Gustavus Adolphus Archives

Gustav was the best kind of reformer. He thoroughly understood the tactics he was changing, he had keen insight, and he put himself into the field to observe the results of his reforms.

Gustavus Adolphus

Gustavus Adolphus: Lion of the North

By Isaac Blatter

Oddly, the fall of the brilliant King Gustavus Adolphus on the field of battle marked both the beginning of Sweden’s rise to power and the end of one of the most aggressive ages of military reform. Read more

Brutal mercenary armies such as the one depicted in this seventeenth century painting criss-crossed Germany during the Thirty Years War, leaving death and destruction in their wake.

Gustavus Adolphus

King Gustavus Adolphus, Breitenfeld, and the Birthplace of Modern War

By Louis Ciotola

On a hot, dusty September morning in 1631, the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor rested easily on the plains outside the village of Breitenfield, six miles north of Leipzig, Saxony. Read more

Battle of Cerro Gordo by an unknown artist. New Orleans Picayune publisher George Kendall accompanied American troops during the fighting in Mexico.

Gustavus Adolphus

The Pen & the Sword: A Brief History of War Correspondents

By Roy Morris Jr.

Men have been reporting their wars almost as long as they have fighting them. The first prehistoric cave drawings depicted hunters bringing down wild animals, and spoken accounts of battles, large and small, formed the starting point for the oral tradition of history. Read more