Today in Military History July 09

July 09 455    The military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

July 09 491    Odoacer makes a night assault with his Heruli guardsmen, engaging Theoderic the Great in Ad Pinetam. Both sides suffer heavy losses, but in the end Theodoric forces Odoacer back into Ravenna.

July 09 660    Korean forces under general Kim Yu-sin of Silla defeat the army of Baekje in the Battle of Hwangsanbeol.

July 09 1386   The Old Swiss Confederacy makes great strides in establishing control over its territory by soundly defeating the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Sempach.

July 09 1401   Timur attacks the Jalairid Sultanate and destroys Baghdad.

July 09 1701   A Bourbon force under Nicolas Catinat withdraws from a smaller Habsburg force under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Battle of Carpi.

July 09 1745   French victory in the Battle of Melle allows them to capture Ghent in the days after.

July 09 1755   The Braddock Expedition is soundly defeated by a smaller French and Native American force in its attempt to capture Fort Duquesne in what is now downtown Pittsburgh.

July 09 1776   George Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island.

July 09 1790   The Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian Baltic fleet.

July 09 1863   The Siege of Port Hudson ends, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi River.

July 09 1875   The Herzegovina Uprising against Ottoman rule begins, which would last until 1878 and have far-reaching implications throughout the Balkans.

July 09 1943   World War II: The Allied invasion of Sicily soon causes the downfall of Mussolini and forces Hitler to break off the Battle of Kursk.

July 09 1944   World War II: American forces take Saipan, bringing the Japanese archipelago within range of B-29 raids, and causing the downfall of the Tojo government.

July 09 1944   World War II: Continuation War: Finland wins the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in northern Europe. The Red Army withdraws its troops from Ihantala and digs into a defensive position, thus ending the Vyborg  Petrozavodsk Offensive.