Battle of Roncevaux Pass
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The Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the present border between France and Spain, after his invasion of the Iberian Peninsula.
Ibaneta (Roncevaux) pass
The death of Roland and his men
Monument of the Battle of Roncesvalles Pass. Note that Roland's name is spelled in its Spanish version "Roldan".
Last stand
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A last stand is a military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming and virtually insurmountable odds. Troops may make a last stand due to a sense of duty; because they are defending a tactically crucial point; to buy time to enable a trapped army, person, or group of people to escape; due to fear of execution if captured; or to protect their ruler or leader. Last stands loom large in history, as the heroism and sacrifice of the defenders exert a large pull on the public's imagination. Some last stands have become a celebrated part of a fighting force's or a country's history, especially if the defenders accomplished their goals.
The Fall of the Alamo (1903) by Robert Jenkins Onderdonk, depicts Davy Crockett wielding his rifle as a club against Mexican troops in the Battle of the Alamo in Texas in 1836.
Leonidas at Thermopylae, by Jacques-Louis David, 1814. This painting is a juxtaposition of various historical and legendary elements from the Battle of Thermopylae in Greece in 480 BC.
Siege of Castelnuovo in July, 1539. Defense of a 4,000-man garrison in the service of Charles I of Spain, against a 50,000-strong Ottoman assault force, resulting in a last stand. Painting by Pierre Mortier.
The last stand of the survivors of Her Majesty's 44th Regiment of Foot at Gandamak in Afghanistan in 1842, painted by William Barnes Wollen