Draft:Attacks on the United States

The United States of America has been attacked several times throughout its history as a country. This is a list of attacks, in chronological order, including attacks on U.S. states and territories, embassies and consulates, or the military of the United States. Attacks against the United States include military offensives, raids, artillery and airstrikes, and terrorism bombings and shootings.

List

1776–1899

Following the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, which formally formed the United States of America, Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington fought against and defeated the British Army. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which formally ended the war, Great Britain ceded all mainland territories east of the Mississippi River, south of the Great Lakes, and north of the Floridas to the United States and recognized the independence of the United States. Until the end of the war, the United States had no internationally recognized territory and was considered part of the First British Empire.

In 1812, the new British Empire formed in 1801, invaded the United States, capturing several cities, including Washington D.C..

Following the secession of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, the Confederate States of America was formed on February 8, 1861. The Confederate States of America was an unrecognized de facto breakaway country from the United States, primarily due to no European power desiring to get involved in the conflict.

Date(s)	Location	Type of attack	Details	U.S. Deaths
July 4, 1776 – September 3, 1783	Eastern North America North Atlantic Ocean Caribbean	Rebellion / Revolution	Main article: American Revolutionary War Following the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, which formally formed the United States of America, Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army. Following the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the war, Great Britain ceded all mainland territories east of the Mississippi River, south of the Great Lakes, and north of the Floridas to the United States. Until the end of the war, the United States had no internationally recognized territory and was considered part of the First British Empire.	178,800–223,800
July 7, 1798 – September 30, 1800	Caribbean East Coast of the United States Indian Ocean Mediterranean Sea	Naval warfare	Main article: Quasi-War HOLD	160
June 18, 1812 – February 17, 1815	North America Atlantic Ocean Pacific Ocean	Invasion	Main article: War of 1812 HOLD	15,000
April 25, 1846 – May 9, 1846	Texas	Invasion	Main article: Texas Campaign Part of the Mexican–American War – Following the United States' annexation of Texas in 1845, the Mexican government claimed they still owned the portion of Texas between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. On April 25, 1846, approximately 1,600 Mexican soldiers, under the command of General Mariano Arista, crossed the border into the United States with the goal to hold and occupy the territory claimed by Mexico. American Captain Seth B. Thornton was sent to investigate a report of Mexican soldiers crossing the border, which led him and his 80 men into an ambush. With the Mexican forces still occupying part of Texas, American General Zachary Taylor took the Army of Occupation to fight the now reinforced Mexican Army of The North. Between May 3–9, the Mexican forces laid siege to the American "Fort Texas". On May 8, the American forces defeated the Mexican forces during the battle of Palo Alto. On May 9, the American forces defeated the Mexican forces during the battle of Resaca de la Palma. Following their defeats in three battles, between May 8–9, the Mexican forces withdrew from American territory, ending the brief invasion.	60
September 15, 1847 – June 12, 1848	Mexico City, Mexico	Military occupation / Rebellion	Main article: United States occupation of Mexico City Part of the Mexican–American War – Following the fall of Mexico City in September 1847, the United States began a military occupation of the city and surrounding area. During the eight-month occupation under John A. Quitman, the named Military Governor of Mexico City, several attacks by Mexican resistance took place against the occupation forces, especially in the first three days which involved "intense and bloody street fighting".	4,356
October 16–18, 1859	Harpers Ferry, Virginia	Raid	Main article: John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry HOLD	20
April 12–13, 1861	Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina	Artillery bombardment	Main article: Battle of Fort Sumter Part of the American Civil War – HOLD	0
February–April 1862	New Mexico Territory	Military offensive	Main article: New Mexico campaign Part of the American Civil War – HOLD	566
March–June 1862	Shenandoah Valley, Virginia	Military offensive	Main article: Jackson's Valley campaign Part of the American Civil War – HOLD
June 25–July 1, 1862	Hanover County and Henrico County, Virginia	Military offensive	Main article: Seven Days Battles Part of the American Civil War – HOLD	5,228
July 19–September 1, 1862	Northern Virginia	Military offensive	Main article: Northern Virginia campaign Part of the American Civil War – HOLD	3,542
August 14–October 10, 1862	Tennessee Kentucky	Military offensive	Main article: Confederate Heartland Offensive Part of the American Civil War – HOLD	6,595
September 4–20, 1862	Maryland	Military offensive	Main article: Maryland campaign Part of the American Civil War – HOLD	1,000
June 3–July 24, 1863	Maryland Pennsylvania Virginia	Military offensive	Main article: Gettysburg campaign Part of the American Civil War – HOLD	8,300+
June 11–July 26, 1863	Tennessee Kentucky Indiana Ohio West Virginia	Military offensive	Main article: Morgan's Raid Part of the American Civil War – HOLD
September 18–20, 1863	Catoosa and Walker counties, Georgia	Military offensive	Main article: Battle of Chickamauga Part of the Chickamauga campaign during the American Civil War – HOLD	3,969+
August 29–December 2, 1864	Arkansas Missouri Kansas Indian Territory Texas	Military offensive	Main article: Price's Missouri Expedition Part of the American Civil War – HOLD	202+
June 1, 1871	Ganghwa Island	Artillery bombardment	Main article: United States expedition to Korea HOLD	0
February 15, 1898	Havana Harbor, Cuba	Spontaneous combustion or Naval mine	Main article: Sinking of the USS Maine Part of the Spanish–American War – HOLD	261

