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Hearing the soldier at Gallipoli compare himself and his comrades to the Romans and Crusaders of old, after hearing the tales from those two already, felt like a grim foreshadowing.

"Mistakes were made." is one of my favorite historical phrases of all time. Perfect for all occasions.

That Napoleonic soldier had frostbite at the very end, didn't he? The way he described it, it sounded like his whole nose, ears, and hands were afflicted. I really hope he didn't suffer for long, I'm horrified to imagine having to live with the aftermath.

Varus, a General who trusted the civility of Barbarians more than the discipline of his Soldiers.

Varus - the lesson every nation needs to learn. Don’t send bureaucrats to handle your wars.

I love this channel. Nothing like hearing directly from the source. Invaluable to those who don't have convenient access to this sort of information.

Great doco. Just a point of order; you had a statue of Gaius Julius Caesar pop up when he mentioned "Caesar" discussing the account of the Teutoburg Forest. It was of course Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, aka Octavian, Gaius' grand nephew, being referred to in the account. Old mate Julius had been dead for 49 years at the time of the battle.

Every military disaster is also a triumph for the other side. In a sense, nearly every battle is a disaster for half those involved.

The Gallipoli Landing will never fail to infuriate me. Especially when I learned of the arse-backward motivation for it. Thinking there was a "backdoor" to Germany. What a waste of life.

Fantastic work as usual, these memoirs bring history to life. All the things forgotten to time; comrades’ personality, their small talk, and thoughts are revived through these stories. The closest a human could possibly come to actually going back in time

This channel is a historical gem.

Spanish Armada: I am from Scotland, the west coast, my ancestors hail from Arran. We did a gene swab a few years back and, lo and behold, Spanish blood. This possibly confirms the old family tale of a shipwrecked Spaniard settling down on the island a sireing a few children with local women.

22:00 is such an interesting thing to learn about domestic Russian military horses. The visual I got in my head was so comical despite the rest of the horrid situation being described.

Amazing how few people who entrusted their lives to wooden ships in the past knew how to swim.

Very well done video as always! These stories make me think there is a lot to recover through archeology!

The guy in the Spanish armada that filled his clothes with metal in the middle of the ocean was not too bright.

Fabulous narration style! gold tier content right there

What an interesting topic for a video. I look forward to listening to this all now. Thank you.

Ok but tell me the the Country Native Horse, sitting, and sliding down frozen hills with both luggage and a mounted rider isn’t the coolest little thing. Lovely creature.

Can you do more first hand accounts of the napoleonic wars? Thanks 👍

Well done. There is an error at 3:20 however. “Caesar” is referring to Augustus Caesar (Octavian). It is he who Suetonius attributes the famous words: “Varus, give me back my legions!" The bust shown in the video is of Julius Caesar, however, who of course was long dead.

I knew it was going to be absolutely amazing, everything ive watched from you in the short time since I discovered your videos, just fire, fire fire content!!!

This channel is so underrated. I really appreciate what you're doing. I love discovering the perspectives of peoples from so long ago

*D A M N !* this channel is so good. I can’t watch them fast enough and then watch some more old ones.

I been waiting for a new one to drop, this channel is awesome!!!!!!

great content as usual, keep it up

Beautifuly written. Enjoy these very much.

1066, had a huge effect tearing England from a Scandinavian future ( Cnut etc) into a European entanglement. Had Harold won a scandinavian conglomeration may have consolidated from modern day USA to Russia. Its only conjecture and what iff but interesting to contemplate.

“Varus, Varus, give me back my legions!” -Augustus Caesar

"Mistakes were made" ~Major Benteen when asked what happened at little bighorn

Opening with Teutoberg Forest is wild. No matter the day or subject, its a balat when VotP uploads.

I really enjoyed this. I did find some of it hard to follow

The illustrations are amazing.

I'm Canadian and my family derives from Ireland, I have a LOT of Spanish in me because of the Spanish Armada which surprised me so much when I found out

Thank you for mentioning the tragedy that was Gallipoli. That mission makes me cry as an Australian

It's tragic to hear such tales of horror and devastation. It is horrible to imagine how many people befell such horrible fates throughout the annals of history. We are lucky, truly lucky, to be born in one of the most peaceful periods in all of our existence.

