Drew

Hello friends, I was curious to know what the most successful forced march in history in your opinion. Now compare it to distance and time and how useful these forces became at a certain battle or place.

One of the great ones I can think of is Napoleon's forces marching from Vienna to Austerlitz which was about a 70 mile journey in 3 days from what I've heard and read.

What else is noteworthy or even the best forced march ever in your eyes?

Discuss.

Qymaen

What about A.P. Hills race to Antietam? IIRC it stopped the Army of Northern Virginia from getting wrecked by *shudders* McClellan.

mingming

No one beats the Japanese during the Imjin War. Their speed during the march from Busan to Seoul was only barely matched by the Germans during World War II and the Germans had tanks, trucks, and better roads.

From The Imjin War by Samuel Hawley Page 165:

"It had taken Konishi and his first contingent just twenty days to cover the 450 kilometers from Pusan to Seoul, traveling at an average speed of nearly twenty-three kilometer per day. Kato's second contingent, starting five days after Konishi's, had done it in fifteen days, maintaining an average pace of over thirty kilometers per day. Three hundred and fifty years later, at the start of World War II, the Germans would marginally improve on this blistering pace during their blitzkriegs into Poland, Belgium, and France. But they did so with trucks and tanks and trains and had the advantage of reasonably smooth roads. That the Japanese in 1592 equaled them on foot, over rough, circuitous tracks and rocky mountain passes, is a testament to the power of Hideyoshi's expeditionary force."

pugsville

Xenophon and the 10,000?

tjadams

Santa Anna's march from Mexico City to San Antonio, Texas, USA
A distance of 856miles/1,377 kilometers.

xander.XVII

Roman Legionaries were able to march for 35 km with 40kg of equipment on.

Lasher

This one is the most impressive.

Others include a few Mongol marches and Rommel's 7th in France.

Cedar Brown

Napoleon's marching the Grande Armée from the shores of the northern France to the Rhine and past it. The French army redeployed so fast that they were in front of the Black Forest long before the Austrians expected to face the enemy.

It enabled Napoleon to encircle General Mack at Ulm and forced the surrender of an entire army without a major battle being fought. That's why it was the most successful forced march in history.

Earl_of_Rochester

Stanford Bridge, although a lot of the men were recruited en route.

Lasher

Hannibal across the Alps.