Last Stand

The ‘Last Stand’ refers to a battle by a small determined force who are annihilated by a larger army they cannot defeat, but succeed in saving the rest of the army or their country.
The first recorded Last Stand in history was at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE.

To delay a more powerful enemy so that the main army can escape to a fight in a better location.
To protect their Leader.
To avoid execution after being captured.
From a sense of duty.

King Leonidas sent most of the Greek army south and remained to defend the Pass to the death using 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans.
They held off the Persians for two days before being annihilated to the last man.
However, despite losing the battle, the delay was successful and gave the Greek Army time to safely withdraw and regroup in the Peloponnese and for the Greek Navy to regroup and fight at the Battle of Salamis.
This resulted in defeat and withdrawal of the Persian Army.

Alexander the Great and his 17,000 strong army were delayed for one month by a small Persian army led by Ariobarzanes, defending a mountain Pass in front of Persepolis.
The Persians were eventually defeated in a pincer movement and fought to the death.

Gnaeus Pompeius the Younger escaped Julius Caesar’s army after the Battle of Munda, only to be surrounded by them near Lauro. He and his followers fought to the death.

Charlemagne and his army were ambushed in the Pass by a larger Basque army. Charlemagne detached a rearguard to fight and allow his Frankish army to escape. They escaped, but the rearguard fought to the death and was wiped out.

The English army was attempting to retreat towards Calais but was blocked by a much larger French army.
Approximately 6,000 English soldiers made a Last Stand against approximately 14,000 French soldiers. The English lost 600 men but the French lost 6,000, due mainly to the use of the longbow.

During the War of the League of Cognac, the Swiss Guard who defended the Pope, were ordered by Pope Clement VII to defend Rome against the Hapsburg Imperial Army long enough to permit Clement VII to escape. Of the 500 Swiss Guards, 458 perished.

During the Texas Revolution, the Alamo Fortress and Spanish Mission was defended by between 185-260 Texan Republicans for 13 days against 2,000 Mexican soldiers.
When it was finally overrun there were only 6 survivors.

This famous battle was part of the Great Sioux War of 1876.
258 US soldiers died out of c.700, against a combined Indian army of the Lakota and Dakota of between 1,100-2,500 warriors.