was offered the proconsulship of Asia (today’s west-
famed Roman historian Tacitus, which appeared in ern Turkey), but he refused and instead retired to his family
the work Agricola. He was born on 13 June a.d. 37 in home in Gallia Narbonensis (today’s southern France),
Forum Julii, in the province of Gallia Narbonensis (now where he died on 23 August 93 at the age of 53.
Fréjus, in the area of Provence, France), the son of Julius
Graecinus, a praetor (a magistrate with judicial duties). References: Tacitus, Cornelius, The Agricola, edited by
When he was 18, he was made a tribunus laticlavius Duane Reed Stuart (New York: Macmillan, 1924); Han-
(military tribune) on the military staff of Gaius Sueto- son, W. S., Agricola and the Conquest of the North (Totowa,
nius Paulinus, who served as governor of Britain from N.J.: Barnes and Noble, 1987); Charlesworth, Martin Per-
a.d. 58 to 61. He also served on the staff of Paulinus’s cival, Five Men: Character Studies from the Roman Empire
successor, Publius Petronius Turpilianus. After marrying, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1936).
Agricola was made a quaestor (a magistrate with finan-
cial powers), considered the first step in a career in the
Roman governmental hierarchy. In 66 he was advanced Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius (63–12 b.c.)
to the office of people’s tribune, and two years later he Roman general and statesman
became a praetor peregrinus (a judicial magistrate who Little is known of Marcus Agrippa’s beginnings. He was
decided cases between foreigners). born in 63 b.c. to parents of a lower class, although
In a.d. 69, when a civil war broke out in Rome, some historians doubt this; his schooling and upbring-
Agricola sided with Vespasian against the Emperor Vitel- ing remain unknown. At some point in his life he be-
lius. Vespasian was victorious, and he rewarded Agricola came friends with Octavian (later Augustus), whose
by naming him legatus legionis (commander of a legion uncle, Julius Caesar, became the great Roman general
[today’s general]). He commanded the 20th Legion in and statesman. Agrippa was at Octavian’s side when
Britain, serving under the governor Quintus Petillius the latter was informed in March 44 b.c. that Caesar
Cerialis. Agricola was given the status of a patrician had been assassinated in Rome, and Agrippa went with
when he returned to Rome in 73 and served for a short him to Rome to claim the throne of the Roman Em-
time as governor of Aquitania (a.d. 74–77). In 77, he pire. When Caesar’s enemies blocked Octavian, Agrippa
was named a consul as well as legatus augusti pro-prae- aided his friend in forming a private army to fight them.
tore, or governor, of Britain. It was during this period Although the two were close during this period, no
that Agricola rose to become a major military leader. mention of Agrippa is made in any of the histories of
From 78 until 84, he fought numerous tribes in En- the famous battles between Octavian and his enemies,
gland and Wales. In 78, Roman forces decisively de- most notably Philippi (42 b.c.). However, during the
feated the Ordovices tribe in northern Wales and routed so-called War of Perusia (40 b.c.), a year-long siege of
the Druids on the island of Ynys Môn (today’s Angle- what is today Perugia, Agrippa took a leading role, and
sey) off the northwestern coast of Wales. Using these vic- Octavian rewarded him by naming him governor of
tories, Agricola colonized England with a series of Gaul (modern France).
garrisons. Marching northward and westward into Scot- In 38 b.c., while still governor of Gaul, Agrippa
land and Wales, his forces took more territory under led an army to annihilate a force of rebel tribes from
their control, and he established a frontier of posts Aquitane; he followed this victory by crossing the Rhine
between the firths of Clota and Bodotria (now the River in a punitive expedition against the German
Clyde and Forth rivers). In 83, the Caledonians tried tribes, a service for which he was named consul. At the
to destroy Roman forces, but the Romans crossed the same time, Octavian had been defeated by Sextus Pom-
Forth and Agricola defeated them at Mons Graupius peius, the son of the famed Roman general Pompey,
(now Ardock) in 84. A legacy of Agricola’s campaign is at the battle of Cumæ (38 b.c.). Agrippa took control
the Roman fortress at Inchtuthil (near Dunkeld), built of Octavian’s army in what is known as the War of the
that year. Second Triumvirate. At Naucholus on 3 September 36
26. Ahenobarbus, Cnaeus Domitius
the Roman Senate and had the power to veto senatorial
legislation. His two sons, Gaius and Lucius, were named
as possible successors to Emperor Augustus. Agrippa
was sent to the eastern part of the Roman Empire to
oversee the defense of the eastern provinces, and he
stayed there from 17 to 13 b.c. He returned to lead the
Roman armies in a bloodless suppression of a Pannonian
insurrection in Illyricum. However, he became ill and
returned to Rome, where he died sometime in 12 b.c.
Little known today, Agrippa helped to lay firm founda-
tions for the Roman Empire. His descendants included
the emperors Nero and Caligula.
References: Reinhold, Meyer, Marcus Agrippa: A Biogra-
phy (Geneva: N.Y.: W. F. Humphrey Press, 1933); Wright,
Frederick Adam, Marcus Agrippa: Organizer of Victory
(London: G. Routledge Sons, 1937); Lewis, Charles
Lee, Famous Old-World Sea Fighters (London: G. G.
