Fall 2022 Archives

Military Heritage

Axis Collapse in Normandy

By Robert L. Durham

German panzergrenadiers surrounded Hill 314 just east of Mortain in Normandy on August 7, 1944, trapping several companies of the 2nd Battalion of the U.S. Read more

Lieutenant Colonel Judson Bishop leads the Second Minnesota Infantry in a daring charge up the slope of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863.

Military Heritage

A Spectacle Of Singular Magnificence

By Eric Niderost

It was the afternoon of September 20, 1863, and the right wing of the Union Army of the Cumberland was in full flight at the battle of Chickamauga in northern Georgia. Read more

Military Heritage

British Disaster at Saratoga

By David A. Norris

Four months earlier Major General John Burgoyne had left Canada with a large army. He intended to deliver a fatal blow to the colonial revolt that had begun on April 19, 1775. Read more

Marines maintain a M48A3 Patton tank parked in the rocky, red clay soil at Con Thien in a painting by Navy combat artist Verciell Tossey. The outpost was an anchor point in the defense of the northern border of South Vietnam.

Military Heritage

As the sun rose on May 8, 1967, it illuminated the 525-foot-high hill known as Con Thien where the Marine Corps had established a firebase two miles south of the Demilitarized Zone in South Vietnam. Read more

Trapped in a pocket at Sedan, Emperor Napoleon III and his officers surrender their swords to the Prussians after the emperor agreed to the unconditional surrender.

Military Heritage

Snared in a Prussian Trap

By Victor Kamenir

Driven and energetic in his youth, by the late 1860s French Emperor Napoleon III was a shadow of his former self. Read more

Wellesley salutes soldiers of the 43rd Regiment as they collect their fallen comrades in the aftermath of the battle in south-central Spain.

Military Heritage

Bold Stand at Talavera

By Mike Phifer

Ignoring the scorching summer heat, Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley climbed one of the towers on the ruined estate of Casa de Salinas 80 miles southwest of Madrid, Spain, to survey the surrounding countryside. Read more

Boer irregulars use the terrain to their advantages in a bloody clash at the outset of the Second Boer War. With their modern artillery and superior rifles, they proved more than a match for the British.

Military Heritage

‘A Most Lamentable Failure’

By John E. Spindler

It is not always the actions of the brave and mighty that determine a battle’s outcome—victory or defeat can hinge on the most mundane of events. Read more

Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, shown on horseback, leads a brigade of Continentals in a furious charge against Breymann’s redoubt in the Battle of Bemis’ Heights on October 7. The Germans stubbornly defended their redoubt, but ultimately were overwhelmed.

Military Heritage, Editorial

Attacks by Patriot irregulars doomed John Burgoyne’s invading British army

The maxim “an army marches on its stomach,” attributed to both Napoleon and Frederick the Great rings true when considering the fate of Maj. Read more

The crew of a ZSU-23-4 of President Bashar al-Assad's Syrian Armed Forces stands beside their ZSU-23-4. Introduced as a mobile air defense system during the Cold War in the 1960s, the ZSU-23-4 remains in use in 30 countries.

Military Heritage, Weapons

The Soviet ZSU-23-4 Anti-Aircraft Platform

By Christopher Miskimon

Soviet forces occupying Afghanistan in March 1986 during the Soviet-Afghan War sought to annihilate a large force of Afghan Mujahedeen fighters that had sheltered in Xadigar Canyon in Kandahar Province. Read more

Union soldiers hold the line in the woods behind Boatswain’s Creek at Gaines' Mill. When the Confederates punched through the Union line, Butterfield seized the colors of the 83rd Pennsylvania and waved them aloft to rally his troops.

Military Heritage, Valor

Medal of Honor Recipient Daniel Butterfield

By William F. Floyd Jr.

The series of battles that constituted the Confederate offensive against the Union army on the eastern outskirts of Richmond, Virginia, in summer 1862 would thrust a number of Union officers into the limelight. Read more

Military Heritage, Uniform

Royal Marine of the 2nd Battalion (1813-1815)

By William E. Welsh, Art by Don Troiani

After nearly 150 years of service to the British crown, the Royal Marines had upwards of 31,000 marines worldwide at the time of the War of 1812, which constituted about 13 percent of the 240,000 British troops under arms around the globe at that time. Read more

Vice Admiral Count D'Estaing arrived in the northeastern Caribbean in December 1778 too late to prevent the British capture of the French colony of St. Lucia.

Military Heritage, Soldiers

French Vice Admiral Charles D’Estaing

By William E. Welsh

In one of those ironic twists of history, French Vice Admiral Count Charles Henri Hector d’Estaing, who led the first French fleet to North America in 1778 to assist the Americans during their revolt against the British crown, never met George Washington. Read more

The crew of an 11-inch Dahlgren pivot gun aboard the USS Kearsarge cheers the surrender of the CSS Alabama on June 19, 1864, in J.O. Davidson's painting of the historic naval battle. Captain Raphael Semmes, the commander of the Confederate raider, struck his flag when his ship began sinking.

Military Heritage, Books

Military History Books for Fall 2022

By Christopher Miskimon Full Reviews

To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The Epic Hunt for the South’s Most Feared Ship – and the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War (Phil Keith with Tom Clavin, Hanover Square Press, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 2022, 304 pp., Read more

Military Heritage, Games

Arma Reforger

By Joseph Luster

Amazingly, it’s been nearly a decade since the last main game in the ARMA series—2013’s ARMA 3, which was followed by a standalone mobile game titled ARMA Mobile Ops in 2016 that we won’t count as a true entry—was released. Read more

Military Heritage, Games

Battlefield 2042 Season 1

By Joseph Luster

When Battlefield 2042 Season 1 first dropped back in June, our first thoughts were, “hold on, didn’t Battlefield 2042 come out back in November 2021?” Read more

Fall 2022

From Around the Network

The Norden Bombsight: Was it Truly Accurate Beyond Belief?

Pearl Harbor Payback

On the fourth Allied attempt to capture Monte Cassino, the Polish II Corps succeeded.

Suicide or Surrender