William Mclaughlin

William Mclaughlin is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE

Articles by William Mclaughlin:

Siege of Vienna: Led by a Mercenary, This Desperate Army Turned the Tide on the Ottoman Empire

For four hundred years, the Crusades had seen European powers take war deep into lands far from home, under the banner of Christianity. The clash…

Marcus Agrippa: Augustus’ Little Known Right Hand Man Who Knew How to Limit his Ambitions

Octavian Augustus was the first actual emperor of Rome; Caesar had held the dictatorship but was murdered a few years into his rule. Ambitious men…

Extremely Effective Tactical Formations Of Military History

The formation of a unit could be decisive in a battle. In a case where all things were otherwise equal, the commander who knew how…

The Great Siege of Gibraltar: 1779-1783 France & Spains Failed Attempt To Take The Rock

Gibraltar is small bit of land, but it is full of history; it is a little under 3 square miles in area, with most of that…

Winning Isn’t Always Worth It – Pyrrhic Victories Of Military History

The term Pyrrhic victory can be used where someone technically “wins”, or achieves their objective, but the cost makes the victory almost not worth the…

Custer’s Controversial Battle of Little Bighorn

It is generally accepted that the Native Americans suffered terribly from the western movement of White Americans, but it is a misconception that all Native Americans…

Trafalgar: The Destruction Of Napoleon’s Navy That Saved Britain From French Invasion

Early on in the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon had grand plans to invade Great Britain. Conquering that region would leave him free to pursue other conquests…

Isandlwana 1879: Spear-wielding Zulu Warriors Surround and Destroy British Riflemen

During the 19th century, the sun did not set on the globe-spanning British Empire. It was not an inherently evil institution, and many good was…

Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell, Rode the six hundred – By Mistake

The Charge of the Light Brigade was a relatively minor engagement, in a single battle of a rather pointless war, that was put under a…

Jan Žižka: The Blind and Undefeated General of the Hussite Wars

Few generals throughout history can say that they were undefeated over their career, fewer still can be credited with doing so with a mob of…

Massive Engagements Of Ancient Warships – The Most Decisive Ancient Naval Battles

Ancient naval battles were quite risky; they involved massive investments in money in building ships and trained manpower for rowing and marines. Contrary to popular…

378 Adrianople: Rise of the Barbarians And The Beginning Of The End Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of Rome was an arduous, drawn-out process, lasting centuries in the West to over a thousand years in the East. The so-called “barbarians”…