Battle of Cape Ecnomus : Bloodiest Naval Battle between Rome and Carthage (First Punic War)

Battle of Cape Ecnomus (256 BC) was the largest and bloodiest naval engagement between Rome and Carthage in First Punic War (264-261 BC). It was the third major battle between these two super powers of Mediterranean. This battle put Roman navy in number one position and pushed Carthaginian navy to the second spot. It showed the Battle of Mylae was not a fluke. In Battle of Mylae Carthaginian navy was not ready for "Corvus" (The hook like boarding device used by roman navy) and Rome caught them off guard. Here Carthage was prepared and tried to avoid and counter "Corvus" as much as they could but it was not enough. Roman naval tactics also developed and improved during this period. So, this battle was also the battle of two different tactics which ended in Roman victory. It was one of the largest naval battle of ancient era. Both sides used all they had in this naval engagement. Carthage lost this battle after a long fight and road to Africa was opened for a roman expedition.

Battle of Cape Ecnomus

Prelude : After a shocking victory in Battle of Mylae (260 BC), The confidence of roman navy greatly boosted up. At this stage they planned an expedition in Carthaginian settlements in Africa. They were confident that their army could defeat Carthage. It was a risky plan because they had to neutralize the formidable Carthaginian navy. Carthage faced a stunning defeat in Mylae but their fleet was still powerful. Moreover they continuously patrolling their water to stop any expedition from Rome. In Mylae they took roman navy lightly but after Mylae situation had changed. They were now aware about the strength of roman navy and determined to stop their advance in Africa. After Mylae Carthage managed to defeat Roman army in Battle of Thermae (259 BC) under the command of Hamilcar (Not Hamilcar Barca). So, Carthage was not defeated and they still had the strength to counter roman attempt. Rome realized they had to transfer their troops in military ships because transport ships would be vulnerable if they got attacked. So, They built a fleet of 330 ships to guard the transportation of their expeditionary force to Africa. The two consuls Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus were the commanders of the fleet. Roman transport ships set sail for Africa under the protection of their navy. Near Cape Ecnomus of Sicilian coast they encountered a large Carthaginian fleet and the battle began.

Naval Strength : Rome had 330 ships and around 140000 men including marines. Carthage had 350 ships and around 150000 men including marines. Carthaginian fleet was commanded by Hanno (The defeated general of Battle of Agrigentum) and Hamilcar (The victor of Battle of Thermae).

Fleet Engagement in Battle Cape Ecnomus

The Battle : Main goal of roman navy to protect their transport ships. So, they formed three squadrons. The first two squadrons were advance guards and formed a wedge formation. The transport ships were under middle and the third squadron formed a straight line to protect the rear. Carthaginians faced them with conventional straight line. After seeing the Carthaginian fleet the first two squadrons advanced in wedge formation. Hamilcar was waiting for that and he started retreating slowly to lure the advanced squadrons away from transport ships. Soon a big gap formed between the transport ships and the advanced squadrons. The both wings of Carthaginian fleet now bypassed the advanced squadrons and attacked the transport ships in the middle. The tactics worked. The transport ships were vulnerable to these attacks and were pushed to the coast of Sicily. The left wing was busy with Transport ships and the right wing under Hanno was stopping the third squadron from reaching the transport ships. It was a brilliant plan and the execution was also going well but luck was not with Carthage that day. Hamilcar's forces were defeated by the advanced squadron's and he had to retreat with his remaining ships. Now the squadrons turned back and attacked the Carthaginian wings. One squadron attacked the left wing which was busy with transport ships and another attacked Hanno in the right wing. That turned the tide of the battle. Without any support from the center the left wing was destroyed and Hanno was under heavy attack from both sides. Soon most of his ships were sunk or captured and the battle was over.

Casualties : Roman loss was minimal compared to the Carthaginian loss. Rome lost 24 ships and around 10000 men in this battle while Carthage lost 94 ships (sunk or captured) and around 35000 men. Most of the ships were lost during the last stage of the battle.

