Jinny McCormick

Jinny McCormick is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE

Articles by Jinny McCormick:

The Army Itch And 7 Other Scary Civil War Maladies Which Make Us Thankful For Modern Medicine

Disease accounted for the deaths of 65% of Union soldiers and 62% of Confederates during the Civil War. Those high numbers beat out all other…

Leading by Example: John J. Pershing, Prime Mentor for Future US Army Generals

The United States greatest leaders, including Patton, Truman, and MacArthur, spent the formative years of their military careers under the command of General of the…

1898: The Beginning Of The Spanish-American War

Manning a remote island fort, seemingly without any imminent danger on the horizon, must have made for a fairly comfortable post. That was the situation on…

This Reindeer Battalion of WWII Was Braver than Soviets, Tougher Than Tanks

The Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive in 1944, which led to the expulsion of German forces from the northern regions of Norway, would have been severely hampered had…

Battle of the Crater: Disastrous Battle for the Union in the American Civil War

Colonel Delavan Bates waited 27 years to receive his Medal of Honor. He was awarded the prestigious accolade in 1891 for “gallantry in action where…

Civil War Spies: The Confederacy’s Vast Web of Intelligence and Disruption

Reliable Confederate spy records are hard to find. When Union troops were on their way to the South’s capital in Richmond, the Confederate Secretary of…

The Hero of the Battle of Trafalgar: Lord Nelson Was Pickled in Liquor

A long used euphemism in sailing circles, and in some pubs and bars, refers to slurping liquor from a straw directly from the barrel. The…

Was Eva Braun a Naive Bystander or Proactive Participant in Nazi Actions

In her 2011 book, Eva Braun: Life with Hitler, author Heike G. Gortemaker paints a portrait of an Eva that was more than the often…

The Book Claimed Coco Chanel Was A Nazi Spy

Coco Chanel is listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of the 20th century. She is a fashion icon, of course, as…

Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz – His Leadership During WWII Won The War in the Pacific

Admiral Chester William Nimitz contributed to the success of the United States Navy from his beginnings at Annapolis 1905 to this very day. His accomplishments,…

The Little Known Battles of Attu And Kiska: Retaking The Only US Soil Lost During WWII

In the cold, desolate Arctic near Alaska in 1942, Japanese troops quietly invaded and took over two of the Aleutian Islands, considered to be North…

Undersea Stealth: The First Submarines To Ever Sink Ships – In The American Civil War

The submarines of the United States Civil War were not the first to appear on the sea. The successful use of submersibles dates to Alexander…

The Most Effective Female Spies of the American Civil War

Rose Greenhow Just before Virginia’s secession, the governor of that state John Letcher wanted to set up a spy network while he was still able…

Stories Of Humanity And Compassion From Throughout The Second World War

Even during WWII, one of the largest and most deadly conflicts in recent history, there were moments of humanity and compassion. Here are three of these…

Karl Donitz, Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine, Was The Last President of Nazi Germany

Karl Donitz, the Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine (Navy of the Third Reich), served as the last president of Nazi Germany. He was also the creator…

1898: The Beginning Of The Spanish-American War

Manning a remote island fort, seemingly without any imminent danger on the horizon, must have made for a fairly comfortable post. That was the situation on…

The First Native American General Wrote The Appomattox Surrender In The Civil War

How hard would you work to make a change in this world? How many times would you take rejection before giving up? Ely Parker, the…

A Cameraman’s last picture – Tragedy as an Undetonated Bomb Explodes on the USS Oriskany (Watch)

The USS Oriskany was on its first Korean mission when disaster struck its deck. It was caught on film, as seen in this video. How and…

Terrible Punishments, Desperate Men – Desertion in the American Civil War

It is the American Civil War. You have been walking hundreds – perhaps thousands of miles – in tattered clothes and worn out shoes. You…

Ham And Jam – The Daring Glider Operation To Take Pegasus Bridge

On the night before D-Day, as part of the Allied invasion of Normandy, 181 men of the Glider Infantry of the British 6th Airborne Division…

