The Impenetrable Castle of Krak des Chevaliers Was Captured With A Single Sheet of Paper
A hulking edifice of sun-bleached stone, Krak des Chevaliers loomed against a clear blue sky. How many men had died to hold those walls, and…
Building Armies in the Harsh World of Medieval England
Recruiting an army could be a difficult business in the Middle Ages. Most people’s lives consisted of farming small patches of land. When people didn’t…
The beginning of the end for the Teutonic Knights, Grunwald 1410
For more than two hundred years the might of the Order of Teutonic Knights had been steadily growing. It was forged in 1190, in the…
The Emperor Napoleon Held The Loyalty Of Many Different Kinds Of Men
The awesome power of the Napoleonic Empire was built on the blood and courage of millions of soldiers. Though Napoleon is remembered as an icon…
When Malaria Sided With Napoleon: The Doomed British Walcheren Expedition That Cost 4,000 Lives
The British expedition sent to Walcheren in the Netherlands in 1809 was one of the boldest moves of the Napoleonic wars. Unfortunately for the soldiers…
The Black Dispatches From the Civil War Spies
The typical Southern officer’s opinion of African Americans was that they were an inferior subhuman race, lacking in intelligence or cunning. Their ignorance and subsequent…
5 Of The Bloodiest and Most Devastating Sieges We Tend To Forget
The rebel army of Yan fought against the Chinese Tang army in an attempt to take the Suiyang territory. The Suiyang city was under the…
The United States Navy’s First Submarine – Lost at Sea
The USS Alligator was the first known submarine of the United States Navy. But it wasn’t the first American submarine. That was the “Turtle,” a…
Heroes of America: The Red String Band who rebelled against the Confederacy in the Southern States
It is easy to think of wars from earlier centuries in rather simplistic terms, especially as they fade further into the past. The American Civil…
“My Heart Refused Such Sinister Grandeurs” – The Fall Of The Last Napoleon
It was a turbulent time in Europe. The year was 1870, and the Kingdom of Prussia held the reins of power. Prussia’s king, Wilhelm, was…
Last Battle Of The Vikings On The West Coast Of Scotland
It was the age of the Great Mongol Khans. It was the age of Byzantium, of the Holy Roman Empire. The wars of the Reconquista…
Arab Women Shame Their Fleeing Men Back Towards the Fight At The Battle of Yarmouk
Most people are familiar with the general history of the Arab expansion after the death of Mohammad. The Arabs didn’t sit idly in Saudi Arabia,…