List of battles by casualties


The following is a list of the casualties count in battles in world history. The list includes both sieges and civilian casualties during the battles. Large battle casualty counts are almost impossible to calculate precisely. Many of these figures are estimates, and, where possible, a range of estimates is presented. Figures display numbers of all types of casualties when available but may only include number killed. Where possible, the list specifies whether or not prisoners are included in the count. This list does not include bombing runs or massacres such as the Rape of Nanking, which, despite potentially massive casualties, are not typically classified as "battles", since they are usually one-sided engagements or the nation attacked is not officially at war with the attackers. Tactical or strategic strikes, however, may form part of larger engagements which are themselves battles.

Classical formation battles

These refer to battles in which armies met on a single field of battle and fought each other for anywhere from one to several days. Military formations lost their impact and the use of this type of battle died out in favor of grander military operations.
BattleYearConflictCasualties
Battle of Thymbra! 547 BCLydian–Persian War 100,000
Battle of Marathon! 490 BCGreco-Persian Wars 5,000–8,000
Battle of Thermopylae! 480 BCGreco-Persian Wars 22,300–22,500
Battle of Plataea! 479 BCGreco-Persian War 51,500–257,000
Battle of Chaeronea! 338 BCRise of Macedon 1,000-4,000
Battle of the Granicus! 334 BCWars of Alexander the Great Around 7,000
Battle of Issus! 333 BCWars of Alexander the Great 20,000-40,000
Battle of Gaugamela! 331 BCWars of Alexander the Great 53,500
Battle of the Hydaspes! 326 BCWars of Alexander the Great 23,310
Battle of Sentinum! 295 BCThird Samnite War 69,420
Battle of Heraclea! 280 BCPyrrhic War 11,000–26,000
Battle of Kalinga! 262 BCKalinga-Maurya Empire 150,000–200,000
Battle of Changping! 260 BCQin's wars of unification 700,000
Battle of the Trebia! 218 BCSecond Punic War 35,000
Battle of Lake Trasimene! 217 BCSecond Punic War 30,000
Battle of Cannae! 216 BCSecond Punic War 56,000–92,000 or more
Battle of the Metaurus! 207 BCSecond Punic War 12,000
Battle of Zama! 202 BCSecond Punic War 21,500
Battle of Magnesia! 190 BCRoman–Seleucid War 53,350
Battle of Pydna! 168 BCThird Macedonian War 21,000
Battle of Arausio! 105 BCGermanic Wars 84,000
Battle of Carrhae! 53 BCRoman–Persian Wars 24,000
Siege of Alesia! 52 BCGallic Wars 100,000–150,000
Battle of Pharsalus! 48 BCCaesar's Civil War 17,000
Battle of Philippi! 42 BCLiberators' civil war 24,000
Battle of Actium! 31 BCFinal War of the Roman Republic 7,500 or more
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest! #0009 ADRoman–Germanic wars 20,000
Battle of Watling Street! #0061 ADIceni Revolt 80,400
Battle of Mons Graupius! #0084 ADRoman conquest of Britain 10,360
Battle of Red Cliffs#0208Three Kingdoms 100,000
Battle of Edessa#0260Roman–Persian Wars 50,000 or more
Battle of Adrianople#0378Gothic War 40,000 or more
Battle of Fei River#0383Wu Hu Era 150,000 or more
Battle of the Catalaunian Plains#0451Hunnic Invasion 165,000
Battle of Salsu#0612Goguryeo–Sui War 302,300
Battle of al-Qadisiyyah#0636Muslim conquest of Persia 31,000
Battle of Muzayyah#0633Muslim conquest of Persia 10,000
Battle of Ullais#0633Muslim conquest of Persia 35,000
Battle of River#0633Muslim conquest of Persia More than 15,000
Battle of Walaja#0636Muslim conquest of Persia 22,000
Battle of Nahavand#0642Muslim conquest of Persia 28,500
Battle of Yarmouk#0636Muslim conquest of the Levant 70,000
Battle of Gwiju#1019Third conflict in the Goryeo–Khitan War 90,000+.