Harrap, 1929); Shipley, Frederick W., Agrippa’s Building
Activities in Rome (St. Louis, Mo.: Washington University
Press, 1933); Bruce, George, “Mylex” and “Naulochus,”
in Collins Dictionary of Wars (Glasgow, Scotland: Harper-
Collins Publishers, 1995), 171, 174.
Marcus Agrippa
Ahenobarbus, Cnaeus Domitius (?–31 b.c.)
Roman general
b.c., Agrippa and some 300 ships met Sextus Pompeius Little is known of Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, in-
with a navy of equal strength. Agrippa won a decisive cluding his exact birth date. What is known is that he
victory, and Pompeius fled after losing more than 380 of was the scion of a family of distinguished Roman citi-
his ships. That same year, in a second battle at Mylae (no zens; historian William Smith outlined his genealogical
exact date), Agrippa again defeated Pompeius’s forces; chart in his famed Dictionary of Greek and Roman My-
Sextus Pompeius was captured and, a year later, put to thology (1844). According to Smith, Ahenobarbus was
death. These victories aided Octavian in taking power, a direct descendant great-grandson of the first Cnaeus
and he made peace with his enemies, most notably Mark Domitius Ahenobarbus (?–196 b.c.), a Roman consul
Antony. Eventually, however, this peace broke down, and legate to Scipio Africanus in the war against
and the two parties went to war. Augustus put Agrippa Antiochus the Great. His father, Lucius Domitius Ahe-
in charge of his fleet, and the defeat of Antony at Ac- nobarbus, took his son to the battle at Pharsalia (better
tium (2 September 31 b.c.) made Octavian ruler of the known as the battle of Pharsalus, 48 b.c.), and it appears
entire Roman Empire. For this service Agrippa was again that they sided with the forces of the Roman general
made a consul, and when Octavian—now called Augus- Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, better known as Pompey.
tus—consolidated his rule in Rome, Agrippa became the Pompey was defeated at Pharsalia by Julius Caesar, and
emperor’s deputy in all but name. When Marcellus, Au- Lucius Ahenobarbus was killed in flight after the battle.
gustus’s nephew, died, the emperor gave the hand of his Cnaeus Ahenobarbus survived, though he could not re-
widow, Julia, to his friend and closest adviser, Agrippa. turn to his native Italy until he was pardoned by Caesar
In 19 b.c., Agrippa put down a rising in Spain. The in 46 b.c.
following year, he was named tribunicia potestas (tribune Two years later, on 15 March 44 b.c., Caesar was
of the plebs), an official who oversaw the workings of murdered by a group of conspirators, including his own
27. alaric I
adopted son, Marcus Junius Brutus. Some historians River now in Romania. Although it is unknown exactly
believe that Ahenobarbus, seeking revenge for Pompey’s when he became the leader of the Visigothic tribe, for
defeat, was one of the conspirators, but the evidence is some time he served as the chief of Gothic forces serving
conflicting, and he was not one of the assassins. How- in the Roman army. In 394, it was first noted that he
ever, once the murder had been committed, Ahenobar- was named as a military leader of the fœderati (Visigoth
bus left Rome and followed Brutus when the latter fled regular troops), and in this capacity he fought for the
to what is now Macedonia. Rome then began to hunt emperor Theodosius I in crushing the forces of Euge-
down the assassins and conspirators. In 42 b.c., when nius, a usurper to the Roman throne, at the battle of
the Roman Domitius Calvinus tried to sail his fleet from the Frigidus (394). However, following the death
Brundisium (modern Brindisi, southern Italy), Aheno- of Theodosius in 395, Alaric left the service of Rome
barbus, commanding some 50 ships in the Ionian Sea, and shortly thereafter was named as head of the Vi-
met and defeated him. However, on land at Philippi sigoths. Almost immediately, Alaric turned on his old
(in Macedonia, northwest of Mount Pangea, near the employer. Charging that Rome had failed to pay the
Aegean Sea), 100,000 men under Brutus and Cassius Goths for serving the emperor, he decided to exact trib-
fought the Roman legions under Octavian (later Au- ute by capturing Roman property and marched with
gustus) and Mark Antony, with the Roman army vic- the Visigothic army toward Constantinople, then the
torious. Brutus committed suicide following the defeat, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. When Roman
and Ahenobarbus became a pirate, plundering the coast forces in that city seemed ready to overwhelm him, he
of the Ionian Sea. turned south, marching into Greece, sacking the Piraeus
In 40 b.c., Mark Antony agreed to pardon Aheno- at Athens, and striking the cities of Argos, Megara, and
barbus, naming him as the governor of Bithynia (now the former capital of Sparta. In 396, however, Flavius
in modern Turkey), where he took part in Antony’s Stilicho, a Roman general, succeeded in trapping Alar-
Parthian campaign. He was given the title of consul in ic’s force in Greece, though Alaric himself escaped. In a
32 b.c. That same year, though, Octavius and Antony surprising turn of fortune, Alaric regained power when
severed all ties and became sworn enemies. Ahenobar- the Eastern Roman emperor Arcadius, probably fearful
bus sided with Antony, who was having an affair with of the growing influence of the Western Empire based
Cleopatra. Because of that affair, many of Antony’s of- in Rome, made him governor of Illyria (part of today’s
ficers felt he should step aside and allow Ahenobarbus to Yugoslavia), and named him magister militum (master
command them. Instead, Ahenobarbus crossed over to of soldiers).