1900–1999

Date(s)	Location	Type of attack	Details	U.S. Deaths
April 1911	Douglas, Arizona	Shooting	' Main article: First Battle of Agua Prieta Part of the Mexican Border War – HOLD.	0
September 19, 1912	Masaya, Nicaragua	Ambush, Rebellion to military occupation	Main article: Battle of Masaya Part of the First United States occupation of Nicaragua – HOLD.	0
May 1, 1915	Atlantic Ocean	Naval warfare	Main article: Sinking of the SS Gulflight Part of the U-boat campaign during World War I – HOLD	1
May 7, 1915	Atlantic Ocean	Naval warfare	Main article: Sinking of the RMS Lusitania Part of the U-boat campaign during World War I – HOLD	128
May 13, 1916–September 18, 1924	Dominican Republic	Rebellion to military occupation	Main article: United States occupation of the Dominican Republic – HOLD	144
May 29, 1918	Atlantic Ocean	Naval warfare	Main article: Sinking of the SS Carolina Part of the U-boat campaign during World War I – HOLD	13
December 7, 1941	Oahu, Territory of Hawaii	Military strike	Main article: Attack on Pearl Harbor Part of the Pacific Theater during World War II – HOLD	2,403
December 7, 1941	Sand Island, Midway Atoll, Hawaiian Archipelago	Military strike	Main article: Japanese attack on Midway Part of the Pacific Theater during World War II – HOLD	4
December 8, 1941–May 8, 1942	Commonwealth of the Philippines	Invasion	Main article: Japanese invasion of the Philippines Part of the Pacific Theater during World War II – HOLD	25,000
December 8–23, 1941	Wake Island	Invasion	Main article: Japanese invasion of Wake Island Part of the Pacific Theater during World War II – HOLD	410+
December 8–10, 1941	Guam, Mariana Islands	Invasion	Main article: Japanese invasion of Guam Part of the Pacific Theater during World War II – HOLD	17
February 23, 1942	Ellwood, Santa Barbara, California	Naval artillery bombardment	Main article: Bombardment of Ellwood Part of the Pacific Theater during World War II – HOLD	0
May 4–8, 1942	Coral Sea	Naval warfare	Main article: Battle of the Coral Sea Part of Operation Mo in the Pacific Theater during World War II – HOLD	715
August 7, 1998	Nairobi, Kenya, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania	Terrorism	Main article: 1998 United States embassy bombings	224

2000–present

Date(s)	Location	Type of attack	Details	U.S. Deaths
October 12, 2000	Aden, Yemen	Terrorism	Main article: USS Cole bombing Part of the al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen – On October 12, 2000, while refueling at Yemen's Aden harbor, two members of al-Qaeda launched a suicide attack against the USS Cole, a guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. While docked, a small fiberglass boat carrying C4 explosives and two suicide bombers approached the port side of the destroyer and exploded, creating a 40-by-60-foot (12 by 18 m) gash in the ship's port side, killing 17 sailors and injuring 37 others.	17
September 11, 2001	New York City, New York Arlington County, Virginia Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania	Terrorism	Main article: September 11 attacks On the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen Islamic extremists hijacked four aircraft, murdered several passengers, and took control of the aircraft with intent to fly them into pre-selected targets, located at the World Trade Center in New York City, and The Pentagon in Virginia. American Airlines Flight 11 was flown into 1 World Trade Center; the building immediately caught on fire and collapsed as a result over an hour later, resulting in the deaths of up to 1,000 people. United Airlines Flight 175 was flown into 2 World Trade Center a short time later, killing everyone on board and hundreds more within the building. American Airlines Flight 77 struck the The Pentagon, killing everyone in the plane and 125 people within the building. Passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 fought the hijackers, who ran the aircraft into the ground, killing everyone on board. The attacks are the deadliest instances of terrorism in modern world history.	2,977
March 29, 2006	Helmand province, Afghanistan	Attack	Main article: Friendly fire incident at Sangin Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) – HOLD	1
February 27, 2007	Bagram, Afghanistan	Suicide attack, assassination attempt	Main article: Attempted assassination of Dick Cheney Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) – HOLD	2
March 4, 2007	Shinwar District, Afghanistan	Suicide attack	Main article: 2007 Shinwar shooting Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) – HOLD	0
July 13, 2008	Waygal district, Afghanistan	Attack	Main article: Battle of Wanat Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) – HOLD	9
September 11–12, 2012	Benghazi, Libya		Main article: 2012 Benghazi attack	4
June 9, 2014	Zabul Province, Afghanistan	Friendly fire	Main article: 2014 Gaza Valley airstrike Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) – HOLD	5
December 31, 2019–January 1, 2020	Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq	Mob attack	Main article: Attack on the United States embassy in Baghdad
March 27, 2021	Yangon, Myanmar	Shooting	HOLD	0
August 26, 2021	Kabul, Afghanistan	Suicide attack, Terrorism	Main article: 2021 Kabul airport attack Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) – HOLD	13
December 1, 2022	Madrid, Spain	Bombing	HOLD	0
December 8, 2023	Baghdad, Iraq	Artillery strikes	Approximately seven mortar rounds landed in the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad	0
December 23, 2023	Southern Red Sea	Airstrike	Main article: 2023 attack on the USS Laboon Part of the Red Sea crisis – HOLD	0
January 10, 2024	Southern Red Sea	Airstrikes	Main article: January 2024 Houthi attack on the United States Navy Part of the Red Sea crisis – HOLD	0