Battle of Nhu Nguyet river#01077Lý–Song War 150,000
Battle of Didgori#1121Georgian–Seljuk wars 210,000
Battle of Hattin#1187Ayyubid–Crusader War 17,000–20,000
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa#1212Reconquista 60,000
Battle of Yehuling#1212Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty Around 50,000
Battle of the Kalka River#1223Mongol invasion of Rus' Around 50,000
Battle of Legnica#1241Mongol invasion of Poland 30,000
Battle of Mohi#1241Mongol invasion of Europe 15,000
Third battle of Bach Dang river#1288Mongol invasion of Vietnam 85,000
Battle of Jaran Manjur#1298Mongol invasions of India Over 20,000
Battle of Yamen#1279Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty 100,000
Battle of Bannockburn#1314First War of Scottish Independence 19,000
Battle of Kulikovo#1380List of Mongol and Tatar raids against Rus' 136,000
Battle of the Terek River#1395Tokhtamysh–Timur war 100,000
Conquest of Delhi#1398Timur's Indian campaign 100,000
Battle of Ankara#1402Ottoman–Timur War 15,000 or more
Battle of Grunwald#1410Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War 13,000
Battle of Agincourt#1415Hundred Years' War 14,000
Battle of Tốt Động – Chúc Động#1426Lam Sơn uprising 30,000
Tumu Crisis#1449Ming–Mongol War 200,000 or more
Battle of Towton#1461Wars of the Roses 28,000
Night Attack at Târgoviște#1462Wallachian-Ottoman Wars 20,000
Battle of Vaslui#1475Moldavian-Ottoman Wars 40,000 or more
Battle of Valea Albă#1476Moldavian–Ottoman Wars 30,000 or more
Battle of Kabul#1504Campaigns of Babur 20,000 or more
Battle of Ravenna#1512War of the League of Cambrai 13,500
Battle of Marignano#1515War of the League of Cambrai 11,000–15,000
Battle of Ridaniya#1517Ottoman wars in the Near East 13,000
First Battle of Panipat#1526Mughal Conquest 20,000–50,000
Battle of Mohács#1526Ottoman–Hungarian wars Probably 30,000
Battle of Ghaghra#1529Mughal Conquest 13,000
Battle of Lepanto#1571Ottoman–Venetian wars 22,566–27,566
Battle of Molodi#1572Russo-Crimean Wars 29,000–33,000 or 100 000
Battle of Chungju#1592Japanese invasions of Korea 8,000–16,000 100,000
Battle of Călugăreni#1595Long War 11,000–16,000
Battle of Sacheon #1598Japanese invasions of Korea 30,000
Battle of Sekigahara#1600Sengoku period 60,000 or less
First Battle of Breitenfeld#1631Thirty Years' War 20,000 or more
Battle of Lützen#1632Thirty Years' War 11,000–14,000
Battle of Nördlingen#1634Thirty Years' War 17,000
Battle of the Downs#1639Eighty Years' War 15,000 or more
Second Battle of Breitenfeld#1642Thirty Years' War 14,000
Battle of Jankau#1645Thirty Years' War 15,500
Battle of Berestechko#1651Khmelnytsky Uprising 30,000–40,000
Battle of Samugarh#1658Mughal Conquest 32,000
Battle of Khajwa#1659Mughal Conquest 20,000
Battle of Lund#1676Scanian War 14,000
Battle of Vienna#1683Ottoman–Habsburg wars 19,500
Battle of Bijapur#1686Mughal Conquest 17,000
Battle of Landen#1693War of the Grand Alliance 28,000
Battle of Zenta#1697Ottoman–Habsburg wars 30,300
Battle of Jinji#1698Mughal Conquest 16,000
Battle of Blenheim#1704War of the Spanish Succession 32,000
Battle of Fraustadt#1706Great Northern War 16,500
Battle of Ramillies#1706War of the Spanish Succession 15,600
Battle of Poltava#1709Great Northern War 14,300
Battle of Malplaquet#1709War of the Spanish Succession 95,000
Battle of Fontenoy#1745War of the Austrian Succession 14,000
Battle of Leuthen#1757Seven Years' War 11,800
Battle of Zorndorf#1758Seven Years' War 30,000
Battle of Kunersdorf#1759Seven Years' War 35,000
Third Battle of Panipat#1761Marathas and Afghans 150,000-200,000
Battle of Kagul#1770Russo-Turkish War 21,000
Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút#1785Siamese-Vietnamese Wars 50,000
Battle of Rymnik#1789Russo-Turkish War 21,000
Battle of Arcole#1796War of the First Coalition 11,000
Battle of Trebbia#1799War of the Second Coalition 17,000–23,000
Battle of Novi#1799War of the Second Coalition 19,500
Battle of Marengo#1800War of the Second Coalition 16,400
Ulm Campaign#1805War of the Third Coalition 62,000
Battle of Austerlitz#1805War of the Third Coalition 45,300
Battle of Jena–Auerstedt#1806War of the Fourth Coalition 52,000 including prisoners later killed