Octavian, who destroyed Antony’s forces at the battle of After gathering troops and weapons, Alaric turned
Actium. Ahenobarbus was not involved in that battle, his army west and invaded Italy, where he was again met
having died mysteriously days before it happened. The and defeated by the Roman general Stilicho at Pollen-
exact date and manner of his death, as well as his place tia (now Pollenza, Italy) on 6 April 402. Alaric subse-
of burial, remain a mystery. His great-grandson, Nero quently attempted a second invasion of Italy but again
Claudius Drusus Germanicus ( a . d . 37–68) became met with defeat. It was not until after Flavius Stilicho
Nero, emperor of Rome. was murdered in 408 and many Roman troops defected
to Alaric’s side that the tide turned. By this time tired
References: “Ahenobarbus,” in Dictionary of Greek and of warfare, Alaric offered peace to the Western Roman
Roman Biography and Mythology, 3 vols., edited by Wil- emperor Flavius Honorius, but the emperor refused, and
liam Smith (London: Taylor and Walton, 1844), I:83– in 408 Alaric marched on Rome. This time he could not
86; Bruce, George, “Philippi,” in Collins Dictionary of be stopped, and he laid siege to the city until the Roman
Wars (Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers, Senate agreed to his request for land and tribute. How-
1995), 194. ever, Honorius held his position, and in 409 Alaric again
invaded Italy and surrounded Rome. When Honorius
again refused to meet his demands, Alaric named At-
Alaric I (ca. 370–410) Visigoth military leader talus, a Roman noble, as the western emperor, in ex-
Alaric was born the son of a nobleman about a.d. 370 change for which Attalus appointed Alaric as magister
on Peuce Island, an island in the delta of the Danube utriusque militum (literally, “master of both services”).
28. Albert, archduke of Austria
However, when Attalus refused to let Alaric move his tisans started nationalistic uprisings in Austria, Radetzky,
army into Africa, Alaric again besieged Rome, deposing backed by his aide Albert, crushed the opposition at the
Attalus, whose enemies opened Rome’s gates to him. battles of Pastrengo, Santa Lucia, and Custozza. Because
When Alaric marched in on 24 August 410, he became of his service, Albert was named as commander of a divi-
the first foreign military leader to occupy that city in sion in the II Corps under General Constantin D’Aspre.
over 800 years. Albert’s service at the battle of Novara (23 March 1849)
Alaric was now free to march into Africa, whose led to his being made a full general. In 1850, he be-
corn both Rome and Alaric badly needed, but he was came a general of cavalry. A year later, he was named
seriously ill. The Visigoths left Rome and marched north the military and civil governor of Hungary, a part of the
through Italy, and he died at Cosentia, Bruttium (mod- Austro-Hungarian Empire, where he served until he was
ern-day Cosenza, Italy). He was buried by his comrades, relieved at his own request in 1860.
but his grave is now lost. Soon after returning to Vienna, Albert was named
Sources on the life of Alaric are scant; the chief au- to succeed Count Radetzky as the commander in chief
thorities for any information are the historians Orosius of Austrian forces in Italy. In 1863, he was promoted
and the poet Claudian, whose contemporary works have to field marshal. As the threat of war with Prussia and
been studied thoroughly. Jordanes, a Visigothic historian Italy increased, Albert took command of the field army
who lived in the a.d. sixth century, wrote a history of the in Italy. On 18 June 1866, Italy declared war on Austria,
Visigoths and included information on Alaric not seen and Albert moved his troops to fight the Italian forces;
in other publications. his victory at Custozza (23 June 1866) crowned their de-
feat. Historian George Bruce writes of this battle as the
References: Brion, Marcel, Alaric the Goth, translated by encounter “between 74,000 Austrians under the Arch-
Frederick H. Martens (London: Thornton Butterworth duke Albert and 80,000 Italians under General [Alfonso
Limited, 1932); Stevens, F. P., From Constantine to Alaric Ferrero, Marchese Della] La Marmora. . . . La Marmora
(Liphook, Hants., U.K.: Privately published, 1984). crossed the Mincio [River] and advanced against the
Archduke, who was covering Verona. The Italians, hav-
ing to pass through a hilly country, the columns were
Albemarle, duke of See Monck, George, duke much broken up, and as they debouched [marched from
of Albemarle. a confined area into the open] into the plain of Cus-
tozza, they were beaten in detail, and driven back by the
Austrians, who gained a signal victory. The Austrians lost
Albert, archduke of Austria (Friedrich Rudolf 4,650 killed and wounded; the Italians 720 killed, 3,112
Albrecht Habsburg-Lorraine) (1817–1895) wounded, and 4,315 prisoners. La Marmora was com-
Austrian field marshal pelled to recross the Mincio.” Because of his victory at
Born Friedrich Rudolf Albrecht Habsburg-Lorraine in Custozza, Albert was able to reinforce Bohemian troops
Vienna, Austria, on 3 August 1817, Albert was the eldest who, in aiding the Austrian side, were beaten back them-
of four sons of Archduke Charles of Austria (1771– selves by Prussian forces. An Austrian naval victory at
1847), the younger brother of Emperor Francis I of Aus- Lissa on 20 July confirmed the Austrian success. Albert
tria-Hungary. Archduke Charles was himself a military went back to Vienna to defend the capital against attack
leader, fighting for France at the battles of Jemappes (6 by Prussia, but peace came before a final offensive could
November 1792) and Neerwinden (18 March 1793) take place.
