Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/This month in military history/March

Your military history newsletter – Issue 227, March 2025 Front page • Project news • Article news • Book reviews • Op-ed • This month in military history

1 March

• 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion, who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus.
• 1562 - Over 1,000 Huguenots are massacred by Catholics in Wassy, France marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
• 1896 - Battle of Adowa, an Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo-Abyssinian War.
• 1918 - German submarine U-19 sinks HMS Calgarian off Rathlin Island.

2 March

• 1888 - The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace.
• 1943 - World War II: Battle of the Bismarck Sea - United States and Australian forces sink Japanese convoy ships.
• 1962 - In Burma, the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup.
• 1969 - Soviet and Chinese forces clash at a border outpost on the Ussuri River.

3 March

• 1857 - France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
• 1918 - Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia's involvement in World War I, and leading to the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
• 1942 - World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid the town of Broome, Western Australia, killing more than 100 people.
• 1944 - The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov were instituted in the USSR as the highest naval awards.

4 March

• 1665 - Charles II of England declares war on the Netherlands, which marks the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
• 1793 - French troops conquer Geertruidenberg, Netherlands.
• 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Thompson's Station in Tennessee.
• 1941 - World War II: Britain launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands.

5 March

• 1824 - First Burmese War: Britain declares war on Burma.
• 1836 - Samuel Colt makes the first production-model revolver (.34-caliber).
• 1842 - Over 500 Mexican troops led by Ráfael Vásquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio, and then head back to the Rio Grande.
• 1905 - Russian troops begin to retreat from Mukden, Manchuria after losing 100,000 troops in three days.

6 March

• 1454 - Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466): Delegates of the Prussian Confederation pledge allegiance to Casimir IV of Poland, and the Polish king agrees to help in their struggle for independence from the Teutonic Knights.
• 1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo - After a 13-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 189 Texas volunteers defending the Alamo Mission in San Antonio are defeated and the fort taken.
• 1940 - Winter War: An armistice is signed by Finland and the Soviet Union.
• 1957 - Israel withdraws its troops from the Sinai Peninsula.

7 March

• 1814 - Napoleon wins the Battle of Craonne.
• 1827 - Brazilian marines sail up the Rio Negro and attack the temporary naval base of Carmen de Patagones, Argentina. They are defeated by the local citizens.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Pea Ridge - United States forces led by Samuel Curtis defeat Confederate troops under Earl Van Dorn at Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas.
• 1936 - In violation of the Locarno Pact and the Treaty of Versailles, Germany reoccupies the Rhineland.
• 1945 - World War II: Battle of Remagen - American troops seize the bridge over the Rhine at Remagen, Germany, and begin to cross.

8 March

• 1862 - American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
• 1942 - World War II: Netherlands forces surrender to Japanese forces on Java.
• 1942 - World War II: Japan captures Rangoon, Burma.
• 1943 - World War II: Japanese troops counter-attack American forces on Hill 700 on Bougainville in a battle that will last five days.
• 1965 - Vietnam War: 3,500 United States Marines arrive in South Vietnam, becoming the first American combat troops there.

9 March

• 1847 - Mexican–American War: United States forces under Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Vera Cruz.
• 1862 - American Civil War: The first battle between two ironclad warships - In a five-hour battle near Hampton Roads, Virginia the USS Monitor fights the CSS Virginia to a draw.
• 1945 - World War II: Bombing of Tokyo - American B-29 bombers attack Tokyo, Japan with incendiary bombs. The resulting firestorm kills over 100,000 people.

10 March

• 241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet; end of First Punic War.
• 1814 - Napoleon I of France is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.
• 1831 - The French Foreign Legion is established by King Louis Philippe to support his war in Algeria.
• 1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican–American War.
• 1902 - Second Boer War: South African Boers win their last battle over British forces, with the capture of a British general and 200 of his men.

11 March

• 1900 - Second Boer War: Boer leader Paul Kruger's peace overtures are rejected by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Lord Salisbury.
• 1917 - World War I: Baghdad falls to the Anglo-Indian forces commanded by Frederick Stanley Maude.
• 1941 - World War II: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.
• 1942 - World War II: Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines begins.
• 1988 - Iran-Iraq War: Cease Fire declared.

12 March

• 538 - Vitiges, king of the Goths, ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius.
• 1938 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
• 1940 - Winter War: Finland signs a harsh peace treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and remaining population are immediately evacuated.

13 March

• 1865 - American Civil War: The Confederate States of America reluctantly agrees to the use of African American troops.
• 1884 - The siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins (ends on January 26, 1885).
• 1900 - Boer War: British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.
• 1940 - Winter War ends.
• 1943 - World War II: On Bougainville, Japanese troops end their assault on American forces at Hill 700.

14 March

• 1590 - French Wars of Religion: Battle of Ivry - Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots defeat the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne.
• 1647 - Thirty Years War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.
• 1757 - On-board the HMS Monarch, Admiral John Byng is executed by firing squad for neglecting his duty.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Union forces defeat Confederates at the Battle of New Bern, North Carolina.
• 1869 - Titokowaru's War: Defeat of Titokowaru.
• 1915 - World War I: Cornered off the coast of Chile by the Royal Navy after fleeing the disastrous Battle of the Falkland Islands, the German light cruiser Dresden is abandoned and scuttled by her crew.
• 1939 - German troops fully occupy the Czechoslovak provinces of Bohemia and Moravia.
• 1951 - Korean War: For the second time, United Nations troops recapture Seoul.