Battle of Eylau#1807War of the Fourth Coalition 40,000
Battle of Wagram#1809War of the Fifth Coalition 77,000–79,000
Battle of Talavera#1809Peninsular War 13,900
Battle of the Danube#1811Russo-Turkish War 20,000
Battle of Salamanca#1812Peninsular War 18,800
Battle of Borodino#1812French invasion of Russia 74,000
Battle of Berezina#1812French invasion of Russia 60,000
Battle of Vitoria#1813Peninsular War 13,000
Battle of Leipzig#1813War of the Sixth Coalition 124,000
Battle of Dresden#1813War of the Sixth Coalition 48,000
Battle of Ligny#1815Hundred Days 28,000
Battle of Waterloo#1815Hundred Days 47,000 or more
Battle of Inkerman#1854Crimean War 15,857
Battle of Shiloh#1862American Civil War 24,000
Battle of Antietam#1862American Civil War 23,000–26,193
Battle of Fredericksburg#1862American Civil War 17,300–17,962
Battle of Gettysburg#1863American Civil War 51,000
Battle of Chickamauga#1863American Civil War 34,000
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House#1864American Civil War 30,000
Battle of Stones River#1862–63American Civil War 24,000
Battle of Königgrätz#1866Austro-Prussian War 47,500
Battle of Tuyutí#1866Paraguayan War 7,000–16,000
Battle of Mars-la-Tour/Battle of Gravelotte#1870Franco-Prussian War 34,000
Battle of Sedan#1870Franco-Prussian War 26,000
Battle of Adwa#1896First Italo-Ethiopian War 17,300
Battle of Binakayan-Dalahican#1896Philippine Revolutionary War 2,000–15,000
Battle of Omdurman#1898Mahdist War 20,430
Battle of Sakarya#1921Greco–Turkish War of 1919–22 61,000

Sieges and urban combat

This list includes sieges, as well as modern battles that were fought primarily in urban areas. Major military operations that included city fighting are listed [|below]. The battles included here inflicted at least 50,000 casualties.
SiegeYearConflictCasualties
Casualties
Siege of Alesia52 BCGallic Wars200,000100,000
Siege of Constantinople717–18Arab–Byzantine wars170,000130,000
Siege of Yongzhou1076Lý-Song War140,00078,000
Siege of Baghdad1258Mongol invasions and conquests2,000,000100,000
Siege of Tenochtitlan1521Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire240,000100,000
Siege of Rhodes1522Ottoman wars in Europe55,20055,200
Siege of Chittorgarh1567–1568Mughal-Rajput Wars 35,00040,000
Siege of Ostend1601–04Eighty Years' War115,00090,000
Second Siege of Zaragoza1808–09Peninsular War64,00064,000
First Siege of Sevastopol1854–55Crimean War230,000230,000
Third Battle of Nanking1863Taiping Rebellion100,000100,000
Siege of Petersburg1864–65American Civil War70,00070,000
Battle of Gettysburg1863American Civil War50,00050,000
Siege of Plevna1877Russo-Turkish War 75,00075,000
Siege of Port Arthur1904–05Russo-Japanese War100,000100,000
Siege of Adrianople1912–13First Balkan War93,28293,282
Battle of Taiyuan1937World War II130,000130,000
Battle of Xinkou1937World War II200,000200,000
Battle of Shanghai1937World War II400,000400,000
Battle of Wuhan1938World War II540,000540,000
First Battle of Changsha1939World War II80,000+80,000+
Battle of Nanchang1939World War II75,32875,328
Battle of Dunkirk1940World War II88,00088,000
Battle of South Shanxi1941World War II120,000+120,000+
Siege of Odessa1941World War II133,813133,813
Battle of Kiev1941World War II700,544700,544
Second Siege of Sevastopol1941–42World War II236,437236,437
Third Battle of Changsha1942World War II84,86284,862
Battle of Stalingrad1942–43World War II2,500,6201,250,000
Battle of Changde1943World War II100,000100,000
Battle of West Hubei1943World War II115,830115,830
Siege of Leningrad1941–44World War II5,500,0001,117,000
Warsaw Uprising1944World War II200,000+200,000+
Siege of Budapest1944–45World War II422,000422,000
Battle of Berlin1945World War II1,298,7451,298,745
Battle of Okinawa1945World War II82,00082,000
Battle of Manila1945World War II500,000100,000
Battle of the Bulge1944–45World War II218,900161,370
Siege of Changchun1948Chinese Civil War425,000425,000
Siege of Basra1987Iran-Iraq War85,00085,000

Major operations

This list includes major operations and prolonged battles or operations fought over a large area or for a long time. The duration of some operations, like the Battle of Moscow, are disputed so numbers found in various sources may differ for that reason alone.
