Military History

Military History

Incomparable Bravery

By Alexander Zakrzewski

In the early evening of September 12, 1683, the citizens of Vienna watched from the ramparts of their beleaguered city as 3,500 winged horsemen poured down the slopes of the Kahlenberg Heights and into the heart of the besieging Turkish army. Read more

A column of 45 Royal Marine Commando marches toward Port Stanley. The British did not have a particular advantage in numbers or firepower, but their training and discipline enabled them to triumph in the challenging environment.

Military History

Bloody Showdown at Stanley

By Christopher Miskimon

A rocky, jumbled mass of boulders known as Mount Harriet just west of the city of Stanley in the Falkland Islands had no claim to fame before the night of June 11-12, 1982, but it achieved renown after a harrowing engagement that occurred between British and Argentine forces that night. Read more

General George Washington rallies his Continental Army during the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778 in a 19th-century painting by Emanuel Leutze. Maj. Gen. Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben’s relentless drilling of Washington’s soldiers at Valley Forge the previous winter enabled them to fight the British Army to a draw that day.

Military History

The Necessity of Drill

By Eric Niderost

In normal times 18th-century Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a small farming community of about 800 souls clustered around a common. Read more

Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer, who trained Afghan National Security Forces in the use of weapons, took up a position with the quick reaction force during the security sweep of Ganjal village in September 2009.

Military History

Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer in Afghanistan

By William E. Welsh

Moonlight bathed the dusty narrow path leading into the village of Ganjal shortly before sunrise on September 8, 2009, as nearly 100 soldiers climbed out of more than a dozen vehicles a mile from the seemingly peaceful village. Read more

Military History

Unstoppable God Of War Alexander At Issus

By Charles Hilbert

Those rare qualities that set the extraordinary military commanders apart from the average ones were present in Alexander the Great, wrote the Greek historian Arrian, who drew on the account of Alexander’s general, Ptolemy. Read more

Military History

Napoleon’s Old Guard Infantry

By William E. Welsh

When Napoleon Bonaparte became First Consul of France in December 1799, he consolidated the two seperate guard bodies, one for the directory and one for the legislature, into the Guarde des Consuls. Read more

Viking marauders sack the Clonmacnoise monastery in central Ireland. Medieval monasteries were exorbitantly wealthy and typically overflowed with treasure, which made them tempting targets for Vikings seeking instant riches.

Military History

The Northern Foe

By Louis Ciotola

The stereotypical Viking and his method of warfare have long been etched in the popular mind. Images of hairy, axe-wielding, and horned-helmeted barbarians raiding coastlines amid a frenzy of rape and pillage have for centuries filled our collective consciousness, as well as our desire to be entertained. Read more

Corporal Alvin York of the U.S. 82nd Division received the Medal of Honor for cutting down a large group of Germans at close-quarters with his Colt M1911 during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Military History

The Colt 1911

By Christopher Miskimon

Petty Officer R. J. Thomas, a U.S. Navy SEAL, wound up in deep trouble one day in 1969. Read more

Military History

Death in the Italian Vineyards

By William E. Welsh

As the sun dipped low in the west on August 13, 1799, Russian Field Marshal Count Alexander Suvorov rode slowly south towards the heights on which was perched the walled town of Novi, in Italy’s Piedmont region. Read more

Greek hoplites armed with large shields and iron-tipped spears charge the Persians at Marathon.

Military History

Athenian Glory at Marathon

By Erich B. Anderson

In 491 bc, heralds sent by Persian Emperor Darius I traveled throughout Greece with a message for each of the city-states of the Greek peninsula. Read more

Iron-helmeted citizen soldiers armed with shields and pikes defend the Milanese carroccio against German cavalry at Legnano.

Military History

Imperial Ambition Denied

By Eric Niderost

Frederick Barbarossa, Emperor of the Romans and one of the great rulers of the Middle Ages, was in the midst of a battle that might determine the fate of Northern Italy. Read more

Prussian King Frederick the Great’s senior officers, including his brother Prince Henry, advised him to halt his attack at Kunersdorf after the Prussian forces had hemmed in the enemy, but he chose to press his attack.

Military History

Slugfest at Kunersdorf

By Victor Kamenir

King Frederick II “The Great” of Prussia faced a formidable challenge at the outset of the campaign season in 1759. Read more

The tide of battle turns in favor of the Allies as French General Pierre Bosquet's division, which had taken up a support position behind the British right flank, engages the Russians.

Military History

A Gloomy though Glorious Triumph

By David A. Norris

As the Battle of Inkerman veered into chaos, British Maj. Gen. George Cathcart stepped into the role of a line officer, leading several hundred men to cut into the flank of an approaching Russian column. Read more

Ottoman gunners played a central role in the siege. Their stone shot brought down whole sections of the city’s massive walls, opening large breaches.

Military History

Medieval Bombards at the Siege of Constantinople.

The Ottoman army’s bombards played a key role in its successful conquest of Constantinople during the epic siege of 1453. In the 15th century the great powers of medieval Europe paid talented gunsmiths to build massive bombards to batter walls and shorten the length of sieges. Read more

Military History

17th century Ottoman Janissary Musketeer

The Ottoman janissary corps was recruited from military slaves. These slaves were either prisoners captured by Ottoman armies during the course of war or boys and young men conscripted from occupied Christian populations. Read more

The crew of a British Sopwith Camel flying at 10,000 feet downs the first Gotha on British soil during a night raid on London in January 1918. Germany reinvigorated its strategic bombing campaign late in the war by using Gotha aircraft instead of zeppelins.

Military History

Germany’s Gotha Heavy Bombers

By Eric Niderost

It was the early-morning hours of June 13, 1917, when a group of German aircraft began its final preparations for a very special mission, which amounted to the first fixed-wing bombing of London. Read more

From Around the Network

  • Napoleon Bonaparte, commanding the French Army of Italy, issues orders during an assault over a bridge at Lodi. At one point in the struggle, Bonaparte led a charge himself. The victory here gave much confidence to both commander and army.

    Military History

    Napoleon’s Italian Campaign: A Year Against the Odds
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  • Two Grumman F9F-2 Panther fighters dump fuel as they fly past the carrier USS Princeton, during Korean War operations in May 1951. Some 18 months later, U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant E. Royce Williams would take on seven Soviet MiG-15s, downing four of them, diminishing the aircraft’s reputation as invincible.

    Military History

    U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant E. Royce Williams
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  • Throne of the Duke of Alva suggests the duke’s rule was ordained by Satan.

    Military History

    Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, the Duke of Alva
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  • Plagued by dysentery, malaria, hunger, and exhaustion, King Henry V and his weary soldiers prepare to face off against their French foes near the tiny village of Agincourt, in this painting by Sir John Gilbert.

    Military History

    Miracle in the Mud: The Hundred Years’ War’s Battle of Agincourt
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