Articles Archive

First Lieutenant Israel Greene leads his Marines into the engine house, as depicted in this diorama at the National Museum of the Marine Corps Heritage Center in Virginia.

John Brown’s Bloody Abolitionist Crusade

By Eric Niderost

Agroup of insurgents, probably abolitionists fiercely dedicated to ending slavery, had seized the Federal Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry—that was the news Charles W. Read more

A panoramic painting of the Battle of Stalingrad depicts Soviet soldiers and T-34 tanks advancing against the invading Germans. The five-month siege ended in February, 1943, with a German defeat and two million deaths. Mariya Oktyabrskaya would see her first combat that October in Smolensk.

Mariya Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya and the T-34 medium tank ‘Fighting Girlfriend.’

By Kevin Seabrooke

Mariya Oktyabrskaya was a Soviet Ukrainian tank driver and mechanic who fought on the Eastern Front against Nazi Germany during World War II. Read more

“The Catapult,” by Edward John Poynter (British, 1836-1919) depicts a siege engine manned by Roman soldiers at the walls of Carthage during the Third Punic War. “Carthage must be destroyed” (Delenda est Carthago), the words of Cato the Elder as quoted in Pultarch's “Life of Cato,” are carved on one of its massive beams.

The Siege of Carthage: Death of an Empire

By David A. Norris

According to legend, Carthage was founded by Dido, daughter of the king of the Phoenician city of Tyre. Read more

Machine Guns In The Sky

By Mark Carlson

Since the early days of the Great War, when pilots and observers brought rifles and pistols into the skies to shoot at enemy observation planes, the world of air combat has been a rapidly changing arena of technology and innovation. Read more

In January 1953, tracked armored vehicles support infantry movements during Operation Lorraine, the largest French offensive in Vietnam.

Operation Lorraine: French Launch Offensive to Regain Territory in Vietnam

By John E. Spindler

On the evening of October 29, 1952, a group of French combat engineers worked feverishly to repair a ferry ramp on the Red River across from the village of Trung Ha in French Indochina. Read more

Nine Military History Book Reviews for Spring 2024

By Christopher Miskimon Full Reviews

Battle for the Island Kingdom: England’s Destiny 1000–1066 (Don Holloway, Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2023, 432 pp., Read more

The Battle of Loos: Mired in the Trenches

By Victor Kamenir

Ajubilant British populace joyfully greeted the declaration of war on Germany on August 4, 1914. “I remember when war was declared, going outside Buckingham Palace and cheering with all the crowds as the king and queen came out on the balcony and being frightfully excited and thinking it was splendid that we were going into the war and all the rest of it,” recalled Londoner Angela Limerick. Read more

World of Warships

By Joseph Luster

We’ve got a little something for everyone in this issue of Military Heritage, including more from Wargaming and a trip way back in time for some medieval warfare. Read more

Broadsword: Warlord Edition

By Joseph Luster

Those looking to go deeper back into history would do well to check out Broadsword: Warlord Edition, a turn-based strategy game developed by Hoplite Research and published by GS2 Games. Read more

In Robert Taylor’s painting, Return from Schweinfurt, P-47 Thunderbolt fighters of the 56th Fighter Group head for home, low on fuel and ammunition, while B-17 bombers fend off late attacks by German Me-109 fighters.

Daylight Bombing Gamble: The Schweinfurt–Regensburg Mission

By Richard Rule

In early 1942, the U.S. Eighth Air Force arrived in England firmly entrenched in the belief that continuous and accurate daylight precision bombing was the only way to decisively crush German industrial capacity. Read more

An M-26 tank—manned by soldiers of the 9th Infantry Regiment—is poised to counter an enemy attempt to cross the Naktong River in Korea, September 1950.

“Bulldog Johnny” Walker

By Blaine Taylor

In September 1948, Lt. Gen. Walton Harris Walker, 58, took over command of the Eighth Army on occupation duty in Japan from his predecessor, Robert Eichelberger, a former West Point superintendent and devotee of Allied Supreme Commander General Douglas MacArthur. Read more

Thundering Clash at Lewes

By Terry Gore

Royalist knights under the command of Prince Edward of England rode with furious speed toward the thousands of London militia who had been sent to set fire to the town of Lewes. Read more

How Did Benito Mussolini Die? The Story Behind Il Duce’s Last Moments.

By Wil Deac

It was shortly before seven o’clock on the rain-drenched morning of April 27, 1945, the day before the death of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Read more

A contingent of U.S. Marine Corps intelligence personnel and native scouts shove their canoes off from the coast watchers’ station at Segi, New Guinea, on a routine patrol.

Coast Watchers in the Solomons

by John Brown

Two weeks after Pearl Harbor, coast watcher Cornelius Page, a plantation manager on Tabar Island 20 miles north of New Ireland in the South Pacific, reported by teleradio that Japanese planes were making reconnaissance flights over New Ireland and New Britain. Read more