The story of the '300' at Thermopylae had me thinking.
There, the story related that 300 Spartans sacrificed themselves to stop a much larger Persian army, giving the rest of the Greek city-states time to prepare.
Often overlooked are the sea battle at the same time between the Athenian navy and Persian fleet where the Athenians were outnumbered 6 to 1, or that there were really around 5,000 greek troops at Thermopylae and that 1,000 of them stayed with the Spartans.
Regardless, in the case of the first battle of Thermopylae the Spartans stayed to fight a rear guard action that greatly delayed the Persian plans.
What other battles saw such actions, and were they really heroic sacrifices, or were they tactical mistakes where alternatives were ignored or missed?
There, the story related that 300 Spartans sacrificed themselves to stop a much larger Persian army, giving the rest of the Greek city-states time to prepare.
Often overlooked are the sea battle at the same time between the Athenian navy and Persian fleet where the Athenians were outnumbered 6 to 1, or that there were really around 5,000 greek troops at Thermopylae and that 1,000 of them stayed with the Spartans.
Regardless, in the case of the first battle of Thermopylae the Spartans stayed to fight a rear guard action that greatly delayed the Persian plans.
What other battles saw such actions, and were they really heroic sacrifices, or were they tactical mistakes where alternatives were ignored or missed?