before siding with the European powers against Na- At the end of the Italian War in 1866, Albert, now
poleon, when he was defeated by the French leader at nearly 50 years old, was called upon as inspector gen-
Wagram (6 July 1809). Albert was educated under his eral to reorganize the Austrian army. He spent the re-
father’s tutelage before he entered the Austrian military mainder of his life in this endeavor, transforming the
in 1837 with the rank of colonel of infantry. He studied Austrian military into a more efficient fighting machine.
the art of war under Count Karl Radetzky, the Aus- Albert attempted to sign a military alliance with France
trian general whose numerous victories had gained him a in 1870, but the Franco-Prussian War interrupted the
reputation in military history. In 1848, when Italian par- negotiations, and the treaty was never signed.
29. 10 Albufera, duc de
In early 1894, Albert caught a cold while attending In August 1942, he and General Bernard Law Mont-
the funeral of his nephew Francis II (1836–94), the for- gomery were sent to the Middle East as commander in
mer king of Naples (ruled 1859–61). He died in Arco, chief and commander of the Eighth Army, respectively,
in South Tirol, then in Austria-Hungary, on 18 Febru- to drive German troops from North Africa. In Febru-
ary 1895 at the age of 78. Although barely remembered ary 1943, Alexander was named deputy commander in
today, he was a worthy successor to Radetzky and did chief of Allied troops in North Africa and commander
much to improve the Austrian armed forces. in chief of the 18th Army Group in Tunisia. The editors
of the The Wordsworth Dictionary of Military Biography
References: Wawro, Geoffrey, The Austro-Prussian War: write: “After the Anglo-American landings in Algeria
Austria’s War with Prussia and Italy in 1866 (Cambridge, under General [Dwight D.] Eisenhower, Alexander was
U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1996); Bruce, George, directly responsible for the coordination of the simul-
“Custoza,” in Collins Dictionary of Wars (Glasgow, Scot- taneous convergence from east and west on the Axis
land: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995), 68. forces withdrawing into Tunisia. Following a setback
suffered by the American forces attacking from the west
(for which Eisenhower must take some responsibility,
Albufera, duc de See Suchet, Louis-Gabriel, since he had become embroiled in Franco-American po-
duc d’Albufera da Valencia. litical turmoil), all Allied ground forces in Tunisia were
grouped into the 18th Army Group under Alexander’s
command.” Alexander coordinated the eastern and west-
Alexander, Sir Harold Rupert Leofric George, ern forces against the Germans under General Jürgen
first earl Alexander of Tunis (1891–1969) von Arnim, forcing the Axis forces into the northeast-
British general ern portion of Tunisia and their ultimate surrender on
Harold Alexander was born in London on 10 December 13 May 1943. Alexander cabled British prime minister
1891, the third son of the fourth earl of Caledon, who Winston Churchill: “Sir: It is my duty to report that
died in 1897. He spent much of his childhood on his the Tunisian campaign is over. All enemy resistance has
family estate at Caledon in County Tyrone, Ireland, and ceased. We are masters of the North African shores.”
was educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military Alexander became Supreme Allied Commander of Al-
Academy at Sandhurst. In 1911, he was commissioned lied Armies in Italy; under his command, the Allied forces
into the Irish Guards. He saw action in the First World invaded Sicily and then southwestern Italy. The Americans
War, during which he was wounded twice and decorated of General George Patton’s Seventh Army and the Brit-
with the Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross, ish of General Montgomery’s Eighth Army fought their
and the Legion of Honor. After the war, he was placed way up Italy to break the Axis resistance. Alexander moved
in command of troops sent to northern Russia to fight into Rome on 4 June 1944 and was promoted to field
the communists, and by the early 1920s he had risen marshal, the highest rank in the British army. On 29 April
to the rank of brigadier general. In the period between 1945, he received the unconditional surrender of all Ger-
the two world wars, Alexander was commander of the man forces in Italy. This was followed a few days later by
Irish Guards (1928–30), served with General Claude the surrender of all German armies in Europe.
