"The 8 Greatest Comebacks in Military History" Topic

"A military comeback is an opportunity rarely given to commanders. The chance to switch the tide of battle to one's favor is incredibly rare, and equally difficult to do, often requiring the alignment of random factors like weather, or significant external help.

This list features 8 important comebacks that had major implications on their respective wars or political climates…."

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Armand

I would accept some of them but I think the South would have lost the ACW regardless of Gettysburg – and I also think unless Napoleon won a stunning victory at Waterloo he was still in a lot of trouble

I'm not sure who Thermopylae is supposed to be a "comeback" for, or why.

Agree with GurKhan. Plataea was the comeback/turning point rather than Thermopylae. I question others on the list, actually. Waterloo might have been a great comeback had the French won, but the Coalition had been largely successful since 1812. The so-called 'miracle of Brandenburg' probably did mark the emergence of Prussia as a genuine European power; but no-one on either side thought that the CSA was washed up after Gettysburg. The defeat of the Great Armada, I think, is more a symptom of the rise of English (and Dutch) naval power rather than a cause of it. Midway I can accept, but claim no knowledge of the comparative strengths in respective navies. I have always assumed that the USA had the advantage in technology, gunnery and esprit de corps.

To me, many of those listed don't really qualify as "comebacks." Now the Battle of San Jacinto, that was a real comeback!

Glup!

Armand

I don't see a number of these as comebacks.