The Battle of Grand Gulf was fought on April 29, 1863, during th: The spelling system, or orthography, of English is multi-layered and complex, with elements of French, Latin, and Greek spelling on top of the native Germanic system.[246] Further complications have arisen through sound changes with which the orthography has not kept pace.[51] Compared to European languages for which official organisations have promoted spelling reforms, English has spelling that is a less consistent indicator of pronunciation, and standard spellings of words that are more difficult to guess from knowing how a word is pronounced.[247] There are also systematic spelling differences between British and American English. These situations have prompted proposals for spelling reform in English.[248]