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…

The Civil War Photographer that Time Forgot: Alexander Gardner

When people remember famous Civil War photographers, they think of one name in particular; and “Alexander Gardner” is not it. However, a significant number of…

Leading by Example: John J. Pershing, Prime Mentor for Future US Army Generals

The United States greatest leaders, including Patton, Truman, and MacArthur, spent the formative years of their military careers under the command of General of the…

The Biggest Nuclear Explosions Of Military History

Most of us have seen footage or photographs of the explosions at Nagasaki and Hiroshima: the mushroom cloud, the radius, the devastation. Those, however, were…

Marine Horse “Reckless” Carried 9000lbs Of Ammo During One Battle In Korea, Received 2 Purple Hearts, And Promoted To Staff Sergeant

This is not the story of a pet pony, an amusing tale of a Mr. Ed companion, or even the story of an amusing diversion…

This Reindeer Battalion of WWII Was Braver than Soviets, Tougher Than Tanks

The Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive in 1944, which led to the expulsion of German forces from the northern regions of Norway, would have been severely hampered had…

Civil War Spies: The Confederacy’s Vast Web of Intelligence and Disruption

Reliable Confederate spy records are hard to find. When Union troops were on their way to the South’s capital in Richmond, the Confederate Secretary of…

The Beautiful American Ship USS Constitution Was Built In 1797 And Is Still Afloat Today

“Old Ironsides”, the USS Constitution, has been through it all and lived to tell about it – as her nickname suggests. Built of a study oak,…

Battle of the Crater: Disastrous Battle for the Union in the American Civil War

Colonel Delavan Bates waited 27 years to receive his Medal of Honor. He was awarded the prestigious accolade in 1891 for “gallantry in action where…

Be Thankful For Modern Medicine – The Army Itch And Other Scary Civil War Maladies

Disease accounted for the deaths of 65% of Union soldiers and 62% of Confederates during the Civil War. Those high numbers beat out all other…

3 Urban Legends of War That Are Actually True… And One That Is Not

Legends, stories, and anecdotes are woven through the quilt of veteran and civilian experiences of war. We gain new words from war slang, and the…

Learning From History: Belgian WWI Refugees in Britain

Over 100 years ago a refugee crisis was going on in Europe that mirrors what is happening in our own time. People were fleeing Russia,…

The Stories Behind Ten Soon-to-be-Forgotten War Songs

Every war needs a song, we have collected ten songs from the past 300 years that were popular in war. A trip down memory lane!…

New Sources Claim Coco Chanel Was A Nazi Spy

Coco Chanel is listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of the 20th century. She is a fashion icon, of course, as…

Was Eva Braun a Naive Bystander or Proactive Participant in Nazi Actions?

In her 2011 book, Eva Braun: Life with Hitler, author Heike G. Gortemaker paints a portrait of an Eva that was more than the often…

1898: Spanish at Guam Thought the Attacking USS Charleston Fired Salute Shots & Asked For Gunpowder To Return the Gesture

Manning a remote island fort, seemingly without any imminent danger on the horizon, must have made for a fairly comfortable post. That was the situation on…

After The Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Horatio Nelson Traveled Back To England Pickled in Brandy

A long used euphemism in sailing circles, and in some pubs and bars, refers to slurping liquor from a straw directly from the barrel. The…

Newsreel Footage – The Famous Doolittle Raid over Tokyo – Revenge for Pearl Harbor

Often, war is no different than your average street fight regardless of how crude that might seem. When a man is punched in the nose,…

Time Warp and a Massive Operation – Raising A U-Boat To Recover Her Precious Cargo

In 1958, a German submarine was hoisted from the depths of the Kattegat Bay between the North and Baltic Seas off the coast of Sweden.…

The Little Known Battles of Attu And Kiska: Retaking The Only US Soil Lost During WWII

