Military History
After successfully concluding the First Anglo-Dutch War, English strongman Oliver Cromwell turned his severe Puritan attentions to Spain or, more accurately, to Spain’s far-flung possessions in the New World. Read more
Military History
Although formal training in the use of the pike—an ash-handled spear 18 to 20 feet long—did not begin until the 15th century, ancient Greeks and Romans used so-called “long spears” as standard infantry issue against cavalry. Read more
Military History
In the early 13th century, the Baltic frontier in central Europe remained a hostile and uninviting place. Pagan Europeans far outnumbered Christians, and the area was a focal point for constant conflict between mutually exploitive neighbors slavering to carve out new territorial holdings at the expense of anyone who stood in their way. Read more
Military History
Some Tommies swore it had been St. George, the warrior saint of England. Others said the “Angels of Mons” might have been St. Read more
Military History
Defeat has a funny way of producing heroes.
The British lost an embarrassing battle to Zulu tribesmen at Isandhlwana, but the improbable defense of an insignificant river crossing 10 miles away by a handful of rear-echelon soldiers, overage officers, and civilians created a new crop of heroes for the public to idolize. Read more
Military History
The English commander, William de Aumale, heard the roar of the Scots army even before it appeared out of the early morning mists. Read more
Military History
In 1611 Tokugawa Ieyasu had every reason to be pleased with himself. His son Hidetada was Shogun, supreme warlord of Japan, but in truth it was Ieyasu who ruled the country behind the scenes. Read more
Military History
Admiral General George Monck, first Duke of Albemarle, walked into the great cabin of his flagship Royal Charles with a calm and determined air, tersely greeting his assembled captains before they all sat down at a large table. Read more
Military History
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo was probably born between 4 bc and ad 1. His younger half-sister was first the mistress and then the consort of Gaius Caesar Germanicus, better known as the Emperor Caligula. Read more
Military History
It was 7 o’clock Israeli time, three hours after dawn on Monday, June 5, 1967. The summer season’s daily thick morning mist was just lifting from the coastal areas, across the breadth of the humid Nile Delta, and along the Suez Canal. Read more
Military History
Movies and novels about spies and espionage usually portray brave and sexy secret agents going deep behind enemy lines to grab some invaluable and potentially destabilizing piece of information. Read more
Military History
It was the custom for King Alfred of Wessex to celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas at his royal palace at Dorchester, in the county of Dorset. Read more
Military History
Most Americans can recite the second line of the immortal “Marine Hymn” by memory, but few actually know what it means. Read more
Military History
Dashing hussars in beautifully braided dolmans and fur-lined pelisses; chasseurs in their brilliant green uniforms; the heavy cavalry of cuirassiers in their glistening breastplates, mounted on magnificent chargers; and the dragoons, wearing brass Grecian helmets with long, flowing manes of black horsehair—all magnificent in their martial and fashionable airs. Read more
Military History
In the cover of darkness and fog, American troops quietly made their way down to the edge of the Niagara River. Read more
Military History
Gisgo, a commander in the Carthaginian army, sat on his horse nervously as he waited with other members of the staff for their general, the now-famous Hannibal, to complete his final inspection. Read more
Military History
In the second week of January 1842, a British lookout standing watch on the ramparts of the old walled city of Jalalabad was suddenly confronted with an alarming sight. Read more
Military History
On the morning of July 8, 1758, the largest field army yet gathered by the British Empire in North America stood a mile from a French stone fort in the forests of what was then the colony of New York. Read more
Military History
In the harbor of Tripoli, the 38-gun frigate USS Philadelphia, pride of the Mediterranean Squadron, lay at anchor. Read more
Military History
Born at Calcar in the Duchy of Cleve in 1721, Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz was the son of a cavalry officer. Read more
