Articles Archive

GIs fire a water-cooled M1917 Browning machine gun from the window of a house during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. The 3rd Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, delayed the Germans for a critical 36 hours at Hosingen, Luxembourg.

Furious Delaying Action at Hosingen

By Leo Barron

A voice crackled over the radio. “Hosingen is falling slowly. They are out of ammo and the tanks cannot hold them. Read more

The “Thin Red Line” on a Crimson Plain

By Eric Niderost

Commandant Robert Lonsdale of the Natal Native Contingent was feeling very unwell, nursing a bad case of sunstroke that left his head pounding and his senses reeling. Read more

The painting First Victory, by James Dietz, depicts then-Lt. Col. Paul Freeman, commander of the 23rd Regimental Combat Team, in the 1951 Battle of Chipyong-ni, sometimes called “the Gettysburg of the Korean War.”

Freeman Hall at the Battle of Chipyong-ni

By John E. Spindler

On a cool November day in 2018, the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division dedicated Freeman Hall, its new headquarters building in Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Republic of Korea. Read more

This painting by Willy Stöwer depicts the sinking of the Linda Blanche, one of three ships sunk in the Irish Sea on January 30, 1915, by U-21—commanded by Otto Hersing, the first man to sink a warship with a self-propelled torpedo. These raids on commercial shipping threatened to throttle the British war effort.

Q-Ships

By Mark Carlson

During the Great War, the German navy’s most effective and deadly warship was the U-boat, the key to cutting Great Britain’s lifelines from the rest of the world and forcing the island nation to its knees. Read more

Wartales: Fires in the Capital

By Joseph Luster

If you want to experience medieval times without booking dinner and a show, look no further than Wartales. Read more

Tropico 7

By Joseph Luster

It’s time once again to step back into the shoes of El Presidente, securing your glorious rule by developing and expanding your island in Tropico 7. Read more

West Virginia: Seceding from the Confederacy

By Don Roberts

During the Civil War western Virginia was crucial to the Union. The region that lay west of the Shenandoah Valley and north of the Kanawha River held nearly a quarter of Virginia’s nonslave population when the war began in 1861. Read more

U.S. troops storm ashore during an amphibious landing on Japanese-held Saipan. Navy combat artist William Draper painted the image and titled it The Landing.

The Battle of Saipan

By Al Hemingway

Peering through his binoculars, Vice Adm. Chuichi Nagumo was in awe of the nearly 800 ships from Vice Adm. Read more

Army Combat Engineer Paul Ray Smith

By William E. Welsh

T he lead elements of the First Brigade of the U.S. Third Infantry Division became heavily engaged against Iraqi forces at the Saddam International Airport on the southwest outskirts of Baghdad on April 3, 2003, but by the end of the day they had secured it. Read more

Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers of the U.S. Fifteenth Air Force fly through thick enemy flak during bombing runs against the oil refinery complex at Ploesti, Romania. These bombers executed one of the most hazardous missions of World War II, and accurate weather information decrypted from German sources facilitated such air operations.

Department G Code Breaker

By Glenn Barnett

Throughout World War II the center of cryptography among the Allies was at the top-secret location at Bletchley Park outside London. 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.

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

The National Pigeon Service: Our Fine Feathered Friends

By Flint Whitlock

Not long ago, I came across an article about the remains of a carrier pigeon that had been discovered lodged in the chimney of a 17th-century home in the village of Bletchingley, Surrey, some 18 miles due south of London. Read more

A column of Waffen SS soldiers slogs through snow during the Operation Spring Awakening advance in Hungary. The German offensive was hampered by snow, rain, and deep mud, which bogged down tanks and other vehicles, requiring foot soldiers to undertake much of the fighting with limited mechanized support.

Desperate Offensive for Oil

By Martin Dougherty

The winter of 1944-45 saw Nazi Germany in a grim position. The Allies were well established in Europe and advancing quickly. Read more

Southerner vs. Southerner: Union Supporters Below the Mason-Dixon Line

By Carole E. Scott

The Confederate States of America fought two wars, one against the armed forces of the United States and one against fellow Southerners who joined either the Union Army or pro-Union guerrilla groups. Read more

This painting of the nocturnal Battle of the Java Sea shows the torpedoed Dutch light cruiser De Ruyter burning as the cruiser HMAS Perth turns to avoid a collision on February 27, 1942. One night later, the Perth, along with the USS Houston would go down in the Battle of the Sunda Strait.

Slaughter in the Sunda Strait

By David H. Lippman

It was nearly over. Since Singapore had fallen to the Japanese on February 14, 1942, the Allied forces defending the Dutch East Indies had battled against a Japanese pincer-like movement, which consisted of aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, aircraft, and well-trained “Special Naval Landing Forces”—Japan’s version of American and British Marines. Read more

The Plot Against Einstein

By Eric Niderost

When Albert Einstein arrived in Pasadena, California, in early 1933, he was to take up his duties as visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology for about three months. Read more

The CSS Alabama’s Place in Naval History

By Roy Morris, Jr.

The CSS Alabama went to her watery grave on June 19, 1864, off the coast of France, but the lingering effects of her wartime successes made naval history: she continued to haunt the American and British governments for years to come, embroiling the two English-speaking nations in a legal test of wills that would last well into the next decade. Read more

From their position inside a ruined house, two solders from the 4th Infantry Division’s 22nd Infantry Regiment fire on a German tank with a 3.5-inch rocket launcher, commonly called a “bazooka,” during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944.

The Cold Shoulder

By Allyn Vannoy

Army commanders understand that the key to dealing with an enemy breakthrough is to slow the enemy’s advance and prevent the breach from widening—that is, “holding the shoulders.” Read more

The Confederate Spy Ring: Spreading Terror to the Union

By Peter Kross

The Civil War was fought out in the open on battlefields across the United States. But beginning in early 1864, the highest levels of the Confederate government decided that another, more clandestine war would be fought behind the lines in the North. Read more

U.S. VIII Bomber Command: From Savannah to Glory

By Sam McGowan

When World War II in Europe came to an end, the Eighth Air Force was the most famous unit in the U.S. Read more

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