List of raids

A military raid is a mission where the main objective is to demoralize, destroy valuable enemy installations, free prisoners, gather intelligence, or capture or kill specific personnel. This contrasts to regular military operations where the end goal is to capture territory and advance. Raids are a quick attack, relying heavily on the element of surprise to achieve their objective. After the success or failure of the mission, the raiding force will attempt to retreat to friendly territory before the enemy is able to co-ordinate a counterattack.

Raids are favored by guerrilla, irregular, or special forces. Due to the disproportional affect that a raid can have on an enemy, relative to the attacker's strength and the duration of the attack, raids are a favored tactic in irregular warfare.

This page contains a list of military raids, not including air raids, sorted by the date at which they started:

Name	Date	Attackers	Defenders	Outcome
Mongol Raid into Hungary	1241	Mongol Empire	Kingdom of Hungary Kingdom of Croatia  Teutonic Knights  Knights Templar	Parts of the Kingdom of Hungary controlled by the Mongol Empire
Mongol Raid into Lithuania	1259	Mongol Empire	Grand Duchy of Lithuania	Lithuania left mostly untouched by the Mongol raid
Mongol raid into Poland	1259	Mongol Empire	Polish states and allies	Tactical Mongol victory
Mongol invasion of Thrace	1265	Mongol Empire	Thrace	Thrace plundered by the Mongols
Second Mongol invasion of Lithuania	1275	Mongol Empire	Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Third Mongol invasion of Poland	1287	Golden Horde Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia	Kingdom of Poland Kingdom of Hungary	Polish victory; Mongol invasion repulsed
Chaseabout Raid	26 August 1565	Kingdom of Scotland	Protestant rebels	Victory for Mary, Queen of Scots
Raid of the Redeswire	7 July 1575	Kingdom of Scotland	Kingdom of England	Scottish victory
Raid of Ruthven	27 August 1582	Presbyterian nobles	Kingdom of Scotland	Short-lived Presbyterian victory
Raid on the Medway	6 June 1667	Dutch Republic	Kingdom of England	Decisive Dutch victory
Raid on Deerfield	29 February 1704	New England	French colonists  Abenaki  Iroquois  Wyandot  Pocumtuc  Pennacook	French and Native American victory
Raid on Pickawillany	21 June 1752	France  New France Ojibwa Ottawa	Great Britain British America Miami People	French allied victory
Meigs Raid	24 May 1777	United States	Great Britain	American victory
Carleton's Raid	24 October 1778	Great Britain	United States Vermont Republic	British victory
Cherry Valley massacre	11 November 1778	Great Britain  Seneca tribe  Mohawk	United States	British victory
Royalton raid	16 October 1780	Great Britain	Vermont Republic	British victory
Raid on Gananoque	21 September 1812	United States	Upper Canada	American victory
Raid on Elizabethtown	7 February 1813	United States	United Kingdom	American victory
Raid on Fort Oswego	6 May 1814	United Kingdom	United States	British victory
Raid on Alexandria	20 August 1814	United Kingdom	United States	British victory
Andrews' Raid	12 April 1862	United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)	Union victory
Grierson's Raid	17 April 1863	United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)	Union victory
Streight's Raid	30 April 1863	United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)	Confederate victory
Morgan's Raid	11 June 1863	CSA (Confederacy)	United States (Union)	Union victory
Quantrill's Raid	21 August 1863	CSA (Confederacy)	United States (Union)	Confederate victory
St. Albans Raid	19 October 1864	CSA (Confederacy)	United States (Union)	Confederate victory
Shelby's Raid (1863)	2 September 1863	CSA (Confederacy)	United States (Union)	Confederate victory
Price's Raid	27 September 1864	CSA (Confederacy)	United States (Union)	Union victory
Wilson's Raid	22 March 1865	United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)	Union victory
