Catalaunian Fields (Roman Left)

Attila had a pretext for invading Gaul. Honoria, the older sister of the Western Roman Emperor, appealed directly to Attila to escape an arranged marriage. Attila eagerly accepted the ‘proposal’ and demanded a dowry of half the Western Empire. The …

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Attila had a pretext for invading Gaul. Honoria, the older sister of the Western Roman Emperor, appealed directly to Attila to escape an arranged marriage. Attila eagerly accepted the ‘proposal’ and demanded a dowry of half the Western Empire. The Emperor refused and ordered Aetius, a very capable soldier and diplomat, to build a coalition army to meet the expected invasion. His Roman units and their Gallic auxiliaries formed less than half of the army. The remainder were Alans and Visigoths who reluctantly joined because their fear of the Huns was greater than their hatred of the Romans. Attila’s army contained even more nationalities, but the superb Hun horsemen were the largest component. On the day of battle, both commanders formed their armies into three divisions as was customary. Attila’s right flank consisted of an ad hoc collection of subject nationalities - primarily Franks, Gepids and Burgundians with no overall commander. The Gepids were most numerous but had lost heavily covering Attila’s retreat from Orleans. The Ostrogoths made up Attila’s left wing. In the center were the fearsome Huns. Attila expected his Huns to face the Romans, but Aetius had other plans. He had received rumors of possible Alan perfidy, and placed that contingent in the center, bolstered by the Romans on the left and the Visigoths on the right. Attila first tried to outflank Aetius by attacking the Romans with Huns from his center, but the attack failed. Tellingly, the Germanic right wing held back. Attila then launched his main attack against the Alans in the center, but they resisted fiercely before being overwhelmed. The Huns pursued the Alan remnants, ignoring the untouched Romans on their flank. Aetius promptly attacked the Hun’s exposed flank while sending part of his wing to push back the wavering Gepids. At the same time the Visigoths routed the Ostrogoths on the other flank and were attacking the Hun’s left flank and rear. Attila knew his army would be destroyed if he held his ground, so he ordered a rapid retreat to his wagon laager camp. .

Champagne-Ardenne, France

The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or the Battle of Maurica, took place on June 20, 451 AD, between a coalition led by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and the Visigothic king Theodoric I against the Huns and their vassals commanded by their king Attila. It was one of the last major military operations of the Western Roman Empire, although Germanic foederati composed the majority of the coalition army. Whether the battle was strategically conclusive is disputed: the Romans possibly stopped the Huns' attempt to establish vassals in Roman Gaul. However, the Huns successfully looted and pillaged much of Gaul and crippled the military capacity of the Romans and Visigoths. Attila died only two years later and his Hunnic Empire was dismantled by a coalition of their Germanic vassals after the Battle of Nedao in 454.

Wikipedia: Battle of the Catalaunian Plains

Huns / Gepid

Romans / Alans