Articles Archive

Union Disaster: The Battle of Thompson’s Station

By Robert L. Durham

The winter of 1863 was a time of general inactivity for the exhausted armies in middle Tennessee. Read more

Efficient and aggressive, Japanese troops rush into Hong Kong in early December 1941. Reports of widespread atrocities were received as the invaders took control of the city. (Imperial War Museum)

Tragedy at Hong Kong: The Ordeal of C Force

By Jerome M. Baldwin

By the 1930s the security Hong Kong had enjoyed since its acquisition by the British Empire in 1842 was a memory. Read more

Hell’s Own Cesspool: Okinawa in WWII

By John Walker

On Easter morning, April 1, 1945, the Pacific island of Okinawa trembled beneath an earthshaking bombardment from American combat aircraft overhead and ships steaming offshore in preparation for an amphibious landing of unprecedented magnitude. Read more

‘Bat Bombs’: WWII’s Project X-Ray

By Allan T. Duffin

Imagine thousands of bats—silent, gray-furred, vigilant—huddled in the rafters of your home or office, each carrying a tiny device no larger than a thimble. Read more

Champions from the long- feuding Clan Chattan and Clan Cameron resolve their differences the Scottish way during the Battle of the Clans at North Inch in 1396.

The 1396 Battle of the Clans

By Andrew McGregor

The 14th-century Scottish highlands region was an isolated and undeveloped region of great forests, deep cold lakes, and rocky peaks uncrossed by any road. Read more

Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki did not contest the landings at Attu in May 1943; instead, he ordered his 2,300 troops to establish strong positions in the mountains from which they could fire down on the Americans. Pictured are U.S. troops at Massacre Bay.

Fog of War in the Aleutians

By Colonel James W. Hammond, Jr.

For decades Americans have been spoiled by the instant coverage of war in the media. Read more

Day One of the Battle of Stones River

By Mike Phifer

For weeks, Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans had been hearing increased grumblings from Washington about how he should move his army out of Nashville and strike General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate forces 30 miles away in Murfreesboro. Read more

American forces assault the Mexican army at Cerro Gordo in this lithograph by Carl Nebel of the New Orleans Picayune, who accompanied Winfield Scott during the campaign.

Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo: Battle for Devil’s Jaws

By Frank A. O’Reilly

American Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott captured the port city of Vera Cruz on March 27, 1847, and immediately prepared to leave it behind. Read more

Matt Urban: Infantry Legend

By Michael D. Hull

At a Washington, D.C., reunion of the 9th Infantry “Octofoil” Division, on Saturday, July 19, 1980, President Jimmy Carter presented the nation’s highest decoration for valor to Lt. Read more

Wary Roman forces enter the Apennine Mountain pass at Caudine Forks in 321 bc. Samnite forces under Gaius Pontius were waiting for them.

Swords and Citizens: Romans & the Samnites

By Jeffrey A. Easton

Centuries before the Romans came to dominate the Mediterranean basin, they fought a series of wars against neighboring peoples to establish their hegemony over the Italian peninsula. Read more

The Bristol Beaufighter was a large aircraft that was capable of carrying heavy armament and an early version of airborne interception radar without affecting the aircraft’s performance in action.

Caught in the Micrometer Beam

By Mark Carlson

There is no disputing that radar played a major role in the Allied victory in World War II. Read more

A view of an E-3 aircraft with AWACS radome mounted on top.

The E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System

By Ken LaFayette

The year 2007 marked the 30th anniversary of the E-3 Sentry’s Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) service to the United States Air Force. Read more

Vizier Mustafa Pasha commanded the Turkish ground forces at Malta, seen here breasting the Knights Hospitallers in one of numerous headlong assaults.

Clash of Religions at Malta

By Tony Rothman

At dawn on May 18, 1565, one of the largest armadas ever assembled appeared off the Mediterranean island of Malta. Read more

In this photo montage, General Arthur Percival is pictured around the time that the Japanese invaded the Malay Peninsula, leading to his surrender of the bastion of Singapore.

Percival’s Surrender: Britain’s Greatest Failure

By David H. Lippman

To those that met him, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival was uninspiring and gloomy, seeing difficulties rather than opportunities; one who was weak and hesitant when a decision was needed. Read more

The submerged “Gavutu Wildcat,” a Grumman F4F fighter plane possibly flown by Lt. James E. Swett, a U.S. Marine Corps ace, during the aerial battles in the Solomon Islands during World War II.

Searching for a Wildcat

By Bruce Petty

On November 3, 2011, at 0945, the hydrographic ship HMNZS Resolution discovered what appeared to be an aircraft in the waters near Gavutu Island in the Solomon Island group. Read more