7 Pyrrhic Victories From Throughout History

The term “Pyrrhic victories” first arose after a war fought over 2,000 years ago between the Romans and Epirus, a region containing northern Greece and Southern Albania. Led by King Pyrrhus, the Epirotes won the first battle against Rome as well as the fateful Battle of Asculum, where they were victorious but suffered extreme casualties. Pyrrhus is said to have stated, “If we are victorious in one more battle against the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.” 

The losses suffered by the Epirotes in the first two victories meant that the Romans could win the third battle decisively due to sheer numbers, ending the war and beginning a new phrase: the Pyrrhic victory.

The Battle of Chancellorsville during the American Civil War saw Confederate General Robert E. Lee divide his already-smaller army in order to successfully rout the Union Army, an extremely bold gamble that initially paid off. While pursuing the retreating Union soldiers, however, General “Stonewall” Jackson was killed by friendly fire, to add to the already devastating loss of 13,000 soldiers. Lee would subsequently try to take the offensive by invading Pennsylvania; the ensuing defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg severely weakened the Confederacy and turned the war in favor of the Union. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, widely considered one of the greatest generals of all time, suffered from his victory at the Battle of Borodino during his invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon had reached the town of Borodino, just outside Moscow, and determined that a full frontal attack was necessary to make sure the Russian forces couldn’t safely retreat. A bloody, smoky battle ensued, and Napoleon was unable to see that if he committed the full force of his army they would easily overwhelm the Russians; instead, a narrow victory ensued when the exhausted Russian army retreated, allowing Napoleon to enter Moscow unopposed. 

However, despite the French occupying Moscow, the Russian government refused to give in to Napoleon’s demands, and the Emperor did not wish to stay for one of Russia’s infamous winters. He commanded his army to leave, but they found the way blocked by the surviving Russian army. By the time Napoleon returned to France, four-fifths of his army had been wiped out.

The Eighty Years' War was a Dutch revolt against Habsburg Spanish rule that intensified when England entered the fray to fight the Spanish. Spain set a target on the port of Ostend and spent three years besieging the city, desperate to deprive the Dutch and English of a strategically key city. Spain would eventually conquer Ostend, but at that time the Dutch had expanded their holdings and had even captured a different port city, effectively making the Spanish victory at an almost completely destroyed Ostend largely pointless. 

The war would end in a stalemate and Spain would go bankrupt three years later, largely because of the costs incurred besieging Ostend. Truce would follow bankruptcy, allowing for the Dutch Republic to essentially gain independence.

The Guadalcanal Campaign was a major turning point in the Pacific Theater of World War II, the first major clash between Allied land forces and the Empire of Japan. The Allies had taken the island of Guadalcanal but were locked in a stalemate for a month when the Japanese forces attempted to force them out with a major ground offensive. As the ground troops were attacking Henderson Field, carriers and naval aircraft engaged just north of the Santa Cruz Islands.

The fight would end with an American retreat, with one carrier sunk and another heavily damaged. However, the Japanese failed to take Henderson Field, and lost many veteran aircrews and aircraft that were impossible to replace. Despite the initial advantage gained by the victory, the Imperial Japanese Navy would falter and eventually lose the Pacific Theater and the war in general.

The first large-scale battle of the American Revolution began when 1,000 colonial militiamen took on the British Army, with superior training and over twice the manpower, at the Boston Peninsula. Having thwarted the first two British advances, the Americans ran out of ammunition and were forced to retreat, suffering 400 casualties compared to the Redcoats’ 1,000, including many officers. The cost of victory at Bunker Hill caused the British Army to take on a more cautious approach, abandoning plans for further expansion and enabling the rebel army to grow in power and public support.

Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire led a siege on the Hungarian fortress of Szigetvár during the Ottoman-Habsburg Wars of 1566, with the ultimate goal of taking Vienna. 100,000 Ottoman soldiers encircled the fortress of around 3,000 Croats and Hungarians. After weeks of artillery fire to weaken the fortress’s defenses, several assaults on Szigetvár netted only heavy casualties for the Ottomans. 

After 33 days, the siege was complete, but at extreme cost to the Ottomans. Stout defending from the Hungarians, plus an outbreak of dysentery, had taken up to 30,000 Ottoman lives, including that of Suleiman. The Ottoman invasion of Europe was delayed and eventually halted. Suleiman would never see Vienna.