A Tea Time Quiz - Ten Fighting 'T's

Answer: Tippecanoe

William Henry Harrison (the 9th U.S. President) was the leader of the U.S. forces at the Battle of Tippecanoe, during his tenure as Governor of the then Territory of Indiana. The battle took place in 1811 and was part of Tecumseh's war - a series of battles between the U.S. and a group of Native Americans (known as Tecumseh's Confederacy after their leader) who opposed the expansion of the U.S. into their territory.

The battle was a decisive victory for Harrison who succeeded in his aim of destroying the confederacy's main base at Prophetstown.

The name given to the battle was taken from the nearby Tippecanoe River and Harrison later went by the nickname of 'Tippecanoe' (or 'Old Tippecanoe'). The slogan for his successful presidential campaign in 1840 was "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too" - Tyler being the Vice President who had to take over when Harrison died after just 31 days in office.

Answer: Towton

The Battle of Towton took place in 1461 just outside the Yorkshire village of the same name. The Wars of the Roses is the name given to the series of battles that took place during the period 1455 to 1485 between the rival royal houses of York (symbolised by a white rose) and Lancaster (whose emblem was a red rose).

The battle, which was one of the bloodiest in English history, resulted in the defeat of the forces of the Lancastrian King Henry VI and the installation of the Yorkist leader as King Edward IV in his place. Ultimately though the Yorkist victory was short-lived; 1485 marked the defeat of the last Yorkist monarch, King Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty.

Answer: Tsushima

The Battle of Tsushima was an important turning point in the Russo-Japanese War - a conflict that lasted for around 18 months in 1904-5. The battle took place in the Tsushima Strait - the body of water between Japan and the Korean Peninsula that lies to the eastern side of the Tsushima Islands.

The Russian fleet had sailed around 18,000 miles from the Baltic Sea and were heading for the port of Vladivostok when they were attacked by the much larger and better equipped Japanese navy on May 27th, 1905.

The result was an embarrassing defeat for the Russians, made more painful by the loss of the majority of their ships (both sunk and captured). The battle was notable for the extensive use of (the then new) wireless telegraph technology and being the only major naval conflict dominated by steel battleships to end in a decisive result.

Answer: Tarawa

The Battle of Tarawa was won by the United States, but at the cost of over 6,000 lives - approximately 1,700 U.S. forces and 4,700 Japanese. It took place between the 20th and 23rd of November 1943 on Betio Island, part of the Tarawa Atoll in what was then known as the Gilbert Islands.

The islands were a UK overseas territory during the time of the Second World War, but later gained independence in 1979 as part of the new nation of Kiribati; the Tarawa Atoll then became Kiribati's capital. The battle was part of a wider U.S. plan to gain control of various island groups throughout the Pacific and marked the first point during the war that U.S. forces met significant defensive action against their amphibious assaults.

Answer: Trenton

The Battle of Trenton took place on December 26th, 1776, the morning after George Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware River just to the north of the city that later became New Jersey's state capital. Despite the fact that it occurred relatively early in the American War of Independence (which didn't end until 1783), the Battle of Trenton provided a much needed morale boost for the American forces who had recently lost the city of New York to the British. The Continental Army were able to totally surprise their opponents and as a result were able to capture almost all of them with the loss of just 24 lives.

Washington's opponents at Trenton were from the German state of Hesse-Kassel because the British boosted their available forces in America during the war by employing the Hessians to fight on their behalf.

Answer: Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar, which took place on October 21st, 1805, was part of the Napoleonic Wars and saw Britain's Royal Navy pitched against the combined fleets of France and Spain. It was named after Cape Trafalgar on Spain's south-west coast - the closest land to the area of the Atlantic Ocean where the battle took place.

Despite having a smaller number of ships at his command (33 compared to 41) and being significantly out-gunned, Nelson deployed novel tactics and good strategy to ensure a decisive British victory.

Although British casualties from the battle stood at just over 10% of those suffered by the French and Spain, the biggest casualty of all was felt on the British side when Nelson was shot while standing on the deck of his flagship, the aptly named HMS Victory.

Answer: Thermopylae

The Battle of Thermopylae took place in the year 480 BC as part of the Greco-Persian War - Sparta being one of the city states of Greece in ancient times. It took its name from a coastal passage that existed at the spot at that time and the coastal passage itself was named after the hot sulphurous springs found in the area.

The battle lasted three days and resulted in victory for the Persians, whose larger army eventually broke through the Greeks' defensive formation on what was a narrow strip of land. Since the battle took place so long ago it is not possible to go and visit the site as the protagonists would have seen it - the coastline has changed significantly in the intervening period.

Answer: Tannenberg

The Battle of Tannenberg took place in August 1914, within a month of the outbreak of the First World War. It was a battle between German and Russian forces and was decisively won by the Germans - in fact, the Russian Second Army was almost completely destroyed and its commanding officer committed suicide.

The actual location of the battle was the Prussian city of Allenstein (now a Polish city called Olsztyn), but since it took place near the site of the 1410 Battle of Tannenberg it was named after that instead.

The first Battle of Tannenberg (also known as the Battle of Grunwald) had been a painful defeat for the German Teutonic Knights.

Answer: Triangle Hill

The Battle of Triangle Hill took place in October-November 1952 and was an engagement of the Korean War. It featured the allied forces of the United Nations (including troops from the United States, South Korea, Ethiopia and Colombia) against the Chinese army.

In China, the battle is referred to under the name of the Shangganling Campaign. The UN forces wanted to capture two ridges known as Triangle Hill and Sniper Ridge but failed to do so after over a month of heavy fighting and despite superior equipment and air support.

Answer: Toulon

Toulon, a naval port in France, was the scene of multiple battles in the 18th century. The first Battle of Toulon took place in 1707 during the War of the Spanish Succession and was a victory for the combined forces of France and Spain against an alliance formed by Great Britain, Austria, Savoy and the Dutch Republic (who had attempted to take the city).

The second Battle of Toulon was a naval engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession. It also featured an allied France and Spain, but this time against Great Britain alone.

This battle was also a Franco-Spanish victory (if a somewhat indecisive one), and the British fleet was forced into an embarrassing retreat. A Battle of Toulon also took place in 1944 during the Second World War and there was a Siege of Toulon in 1793 during the French Revolutionary Wars.