Battle of Cape Ecnomus

Aftermath : Carthaginian fleet suffered a great damage in this battle. Most of their ships were not in a position to stop the roman expedition of Africa. Rome also suffered losses and they had to anchor for repairing and resupply their transport ships. But the threat from Carthaginian navy was over and they could now pursue their goal to Africa. Soon after they landed their expeditionary force in Africa. I will cover it in my next post.    

     

Battle of Mylae : Roman Triumph over Carthaginian Navy (First Punic War)

Battle of Mylae was fought between two Mediterranean super powers Rome and Carthage in 260 BC. It was one of the most important battles of First Punic War (264-241 BC) which ended in Roman victory. In this battle the innovative ideas and equipment applied by Roman navy took the upper hand over much more experienced Carthaginian navy. The defeat weakened Carthaginian fleet and showed the strength of Roman navy.

Battle of Mylae

Prelude : After defeating Carthage in Battle of Agrigentum (262 BC), Roman confidence in their capability was highly increased. Rome didn't challenge Carthaginian navy before and was reluctant to do that. Carthage controlled the Mediterranean water for centuries. They were Phoenician people and had a long history and experience in naval warfare. Challenging them in naval battle could be disastrous for Rome but they had no option. As long as Carthaginian navy was active in Sicily, the roman control would always be in threat. That time Rome didn't have proper ships for battle also. They borrowed some quinqueremes from Greeks but countering Carthaginian quinqueremes with that would be a problem. One story said Romans captured a wrecked Carthaginian quinquereme and replicated the design to build their fleet of 150 quinqueremes and triremes. However, the first encounter with Carthage didn't go well for Rome. Carthaginians defeated and captured 17 Roman quinqueremes in Battle of the Lipari Islands (260 BC). Though it was a skirmish between two sides (Only 17 and 20 Ships from both sides engaged) but Rome learned the lesson. They realized that the Carthaginian navy could be countered if Rome was able to utilize their superior heavy infantry in naval battle. So, they invented "Corvus". Corvus was a hook like boarding device. By using it Romans could pull Carthaginian ships and board them. After boarding the Carthaginian ships, roman heavy infantry could finish the job. Consul Gaius Duilius became the commander of roman navy after Battle of Lipari Islands. The roman fleet encountered Carthaginian fleet near northern Mylae and battle started.

Map

Naval Strength : Rome had 103 quinqueremes and some triremes at the beginning of the battle. The strength of the roman fleet was around 120 ships. Carthaginian fleet had 130 ships as stated by Greek historian Polybius.

Corvus

The Battle : The battle was a disaster for Carthage. Unaware of new roman boarding device (Corvus) they attacked the roman fleet in conventional straight line. Romans were awaiting for that and hooked first 30 Carthaginian ships which were closed enough and captured those. Now Carthaginians tried to flank the roman fleet to attack them from side or behind but unfortunately that also didn't work. Romans captured 20 more ships in the process. After witnessing that Hannibal, the Carthaginian general (Same from Battle of Agrigentum), retreated with his remaining 80 ships and for the first time Rome got his naval victory over Carthage.

Battle of Mylae

Aftermath : Capturing 70 ships with almost no damage increased the size of roman fleet. The victory also boosted the confidence of roman navy. On the other hand Carthage couldn't find the solution to counter that new roman technique. After that defeat Carthaginian navy was in back foot for the first time. Though they still had a considerable number of ships but their confidence and moral was affected by that defeat. It was the second major battle of First Punic war but the war was still on. I will cover the next important battle of this war in my next post.           

Battle of Agrigentum : First Major Battle of Rome against Carthage (First Punic War)

Battle of Agrigentum in 362 BC was the first major battle of First Punic War (264 - 241 BC). This battle was a severe blow to the Carthaginian dream of expansion in Sicily and Sardinia. Significance of this battle was the superiority of Roman infantry upon Carthaginian mercenary army. It showed and proved the roman strength in land battles. It was just the beginning of a long and bloody rivalry and wars between these two superpowers of the ancient world.

