Military History Archives

Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, shown on horseback, leads a brigade of Continentals in a furious charge against Breymann’s redoubt in the Battle of Bemis’ Heights on October 7. The Germans stubbornly defended their redoubt, but ultimately were overwhelmed.

Military History

Attacks by Patriot irregulars doomed John Burgoyne’s invading British army

The maxim “an army marches on its stomach,” attributed to both Napoleon and Frederick the Great rings true when considering the fate of Maj. Read more

Boer irregulars use the terrain to their advantages in a bloody clash at the outset of the Second Boer War. With their modern artillery and superior rifles, they proved more than a match for the British.

Military History

‘A Most Lamentable Failure’

By John E. Spindler

It is not always the actions of the brave and mighty that determine a battle’s outcome—victory or defeat can hinge on the most mundane of events. Read more

Wellesley salutes soldiers of the 43rd Regiment as they collect their fallen comrades in the aftermath of the battle in south-central Spain.

Military History

Ignoring the scorching summer heat, Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley climbed one of the towers on the ruined estate of Casa de Salinas 80 miles southwest of Madrid, Spain, to survey the surrounding countryside. Read more

Trapped in a pocket at Sedan, Emperor Napoleon III and his officers surrender their swords to the Prussians after the emperor agreed to the unconditional surrender.

Military History

Snared in a Prussian Trap

By Victor Kamenir

Driven and energetic in his youth, by the late 1860s French Emperor Napoleon III was a shadow of his former self. Read more

Vice Admiral Count D'Estaing arrived in the northeastern Caribbean in December 1778 too late to prevent the British capture of the French colony of St. Lucia.

Military History

French Vice Admiral Charles D’Estaing

By William E. Welsh

In one of those ironic twists of history, French Vice Admiral Count Charles Henri Hector d’Estaing, who led the first French fleet to North America in 1778 to assist the Americans during their revolt against the British crown, never met George Washington. Read more

The crew of a ZSU-23-4 of President Bashar al-Assad's Syrian Armed Forces stands beside their ZSU-23-4. Introduced as a mobile air defense system during the Cold War in the 1960s, the ZSU-23-4 remains in use in 30 countries.

Military History

The Soviet ZSU-23-4 Anti-Aircraft Platform

By Christopher Miskimon

Soviet forces occupying Afghanistan in March 1986 during the Soviet-Afghan War sought to annihilate a large force of Afghan Mujahedeen fighters that had sheltered in Xadigar Canyon in Kandahar Province. Read more

English longbowmen shower the French with arrows from a forecastle at Sluys. The longbow, with its rapid rate of fire and superior range, proved more valuable than the French crossbow at Sluys.

Military History

Bloody Revenge at Sluys

By Eric Niderost

It was late afternoon on June 24, 1340, when the English fleet arrived off the Flanders coast, just short of the Zwin estuary, reputed to be the finest harbor in Europe. Read more

A Greek trireme rams a Persian trireme in Salamis Bay while hoplites and archers engage each other with spears and arrows.

Military History

High Stakes at Salamis

By Erich B. Anderson

As the sun rose shortly after dawn on a morning in late September 480 BC, 170 rowers densely packed on three tiers within an Athenian warship strenuously pushed their oars to propel their vessel forward as fast as possible. Read more

Military History

Storm Of Arrows

By William E. Welsh

For nearly half a millennium the crossbow and longbow served as the predominant missile weapons for field armies in Western Europe. Read more

An American Army officer fires his Colt 1892 revolver at charging Filipino insurgents in this painting by Frederick Remington.

Military History

Savage Model 1907: Rival of the Colt M1911

By Steve Lilley

In the 1939 movie The Real Glory, elite U.S. Army officers arrive in the southern Philippines to mold the Filipinos into a military force to defend their villages against marauding Moro tribesmen. Read more

Byzantines troops are shown sneaking into Nicea on the night of June 18-19, 1097. The Franks captured the fortress at the outset of the First Crusade from the Seljuks while Sultan Kilij Arslan I was away campaigning.

Military History

Battle for Jerusalem

By William E. Welsh

The barefoot crusaders tramped slowly underneath a blazing sun behind bishops and priests chanting and holding aloft relics on July 8, 1099. Read more

Rafael Trujillo’s 1957 American Chevrolet on display following his assassination on May 30, 1961. During the ambush, Trujillo stumbled wounded out of his car, only to be shot dead in the street.

Military History

The CIA Assassination of Rafael Trujillo

By Peter Kross

The United States from 1959 to 1961 turned its focus to two of the most charismatic, ruthless, and despotic rulers in the Caribbean region, Fidel Castro of Cuba and Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic. Read more

The stripped body of King Manfred of Sicily, who fell during the final phase of the Battle of Benevento, was not discovered until three days after the fight. Knights weep in the foreground as the city, which was sacked by the French, burns in the background of Giuseppe Bezzuoli’s Neoclassic painting.

Military History

For Gold And Blood

By William E. Welsh

The rain poured in sheets as the long column of French troops snaked its way through the Apennine Mountains of southern Italy along roads washed out by heavy rains. Read more

Japanese infantry storm one of the many Russian defensive works high above Port Arthur as the town smolders in the distance. The stubborn head-on attacks were incredibly costly.

Military History

Baiting the Russian Bear: The Siege of Port Arthur

By Eric Niderost

On the chilly night of February 8, 1904, the Imperial Russian Navy’s Pacific Squadron lay peacefully at anchor just outside Port Arthur’s main harbor. Read more

Furious counterattacks by Parliamentarian cavalry, including Oliver Cromwell’s “Ironside” troopers, prevented the Royalist horse from disrupting the advance of the Parliamentary army at Marston Moor.

Military History

Shock Of The Charge

By Eric Niderost

Prince Rupert of the Rhine did not like to be kept waiting, especially when each passing minute seemed to lessen his chances of victory. Read more

Three crews were lost during tests of the Horace L. Hunley, shown in a painting by Conrad Wise Chapman.

Military History

Evolution of the Submarine

By John Protasio

The concept of a ship that could submerge beneath the water and then resurface dates back as far as the late 1400s, when Italian Renaissance artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci claimed to have found a method for a ship to remain submerged for a protracted period of time. Read more

Macedonian King Alexander's counterattack pierces the left-center of the Persian line and puts Darius to flight on the plain of Gaugamela.

Military History

Alexander’s Triumph at Gaugamela

Eric Niderost

It was nighttime, and a great battle was soon to be fought at Gaugamela, in the dusty plains and rolling hills of modern-day northern Iraq. Read more

World War I French soldiers make flower vases from shell casings.

Military History

Trench Art

By Peter Suciu

Art is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but for those who collect militaria there is a special kind of art that requires a special kind of appreciation. Read more