Disease, Starvation, and the Brutal Russian Winter – Why Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia Failed
In 1812, Napoleon’s Grande Armée (Great Army) invaded Russia. Though made up of about 680,000 soldiers, they lost. Historians have given many reasons as to…
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 Death Of A Medieval Grand Master – An Ancient Order of Knights Falls In A Merciless Last Battle
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…
Heroes of America: The Red String Band Rebelled Against the Confederacy in the Civil War
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…
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…
Massive Towers, Unbreakable Walls, Terrifying Siege Engines – This Was The Hundred Years War
As the sun rises over the battlefield, a column of knights gallops towards the assembled infantry. Banners flutter and arrows hurtle through the air as…
Fort Sumter, Where The American Civil War Began, Should be Turned into a National Park
Senator Tim Scott is asking that the location where the Civil War started to be elevated to that of a national park. Scott, a Republican,…
The Slave Who Stole A Confederate Ship, Met President Lincoln & Bought His Master’s House
In 1862, Robert Smalls stole a Confederate ship, gave it to the Union Army, freed slaves, and met President Abraham Lincoln. After the war, he…
AD 732, Battle of Tours: Charles Martel the ‘Hammer’ preserves Western Christianity
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 Great Military Men Who Inspired The Young Napoleon Bonaparte
From an early age, Napoleon Bonaparte showed the ambition and intelligence that would eventually make him the emperor of half of Europe. As a child,…
When A Bloody Medieval War Was Fought Because Of A Bucket Full of Treasure
In 1325, two armies clashed near what is today the Italian town of Castello di Serravalle in the region of Emilia-Romagna. It was a huge…
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…