Military History
China Strikes Back
By Joshua ShepherdFor the men of the U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment, the evening of November 25, 1950, began routinely enough. Read more
Military History
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Military History
The SMS Sea Eagle
By Mark CarlsonFor more than three centuries, from 1520 in the reign of King Henry the Eighth up until the advent of steam-powered ironclads in the American Civil War, ships under sail ruled the world’s oceans. Read more
Military History
The state of Chinese armies in the 19th century.
The Chinese Army of the mid-19th century was in serious decline, its decay a reflection of the Qing Dynasty that produced it. Read more
Military History
Victory At A Dreadful Cost
By William E. WelshKing 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
Military Bicycles
By Peter SuciuAnyone who has ever visited Europe—particularly France, Italy, and the Netherlands—knows that the people in those countries love their bicycles. Read more
Military History
Death Penalty for Desertion
By John W. Osborn, Jr.British Army privates Thomas Highgate, Ernest Jackson, and Louis Harris shared a distinction in World War I that they undoubtedly would rather not have had. Read more
Military History
Hussite Jan Zizka
By John E. SpindlerJan Zizka belongs to the elite group of leaders who never lost a battle. He was born on or around 1360 in the village of Trocnov in the Kingdom of Bohemia. Read more
Military History
British Disaster at Saratoga
By David A. NorrisFour months earlier Major General John Burgoyne had left Canada with a large army. He intended to deliver a fatal blow to the colonial revolt that had begun on April 19, 1775. Read more
Military History
Emelian Pugachev: Master Imposter of a Russian Czar
By Blaine TaylorOn August 12, 1772, a wandering Don Cossack named Emelian Pugachev crossed the Polish frontier into Imperial Russia on an official passport that entitled him, after spending six weeks in quarantine, to resettle as a free citizen on the Irgiz River in southeast Russia. Read more
Military History
Famous Military Weapons: Mortars
By William McPeakThe mortar is perhaps the oldest surviving ordnance piece developed during the Middle Ages. The earliest known forerunner to the mortar, introduced by Spanish Muslims about ad 1250, was essentially an iron-reinforced bucket that hurled stones with gunpowder. Read more
Military History
Nuclear Submarine Disaster
By Mark CarlsonEven in the age of ultra-sophisticated nuclear submarines, with their advanced computers, sonar, navigation, and communication systems, the hard truth is inescapable: the sea is the most hostile environment on Earth. Read more
Military History
A Hobbit on the Somme
By O’Brien BrowneSmoke and ash drifted across the shattered ground. Dead faces peered up with lidless eyes from pools of stagnant water. Read more
Military History
Mobile Models
By Peter SuciuAlmost as long as there have been history buffs there have been scale models. Toy soldiers have been popular among children for hundreds of years, but it was the introduction of specialized military vehicles that really gave birth to scale models after World War I. Read more
Military History
Tacfarinas’ Berber Revolt Against Rome
By Ludwig Heinrich DyckTacfarinas, a former soldier of Rome’s Numidian cavalry, reined in his steed at the edge of the cliff with the ease of one born in the saddle. Read more
Military History
“Gatling Gun Parker” At the Battle of San Juan Hill
By Jim ForalAlong with the news of the American battleship Maine’s suspicious sinking in Havana harbor in February 1898 came the unmistakable scent of war. Read more
Military History
Operation Babylon: Israel’s Strike on al-Tuwaitha
By Kate CoochIn the late 1970s, it became clear to the international community that Iraq, under the despotic leadership of Saddam Hussein, was attempting to acquire nuclear weapons through the guise of buying nuclear reactors for power generators. Read more
Military History
Private Military Collector Jacques Littlefield
By Albert MrozWhat may be the world’s largest collection of tanks and half-tracks, as well as other treaded vehicles and related artifacts, is not in the hands of any government branch or army office. Read more
Military History
Could Custer have been saved at Little Bighorn?
By Adam LynchWe can never know what frantic thoughts raced through George Armstrong Custer’s mind in the last hour of his life. Read more
Military History
St. Quentin Miniature
By Bruce WeigleMiniature wargames have been played by hobbyists for decades, both for pure entertainment and as part of legitimate research. Read more
Military History
Medal of Honor Recipient: Henry Lawton
By Chuck LyonsOn 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
