Military History Archives

Determined to defend the Mohawk Valley, patriots under General Nicholas Herkimer fight back at Indians and Tories ambushing them in the wilderness. The wounded Herkimer commanded from under a tree as the battle raged hour after hour.

Military History

The Battle of Oriskany: Into the Trap

By Donald Roberts II

The year 1776 ended on a high note for Washington’s Continental Army despite its earlier devastating defeats on Long Island and Manhattan. Read more

Major Burton and officers of the 5th Dragoon Guards.

Military History

Roger Fenton, Crimean War Photographer

By Peter Harrington

In the annals of war photography, Roger Fenton stands with Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardener, and James Robertson as one of the pioneering spirits. Read more

A Soviet admiral—medals at his left breast—kneels in tribute to a fallen heroic Soviet sailor of World War II. Many Soviet medals were adaptations of Czarist medals.

Military History

Soviet Memorabilia

By Peter Suciu

In 1917, after almost three years of hard fighting in World War I, the Romanov dynasty came to an end with the abdication of Czar Nicolas II of Russia. Read more

Turks storm Constantinople from the water side in this encompassing, if fanciful, 16th-century rendering by Tintoretto. The besieged were greatly outnumbered and fought with determination.

Military History

Death of an Empire: The Fall of Constantinople

By Jonathan North

Early in the morning of Tuesday, May 29, 1453, they came swarming like hungry wolves over the plain between the Turkish palisades and the battered walls of Byzantium. Read more

Romans end their march of the day by building a fortified camp surrounded by a ditch. No camp was ever overwhelmed in the Gallic or Civil Wars.

Military History

Roman Marching Camps: An Essential Element in Rome’s Empire-Building

By Arnold Blumberg

From the late 3rd century bc to the 3rd century ad, Roman troops on campaign built a defended camp at their resting place each night. Read more

Military History

Fallen Timbers

By Eric Niderost

On a December day in 1793, Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne led a column of soldiers to a spot deep in the Ohio wilderness not far from the Wabash River. Read more

Military History

Louis XIV: the Sun King of France

By Brooke C. Stoddard

Louis XIV of France is remembered as the Sun King, the most resplendent figure of his age, the man who snatched dominance of Europe from the Spanish and built France into the preeminent power of the second half of the 17th century. Read more

Julius Caesar was a politician who believed his posting to Gaul could raise his reputation and power. Germanic tribes invading Gaul played into his hands.

Military History

Germanic Tribe Run Amok: Caesar vs. Ariovistus

by Ludwig Heinrich Dyck

East of the Rhine the horizon melted away in an unbroken emerald sea upon which, or so the legends told, giants piled up ranges of rugged hills. Read more

A WWII Marine corporal relaxes on Guam in 1944. His dog tags are visible around his neck.

Military History

Collecting Identification Tags

By Paul F. Braddock

For the second time in 13 years American troops are fighting in Iraq. Two hundred and thirty-five soldiers lost their lives during Desert Storm in 1991, and by the first anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom 570 soldiers had been killed. Read more

Military History

The Rumble and Roar of Tanks

By Eric Hammel

The Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF’s, or Zahal’s) strategic invasion of the West Bank region of Jordan began at 5 pm on June 5, 1967. Read more

Military History

Oda Nobunaga: The Rise of One of Japan’s Earliest Unifiers

By Vince Hawkins

By the time of his death in 1582, he controlled 30 of Japan’s 68 provinces, was the commander of the greatest samurai army in his country’s history, and had earned the distinction of being the first of the three great unifiers of Japan. Read more

A colorful illustration depicting the naval Battle of Sluys attempts to demonstrate the common tactic of maneuvering the ships to touching and then letting onboard combatants fight it out like infantry. The battle was an early struggle of the Hundred Years’ War. OPPOSITE: Edward III warred with France to win its crown. He was 38 at the time of Sluys.

Military History

“Please God and St. George”: The Battle of Sluys

by Douglas Sterling

English King Edward III’s ship drew out from the fog, and before him he saw such a long, deep concentration of masts that it looked like a forest rising to meet him. Read more

Japanese warships steam into Port Arthur, Manchuria, bombarding Russian defenses and ships. Sidney Reilly purportedly sold Japanese information about the port when he lived there just before the war.

Military History

The Mysterious Sidney Reilly

by Vince Hawkins

On the evening of November 5, 1925, Prisoner #73 was taken from his cell in the infamous Lubyanka Prison and driven to a woods in the Sokolniki district outside Moscow. Read more

Military History

Arlington National Cemetery: A Nation’s Hallowed Ground

Millions of people travel to Washington, DC, to view famous icons of the United States. Mainly these are working institutions like the Congress and the White House or edifices such as the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. Read more

Portrait of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, painted c. 1618 by Peter Paul Rubens.

Military History

The Battle of Grandson

By Eric Niderost

On Friday, September 28, 1473, Charles, Duke of Burgundy arrived at Trier to meet with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. Read more

A U.S. Navy River Patrol Boat (PBR) of River Patrol Force 116 moves at high speed down the Saigon River in Vietnam, November 1967.

Military History

Navy Cross in Vietnam

By Kevin Seabrooke

As darkness fell along the upper Saigon River in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, one of two River Patrol boats of the U.S. Read more

Military History

Dominique Jean, Baron Larrey

By Eric Niderost

It was late November, 1812, and the fate of Napoleon’s Grande Armee hung in the balance. Several Russian armies were closing in, but if the French crossed the 300-foot-wide Berezina River, the bedraggled survivors of a once great army might still manage to escape the trap. Read more

Refugees file past an M48 Patton Tank supporting the 1st Marine Division during the Battle of Hue City on February 3, 1968.

Military History

The Tet Offensive and the Battle of Hue

By Victor Kamenir

The old Imperial capital of Hue was ready for the Tet Festival, a joyous occasion celebrating the Vietnamese Lunar New Year on January 31, 1968. Read more

Military History

Noble Celtic Warrior, 1st Century, B.C.

The Gauls were Celtic people who lived in much of Europe from the 5th century BC. They were described by Greek and Roman historians as tall, muscular, fair-skinned, with long blonde, or reddish hair. Read more

Military History

Roncesvalles and the Birth of Chivalry

By Don Hollway

The Age of Chivalry brings to mind knights in shining armor and damsels in distress, along with traveling troubadours and minstrels singing chansons de geste, “songs of deeds,” telling of feats of arms and labors of love. Read more

Military History

From Around the Network

Campaign on Land & Sea and in the Air

General Omar Bradley: Dwight D Eisenhower’s Indispensible Lieutenant

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto: Japan’s Naval War Leader

Bloody Repulse at Fontenoy