Auchinleck in the Northwest Frontier in India, and was In 1946, Alexander was created viscount Alexander
the commander of the Nowshera Brigade in the North- of Tunis and made a Knight of the Garter. That same
ern Command in India. In 1937, at the age of 45, he year, he was named governor-general of Canada, a post
became the youngest major general in the British Army. he held until his retirement in 1952, when he became
Returning to the United Kingdom when the Sec- Earl Alexander of Tunis and Errigal. He was then named
ond World War began, Alexander took charge of the defense secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
evacuation of some 500,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk serving until 1954. In 1959, Alexander was awarded the
(May–June 1940). Named general officer command- Order of Merit.
ing in chief for the Southern Command of the United Alexander died of heart failure at the Wexham Park
Kingdom in 1940, Alexander was later sent to help in Hospital in Slough on 16 July 1969 at the age of 76; he
the retreat of Allied troops from Burma in early 1942. was buried at Tyttenhanger, Hertfordshire. Despite hav-
30. Alexander the Great 11
ing been overlooked by most historians for his role in of Tunis,” in The Wordsworth Dictionary of Military Bi-
fighting the Second World War, he remains perhaps one ography (Hertfordshire, U.K.: Wordsworth Editions Ltd.,
of the most revered military leaders in British history. As 1997), 8–11; Alexander, Harold Rupert Leofric George
historians Martin Windrow and Francis K. Mason have Alexander, earl Alexander of Tunis, The Battle of Tunis
written, “Unquestionably the greatest British field com- (Sheffield, U.K.: J. W. Northend, 1957).
mander of the Second World War, Alexander played the
leading role in almost every campaign in which British
troops were involved, displaying a unique tactical and Alexander the Great (Alexander III) (356–323
strategic aptitude in defeat as well as in victory.” b.c.) king of Macedon and military leader
The son of Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias,
References: Nicolson, Nigel, Alex: The Life of Field Mar- an Epirote princess, Alexander III, known better as Alex-
shal Earl Alexander of Tunis (London: Weidenfeld and ander the Great, was born at Pella in 356 b.c., possibly
Nicholson, 1973); Jackson, William Godfrey Fothergill, in October. To discuss Alexander without mentioning
Alexander of Tunis as Military Commander (London: Bats- the impact of his father, Philip, is to ignore history, since
ford, 1971); Alexander, Harold Rupert Leofric George it bears strongly on why Alexander became, on his own,
Alexander, earl Alexander of Tunis, The Alexander Mem- a far greater warrior than his father. When Alexander was
oirs, 1940–1945, edited by John North (London: Cassell, just a child, his father was making Macedon (now Mace-
1962); Windrow, Martin, and Francis K. Mason, “Alex- donia in northern Greece) into one of the greatest Greek
ander, Harold Rupert Leofric George, 1st Earl Alexander city-states, as well as the dominant power in the Balkans.
Alexander the Great having Homer’s books buried under Darius’s tomb. Engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi, ca. 1480,
after a fresco in the Vatican by Raphael
31. 12 Alexander the Great
A diplomat and master strategist, Philip II was most no- the Persian capital, encountering little resistance; there
table for his development of the Macedonian army, in was fighting at Melitus, but it fell quickly to Alexander’s
particular its infantry, which he armed with sarissas and forces. Memnon of Rhodes made a last stand at Hali-
which his son Alexander would employ in his conquest carnassus (334 b.c.), but, facing complete disaster, he
of the Persian Empire. (The sarissa is a 14-foot pike used and his troops fled the city. Alexander then marched
by specifically trained troops known as pikemen.) south to conquer Egypt and Syria before defeating the
Alexander enjoyed all the privileges of a prince. As Persians at Issus (333 b.c.), and at the battle of Arbela
a youngster, he was tutored by Aristotle, the great Greek (331 b.c.) (more properly the battle of Gaugamela).
orator and educator, whom Philip called to Pella. His (Issus and Arbela are both in today’s Turkey.) Backed
father schooled him in the art of war, and by age 16 by nearly 50,000 troops, he again defeated Darius III
Alexander was commanding troops in battle. He was of the Persian Empire. This is considered by historian
intimately involved in the victory of the Macedonian Edward Creasy to have been one of the most important
armies at Chaeronea (338 b.c.), a triumph that gave battles in history, as it helped to spread Greek culture to
Macedon control over Greece. In 336 b.c., when Al- the Indian subcontinent. During his retreat, Darius was
exander was 20, Philip—then preparing to invade Ana- murdered by Bessus, one of his generals.
