Military History

Military History

Allan Pinkerton

By Clark Larsen

“Early in the year 1861, I was at my headquarters in the city of Chicago, attending to the manifold duties of my profession. Read more

For landings to be successful, the attackers had to know a great deal. Only men on the spot could stealthily observe conditions, and they had to be highly trained.

Military History

SEALs: the Birth of the Navy’s ‘Special Warfare’ Force

By Bud Hyland

Today’s Navy SEALs (for Sea, Air, and Land special warfare experts) have a history shrouded in secrecy. Commissioned in 1962, they are the most elite shore-area Special Forces in the world, concentrating on very select and often-clandestine intelligence gathering and precision strike missions. Read more

Military History

Hannibal and the Second Punic War

By Jonas L. Goldstein, LCDR, USN (Ret.)

The Carthaginian hero Hannibal Barca has long been considered to have possessed one of history’s greatest military minds. Read more

Gustav was the best kind of reformer. He thoroughly understood the tactics he was changing, he had keen insight, and he put himself into the field to observe the results of his reforms.

Military History

Gustavus Adolphus: Lion of the North

By Isaac Blatter

Oddly, the fall of the brilliant King Gustavus Adolphus on the field of battle marked both the beginning of Sweden’s rise to power and the end of one of the most aggressive ages of military reform. Read more

Robert the Bruce stands up in his stirrups to aim a blow at Henry de Bohun, a champion of Edward II’s large army of invasion.

Military History

The Battle of Bannockburn: Edward II vs Robert the Bruce

By Terry Gore

Robert the Bruce, self-proclaimed King of the Scots, grasped his axe as the heavily armored English nobleman, a member of the vanguard of the 20,000-strong English army, bore down upon him, lance leveled and clods of earth arching from his charger’s hoofs. Read more

Military History

The Modoc War of 1872

By Kurt R. Nelson

Most Indian battles were small affairs, often company-sized engagements. Many were fought between equally numbered forces, or if disproportional, the U.S. Read more

Military History

The Saga of Piyamaradu

By Steven Weingartner

Western Anatolia in the 13th century bc was the main arena for a protracted trial of strength between two vital and aggressive empires, Hatti and Ahhiyawa. Read more

Soldiers of the 42nd Highlanders maneuver in the jungle during the Ashanti War of 1874. Their general, Garnet Joseph Wolseley, disliked war correspondents but put them to good use.

Military History

General Garnet Wolseley & The First War Correspondents

By Harold E. Raugh, Jr.

War correspondents are relatively new to history. The Crimean War (1854-1856), pitting Great Britain, France, Turkey, and Sardinia against Russia, was the first conflict in which an organized effort was made for civilian correspondents reporting news directly to the civilian population of the home country. Read more

Noted Napoleonic artist Louis LeJeune painted this extraordinary canvas of the critical attack on the Russian Great Redoubt at the Battle of Borodino.

Military History

Napoleon Bonaparte & The 1812 Battle of Borodino

By Jonathan North

At 11 o’clock on the evening of June 23, 1812, the first elements of Napoleon’s mighty army marched on three pontoon bridges over the river Niemen and set foot on Russian soil; the epic invasion of Russia had begun. Read more

Wellington’s artillery commander at Waterloo said that without Henry Shrapnel’s devastating new shell, Allied forces could not have taken a key position on the battlefield.

Military History

Henry Shrapnel & The Battle of Waterloo

by Robert Whiter

“And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air …”

That, as most people know, is a line from the American national anthem, words by Francis Scott Key, to the tune of Anacreon in Heaven by John Stafford Smith. Read more

Saint Louis, King Louis IX of France receives Robert of Nantes, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in Damietta, Egypt, in June of 1249. Robert is lending his knights to the battle ahead, the Seventh Crusade. Nineteenth century painting by French artist Oscar Gué.

Military History

The Battle of Al Mansourah and the Seventh Crusade, 1251

By Douglas Sterling

After a century and a half of efforts—with mixed success—by Western Europe to seize control of the Holy Land, the Seventh Crusade of 1250 led by Louis IX of France was the last best chance to change the political and military situation in the Eastern world before the Reformation. Read more

Westmoreland decorates the standard of a fighting unit in Vietnam. He left the country in 1968.

Military History

Soldier Profiles: General William C. Westmoreland

By Blaine Taylor

In 1989, this writer had occasion to interview four-star General William Childs Westmoreland, now 86, formerly U.S. military commander in South Vietnam and at the time of the interview a retired Chief of Staff of the Army. Read more

A Japanese POW commander (Sessue Hayakawa) and a British colonel (Alec Guinness) conduct a battle of wills in The Bridge On the River Kwai.

Military History

Military Films

By Blaine Taylor

From earliest recorded history to yesterday, it is now possible to trace virtually all major human conflicts on videotapes and DVDs through both rental and purchase. Read more

Nineteenth-century artist Eugene Delacroix depicted Trajan as a young soldier on his war horse. Trajan had good training as a warrior and fought in many areas of the empire. While in his 30s he skillfully crushed a rebellion on the German frontier. He also held important administrative posts.

Military History

Emperor Trajan of Rome

By R. Manning Ancell

The ancient city of Selinus, a major trading center in Cilicia, sat atop a steep outcropping of rock that rises abruptly from the edge of the Mediterranean on the southern coast of Asia Minor, now modern Turkey. Read more

From Around the Network

  • Flourishing his famous red-and-white headquarters flag, Union General Phil Sheridan rides along the front ranks after his dramatic return to the battlefield at Cedar Creek. Painting by Thure de Thulstrup.

    Civil War

    Glory Enough for One Day: Phil Sheridan’s Victory at Cedar Creek
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  • Fierce seafaring warriors from Scandinavia, the Vikings raided across the known world and explored regions from the Middle East to North America.

    Military History

    Who Were the Vikings?
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    How The Battle of Iwo Jima Saved American Lives
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