Battle of Agrigentum

Prelude : After Carthage acquired their strong foothold as Messana in Sicily they started their expansion in the island. Their primary opposition was strong and formidable Greek city of Syracuse and other small Greek colonies in that island . Romans were not in the picture at first but presence of Carthage in Sicily alarmed the roman senate. If they did not take any step against that, the future expansion would be Italian mainland and Rome itself. So, they had to act and declared war on Carthage. Some small battles were fought between these two factions here and there but the real full scale battle never took place. After Carthage tried to expand their territory in lands under roman sphere of influence they decided to send an expeditionary force under Lucius Postamius Magellus and Quintus Mamilius Vitulus. Both were consuls of Roman republic. Consuls were the main generals of Roman republic and sending Consuls meant the matter was serious. Romans landed on Sicily with combined force of 40000 men and besieged the Carthaginian main base of operation in the island Agrigentum.

Agrigentum

Siege of Agrigentum : Hannibal Gisco was in charge of the Carthaginian operation in Sicily when Romans besieged the city. Hannibal didn't have many soldiers while Romans showed up at the  area. So, he quickly recruited local militias and  retreated inside the city wall. Romans expected a pitch battle but Hannibal didn't give them that chance. Roman soldiers camped outside the area and started harvesting the crops in that area to resupply themselves. Hannibal was waiting for this and attacked unarmed roman soldiers with his army. Initially they inflicted a notable damage on Romans but later somehow stopped the Carthaginian attempt of invading their camp and repelled them. Hannibal lost a notable number of men and was reluctant to attack the Romans in future with inexperienced militia heavy army. Romans realized that to force Hannibal in open battle they had to besiege the city. So, they cut the supply lines of Agrigentum and built posts around the city. The shortage of food supply became imminent and for relief Hannibal sent message to Carthage and plead for help. Soon a big Carthaginian army of 50000 under Hanno arrived and cut the roman supply line with Syracuse. Now Romans were facing the food problem. Hanno wanted to fight the roman in his terms and had a plan to force the trapped and weakened Romans to attack him. But Agrigentum was besieged for more than six months and the situation in the city was dire. Hannibal understood the situation was going out of hand and sending signals after signal to Hanno for breaking the siege. Soon, witnessing the situation in the city Hanno forced to attack the Romans and battle began.

First Punic War

The Armies : Roman army was infantry heavy army. Around 35000 were infantry with a notable number of cavalry. The Hanno's army was around 45000 infantry with 4000-5000 cavalry and a lot of war elephants (Number varied from 30-60). The garrison of few thousand from Agrigentum also joined the fight.

The Battle : As per sources, Hanno deployed his army in two lines against roman triplex system. He deployed himself and his elephants in second line and cavalry on the wings. Hanno planned a coordinated attack with the garrison from Agrigentum but Romans also expected that. So, they set an ambush for Hanno and attacked him from rear and front.  They also prevented Hannibal's garrison to join with Hanno's army.  Carthaginian infantry was outmatched against roman heavy infantry and after a long fight Romans broke the Carthaginian first line. The second line was panicked by this and fled the battle. Romans pursued the fleeing Carthaginian army and captured the Carthaginian camp with several elephants. Hanno retreated with his remaining army. One day later Hannibal also fled the city in middle of night. Romans captured the undefended city and sold the citizens to slavery.

Battle of Agrigentum

Casualties : The Roman loss was much higher in the battle compared to Carthaginian. As per sources, they lost around 15000 to 30000 men in this campaign. Carthage lost around 7000 men and 40 elephants. Despite that heavy loss Romans achieved their goal and drove out Carthage from Sicily and Sardinia.