tolia—was murdered by one of his bodyguards at Aegae Alexander began marching eastward toward what
during his daughter’s marriage to the son of Alexander is now modern-day Iran. He moved farther east into the
I of Epirus. Kabul Valley into what is now Afghanistan, and by the
Alexander took his father’s place and pushed aside winter of 330–329 b.c., he had moved into the Hindu
any opposition to his total and complete rule; this in- Kush, where he remained for more than a year. In spring
cluded ordering the murder of Philip’s son with his sec- 328 b.c., his forces crossed the Hindu Kush into Bactria
ond wife, Cleopatra (also known as Eurydice). As soon as to fight Bessus, Darius’s murderer and successor. Sev-
his control was confirmed, Alexander gathered together eral battles ensued, and Bessus was captured and put to
his father’s army, made up of some 30,000 well-armed death. In summer 328, Alexander and his army crossed
and well-trained troops, and marched toward Asia Minor the Jaxartes River and moved into the steppes of Asia; a
to put into action his father’s scheme to control that por- year later, they crossed back over the Hindu Kush and
tion of the world. In 335 b.c., Alexander marched north into what is now India. There, in November 326 b.c., a
toward the Balkans, vanquishing the tribe known as the victory at the River Hydaspes (now Jhelum, in modern
Triballians and crossing the Danube River to destroy the Pakistan) over the Indian king Porus (who was captured
settlement of Getae. He was then informed that the Il- but allowed to rule with Alexander’s consent) was fol-
lyrians had seized Pelion, an important tactical vantage lowed by a mutiny of soldiers who had been away from
point that enabled them to control the northern passes. home for nearly a decade. The mutiny was suppressed,
Returning at once to his homeland, Alexander defeated and Alexander marched south toward the Indus delta,
the Illyrians and subsequently put down a revolution in reaching that waterway in the summer of 325 b.c. He
Thebes, destroying that city. assumed, when seeing the Indus, that this river linked
In 334 b.c., Alexander’s armies crossed into Asia India with the rest of the world.
Minor at Arisbe in what is now modern Turkey. Alexan- Acknowledging that he and his men needed to re-
der met the first contingent of the Persian armies under turn home, Alexander began the march back to Mace-
Darius III on the shores of the Granicus River, where don in 325 b.c. He never reached it. In June 323 b.c.,
35,000 Macedonians defeated some 40,000 Persians while in Babylon, he came down with what historians
and Greek sympathizers under Memnon of Rhodes. believe was a case of malaria; he died on 13 June 323
Historian George Bruce writes: “Alexander crossed the b.c., at the age of only 33. Because he had considered
Granicus in the face of the Persian army, leading the way himself divine and immortal, Alexander had never estab-
himself at the head of the heavy cavalry, and having dis- lished a successor or a way for a successor to be chosen.
persed the Persian light horse, he brought up the pha- Following his death, a group of Macedonian generals
lanx, which fell upon and routed the Greek mercenaries. began to battle one another for control of his empire.
The Persians lost heavily, while the Macedonians’ loss These men—Antigonus Monophthalmus (ca. 382–301
was very slight.” Alexander was then free to march onto b.c.), his son Demetrius Poloiorcetes (336–283 b.c.),
32. Alfred the Great 13
Cassander (?–287 b.c.), Seleucus Nicator (ca. 358–281 Alfred the Great (Ælfred) (849–899) Anglo-
b.c.), Ptolemy Soter, Eumenes of Cardia (ca. 361–316 Saxon king
b.c.), and Lysimachus (ca. 355–281 b.c.)—were col- Known for his lifelong struggle to defend southern En
lectively known as Diadochi (Greek for “successors”). gland against Danish incursions and for his efforts to
Antigonus Monophthalmus, also known as Antogo- lay the foundations of an English nation, Alfred the
nus Cyclops, was a one-eyed general who named him- Great was born Ælfred sometime in 849. He was the
self king of Macedon, but he was defeated by Seleucus fourth son of Æthelwulf, the king of Wessex, and his
Nicator at Ipsus (306 b.c.). Alexander’s son, Alexander wife, Queen Osburh. Æthelwulf died in 858 and was
Aegus, was eventually captured by Cassander, the son succeeded in turn by his three eldest sons: Æthelbald,
of Antipater and king of Macedonia, and put to death. Æthelbert, and Æthelred (or Ethelred). On the accession
Within 20 years of Alexander’s death, his empire had of Æthelred in 866, Alfred began his public life when
completely fallen apart. But the remarkable conquest of he was formally appointed as Æthelred’s heir. In 871,
such a vast area in such a short time, from Greece in the at the age of 22, Alfred succeeded Æthelred as king of
west to north India in the east, from the Black Sea to the Wessex. In the years before he became king, he married
Arabian gulf, is still a feat to be wondered at. and also fought the invading Danish forces alongside the
Historian David Rooney writes of Alexander’s im- West Saxons and Mercians. He fought battles at Engel-
pact on history: “Alexander, with his belief in his link field (31 December 870), which ended in victory, and
to Zeus, the Father of the Gods, constantly attempted at Reading (4 January 871), which was a defeat. On 8
to match the achievements of antiquity. He is justly re- January 871, he fought at Ashdown, followed by battles
garded as an outstanding and inspiring military leader in on 22 January at Boring on Basing and finally on 22
every aspect of war. As a tactician he was unrivaled—in March 871 at Marton, where Alfred was defeated by
direct leadership in battle, in the development of new the combined English-Danish forces to end what has
weapons both for sieges and for battles, of the direct been dubbed by historians as “Alfred’s year of battles.”
control of troops in battle, and in the speed of move- In April 871, Æthelred died, leaving Alfred in control of
ment. All these attributes would have come to nothing Wessex, and this part of England enjoyed relative calm
if he had not organized the most remarkable logistic sys- until 875, when the Danes again invaded England. Al-
tem to support his armies across most of the then known fred led forces against this and similar invasions in 876
world.” and 877, repelling all of them until the great invasion of
878, when the Danes were led by Guthrum.
