Throughout history, in various wars and conflicts, there have been a number of historic victories won by a smaller force, against a larger foe. Conditions and situations for these sorts of military victories against the odds have been numerous. Some victories have been pivotal to the conflict they were part of, or provided inspiration for the other forces. In many cases, because of the heroic and remarkable nature of the victories, the events have become famous in that culture. In many cases, they have lifted morale of the forces, and been remembered many years, if not hundreds of years later, by that culture or historians.
Situational conditions
Sometimes military victories against the odds are achieved because the larger force is caught unexpectedly, where the smaller force has surprised the larger force giving it an advantage. In some cases, Cormac O'Brien noted in Outnumbered and Outgunned, that complacency is a factor since the larger force is unprepared for a serious battle/threat because of its distinct size advantage. That was the case at Battle of Okehazama in which the larger force was so confident that it had started drinking in the encampment, and the smaller force attacked.
In some cases, either by luck or good management, the smaller force killed the leader, and the larger force broke following the breakdown of the chain of command. That was the case at the Battle of Galveston and the Battle of Okehazama in which both leaders were killed, and the remaining forces, while still larger, stopped fighting.Johnson, Rob (1 October 2011). Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred: Twenty Battles Against All Odds. Thames & Hudson.
In some cases, the smaller force was simply better trained or had better morale. That was the case at the Battle of Lacolle Mills (1814) in which the British regulars, well trained and with good morale, charged less well-trained American troops and forced them to flee, despite being outnumbered 12 to 1, and was a noted feature of the Battle of Kapyong, where two Chinese divisions, a force of 20,000 soldiers, were successfully resisted by a battalion of 700 Canadians defending a hill defence and supported by long-range artillery barrages. O'Brien also notes that in some circumstances victory for the smaller side came down to the smaller force having better leadership, over a poorly managed larger force for instance, the French having divided leadership at the Battle of Agincourt.
In some cases, subterfuge was used. During World War II, a group of five Germans, under the command of Fritz Klingenberg, fought garrison troops and captured the entire city of Belgrade and its thousands of troops by pretending to be an entire army.Heaton, Colin D. (January 1998). "Taking Belgrade by bluff". World War II, 08984204, Vol. 12, Issue 5.
Certain battles also involved the use of defences or topographical features to get an advantage. At Agincourt, the English benefited from a position where their flanks and rear were protected by woods, and the ground in front of them was muddy from rain. That drove the oncoming french horse onto prepared wooden stake defences, and meant the French could not use their advantage of numbers
Notable military victories against the odds
Classical Antiquity
Boudican revolt
The Boudican revolt was an assault by 230,000 Celtic Britons, although the source for this number is the Roman Scholar and Historian Lucius Cassius Dio writing around 100 years after the battle took place. The Boudican rebels more likely numbered between 20,000–40,000. Led by Queen Boudica of the Iceni tribe, against a Roman army of 10,000 under the command of Gaius Suetonius Paulinus. When reinforcements failed to arrive, the Roman governor moved his forces into a bottlenecked valley, forcing the uncoordinated Celts to come to him. His forces first exhausted their ranged weaponry before moving forward in a tight, shielded formation, while cavalry forces harassed the sides of the enemy formation. The Romans fought in formation with the stabbing gladius as they were trained to fight, whereas the Celts were shoehorned with very little space to use their swords in a swinging motion as they were accustomed to. Worsening the situation, the Celts had left their wagons blocking their route of escape, preventing routed forces from effectively fleeing. In total, around 80,000 Celts were ultimately killed, while the Roman army suffered only around 400 losses, with similar numbers injured, and the rebellion was firmly crushed.
Medieval era
Battle of Dupplin Moor
The Battle of Dupplin Moor was fought between supporters of King David II of Scotland, son of King Robert the Bruce, and English-backed invaders supporting Edward Balliol, son of King John I of Scotland, on 11 August 1332, during the second war of Scottish independence. It took place a little to the south-west of Perth, Scotland, when a Scottish force commanded by Donald, Earl of Mar and Robert Bruce, Lord of Liddesdale, estimated to have been made up of more than 15,000 and possibly as many as 40,000 men, attacked a largely English force of 1,500 commanded by Balliol and Henry Beaumont, Earl of Buchan. This was the first major battle of the Second War of Scottish Independence.
Balliol's army crossed the River Earn at night via an unguarded ford and took up a strong defensive position. In the morning, the Scots raced to attack the English, disorganising their own formations. Unable to break the line of English men-at-arms, the Scots became trapped in a valley with fresh forces arriving from the rear pressing them forward and giving them no room to manoeuvre, or even to use their weapons. English longbowmen shot into both Scottish flanks. Many Scots died of suffocation or were trampled underfoot. Eventually they broke and the English men-at-arms mounted and pursued the fugitives until nightfall. Perth fell, the remaining Scottish forces dispersed and Balliol was crowned King of Scots.
