In an ambush led by Arminius (later known as Hermann), three Roman legions were destroyed in Germania in 9 CE. The event, one of Rome’s worst defeats, was seized upon by nationalists in the 19th-century, and later by the Nazi Third Reich, as the mythological origin of the German state. Paintings such as “The battle of Hermann in the Teutoburg Forest,” (1840) by Wilhelm Lindenschmit the Elder, helped popularize Hermann as the father of the German nation.

Military Heritage April 2000

Havoc in the Teutoburger Forest

By Michael D. Greaney

One of the most devastating events to shake the early Roman Empire was the defeat of Legate Publius Quinctilius Varus and his army at the hands of Arminius in the Battle of Teutoburgerwald in 9 ad. Read more

From Around the Network

  • WWII

    “Red” Mantini: Hero Of The 24th Infantry Division In Philippines
    Read More
  • General Louis Faidherbe leads a marche regiment at a review at Bapaume on January 3, 1871. Faidherbe’s marche battalions comprised roughly 40 percent of the French Army of the North at the Battle of St. Quentin.

    Military History

    St. Quentin Miniature
    Read More
  • Operation Market Garden, a bold plan to end the war quickly, was an allied disaster in Holland. But the 82nd Airborne Division held firm.

    WWII

    Operation Market Garden: the 82nd Airborne Division’s Pivotal Role
    Read More
  • John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, directs the Allied attack against Malplaquet on France's northern frontier. At far left, a camp follower strips clothing from the dead. The bloody clash was known for its heavy casualties.

    Military History

    “A Very Murdering Battle”
    Read More