Military History Archives

A second torpedo from German submarine U-20 strikes Lusitania on May 7, 1915, off the Head of Kinsale, Ireland. She sank 18 minutes later.

Military History

Passenger Liners in the Great War

By John Protasio

World War I was a total war; Nearly every person and resource was caught up in the conflict. Read more

French men-at-arms assault a formidable English position at Auray in September 1364. An English counterattack shattered the French.

Military History

Bertrand du Guesclin

By William E. Welsh

One month after the disastrous French defeat at Poitiers in September 1356, a large English army besieged Rennes in eastern Brittany. Read more

Military History

Furious Charge Against Malakoff

By Charles Hilbert

The Ottoman Empire of Sultan Abd al-Majid I was in decline. Less than 200 years before, it had reached its high water mark in 1683 when Ottoman armies surrounded the walls of Vienna, only to be beaten back by the forces of Jan Sobieski, King of Poland, and Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, who were bankrolled by Pope Innocent XI and the Holy League. Read more

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 Siege of Paris

By Louis Ciotola

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

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

From Around the Network

Escape from Kirovograd

Old Rough and Ready at Monterrey

Battle at Bir el Gubi

Game Features: Vietnam 65