12 Of History's Toughest Sieges

Harlech Castle stood on the Welsh coast. English King Edward I ordered its building.Edward IEdward I built Harlech Castle during his 1283 conquest of Wales. Its spot on a rocky crag with sea access made it a top medieval defense. The castle's defensive value showed itself during the 15th-century Wars of the Roses.Wars of the Roses.

The castle stayed loyal to the Lancastrian side, holding out against the Yorkists for over seven years. This made it the longest siege in British history. Edward IV offered a pardon for the garrison's surrender to end the siege peacefully, but the offers were rejected. After seven years of resistance, two armies attacked the castle in 1468. After defeating the Lancastrian army in the field, the Yorkists still demanded the castle surrender. Welsh commander Davydd ap Einion remained defiant.defiant, allegedly saying:

I held a tower in France until all the old women of Wales heard about it; now the old women of France will hear how I defend this castle.

The rebellious words were likely a bluff, as the castle fell weeks later. The regimental song "Men of Harlech" came from the castle's defiance, though it did not play at the Battle of Rorke's Drift as the film Zulu shows.Zulu shows.

During Julius Caesar's Gallic CampaignGallic Campaign, a massive uprising led by VercingetorixVercingetorixTribes united under one leader against the Romans. After facing early losses and seeing more tribes join Vercingetorix's cause, Caesar moved his forces to Alesia to capture the town and the Gallic leader. Caesar could not take the city directly. He ordered the construction of siegeworks around the walls, planning to starve the Gauls out.

A massive relieving army marched on Alesia. News of this reached the Romans, but Caesar refused to lift the siege. Caesar did not pass up the chance to capture the Gaulish leader. Instead, Caesar ordered his men to build more fortifications to guard against the second Gallic army. Caesar built fourteen miles of walls and towers around the city. The town cast out children, the elderly, and women, hoping the Romans would take them. Caesar refused entry; the people were caught between the two camps and starved.

The relieving army's arrival caused an attack on the outer Roman defenses, and the garrison of Alesia broke out of their walls. The Romans went from besieging to being besieged. The Gauls' combined assault was fierce, and the Romans and Caesar's personal help (at least according to Caesar) was needed at several points to stop his army from collapsing.according to Caesarwas required at several points to stop his army from collapsing.

The Romans held and beat back both attacks. The Gauls surrendered after eight years, ending the Gallic wars.

A siege's difficulty is not just about time. During the American Civil War, one tough campaign was the Quest for Vicksburg, MS

Capturing the city, which sat on the Mississippi River, cut the Confederacy in two. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis saw the strategic and symbolic value of Vicksburg. The Union president made taking the town a priority:

See how much land these men hold. Vicksburg is the key. The war stops only when we have that key. We can seize all the northern Confederate ports; they will stay out from Vicksburg.

The Union push for the valuable town needed to overcome supply issues, tough and well-defended ground, and a large garrison, plus another Confederate army led by Joseph E. JohnstonHe was on his way. After the first attempt failed in 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant took on the task the following spring.

Before the campaign started in January 1863, Grant wrote to his wife Julia. In his direct but engaging writing, he accurately predicted how the campaign would play out:

Vicksburg will be hard work. I expect to succeed.

Every move was fought over. Grant's men fought many battles to stop Confederate forces from joining up. After several setbacks, including an attempt to dig a canal around the city, the Union army reached Vicksburg while Johnston's army hid nearby.

The Confederate garrison immediately repelled an attempt to take the town, suffering heavy losses. Realizing he could not force entry, Grant dug in to stop Vicksburg from breaking out and Johnson's men from breaking in. Supplies ran low, and the Confederate garrison commander found a letter from the soldiers:

If you cannot feed us, you better surrender.

Signed,

Many Soldiers

The surrender day was highly symbolic: July 4. It also followed a big win at Gettysburg, making the Fourth of July 1863 second only to the first for the US.

Carthago delenda est("Carthage must be destroyed") was the motto of Cato the Elder, a Roman statesman who ended every public speech with "...and furthermore, Carthage must be destroyed." After the Second Punic War horrors inflicted on Rome, some Roman statesmen feared Carthage's return.

A Roman group went out in 149 BCE to settle this. Even though the Carthaginians asked for peace, the Romans' harsh demands forced a final confrontationThe Siege of Carthage (149-146 BCE) marked the final clash between two great Mediterranean powers. Carthage fought hard for survival; its military stood weak, but the city refused to surrender. The city's population prepared for a massive fight against the invaders.

