Pearl Harbor is probably the best known battle. D-Day (the landing at Normandy) would be next. Gettysburg, Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill are relatively well known even when the details are vague.
The U.S. wasn’t officially involved at the Alamo.
In addition to Hello Again’s excellent argument, generations of schoolchildren memorized not one by two different poems about this battle.
One by Emerson
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
And another by Longfellow
Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,–
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm.”
I’d go with D-Day. The beginning of the end of WWII, the arrival of the U.S. as a major player on the world stage and an end to innocence of a sort.
For that war, I agree with Bunker Hill. It was an important battle, emboldened the patriots, and led directly to the Royalists evacuating Boston. The patriots did run out of ammo, but the casualty toll for the British was half their force. Most of the patriots’ casualties were when they were retreating and the percentage was nowhere near that of the other side. They lost the hill, but technically won the battle. The biggest loss there was that of Joseph Warren (the man who dispatched Paul Revere) on the patriot side.
None. None of our important wars turned on a single decisive battle.
American history is “1776 and all that”. The equivalent to the Battle of Hastings is the Declaration of Independence.
Perhaps a bit off-topic, but my impression in elementary school was that the American analogue of this would have to be “1492 and All That”; every year, history class consisted of the same four topics, again and again: Columbus, Pilgrims, Revolutionary War, Civil War. Rinse and repeat till “world history” (i.e., ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece…) pops up sometime in middle school.
I agree. If one interprets the question to be more about the US than battles, per se.
Well, there’s only one “battle” in US history that most decently educted Americans can actually remember the date of: the Normandy invasion on “D-Day,” June 6, 1944.
Beyond that, well, I’d say the most iconic moment in American military history wasn’t even a “battle” at all. It was a day on which we were attacked unexpectedly, and with disastrous results.
I think Pearl Harbor Day is the most iconic day in American military history. December 7, 1941 is still a day that lives in infamy.
Old timers in Texas, of course, know the date on which the Alamo fell, too.
I have to say Pearl Harbor, although that doesn’t fit the idea of a ‘battle’ very well. That is the day when the ‘sleep giant’ was allegedly awakened.
Or maybe the Boston massacre. Us Americans seem to remember the times someone provoked us rather than the times we kicked ass.
I think more people know when D-Day actually is more than Gettysburg or Pearl Harbor. I would think any of the 3 would be pretty good choices for “most iconic”. I’d argue that all 3 are better known than Hastings - does the average Brit know what day Hastings was fought?
Alamo, Concord/Lexington, and whatever various Pacific battles (Midway, Iwo Jima, et. al) take a backseat to those 3.
Does Hiroshima/Nagasaki count? They still don’t crack the top 3 but they would contend amongst the best of the rest.
If you like the Alamo but want a battle like that but, you know, with winning I give you
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seige_of_Bastogne
During WWII The Major German offensive of “The Battle of the Bulge” was stopped in a little town called Bastogne. A small part of the 82nd Airborne was trapped in the town surrounded and outnumbered by German forces. After hold them off for several days the German offered the 82nd a chance to surrender. The American commander sent back a one word reply. “Nuts”
I would say Midway was more important. Also a hell of good story, one that has cunning, skill and blind luck on our side. Midway is the American Agincourt.
Although most Americans are familiar with the names of those battles, I doubt that very many can, with any degree of certain, say who won. The outcome of Little Big Horn is pretty well known only to people who know that was also Custer’s Last Stand, but that connection is not a given…
The Battle of New Orleans is one of the few about which the average American can actually describe (poetically) and tell you who won, a knowledge of history that arises only from a popular song.
The Battle of Hastings appears to be important because it defined where England stood in the Europe. It dictated whether it was to be a Scandinavian country or a mainland European country. They kicked out the Normans.
The Civil War could be called definitional, in that it significantly effected the future of the nation. But certainly not so much as the Revolutionary War. And even if Gettysburgh was a big thing, there’s no good face to put on it. Lincoln’s Gettysburgh Address was important, but it was given after the battle. He wasn’t leading it.
Googling for “George Washington battle painting”, it looks like the Crossing of the Delaware and the subsequent Battle of Trenton are the principal topic. So I’m going to go with the Battle of Trenton.
Awesome, the watershed moment in our military history consists of sneaking up on drunk German mercenaries. :smack: 
Sounds better than hanging back and letting France fight England in our place. 
Midway occurred after we sent a deliberately uncoded message, knowing Japancwas listening. Once we had their message, we knew to defend Midway.
As a non-American, I would have thought Antietam.
Srsly ?
I’d think either D-Day or Gettysburg.
Personally I’d vote for Gettysburg - Lincoln really defined what America stood for (equality that is tenuous and perilous and may not survive without sacrifice). But, as part of my community college class we discuss the Gettysburg Address. Very few students know what battle it refers to (it’s in the title!) or even what year it is - when I ask for the year on the final exam (for extra credit) I get ranges from 1740 to 1972! Maybe 1-in-25 will get 1863 correct.
D-Day is America’s next biggest defining battle - protector of the world and super economic power and all that. More people would know its date, simply because anniversaries of it are carried on the news along with remaining survivors. Who knows what will happen 20 years from now when those veterans are all gone.
Battle of the Network Stars. Ask any boy who was 13 at the time.
Less than half the soldiers who landed on D-Day were American, so I don’t think it qualifies as a defining American battle.