Articles Archive

Despite being cold and weary, some reconnaissance troops of the 87th Infantry Division (Patton’s Third Army) can smile as they march through Bihain, Belgium, to attack German troops dug in beyond the town, January 1945.

Patton’s Fateful Verdun Meeting

By Kevin M. Hymel

On the morning of December 19, Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr., prepared his Third Army for a battle raging north of him—the Battle of the Bulge. Read more

Colonial militiamen, firing from behind makeshift barriers , drive off French and Indian troops at the Battle of Lake George in September 1755.

Fort William Henry, 1757: a Massacre of Misunderstanding

By Eric Niderost

Lieutenant Colonel George Monro of the 35th Regiment of Foot was a tough Scotsman, a career soldier who had served in the British Army for many years. Read more

War Through an Artist’s Eyes

By Howard Brodie

Newspaper artist Howard Brodie enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942, soon joining the combat artist program. He was sent by Yank magazine to capture his impressions of the war with a pencil during the Guadalcanal campaign and then the fighting in Europe. 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

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

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

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