Military History
Greene’s Gamble at Hobkirk’s Hill
By Daniel MurphyIn late March 1781, American Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene sought to make the best of a bad situation. Read more
Military History
Military History
British Naval Disaster at Coronel
By John ProtasioWhen World War I broke out in August 1914, the captains of the various German warships called their men together to give three cheers for the Kaiser. Read more
Military History
Tank Killers on the Western Front
By Arnold BlumbergThe Somme offensive, which began on July 1, 1916, had by late that month deteriorated into a series of small, costly actions. Read more
Military History
Charles II’s Great Escape from the Battle of Worcester
By Roy Morris jr.Knowing that Puritan pursuers would be hot on his trail as soon as they realized he was not in Worcester, the king and his advisers stopped briefly at an inn in Ombersley (inevitably renamed the King’s Arms) to discuss their plans. Read more
Military History
Worcester: Last Battle of the English Civil War
By Roy Morris jr.Charles Stuart liked to gamble. The 21-year-old son of slain English King Charles I was a fixture at the gaming tables and boudoirs of Europe, where he had spent the last half decade in restless exile while his father unsuccessfully sought to hold onto both his crown and his head. Read more
Military History
Roman Legion: The Reforms of Marius
By Lindsay PowellThe basic unit of the Roman army of the late Republic was the legion, derived from the Latin word legio, meaning “military levy.” Read more
Military History
The Canadian Military Heritage Museum
By Jerome BaldwinThe Canadian Military Heritage Museum in Brantford, Ontario, has a four-part mission: to collect, preserve, and display artifacts pertaining to the military history of Canada; to maintain and manage a museum for the purpose of education; to display the artifacts at community events; and to honor the fallen and all veterans who have served and are still serving in the Canadian military. Read more
Military History
Able Archer 83: Did a NATO Exercise Almost Escalate to Nuclear War?
By Todd Avery RaffenspergerOn the night of November 20, 1983, Armageddon went prime time. Over 100 million Americans tuned in to the ABC television network to watch the two-hour drama The Day After. Read more
Military History
Battle of the Thames
By Christopher MiskimonA British squadron lay wrecked on the waters of Lake Erie. Six vessels of war floated in ruins and 135 English sailors lay dead or wounded. Read more
Military History
Fiasco at the Bay of Pigs
By Peter KrossOn the morning of April 18, 1961, readers of the New York Times awoke to a startling headline: “Anti-Castro Units Land in Cuba; Report Fighting at Beachhead; Rusk Says U.S. Read more
Military History
The “Pueblo Incident”: The U.S. Navy’s Grave Miscalculation
By John WalkerThe humiliating seizure of the American spy ship Pueblo on January 23, 1968, by North Korean gunboats proved both an enormous intelligence setback and a searing indictment of America’s Cold War policy. Read more
Military History
Spanish Disaster at Rocroi
By William WelshFive hundred Spanish musketeers filed into the dim forest on the southern edge of a wooded plain south of the border fort at Rocroi, France, at dusk on May 18, 1643. Read more
Military History
Bloodbath at Mukden: Imperial Russia and Japan Collide
By Louis CiotolaJanuary and February 1905 were critical months for both the Russian and Japanese empires, which were locked in a war over East Asia that neither of them could sustain. Read more
Military History
Monmouth: Longest Battle of the American Revolution
By Eric NiderostOn June 19, 1778, Continental soldiers marched out of Valley Forge, happy to leave the rough wooden cabins where they had spent a miserable winter; cold, hunger, and disease had been their constant companions. Read more
Military History
Mackenzie’s Rebellion
By Chuck LyonsIn December 1837, 400 men armed with muskets, pitchforks, and staves marched against the city of Toronto and the British government. Read more
Military History
Doomed Expedition to Algiers
In the late summer 1541, 40 warships appeared off the shores of Sardinia, part of a grand armada gathered by Charles the V of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor. Read more
Military History
Healing the Wounded in Cuba
By Kevin M. HymelThe khaki-clad soldiers wounded in the steaming jungles of Cuba during the Spanish-American War had distinct advantages over their Civil War brethren. Read more
Military History
The History of War Elephants: From Ancient India to Vietnam
By David IsonImagine a time when human knowledge of elephants was not widespread. Just think how threatening these large animals would be coming over a hillside or out of a mist during battle. Read more
Military History
The Glorious First of June
By David A. NorrisBritish Admiral Lord Richard Howe, standing on the quarterdeck of his 100-gun ship of the line Queen Charlotte, snapped his signal book shut on the morning of June 1, 1794. Read more
Military History
Polish Ciphers and the Miracle on the Vistula
By Arnold BlumbergThe Russo-Polish War of 1919-1920 was the most portentous event facing post-Versailles Europe. It was not just the continuation of a centuries-long contest between Russia and Poland to determine which would dominate eastern Europe, but a struggle involving a new ideology—communism—which the Bolshevik regime in Moscow had to spread throughout the Continent to survive. Read more