References: Hogarth, David George, Philip and Alexander In January 878, when the Danes swept secretly into
of Macedon. Two Essays in Biography (London: J. Murray, Chippenham soon after the new year, Alfred was cel-
1897); “Philip (II) of Macedon,” in The Hutchinson Dic- ebrating Christmas. His forces were surprised by the at-
tionary of Ancient and Medieval Warfare (Oxford, U.K.: tack, and as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles stated, “most of
Helicon Publishing, Ltd., 1998), 251; “Alexander the the people they reduced except the King Alfred, and he
Great and Heroic Leadership,” in John Keegan, The Mask with a little band made his way . . . by wood and swamp,
of Command (New York: Viking/Elisabeth Sifton Books, and after Easter he . . . made a fort at Athelney, and from
1987), 13–91; Lanning, Michael Lee, “Alexander the that fort kept fighting against the foe.” In May 878, Al-
Great,” in The Military 100: A Ranking of the Most Influ- fred and his renewed forces swept out of Athelney and
ential Military Leaders of All Time (New York: Barnes and defeated the Danes at Edington in Wiltshire. Guthrum
Noble Books, 1996), 14–17; Bruce, George, “Granicus” and 29 of his chiefs accepted Christian baptism as well
in Collins Dictionary of Wars (Glasgow, Scotland: Harp- as Alfred’s rule in what has been called the Peace of Wed-
erCollins Publishers, 1995), 101; “Alexander the Great,” more (878), establishing theoretical English authority
in Command: From Alexander the Great to Zhukov—The over an area called the Danelaw and placing Wessex and
Greatest Commanders of World History, edited by James Mercia under Alfred’s control.
Lucas (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1988), 30–31; Content to allow the Danelaw borders to remain in
Rooney, David, “Alexander the Great,” in Military Maver- place, Alfred set about to construct a series of fortifica-
icks: Extraordinary Men of Battle (London: Cassell Co., tions at this border called “burhs” to defend his king-
1999), 31–33. dom. At least 33 of these were completed, according
33. 14 Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman, first viscount Allenby of Megiddo
to the “Burghal Hidage,” a document that dates from an English monarchy which, under his son and grand-
the reign of Alfred’s son Edward. These places grew son, saw most of modern England united under one
into towns, many of which took the word burh in their crown.” His son Edward, known as Edward the Elder,
name, later modernized to bury and borough. However, succeeded him to the throne.
in either late 892 or early 893 (historians disagree about
the exact date), another Danish invasion took place. References: Peddie, John, Alfred: Warrior King (Glouces-
More than 330 ships landed, in one wave at Appledore tershire, U.K.: Sutton Publishing, 1999); Keynes, Simon,
and another under Hæsten at Milton in Kent. While and Michael Lapidge, trans., Alfred the Great: Asser’s Life
Alfred began to negotiate with Hæsten to surrender, of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources (London:
the other force at Appledore moved north; at Farnham Penguin Books, 1983); “Extracts from King Alfred’s
they were attacked by Alfred’s son Edward, who defeated Works,” in English Historical Documents, ca. 500–1042,
them and forced them to flee. In 893, defeated again at edited by Dorothy Whitelock (London: Eyre Spottis-
Benfleet or Bemfleet, they joined forces with Hæsten’s woode, 1955), 844–46.
troops and marched to the Thames Valley, where they
were met at Buttington and defeated by forces under the
earls of Mercia, Somersetshire, and Wiltshire. A series of Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman, first
small skirmishes continued, but for the Danes the war viscount Allenby of Megiddo (1861–1936)
was effectively over. It ended in either 896 or 897 with British field marshal
the Danes simply ending the fight. Born on 23 April 1861 in the village of Felixstowe, En-
Alfred turned to administrative and scholarly pur- gland, at Brackenhurst, his grandfather’s estate, Edmund
suits. Along with creating the “burhs” to defend his Allenby was educated at Haileybury College, north of
kingdom, he also formed a naval force, the beginnings London, and at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst.
of the English navy. He was also a noted scholar: From He was then sent to serve with the Inniskilling Dra-
892 until his death seven years later, Alfred translated goons, stationed in what are now modern-day Botswana
at least five Latin works into English, including Pope and South Africa, and saw action with British troops
Gregory the Great’s Cura Pastoralis (Pastoral Care), The during the Boer War (1899–1902). He subsequently
Universal History of Orosius, and Bede’s Historia Ecclesi- moved on to various cavalry commands before he was
astica (Ecclesiastical History), among others. He wrote named inspector of cavalry in 1910.
the preface for Dialogues of Gregory, which was translated When the First World War broke out in 1914, Al-
by his friend Werferth, bishop of Worcester. lenby commanded a cavalry division of the British Ex-
Alfred died on or about 26 October 899, al- peditionary Force (BEF) on the western front in France.
