Early Modern | War History

The Many Types Of Ships Used In The Napoleonic Wars

It is a common misconception that the Navies of the Napoleonic Wars used only massive ships, crewed by hundreds of men, which would slowly close and…

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…

Napoleon Inflicts The Greatest Defeat in Prussian Military History

The twin battles of Jena-Auerstadt proved a major turning point for not only the Napoleonic wars, but also for 19th century Europe as a whole.…

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…

AD 732, Battle of Tours: Charles Martel the ‘Hammer’ Holds The Line Of Battle

Few Empires emerged as quickly as that of the Muslim Caliphates. Bursting out from what is now Saudi Arabia in the mid-7th century, the Islamic…

The Many Lives of The US Ship Harriet Lane, Which Fired the First Shot of the American Civil War

Late in the day on April 11th, 1861, the ship Nashville was sailing past Charleston harbor. The crew could see a fleet of ships at…

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…

Five Ways Napoleon Made Himself into the New Charlemagne

One of the most powerful tools in Napoleon Bonaparte’s intellectual arsenal was the connections he drew between his own life and that of great figures…

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…

The Battle of Pliska – A Byzantine Military Disaster

Andrew Knighton

Though they clung to the name of the Roman Empire, the Byzantines never achieved the glory of their predecessors. Theirs was an empire in slow…

Sappers And Siege Engines – Ivan The Terrible Conquers The city Of Kazan

Jack Beckett

The army had been in place under the city walls for weeks. Ivan the Fourth, Tsar of all the Russians, accompanied his force in the…

A Bloody New Year – The Massive American Civil War Battle of Stones River

It was cold at the turning of the year in Murfreesboro, right in the middle of the state of Tennessee. The little town nestled under…