The most significant major battles in American history, ranked by everyone. Anyone can vote on this list, making these rankings a good way to determine how important these battles were to the development of the United States. Therefore, your votes should be based on how crucial you feel these battles were, not whether you are a fan of the outcome or how much you agree with the reasons for fighting.
The course of US history was significantly altered by each of these famous battles in American history. There may be obscure wars in US History, but these famous American battles helped the US become the country it is today, for better or worse. There's no denying that, whether or not you agree with the politics of war, these important battles were fought during some of the most important wars in history and left their mark on many countries, not just the United States. Many even rank among the most important historical events in US history, or even world history.
Bear in mind, these results are not limited to battles fought within the territory of the United States. Feel free to include any other battles that you think directly impacted the future course of events in the United States.
1
1,419288Invasion of Normandy
NormandyPart of: Operation Overlord, World War II, Normandy Campaign
Events: Battle of Carentan, Operation Spring, Operation Martlet, Sword Beach Landings, Battle of Verrières Ridge
Combatants: Netherlands, Kingdom of Greece, Nazi Germany, Free French, New Zealand
Commanders: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Omar Bradley
The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion by and establishment of Western Allied forces in Normandy, during Operation Overlord in 1944 during World War II; the largest amphibious invasion to ever... more2
1,491394Battle of Gettysburg
Pennsylvania, United States of AmericaPart of: American Civil War, Gettysburg Campaign
Events: Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day, Battle of Gettysburg, First Day, Anderson's assault
Combatants: Confederate States of America, United States of America, Union
Commanders: George Meade, Robert E. Lee
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest... more- 31,206237
Battle of Midway
Midway Atoll, United States of AmericaPart of: Pacific War, World War II
Combatants: United States of America, Empire of Japan
Commanders: Isoroku Yamamoto, Chūichi Nagumo, Chester W. Nimitz, Tamon Yamaguchi, Raymond A. Spruance
The Battle of Midway was a crucial and decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month... more - 4953228
Siege of Yorktown
Virginia, United States of AmericaPart of: American Civil War, Peninsula Campaign
Events: Battle of Lee's Mills
Combatants: Confederate States of America, United States of America, Union
Commanders: Joseph E. Johnston, George B. McClellan
The Battle of Yorktown or Siege of Yorktown was fought from April 5 to May 4, 1862, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. Marching from Fort Monroe, Union Maj. Gen. George B.... more - 5669159
Battles of Saratoga
New York, United States of AmericaPart of: American Revolutionary War
Combatants: Kingdom of Great Britain, Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Hanau, United States of America
Commanders: Benedict Arnold, John Burgoyne
The Battles of Saratoga marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led a... more - 6860243
Battles of Lexington and Concord
Massachusetts, United States of AmericaPart of: American Revolutionary War
Combatants: Province of Massachusetts Bay, United Kingdom
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay,... more - 7906334
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, HawaiiPart of: Pacific War, World War II
Combatants: United States of America, Empire of Japan
Commanders: Isoroku Yamamoto, Chūichi Nagumo
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The... more - 8759263
Battle of the Bulge
Ardennes, BelgiumPart of: World War II
Events: Losheim Gap, Operation Bodenplatte, Siege of Bastogne, Battle of St. Vith, Elsenborn Ridge
Combatants: United States of America, United Kingdom, Nazi Germany
Commanders: George S. Patton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, Josef Dietrich
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end... more - 9651218
Battle of Trenton
Trenton, New JerseyPart of: New York and New Jersey campaign, American Revolutionary War
Events: George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River
Combatants: Kingdom of Great Britain, Hesse, Patriot, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel
Commanders: Johann Rall, George Washington
The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal battle during the American Revolutionary War which took place on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George... more - 10588219
Battle of Bunker Hill
Charlestown, BostonPart of: American Revolutionary War
Combatants: Province of Massachusetts Bay, Kingdom of Great Britain, Connecticut Colony, Patriot
Commanders: Henry Clinton, William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after the adjacent Bunker Hill, which was... more - 11534208
Battle of Antietam
Sharpsburg, MarylandPart of: Maryland Campaign, American Civil War
Combatants: Confederate States of America, United States of America, Union
Commanders: Robert E. Lee, George B. McClellan
The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the South, fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek as part of the Maryland... more - 12475173
Vicksburg Campaign
Vicksburg, MississippiPart of: Western Theater of the American Civil War
Events: Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg, Yazoo Pass Expedition
Combatants: Confederate States of America, Union
The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last... more - 13657293
Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, JapanPart of: Pacific War, World War II
Combatants: United States of America, Empire of Japan
Commanders: Marc Mitscher, Holland Smith, Graves B. Erskine, Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Alexander Vandegrift
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces landed and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The... more - 14467220
Guadalcanal Campaign
Guadalcanal, Solomon IslandsPart of: Pacific War, World War II
Events: Battle of Edson's Ridge
Combatants: Allies of World War II, Empire of Japan
Commanders: Isoroku Yamamoto, William Halsey, Jr.
