The New Mexicans voted to join the Confederacy in March 1861, and a Texas battalion arrived and repulsed Union forces, proclaiming the Confederate Territory of Arizona. The Confederate General Henry Sibley conceived an ambitious offensive via New Mexico to secure the valuable gold and silver reserves of California/Nevada. Sibley’s forces... More
The French military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban shaped 17th-century siege warfare. First demonstrated at the Siege of Maastrict (1673), he introduced a scientific approach of attack whereby besiegers would excavate a series of trenches or ‘parallels’, linked by zig-zags called ‘saps’. This network enabled besiegers a safe passage... More
By early 1916, the German Chief of Staff, von Falkenhayn had become convinced that a purely military victory was impossible. The Verdun offensive was aimed at shattering French morale either by its capture or by the prohibitive casualties that would be incurred by defending the city. The Germans enjoyed early... More
The Union victory at Vicksburg, a vital link for raw materials and smuggled weapons, was pivotal in changing the course of the Civil War. It had a destructive effect on the Confederate war effort and was a critical part of the Northern Strategy, the Anaconda Plan. When the Union army,... More
The 1840s witnessed a speculative bubble termed Railway Mania, which culminated in a wave of bankruptcies including that of George Hudson, the ‘Railroad King’. Despite ruining many investors, the period of the frenzy did result in the laying of thousands of miles of track. Hudson, before his precipitous fall, managed... More
Conflict in South Vietnam began around 1959 when Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem outlawed political violence against the southern Vietnamese regime. The US began providing military assistance to the southern Vietnamese as it was concerned about the spread of communism from the north. Diem was killed in a coup in... More
VII Corps provided the main offensive element of the coalition forces posted within Saudi Arabia in readiness for Operation Desert Storm and was tasked with carrying out the initial breach of the border before destroying the heavy armoured units of the Iraqi Republican Guard. After the initial crossing into Iraqi... More
After plundering Flanders, the Vikings entered the kingdom of the West Franks in 885 and laid siege to the Seine, in the Paris basin. They sailed hundreds of ships, carrying thousands of Viking warriors to the fortifications around Paris. Duke Odo of Francia, who controlled the city, refused to pay... More
After the Treaty of Wedmore (c. 880), Alfred implemented a comprehensive system of defences designed specifically to counter the Viking threat. He established a network of 33 fortified settlements – burhs – across his kingdom, and a tax, ‘hidage’, to finance their upkeep. The burhs slowed down subsequent Viking incursions,... More
When Alfred the Great concluded the Peace of Wedmore (878) with the Viking ruler, Guthrum, the boundaries between Wessex and the Danelaw (the area in which the laws of the Danes prevailed) were agreed, and an uneasy peace prevailed. The Vikings concentrated on devastating northern France, but in 891 Guthrum... More
A number of theories have been advanced to explain the Viking expansion. The establishment of the Holy Roman Empire by Charlemagne, with the ruthless subjugation and forced Christianization of the Danes’ Saxon neighbours, was clearly influential. The Danevirke, a huge defensive fortification across the neck of the Danish peninsula, was... More
Between c. 780–814 the British Isles were beset by raids, targeted by bands of Vikings, who radiated out from Denmark and Norway. Their raids began with coastal settlements in Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria and the Gaelic Irish kingdoms. According to Anglo-Saxon histories, the first ‘Northmen’ landed at Portland, Wessex, c. 789,... More