Today in Military History July 19

July 19 711  Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Battle of Guadalete: Umayyad forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by King Roderic.

July 19 939  Battle of Simancas: King Ramiro II of León defeats the Moorish army under Caliph Abd-al-Rahman III near the city of Simancas.

July 19 998  ArabByzantine wars: Battle of Apamea: Fatimids defeat a Byzantine army near Apamea.

July 19 1333  Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Halidon Hill: The English win a decisive victory over the Scots.

July 19 1544  Italian War of 154246: The first Siege of Boulogne begins.

July 19 1545  The Tudor warship Mary Rose sinks off Portsmouth; in 1982 the wreck is salvaged in one of the most complex and expensive projects in the history of maritime archaeology.

July 19 1588  Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The Spanish Armada is sighted in the English Channel.

July 19 1702  Great Northern War: A numerically superior Polish-Saxon army of Augustus II the Strong, operating from an advantageous defensive position, is defeated by a Swedish army half its size under the command of King Charles XII in the Battle of Klissow.

July 19 1863  American Civil War: Morgan's Raid: At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men are captured while trying to escape across the Ohio River.

July 19 1864  Taiping Rebellion: Third Battle of Nanking: The Qing dynasty finally defeats the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

July 19 1870  Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.

July 19 1916  World War I: Battle of Fromelles: British and Australian troops attack German trenches as part of the Battle of the Somme.

July 19 1940  World War II: Battle of Cape Spada: The Royal Navy and the Regia Marina clash; the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni sinks, with 121 casualties.

July 19 1940  Field Marshal Ceremony: First occasion in World War II, that Hitler appointed field marshals due to military achievements.

July 19 1940  World War II: Army order 112 forms the Intelligence Corps of the British Army.

July 19 1942  World War II: The Second Happy Time of Hitler's submarines comes to an end, as the increasingly effective American convoy system compels them to return to the central Atlantic.

July 19 1943  World War II: Rome is heavily bombed by more than 500 Allied aircraft, inflicting thousands of casualties.
 
July 19 1961  Tunisia imposes a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte; the French would capture the entire town four days later.

July 19 1972  Dhofar Rebellion: British SAS units help the Omani government against Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman rebels in the Battle of Mirbat.

July 19 1997  The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army resumes a ceasefire to end their 25-year paramilitary campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.