The map above shows which countries the US has lost wars or other military conflicts to. However, defining what is a loss is very tricky.
For example, during World War 2 the Japanese completely defeated the United States at Pearl Harbour, but would go on to lose the war (so not included).
Similarly, the Germans also inflicted limited defeats on the US (Battle of Kasserine Pass, Battle of the Bulge, etc), but also went on to lose the war (so again not included).
Therefore, I’ve used Lists of wars involving the United States and included any country they consider as having been at war/conflict with the United States and their view on if the US lost.
With one notable exception!
Wikipedia lists the result of the War of 1812 as having been inconclusive, but as Canadian Brit I can’t see how the US didn’t lose the war.
The British/Canadians burned down the White House and stopped the US from annexing Canada (probably a lesson in there somewhere).
Below is a full list of wars and conflicts the US lost and who they lost to. And below that I talk a bit more about the US itself being complicated.
Note some of these conflicts do really stretch the definition of “war”
| War/Conflict Name | Faught Against | Year(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moroccan seizure of the Betsey | Morocco | 1784 | U.S. forced to pay $30,000 ransom |
| American–Algerian War | Regency of Algiers | 1785–1795 | The U.S. government agrees to pay an annual tribute of $21,600 |
| Chesapeake–Leopard affair | United Kingdom | 1807 | The USS Chesapeake was bordered and 4 of her crew impressed into British service. |
| Patriot War (Florida) | Spain | 1812–1814 | US abandon filibuster allies for fear of expanded conflict with Spain |
| War of 1812 | United Kingdom including Canada | 1812-1815 | - Commonwealth troops burn the White House -US fails in its attempts to invade and occupy Canada. - 2,200 Americans killed in action, 5,200 died of disease and up to 15,000 deaths from all causes |
| Formosa Expedition | Paiwan (Taiwan) | 1867 | United States Navy and Marine company retreat without accomplishing anything |
| Russian Civil War | Soviet Russia | 1918–1920 | - 424 Americans killed - Failure to prevent the creation of the Soviet Union |
| Turkish War of Independence | Turkey | 1919–1922 | - King-Crane Commission Plan not implemented - Establishment of the Republic of Turkey |
| Operation Valuable | Albania | 1949–1956 | - Failure to overthrow the communist regime of Enver Hoxha in Albania - 300 MI6 and CIA agents killed during its duration |
| Air battle over Merklín | Czechoslovak Republic | 1953 | - American F-84 fighter-bomber shot down |
| Vietnam War | North Vietnam, Viet Cong, Pathet Lao, Khmer Rouge, GRUNK, China, Soviet Union, North Korea | 1955 -1975 | - Withdrawal of American forces from Indochina - North Vietnamese victory over South Vietnam - Reunification of North Vietnam and South Vietnam into the communist state Socialist Republic of Vietnam - Communist governments take power also in Laos and Cambodia |
| Permesta Rebellion | Indonesia | 1958–1961 | Permesta surrendered to Indonesia government |
| Tibetan uprising | People's Republic of China | 1959 | Flight of the 14th Dalai Lama to India |
| Laotian Civil War | Pathet Lao, North Vietnam | 1959–1975 | - The fall of the Kingdom of Laos - Establishment of the communist state Lao People's Democratic Republic |
| Bay of Pigs Invasion | Cuba | 1961 | - Failure to topple Castro's government - Increased cooperation between Cuba and the Soviet Union, leading to the Cuban missile crisis. |
| Cambodian Civil War | Khmer Rouge, GRUNK, FUNK, Khmer Rumdo, North Vietnam, Viet Cong, Pathet Lao | 1967–1975 | - The fall of the Kingdom of Cambodia - Creation but eventual collapse of the Khmer Republic - Creation of the Democratic Kampuchea - Beginning of the Cambodian genocide |
| Pueblo Incident | North Korea | 1968 | - USS Pueblo seized - 1 US death |
| Operation Eagle Claw | Iran | 1980 | - Mission failed - 8 US servicemen killed |
| Multinational Force in Lebanon | Lebanon (various groups), with support from PLO, Syria, Hezbollah and Iran | 1982–1984 | - Multinational forces fail to prevent collapse of Lebanese Army into Syrian- or Israeli- supported militias - Multinational forces evacuated after the US embassy and US Marine barracks are bombed by the Islamic Jihad Organization |
| Operation Gothic Serpent | Somali National Alliance | 1993 | - US forces withdrawal on 3 March 1994 - 21 Americans killed - 4 MH-60 Black Hawks shot down |
| War in Afghanistan | Afganistan | 2001-2021 | Afghan Taliban back in power after being ousted in 2001 |
| US military intervention in Niger | Niger | 2013-2024 | - U.S. lost access to Niger Air Base 201, largest drone base in Africa built by the United States for $110 million - 5 Americans killed |
| US intervention in Saudi Arabian–led operations in Yemen | Yemen | 2015–2021 | Houthis maintain control over the capital Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen |
As for the United States itself, the most obvious example is the American Civil War (1861-65).