OperationYearConflictCasualties
Ulm Campaign#1805War of the Third Coalition 62,000
French invasion of Russia#1812Napoleonic Wars 920,000-1,040,000
Six Days' Campaign#1814War of the Sixth Coalition 80,000
Peninsula Campaign#1862American Civil War 36,463
Battle of Chancellorsville#1863American Civil War 30,000–30,500
Overland Campaign#1864American Civil War 87,000–92,000
Appomattox Campaign#1865American Civil War 16,500
Battle of Mukden#1905Russo-Japanese War 160,000
Battle of Lule Burgas#1912First Balkan War 42,162+
First Battle of Çatalca#1912First Balkan War 22,000
Battle of Bregalnica#1913Second Balkan War 36,620
Serbian Campaign #1914World War I 437,361, including prisoners
Battle of the Frontiers#1914World War I 664,191
Battle of Tannenberg#1914World War I 145,000–160,000
Battle of Galicia#1914World War I 645,000–700,000
First Battle of the Marne#1914World War I 513,000
First Battle of Ypres#1914World War I 210,000
Battle of Łódź#1914World War I 130,000
First Battle of Champagne#1914-15World War I 139,532
Battle of Sarikamish#1914-15World War I 60,000—85,000
Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes#1915World War I 216,200
Second Battle of Ypres#1915World War I 104,208–107,000
Gallipoli Campaign#1915World War I 503,000–552,000
Second Battle of Artois#1915World War I 186,000
Second Battle of Champagne–Third Battle of Artois#1915World War I 75,000–440,000
Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive#1915World War I 300,000–1,087,000
Great Retreat #1915World War I 1,943,800+
Serbian Campaign #1915World War I 331,000, including prisoners
Erzurum Offensive#1916World War I 80,000—85,000
Battle of Verdun#1916World War I 755,000–976,000
Battle of Asiago#1916World War I 250,000
Brusilov Offensive#1916World War I 1,600,000
Battle of the Somme#1916World War I 1,120,000–1,215,000
Monastir Offensive#1916World War I 111,000
Romanian Campaign#1916–17World War I 240,000 - 933,000, including prisoners
Nivelle Offensive#1917World War I 354,000
Second Battle of the Aisne#1917World War I 350,000-463,000
Battle of Arras#1917World War I 278,000-288,000
Battle of Messines#1917World War I 42,000
Tenth Battle of the Isonzo#1917World War I 200,000
Third Battle of Ypres#1917World War I Over 585,000
Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo#1917World War I 273,000
Battle of Caporetto#1917World War I 60,000
Battle of Cambrai#1917World War I 95,000
Spring Offensive#1918World War I 1,539,000
Operation Michael#1918World War I 494,616
Battle of the Lys#1918World War I 204,300-228,340
Third Battle of the Aisne#1918World War I 257,000
Second Battle of the Piave River#1918World War I 131,494 killed and wounded, 73,729 prisoners
Second Battle of the Marne#1918World War I 288,000
Hundred Days Offensive#1918World War I 2,240,000
Meuse–Argonne offensive#1918World War I 318,000
Battle of Warsaw#1920Polish–Soviet War About 130,000, not including prisoners
Invasion of Manchuria#1931Second Sino-Japanese War 35,000
Battle of Guadalajara#1937Spanish Civil War 12,000
Battle of Teruel#1937–38Spanish Civil War 110,000, including prisoners
Battle of the Ebro#1938Spanish Civil War 106,500
Battle of Xuzhou#1938World War II 130,000
1938 Yellow River Flood#1938World War II 800,000
Battles of Khalkhin Gol#1939Soviet–Japanese border conflicts 42,000—75,000
Invasion of Poland#1939World War II 310,000
Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang#1939World War II 49,000
Winter Offensive#1939–40World War II 100,000+
Operation Weserübung#1940World War II 12,800
Battle of France#1940World War II 469,000
Hundred Regiments Offensive#1940Second Sino-Japanese War 62,900
Battle of Keren#1941World War II 34,000 including over 12,600 killed
Battle of Greece#1941World War II 46,295 dead
