Forgotten American Military Defeats

Americans have never accepted defeat easily. Not in sports, not in politics, not in warfare. Defeats in battle have only been sustained, in the American psyche, when the enemy has resorted to treachery, or the soldiers defending a given position were overcome by overwhelming odds, despite heroic and inspiring resistance. The Pearl Harbor debacle is an example of the former; the fall of the Alamo of the latter. On a level field, with the odds even, Americans have always prevailed, or so it is widely believed.

Defeats in battle are forgotten, ignored by the history books, or explained in the manner described. MacArthur is forgiven the loss of the Philippines in early World War II, the worst defeat ever suffered by the United States Army. Pearl Harbor is blamed on Japanese perfidy, though there was ample warning that an attack was forthcoming and the harbor defenses and fleet were still unprepared. At both, as in most American military defeats, soldiers and sailors fought bravely, despite the miscalculations of their leaders. They did as well in these 10 all but forgotten military disasters of American history.