By William E. Welsh
In the 15th century the great powers of medieval Europe paid talented gunsmiths to build massive bombards to batter walls and shorten the length of sieges. The introduction of bombards meant that artillery replaced mining as the surest way to breach a stronghold.
Bombards were massive guns, the   More »

Mary, Queen of Scots was let down by a faulty cipher and her misplaced trust in the reputed cleverness of her co-conspirators.   More »

“An obol for Belisarius!” became a catchphase for the shabby treatment governments meted out to their ex-soldiers. But what was the origin of the legend?   More »

During the Russo-Turkish war, the Russian invasion seemed to be a triumphant march clear to Constantinople. Until, that is, they reached the town of Plevna.   More »

Following an amphibious landing on the Crimean Peninsula, the allied army of France and Great Britain marched on Sevastopol.   More »

Charles Gordon’s thirst for danger ultimately led to his death in Khartoum at the hands of fanatical Mahdists.   More »

Czar Nicholas I’s warships destroyed a squadron of unsuspecting Ottoman ships at Sinop in the Black Seat at the outset of the Crimean War.   More »

Janos Hunyadi showed tactical genius in safeguarding Hungary against the Ottoman tide in the 15th century.   More »

A combined Egyptian and Turkish fleet was no match for the skilled gunnery of a British, French, and Russian force in the Greek War of Independence.   More »

During the 1683 Battle of Vienna, relief came out of the woods and down from the heights…   More »