15 March

• 1311 - Battle of Halmyros: The Catalan Company defeats Walter V of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece.
• 1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Courthouse - Near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina, 1,900 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis defeat an American force numbering 4,400.
• 1939 - German troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist.
• 1943 - World War II: Third Battle of Kharkov - Germans retake the city of Kharkiv from the Soviet armies in bitter street fighting.
• 1944 - World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino - Allied aircraft bomb the monastery and stage an assault.

16 March

• 597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king.
• 1689 - The 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers is founded.
• 1802 - The United States Military Academy at West Point is established.
• 1812 - Peninsular War: Battle of Badajoz - British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat French garrison.
• 1818 - Second Battle of Cancha Rayada: Spanish forces defeat Chileans under José de San Martín.
• 1916 - Mexican Expedition: Cavalry under John J. Pershing crosses the border to join the hunt of Pancho Villa.

17 March

• 45 BC - In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
• 624 - A key victory by Muhammad over his Meccan adversaries in the Battle of Badr.
• 1776 - American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts, after George Washington places artillery overlooking the city.
• 1939 - Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945): The Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japanese.
• 1970 - The United States Army charges fourteen officers with suppressing information related to the My Lai massacre.

18 March

• 1915 - World War I: Battle of Gallipoli - three battleships are sunk during a failed British]] and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
• 1937 - Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces hand the Italian forces a grave defeat at the Battle of Guadalajara.
• 1940 - World War II: Axis Powers - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
• 1962 - Algerian War: France and Algeria sign an agreement ending the war.

19 March

• 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China.
• 1861 - The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand.
• 1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle two days later the Confederate forces have retreated from Greenville, North Carolina.
• 1945 - World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship.
• 1945 - World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany to be destroyed.
• 1962 - Algerian War of Independence: A ceasefire takes effect.
• 1982 - Falklands War: Argentine forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war.

20 March

• 1815 - Napoleon enters Paris after escaping from Elba with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
• 1856 - Costa Rican troops rout William Walker's soldiers.
• 1922 - The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
• 1942 - General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".

21 March

• 1801 - The Battle of Alexandria is fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.
• 1918 - World War I: German forces launch their Spring Offensive with Operation Michael, intended to break through the Allied lines, outflank the British forces, and force the French to surrender.
• 1945 - World War II: British troops take Mandalay, Burma.

22 March

• 1849 - The Austrians defeat the Piedmontese at the Battle of Novara (1849).
• 1915 - World War I: After the longest siege in Europe in World War I, the Imperial Russian Army captures the Austro-Hungarian Army fortress at Przemyśl, Poland.
• 1939 - Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.
• 1942 - World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, the Regia Marina is defeated by the Royal Navy in the Second Battle of Sirte.

23 March

• 1568 - Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Catherine de Medici and Charles IX of France make substantial concessions to the Huguenots.
• 1708 - James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.
• 1942 - World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.
• 1983 - Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.

24 March

• 1878 - British frigate Eurydice sinks, killing 300.
• 1944 - In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 prisoners begin breaking out of Stalag Luft III.
• 1976 - Argentina's military forces depose president Isabel Perón.
• 1999 - Kosovo War: NATO commences air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.

25 March

• 1821 - Greece declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Greek War of Independence.
• 1865 - American Civil War: In the last serious attempt to break the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, Confederate forces briefly capture Fort Stedman but are driven back to their lines a few hours later with heavy losses.
• 1941 - Kingdom of Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers.

26 March

• 1913 - Balkan War: Bulgarian forces take Adrianople.
• 1917 - World War I: First Battle of Gaza - British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
• 1943 - World War II: Battle of the Komandorski Islands - the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese ships attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.
• 1975 - The Biological Weapons Convention enters into force.

27 March

• 1794 - The government of the United States establishes a permanent United States Navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.
• 1814 - War of 1812: In central Alabama, United States forces under Andrew Jackson defeat the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
• 1846 - Mexican–American War: Siege of Fort Texas.
• 1942 - World War II: United Kingdom forces raid the U-boat base at St. Nazaire, France.
• 1945 - World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways begins.

28 March

• 845 - Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
• 1794 - Allies under the prince of Coburg defeated French forces at Le Cateau.
• 1809 - Battle of Medelin.
• 1854 - Crimean War: United Kingdom and France declare war on Russia.
• 1860 - First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass - United States forces succeed in stopping the Confederate invasion of New Mexico.
• 1941 - World War II: Battle of Cape Matapan - In the Mediterranean Sea, British Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham leads the Royal Navy in the destruction of three major Italian battleships and two destroyers.

29 March

• 1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England.
• 1847 - Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Appomattox campaign begins.
• 1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula - British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.
• 1911 - The M1911 semi-automatic handgun designed by John Browning becomes the standard-issue handgun in the United States Army, and is subsequently widely used in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.

30 March

• 1814 - Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris.
• 1856 - The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.
• 1940 - Sino-Japanese War: Japan declares Nanking to be the capital of a new Chinese puppet government, nominally controlled by Wang Jingwei.
• 1945 - World War II: Red Army invades Austria and takes Vienna.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

31 March

• 1774 - American Revolutionary War: Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts, closed in the Boston Port Act.
• 1866 - The Spanish Navy bombs the harbour of Valparaíso, Chile.