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Battles Won Against the Odds: Greatest Underdog Wins

History · 11 battles · ~6 min read · Updated September 2026

By Echoes of Battle

Winged hussars charging at Kircholm, one of history's great underdog victories
At a glance
BattleDateSmaller sideLarger sideOdds
1Marathon490 BC~10,000~25,000~1:2.5
2Gaugamela331 BC~47,000~100,000+~1:2+
3Cannae216 BC~50,000~86,000~1:1.7
4Bannockburn1314~7,000~18,000~1:2.5
5Aljubarrota1385~6,600~30,000~1:4.5
6Agincourt1415~8,000~24,000~1:3
7Cajamarca1532168several thousand~1:30+
8Kircholm1605~3,600~10,800~1:3
9Klushino1610~6,700~35,000~1:5
10Vienna1683~80,000~150,000~1:2
11Narva1700~11,000~35,000~1:3

Strength figures are approximate and, for ancient battles especially, debated between sources.

Numbers usually win battles, but not always. Again and again in history, a smaller, better-led or better-positioned army has destroyed a much larger one. Here are eleven of the greatest underdog victories ever fought, and just how badly each side was outnumbered.

Eleven times the smaller army walked off the field the winner.

Marathon, 490 BC. Athenian hoplites charged and broke a larger Persian invasion1, helping to save Greek independence.

Gaugamela, 331 BC. Alexander split a far larger Persian host with a single decisive cavalry thrust.

Cannae, 216 BC. Hannibal encircled and annihilated the largest army Rome had ever fielded.2

Diagram of the Roman army encircled by Carthaginian infantry and cavalry
Cannae, 216 BC: Hannibal's African infantry close in on both flanks while his cavalry seals the rear. US Military Academy map. Public domain

Bannockburn, 1314. Robert the Bruce's spearmen broke England's heavy cavalry and won Scotland's freedom.

Aljubarrota, 1385. A small Portuguese army destroyed a Castilian invasion3 and secured independence.

Agincourt, 1415. Henry V's longbowmen shattered the flower of French chivalry in the mud.

Medieval miniature of two armies of archers loosing arrows at each other
Archers shoot across the field at Agincourt in a French manuscript miniature of about 1470 to 1480. Public domain

Cajamarca, 1532. Pizarro's 168 men ambushed and captured the Inca emperor4 amid a vast army.

Kircholm, 1605. The winged hussars destroyed a Swedish army three times their size5, the decisive charges breaking it in about half an hour.

Klushino, 1610. Outnumbered hussars broke a much larger Russian and mercenary host6 and opened the road to Moscow.

Engraving with a bird's-eye plan of massed troop formations, tents and woods
A 17th-century copperplate engraving of the Battle of Klushino, drawn as a bird's-eye plan of the two armies and their camps. Public domain

Vienna, 1683. The great relief charge broke a far larger Ottoman army besieging the city.

Narva, 1700. Charles XII attacked through a snowstorm and routed a Russian army7 three times his size.

Painting of a young king on horseback above a battlefield
Charles XII at the Battle of Narva in 1700, a painting attributed to the Swedish court painter David von Krafft, early 18th century. Public domain

Frequently asked questions

What is the most outnumbered victory in history?

Few are as extreme as Cajamarca in 1532, where Francisco Pizarro's 168 Spaniards seized the Inca emperor Atahualpa in the middle of an army of tens of thousands. In open battle, wins like Kircholm (about three to one) and Aljubarrota (roughly four or five to one) stand out.

How can a smaller army beat a larger one?

Usually through some combination of better ground, better discipline, better tactics, surprise, or technology. Terrain that cramps the larger force, a decisive cavalry or infantry stroke, or firepower against massed attackers can all overturn the odds.

Are these numbers exact?

No. Army sizes for pre-modern battles are estimates drawn from chronicles and vary between sources, especially for ancient battles like Marathon and Gaugamela. The figures here are rounded and meant to show the scale of the mismatch.

Which battles here decided a nation's fate?

Several. Marathon helped save Greek independence, Bannockburn secured Scotland's, Aljubarrota secured Portugal's, and Vienna turned back the Ottoman advance into central Europe.

Sources and notes

Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.

  1. Peter Krentz, The Battle of Marathon (Yale University Press, 2010). ↩
  2. Adrian Goldsworthy, Cannae (Cassell, 2001). ↩
  3. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of Aljubarrota” ↩
  4. James Lockhart, The Men of Cajamarca: A Social and Biographical Study of the First Conquerors of Peru (University of Texas Press, 1972). ↩
  5. Robert I. Frost, The Northern Wars: War, State and Society in Northeastern Europe, 1558-1721 (Longman, 2000). ↩
  6. HistoryOfWar.org (J. Rickard), “Battle of Klushino, 4 July 1610” ↩
  7. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of Narva” ↩
  8. Wikipedia, “List of battles by casualties”

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