Military History Archives

English fireships, stuffed with tarred fagots and red-hot guns, drift into the Spanish Armada, sowing panic and confusion.

Military History

Defeat of the Spanish Armada

By Eric Niderost

On Friday, July 29, 1588, a group of English gentlemen decided to play a friendly game of bowls after a hearty midday meal. Read more

A crusader prince establishes control over the West Slavs during the Wendish Crusade of 1147. Duke Henry the Lion and his allies fought continually against the Wends in the two decades that followed the initial crusade.

Military History

Baptism or Death: The Wendish Crusade, 1147-1185

By Kirk Freeman

By the middle of the 12th century, much of western Europe had settled into a tenuous, often interrupted peace, and many modern nation-states had begun to emerge. Read more

Military History

Blaise de Monluc

By William McPeak

A hundred miles north of the mountainous region near the Pyrenees was the rolling land of the Garonne River, home of the Gascon noble families. Read more

Western artist Frederick Remington’s romantic painting, Charge of the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill, did much to make Theodore Roosevelt famous. Courtesy Frederick Remington Art Museum, Ogdensburg, NY

Military History

By mid-June 1898, a potent American military conglomeration had assembled off the extreme southeastern coast of Cuba. Thirty-two troop transports brought 819 officers and 15,058 enlisted men to Cuba from Florida, along with 89 newspaper correspondents, 11 foreign military observers, and 10 million pounds of rations. Read more

While it doesn’t take an army to produce, the scene is the result of many working together.

Military History

Military Dioramas

By Peter Suciu

The scene appears to be one of utter chaos, as several dozen soldiers react to an enemy attack on their troop train. Read more

An armed West German policeman keeps a close watch on the East Zone across the Berlin Wall. The nearest mound of snow marks the remains of Adolf Hitler’s underground bunker.

Military History

The Symbolism of the Berlin Wall During the Cold War

By Bruce L. Brager

In June 1961, Walter Ulbrecht, longtime Communist party leader of East Germany, denied that his government had any intention of building the Berlin Wall, which would separate East and West Berlin. Read more

Cortés, wielding his sword beneath his red battle flag, leads an attack against Mexican coastal Indians at Tabasco. The Indians were horrified by their first sight of men on horseback.

Military History

Hernándo Cortés on the plains of Cintla

By Charles Hilbert

In March 1519, a small square of 400 Spanish adventurers under the command of Hernándo Cortés stood at bay on the plain of Cintla in Tabasco, Mexico. Read more

At the Battle of Edgehill, Cavalier horsemen broke off their attack to loot the Roundhead wagon train, fatally stalling their own momentum. Painting by Richard Beavis. The Art Archive/Private Collection

Military History

The Battle of Edgehill: Halting the Royalist March on London

By William E. Welsh

Robert Devereux, the third Earl of Essex, was on his way to church in the small village of Kineton in Warwickshire on the morning of October 23, 1642, when he received word that the enemy was at hand. Read more

Hueys prepare to pick up members of Company A, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry to airlift them to a reported enemy ammunition dump in Thang Binh province, 24 miles north of Chu Lai, Jan. 17, 1968.

Military History

The UH-1 Iroquois “Huey” Helicopter

By Ignacio Pullum

As an icon of the Vietnam War and an angel of mercy for American troops who fought there, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, affectionately known as the “Huey,” has gone on to become the most recognizable helicopter in the world. Read more

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his men rode to their deaths at the Battle of Little Bighorn on June 15, 1876. Painting by C.M. Russell, 1903.

Military History

Could Custer have been saved at Little Bighorn?

By Adam Lynch

We can never know what frantic thoughts raced through George Armstrong Custer’s mind in the last hour of his life. Read more

Military History

King Arthur Saves Britain

By Robert Barr Smith

Britain was a battleground in the last years of the fifth century. The occupying, and in some sense stabilizing, Roman legions long since had gone, never to return, and the native Britons found themselves locked in a long, heartbreaking struggle against waves of brutal North German invaders—Angles, Saxons, and Jutes—who delighted in bloodshed, rape, and murder. Read more

Military History

Bairnsfather’s “Fragments from France”

By Robert Whiter

You should send that into one of the illustrated papers or magazines,” said a young subaltern, looking over the shoulder of an officer who was sitting in front of a makeshift table finishing a pen-and-ink drawing. Read more

Displaying the disciplined valor that would become a national characteristic, Prussian troops advance into withering fire at the climax of the Battle of Mollwitz on April 10, 1741.

Military History

The Battle of Mollwitz: Opening Move For Prussian Expansion

By Arnold Blumberg

On October 20, 1740, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of Austria, died, leaving his vast holdings and titles to his 23-year-old daughter, Maria Theresa. Read more

Military History

Misplaced Aggression: The Athenian Defeat at Syracuse

By Barry Porter

By the spring of 415 bc, a peace treaty between the warring city-states of Athens and Sparta had held firm for six years. Read more

An American infantryman training at Fort Belvoir prepares to hurl a pineapple grenade during World War II.

Military History

The Modern Grenade: A Brief History

By William McPeak

When did humanity begin throwing explosive devices? What are the origins of the modern grenade, and how did explosives evolve? Read more

An Iraqi tank crashes forward through the Hawizeh swamp region near the village of Al Azayr on March 18, 1985. By then, the Iran-Iraq War had been going on for over four years.

Military History

New Borders, Old Enemies, The Iran-Iraq War

By John Walker

The world awoke to ominous news on September 22, 1980. Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein had launched a massive armored and air attack across the Iraq-Iran border. Read more

When Kamehameha came into possession of a cannon and some small arms, he was ready to settle old scores with Maui and conquer the other rival islands. The result was the Battle of the Red-Mouthed Gun.

Military History

King Kamehameha’s Conquest of Hawaii

By Tom Wolforth

In July 1782, the island kingdom of Hawaii was fractured into three groups, beginning a power struggle that would last for the next 10 years. Read more

Military History

Dorylaeum: The First Christian-Muslim Clash of the Crusades

By Scott A. Richardson

The Battle of Dorylaeum, fought on July 1, 1097, marked the first full-scale military clash between the Christian armies of the West and the Muslim armies of the East. Read more