In the cold, desolate Arctic near Alaska in 1942, Japanese troops quietly invaded and took over two of the Aleutian Islands, considered to be North…

Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz – His Leadership During WWII Won The War in the Pacific

Admiral Chester William Nimitz contributed to the success of the United States Navy from his beginnings at Annapolis 1905 to this very day. His accomplishments,…

The Army Itch And Other Scary Civil War Maladies Which Make Us Thankful For Modern Medicine

Disease accounted for the deaths of 65% of Union soldiers and 62% of Confederates during the Civil War. Those high numbers beat out all other…

Karl Donitz, Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine, Was The Last President of Nazi Germany

Karl Donitz, the Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine (Navy of the Third Reich), served as the last president of Nazi Germany. He was also the creator…

A Cameraman’s last picture – Tragedy as an Undetonated Bomb Explodes on the USS Oriskany

The USS Oriskany was on its first Korean mission when disaster struck its deck. It was caught on film, as seen in this video. How and…

Stories Of Humanity And Compassion From Throughout The Second World War

Even during WWII, one of the largest and most deadly conflicts in recent history, there were moments of humanity and compassion. Here are three of these…

A Massive Operation – Raising A U-Boat To Recover Her Precious Cargo

In 1958, a German submarine was hoisted from the depths of the Kattegat Bay between the North and Baltic Seas off the coast of Sweden.…

1898: Spanish at Guam Thought the Attacking USS Charleston Fired Salute Shots & Asked For Gunpowder To Return the Gesture

Manning a remote island fort, seemingly without any imminent danger on the horizon, must have made for a fairly comfortable post. That was the situation on…

Marine Horse “Reckless” Received Two Purple Hearts And Was Promoted To Staff Sergeant

This is not the story of a pet pony, an amusing tale of a Mr. Ed companion, or even the story of an amusing diversion…

The Beautiful American Ship USS Constitution Was Built In 1797 And Is Still Afloat Today

“Old Ironsides”, the USS Constitution, has been through it all and lived to tell about it – as her nickname suggests. Built of a study oak,…

Newsreel Footage – The Famous Doolittle Raid over Tokyo – Revenge for Pearl Harbor

Often, war is no different than your average street fight regardless of how crude that might seem. When a man is punched in the nose,…

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…

True Innovations of the Civil War

You often hear about how the Civil War brought submarines, iron-clad ships, or the telegraph into play, but that’s not exactly true. While they are…

The Civil War Photographer that Time Forgot: Alexander Gardner

When people remember famous Civil War photographers, they think of one name in particular; and “Alexander Gardner” is not it. However, a significant number of…

Cathay Williams, America’s First Black Female Soldier

Cathay Williams was pressed into service in 1861 by the Union Army in Missouri, enlisted as a man in 1866, and served in the Indian…

The Little Known Battles of Attu And Kiska: Retaking The Only US Soil Lost During WWII

In the cold, desolate Arctic near Alaska in 1942, Japanese troops quietly invaded and took over two of the Aleutian Islands, considered to be North…

The First Native American General Wrote The Appomattox Surrender In The Civil War

How hard would you work to make a change in this world? How many times would you take rejection before giving up? Ely Parker, the…

The Army Itch And 7 Other Scary Civil War Maladies Which Make Us Thankful For Modern Medicine

Disease accounted for the deaths of 65% of Union soldiers and 62% of Confederates during the Civil War. Those high numbers beat out all other…

1898: The Beginning Of The Spanish-American War

Manning a remote island fort, seemingly without any imminent danger on the horizon, must have made for a fairly comfortable post. That was the situation on…

Battle of the Crater: Disastrous Battle for the Union in the American Civil War

Colonel Delavan Bates waited 27 years to receive his Medal of Honor. He was awarded the prestigious accolade in 1891 for “gallantry in action where…

Leading by Example: John J. Pershing, Prime Mentor for Future US Army Generals

The United States greatest leaders, including Patton, Truman, and MacArthur, spent the formative years of their military careers under the command of General of the…