though the year is uncertain. Much of his life would Following the first battle of Ypres (14 October–11 No-
remain a mystery were it not for the writers of Asser vember 1915), he was promoted to commander of the
(Asserius Menevensis, d. 910), his main biographer, and Third British Army, which, in April 1917, played a key
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, many of which describe in role in the battle of Arras (4–11 April 1917). That same
glowing terms his numerous military victories. One of year, Allenby showed great military skill at the second
the most important of the English kings, he is the only battle of Leper, as well as at the taking of Vimy Ridge,
one to bear the title “the Great.” Historian John Peddie and he was promoted to the rank of general.
writes in his life of Alfred: “Afflicted by poor health for In June 1917, the British, in an attempt to control
most of his life, Alfred nonetheless showed unflagging the Middle East, sent Allenby to what was then Palestine
energy as a warrior, administrator, scholar and educator. (now modern Israel). A series of skirmishes against the
He was remarkable for both his extraordinary range of Turkish forces occupying the area had been unsuccess-
interests and his wisdom. In battle he was faced by the ful, and Allenby was sent to command British forces to
Danish invaders and the real threat of Viking supremacy end the Turkish occupation. He arrived in Egypt, where,
in England. With the help of the first Royal Navy, which he stated, he would “take Jerusalem by Christmas.” Re-
he founded with minimal resources, the invaders were placing Sir Archibald Murray, Allenby found the British
eventually repelled. Anglo-Saxon hegemony was was forces in a state of disarray. He immediately set about
preserved—for a while—and Alfred survived to found reorganizing the troops into an army composed of some
34. Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman, first viscount Allenby of Megiddo 15
and shrines would be open to all faiths. This was the
end of Muslim control and the beginning of Christian
control of the holy sites in Jerusalem, a period that lasted
until the creation of the state of Israel in 1947.
In early 1918, many of Allenby’s troops were sent
back to France to meet the crisis there, and the sum-
mer was spent training their replacements from India.
On 19 September 1918, after a diversionary attack in
the eastern section of Palestine, which drew off Turk-
ish forces, Allenby launched a combined force of Brit-
ish, French, Indian, and Arab troops—some 70,000
men—against 11 Turkish divisions at Damascus, now
the capital of Syria. Twelve days later his men entered
Damascus; on 8 October, Beirut (now in Lebanon)
fell to the allied forces, and on 18 October, Tripoli was
taken. Aleppo, the last jewel in the crown that was the
Turkish-controlled Middle East, was occupied on 25
October. The Damascus/Beirut/Tripoli offensive was
the final set back in the Ottoman Empire’s chances of
aiding Germany against the Allies. Within weeks of the
fall of Tripoli, the Turks sued for peace, signing the ar-
mistice at Mudros on 30 October 1918 and ending the
war in the Middle East. In 16 months, Allenby’s forces
had completely changed the direction of the war and
killed over 80,000 Turkish soldiers while losing less than
900. For this service to his nation, he was promoted to
Sir Edmund Allenby field marshal in 1919 and given the peerage of Viscount
Allenby of Megiddo.
Following the end of the First World War, Allenby
88,000 men arranged into seven divisions and a Desert was named high commissioner of Egypt, serving from
Mounted Corps consisting of camel- and horse-mounted 1919 to 1925. Although he was considered a moderate
soldiers. leader, he took strong measures against radical elements
Allenby took command of this force and marched in Egyptian society following the assassination of Sir Ol-
to Beersheba, initiating a surprise attack on the Turks on iver Lee Stack, the Egyptian army’s sirdar, or commander
31 October 1917. Historian George Bruce writes that in chief. In 1925, Allenby retired from the military to
Allenby’s troops “assaulted the 30-mile Turkish Gaza- serve as rector of Edinburgh University in Scotland.
Beersheba line at Beersheba, in the western foothills of Viscount Allenby, known as “Bull,” died in London
the Judaean Hills, and forced the Turkish 7th Army back on 14 May 1936, three weeks after his 75th birthday.
to Tel el Sheria. The heavily fortified line was finally re- He was buried with full military honors in Westminster
duced after a week’s fighting. Gaza fell on November Abbey in London.
6–7, Askalon on the 9th, [and] Jaffa on the 16th. Al-
lenby then swung to the east and outflanked Jerusalem References: Falls, Cyril, “Allenby, Edmund Henry Hyn-
from the north. Turkish resistance to the northwest of it, man, First Viscount Allenby of Megiddo,” in The Diction-
on the Nebi Samwil ridge, was overcome by 9 December ary of National Biography 22 vols., 8 supps., edited by Sir
and Jerusalem surrendered.” Two days after Jerusalem Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee, et al. (London: Oxford
fell to the Allies, Allenby entered the city as a hero, hav- University Press, 1931–40), I:7–12; Dupuy, Arnold C.,
ing liberated it from the Muslims. His first order of busi- “Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman,” in Brassey’s Ency-
ness was to guarantee that all of the historic holy places clopedia of Military History and Biography, edited by Col.