Fenian raids	April 1866	Fenian Brotherhood Irish Republican Brotherhood United States(Alleged)	British Empire Canada (1867-71) Province of Canada (1866)	Stalemate; Fenian raids cease
Warren Wagon Train raid	18 May 1871	Kiowa	United States	Native American victory
Jesse James Northfield Raid	6 September 1876	Law enforcement	James-Younger Gang	Destruction of the gang
Jameson Raid	29 December 1895	Cecil Rhodes Leander Starr Jameson Reform Committee	South African Republic	South African victory
Brownsville Affair	13 August 1906	Black soldiers	White civilians	1 white civilian is killed; 167 black soldiers are dishonorably discharged
Bezdany raid	26 September 1908	Polish revolutionaries	Russian Empire	Polish success
Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby	16 December 1914	United Kingdom	German Empire	German victory
Russian raid on Gotland	2 July 1915	Russian Empire United Kingdom	German Empire	Allied victory
Zeebrugge Raid	23 April 1915	United Kingdom	German Empire	Indecisive
Malgaç Raid	16 June 1919	Kuva-yi Milliye	Kingdom of Greece	Turkish victory
Soviet raid on Stołpce	3 August 1924	Soviet Union	Poland	Soviet victory
Chittagong armoury raid	18 April 1930	Indian revolutionaries	Chittagong police force	Revolutionaries fail to complete objective
Christmas Raid	23 December 1939	Irish Republican Army (IRA)	Irish Army	Initial completion of objectives; equipment recovered shortly after
Operation Ambassador	14 July 1940	United Kingdom	Nazi Germany	Nazi victory
Operation Colossus	10 February 1941	United Kingdom	Italy	British victory
Operation Claymore	4 March 1941	United Kingdom  Norway	Nazi Germany	British victory
Operation Savanna	15 March 1941	United Kingdom  Free France	Nazi Germany	Nazi victory
Bardia raid	19-20 April 1941	United Kingdom  Australia	Nazi Germany Italy	Allied victory
Raid on Alexandria (1941)	19 December 1941	United Kingdom	Italy	Italian victory
Operation Anklet	26 December 1941	United Kingdom Norway Poland	Nazi Germany	Allied victory
Operation Archery	27 December 1941	United Kingdom Norway	Nazi Germany	Allied victory
St. Nazaire Raid	27 March 1942	United Kingdom	Nazi Germany	British victory (all objectives complete)
Indian Ocean raid	31 March 1942	Empire of Japan	United Kingdom Australia  Netherlands Netherlands United States  Canada	Japanese victory
Operation Albumen	7-8 June 1942, 4-5 July 1943	United Kingdom,  Greece,  Free French	Nazi Germany	Allied victory
Makin Island raid	17 August 1942	United States	Empire of Japan	American victory
Dieppe Raid	19 August 1942	Canada United Kingdom Poland	Nazi Germany	German victory
Tatsinskaya Raid	16 December 1942	Soviet Union	Nazi Germany	Soviet victory
Operation Chestnut	12 July 1943	United Kingdom	Italy	British failure
The Gran Sasso Raid	12 September 1943	Nazi Germany	Italy	Mussolini successfully rescued
Operation Jaywick	26 September 1943	Z Special Unit (Allies)	Empire of Japan	Allied victory
Operation Begonia	2 October 1943	United Kingdom	Italy	50 POWs rescued
Operation Candytuft	27 October 1943	United Kingdom	Italy Nazi Germany	British victory
Operation Saxifrage	27 October 1943	United Kingdom	Italy	Rail lines successfully cut
Raid on Choiseul	28 October 1943	United States Australia	Empire of Japan	Indecisive
Operation Baobab	30 January 1944	United Kingdom	Italy	British victory
Operation Cooney	7 June 1944	Free French Forces	Nazi Germany	Tactically indecisive Strategic Allied victory
Operation Gaff	25 June 1944	United Kingdom	Nazi Germany	Objective not completed
Raid on Symi	13-15 July 1944	United Kingdom Kingdom of Greece	Nazi Germany  Italian Social Republic	Allied victory
Operation Dunhill	3 August 1944	United Kingdom	Nazi Germany	Objectives completed
Raid at Ožbalt	31 August 1944	Slovene Partisans	Nazi Germany	Slovene victory
Operation Greif	16 December 1944	Nazi Germany	United Kingdom United States	German failure
Raid at Cabanatuan	30 January 1945	United States  Commonwealth of the Philippines	Empire of Japan  Second Philippine Republic	Allied victory; 552 POWs liberated