The Romans lost the first skirmishes. Their navy suffered damage. Attempts to win fast by scaling the walls failed against the Carthaginian garrison's strong defense. As the Romans settled into a long siege, a revolt erupted in Macedonia. This split Roman resources between the two fights. Little progress was made against Carthage in 148 BCE.

Scipio Aemilianus, grandson of the famedScipio AfricanusScipio Africanus was named Roman commander the next year. Rome gained the upper hand. The Romans took over supplies by sea after more than a year. This allowed the final attack. Even after the walls fell, the Romans had to search house by house to finish Carthage. After almost a week of fierce fighting, the great city, the only real threat to Roman power in the Mediterranean, fell. They systematically looted the city, selling most survivors into slavery.

The siege of Ceuta lasted three decades. Moroccan forces tried to take the Spanish port. Ceuta sits on the Strait of Gibraltar. This position gave Spain control of the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. Morocco aimed to fix a 15th-century mistake by taking it back.

Taking a coastal fort needs a navy. England (later Britain) offered help. After losing Gibraltar to an Anglo-Dutch attack in 1704, Ceuta held firm against Moroccan forces. The first siege ended after 26 years, following the arrival of a.A Spanish armyarrived in 1720.

After the Spanish force left the next year, the Moroccans tried again but made no real gains. Plagues hit Moroccan troops and Spaniards as the stronghold stayed strong. Another attempt happened late in the 18th century, but Spain kept Ceuta then, as it does now.

World War I spread beyond Western Europe to Africa and the Middle East. The sick Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers. Britain moved to attack the empire's stability internally. Britain gave aid to the Arab revolt in 1916. Britain promised to recognize a unified Arab state after the war, but they did not keep that promise.

The Islamic holy cities of Mecca andMedinaThe uprising began in the summer of 1916, targeting Medina first. British artillery helped Mecca fall after three weeks, but Medina fought back hard. Ottoman leader Fahkreddin Pashin organized a fierce defense, keeping attackers away for over two and a half years. The Ottomans also fought to keep railway stations and supplies, blocking hundreds of attacks.

After the armistice, Pashin refused to surrender the city. The British, tired of fighting, decided gold was enough if bullets failed. TheyBribes secured the outcome.some Ottoman troops to arrest their commander and end the long siege in January 1919.

Ishiyama Honganji was a series of fortified temples held by the militant Buddhist sect, the Ikko-ikki. The Ikko-ikki was not one group; it was many sects with holdings across Japan, and warlords found it a problem.Oda Nobunaga.Nobunaga was perhaps the most brutal warlord fighting for Japan's control in the 16th century. Even in his Owari domain, the Ikko-ikki faced three attempts to control Nagashima.

In 1570, a large Nobunaga force surrounded Ishiyama Honganji. The Ikko-ikki had allies in the fight against Nobunaga. The powerful Mori clan supplied the stronghold by sea, motivated by hurting Nobunaga more than helping the Ikko-ikki.

For ten years, Nobunaga and his forces moved slowly against the complex. They failed every assault. Mori control of the sea stopped food supplies. The Mori navy lost in 1578, cutting off outside supplies. Two more years passed. The emperor's direct appeal forced the garrison to surrender. They escaped like the Nagashima group, but the complex burned.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of Nobunaga's key retainers, built what is nowOsaka Castlebuilt on that spot a few years later.

The Ottomans knew much about sieges; they pioneered siege artillery use. The great city of Constantinople fell to the new empire in the 15th century. This led to conquests across the Mediterranean and Southern Europe, with some setbacks. The Venetians even considered usingbiological warfarebiological warfare to stop the Ottoman invasion by infecting them with the plague.

Conquering the Venetian port of Candia on Crete was not simple. A surprise attack on Crete caused most of the island to fall in months, yet the capital held. Venetian and ally naval actions kept supplies reaching the city for years; the Ottomans could not break the outer defenses. Candian citizens lived over twenty years under siege, conducting their lives while Ottoman guns pounded the walls with little success.

Venetians and the French efforts to lift the siege failed. After 21 hard years, the Venetian governor surrendered. Over 100,000 Ottomans died, plus many Venetian and French soldiers. Crete suffered under Ottoman rule and revolted several times in the 18th and 19th centuries. The island joined Greece in 1913.

