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Battle of Willow Creek (Napoleon's World)

Battle of Willow Creek (Napoleon's World)
American Marines at the Willows

Date September 2-5, 1951
Location Central Wales
Result Decisive American victory
Belligerents

US flag 48 stars United States of America

Flag of Ireland Ireland
EWA Flag2English Workers Army

Commanders

US flag 48 stars Maxwell Taylor

Flag of Ireland John A. Costello
EWA Flag2 George Leiter

The Battle of Willow Creek, also occasionally referred to as the Battle of the Willows, was an engagement from September 2-5, 1951 that was the first major American engagement in the Welsh Campaign of the English Adventure in an uninhabited region of central Wales. The American XI Corps encountered the Irish Regulars 5th Division at a place the locals referred to as the Willows due to a propensity of willow trees in a low valley, and the Irish were soon thereafter reinforced by a small force of EWA forces.


The battle was the most violent for the Americans in 1951 and, until the Battle of Birmingham, was the most violent in the war. After three days of heavy, bloody fighting where the two sides literally fought for every foot of ground, the Americans defeated the Irish and pushed out of the valley, having suffered over 1,000 dead and 2,500 wounded. The losses amount for the highest in a three-day period for the US Army until the Siege of Gateshead in early 1955. The battle was significant for setting up the broad Irish counterattack known as the "Welsh Storm" which culminated with defeat for the Irish and the EWA at Cardiff in November.

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