American Civil War Quiz
Who replaced Major General Joseph Hooker as commander of the Union Army of the Potomac on 28 June 1863, just three days before the Battle of Gettysburg?
United States
MHM 134 Letters – May
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
Survey explores underwater battlefield in western Pacific
The survey, conducted by a team of scientists from the US National Park Service, is the first of a two-part project.
National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Reviewing the best military history exhibitions with Christopher Warner.
Film Review – Apocalypse Now Redux
When they arrived on set, they held a feast that included dancing and chanting that lasted nearly two days. It also included the ritual slaughter of a water buffalo
War Classics: ‘The Face of Battle’
The Vietnam War and associated public distaste for military intervention also provided a challenge as to how the study of warfare was conducted and presented.
War of words – ‘revolver’
‘There are probably in Texas about as many revolvers as male adults,’ wrote one correspondent for The New York Times in 1854.
19th-century graves linked to one of America’s oldest black churches, says analysis
‘As our community comes together to explore this important site, we hope to also reveal voices that have important lessons to teach us about our country’s roots.’
Research identifies the earliest bone weapon in the Americas
The bone fragments were embedded in a mastodon rib found during excavations at the Manis site in north-west Washington in 1977-1979.
Archaeologists identify oldest known projectile points in the Americas
Among the stone tools recovered from the site were 14 complete and fragmentary stemmed projectile points, dated to around 16,000 years ago.
‘Captured but not conquered’ at the National WWI Museum and Memorial
Calum Henderson explores how a new exhibition at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Missouri is illuminating the experiences of prisoners of war.
Fighting the pirates: the dark side of privateering
Pirates or privateers? The buccaneers who haunted the high seas in the 17th and 18th centuries sailed a fine line between fighting Britain’s enemies and profiting themselves. Tim Newark looks at the careers of two notorious figures, and reveals the criminal complexity behind their actions.
Review: The Museum of Flight
Open 10am-5pm (closed Christmas and Thanksgiving)9404 East Marginal Way South, Seattle, WA 98108-4097www.museumofflight.org+1 206 764 5700 Long before the advent of computer-generated imagery, better known as CGI, filmmakers relied on actual planes to recreate the thrills and dangers of aerial…
War Classics: Crucible of War
Venturing beyond the ultimate British victory in North America, Anderson delves into parallel conflicts in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and India, as well as a subsequent uprising by Native Americans in Pontiac’s War of 1763
Location of Revolutionary War prison camp finally identified
The camp housed hundreds of English, Scottish, and Canadian privates and non-commissioned officers during the Revolutionary War of 1775-1783.
Ancient mounds in America
In the middle of Louisiana State University’s campus stand two earthen mounds, each c.5.5m tall. The LSU Campus Mounds have long been known to be among the c.800 mounds created by ancient indigenous communities in this region, but archaeological investigations…
The Brewster F2A Buffalo
The Buffalo originated with a 1935 requirement for a carrier-based fighter to replace the US Navy’s Grumman F3F biplanes. Brewster’s XF2A-1 prototype was selected in June 1938 and the first production aircraft began to enter service as the F2A-1 in…
Wreck of WWI-era German submarine identified in US waters
A team of specialist divers secretly traced the final resting place of U-111.
Classical currents: Antiquity and America
The presence of ancient Greece and Rome can be felt in many places in the early history of the United States of America. Lucia Marchini speaks to Sean Burrus and Emilie Johnson to find out how Americans like Thomas Jefferson were putting antiquity to use as a new nation was forged.
Research sheds new light on Cahokia’s North Plaza
The study found that the plaza would have been underwater for most if not all of the year at the time of the site’s creation.
Museum review: Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum
Reviewing the best military history exhibitions with Christopher Warner.
World news in brief: discoveries from Jerusalem, Wyoming, and South Australia
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from across the globe, which includes new insights into America's oldest ochre mine, the discovery of what could be the remains of a medieval hand grenade, and excavations at an Australian colony cemetery.
America’s oldest ochre mine identified
Artefacts made of non-local materials indicate that the quarry may have been the source of much of the ochre found across the American midcontinent
David Attenborough, What in the World? and Mortimer Wheeler
A letter in the Penn Museum archives sets Richard Hodges and Alessandro Pezzati on the trail of a memorable moment in the pioneering days of archaeological broadcasting.
The Casco-class Monitors
Following the success of USS Monitor – the ground-breaking ironclad warship, designed by Swedish-born engineer John Ericsson, that played a central role in the US Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads on 9 March 1862 – the US Navy issued…
Military history events, exhibitions and experiences in 2022
A round-up of some of the best military history events, lectures, and exhibitions.
The Red and the Blue: when Britain and the US almost went to war in 1862
Britain and the US have not always enjoyed a ‘special relationship’. During the 19th century, relations between the two were often tense. William Stroock looks at a moment when war came close.
War of words – ‘Bazooka’
A signature piece of kit for American GIs in World War II, the bazooka was a tubular, shoulder-fired, 2.36-inch rocket launcher. It fired a projectile bearing a shaped-charge warhead, which contained a hollow cavity lined with metal. On contact with…
From sphinxes to saints: exploring the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The new galleries at the MFA, Boston, cover more than 2,000 years of art. We take a look at a some of the highlights from the ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine worlds.
Athens of America: an interview with curators at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
At the end of last year, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston – the city known as ‘the Athens of America’ – opened a renovated suite of five galleries devoted to the art of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium. Lucia Marchini speaks to curators Christine Kondoleon, Laure Marest, and Phoebe Segal to find out about how they are using technology and even modern art to help visitors see ancient artefacts in a new light.
Native American cave art identified in Alabama
Glyphs including a serpent amd anthropomorphic figures wearing regalia were revealed using photogrammetry.
Palaeo-Indian red ochre quarry identified as the earliest known mine in America
Radiocarbon analysis of well-preserved bison bone fragments revealed the earliest phase of red ochre mining began around 12,840 to 12,505 years ago.
Minerva Magazine 195
• Spiro: a climate crisis in the Mississippian world
• Hisham’s Palace: mosaics in the desert
• Olympia: monuments to victory (available 27 April on The Past)
• The Museo Barracco in Rome
• Sir John Soane’s architectural drawings
• Exploring ‘trench art’
‘I never saw braver men’: black soldiers in the American West
Fred Chiaventone recalls the service of the US Army’s first black regiments.
Spiro: renewing the world
Vast quantities of artefacts were found in a mound in Oklahoma in the 1930s. Together they tell an intriguing story of ritual and cosmic renewal. As an exhibition reuniting some of these objects travels to Texas, Lucia Marchini speaks to Michelle Rich and Eric Singleton to find out more.
This week: Spiro Mounds
It was considered one of the finds of the century, when – at the height of the Great Depression of the 1930s – a group of American prospectors calling themselves the Pocola Mining Company uncovered a burial chamber in eastern Oklahoma that had remained undisturbed for more than 500 years.