This Reindeer Battalion of WWII Was Braver than Soviets, Tougher Than Tanks

The Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive in 1944, which led to the expulsion of German forces from the northern regions of Norway, would have been severely hampered had…

Undersea Stealth: The First Submarines To Ever Sink Ships – In The American Civil War

The submarines of the United States Civil War were not the first to appear on the sea. The successful use of submersibles dates to Alexander…

Strategy of Fear: Doctors Tricked Nazis with Fake Epidemic and Saved 8000 Lives

Providence shone on Dr Eugene Lazowski one night in 1942 when he saw a means of escape and took it. He had been a prisoner…

Ham & Jam – The Daring Glider Operation To Take Pegasus Bridge

On the night before D-Day, as part of the Allied invasion of Normandy, 181 men of the Glider Infantry of the British 6th Airborne Division…

The Hero of the Battle of Trafalgar: Lord Nelson Was Pickled in Liquor

A long used euphemism in sailing circles, and in some pubs and bars, refers to slurping liquor from a straw directly from the barrel. The…

Facts about Seal Team 6 and the Death of Osama Bin Laden

On May 2, 2011, SEAL Team 6 (allegedly) infiltrated the compound of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, a raid during which he died. The following…

Listen To This Fascinating WWII Radio Chatter From A Lancaster Crew On A Bombing Raid

Taken from Volume 1 of the CD RAF Bomber Command at War, this clip takes you into the belly of an Avro Lancaster B.Mk, I…

Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz – His Leadership During WWII Won The War in the Pacific

Admiral Chester William Nimitz contributed to the success of the United States Navy from his beginnings at Annapolis 1905 to this very day. His accomplishments,…

Was Eva Braun a Naive Bystander or Proactive Participant in Nazi Actions – Her Diary May Shed Some Light

In her 2011 book, Eva Braun: Life with Hitler, author Heike G. Gortemaker paints a portrait of an Eva that was more than the often…

The Hero of the Battle of Trafalgar: Lord Nelson Was Pickled in Liquor

A long used euphemism in sailing circles, and in some pubs and bars, refers to slurping liquor from a straw directly from the barrel. The…

Civil War Spies: The Secret, Underground Peace Societies Of The American Civil War

Though we may think of the South as a unified place in which the Confederacy was born and fought for, it was a place divided…

10 Fascinating Facts About Custer and His Last Stand – Little Big Horn

In most cases, movies based on real incidents tend to make those events more exciting. Not so in the case of Custer’s Last Stand. Of…

The Beautiful American Ship USS Constitution Was Built In 1797 And Is Still Afloat Today

“Old Ironsides”, the USS Constitution, has been through it all and lived to tell about it – as her nickname suggests. Built of a study oak,…

New Sources Claim Coco Chanel Was A Nazi Spy

Coco Chanel is listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of the 20th century. She is a fashion icon, of course, as…

The Mysterious Death of the Legendary Confederate General Stonewall Jackson

While the Battle of Chancellorsville was Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory, it was the beginning of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s ultimate defeat. On May 2, 1863, Confederate…

The Most Effective Female Spies of the American Civil War

Rose Greenhow Just before Virginia’s secession, the governor of that state John Letcher wanted to set up a spy network while he was still able…

Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz – His Leadership During WWII Won The War in the Pacific

Admiral Chester William Nimitz contributed to the success of the United States Navy from his beginnings at Annapolis 1905 to this very day. His accomplishments,…

Stories Of Humanity And Compassion From Throughout The Second World War

Even during WWII, one of the largest and most deadly conflicts in recent history, there were moments of humanity and compassion. Here are three of these…

Marine Horse “Reckless” Received Two Purple Hearts, Was Promoted To Staff Sergeant

This is not the story of a pet pony, an amusing tale of a Mr. Ed companion, or even the story of an amusing diversion…

Karl Donitz, Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine, Was The Last President of Nazi Germany

