Pitched battle

A pitched battle is a battle were both sides choose to fight at a chosen location and time and where either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges.

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A pitched battle is not a chance encounter such as a skirmish, or where one side is forced to fight at a time not of their choosing such as happens in a siege. For example the Battle of Edgehill was the first pitched battle of the English Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg started by chance as a skirmish, but as both generals choose to reinforce their positions instead disengaging, they turned a skirmish into a pitched battle.

Related Topics:
Siege - Battle of Edgehill - English Civil War - Battle of Gettysburg

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