The Battle of Augusta took place near Augusta, Sicily on 22 April 1676 during the Franco-Dutch War. It featured a French fleet under Abraham Duquesne, and a combined Dutch-Spanish fleet, under the overall command of Francisco de la Cerda.
For much of the battle, only part of each fleet was engaged, and despite heavy casualties and severe damage, neither side lost any ships. It ended when the Dutch admiral, Michiel de Ruyter, extracted his squadron from being attacked by superior French numbers, although he was mortally wounded in doing so. The fleets separated next day without resuming the battle, and the result was inconclusive.
Since both Louis XIV of France and the Dutch Republic viewed control of the Spanish Netherlands as essential for security and trade, it was a contested area for much of the later 17th century. In the 1667-68 War of Devolution with Spain, France occupied much of the region before the Dutch-led Triple Alliance forced them to withdraw in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668). After this, Louis decided the best way to achieve his territorial ambitions was to first defeat the Dutch.
When the Franco-Dutch War began in May 1672, French troops quickly overran large parts of the Netherlands, but by July the Dutch position had stabilised. Concern at French gains brought the Dutch support from Brandenburg-Prussia, Emperor Leopold, and Charles II of Spain. In August 1673, Louis withdrew from the Netherlands, retaining only Grave and Maastricht. In January 1674, Denmark–Norway joined the anti-French coalition, while in February the Treaty of Westminster ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War, depriving Louis of a key ally against the Dutch.
The war expanded into Germany, while in July 1674, the Sicilian town of Messina expelled its Spanish garrison and asked for French protection. A small French squadron arrived in September, but had to withdraw in the face of a larger Spanish fleet. In January 1675, a reinforced French force of 20 ships escorted a supply convoy through the Spanish blockade, then defeated the Spanish fleet in a battle off the Aeolian Islands on 11 February 1675, ending the blockade of Messina.
The Spanish then asked for Dutch assistance. Michiel de Ruyter was sent to the Mediterranean with eighteen larger warships and a number of smaller vessels although, because Dutch resources had been strained by the continuing Franco-Dutch War, these ships were not fully manned. On 8 January 1676, de Ruyter fought a French fleet of roughly equal numbers but greater firepower in the inconclusive Battle of Stromboli, in which the Dutch lost one ship. Later in 1676, de Ruyter was joined by a Spanish squadron under Admiral de la Cerda, who assumed command of the combined force. The two agreed to attack Augusta and force the French fleet to leave Messina.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
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