Karl Donitz, the Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine (Navy of the Third Reich), served as the last president of Nazi Germany. He was also the creator…

3 Urban Legends of War That Are Actually True… And One That Is Not

Legends, stories, and anecdotes are woven through the quilt of veteran and civilian experiences of war. We gain new words from war slang, and the…

The Little Known Battles of Attu And Kiska: Retaking The Only US Soil Lost During WWII

In the cold, desolate Arctic near Alaska in 1942, Japanese troops quietly invaded and took over two of the Aleutian Islands, considered to be North…

The Beautiful USS Constitution Was Built in 1797 & is Still Afloat Today

“Old Ironsides”, the USS Constitution, has been through it all and lived to tell about it – as her nickname suggests. Built of a study oak,…

The Stories Behind Ten Soon-to-be-Forgotten War Songs

Every war needs a song, we have collected ten songs from the past 300 years that were popular in war. A trip down memory lane!…

1898: Spanish at Guam Thought the Attacking USS Charleston Fired Salute Shots & Asked For Gunpowder To Return the Gesture

Manning a remote island fort, seemingly without any imminent danger on the horizon, must have made for a fairly comfortable post. That was the situation on…

The Biggest Nuclear Explosions Of Military History

Most of us have seen footage or photographs of the explosions at Nagasaki and Hiroshima: the mushroom cloud, the radius, the devastation. Those, however, were…

In 1866, Cathay Williams Became America’s First Ever Black Female Soldier

Cathay Williams was pressed into service in 1861 by the Union Army in Missouri, enlisted as a man in 1866, and served in the Indian…

True Innovations of the Civil War

You often hear about how the Civil War brought submarines, iron-clad ships, or the telegraph into play, but that’s not exactly true. While they are…

A Massive Operation – Raising A U-Boat To Recover Her Precious Cargo

In 1958, a German submarine was hoisted from the depths of the Kattegat Bay between the North and Baltic Seas off the coast of Sweden.…

Ham & Jam – The Daring Glider Operation To Take Pegasus Bridge

On the night before D-Day, as part of the Allied invasion of Normandy, 181 men of the Glider Infantry of the British 6th Airborne Division…

After The Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Horatio Nelson Traveled Back To England Pickled in Brandy

A long used euphemism in sailing circles, and in some pubs and bars, refers to slurping liquor from a straw directly from the barrel. The…

Leading by Example: John J. Pershing, Prime Mentor for Future US Army Generals

The United States greatest leaders, including Patton, Truman, and MacArthur, spent the formative years of their military careers under the command of General of the…

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…

This Reindeer Battalion of WWII Was Braver than Soviets, Tougher Than Tanks

The Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive in 1944, which led to the expulsion of German forces from the northern regions of Norway, would have been severely hampered had…

A Cameraman’s last picture – Tragedy as an Undetonated Bomb Explodes on the USS Oriskany (Watch)

The USS Oriskany was on its first Korean mission when disaster struck its deck. It was caught on film, as seen in this video. How and…

Terrible Punishments, Desperate Men – Desertion in the American Civil War

It is the American Civil War. You have been walking hundreds – perhaps thousands of miles – in tattered clothes and worn out shoes. You…

The Civil War Photographer that Time Forgot: Alexander Gardner

When people remember famous Civil War photographers, they think of one name in particular; and “Alexander Gardner” is not it. However, a significant number of…

A Massive Operation – Raising A U-Boat To Recover Her Precious Cargo

In 1958, a German submarine was hoisted from the depths of the Kattegat Bay between the North and Baltic Seas off the coast of Sweden.…

This Reindeer Battalion of WWII Was Braver than Soviets, Tougher Than Tanks

The Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive in 1944, which led to the expulsion of German forces from the northern regions of Norway, would have been severely hampered had…

The Army Itch And Other Scary Civil War Maladies Which Make Us Thankful For Modern Medicine

Disease accounted for the deaths of 65% of Union soldiers and 62% of Confederates during the Civil War. Those high numbers beat out all other…