Military History

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

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

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

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

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

Jugurtha: Numidian King, Roman Enemy

By William Stroock

Jugurtha, king of the desert nation of Numidia, was a long-time antagonist of Republican Rome. Over more than a decade of war, he was a bold and cunning battlefield commander who used swiftness and determination to make fools of Roman consuls, even as the Romans were systematically conquering his country. Read more

From Around the Network

  • One of many of the attractions at the 2007 Show of Shows was this Canadian Black Watch uniform from World War I and poster from the same era.

    Military History

    The Ohio Valley Military Society’s 15th Annual Show of Shows attracted collectors from all over the world.
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  • On the armored flight deck of the HMS Formidable crewmen fold the wings of a fighter plane that has just landed.

    WWII

    The HMS Illustrious & Other Armored British Carriers Left Their Mark
    Read More

  • Military Games

    Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, Super Army War, and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2
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  • King Leonidas marched from Sparta to defend the narrow pass at Thermopylae against the gargantuan Persian army. He and his men lost their lives in the process. Jacques Louis David painted this highly romantic scene in 1814.

    Book Reviews

    Cole and Livingston’s ‘The Killing Ground’
    Read More