Pick Your Battles Quiz

Question: Which of these took place during World War II?

Answer: The Battle of Okinawa was one of the largest and bloodiest battles in the Pacific theater during World War II. It was the last major battle of the war.

Question: Which of these took place during the American Revolutionary War?

Answer: The Battle of Bunker Hill was the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War. British forces won the battle, which was fought near Boston, but with great losses. This caused them to pause their advance, allowing revolutionary forces to maneuver into a favorable position.

Question: Which of these took place during the Spanish-American War?

Answer: Fought near Santiago de Cuba, the Battle of San Juan Hill saw U.S. forces (including Col. Theodore Roosevelt and his volunteer cavalry unit known as the Rough Riders) team up with Cuban rebels to defeat Spanish forces.

Question: Which of these took place in 1066 during the Norman Conquest?

Answer: In 1066 William the Conqueror (then the duke of Normandy in France) defeated Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, establishing the line of Norman rulers.

Question: Which of these took place in 31 bce during a Roman civil war?

Answer: Following the death of Julius Caesar, his adopted son Octavian (later called Augustus) battled Caesar’s general Mark Antony (who was allied with Egyptian ruler Cleopatra) for control of Rome. Antony and Cleopatra lost the decisive naval battle near Actium, Greece.

Question: Which of these took place in 1415 during the Hundred Years’ War?

Answer: Fought in 1415, the Battle of Agincourt was a major victory for outnumbered English forces over the French, thanks in large part to their use of the longbow.

Question: Which of these took place during World War I?

Answer: Held in the opening months of World War I, the First Battle of the Marne saw French and British troops stop advancing German forces that threatened to quickly win victory on the Western Front.

Question: Which of these took place during the War of 1812?

Answer: The Battle of New Orleans happened during the War of 1812—or, perhaps more accurately, just afterward. The U.S. and Great Britain signed a treaty in Ghent, Belgium, several weeks before the battle, but news of peace didn’t cross the Atlantic in time to prevent the skirmish.

Question: Which of these took place during World War II?

Answer: Following a series of island-hopping victories, the Allies were in a position to retake the Philippines from Japan. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a decisive victory, essentially ending the Imperial Japanese Navy’s offensive capacity.

Question: Which of these took place during the American Civil War?

Answer: Gen. Robert E. Lee began a campaign to take the fighting from Southern states to Northern ones and capture Washington, D.C. The Battle of Antietam halted the Confederate advance into Maryland. There were roughly 23,000 casualties during 12 hours of combat, making it the bloodiest day in the history of the U.S. armed forces.

Question: Which of these took place in 1754 during the French and Indian War (a subsection of the Seven Years’ War)?

Answer: The Seven Years’ War was a major European conflict with France and Britain on opposing sides. The French and Indian War describes the fighting that spilled into their colonies. The Battle of Fort Necessity marks the only time that George Washington (then a British officer) surrendered.

Question: Which of these took place during the Vietnam War?

Answer: Officially known as Hill 937 by U.S. military planners, “Hamburger Hill” was nicknamed for the heavy losses sustained while taking it. After 11 assaults, U.S. forces wrested control of Hamburger Hill from the North Vietnamese. However, the location held no strategic importance and was abandoned by the U.S. just two weeks later.

Question: Which of these took place during the Korean War?

Answer: The North Korean army invaded South Korea in June 1950 and quickly advanced to cover nearly the entire peninsula. In September a United Nations force led by U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur made a daring amphibious landing behind enemy lines, causing the North Korean force to fall back.

Question: Which of these took place in 1854 during the Crimean War?

Answer: The Crimean War was fought between Russia and an alliance of Great Britain, France, and the Ottoman Turks. The Battle of Balaklava (also spelled Balaclava) was made famous in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” which describes a disastrous British attack: “Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die.”

Question: Which of these took place in 1798 during the French Revolutionary wars?

Answer: Looking for extra income for France and seizing an opportunity to disrupt English access to the Red Sea (and therefore India), Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798. After quickly taking a sparsely defended Alexandria, French forces clashed with Egyptian forces about 15 miles from the Pyramids of Giza.