I was watching Saving Private Ryan for the umpteenth time recently, and during the scene where the men are preparing for battle in the ruined French village they refer to one particular position as “The Alamo”, meaning that if they are completely overrun then that is where they are to rally and make their last stand.
I was trying to think if there is a more hopeful codename than Alamo: some place where people who were seemingly defeated rallied for what could well have been, perhaps should by all logic have been, a last stand, but in fact they survived, perhaps even won the battle. I can think of lots of last stand places of course (Angelsey, Little Big Horn, Thermopylae, etc.), but the nearest I can think of for an “anti-Alamo” would be Agincourt, a battle that the English should have lost when you look at the numbers and disadvantages, but which was one of their most famous victories. However, it doesn’t quite have the desperation or ‘final stand’ feel of The Alamo.
Can anybody think of any better examples? Again, I’m looking for a rallying point for outnumbered soldiers who ultimately at very least survived the battle.
Rorke’s Drift, where about 150 British and colonial troops successfully held off several thousand Zulu warriors in 1879. It immediately followed the Battle of Isandlwana in which the Zulus had nearly wiped out another British force of about 2,000. It’s memorably depicted in the film Zulu.
La Noche Triste also deserves mention. During the Conquest of Mexico in 1520, Cortes and his men were surrounded by the Aztecs and besieged in Tenochtitlan after the death of Moctezuma. One night they managed to fight their way out of the city, although with great losses. They later regrouped and returned to conquer the city.
The Battle of the Line was only a victory because the Minbari stopped fighting and surrendered when they questioned whatshisface and found out he had a Minbari soul. And Wolf 359 was a complete loss by the Federation, they didn’t even slow the Borg down there.
I was going to go with Rorke’s Drift also. An utterly amazing battle.
Oh, how could I forget ? There’s also Camerone, which is pretty much the perfect Anti-Alamo.
Same sort of premise : 65 French defenders, 2000 Mexican attackers, one hacienda, winner takes all. After 17 hours of fighting, the last 5 defenders still on their feet mounted a bayonet charge (they had run out of ammo). The last *two *legionnaries were eventually forced to surrender, but only on the condition that the 19 survivors be granted safe passage back to the French lines, with their weapons and the body of their commander.
Not only did the Mexican general grant their wish, he also had his doctors patch them all up for good measure.
I had to Google Helm’s Deep. :rolleyes:
I would say Rork’s Drift is the best example of what you’re looking for, though I don’t think many Americans know the proper name of the place. They would know the movie Zulu, though.
What you’re basically looking for are sieges where the defenders held out. Famous examples would be Sparta (272 BC), Vienna (1529), Leiden (1573-1574), Gibraltar (1779-1783), Saragossa (1808), Leningrad (1941-1944), and Khe Sanh (1968).
Yes, but they didn’t win. Holding out against the odds and losing is the very definition of an Alamo situation, the OP is looking for cases where the out-numbered defenders actually won the battle. Yes you can make a case for the Battle of the Line, but it is only on a technicality. Humans only actually defeated Minbari the one time and it wasn’t the Battle of the Line.
So the Battle of the Line qualifies. Wolf 359 might, if you consider 1 heavily damaged ship out of 40 surviving, with no damage to the Borg for the losses, as a hopeful outcome. The Federation didn’t, they considered it a disaster and used it as a level of comparison for other battles in the future, to determine how big a disaster the loser suffered.