Military Heritage

October 2010

Volume 12, No. 2

COVER: General George Patton watches military exercises in 1942. Patton experienced combat for the first time as part of the Punitive Expedition to Mexico in 1916. Photo: © Bettman / CORBI

Manning his Bren Gun, an Canadian soldier prepares to advance during the Scheldt Estuary offensive in October 1944.

October 2010

Military Heritage

Battle of the Scheldt Estuary

By Allyn Vannoy

As the Allied armies advanced across Western Europe in the summer of 1944, the First Canadian Army undertook the task of clearing the coastal areas and opening the Channel ports. Read more

October 2010

Military Heritage

A Bloody Sport Indeed

By Carole Butcher

One of the most enduring images of the Middle Ages is the tournament, with its knights in shining armor, heraldic devices on shields, fair damsels watching from the stands, and brightly colored banners flying in the breeze. Read more

American troops guard dangerous-looking Mexican bandits captured in the mountains near Namiquipa. The bandits were among those who raided Columbus, New Mexico, with guerrilla leader Francisco “Pancho” Villa.

October 2010

Military Heritage

Shootout At Rubio Ranch

By Kevin M. Hymel

When Brig. Gen. John S. Pershing began assembling a force of 10,000 infantry and cavalry for a punitive incursion into Mexico in the spring of 1916, almost every soldier in the U.S. Read more

October 2010

Military Heritage, Editorial

Who Killed Ambrose Bierce?

Besides his many proven crimes, Mexican guerrilla leader Pancho Villa was also accused in some circles of being responsible for one of the most celebrated disappearances in American history—the vanishing of controversial author-journalist Ambrose Bierce in December 1913. Read more

Roman troops under Governor-General Gaius Suetonius Paulinus massacre Druid priests at Anglesey, Wales, in ad 60.

October 2010

Military Heritage, Soldiers

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

By Eric Niderost

The name Gaius Suetonius Paulinus doesn’t ring across the centuries from the annals of Roman military history like the names of Julius Caesar, Tiberius Nero, or Scipio Africanus. Read more

An 1804 political cartoon lampoons President Thomas Jefferson for his unsuccessful attempt to include West Florida in the Louisiana Purchase.

October 2010

Military Heritage, Intelligence

The Florida Annexation

By Peter Kross

Almost a decade after winning the Revolutionary War against Great Britain, the youthful United States was determined to expand its territorial boundaries and become a truly continental nation. Read more

A World War II reenactor depicts an action later in the war. While sold for the living history market, today’s replica uniforms are getting better and after some “time in the field” can be passed off as the real deal.

October 2010

Military Heritage, Militaria

Military Replicas vs. Originals

By Peter Suciu

For collectors, finding out that an item believed to be authentic is actually a fake can feel like being punched in the stomach. Read more

October 2010

Military Heritage, Books

The Last Stand Myth

By Al Hemingway

The Alamo in San Antonio has long been referred to as the “Cradle of Liberty” for modern-day Texas. Read more

October 2010

Military Heritage, Games

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction

By Joseph Luster

Sam Fisher sits quietly, getting himself primed for some serious infiltration. Before him: a hallway thick with patrol—professional operatives trained to near robotic perfection, ready to sniff out any enemy intruders. Read more