The US federal government (Union) defeated the secessionist Confederate States of America which included 11 current US states, of which Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia were all part of the original 13 US states.
However, there were also the American Indian Wars (1600s–1890s). The US Federal government would ultimately “tame the west,” but they lost several wars and battles to native groups that would eventually become US citizens.
Here is a partial list:
- St. Clair’s defeat (1791)
- First & Second Seminole War (1817-18; 1835–1842)
- Red Cloud’s War (1866–1868)
- Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876)
What do you think of the list above? Agree/Disagree leave your comments below:
Sources:
- List of wars involving the United States in the 18th century
- List of wars involving the United States in the 19th century
- List of wars involving the United States in the 20th century
- List of wars involving the United States in the 21st century
And from the list above above, Countries the United States have fought in, attacked or declared war on (red has occurred in the past, yellow ongoing). Based on the list above.
And finally European Countries that have declared war on the United States:
A few Books about various American military defeats:
- The Victory with No Name: The Native American Defeat of the First American Army
- Burning of the White House: James and Dolley Madison and the War of 1812
- Atlas of the Civil War: A Complete Guide to the Tactics and Terrain of Battle
- The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War
- Operation Eagle Claw 1980: The disastrous bid to end the Iran hostage crisis
- To Lose a War: The Fall and Rise of the Taliban
Andrew says
I’d not include uprisings or rebel incitements or even the Russian Civil War. I’d say the only true defeats were Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cuba, Niger, Somalia, UK/Canada.
Wayne Wager says
The Pueblo incident was a lost war? We’ve all heard the expression they “lost the battle but won the war”. In the English language “war” is a full scale affair. In the case of the Pueblo, I would say even battle is too dramatic a word. It was a skirmish during the Cold War. We won the Cold War. We might say today that we won Cold War I. and that Cold War II — The Drone Wars, is in its early stages. I hope that’s not too prophetic.
Marshal Shichtman says
Your definition of “militarily defeated” is highly suspect.
This is a problem because is calls your judgement in everything else into question.
Examples:
The US lost Viet Nam; no doubt. But you listed the US losing the War of 1812. (which I would concur with, but for…) If you use the same logic that the US lost in Viet Nam, opposition left and indigenous remained, then the US “won” the War of 1812. You don’t have to be “right” in your conclusions, you just have to be consistent.
However, you use that same logic in Afghanistan, consistently. But to say the US was “militarily defeated” in Afghanistan is a stretch in anyone’s book. Failure to achieve a permeant goal, maybe. (area control for two decades would be long term objective achievement)
Failure to stop the creation of the Soviet Union. I think your standards are unrealistic.
In sum and substance, the loss of personnel and equipment, or the failure of an operation, or the failure of a permeant objective, would mean everyone has lost against everyone.
I know that I am not going to change your mind. I know the US isn’t perfect. And in the US, you are entitled to your opinion. But when you make sweeping conclusions without any objective criteria, context, or perspective, it calls your judgement and credibility into question.
I will continue to read your emails, but it is no longer information, it is entertainment.
james mccarty yeager says
i was taught US colonial history by an australian at the university of toronto. painfully clear the US lost the war of 1812 — even after a sneak attack to open the war without any diplomatic notice. a la pearl harbour, really. but you left out the time the israeli air force and navy shot up a US intelligence vessel, USS liberty, in the mediterranean in 1967. that little conflict was certainly a US defeat as well.
Charles Berger says
Battle of the Bulge was the US Army’s biggest triumph of WW2…. Definitely not a German win!
Robert Johnson says
1) 1812 ended in stalemate after concluding unfinished War of Independence business
2) It was against Britain. Canada wasn’t a country.
James Gooch says
The list seems reasonable overall. The two points I would question:
1) In the War of 1812, the present-day Commonwealth didn’t exist yet. I would prefer to attribute the victory to the “British Empire”, or some similar term which seems more historically accurate.
2) Operation Eagle Claw did fail, but I wouldn’t count it as having been ‘militarily defeated’ when they never fought; even the Iranian government didn’t take credit for it! If we gave credit to anyone I’d say that the US defeated itself by doing everything poorly.
Brilliant Maps says
Yeah, the War of 1812 is somewhat contentious one. Canadians would swear it was us that burned down the Whitehouse, but I think looking objectively it was more the British. That said as a Canadian I’m keeping it.
Operation Eagle Claw is yet another example of “It’s Complicated.”