Fall of Agrigentum

Aftermath : Battle of Agrigentum was first victory of Rome outside Italian mainland. It boosted their confidence and could be treated as the stepping stone of their great future empire. Loosing Agrigentum shattered the Carthaginian dream of acquiring Sicily and Sardinia. The Carthaginian army was still large and Hanno and Hannibal both were able to retreat with their men. The First Punic War was just started and the power struggle was still on. Both factions would meet soon in Battle of Mylae (260 BC).        

Battle of Cynoscephalae : Roman Legion against Macedonian Phalanx

Battle of Cynoscephalae (197 BC) was the clash of two effective battle formations. Roman maniple system against the famous Macedonian phalanx formation. Romans won that battle. This battle showed more weaknesses of phalanx formation than previously known. The superiority of Roman maniple system was established after the stunning victory it delivered over phalanx.

Battle of Cynoscephalae

Prelude : During the 2nd Punic War (218-201 BC) Philip V of Macedon sided with Carthage and attacked and raided many Roman client states in Mediterranean. Romans couldn't do anything during that time cause they were under a bigger threat from Hannibal. After the war ended Romans turned their attention towards Philip. The Greek city states were already wanted to free from Macedonian influence and asked Rome for help, which the later obliged by sending an army of around 25000 men under Titus Quinctius Flamininus. Greek city states also provided a small army to assist him. Romans with allied forces marched in search of Philip who was in Larissa at that time. Philip heard the news and assembled an army of 27000 men to counter the Romans. Both armies met near Cynoscephalae Hills and the battle started.

Macedonia 

Armies : Romans had nearly 20000 legionaries (Heavy infantry) with 2000 light infantry, 2500 cavalry and 20 war elephants. The allied army consisted of soldiers from Greek city states, mercenary archers from Crete and light infantry from Athamania. Philip had 16000 phalangites, 4000 light infantry and 2000 cavalry. He also had an army of 5000 provided by his allies (Crete, Illyria and Thrace).

Phalanx vs Legions

The Battle : The battle started in the morning under heavy fog between small forces from two sides. Phillip sent a small force to capture the Cynoscephalae Hill. Here Flamininus, unaware of Macedonian presence nearby, sent a small force for scouting. Both forces discovered each other on the hill and a heavy fighting started between them. Hearing the news Flamininus dispatched 2000 infantry and 500 cavalry as reinforcement. They started pushing back the Macedonians from the hill. Now Philip sent another army to counter it. Macedonians started taking the upper hand and pushed back the Romans down to the hill which was stabilized by Greek cavalry sent by Flamininus Now Phillip marched with his phalangites towards Romans. He placed himself alongwith his most experienced 8000 phalangites on right half of his army and placed the rest on left half to attack the roman right. Despite the hilly terrain the right half of phalanx was doing well against the roman left but his left half was struggling against the roman right. The left side was getting difficulties in forming the tight phalanx formation which was the key of success of that formation. So, soon a big gap was formed between Phillip's right half and left half. The Romans were advancing upwords to the hill on Macedonian left half and Macedonians were advancing downwards against the Roman left half. This was the moment when a roman tribune of advancing roman right half saw that gap. He took his 20 legionaries and broke away from right and attacked the Macedonian right half from rear. The phalangites were surprised and completely helpless in that situation and the panic broke out. Soon, 2000 more legionaries joined the fight and phalanx formation totally disrupted. Romans started cutting down the Macedonians and the battle was over. Phillip fled the battlefield and the Macedonian loss was overwhelming. Nearly 8000 were killed and others captured or fled. A quick presence of mind from a lower rank officer just turned the tide of entire battle. Romans won a stunning victory.

The Battle

The Losses : The roman loss was nominal compared to the Macedonians. Only 700 were killed and 2000 were wounded. The loss on Macedonian side was huge. Nearly 8000 were killed and 5000 were captured and rest fled.

