Between 1639 and 1653, the whole of the British Isles was engulfed by civil war. Despite popular opinion, however, it was not pitched battles that dominated the fighting, but sieges. Not for nothing did one veteran of the conflict comment:…
A collection of large cannons from the American Revolutionary War has returned to Savannah, Georgia, after several years of conservation work, as part of a project led by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Coastal Heritage Society. The…
Last autumn’s excavations at Culloden Battlefield, near Inverness, had already rewritten our knowledge of how the engagement unfolded (see CA 430), but further insights continue to emerge, including the discovery of an unexploded mortar shell, which further highlights the conflict’s…
It was the greatest Russian triumph of World War I – but the Brusilov Offensive also sowed the seeds of revolution, as David Porter reports.
Archaeological research at the site of the Battle of Culloden, near Inverness, has uncovered new material from the conflict. The discoveries were made by a team led by Derek Alexander from the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and Professor Tony…
In the third part of his series marking the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, Fred Chiaventone examines the crucial events of 1777-1780.
In the second part of our special feature, Graham Goodlad examines the epic French defence of the fortress of Verdun in the longest battle of World War I.
In the second part of our special, Graham Goodlad assesses Austria-Hungary’s failure to achieve victory against Italy.
In the final part of our series on the American Civil War, Fred Chiaventone examines the impact of devastating new weaponry and technology that emerged courtesy of the Industrial Revolution.
Reviewing the best military history exhibitions with Carly Jones.
Formed in 1975 (and thus celebrating its first half-century this year), the Fortress Study Group (FSG) is devoted to the study and preservation of artillery fortifications. While early examples of these structures are found in Norwich and Southampton, it was…
Infographics: Calum Henderson / Images: Wikimedia Commons
The Historic Buildings Team from Cotswold Archaeology has recently carried out a detailed recording of Fort Gilkicker in Gosport. This fort is part of the Victorian defences around the town’s harbour. It is one of a number of structures known…
With Marc DeSantis
David Porter on Military History's doomed inventions.
One of the crucial battles of the Franco-Prussian War was also the scene of perhaps the last successful cavalry charge in Western European warfare, as William E Welsh explains.
Your thoughts on issues raised by CA.
Open 10am-5pm daily (1 April to 30 October)Weybourne, Norfolk, NR25 7ERwww.muckleburgh.co.uk+ 44 (0)1263 588 210 The Muckleburgh Military Collection is the largest privately owned military museum in the United Kingdom. It was opened to the public in 1988 by Michael…
![Right Kitchener [on the left] and Roberts [right] had a proven record of success in colonial warfare, but the two had not campaigned together before arriving in South Africa.](https://i0.wp.com/the-past.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/post-1_image0-18-e1677858429147.jpg?fit=768%2C873&ssl=1)
Graham Goodlad reveals how two late-Victorian commanders forged a winning partnership in South Africa – but left controversy in their wake.
Hungary’s devastating defeat by the armies of Suleiman the Magnificent signalled the country’s demise as a unified independent kingdom. Andrew Southam describes the action.
The winners of this years MHM Book Awards...
Neil Faulkner analyses a typical battle of the Italian Wars, a clash between a French and an Imperialist army near the northern Italian city of Milan, fought 500 years ago this spring.
Charleston, 7 April 1863. It was the place where the American Civil War had started. Two years on, with a revolution in naval warfare far advanced, a fleet of Union ironclads attacked Confederate defences at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Michael Laramie describes the action.
The finds will now be analysed, before being exhibited in the city.
Although the design was an amazing technological achievement for its day, it was little more than a very expensive propaganda weapon.
Andrew Mulholland analyses a masterful tactical defence by one of the finest British commanders of the Napoleonic Wars.
Patrick Mercer recalls a grim battle between two military elites, British Guards and Waffen SS, on the heavily fortified Gothic Line in northern Italy.
The direct experience of the gunners has long been a neglected aspect of World War II history. We have had plenty on life in a tank unit, or a fighter squadron, but there is a sense in which the role…
Combat on the Western Front during World War One is justly infamous for its grim lethality. Soldiers on both sides dug deep trenches in the earth to escape murderous enemy fire.
Marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, David Porter analyses the last stand of Hitler’s Third Reich.
![LEFT The Charge of the Light Brigade and [inset] one of the men who charged: Cornet John Wilkin of the 11th Hussars, photographed by Roger Fenton.](https://i0.wp.com/the-past.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/post-1_image6-15.jpg?fit=768%2C429&ssl=1)
In this second part of his special on Balaklava, Patrick Mercer analyses the events of 25/26 October 1854.
Fred Chiaventone analyses the role of artillery at the Battles of Formigny and Castillon – battles that turned the tables on the victors of Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt.