Though some may call it cowardice, the smartest military move is often to pull back and fight another day. Not every withdrawal succeeds, but when it does, it can be almost as valuable as a victory. Below are the top 10 examples of incredible military retreats.
Why These Top 10 Examples Matter
10 Napoleon’s Retreat From MoscowRussian Campaign
Seeking to force Tsar Alexander I to halt the flow of raw materials to the United Kingdom, Napoleon launched an invasion of Russia—a decision that would haunt him forever. After his Grande Armée finally entered Moscow on September 14, 1812, Napoleon discovered the city eerily abandoned by both the Russian military and its civilian population.
He had hoped the occupied capital would provide the supplies his increasingly demoralized troops desperately needed, but the city offered nothing. After a month of waiting for a surrender that never arrived, Napoleon elected to abandon Moscow, hoping to escape the oncoming Russian winter.
Yet hunger proved as relentless an enemy as the Cossacks who harried the retreating French. Wolves stalked the army’s stragglers, picking them off even as far as the Rhine—a fact some claim explains the dense wolf populations of Central Europe today. Of the half‑million soldiers that marched into Russia, fewer than one‑hundred‑thousand ever made it back.
9 The Allied Evacuation Of GallipoliWorld War I
Future British prime minister Winston Churchill, though later embarrassed by the fiasco, was one of the chief architects behind the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I. Originally conceived as a sea‑based invasion, bad weather and deadly mines forced planners to switch to a land assault, only to see Allied forces suffer heavy losses and barely gain a foothold.
Eventually, after becoming as bogged down as they were on the Western Front, evacuation orders were drafted. In a rare success amid the disaster, the surviving troops were pulled to safety.
Just before the final Australian units left, Padre Walter Dexter walked through the cemeteries, scattering silver wattle seed and declaring, “If we have to leave here, I intend that a bit of Australia shall be here.” One key to their relatively unscathed escape was Australian William Scurry, who engineered a self‑firing rifle device that convinced Turkish forces the Allies were still firing even after the troops had withdrawn.
8 Highway Of DeathGulf War I
After years of economic friction—stemming, in Saddam Hussein’s view, from Kuwait’s policies—he launched an invasion on August 2, 1990. The move was universally condemned, and the United Nations quickly issued an ultimatum demanding Iraqi withdrawal by January 15, 1991.
Iraq refused, prompting Operation Desert Storm. As coalition forces overwhelmed Iraqi troops, thoughts of retreat entered many soldiers’ minds. The main escape route from Kuwait City was the highway, a fact quickly noted by coalition planners.
On the morning of February 26, 1991, over 1,500 Iraqi vehicles attempted to flee. They proved “basically just sitting ducks,” according to Commander Frank Sweigart, as a barrage of bombs ripped through the convoy, igniting spectacular fires captured in one of the war’s most iconic photographs. Although the retreat seemed disastrous, the US Defense Intelligence Agency estimates that as many as 80,000 Iraqi troops managed to withdraw successfully.
7 George Washington’s Escape From New YorkAmerican Revolutionary War
In 1776, the Battle of Long Island marked the first major clash after the United States declared independence. General George Washington faced British commander William Howe, who aimed to seize New York. Washington had positioned his 19,000 troops on Lower Manhattan, while Howe stationed forces on Staten Island, planning to block the Hudson River with warships and advance over land.
Howe’s plan initially succeeded, fielding about 32,000 men against Washington’s forces. However, after a few days of fighting, Howe paused to prepare for a final push. Washington seized the moment, aided by a fortuitous storm that forced the British fleet to withdraw, and ordered a retreat.
Out of the 10,000 Americans who fought, roughly 8,000 escaped, allowing Washington to turn a looming defeat into a stalemate. Legend says a fog rolled in as the Americans withdrew, with Washington himself being the last to cross the river.
6 Russian Retreats Against NapoleonRussian Campaign
By 1812, Napoleon’s reputation as a lightning‑fast commander was legendary, confounding foes accustomed to slower, methodical warfare. After Tsar Alexander I reneged on the Treaty of Tilsit and resumed trade with England, Napoleon prepared an all‑out invasion of Russia.Russian leaders, however, were no novices. They adopted a strategy reminiscent of Wellington’s, employing systematic retreats to draw the French deeper into a drawn‑out campaign, thereby neutralizing Napoleon’s speed advantage.