Thanks for the great narration. The French account was the saddest of all, but the Spanish/Portuguese account was the most instructive. Well-laid plans and all. All their might was nothing compared to the power of nature. Their mistake wasn't in the planning and execution. It was hubris and pride. In the end, it was as though God himself was chastising them for their arrogance.

Jeez man.. I don't know if I'm just in a weird mood or if this is just a compelling video or what but I've read and watched about the Battle of Teutoburg Forest dozens of times and I'd say I have a decent grasp on it - Roman history is one of my absolute favorite topics. But for whatever reason - maybe since it was so long ago and seems almost mythical or whatever - I never really thought about the firsthand human experience on a close, personal level. I guess a lot of people do that with ancient stories and war stories - focusing on the highlights and great deeds/feats, courage, valor, etc. and not the gritty, gratuitous details, gore, fear, panic, etc. from the mud and the trenches.. But what I'm getting at is, listening to this, I'm just thinking how messed up that would be - to be an already superstitious Roman soldier in an army in a foreign land, far from home and familiar sights, environs, culture, etc., deep in the woods surrounded by a massive hostile army of strong, brutal, lifelong, elite warriors with strange gods and forest spirits and mystical, almost magical beliefs and rituals who are perfectly at home in the hostile, unfavorable terrain you find yourself in - and to watch all of your allies being slaughtered, tortured to death or abandoning their honor and loyalty and attempting to flee and seeing your officers abandoning you - and knowing you're very shortly going to die in battle if you're lucky and if not, you're going to be mercilessly tortured with unimaginable and very creative tactics until you beg for death... I'm just really deeply and empathetically thinking about what that would feel like in that moment... I know the Romans brutalized the hell out of the Germanic people - and I have ancestry from those parts - but I'm fascinated with Roman history and I always find myself looking through their eyes when hearing their stories.

These are good stories to show a great power can lose and hopefully people can learn from them. 😊

Such good content it’s insane

Great video!

Very interesting video about 5 of the worst military disasters in history. I've always been fascinated by these events and it's great to hear first-hand accounts of what happened. Thanks for sharing!

I'm surprised that instead of the Spanish armada, which the Spanish never said was invincible, you didn't cover the counter armada from England the next year which was a total disaster, costing possibly 15-20,000 English lives at least and over 50 ships. A much bigger disaster that was covered up and still is not taught in British schools and rates only a passing comment in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

I enjoyed this. Thanks.

Very well done.

26:15 "one felt somehow as if one were grasping hands across the centuries with the great adventures of ancient times". Well, yes, but specifically the Romans in Teutoberg Forest, Christians at Hattin, Spanish Armada and Napoleonic French in Russia. All far from home, incredibly brave and doomed.

River Allia 390 BC, The Caudine Forks 321 BC, Asculum 279 BC, Trebia 218 BC, Trasimeme 217 BC, Cannae 216 BC, Arausio 105 BC, Carrhae 53 BC, Teutoburg Forest 9, Abritus 251, Adrianople 378... Ancient Rome took some seriously heavy blows.

This is awesome 🔥✊🏿

Yay a new one!

Did I hear that correctly? Varus marched into Germania and setup COURT!?

There are some hectic adventures described here. Though wont do do so, I don't think we could underestimate the gravity of the situations in which the survivors found themselves.

I would love more videos like this

Undead zombie Caesar must have been pretty angry in 9AD

I'm listening to tell words of people who's tales have echoed for centuries, and sometimes millenia. But, I feel as though Voices of the Past puts me in a room with these ancient people and I'm hearing from the source personally.

Please do a long form reading of Francis DeCuellars time in Ireland

My Great Grandmas Brothers were at Gallipoli with the NZers, one was shot in the jaw and the other was killed

need this in spotify

Great video

listening to this as i boot up Helldivers 2 at 4am, can relate

Incredible.

You gotta love history💯

Such a good horse that guy had it sounds like

1st hand accounts of how war is really not so glorious

Easily my favorite channel on UKposts.

Where is the testimony of Leroy Jenkins?

So you're telling me there was French guy essentially using a Russian horse as a toboggan in the early nineteenth century - now I have heard everything 😂

Great video! Please include New World military disasters such as Colonel Custard's defeat and how the Aztecs decimated the Spanish conquistadors and chased them out of their capital Tenochtitlan (The Sad Night).

