A Turn for the Worse: The 1775 Ambush at Bloody Angle
After the ‘shot heard round the world,’ as Redcoats retreated to Boston, Patriots sprang an ambush at a bend in the road known since as the Bloody Angle
SOS Indianapolis: Behind the Sinking of the Heavy Cruiser
It took a sailor, a schoolboy and survivors more than half a century to disperse the cloud hanging over the sinking of the heavy cruiser
Guilford Courthouse: Then and Now
While the British held the field, they suffered irreplaceable casualties in this pivotal battle commemorated at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
Rogers’ Rangers’ Risky 1759 St. Francis Raid
In 1759 British Maj. Robert Rogers and his vaunted rangers raided deep into Abenaki territory in Quebec—but fewer than half would make it back alive
For Covenant and King: James Graham, Marquess of Montrose
Amid shifting political alliances of 17th century Scotland, fighting marquess James Graham morphed from Covenanter champion into defender of the Crown
The Modoc War: A Little Indian War Goes Big
What appeared just another police action against off-reservation Indians quickly flared into the dramatic and costly 1872–73 Modoc War
The Somers Mutiny: Justice From the Yardarms
In 1842 the captain of the brig USS Somers hanged three of his sailors for having plotted a mutiny—but had they?
Russian Museum Honors Women War Heroes with Art Exhibit
Russia’s largest military history museum launched an art exhibit to honor female fighters from World War II
Himmler’s ‘Temple’: How the SS stole a cathedral and used it as a Nazi worship site
Obsessed with an ancient king, Heinrich Himmler hunted for a skeleton, held ghostly candlelit ceremonies in a crypt, and transformed a medieval church into a sinister SS temple
The Yank Coastwatcher Who Risked All in the Pacific
During World War II, young American cattle rancher Franklin Nash served as a member of Australia’s covert Coastwatchers
Bolivar’s Boy General: Marshal Sucre
Antonio José de Sucre was just 15 when he joined ‘El Libertador’ in the Spanish American wars of independence
Tommy’s Other Guns: Firearms Inventor John T. Thompson
Thompson’s namesake submachine gun became the stuff of legend, but his other firearms and ammunition innovations are nothing to sneeze at
The Allies’ Billion-dollar Secret: The Proximity Fuze of World War II
An engineering triumph developed under strict wartime secrecy, the proximity fuze vastly increased the lethality of anti-aircraft guns and field artillery.
Captain Truman: A Future President in World War I
How the four-eyed, failed Missouri farmer found his legs as an American officer on the Western Front in 1918
Warplanes of a Different Stripe
A tragic 1943 friendly fire incident in Sicily prompted development of aircraft identification markings that saved countless lives on D-Day
Fort William Henry, 1757: A Fate Worse Than Surrender
On capturing Fort William Henry in 1757, the French commander offered his British prisoners safe passage—but his Indian allies weren’t feeling as magnanimous
