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The unrelentingly harsh winter of 1864-1865 gave no respite to Virginia’s war-torn Shenandoah Valley. Heavy snows and frigid temperatures made travel difficult, and the two opposing armies found themselves literally frozen into place, 90 miles apart and in no particular hurry to get at each other again before the weather broke. Read more
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Lost to history is what really occurred at the Battle of Roncesvalles in 778 when Christian Basques, thirsting for the loot in the Frankish baggage train, attacked the rearguard as it withdrew following Charlemagne’s short invasion of northern Iberia. Read more
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The warlike pagan Vikings were introduced to Christianity on many occasions as they raided and settled Western Europe during an era that spanned more than 300 years. Read more
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The Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe was inevitable as the tide of World War II turned against Germany. Read more
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The emergence of Germany as the dominant power in Central Europe in the 1870s and the unification of Italy in the mid-19th century despite Austrian efforts to prevent it combined to quell the immediate territorial aspirations of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary on the Italian peninsula and in the Balkans. Read more
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Valkyria Chronicles is an interesting franchise.
It’s one of those series one would assume is more popular than it really is simply due to the overwhelming fan fervor, and their vocal disappointment at the fact that it didn’t catch on as blazing hot as it could have in North America. Read more
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I wrote previously about my guided three D-Day tours in the summer of 2014. I repeated the tour-guiding experience in May and June this year for the Minnesota World War II History Roundtable during a tour of Fifth Army battlefields in Italy. Read more
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When the Triple Alliance was concluded between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy in the spring of 1882, Italy was, like Germany, a young nation recently unified after years of military conflicts and occupation by various European powers. Read more
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Two of America’s most famous senior commanders to emerge from World War II were Eisenhower and MacArthur. These officers were largely responsible for command decisions that resulted in Allied victories in the South Pacific and in Europe. Read more
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Roving bands of Viking seafarers raided extensively in Western Europe from the Eighth to the 11th centuries, looting and sacking settlements and population centers including London, Paris, and Hamburg. Read more
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On orders from Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, the offensive that resulted in the capture of the Nazi capital of Berlin in April 1945, developed into a race between the army groups of two Soviet commanders, Marshal Georgy Zhukov and Marshal Ivan Konev. Read more
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The fearsome Vikings who pillaged and colonized throughout Western Europe and much of the known world from the Eighth to the 11th centuries were armed with weaponry that served them well in combat. Read more
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By the time Imperial Russia and Great Britain concluded the Anglo-Russian Convention on August 31, 1907, effectively establishing the alliance known as the Triple Entente, the Russian Empire was in the midst of decades of upheaval. Read more
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The recollections of Virginia-born John O. Casler of the famed Confederate Stonewall Brigade offer considerable insight into the nature of the fighting, as well as the thoughts and actions of the enlisted men, at Spotsylvania Court House in mid-May 1864. Read more
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For the black-skinned, blue-clad soldiers deployed on the extreme left flank of the Union Army outside Nashville, Tennessee, the order to advance announced at dawn on December 15, 1864, was a long time coming. Read more
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It’s not often you get a chance to play a World War II-related game on Nintendo’s portable 3DS platform. Read more
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Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson was not a happy man, and his sour mood was made worse by the weather. Read more
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King Richard I of England, known as “The Lionheart,” was imprisoned in spring 1193 in Germany on his return from the Third Crusade by Duke Leopold V of Austria for alleged crimes and insults that occurred when they were participating together in the crusade. Read more
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The winter of 876-877 was a dreadful one for the West Saxons. The Viking Great Army, which was reinforced annually in the summer or fall, ravaged nearly all of England. Read more
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On the morning of July 15, 1410 two heralds approached the enormous host of Poles, Bohemians, Hungarians, Czechs, Cossacks, Tartars, Livonians—any and all who felt they had a grudge against the opposing force of Teutonic Knights and their allies, also gathered from all over Europe. Read more
