September 14 in Military History

Napoleon's Grande Armée entered Moscow, only to find the city largely abandoned and deliberately set ablaze by Russian forces. The great fire of Moscow destroyed three-quarters of the city over four days, denying Napoleon shelter and supplies. With Tsar Alexander refusing to negotiate, Napoleon was forced to begin his catastrophic retreat on October 19, during which the Grande Armée was destroyed by cold, hunger, and Cossack attacks.

After 25 hours of bombardment, the garrison of Fort McHenry raised a massive American flag, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became the U.S. national anthem.

Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Adrianople, ending the 1828-1829 Russo-Turkish War. The treaty gave Russia territory on the Danube delta and the eastern Black Sea coast, autonomy for the Danubian Principalities and Serbia, and enforced the Treaty of London that granted Greek independence. It was a major strategic defeat for the Ottoman Empire and accelerated the process that produced the Balkan nation states.

Union forces attacked Confederate defenders holding the gaps of South Mountain in Maryland, a critical prelude to the Battle of Antietam three days later. The Union victory forced Lee to concentrate his divided army at Sharpsburg. The fighting cost over 4,000 casualties on each side.

Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as the 26th President following the death of William McKinley from an assassin's bullet. Roosevelt, a Medal of Honor recipient for his charge at San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War, would become one of the most militarily significant presidents in American history, building the Great White Fleet and asserting American power globally.

The Russian Provisional Government under Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky formally proclaimed Russia a republic, abolishing the Romanov monarchy that had ruled since 1613. The decision came after the failed Kornilov coup and against the backdrop of a collapsing eastern front. The republic lasted seven weeks before the Bolshevik seizure of power on October 25 in the Russian calendar, November 7 Gregorian.

The 1st Marine Division landed on the tiny Pacific island of Peleliu in what was expected to be a three-day operation. Instead, the battle lasted over two months as Japanese forces under Colonel Kunio Nakagawa fought from an elaborate system of caves and tunnels in the island's coral ridges. Peleliu cost 1,794 American dead and nearly 8,000 wounded, losses that prompted debate over whether the island was worth taking.

The Soviet Luna 2 probe, launched two days earlier from Baikonur, crashed into the Mare Imbrium region of the Moon at roughly 7,500 miles per hour. It was the first human-made object to reach the surface of another celestial body. The mission delivered Soviet pennants to the lunar surface and gave the USSR another in a string of spaceflight firsts that shaped American perceptions of the ballistic missile gap.

Bashir Gemayel, the Lebanese Forces militia leader elected President of Lebanon three weeks earlier, was killed when a bomb destroyed the Phalange party headquarters in Beirut. Twenty-six people died in the blast, including senior Phalange officials. The assassination triggered the Israeli occupation of West Beirut and set the conditions for the Sabra and Shatila massacre two days later.

Three days after the September 11 attacks, Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), granting the president authority to use all "necessary and appropriate force" against those responsible for the attacks. The vote was nearly unanimous, 420-1 in the House and 98-0 in the Senate. Representative Barbara Lee of California cast the lone dissenting vote.