A relief army had the task of relieving or freeing a
besieged city, town, fortress or castle.
Often relief had to be sought by sending a messenger out through the siege lines to deliver a request for help from allies or friendly forces. Well-known examples include:
*
Gallic Wars, see
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
''de bello Gallico'' and
Vercingetorix, 52 B. C. or the
Battle of Alesia
The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia (September 52 BC) was a military engagement in the Gallic Wars around the Gallic ''oppidum'' (fortified settlement) of Alesia in modern France, a major centre of the Mandubii tribe. It was fought by ...
*
Siege of Paris (885–86)
Siege of Paris may refer to:
*Siege of Paris (845), the Viking siege by Reginherus, possibly Ragnar Lodbrok
*Siege of Paris (885–886), the Viking siege by Rollo
*Siege of Paris (978), by Otto II of Germany
* Siege of Paris (1429), by Charles VII ...
*
Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...
– here the relieving fleet arrived too late.
*
Second Turkish Siege of Vienna
The Battle of Vienna; pl, odsiecz wiedeńska, lit=Relief of Vienna or ''bitwa pod Wiedniem''; ota, Beç Ḳalʿası Muḥāṣarası, lit=siege of Beç; tr, İkinci Viyana Kuşatması, lit=second siege of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mou ...
(1683)
{{military-stub
Military terminology