For some reason I can't quite understand historical accounts of events and battles that took place so long ago when things like "they sent word" or "messengers left/arrived" with simple messages like "continue moving" or "we cannot continue moving". The time it must take for messages and responses to form complete communications has to be sometimes weeks or months. I just can't grasp how armies could be stuck without water, and in these communication loops be able to respond with "we won't go on because we are thirsty".

Shoutout to Marcus Crassus, he's an honorable mention at least.

it's always been the best battle plan to wait for the other guy to eff up

Nice shout out to Minard's graphic.

Interesting to note that although we now almost exclusively refer to him as Octavian or Augustus contemporaries would have just called him Julius Ceasar after the adoption.

8:20 the drawing of a lion on the knight's shield is almost Disney-cute

“The damnable hands of the damned” goes hard.

“Slow in mind as he was in body” 🤣🤣

Hi sometime I get confused as to what part of the narrative is the actual account and what is framing and introductory narration by you or somebody else. You do have the same tone of voice and similar tone and word patterns

I had absolutely ZERO doubt that the Battle of Hattin would be on this list 😂 fuck Gerard of Ridefort, all my homies hate Gerard of Ridefort.

What about Queen Boudica's defeat by Roman Suetonious, "somewhere", around 60 A.D.?

The recount of Gallipoli sounds so romantic, until the nightmare begins. Sad to think that once they landed, almost 2/3 of those men would be dead from dysentery, not a very romantic way to go. It's actually the only accurate comparison to the battles of old, disease would generally take the largest majority of every fighting force over time. Just another example of the hubris of men that don't actually do any of the fighting, those in charge show little regard for your life. People's lives are considered incidental, compared to the personal glory of those at the top! That aspect of history never changes.

@5:08 supplant Battle of Hattin (1187 CE) for Manzikert (1071 CE) as THAT failure under ‎Romanos IV Diogenes precipitated a greater change in the strategic situation of the Eurasian world.

I really think Harold Godwinson in 1066 deserves a mention. So many mistakes. He could’ve waited 2 days for 30,000 reinforcements but didn’t, he fought on foot which prevented him from giving clear orders, he used an extremely old and not very effective defence system (Anglo Saxon shield wall) and so many more. No wonder the Normans won

Can you please announce the dates and locations of these stories when introducing? Just for some of us only listening 🙏

What I want to know is what kind of sailor doesn’t know how to swim. Or anyone that decides “yeah, I wanna go on a ship that will sail on the seas for months but idk how to swim, oh well”

Left out some appalling mistakes in the Prussian-French War of 1870-1871. French attacked ONE tiny little town... pulled back and decided to play a defensive war. They kept getting surrounded in spite of having better rifles. They lost control of all three major cities that had been surrounded and sieged; Metz and Paris were the last two taken. Lots of stupid logistic problems like... forgetting to stockpile enough food in the cities. There is a full 6 hour documentary about it here on youtube. I never knew about this war or how violent it got. 6 months later France (with a different Government (after their King, Napolean III was captured in the first siege just up the road from Metz). Also, France had access to a wheeled Machine gun. First of its kind in a European war. They used it ONCE! Then never touched it again

Not gonna lie. That meteor pen sounds cool as s***

Just knew instantly from the title that Napoleon had to be on the list, just like I'd expect him on the biggest wins

The greatest losses of one side are always the greatest victories of the other.

Ugh I just got into penmanship, Spencerian, and the hover pen ad was like sign.

You should do the Yugoslav wars of the 90-s

#2 Was cool

I think we need to discuss the term "first hand"

Honorable mentions include the battle of Nicosia. Hopefully someone knows some more.

I love these stories, the loneliest places some people ended up throughout history, more so ln the past, I wish we had stories from Homo Erectus lol

I genuinely expected to see the Battle of Doiran on here

How about the Battle of New Orleans in early 1815? Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us!

2:12 anyone know the name of the painting at the time stamp? Staggering.

....and that....ia how the cookie crumbles.

"He went to this rich province a poor man, and left that poor province a rich man"

At 3:21 the statue of Julius Ceasar is shown when saying the name "Ceasar", however in this case it reverse to emperor augustus (under his addopted name)