Military History Archives

Military History

Hasan ibn al-Sabbah and the Assassins of the Middle East

by Robert Suhr

Saladin 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. Welsh

In 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 Welsh

The 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

Colonel Augustus Van Horne Ellis commands his 124th New York as the fighting grows desperate. Later he would lead a charge that would stifle the Confederate advance, but at the cost of his own life.

Military History

What Happened at the Devil’s Den at the Battle of Gettysburg

By Don Williams

The 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 Miskimon

The 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

Churchill joined in the charge of the 21st Lancers at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.

Military History

Young Churchill in Battle

By Christopher Miskimon

Young 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 Miskimon

Russia 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

The Battle of Sempach was the event that transformed the Old Swiss Confederacy into a serious military power. The Austrians, who had learned little from their previous defeats, once again suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Swiss.

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 Haskew

During 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 Taylor

In 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

The 1898 sinking of the USS Maine draws Marines in to fight for the strategically important Battle of Guantanamo Bay.

Military History

Marines at the Battle of Guantanamo Bay

By A.B. Feuer

The 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 Leavitt

It 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 Haskew

During 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

Offering a balance between speed, maneuverability and power, both the Carthaginian & Roman Navy adopted the quinquereme as its standard vessel.

Military History

The Quinquereme in the Carthaginian & Roman Navy

by Marc G. De Santis

The 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