The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and... more - 15455173
Battle of Okinawa
Okinawa Island, JapanPart of: Pacific War, World War II
Events: Cactus Ridge, The Pinnacle, Battle of Okinawa
Combatants: United States of America, Empire of Japan, United Kingdom
Commanders: Seiichi Itō, Minoru Ōta, Joseph Stilwell, Roy Geiger, Mitsuru Ushijima
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War during World War II. The 82-day-long... more - 16354164
Battle of Shiloh
Tennessee, United States of AmericaPart of: American Civil War
Combatants: Confederate States of America, United States of America, Ulysses S. Grant, Union
Commanders: Ulysses S. Grant, P. G. T. Beauregard, Don Carlos Buell, Albert Sidney Johnston
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6-8, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union... more - 17381200
Battle of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter, CharlestonPart of: American Civil War
Combatants: Confederate States of America, Union
Commanders: Robert Anderson, P. G. T. Beauregard
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina, that started the American Civil War. Following declarations of secession by seven Southern... more - 18304160
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga
Fort Ticonderoga, TiconderogaPart of: Invasion of Canada, American Revolutionary War
Combatants: Province of Massachusetts Bay, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Kingdom of Great Britain, Connecticut Colony
Commanders: Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold, William Delaplace
The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga occurred during the American Revolutionary War on May 10, 1775, when a small force of Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold overcame a... more - 19329183
Battle of New Orleans
Chalmette, United States of AmericaPart of: War of 1812
Combatants: Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, United States of America, United Kingdom
Commanders: John Coffee, John Lambert, Edward Pakenham, Alexander Cochrane, William Carroll
The Battle of New Orleans was a series of engagements fought between December 24, 1814, through January 8, 1815, and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American combatants, commanded by... more - 2021170
Battle of the Coral Sea
New GuineaPart of: Pacific War, World War II
Events: Invasion of Tulagi
Combatants: Allies of World War II, Empire of Japan
Commanders: Douglas MacArthur, Thomas C. Kinkaid
The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought during 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United... more - 21504325
Battle of the Alamo
San Antonio, TexasPart of: Texas Revolution
Combatants: Mexico
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo... more - 2216567
Allied invasion of Sicily
Sicily, ItalyPart of: World War II, Italian Campaign
Events: Battle of Gela, Operation Ladbroke, Battle of Troina, Operation Fustian, Operation Chestnut
Combatants: Allies of World War II, Kingdom of Italy, Axis powers, Nazi Germany
Commanders: George S. Patton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, Harold Alexander
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis Powers. It was a large scale amphibious and airborne... more - 2318485
Battle of the Chesapeake
Atlantic OceanPart of: American Revolutionary War
Combatants: Early modern France, Kingdom of Great Britain
Commanders: François Joseph Paul de Grasse
Decided the American Revolution, allowed the Siege of Yorktown. A rare strategic defeat for the Royal Navy.The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American War of Independence that took place near the... more - 24211109
Battle of Fort McHenry
Baltimore, MarylandPart of: War of 1812
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Tet Offensive
VietnamPart of: Vietnam War
Events: Battle of Hue, Battle of Saigon, Battle of Khe Sanh
Combatants: South Korea, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Viet Cong, United States of America
Commanders: William Westmoreland, Vo Nguyen Giap
The Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam against the... more