The First Punic War lasted over 23 years. Rome and Carthage fought this long struggle, mostly on the contested island of Sicily. Drepana (now Trapani, pictured) was a key port on Sicily's west coast. Drepana kept the Carthaginian supply line in Sicily active alongside Lilybaeum (now Marsala).

Carthaginians won a decisive naval victory in 249 BCE, shattering the Roman naval blockade. This defeat stopped Rome from starving the garrison. Romans struggled with the tough terrain. Building a new Roman navy and using the corvus boarding device finally changed the situation.

The destruction of a Carthaginian fleet occurred at the Aegates IslandsThis action ended the conflict and let the Romans win.

A small army led by Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, a leader of the First Crusade, first besieged Tripoli. The small group of knights beat a much larger army sent against it but lacked men to take Tripoli directly. They built a fortress called Mons Peregrinus ("pilgrim's mountain," ruins pictured). This fortress became a base to slowly reduce and conquer Tripoli's defenses.

Years of blocking trade and cutting supply lines followed. Raymond died during an attack on his fortress. HissuccessorThis successor arranged a deal with nearby crusader states. They divided the surrounding land for reinforcements to push the siege toward a final move. Food ran low, and a peaceful end was planned. Still, crusader troops sought to steal city riches and brutally sacked Tripoli on July 12, 1109.

The County of TripoliThis was one of four crusader states in the Middle East during the 12th century. After early expansion, including the siege of Tripoli, the Mamluks destroyed the states in the 13th century.

In theSpanish Civil WarDuring the Spanish Civil War, Nationalists pushed for the Republican capital of Madrid in the fall of 1936. Germany and Italy gave aerial and armored support to the Nationalists. Republicans, with only small arms and limited ammunition, drove back the Nationalists. The rallying cry "no pasarán" ("they shall not pass") and the arrival of international volunteers fueled the defense and kept the city from Nationalist control.international volunteersThese volunteers lifted the defenders' spirits and kept the city from Nationalist hands.

Multiple frontal assaults by Francisco Franco's veteran colonial infantry happened. Republican forces, poorly equipped and largely untrained, beat back these attacks. Further attacks stopped when the cost of taking the city by force became too high. German bombers began pounding the city, trying to force a surrender. This only made the resistance against the Nationalists stronger, like most civilian bombing campaigns have done in history.Francisco Franco'sVeteran colonial infantry were beaten back by the poorly equipped and largely untrained Republicans. Attacks ceased when the cost of taking the city by force proved too great. German bombers started pounding the city. This hardened resistance against the Nationalists, just as most bombing campaigns against civilians have done in history.

The Nationalists settled in and tried to win the war elsewhere for two years; little changed. The Republican cause collapsed in the spring of 1939, causing the fall of Madrid and Franco's regime. Many defenders of the city became victims of Franco's "White Terror"

The Siege of Ostend, as the name suggests,The Eighty Years' WarThe Eighty Years' War was a long, harsh conflict. The Spanish hold on what is now the Low Countries was a core part of the Habsburg domains. From 1568 to 1648, the United Provinces fought to remove Spanish rule with help from England, Scotland, and eventually France.

Ostend (in Belgium) was a coastal city fortified by the English and Dutch in the late 16th century. In 1601, a large Spanish army tried to take the city. Because of its sea access and English support, the usual siege tactic of starving the defenders out did not work. The garrison rotated in and out by sea so defenders remained fresh and alert. Some English soldiers guarded the walls.

The besieging Spanish could not control the sea, so they hit the town's walls with cannons and launched frontal assaults. Defenders repelled each attack. However, the siege's combined effect wore them down. By the winter of 1601, they faced serious trouble. The English commander of the garrison, Sir Francis Verechose the odd tactic of pretending to negotiate a surrender to gain more time.

The plan succeeded. The long talks bought time for a needed group of600 reinforcementsSpanish men threw another wave at the walls in early 1602. The Anglo-Dutch garrison repulsed this attack. Spanish cannonballs wrecked the town as attackers increased pressure. The Dutch used dead soldiers to reinforce walls crumbling under pressure.

After three years of grinding, severe attrition, the garrison surrendered in September 1604. The Spanish victory cost a lot in blood and gold. Thousands died in assaults; many more died from disease. The economic costs of the fight became unsustainable.