Storming the Seringapatam, a British soldier attacks Sultan Sahib. Despite having already been injured, Sahib would seriously wound his attacker before being fatally shot.
Military Heritage

August 2005

Volume 7, No. 1

Cover: The Battle on Ice by Vladimir Aleksandrovic. See story on page 28. K Savitsky Art Museum, Penza, Russia/www.bridgeman.co.uk

August 2005

Military Heritage

Lake Peipus: Battle on the Ice

By Terry Gore

In the early 13th century, the Baltic frontier in central Europe remained a hostile and uninviting place. Pagan Europeans far outnumbered Christians, and the area was a focal point for constant conflict between mutually exploitive neighbors slavering to carve out new territorial holdings at the expense of anyone who stood in their way. Read more

August 2005

Military Heritage

The Duke of Wellington in Assaye in India

By Charles Hilbert

Years after he had saved the world from the ambitions of Napoleon, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, was asked by his friend, George William Chad, to recall the “best thing” he had ever done as a soldier. Read more

August 2005

Military Heritage, Editorial

The Politics of Military Heroes

by Roy Morris Jr.

Defeat has a funny way of producing heroes.

The British lost an embarrassing battle to Zulu tribesmen at Isandhlwana, but the improbable defense of an insignificant river crossing 10 miles away by a handful of rear-echelon soldiers, overage officers, and civilians created a new crop of heroes for the public to idolize. Read more

August 2005

Military Heritage, Weapons

Pikes: A Versatile and Deadly Weapon

by William McPeak

Although formal training in the use of the pike—an ash-handled spear 18 to 20 feet long—did not begin until the 15th century, ancient Greeks and Romans used so-called “long spears” as standard infantry issue against cavalry. Read more

August 2005

Military Heritage

The Truth Behind The Charge of the Light Brigade

By Lt. Col. Harold E. Raugh, Jr., Ph.D., U.S. Army (Ret.)

The “Charge of the Light Brigade,” a British cavalry action during the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War, 1854-1856, has been romanticized and immortalized, primarily through a ballad of the same name by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Read more

August 2005

Military Heritage, Simulation Gaming

Imperial Glory and Cossacks II

By Eric T. Baker

Two games of very similar subject matter are on tap this month. Eidos Interactive’s Imperial Glory, and CDV Software’s Cossacks II. Read more