This is exactly what happened during the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, the first American offensive in the Revolutionary War of Independence against the British.

Located in the state of New York in 1775, the American forces planned to take the British Fort to control the ships coming down from the nearby river.

Under the command of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold and the cover of night, the American renegades walked through the open gate, where they stumbled upon a snoring British lookout.

Switching from one sort of unconsciousness to another, he was rudely awoken with a bash to the head.

The men then climbed the stairs, where they found all 83 British troops tucked up and fast asleep.

A splinter group went to capture the British leader Captain Delaplace, who roused from his bed, awoke to find himself in an actual nightmare.

You can get killed by your own men. Out of harm's way and surrounded by resting, buddies, you'd think one of the safest places to knock off was in a military base.

However, for many senior officers serving in Vietnam, this seemingly secure Bastion had enemies around every bunk.

Towards the end of the US Vietnam War, morale among free world forces was at an all-time low due to the prevailing belief that the conflict was not only unjust but impossible to win.

Terrified and angry that a bad commander might send them to their deaths with a boneheaded tactical gamut, servicemen began taking their fate into their own hands.

Fragging during the US Vietnam War was the act of tossing a live fragmentation grenade into the tents or quarters of a despised senior officer.

It was the perfect crime because the destruction of the grenade shell would ensure that any fingerprints were also eviscerated alongside the victim.

This murderous phenomenon was exacerbated by the drug addled minds of some of the perpetrators, who fried their brains with a cornucopia of illicit drugs to get them through their deployment.

Handing out disciplinary charges could be viewed as justifiable reason to reduce a senior officer to fundamental units of matter.

Overall, a total of over 800 fragging incidents were reported in the US army and marines alone, making the US Vietnam War one of the major campaigns in which the old proverb keep your friends close and your enemies closer should be taken literally.

You can lose an entire war. Every blunder mentioned here pales in comparison to the one committed by Adolf Hitler himself, who had slept at one of the most critical junctures of World War II, scuppering the Aryan Dream with his own dreams.

On June 6th 1944, the Allies crossed the English Channel by boat and plane, the final destination being Berlin.

In the early stages, the assaulters failed to gain a solid foothold in the Cherbourg Harbor area.

With the Allies temporarily set back, this was the perfect time for the Germans to press home their advantage.

A formidable brigade of reinforcements were waiting on the sidelines and there was now a opportunity to crush the invasion before it really got going.

Far away from the front lines in Berchtesgaden, Germany, a phone began ringing in the low rooms of Berghof, Hitler's headquarters at the time.

The caller was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who was worried that unless something was done that enemy forces would turn from a trickle into a flood.

What the Germans needed now was the permission of the ultimate authority to change tactics.

But when Hitler's attendant went to find him, they discovered the furer was out like a light.

Terrified at the consequences of suddenly waking him up and giving him false intelligence, the assistance rather left him be.

When he was stirred from his bed, Hitler approved a transfer of tank divisions to Caen that had been requested 12 hours earlier but by then it was too late.

The Allies had recovered too strongly and D-Day, a significant turning point in World War II, was now theirs.

So whether you're a lowly private or the commanderin-chief, don't you dare fall asleep because you'll either wish you were dead or you'll actually be dead.