Against All Odds – When United States Revenue Cutter Eagle Defended Itself For Three Days
On October 11, 1814, the town of Riverhead, on Long Island, erupted with the sound of cannon fire. Iron balls whistled over the cliffs on…
The Tragedy of the Destroyer USS Leopold
Convoy escort during WWII could be both a terrifying or dull affair. Sailors spent hours peering into gray seas, searching for and dreading the prospect…
How the American Civil War Became a “Total War”
The Civil War mobilized American resources on a scale only matched in WWII. It brought unparalleled destruction to many people. How did an initially restrained…
Ivan Pavlovich Sereda: the USSR’s Heroic Cook in World War Two
Militaries are hierarchical and, despite their low status, cooks play a vital role. Besides feeding troops, they also maintain morale which has a significant impact…
A Costly Failure: Germany’s Failed Attempts to Infiltrate Allied-Occupied Italy
The Allied invasion of Italy was one of the great reversals of WWII. It was followed by the failure of Nazi Germany’s attempts to put…
Operation Halyard: An Airlift Operation that Saved 417 Allied Airmen In The Balkans
During WWII, the situation in the former country known as Yugoslavia was, to say the least, complicated. On the one hand, there was a partisan…
A Tale of Two Rebels: Allied Support for Desperate Partisan Resistance in World War Two
WWII was not just fought between regular armies. Wherever the Germans invaded, resistance movements sprang up to defy them. Backing those groups was an important…
“Old soldiers fade away” – Missouri veteran served in the predecessor to U.S. Air Force in WWI
War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Jeremy P. Ämick, who is a military historian and writes on behalf of the Silver Star…
Nine Reasons Why the South Lost the American Civil War
An extensive amount of effort has gone into studying the American Civil War. The reasons for the war and its outcome remain hotly debated. The…
Takayama Ukon: A Great Christian Samurai
Christianity was not common in feudal Japan. As a foreign religion, it was embraced by a small minority of people including some samurai who were…
CSS Alabama and USS Kearsarge: Duel off the Coast of France
In June 1864, the American Civil War had been raging for three years, and merchant ships were increasingly becoming targets. For the previous two years,…
The Careers of These Soldiers Were Transformed by the Arrival of Tanks
In 1917, a new weapon appeared on the battlefields of WWI. First developed by the British, the tank was adopted by both sides as they…