Battle of Shanggao#1941World War II 42,000
Battle of Crete#1941World War II 16,007 dead
Operation Barbarossa#1941World War II 5,000,000–6,000,000
Battle of Białystok–Minsk#1941World War II 429,886 including prisoners
Battle of Smolensk #1941World War II 595,606 killed, captured, and missing; 300,000 Soviet prisoners
Battle of Moscow#1941World War II 1,000,000
Battle of Hong Kong#1941World War II 18,000 including prisoners
Battle of Malaya/Battle of Singapore#1941–42World War II 143,800, and 60,000 prisoners
Battle of Bataan/Battle of Corregidor#1942World War II 30,000 killed
Battle of the Kerch Peninsula#1942World War II Over 176,000
Second Battle of Kharkov#1942World War II 300,000
Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign#1942World War II 356,000
Battle of Gazala#1942World War II 148,000
Case Blue#1942World War II 1,400,000
Battle of Voronezh #1942World War II 662,847 including prisoners
Guadalcanal Campaign#1942–43World War II 29,100–31,100
Battles of Rzhev#1942-1943World War II 2,900,000–3,080,000
Second Battle of El Alamein#1942World War II 39,400–82,500
Operation Iskra#1943World War II 129,332
Battle of Kursk#1943World War II 257,125–388,000
Allied invasion of Sicily#1943World War II At least 36,000 killed, and over 100,000 Italian POWs
Battle of Smolensk #1943World War II 522,059
Dnieper Campaign#1943World War II 1,582,000 – 2,480,000
Allied invasion of Italy#1943World War II 17,092 killed
Bougainville Campaign#1943–45World War II 21,929 killed, and 23,571 Japanese prisoners
Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive#1943–44World War II 1,442,956
Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive#1944World War II 385,604
Battle of Monte Cassino#1944World War II 185,000
Battle of Narva#1944World War II 550,000 all causes
Operation Shingle#1944World War II 52,200 killed
First Jassy–Kishinev Offensive#1944World War II 195,000
Ichi-Go#1944World War II 1,300,000+
Battle of Normandy#1944World War II 650,600–795,400
Battle of Saipan#1944World War II 43,500 killed, including mass suicides
Operation Bagration#1944World War II 1,430,000
Falaise Pocket#1944World War II 140,000
Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive#1944World War II 485,424, including prisoners
Operation Market Garden#1944World War II 27,200
Battle of Hürtgen Forest#1944–45World War II 63,000
Battle of Leyte Gulf#1944World War II 12,000 killed
Battle of the Bulge#1944–45World War II 161,370–218,900
Vistula–Oder Offensive#1945World War II 636,191 including prisoners
Battle of Luzon#1945World War II 332,330–345,330, including sick
Battle of the Rhineland#1945World War II 82,000 and 250,000 prisoners
Battle of Iwo Jima#1945World War II 44,821–48,700
East Prussian Offensive#1945World War II 806,778 including prisoners
Battle of Okinawa#1945World War II 113,920–158,400
Burma campaigns#1942–45World War II 700,000
Battle of West Hunan#1945World War II 50,000
Second Guangxi campaign#1945World War II 1,000,000
Arab–Israeli War#1948–49Arab–Israeli conflict 12,000–19,000
Liaoshen campaign#1948Chinese Civil War 542,000, including captured
Huaihai campaign#1948Chinese Civil War 689,000, including captured
Pingjin campaign#1948–49Chinese Civil War 560,000, including captured
Shanghai Campaign#1949Chinese Civil War 213,073
Battle of Inchon#1950Korean War 17,429
Invasion of North Korea#1950Korean War 51,700
Battle of Chosin Reservoir#1950Korean War 66,000
Battle of Dien Bien Phu#1954First Indochina War 31,500, not including prisoners
Tet Offensive#1968Vietnam War 65,000
Operation OAU#1968Nigerian Civil War 30,000
Easter Offensive#1972Vietnam War 150,000
Operation Dawn 5#1984Iran-Iraq War 75,000
Battle of the Marshes#1984Iran-Iraq War 55,000