earthworks
Although the terrain around the Battle of Borodino presented the Russians with a number of good opportunities for a defensive battle, they further strengthened their positions with hastily constructed earthworks. Read more
earthworks
Ever since Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 they became the relentless terror of Christendom. Read more
earthworks
Although the great Crusades were over by 1309 ad, one old crusading order continued to evolve, flourish, and make enemies—the Knights Hospitallers of St. Read more
earthworks
For General Washington and his Continental Army the situation had become desperate. The ink had hardly dried on the Declaration of Independence when 30 British warships and 400 transports under Admiral Lord Richard Howe sailed unchallenged past the Sandy Hook lighthouse to the Tory stronghold of Staten Island. Read more
earthworks
The gray skies of winter still shrouded the town of Vesontio on the Dubis River. To the south, when not obscured by mist and rain, rose the Jura Mountains, and beyond that the lofty peaks of the Alps and the nearest Roman Province, Gallia Cisalpina. Read more
earthworks
At 11 o’clock on the evening of June 23, 1812, the first elements of Napoleon’s mighty army marched on three pontoon bridges over the river Niemen and set foot on Russian soil; the epic invasion of Russia had begun. Read more
earthworks
The city of New York provided more regiments than did many states during the Civil War, and the deeds of several of its regiments, such as the 9th New York “Hawkins’s Zouaves,” 39th New York “Garibaldi Guard,” and 42nd New York “Tammany Regiment” are well known. Read more
earthworks
The epic battle between the Virginia (Merrimack) and Monitor might never have taken place because, as strange as it may seem, the Confederates did not have enough experienced men to man their ship. Read more
earthworks
To the rebel pickets manning the trenches in the so-called Mule Shoe of the Confederate earthworks at the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse the sound of hundreds of tramping feet could be heard above the steady rain on the morning of May 12, 1864. Read more
earthworks
“Lee’s army is really whipped,” declared Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck on May 26, 1864. Read more
