Military History Archives

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

Military History

Ambush at Morgarten

By Victor Kamenir

The logs and boulders came tumbling downhill, gaining speed before they reached the bottom of the hillsides in the mountain pass. Read more

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

Military History

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

The Battle of Tuyuti, on May 24, 1866, was the largest battle of the grueling five-year War of the Triple Alliance.

Military History

War of the Triple Alliance: Bloodbath in Paraguay

By Robert Heege

Almost from the beginning, the short, violent reign of Paraguayan strongman Francisco Solano Lopez devolved into a nightmare from which his unfortunate people could not awake. 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

Military History

The Battle of Lechfeld 955 AD

By William E. Welsh

When summer arrived in Bavaria in late June ad 955, thousands of unwelcome barbarians from the Carpathian basin were gathering on its eastern fringe, poised to invade the southern part of the East Frankish kingdom once again. Read more

Union troops charge through D.R. Miller’s cornfield against the Confederate left flank at Antietam in a modern painting by Keith Rocco. The Union II Corps attack through William Roulette’s farm against the Confederate center held by Maj. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill’s troops had the same intensity.

Military History

Lee’s Hard Fighter

By William E. Welsh

Two men rode forward from Sharpsburg, Maryland, on the morning of September 17, 1862. The one in front was of slight build with a scraggly beard, scrawny neck, sunken cheeks, and a high forehead. Read more

Luckner survived hazardous duty as a turret officer at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916.

Military History

Count Felix von Luckner, Captain of SMS Seeadler

By Blaine L. Pardoe

Count Felix von Luckner was known by many titles in his life: runaway, sailor, hero, braggart, fool—even spy. Read more

Sir Francis Drake’s pirates prepare to ambush a Spanish mule train transporting Peruvian silver across the Panamanian isthmus in 1573. Because of the size of the treasure, they had to leave most of it behind.

Military History

Thirst for Treasure: Privateer Navies of the New World

By Steven. M. Johnson

The English soldiers stepped out of their pinnaces into the foaming surf on the island of Hispaniola. Read more

Varangian leader Rurik and his sons arrive in the trading post of Staraya Ladoga in 862. About that same time Varangians began serving with forces protecting the frontiers of the Byzantine Empire.

Military History

The Byzantine Army’s Varangian Guard

By Erich B. Anderson

Byzantine Emperor Basil II suffered a massive defeat against the Bulgarians on August 17, 986, at a strategic mountain pass known as Trajan’s Gate in Bulgaria. Read more

The Battle of Narva was a resounding victory for Swedish King Charles XII over his Russian foe. The young monarch is shown at lower right in Alexander von Kotzebue’s romantic painting.

Military History

Swedish Gamble at the Battle of Narva

By Eric Niderost

Just after dawn on the morning of November 20, 1700, two figures stood atop Hermansburg, a small rise that overlooked the fortress town of Narva in the Baltic province of Estonia. Read more

Military History

Masterstroke at Friedland

By Coley Cowan

Friedland was burning. The darkening sky of late afternoon on June 14, 1807, was deepened further by the ashes swirling in the narrow streets. Read more

In her battle armor, Joan of Arc leads a rapturous army of French followers who believe her to be divinely inspired.

Military History

Joan of Arc’s Loire Campaign: The English Tide Recedes

By William Welsh

None of those present at the war council held on July 18, 1429, at Beaugency in central France seemed to object to the peculiar sight of an armor-clad young woman advising some of the greatest military captains of the age on how to proceed with the campaign to crown the Dauphin Charles king of France. Read more

Military History

Victoria Cross Recipient Private Henry Tandey

By Robert Barr Smith

Private Henry Tandey had a clear shot at the German soldier. He was so close that he could look his enemy in the eyes. Read more

New England militiamen disembark from British ships and row to shore at the beginning of the siege of Louisbourg in May 1745. The Americans were eager to capture the French fortress because it gave safe haven to privateers and French naval vessels that preyed on colonial maritime trade.

Military History

Cannonballs, Grapeshot, and Profanity

By David A. Norris

For nearly a month, 4,000 New England militia aided by the Royal Navy had surrounded the great fortress of Louisbourg, the key to French Canada. Read more

Military History

Turco-Mongol Emir Timur: Scourge of the East

By Victor Kamenir

Egyptian medieval chronicler Ibn Taghribirdi relates an incident that occurred following Turco-Mongol Emir Timur’s conquest of Aleppo in 1400. Read more

South Vietnamese troops advance through waist-high grass toward North Vietnamese invaders in May 1972 following the NVA’s all-out Easter offensive of 1972.

Military History

The Easter Offensive of 1972

By John Walker

At noon on Good Friday, March 30, 1972, more than 25,000 North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers, backed by state-of-the-art Soviet tanks, artillery, and mobile antiaircraft missile platforms, poured across the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Vietnams. Read more

Military History

From Around the Network

Book Reviews: Douglas MacArthur’s air force, a WW I machine gunner, and more

The Last Flight of the Lonesome Polecat

Colonel Bernt Balchen’s Secret Air Force

“Many Gallant Men Were Lost”