Napoleon enters Vienna and then defeats an Austrian and Russian army at Austerlitz

A British army under Arthur Wellesley (later duke of Wellington) defeats the French at Vimeiro, near Lisbon

Napoleon enters Vienna and defeats the Austrians in a battle at nearby Wagram

The Russian army under Marshal Kutuzov confronts the advancing French at Borodino, and though defeated makes a successful withdrawal

After victory at Borodino, Napoleon enters Moscow to find the city abandoned and burning

Wellington defeats Napoleon's brother Joseph at Vitoria, and captures his valuable baggage train

American warships win a victory over the British on Lake Erie, strengthening the US presence in the Great Lakes

Tecumseh is killed fighting for the British against General Harrison east of Detroit in the Battle of the Thames

The allies inflict a heavy defeat on Napoleon at Leipzig, in the so-called Battle of the Nations

American volunteers under Andrew Jackson defeat British regulars near New Orleans, two weeks after peace has been agreed at Ghent

The English and Prussian generals Wellington and Blücher defeat Napoleon in a closely fought battle at Waterloo

Britain, France and Russia, supporting Greek independence, defeat the Turkish and Egyptian fleets at Navarino

British and French troops land at Sebastopol, to besiege the port, and win a limited victory over the Russians at the river Alma

An inconclusive battle at Balaklava includes the Charge of the Light Brigade, with British cavalry recklessly led towards Russian guns

An inconclusive engagement at Inkerman means that the allies in the Crimea have to dig in for the winter besieging Sebastopol

French and Piedmontese forces defeat the Austrians decisively at Solferino, in a battle involving appalling casualties

The first battle of the American Civil War, fought near Manassas and the Bull Run Creek, is a clear Confederate victory

The Monitor and the Merrimack fight all morning off the Virginia coast, in history's first clash between ironclad ships

A two-day engagement at Shiloh is the first Civil War battle to bring massive casualties, with more than 23,000 dead, wounded or missing

Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee defeat a Union army in the second battle of Bull Run or Manassas

The Federal victory at Antietam comes at a cost of more than 22,000 casualties in a single day

The three-day Battle of Gettysburg, inconclusive but more damaging to the Confederates, brings casualties on both sides of more than 50,000

George Custer leads a US cavalry attack on the Sioux at the Little Bighorn river, with disastrous results

The Boers inflict a convincing defeat on a British army at Majuba, in the Transvaal

Winston Churchill gallops into battle with the Twenty-First Lancers at Omdurman