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Lt Col Charlie Brown
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No army except one – led by the Frankish duke Charles, the eventual grandfather of Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. His infantrymen, as historian Victor Davis Hanson puts it in a fascinating chapter of Carnage and Culture, were “hardened veterans of nearly twenty years of constant combat against a variety of Frankish, German, and Islamic enemies.” Hanson writes that the Roman legions had crumbled “because of the dearth of free citizens who were willing to fight for their own freedom and the values of their civilization.” But the seasoned warrior Charles had gathered spirited, free fighters under his command who were willing to defend their Christian society, and he led them to intercept the marauding infidels leaving a ravaged trail toward the ultimate prize, Paris.
On the 10th of October, 732 (some dispute the exact date), the two armies met on a wooded field between Poitiers and Tours (and so the ensuing confrontation is sometimes called the Battle of Poitiers), barely 175 miles from Paris as the crow flies. Abd-al-Rahman arrayed his cavalry against Charles’ solid block of Frankish footsoldiers, which at 30,000 was by some estimates not even half the size of the Arab and Berber army (Hanson speculates that the armies were more evenly matched, but the Franks were unquestionably outnumbered).
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MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.
MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.
1 mo
Thanks for sharing!
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LTC Stephen F.
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Thank you my fellow military history appreciating and researching brother-in-Christ and MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. for posting the somewhat over-the-top title 'The Victory That Saved Western Civilization' from front page. mag focused on the 8th century battle of Tours, France. Charles versus Abd-al-Rahman and his Muslim horde.
This was an early Godsend to the Franks. Yet the radical Muslim hordes continued to and still continue attempt to destabilize civilization, including dictatorships.
The Crusades were fought from the late 10th Century to the late 12th century 1192]
Since the Ottoman Turks controlled Yugoslavia and Vlad the impaler stopped the Muslim Horde from invading in the 15th Century.
'Muslims are thirsty for Islamic Caliphate around the world' says militant leader - BBC News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TxHWxNnixs
FYI COL Lisandro Murphy COL (Join to see)LTC Greg Henning LTC Tom Jones LTC Stephen C. Lt Col Charlie Brown 1LT Voyle Smith ] SGM Bill Frazer SMSgt Lawrence McCarter GySgt Thomas Vick MSgt Gloria Vance PO1 Tony Holland SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SGT Mark Anderson PFC David Foster PVT Mark Zehner] PO1 Howard Barnes SSG Franklin Briant GySgt Jack Wallace
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LTC Trent Klug
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A great victory to be sure. Can you imagine what Europe would be like had the Muslims had been successful? I don't even want to think about it.
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MAJ Hugh Blanchard
MAJ Hugh Blanchard
1 mo
Even today there are Islamic activists who claim that Spain is Islamic soil and should follow Sharia. Apparently even if liberated centuries ago, some Muslims believe that if a territory has ever been ruled by Islam, then it still belongs to Islam. Unrealistic.
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LTC Trent Klug
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MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.
MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.
1 mo
You're both right!!
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