Precise figures for the English dead are available: they lost 35 men-at-arms: 2 knights and 33 squires. Several accounts stress that not a single English archer was killed. The losses among the Scots are less certain, but all accounts agree they were very heavy. Mar and Liddesdale died on the field; as did 2 other earls, 14 barons, 160 knights and many less notable men. Of the contemporary accounts which estimate the number of Scottish dead, two English chronicles give more than 15,000. Two Scottish accounts record 2,000 or 3,000 dead, while a third specifies 3,000 "nobles" and "of other men an untold number". Most accounts refer to the Scottish dead lying in great heaps, some taller than a spear's length.
Battle of Agincourt
Another battle often noted for being a victory against the odds was the Battle of Agincourt (1415) in the Hundred Years' war, which saw a depleted English army, led by Henry V and comprising 5,000 to 8,000 longbowmen, achieve victory over a superior French army of 15,000 to 30,000 cavalry and heavy infantry; the English were outnumbered, possibly by as much as five-to-one. The English achieved this unexpected victory through a combination of better tactics, favorable terrain, and the missile superiority of the longbow.Cormac O'Brien "Outnumbered: Incredible Stories of History's Most Surprising Battlefield Upsets" Fair Winds Press 2010Bennett, Matthew "Agincourt, 1415: Triumph Against the Odds" Prager Publishing, 2005 Henry personally led his troops into battle and participated in hand-to-hand combat. The English adopted a defensive stance, erecting wooden fortifications and raining down arrows on the advancing French army.
When the English archers ran out of arrows, they dropped their bows and, using hatchets, swords, and the mallets they had used to drive their wooden stakes in, counterattacked the now shaken, fatigued, and wounded French men-at-arms massed in front of them. The French forces had sustained heavy losses, and were bogged down in the mud and encumbered in their heavy plate armor. The counter-attack from the English was a decisive blow, and the rest of the French army, having witnessed the slaughter, fled the field of battle. Henry V's victory at Agincourt, against a numerically superior French army, crippled France and started a new period in the war during which Henry married the French princess Catherine of Valois; their son, the future Henry VI, was made heir to the throne of France as well as of England.
Early modern period
Siege of Eger (1552)
During the rise of the Ottoman Empire in 1552, the Ottomans extended their territory even further into Central Europe, including the Kingdom of Hungary. They had already conquered most of the Kingdom of Hungary, including its capital, Buda, and attempted to conquer the castle protecting the major North-Hungarian city of Eger. The unmaintained castle lacked defenses and held a mere 2,100–2,300 defenders, some of whom were untrained, women or peasants who had fled from attacks elsewhere in the Kingdom of Hungary. On the other hand, the Ottomans attacked with an army of 35,000–40,000 well-equipped men (although old data mentions 150,000–200,000 men) and several hundred artillery, outnumbering the Hungarians approximately 17 to 1. However, the Hungarians withstood the siege and repelled the assaults until the Ottomans retreated (within 39 days), due to heavy casualties, leaving the Hungarians victorious, with approximately only 500 deaths.
Battle of Hodów
In June 1694 during the Polish-Ottoman war (1683–1699), 40,000 up to even 70,000 Tatars were dispatched from the Ottoman state of Crimean Khanate, with the intention of raiding the undefended countryside of the Kingdom of Poland. In response to the attack, 100 winged Polish hussars and 300 Towarzysz pancerny were sent to prevent the pillaging of the countryside. The mere total of 400 defenders were immensely outnumbered by the horde of 40,000 Ottomans (1 to 100), debatably the most uneven battle in history. The Polish fortified themselves with the remains of fences and tables abandoned by previous Ottoman assaults. They repelled the attacks for 6 hours; even when they ran out of ammunition for their firearms they replaced it with Tatar arrowheads. Due to the excellent defense of the Polish and the increasing casualties and losses of the Tatars (almost 2000 dead), they sent Lipkas (Polish-speaking Tatars) to negotiate surrender. However, the defenders declined, resulting in the end of the 6-hour battle and the retreat of the Tatars.
19th century
Battle of Lacolle Mills (1814)
The battle of Lacolle Mills (aka the second battle of Lacolle Mills), occurring on 30 March 1814 during the War of 1812, saw just 180 British 13th Regiment of Foot (later reinforced), in combat with a much larger force of 4000 US troops (who were also armed with artillery). Being bombarded by artillery from the US forces, the leader of the British forces, Richard Handcock initially only had 180 British regulars entrenched in the Lacolle Mill against the overwhelming force. The stout stone blockhouse resisted most of the US artillery.John K Mahon "The War of 1812" Di Capo 1972 p 217 Desperate, and running low on ammunition, Handcock's 80 men fixed bayonets and charged the US artillery, but was pushed back because of the overwhelming numbers. The Americans made a number of attempts on the British positions, but to no avail. A Grenadier company and a light company force of 160 men in the area forced marched to assist the British, arriving just after the initial assaults began. After this, a small number of Canadian troops later arrived to assist the British. With the new men, Handcock again fixed bayonets and charged the artillery position, this time overwhelming them.