Those Military Disasters

There have been some marvelous military victories and successes…..and on the other hand there have been some major disasters that our military has participated in……

Nations often linger on their military defeats as long as, or longer than, they do on their successes. The Battle of Kosovo remains the key event of the Serbian story, and devastating military defeats adorn the national narratives of France, Russia and the American South. What are the biggest disasters in American military history, and what effect have they had on the United States?

In this article, I concentrate on specific operational and strategic decisions, leaving aside broader, grand-strategic judgments that may have led the United States into ill-considered conflicts. The United States may well have erred politically in engaging in the War of 1812, World War I, the Vietnam War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, but here I consider how specific failures worsened America’s military and strategic position.

The first disaster in this article is the Invasion of Canada…..

At the opening of the War of 1812, U.S. forces invaded Upper and Lower Canada. Americans expected a relatively easy going; the notion that Canada represented the soft underbelly of the British empire had been popular among American statesmen for some time. Civilian and military leaders alike expected a quick capitulation, forced in part by the support of the local population. But Americans overestimated their support among Canadians, overestimated their military capabilities, and underestimated British power. Instead of an easy victory, the British handed the Americans a devastating defeat.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-five-biggest-disasters-american-military-history-11536

This is the five most disastrous actions according to the article’s author….

Do you have others that should be in this list?

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

4 thoughts on “Those Military Disasters

  1. Korea wasn’t just a disaster for the US, but for all the countries involved in fighting the Communists at the time. One war that has still never been resolved, and continues to be a thorn in the side of world peace.
    Best wishes, Pete.

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