Military History Archives

Military History

Weapons of War: the War Hammer

By William McPeak

Not to be confused with Mjollnir, the mythical Norse god Thor’s fabled hammer, the real-life war hammer was a brutal and effective weapon. Read more

British Captain Norman Ramsay and his Royal Horse Artillery troopers dash to safety through the French cavalry at Fuentes de Onoro.

Military History

Streets Sewn with Bodies: Wellington at Fuentes de Onoro

By Mike Phifer

It had been a brutal winter for the French Army of Portugal. War and hunger had haunted the occupiers, causing their number to dwindle by the thousands. Read more

Military History

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

By Eric Niderost

The name Gaius Suetonius Paulinus doesn’t ring across the centuries from the annals of Roman military history like the names of Julius Caesar, Tiberius Nero, or Scipio Africanus. Read more

The inept leadership of John De Warenne led to the English disaster at Stirling Bridge. From their position on Abbey Crag, the Scots carried everything before them wiping out the English bridgehead on the north bank of the River Forth. Painting by Angus McBride

Military History

Revenge at Falkirk

By Charles Hilber

Standing 6 feet 2 inches tall with a fiery temper, English King Edward I was an imposing and intimidating figure. Read more

Military History

Spartacus: Freedom by the Sword

By Eric Niderost

In the spring of 73 bc, Thracian gladiator Spartacus decided that the time was right to attempt an escape. Read more

French troops in the foreground counterattack Prussian infantry in a vain effort to stabilize their right flank at the elevated village of Saint-Privat seen in the background. Infantry of both sides fought valiantly throughout the day, but both the French and Prussian high commands performed poorly.

Military History

Victory At A Dreadful Cost

By William E. Welsh

King William I of Prussia stood resplendent in the uniform of a Prussian Guard officer on a hill in eastern France on a sunny day in late summer 1870. Read more

Military History

The final outcome of the Franco-Prussian War was decided on September 2, 1870. On that day, more than 100,000 French troops, including Emperor Napoleon III, surrendered to the Prussian Army at Sedan. Read more

Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated Confederate General Joseph Johnston at Jackson two days before Champion’s Hill. To deny the state capitol’s use to Johnston, Grant torched its buildings, cut its telegraph wires, and tore up its railroad tracks.

Military History

Grant’s Army of the Tennesee overcame adversity on the roundabout road to Vicksburg.

Major General Ulysses S. Grant sat on his horse in late April 1863 next to a narrow bridge over a wide marsh on the west bank of the Mississippi River in northeastern Louisiana. Read more

Military History

Wartales

By Joseph Luster

Wartales is a medieval-themed open-world tactical RPG from Shiro Unlimited, and it’s been doing pretty well for itself since its initial launch. Read more

Hannibal leads his Carthaginian army, mounted on elephants, against the Romans in this 16th-century painting.

Military History

Hannibal And The Failure Of Success

By Steven Weingartner

Although Hannibal Barca has rightly been hailed as one of history’s greatest military commanders, his reputation for greatness is based largely on his performance in the first three years (218-202 bc) of the 16-year conflict known as the Second Punic War. Read more

Frederick I Barbarossa kneels before a defiant Henry the Lion during their conference at Chiavenna near Lake Como in early 1176. When Frederick declined to return the key city of Goslar in Lower Saxony to Henry, the duke refused to lead reinforcements to assist the emperor against the Lombard League.

Military History

Germany’s Rebel Duke Henry the Lion

By William E. Welsh

Duke Henry the Lion, the ruler of Saxony and Bavaria, seethed with rage. The pagan Wends had rebelled once more against their Saxon overlords. Read more

A Polish Vistula lancer wearing the familiar four-sided lancer cap, or shako, crosses blades with an Austrian cuirassier during the Napoleonic Wars.

Military History

The Four-Sided Peak Lancer Cap

By Peter Suciu

While lightly armed cavalry already seemed anachronistic by the time of the Napoleonic Wars, the success of the Polish lancers in that conflict convinced many nations to adopt a similar fighting force. Read more

Military History

Commodore John Barry: Naval Hero of the American Revolution

By Neil Cosgrove

Most histories of the American Revolution give the fledgling Patriot navy only one hero: John Paul Jones. While not begrudging Jones’s recognition, it seems unfair to represent the Continental Navy with a single fighting captain. Read more

Military History

Medal of Honor Recipient: Henry Lawton

By Chuck Lyons

On August 3, 1864, near Atlanta, Georgia, Captain Henry Lawton of Indiana led a group of Union skirmishers in a charge against Confederate rifle pits. Read more

Military History

The Guns of Formigny

By Eric Niderost

In the fall of 1447, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, was not a happy man. He was lieutenant general of France and Guyenne, a kind of viceroy who oversaw English possessions in France, and he was also a powerful and rapacious feudal magnate in his own right. Read more

Genghis Khan and his Mongol hordes attack a Tangut (Xi) fortress in western China in ad 1205 in this highly imaginative 16th-century Indian painting.

Military History

The Mongol Hordes Invade China

By Steven M. Johnson

In ad 1205, Mongol ruler Genghis Khan, having completed the unification of his Gobi Desert empire, began looking south toward China for further conquest. Read more

Military History

Napoleon’s Last Great Victory: The Battle of Dresden

By Eric Niderost

Marshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr was in a tight spot, and he knew it. It was the morning of August 26, 1813, and Saint-Cyr and his French XIV Corps were defending Dresden, the capital of Saxony, from a large and menacing Allied army that outnumbered his own by at least four to one. Read more

Athenian general Iphicrates modified the battle gear of his peltasts, shown in this Johnny Shumate illustration wearing lightweight linen instead of bronze armor and carrying half-moon shields, swords, and javelins.

Military History

General Iphracates: Innovative Commander of Ancient Greece

By Charles Hilbert

The 3rd century BC in Greece was an age of military innovation. The lessons learned in the Peloponnesian War (431-404) led to the increased use of lightly armed troops and cavalry. Read more

Surrounded by Spanish pikemen at the climax of the Battle of Ravenna, French commander Gaston de Foix fights to stay on horseback. He would soon tumble to his inevitable death.

Military History

Death of the Fox: Battle of Ravenna (1512)

By William E. Welsh

As the first rays of sunlight chased away the shadows from the base of the high walls surrounding the village of Ravenna in northern Italy on Easter Sunday, April 11, 1512, the French army besieging the town began to form into columns. Read more