After the Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run and the retirement of the aged Winfield Scott in late 1861, Lincoln appointed Major General George B. McClellan general-in-chief of all the Union armies.

* 1914 – 1918, the First Battle of the Atlantic took place.

They include: the Second Battle of Athenry ( 1316 ); the battle of Knockdoe ( 1504 ); the Battle of the Yellow Ford ( 1596 ); the First Battle of Curlew Pass ( 1599 ); the Battle of Dungans Hill ( 1647 ); the Battle of Castlebar ( 1798 ), and the Battle of the Bogside ( 1969 ).

* 1914 – World War I: First Battle of the Atlantic – two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea.

* 1099 – First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid forces led by Al-Afdal Shahanshah.

* 1499 – First engagement of the Battle of Zonchio between Venetian and Ottoman fleets.

* 1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: the Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon I of France and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.

In 168 BC, the Romans invaded Macedonia and overthrew the king, Perseus, in the First Battle of Pydna.

* 69 – After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor.

* 1526 – The last ruler of the Lodi Dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi is defeated and killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat.

* 1809 – Two Austrian army corps in Bavaria are defeated by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon I of France at the Battle of Abensberg on the second day of a four day campaign that ended in a French victory.

On the same day the Austrian main army is defeated by a First French Empire Corps led by Louis-Nicolas Davout at the Battle of Teugen-Hausen in Bavaria, part of a four day campaign that ended in a French victory.

* 1296 – First War of Scottish Independence: John Balliol's Scots army is defeated by an English army commanded by John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey at the Battle of Dunbar.

* 1809 – Two Austrian army corps are driven from Landshut by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon I of France as two French corps to the north hold off the main Austrian army on the first day of the Battle of Eckmühl.

The islands were the scene of the Battle of the Aegates Islands of 241 BC, in which the Carthaginian fleet was defeated by C. Lutatius Catulus ; the engagement ended the First Punic War.

In the campaign of 1799 he once more opposed Jourdan, whom he defeated in the battles of Ostrach and Stockach, following up his success by invading Switzerland and defeating Masséna in the First Battle of Zürich, after which he re-entered Germany and drove the French once more over the Rhine.

* First Battle of Guararapes ( 1648 ): Decisive Brazilian victory that helped end Dutch occupation.

He had stabilised the Allied position at the First Battle of El Alamein, but after a visit in August 1942, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, replaced him as C-in-C with Alexander and William Gott as commander of the Eighth Army in the Western Desert.

:* Liège celebrates the Bastille Day each year since the end of the First World War, as Liège was decorated by the Légion d ' Honneur for its unexpected resistance during the Battle of Liège.

The Battle of Pharsalus ended the wars of the First Triumvirate.

* 1917 – World War I: The First Battle of Passchendaele takes place resulting in the largest single day loss of life in New Zealand history.

Over 800 men and 45 officers were killed at the First Battle of Passchendaele, roughly 1 in 1000 of the nation's population at the time.

The French First Army and British 2nd and 5th Armies attacked on 9 October on a 13, 500 yards front, from south of Broodseinde to St Jansbeek, to advance half of the distance from Broodseinde ridge to Passchendaele on the main front, led to heavy casualties on both sides, with advances in the north of the attack being retained by British and French troops and most of the ground taken in front of Passchendaele and on the Becelaere and Gheluvelt spurs being lost to German counter-attacks.

Several battalions of the regiment saw notable service in France and Belgium during the First World War, in particular the 1st, which became forever associated with the terribly destructive action at Mametz Wood in 1916, and the 2nd, which endured the horrors of the massacre in the mud of Passchendaele ( Third Ypres ) in 1917.

He was involved in many actions, including Messines, Broodseinde, and the First Battle of Passchendaele, with some successes, but with the usual heavy casualties.

When the book was published Waugh was serving in France, although he did not see action in the First World War until Passchendaele.

* First World War: Mons, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Ypres 1914 and 17, Langemarck 1914, Battle of Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 and 1918, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Pilckem, Poelcapelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 and 1918, St. Quentin, Lys, Hazebrouck, Albert 1918, Bapaume 1918, Arras 1918, Scarpe 1918, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914 – 18

In 2007, Scottish singer Isla St Clair was invited to sing Flowers of the Forest at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Flanders, Belgium to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, in the First World War.

He was 34 years old, and an acting company sergeant major in the 1st Battalion, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, British Army during the First World War and who exhibited " most conspicuous bravery and good leading " during the Battle of Passchendaele on 18 August 1917 at Wijdendrift, Belgium, for which he received the Victoria Cross.

On 12 October 1917, Statton was involved in operations during the First Battle of Passchendaele when he suffered a gunshot wound to his right shoulder.

Cooper was 21 years old, and a Sergeant in the 12th Battalion, The King's Royal Rifle Corps, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place at the battle of Passchendaele for which he was awarded the VC.

He was 28 years old, and a private in the 1 / 7th Battalion of The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place at the battle of Passchendaele for which he was awarded the VC.

He was 24 years old, and a private in the 1st Battalion, the King's Own Royal Regiment ( Lancaster ), British Army during the First Battle of Passchendaele of First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

He was 21 years old, and a lance-corporal in the 1 / 9th ( Glasgow Highlanders ) Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry, British Army during the First World War, and was awarded the Victoria Cross foe his actions during the Battle of Passchendaele:

Thomas Crisp's self – sacrifice in the face of this " unequal struggle " was used by the government to bolster morale during some of the toughest days of the First World War for Britain, the summer and autumn of 1917, during which Britain was suffering heavy losses at the Battle of Passchendaele.

He was 20 years old, and a private in the 1 / 6th Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place at the Battle of Passchendaele for which he was awarded the VC.

When he was 19 years old, and a Corporal in the 16th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters ( The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment ), British Army during the First World War, he was awarded the VC for his actions during the Battle of Passchendaele.

Grimbaldeston was 27 years old, and an Acting Company Quartermaster-Sergeant in the 1st Battalion, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, British Army at the Battle of Passchendaele during the First World War when he performed a deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

On 30 October 1917, at the Battle of Passchendaele during the First World War, Kinross performed an act of bravery for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

The 1917 battles of Passchendaele have become synonymous with mud and misery but according to the Australian official historian, Charles Bean, the conditions on the Somme in November were " the worst ever known by the First A. I. F.

A frantic 1916 saw four different commanders command the First Army ; an even more frantic 1917 saw five different commanders at the helm ( including François Anthoine during the Battle of Passchendaele ).