Articles Archive

This painting by Graham Turner depicts Sir John Hawkwood pulling the Veronese standard bearer Francesco Visconti from his saddle during the 1387 Battle of Castagnaro. Following closely are Hawkwood’s own standard bearer and one of his captains, John Coe.

English Mercenary Captain John Hawkwood

By William E. Welsh

Long columns of heavily armed soldiers streamed southeast along the left bank of the Adige River in the Veneto region of northern Italy on March 11, 1387. Read more

In this painting by war artist Jack Fellows, Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter pilot Henry T. “Hammerin’ Hank” Elrod scans the skies above Wake Island for Japanese aircraft on the morning of December 12, 1941. The defenders of Wake Island were among the first American heroes of World War II.

Flying Leathernecks

By Robert F. Dorr and Fred L. Borch

Marine aviators of Fighter Squadron 211, or VMF-211, looked up in frustration as Japanese war planes thronged over Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Read more

General Robert Frederick: The Devil’s General

By Nathan N. Prefer

He was an unknown junior lieutenant colonel when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, yet by the end of that war he was the youngest major general commanding one of the most famous divisions in the European Theater. Read more

Militiamen from the Carolina Colonies, most armed with rifles, fire on Loyalist American troops under the command of British Major Patrick Ferguson at the top of Kings Mountain, South Carolina. The hour-long battle on Oct. 7, 1780, was a victory for the Patriots and a turning point in the Revolutionary War. This painting by Don Troiami depicts the moment Major Ferguson, center left, was shot from his horse as he charged. Hit multiple times, Ferguson fell from his mount and was dragged by a foot caught in the stirrup. The Loyalists surrendered shortly after his death.

Pivotal Victory at Kings Mountain

By Mike Phifer

Kings Mountain was a battle of militia–American Patriots against American Loyalists. Short and intense, it was the last desperate stand of British Major Patrick Ferguson and a turning point in the American Revolution. Read more

WWII Ordnance: The Boys Anti-tank Rifle

By Bob Cashner

When the first tanks appeared in World War I, they were relatively lightly armored and protected the crews only against small-arms fire. Read more

Military History Book Reviews for Spring 2023

By Christopher Miskimon Full Reviews

Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine (Mark Galeotti, Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2022, 384 pp., maps, photographs, bibliography, index, $35, hardcover)

The Abyss: Nuclear Crisis Cuba 1962 (Max Hastings, Harper Collins Publishing, New York NY, 2022, 544 pp., Read more

For what the U.S. Army called a “magnificent display of courage” while killing a dozen Vietnamese soldiers during a January, 1968, ambush in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Johnson was recommended for, and received, the Congressional Medal of Honor the same year. He was the City of Detroit's only Vietnam War Medal of Honor winner and the first African American soldier from Michigan to recieve the nation's highest military honor.

Tank driver Dwight Johnson in Vietnam

By William E. Welsh

The U.S. military had 409,000 soldiers and Marines in South Vietnam organized into approximately 100 infantry and mechanized battalions at the start of 1968. Read more

Stubborn Defense at Rechicourt

By Christopher Miskimon

First Lieutenant James H. Fields, a 24-year-old from Houston, Texas, led the 1st Platoon of Company A, 10th Armored Infantry Battalion. Read more

The Great War: Western Front

By Joseph Luster

It’s time to travel back to the era of World War I once again in The Great War: Western Front, which puts you in control of the battlefield in a unique dual role system. Read more

Four Yank-piloted Spitfire Vbs of RAF Squadron 71 return to their base at North Weald after combat above the English Channel in this painting by Robert Taylor.

The American “Few”

By John W. Osborn, Jr.

The “few” who defended Great Britain in the sky during the days it stood alone against Hitler would have been hundreds fewer without the volunteers from outside the British Empire. Read more

Knights of Honor II: Sovereign

By Joseph Luster

If your particular flavor of strategy falls on the grand side of the spectrum, you might want to dive into the recently-released Knights of Honor II: Sovereign, which arrives courtesy of developer Black Sea Games and publisher THQ Nordic. Read more

They Also Served

By Kevin M. Hymel

When it came to the global war against tyranny, America’s blacks would not be denied a stake in the action. Read more

Afghanistan: The Soviet Union’s War in Vietnam

By William Stroock

In late 1979, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was torn apart by a civil war pitting the weak Communist government of Hafizullah Amin against several moderate and fundamentalist Muslim rebel armies. Read more

Allied forces achieved complete surprise when they stormed ashore 40 miles south of Rome on January 22, 1944, but they failed to exploit their advantage with a rapid advance inland.

Brutal Slugfest at Anzio

By Joshua Shepherd

For the Americans of 2nd Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment, their arrival at Anzio in early May 1944 was anything but heartening. Read more

The Short-range Shotgun

By Christopher Miskimon

Coming upon the enemy’s rear guard outside the western Kentucky village of Sacramento, four days after Christmas 1861, Confederate Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest ordered his cavalry to advance. Read more

Soldiers of the 4th U.S. Colored Troops. The regiment participated in operations in Virginia and the coast of North Carolina.

Fourteen black soldiers received the Medal of Honor for feats of valor at Chaffin’s Farm on the outskirts of Richmond, Va.

By William E. Welsh

Union soldiers streamed across the pontoon bridge at Deep Bottom on the tidal portion of the James River in the early morning hours of September 29, 1864. Read more

Ribbentrop at Prokhorovka

By George M. Nipe, Jr.

On the morning of July 12, 1943, a climactic engagement of the Battle of Kursk was about to take place. Read more

The Praetorian Guard

By Arnold Blumberg

Its name has become synonymous with intrigue, conspiracy, betrayal, and assassination. It was responsible for the overthrow, abandonment, or murder of 15 out of the first 48 emperors who governed Rome between 27 bc and ad 305. Read more

The road to victory: A military policeman waves through another truck rushing cargo on a one-way highway to the fast-moving front lines in Normandy, France, August 1944. The mostly African American drivers of the Red Ball Express realized that without a steady stream of food, fuel, ammunition, medical equipment, troops, and other critical supplies, the Allied advance would grind to a halt.

Red Ball Express to the Rescue!

By Dante Brizill

In a message to the Red Ball Express in October of 1944, Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote, “To it falls the tremendous task of getting vital supplies from ports and depots to combat troops, when and where such supplies are needed, material which without armies might fail. Read more

WAC Corporal Lena Derriecott and the 6888th Central Postal Battalion

By Kevin M. Hymel

The German V-1 flying rocket, packed with 1,870 pounds of explosives, buzzed over Birmingham, England, until its pulsing engine cut out. Read more

From Around the Network

Was Leon Degrelle a Traitor of Belgium, or a German Army Hero?

Julius Caesar vs Pompey: A Civil War of Subterfuge

The 17th Indian Division in Burma: Disaster on the Sittang

Bringing Down the Bridges