Napoleon’s troops often lived off the land, so the Russians instituted a scorched‑earth policy, denying the French any usable supplies—a tactic that also inflicted severe hardship on Russian civilians. This strategy proved decisive, gradually draining Napoleon’s forces before they finally reached Moscow.
5 The Great RetreatWorld War I
In 1914, the Battle of Mons introduced the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to the brutal realities of modern warfare as they aided the French Fifth Army against a German outflanking maneuver. Outnumbered nearly two to one, the BEF still pressed on, intent on inflicting maximum damage while shielding their position.
On August 23, 1914, the BEF faced a massive German artillery barrage. Their rapid, accurate rifle fire convinced the advancing Germans they were up against entrenched machine‑gun lines. While the “Old Contemptibles” held their ground, the French Fifth Army faltered, prompting its commander to order a retreat on August 24.
The BEF was forced to join the withdrawal, embarking on what became known as the Great Retreat—a grueling two‑week march toward the Marne River. Through a series of rearguard actions, the Allies reached the river, turned the tide, and forced a brief German retreat at the Battle of the Marne, buying crucial time for future victories.
4 Tung’s Long MarchChinese Civil War
The Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party was on the brink of annihilation, pursued relentlessly by the Kuomintang. On October 16, 1934, surrounded in Jiangxi province, the Red Army’s leadership chose retreat as the only viable option, breaking out westward with an initial force of 86,000 troops.
The enemy quickly noticed the exodus, subjecting the Red Army to relentless aerial bombardment and ground assaults that halved its numbers. By January 1935, Mao Tse‑tung had consolidated enough support to assume command of the dwindling force.
Although the retreat did not constitute a conventional military triumph, the grueling 6,400‑kilometre (4,000‑mile) journey forged a legend that inspired a generation of Chinese youth to join the Communist cause. By the time the survivors reached Shaanxi in October 1935, only about 8,000 remained.
3 Battle Of Chosin ReservoirKorean War
In late November 1950, the Chinese Ninth Army launched a massive surprise attack on United Nations forces stationed at the Chosin Reservoir in eastern North Korea. With 150,000 Chinese troops aiming to encircle and crush the 30,000‑strong UN contingent, the battle quickly turned chaotic.
Although the Chinese achieved early successes, they failed to complete the encirclement, allowing UN forces—most notably the 1st Marine Division—to execute a harrowing retreat southward along narrow mountain roads. The withdrawal lasted over two weeks, during which both sides inflicted heavy casualties on each other.
By the time the UN troops reached safety in South Korea, roughly 18,000 of their men were dead, wounded, or missing. The Chinese suffered even greater losses, losing about twice that number, which forced them to pause further offensives and arguably prevented a total capture of South Korea. General Oliver P. Smith famously remarked, “Retreat, hell! We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction.”
2 Battle Of DunkirkWorld War II
In May 1940, Germany’s blitzkrieg ripped across continental Europe like a plague, conquering Poland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg in rapid succession.
France soon followed, and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) joined French troops to halt the German onslaught. However, the German war machine’s speed and ferocity quickly threatened to overrun the Allied forces, pushing them toward the coastal town of Dunkirk, the last viable evacuation port for the over 300,000 troops stranded there.
In a stroke of luck, Hitler ordered his forces to halt on May 24, trusting that the Luftwaffe under Hermann Goering could finish the job. The brief pause—lasting only a few days—gave the Allies time to fortify defenses and organize a massive evacuation. Remarkably, a flotilla of privately owned fishing boats, yachts, and lifeboats joined the Royal Navy, enabling the rescue of nearly all stranded soldiers.
1 The March Of The Ten ThousandBattle Of Cunaxa
Immortalized by the ancient Greek historian Xenophon in his work Anabasis, the March of the Ten Thousand recounts the odyssey of Greek mercenaries hired by Cyrus the Younger to challenge his brother Artaxerxes II for the Persian throne. When Cyrus fell at the Battle of Cunaxa, the Greeks found themselves stranded deep within hostile territory, leaderless and without a clear path home.
Facing a demand to surrender—a death sentence—the mercenaries refused. They endured relentless harassment from Persian forces, treacherous terrain, and the elements as they trekked over 2,700 kilometres (1,700 miles) toward the Black Sea.
After surviving a brutal snowstorm that thinned their ranks, the Greeks arrived at the town of Gymnias, where a local guide assured them that only five days remained before reaching the sea. Five days later, Xenophon heard cries from the front line; the soldiers shouted “The Sea, The Sea!” While some perished en route, the majority made it safely back to Greece, cementing their journey as a legendary tale of endurance.