Military History
The History of Swiss Pikemen
by Jonathan NorthFighting mainly as pikemen, the Swiss of the 15th Century used their iconic 10-foot pikes in an offensive capacity. Read more
Military History
Military History
Hasan ibn al-Sabbah and the Assassins of the Middle East
by Robert SuhrSaladin was one of the few leaders in the Mideast during the Crusades to incur the wrath of the infamous cult of Assassins, and survive. Read more
Military History
The Battle of White Mountain, 1620
By William E. WelshIn the valley south of the hill known in Czech as Bitna Hora, a vast host assembled by the Austrian Hapsburgs advanced toward the ranks of the Protestant rebels blocking the path to Prague, the capital of Bohemia. Read more
Military History
Capturing Louisbourg: How British Firepower Prevailed
by William WelshThe crews of the British longboats had to fight the elements as much as the French to get ashore at Cormorandiere Cove a short distance southwest of the fortress of Louisbourg on June 8, 1758, but somehow they completed their mission, thanks to the gifted leadership of Brig. Read more
Military History
Three Key Battles Before the Siege of Orleans
Following English King Henry V’s decisive victory over the French at Agincourt in 1415, the tide of the Hundred Years War in France remained in England’s favor until the Siege of Orleans. Read more
Military History
What Happened at the Devil’s Den at the Battle of Gettysburg
By Don WilliamsThe struggle for the Devil’s Den at Gettysburg occurred on July 2, 1863, under a hot and cloudless afternoon. Read more
Military History
Frederick the Great’s Recipe for Success
Prussian King Frederick II “The Great” inherited from his father an army ready for war. Frederick William I had entrusted the training of his infantry to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau. Read more
Military History
Inside Washington’s Battle Tactics
By Christopher MiskimonThe fate of the American Revolution seemed bleak indeed in December 1776. New Jersey was on the verge of collapse with many of its residents swearing new oaths of loyalty to Great Britain. Read more
Military History
John Hunt Morgan delighted in dangerous missions.
The degree to which Confederate raider John Hunt Morgan set Northern soldiers on edge is seen by a story that appeared in southern newspapers in April 1862. Read more
Military History
Young Churchill in Battle
By Christopher MiskimonYoung Winston Churchill expected to enter battle on September 1, 1898, but instead he watched as British gunboats bombarded Dervish forts. Read more
Military History
The Great War’s Eastern Front
By Chris MiskimonRussia was imploding in October 1917. The war combined with the numerous internal stresses of the nation, culminating in a civil war and Russia’s withdrawal from the greater war. Read more
Military History
Heavy infantry comes of age in the Swiss Confederacy.
The ambush of Duke King Leopold I’s army by Swiss foot soldiers on the mountain road at Morgarten in 1315 ushered in a roughly 200-year period where the hard-hitting Swiss maintained a reputation as elite foot soldiers. Read more
Military History
The AK-47 vs. the M16 Rifle During the Vietnam War
By Michael HaskewDuring the Vietnam War, two of the most famous firearms of modern times emerged as icons of the latter half of the turbulent 20th century. Read more
Military History
Holly Springs was Van Dorn’s ticket to fame.
The horsemen charged into the town from the northeast guns blazing and screaming the hair-raising Rebel yell. Yankees wearing their sleepwear struggled to get out of their tents in the dawn attack and then ran for their lives. Read more
Military History
Douglas MacArthur’s Plan to Win The Korean War
By Blaine TaylorIn his 1964 book Gen. Douglas MacArthur (Gold Medal Books, Greenwich, Conn.), Bob Considine writes, “MacArthur’s final plan for winning the Korean War was outlined to this reporter in the course of an interview in 1954 on his 74th birthday. Read more
Military History
Marines at the Battle of Guantanamo Bay
By A.B. FeuerThe capture of Guantànamo Bay, Cuba, by U.S. Marines in 1898 was a brief but violent phase of the Spanish-American War. Read more
Military History
Alexander the Great in India
By Martin LeavittIt was raining, raining with a force and intensity few had ever experienced. The Macedonian army was marching upstream near the northern banks of the Hydaspes River in India (now Pakistan), trying to reach a ford under the cloak of darkness. Read more
Military History
The Claymore vs. the M14 mine in Vietnam
By Michael HaskewDuring the Vietnam War, the land mine was responsible for large numbers of casualties among both military and civilian personnel. Read more
Military History
Stirring Accounts of the Albigensian Crusade
The three contemporary narrative accounts of the 13th-century Albigensian Crusade are gripping, chilling, and enlightening. They offer rich insight into the period when the Languedoc region of modern-day southwestern France was tied more closely to the Kingdom of Aragon than the fledgling Kingdom of France. Read more
Military History
The Quinquereme in the Carthaginian & Roman Navy
by Marc G. De SantisThe third century BC saw fierce naval competition arise all across the Mediterranean. In the west, the Romans and Carthaginians struggled for control of the sea. Read more
