January 2013

Volume 14, No. 5

COVER: A detail of Don Troiani’s painting, The Forlorn Hope, showing
the attack of the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery at Cold Harbor.
Painting by Don Troiani, www.historicalimagebank.com

Military Heritage

Not War, But Murder: The Clash at Cold Harbor

By William E. Welsh

Private Augustus Du Bois marched forward at daybreak on June 3, 1864, along with hundreds of other members of the 7th New York Heavy Artillery regiment to a thin belt of timber a mile south of the key road junction of Cold Harbor. Read more

Russian Czar Ivan the Terrible, hand on sword, claims the Livonian fortress of Konhausen during his quarter-century-long invasion of the neighboring country.

Military Heritage

When Ivan Became Terrible

By Louis Ciotola

Ivan IV Vasilyevich, first czar of all the Russians, has gone down as one of history’s most notorious despots, infamous for the terrors he carried out among his subjects. Read more

Military Heritage

The Battle of Iwo Jima: Red Sun, Black Sand

By John Walker

No foreign army in the 5,000-year history of Japan had ever successfully conquered Japanese territory. In late 1944, American war planners were about to challenge that statistic on the tiny Pacific island of Iwo Jima. Read more

The Battle of Tuyuti, on May 24, 1866, was the largest battle of the grueling five-year War of the Triple Alliance.

Military Heritage

War of the Triple Alliance: Bloodbath in Paraguay

By Robert Heege

Almost from the beginning, the short, violent reign of Paraguayan strongman Francisco Solano Lopez devolved into a nightmare from which his unfortunate people could not awake. Read more

A bird’s eye view of the Battle of Kolin, painted shortly after the fighting, shows the perfect formations the well-trained Prussians maintained on the battlefield.

Military Heritage

Frederick The Great’s First Defeat: The Battle of Kolin

By Arnold Blumberg

Frederick the Great’s prescription for warfare was simple. The Prussian monarch wanted “short and lively wars” that relied on swift, powerful, and decisive military operations. Read more

Military Heritage, Editorial

The Rivalry of Henry and Frederick

Handsome, urbane, and adventurous, Prince Henry of Prussia in many ways was the man his older brother, Frederick the Great, always wanted to be. Read more

Military Heritage, Ordnance

The Fairey Swordfish Torpedo Bomber

By Phil Zimmer

Radar, atomic bombs, jet engines and early cruise missiles were among the numerous technological advances of World War II. Read more

U.S. Marines unload a wounded fellow Marine from an Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter at Al Qaim, Iraq, in 2005.

Military Heritage, Soldiers

American Medics and Military Doctors

By Richard A. Gabriel

The American military has been engaged almost continually in combat operations for the last 22 years. During this period, the United States has conducted combat operations in Iraq (1990-1991), Somalia (1992-1993), Iraq (2003-2012), and Afghanistan (2001-2021). Read more

Military Heritage, Intelligence

World Airlines Flight 253: Hostage of the Soviet Union

By Adam Griffith

Nineteen-year-old U.S. Army Specialist E5 James Griffith wasn’t particularly nervous when he boarded Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253 at McChord Air Base in Tacoma, Washington, on June 30, 1968. Read more

Military Heritage, Militaria

The Girandoni Air Rifle: The Lewis and Clark Expedition’s Secret Weapon

By Frederick J. Chiaventone

When one thinks of the guns that won the West, one naturally envisions such familiar weapons as the Winchester, Henry, and Spencer repeating rifles, the trapdoor Springfield, the Smith & Wesson revolver, and the Colt Peacemaker. Read more