The Most Incredible Sieges of All Time

The Siege of Saragossa was a bloody struggle in the Peninsular War. A French army advanced on Saragossa with about 6,000 men. Saragossa's fortress was in deplorable condition and proved no obstacle. The French subjected the city to bombardment and assault, neither of which, however, made much impression. General Palafox's army numbered little more than 6,000, but the people's hatred for the invader had driven them to arms in mass, swelling his ranks. At the end of June, the French received 3,500 reinforcements and several fresh batteries. A month of carnage followed in which the French demolished large sections of the city and captured others by storm, only to be forced out again in furious street fighting. The French were compelled to lift the siege and retreat north, their 61-day effort ending in defeat. By then the unconquerable Palafox had become legendary in Spain.

Tyre was an island fortress off the coast of modern Lebanon. It was situated about one half mile off the mainland and the water surrounding it was approximately eighteen feet deep. With mammoth walls one hundred fifty feet high, a well fortified harbor, and virtually no land outside the walls, the city was long thought impregnable. Alexander the Great needed the city to control the Eastern Mediterranian and to provide a secure port through which to funnel reinforcements and supplies. The Tyrians knew Alexander was coming and had stocked up on supplies; it also had its own source of fresh water. Alexander started to build a two hundred yard wide mole (land bridge) from the mainland to the island, a distance of approximately one half mile. While the mole was being built, he took part of his cavalry and went to Sidon where he commandeered one hundred twenty triremes, which were sailed to and surrounded Tyre.