West Point military academy

The Path of Heroism

By Stephen J. Ochs, PHD

On the morning of April 18, 1945, amid street fighting in rubble-strewn Nuremberg, Germany, 20-year-old U.S. Read more

West Point military academy

Military Book Reviews: George S. Patton and Erwin Rommel

by Lt. Col. Harold E. Raugh, Jr.

American General George S. Patton, Jr., and German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel both demonstrated the masterful employment of armored forces in many World War II military campaigns. Read more

West Point military academy

The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Graduates Who Shaped WWII

By Phil Gioia

Watching his forces prepare to attack the Union Army at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863, Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson commented to an aide, “The Institute will be heard from today.” Read more

West Point military academy

Thomas Custer Fought and Died with His Brother at Little Big Horn

By David Michlovitz

Practically all students of military history know of George Armstrong Custer the cavalry officer, Civil War hero, and dashing, controversial Indian fighter ultimately killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. Read more

West Point military academy

John Graves Simcoe: a Queen’s Ranger in the American Revolution

By Mike Phifer

British Army officer John Graves Simcoe wanted to command a corps of irregular troops. He believed that there were opportunities in “the service of a partisan” that taught a man habits of self-dependence and prompt decision making rarely found in the duties of a subordinate officer. Read more

West Point military academy

Crossroads of Destiny: The Battle of the Wilderness

By Jonas L. Goldstein

The year 1864 was shaping up to be a critical one in the three-year-long Civil War. During the previous year, Federal armies had gained control of the Mississippi River and consolidated their grip on Tennessee. Read more

West Point military academy

The Unfortunate End to Ranald Mackenzie’s Career

By Roy Morris Jr.

The young captain of engineers who discovered the dangerous bulge in the “Mule Shoe” salient at Spotsylvania, Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, would go on to make a name for himself during the Civil War and the subsequent Indian campaigns out West. Read more

West Point military academy

Civil War Generals: Albert Sidney Johnston

By Roy Morris Jr.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis considered his old West Point classmate Albert Sidney Johnston “the greatest soldier, the ablest man, civil or military, Confederate or Union, then living,” and it is safe to say that no other general in either army began the Civil War with a more glittering—or fleeting—reputation. Read more

West Point military academy

The Venerable General Matthew B. Ridgway

by R. Manning Ancell

Siren wailing, the jeep propelling Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker headed north from Walker’s tactical command post in Seoul. Read more

West Point military academy

Eisenhower and MacArthur: an In-Depth Comparison

by Michael Haskew

Two of America’s most famous senior commanders to emerge from World War II were Eisenhower and MacArthur. These officers were largely responsible for command decisions that resulted in Allied victories in the South Pacific and in Europe. Read more

West Point military academy

Merrill’s Marauders Fought Tenaciously In Burma

By Michael D. Hull

A series of swift victories took Japanese troops to the gates of India in 1941-1942 when British and Indian units fell back to the Assam hills northwest of Burma. Read more

West Point military academy

A Dangerous Mission for General Maxwell Taylor of 82nd Airborne

By Eric Niderost

At 8:30 on the evening of September 7, 1943, an Italian military ambulance entered Rome carrying two American prisoners of war. Read more

West Point military academy

U.S. Marine legend Lewis ‘Chesty’ Puller

By Michael D. Hull

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

West Point military academy

The Battle Of Buna: Costly For Both Allies and Japanese

By Glenn Barnett

In March 1942, General Douglas MacArthur was ordered out of the doomed Philippines by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to organize the defense of Australia. Read more

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Winfield Scott Hancock & George Armstrong Custer After Hancock’s War

By Roy Morris, Jr.

Tall, handsome, and ramrod-straight Winfield Scott Hancock perfectly embodied his flattering nickname, “Hancock the Superb.” His performance on Civil War battlefields from Antietam to Gettysburg underscored that sobriquet. Read more

West Point military academy

The Worst Leaders in History: ‘Pecos Bill’ (William Rufus Shafter)

By Brad Reynolds

Though William Rufus Shafter (a.k.a. “Pecos Bill”) had been awarded the Medal of Honor during the Civil War, he was known for crippling the careers of officers he did not like as he rose through the ranks. Read more

West Point military academy

Grover’s Savage Attack at the Battle of Second Manassas

By William E. Welsh

The New Englanders crept forward through the thick woods toward the Rebel position at mid-afternoon. Trading volleys with the Confederates behind the natural trench afforded by the unfinished railroad line during the Battle of Second Manassas in summer 1862 had so far proved unsuccessful throughout the scorching hot summer day. Read more

West Point military academy

Visiting Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

by William E. Welsh

Kennesaw Mountain was an alluring sight to General Joseph E. Johnston as he fell back from Allatoona Pass in mid-June 1864 toward the Confederate supply hub of Atlanta. Read more

West Point military academy

William B. Hazen: The “Best-Hated Man” of the American Civil War

Quarreling With Every Officer… Even The President

In the course of his 30-year military career, Hazen managed to quarrel with various superior officers, up to and including the president of the United States. Read more