Battles in a Half-Century Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1601-1650

Naseby was a battle in the English Civil War, fought from 1642-1651 between the forces loyal to King Charles I ("Cavaliers") and those supporting Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell ("Roundheads"). The war fell into two parts, 1642-6 and then 1648-51. Naseby, located in Northamptonshire, was fought in June 1645 and was a significant victory for the Parliamentary forces and boosted their morale in the war.

Answer: 1851-1900

The first military action of the American Civil War is usually considered to be the siege of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, by the Confederate forces, but the first real action between armies is the First Battle of Bull Run (21 July 1865), also known as the First Battle of Manasseh, located about thirty miles southwest of Washington DC. Both sides were inexperienced on the field of battle and both suffered serious casualties.

The Confederate forces, one of whose leaders was "Stonewall Jackson", routed the Union troops, who retreated in disorder to Washington.

Answer: 1701-1750

In 1688, the Stuart ruler of England, James II, was driven off his throne into exile and replaced by the dual monarchs, William III of Orange and his wife Mary II (Stuart), daughter of James II. James and his followers (known as "Jacobites") waged an on-again off-again against this new regime and the later dynasty of the Hanoverians, which began with George I in 1714.

The best-known of these was the grandson of James II, Charles Edward Stuart (also known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie"), who invaded Scotland in 1745 and advanced southward into England.

But a counter-campaign led by the Duke of Cumberland (known as "The Butcher") resulted in the battle at Culloden in April 1746, just east of Inverness in Scotland. After his defeat in the battle Charles Edward Stuart fled the country, thus ending the Jacobite Rebellion.

Answer: 1951-2000

France was the western colonial power in Indochina in the 19th and 20th centuries, but by 1950 a strong Vietnamese resistance (known as the Viet Minh and led by Ho Chi Minh) was waging a strong campaign for independence. This culminated in a battle at Dien Bien Phu in the northwest corner of Vietnam during the spring of 1954. Superior tactics plus the advantage of fighting on their own land helped the Vietnamese to win that battle and to force a French surrender in early May.

A subsequent peace treaty divided the country into a Communist north and a "democratic" south, but only a few years later the Vietnam War was being waged.

This led to the fall of Saigon in April in 1975 and the reunification of the country.

Answer: 1551-1600

During the 15th and 16th centuries the Ottoman Empire had spread from western Asia into Europe with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. A century later Ottoman influence had widened to include the Balkans and beyond, threatening the major cities of Vienna and Prague. To counter this serious threat some western powers (principally in Spain and Italy) formed the Holy League and began to counterattack the Ottoman Empire, currently led by a weak emperor, Selim II.

This force sailed into mouth of the Gulf of Corinth and engaged the Ottoman fleet.

This was the last sea-battle fought only with oared ships. The result was a decisive victory for the western forces and marked the halt of Ottoman expansion into Europe.

Answer: 1901-1950

Vimy Ridge was one theatre of war in the Battle of Arras in spring 1917. Much of the action on the western front in WWI was trench warfare, where both sides dug themselves securely into defended positions, reinforced by underground trenches, barbed wire and sniper fire, so that little progress could be made by either side. Vimy Ridge was a German-held position in the northeast of France. In 1915, France lost over 100,000 men in an attempt to retake this ridge. In April 1917, the Canadian Expeditionary Force used a combination of disciplined tactics, superb esprit de corps, use of underground passages and artillery cover-fire to take and hold the ridge in four days.

For Canadians this was the first overseas military encounter in which their forces had distinguished themselves as a single unit and is regarded as a major step in the establishment of a Canadian identity separate from Britain. Canada's major WWI memorial stands at Vimy Ridge, where thousands attended the 100th anniversary in April 2017.

Answer: 1500-1550

In 1529, the Spanish Conquistador Francisco Pizarro received permission from the Spanish Crown to invade Peru and add it to Spain's conquests in America. In 1532, he was able to capture the Incan capital at Cuzco along with the Incan emperor whom he later had executed.

In 1536-37 the son of the late emperor assembled a significant force and attempted to retake Cuzco. After a ten-month siege and a series of moves and countermoves, the Spanish managed to stage a surprise attack on the Incas who retreated, leaving the city (and Peru) to Spanish control.

Answer: 1651-1700

In 1688, the unpopular English King James II, suspected of Roman Catholic sympathies, was driven out in what was called "the Glorious Revolution" and replaced by his daughter Mary II and her husband William III, a prince of the very Protestant Netherlands.

The exiled James still had many supporters, especially in Ireland, and it was at Drogheda on the River Boyne in what is today the north of the Irish Republic that a crucial battle was fought between William and his supporters and James and his followers, known as "Jacobites".

Each king was present and led his troops in the conflict. The forces of William were better trained and equipped and forced the opposing troops of James to withdraw and leave the field to the victorious William. The victory marked the end of a direct threat to the new regime of William and Mary, but would not end completely until James's grandson, Bonnie Prince Charlie, was defeated at Culloden in 1746.

Answer: 1801-1850

Perhaps only the Battle of Britain (1940) and the victory over the French at Agincourt (1415) can match the appeal in the British memory as Nelson's defeat of the combined French and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar. During the summer of 1805 there had much manoeuvring of both the British and French-Spanish fleets in various theatres of the naval war. But in October the British fleet under Lord Nelson, the British admiral, had blockaded the enemy fleet into the Spanish port of Cadiz at the southern tip of Spain, and the attempt by the French-Spanish ships to break through that blockade touched off the battle of Trafalgar on October 21.

The French-Spanish ships were drawn up an extended crescent while the British used a two-pronged punch to break the enemy line into three parts. This succeeded, inflicting much damage on the enemy, either sinking or capturing many ships. The principal casualty on the British side was Lord Nelson who was shot by an enemy sniper. His flagship, the Victory, now remains in dry dock in Portsmouth.

Answer: 1751-1800

In Europe, the war from 1756-1763 is generally called "The Seven Years War" between two alliances around Britain on one hand and France on the other. Sweden, Prussia, Spain and Austria fought on various sides as they jockeyed for increased territory and dominance in their part of the world.

In America, this war is often called the "French and Indian War", but did feature the same two protagonists, France and Britain, each side aided by Indian tribes. Much of the battle was carried by the British into New France (modern Canada) and in September 1759 the two sides met on the Plains of Abraham outside the French capital at Quebec City. The attacking British forces led by General Wolfe held their fire until the French came very close and the resulting fierce musket barrage broke the French lines who fled back into the city. Both Wolfe and the French commander Montcalm died in the combat. The result was the end of French influence in North America and New France becoming a British overseas possession.