Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index A battle is generally an instance of armed violence wherein one group will seek to defeat another. Battles are most often fought as parts of war. Battles may be small scale, only involving a handful of individuals or perhaps two squads, up to battles on army levels where tens of thousands may be engaged in the battle at the same time. A battle is most often deemed a win when the opposing party has surrendered, been dispersed, successfully retreated or been utterly destroyed. See also military tactics, combat, warfare, list of battles Battle is also the name of the town in East Sussex, England, where William I, also known as William of Normandy, defeated Harold II of England in 1066 in the Battle of Hastings. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.