Soldiers

Why Francis Marion Became the Father of Guerrilla Warfare

Francis Marion did not cut an impressive figure when he joined the Patriot army of Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates in July 1780. Read more

Soldiers

Soldiers: Edward O.C. Ord

By Frank Jastrzembki

Five busts of his greatest lieutenants during the Civil War watch over the sarcophagus of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Read more

Soldiers

Soldiers: Quanah Parker

Spread out and turn the horses north to the river,”  Quanah Parker shouted to his fellow warriors. It was the late 1860s and Parker was part of a war party that had swooped down on isolated ranches and farms near Gainesville, Texas. Read more

Soldiers

Soldiers: Casimir Pulaski

A major fight was in the offing when the first streaks of dawn appeared over Savannah, Georgia, on the morning of October 9, 1779. Read more

Soldiers

The Vicomte de Turenne

The French conquest of Lorraine was nearly complete by March 1634 during the Thirty Years War. The only place of importance still in the hands of Duke Charles of Lorraine, a Hapsburg commander, was the fortress of La Motte, which was encircled by a French army under Marechal La Force. Read more

Soldiers

Governor-General Charles Gordon’s Death in Khartoum

For British authorities in Egypt, the contents of the diary that had been smuggled out of Khartoum, Sudan, contained devastating intelligence. Read more

Soldiers

Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn

Confederate Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn had a glaring flaw. Although the Mississippi-born general had a son and daughter from his marriage to Caroline Godbold, he committed adultery on multiple occasions. Read more

Soldiers

Hungary’s National Hero

Janos Hunyadi, Hungary’s national hero, was one of the great captains in the war between Europe and the Ottoman Turks. Read more

Soldiers

Union Army Colonel Wlodzimierz Krzyzanowski

The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the American Civil War. Various parts of the battle have been proposed as pivotal moments for the Union victory, such as the successful defense at Little Round Top or Pickett’s failed charge on the final day. Read more

Soldiers

Benjamin Church Created America’s First Ranger Force

When John Sassamon’s murdered body floated up under the ice of Assawompsett Pond, Plymouth Colony, in January 1675, few Puritan homesteaders could have foretold it would lead to the bloodiest war, per capita, in American history. Read more

Soldiers

Stalwart Free French General

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander in Europe during World War II, considered General Alfonse Juin to be the best French combat general of the conflict. Read more

Soldiers

Confederate General Joseph Wheeler

A  cold rain was falling as Confederate Brig. Gen. Joseph Wheeler led his brigade of horse soldiers north from the Confederate position at Stones River at midnight on December 29, 1862. Read more

Soldiers

General Percy Hobart: Britain’s Genius Tanker

An army that will be poised for victory requires élan, military intellect, a penchant for tactical and strategic innovation, and the zeal to use the most qualified individuals for training and leadership. Read more

Soldiers

Geronimo: Ruthless Apache Chief

On March 5, 1851, a group of Mexican soldiers from Sonora plundered a lightly guarded Apache camp outside the village of Janos in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua 75 miles south of the U.S.-Mexican Read more

Soldiers

The Legend of Lightning Joe Farinholt, the Four-Time Silver Star Recipient

Not all of the 68 infantry divisions available to the U.S. Army during World War II were made up of draftees and enlistees. Read more

Soldiers

The Legendary Kit Carson: Scout and Soldier

The two Indian scouts ignored the gawking soldiers as they rode into where the bluecoated troops had bivouacked for the night at Mule Springs in the Texas Panhandle on November 24, 1864. Read more

Soldiers

U.S. Marine legend Lewis ‘Chesty’ Puller

Crouched in their foxholes along Edson’s Ridge on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, the Marines formed a critical but thin defense line between strategic Henderson Field and seasoned Japanese infantry lurking in the jungle. Read more