Operation Cold Comfort	17 February 1945	United Kingdom	Nazi Germany	British failure
Raid at Los Baños	23 February	United States  Commonwealth of the Philippines	Empire of Japan  Second Philippine Republic	Allied victory; 2,147 Allied civilians and military personnel liberated
Granville Raid	8 March 1945	Nazi Germany	United States United Kingdom	German victory
Operation Tombola	23 March 1945	United Kingdom Italian resistance movement	Nazi Germany	Allied victory
Operation Roast	1 April 1945	United Kingdom	Nazi Germany	British victory
Operation Claret	July 1964 - July 1966	United Kingdom	Indonesia	Objective complete; Indonesian forces kept off balance
Operation Ivory Coast	21 November 1970	United States	North Vietnam	Mission failure
Operation Green Sea	22 November 1970	Portuguese Military Guinean dissident forces	Guinean People's Militia PAIGC	Limited Portuguese success; liberation of all 26 POWs and enemy naval and air assets destroyed Failure to capture or kill Amílcar Cabral and Ahmed Sékou Touré
Operation Entebbe	3 July 1976	Israel	PFLP-EO Revolutionary Cells  Uganda	Mission successful; 102 of 106 hostages rescued
Operation Eland	9 August 1976	Rhodesia	ZANLA (ZANU) Mozambique	Decisive Rhodesian victory
Operation Dingo	23-25 November 1977	Rhodesia	Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army	Decisive Rhodesian victory
Battle of Cassinga	4 May 1978	South Africa	SWAPO,  Cuba	South African victory
Operation Eagle Claw	24 April 1980	United States	Iran Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line	Mission failure
Operation Nimrod	5 May 1980	United Kingdom	Democratic Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Arabistan (DRFLA)	Mission successful; 24 of 26 hostages rescued
Raid on Pebble Island	14 May 1982	United Kingdom	Argentina	British victory
Operation El Dorado Canyon	14-15 April 1986	United States	Libya	American victory
Operation Flavius	6 March 1988	United Kingdom	Provisional Irish Republican Army	3 IRA paramilitaries killed
Operation Acid Gambit	20 December 199	United States	Panama	Mission successful; hostage rescued
Raid at Renacer Prison	20 December 1989	United States	Panama Defense Force	Mission successful; 64 hostages rescued
Borovo Selo raid	2 May 1991	Croatia	SAO Krajina White Eagles	SAO Krajina and White Eagles victory
Battle of Mogadishu	3 October 1993	UNOSOM II United States  Pakistan  Malaysia	Somali National Alliance (SNA) Al-Qaeda	Strategic SNA victory
Operation Barras	10 September 2000	United Kingdom	West Side Boys	Mission successful; 5 hostages and 21 additional civilians rescued
Operation Condor	17 May 2002	United Kingdom	Taliban insurgents Al-Qaeda	British victory
2004 Nazran raid	21 June 2004	Caucasian Front Chechen Republic of Ichkeria	Russian Federation  Ingushetia	Chechen and Ingush separatist victory
2004 Avtury raid	12 July 2004	Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Arab Mujahideen	Chechen Republic Russian Federation	Rebel victory
2004 Grozny raid	21 August 2004	Chechen Republic Russian Federation	Chechen Republic of Ichkeria	Russian victory
Lake Tharthar raid	23 March 2005	New Iraqi Army United States	Iraqi insurgents	Iraqi security forces victory
2005 Nalchik raid	13 October 2005	Yarmuk Jamaat	Russian Federation	Russian victory
Dalola raid	1 May 2006	Janjaweed	Chad	Janjaweed victory
Tyre raid	4 August 2006	Israel Defense Forces	Hezbollah	Mission failure
2009 Baraawe raid	14 September 2009	United States	Al-Qaeda Al-Shabaab	American victory Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan killed
Death of Osama bin Laden	2 May 2011	United States	Al-Qaeda	American victory Osama bin Laden killed
Kunar Raid	17 February 2012	NATO United States Air Force	Taliban	Mission failure; 6 civilian casualties
May 2015 U.S. special forces raid in Syria	15 May 2015	United States United Kingdom (surveillance)	Daesh	American victory Abu Sayyaf killed