List of military disasters

Battle of the Little Bighorn known as Custer's Last Stand.

A military disaster is the defeat of one side in a battle or war which results in the complete failure of the losing side to achieve their objectives. It often, but not always, involves a high and disproportionate loss of life. The causes are varied and include human error, inferior technology, logistical problems, underestimating the enemy, being outnumbered, and bad luck.[1][2][3][4]

Entries on this list are those where multiple sources dealing with the subject of military disasters have deemed the event in question to be a military disaster (or an equivalent term).

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
  1. ^ McNab 2005, pp. 4–11.
  2. ^ Chrystal, Paul (2015-11-30). "Introduction". Roman Military Disasters: Dark Days & Lost Legions. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-7395-7.
  3. ^ Withington, John (2016-09-23). "Introduction". Britain's 20 Worst Military Disasters: From the Roman Conquest to the Fall of Singapore. History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-8127-9.
  4. ^ Spilsbury, Julian (2015-04-02). "Introduction". Great Military Disasters: From Bannockburn to Stalingrad. Quercus. ISBN 978-1-78429-215-7.