Articles Archive

Gatling guns were the first operational automatic weapons used by Ameri- can forces in combat. They helped turn the tide of the Battle of San Juan Hill where they mercilessly hammered Spanish trenches.

“Gatling Gun Parker” At the Battle of San Juan Hill

By Jim Foral

Along with the news of the American battleship Maine’s suspicious sinking in Havana harbor in February 1898 came the unmistakable scent of war. Read more

Because retreating German forces had to be able to pass through their own Siegfried Line, passageways such as this one, which had steel girders blocking the gap, were necessary. Here, men of Company E, 358th Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, move unhindered through one of these gaps, January 12, 1945.

Siegfried Line: Breaking the Dragon’s Teeth

By Allyn Vannoy

As the battalion officers surveyed the terrain before them, they must have been worried about the men who would have to cross it—the 300 yards of open ground to the banks of the Saar River lined with barbed-wire, concrete pillboxes, anti-vehicle “dragon’s teeth,” and reinforced with minefields in depth known as the Westwall or, more commonly, the “Siegfried Line.” Read more

British troops assault the heavily defended Boer laager in artist Richard Caton Woodville’s painting, “Paardeberg.”

Parrdeberg Drift: Colonials to the Rescue

By Bernd Horn

On October 11, 1899, Great Britain officially went to war with the Republic of Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Read more

Armored recovery vehicles (ARVs) retrieve a damaged tank near Beggendorf, Germany. ARVs were typically built on a tank chassis and hoisting cranes in place of a gun turret.

Combat Command: Glory in the Wrenches

By Allyn Vannoy

The U.S. Army’s drive across France and Belgium during the late summer and fall of 1944 was made possible by the support of the logistics and maintenance personnel that performed their duties magnificently—but received little credit or glory. Read more

Matthew Brady’s photograph of Broadway Landing was taken at the time of the Battle of the Crater. Cobb’s Hill Signal Tower and the pontoon bridge are clearly visible on the left.

Petersburg’s Broadway Landing: Union Supply Depot

By Nicholas Bolash

In 1864, the Civil War was raging across the United States. At the epicenter of the seemingly stalemated conflict was the vital Confederate stronghold at Petersburg, Va. Read more

A Polish fighter of the Grazyna Company of the Harnas Battalion stands watch within the ruins of Warsaw’s Church of the Holy Cross. The outnumbered Polish Home Army launched a determined revolt against their German occupiers, but was ultimately defeated.

Warsaw Rising: The Battle for Poland’s Capital

By Peter Zablocki

Polish General Tadeusz “Bor” Komorowski knew the fight for the Old Town Warsaw was over. His last hope—and that of his army—was to slip out unnoticed and move the headquarters position to the town center. Read more

A solemn Gonzalo de Cordoba looks down at the body of his French opponent, Louis d’Armagnac, Duc de Nemours, following the Battle of Cerignola. The young duke fell leading a doomed cavalry charge.

Gonzalo de Cordoba: Grand Captain of Renaissance Warfare

By Louis Ciotola

The Spanish Empire is best remembered for its great voyages of exploration, its conquest of the New World, and its mighty Armada. Read more

The American destroyer USS O’Brien, right, explodes near Guadalcanal, September 15, 1942 as the aircraft carrier USS Wasp burns in the distance (left). Both ships, along with the USS North Carolina, were torpedoed by Captain Kinashi Takakazu's I-19, which escaped a heavy depth-charging by other ships in the convoy.

Japanese submarine I-19 was the scourge of the Pacific.

By Glenn Barnett

After the Great War, the leading naval powers met to try to avoid another ruinously expensive arms race and, hopefully, prevent future wars. Read more

Famous Military Generals: Chabrias the Athenian

By Charles Hilbert

On a warm summer day in the year 378 BC, a large Spartan army stood baffled on the plain of Boeotia in central Greece. Read more

A 92nd Division mortar squad fires their weapons near Massa, on Italy’s west coast, November 1944.

The Battle of Garfagnana: Italy’s ‘Battle of the Bulge’

By James Bilder

There are important similarities between Hitler’s final great push into Belgium and Luxembourg and Mussolini’s drive south of Garfagnana. Read more

The British bombardment of Fort McHenry, center, opened on the morning of September 13, 1814. Lazaretto Point is shown at left, Fort Covington at right. Sunken ships were used to block the inner harbor.

The Rockets’ Red Glare: The Story of Fort McHenry

By Blaine Taylor

By the late summer of 1814, the invading British Army had routed the entire American Army—both federal and state troops—on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Read more

As a teen, she worked at a concentration camp in Poland. At 97, she went on trial for her Nazi past.

German prosecutors continue to go after anyone associated with the Third Reich’s concentration and death camps with a tenacity that would make Hitler’s victims proud. Read more

Under Van Deman, the Military Intelligence Section had wide powers of intelligence collection and investigation.

Famous Military Spies: Ralph Van Deman

By Peter Kross

In the long history of American military intelligence, the names that come to mind most often are those of Nathan Hale, Benedict Arnold, Herbert Yardley, and William Donovan. Read more

During an inspection tour of OSS headquarters in New Delhi, General William, "Wild Bill" Donovan stands fifth from the left. To Donovan's right is Colonel John Coughtlin, commander of the New Delhi unit. Elizabeth McIntosh stands third on Donovan's right.

Inside the OSS: An Interview With Elizabeth P. McIntosh

By Bob Bergin

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was America’s first strategic intelligence organization. President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized its establishment on June 13, 1942, six months after World War II began, to collect and analyze strategic intelligence and to conduct special services, including subversion, sabotage, and psychological warfare. Read more

French Foreign Legion reinforcements parachute into Dien Bien Phu on March 16, 1954, two weeks before the massive Communist assault on the main camp.

Five Hills at Dien Bien Phu

By John Walker

It began with the now-familiar sound, like thunder, coming from the hills to the northeast of the entrenched camp, as hidden Viet Minh mortar and artillery sites began raining destruction down upon the French fortifications in the Dien Bien Phu valley. Read more