Aftermath : The battle showed the superiority of roman maniple system against the Macedonian phalanx. Phalanx formation was a strong and formidable formation but it needed a flat and wide terrain to form the phalanx formation to deliver desired result. It was not flexible as roman maniple system where the army could fight in small groups and could also form a solid line as per the situation. The versatility of that system took upper hand on that formidable phalanx formation. Phalanx was excellent for frontal assault and could beat any army any day if it had the suitable terrain but totally weak on sides and rear. Phillip may have won the battle if the terrain was suitable for his phalanx. After that Phillip sued peace on roman terms. He had to disband his navy and a large portion of his army. He also paid a large sum of indemnity and sent his son to Rome as hostage. This battle hampered the Macedonian influence and prestige greatly and established roman superiority in the region.              

Saragarhi : Famous Last Stand of 21 Sikhs

Battle of Saragarhi (1897) was famous for the last stand of 21 Sikh soldiers of British Indian Army against the Afghan tribesmen over six thousands. The Afghans attacked the fort but repelled twice by the Sikh soldiers guarding it. They attacked again and the defenders were killed but they bought the time for the reinforcements to arrive and end  the uprising. The Sikh soldiers who gave their lives in that battle were commemorated with the highest bravery award of British India government. Which was equivalent to Victoria cross.

Soldiers of 36th Sikhs

Prelude : The Battle of Saragarhi was happened during the Tirah Campaign or Tirah Expedition (1897-1898) of British India. To neutralize the uprising of Afghan Tribes (Afridi and Orakzais) the British Indian Army started this campaign to secure the North Western Frontier Province (Khhyber Pakhtunkhawa in Pakistan). 36th Sikhs under Lt. Colonel Houghton took charge of five frontier forts including Saragarhi Fort. It was situated between Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan (Both built by Sikh Emperor Ranjit Singh). Because of the terrain the visibility was blocked between the two forts. So, British Government built Fort Saragarhi in the middle to maintain the communication between the forts. The situation was already volatile in that region and Afghan tribes already attacked several places. When the Fort Saragarhi was attacked only 21 non commissioned Sikh soldiers were stationed there.

The Map of Saragarhi

Armies : The 36th Sikhs soldiers were armed with Martini-Henry rifle with bayonets on top. The afghan tribesmen also got the rifles and used those against the imperial troops. In Saragrhi Fort only 21 Sikhs were stationed to hold the fort against 6000-10000 Afghans.

Saragarhi

The Battle : The battle started on 12th September, 1897. Though a series of attacks were already made by the afghans to capture the fort but repelled by the 36th Sikh regiment. But in the morning of 12th September around 6000 afghans attacked the fort. Sepoy Gurumukh Singh signaled to Fort Lockhart about the attack. Col. Houghton signaled back and stated that they were unable to send force immediately. After receiving that news those 21 brave soldiers decided to fight to the death to prevent the enemy from taking the fort. Battle started and they fought valiantly but the number was against them. Sepoy Bhagwan Singh died first. Others retreated to the inner layer. Afghans were succeeded in breaking a portion of the wall. Then they attempted to talk them out by making promises of safe passage upon surrender but all went in vain. They made two attempts to break open the gate but repelled by the defenders. After a series of attempt the wall was breached and a bloody hand to hand combat started. It was reported that Havilder Ishar Singh ordered his soldiers to retreat to the inner layer while himself holding the enemy to buy the time for them. However, all his soldiers except one died because of the breach. Sepoy Gurumukh Singh was the last defender and he was in charge of communication with Col Houghton. Report said he defended his post bravely and killed 20 Afghans. Afghans set fire on the post to kill him. He fought to the last and died. The Afghans took the fort and the battle ended.

Sikh Soldiers

Aftermath : The Afghans then attacked Fort Gulistan but the reinforcements arrived and the attackers were defeated by the artillery fire. The British Indian Army retook Saragarhi. The valiant effort of 21 Sikhs bought the valuable time for the reinforcements to arrive. Those 21 brave soldiers were commemorated with the highest honor of the British Indian Army. They are still remembered. The Indian Army celebrated 12th September as Saragarhi Day.  

Sikh Regiment of Indian Army