Military History
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
Military History
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
Military History
“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
Military History
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
Military History
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
Military History
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
Military History
The Battle of Gaugamela began on the morning of October 1, 331 bc, when two great armies drew up for battle to determine the destiny of empires. Read more
Military History
History is like a limitless forest. More out there than you can ever take in. Turn over a stone and who knows what discoveries abound. Read more
Military History
In the 1780s the Founding Fathers of the United States didn’t so much revise the old Articles of Confederation as devise an entirely new government as set forth in the Constitution. Read more
Military History
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
Military History
Until weapons technology made it redundant, the infantry square was a most effective and versatile formation. It needed no ditches or palisades; it could stand its ground, advance, or retreat; and it could offer a wall of fire on all four sides. Read more
Military History
When one thinks back to the weapons of mass destruction that emerged in the 20th century, usually the atomic bomb or poison gas come to mind. Read more
Military History
Operation Gericht—which means “judgment” or “tribunal”—was the German offensive of the Battle of Verdun. The operation was the brainchild of Erich von Falkenhayn, chief of the German general staff as the year 1915 was coming to a close. Read more
Military History
For General Washington and his Continental Army the situation had become desperate. The ink had hardly dried on the Declaration of Independence when 30 British warships and 400 transports under Admiral Lord Richard Howe sailed unchallenged past the Sandy Hook lighthouse to the Tory stronghold of Staten Island. Read more
Military History
Apprised of an approaching LCM full of VIPs, the beachmaster surveyed his busy dock full of ships loading and unloading troops and supplies at Red Beach on the Philippine island of Leyte. Read more
Military History
Korean General Kwon Yul shouted the one-word order down the hill. Scarcely had it left his lips before it was lost in a deafening crash. Read more
Military History
In the fall of 1862, Confederate armies were making their first and only coordinated effort to carry the war into the North. Read more
Military History
In the early hours of May 15, 1918, U.S. Army Corporal Henry Johnson and Private Needham Roberts sat in an outpost along the French lines at the western edge of the Argonne Forest. Read more
Military History
By January 1967, the buildup of Communist forces in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) convinced Gen. William Westmoreland that a large-scale incursion by North Vietnam’s People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) was only a matter of time. Read more
Military History
News arrived in the capital city that the British army had defeated a hastily-gathered and rag-tag collection of American soldiers, sailors, militiamen, and government clerks in Maryland at Bladensburg. Read more
