Military

Great Britain and the Confederate Navy, 1861—1865

The Civil War coincided with an era in naval technology that was revolutionizing sea warfare.” Could the Confederate government build a fleet of “ironclad blockade breakers” in the shipyards of neutral Great Britain? By Frank J. Merli and Thomas W. Green.

Giuseppi Garibaldi, 1807-1882

The prototype of nationalist hero, yet a great internationalist, Garibaldi believed passionately in freedom but did not, writes Denis Mack Smith, disdain dictatorial methods.

Lexington: The End of a Myth

On April 19th, 1775, the fatal clash took place, on the Common of a small Massachusetts town, between British troops and local militia. From this village battle the American War of Independence took its start. John A. Barton queries whether the clash was deliberately organized by “Patriot” leaders in order to provoke an incident, after which there could be no retreat?

Custer's Last Stand

Like other Indian nations before them, the Sioux in 1876 took up arms to defend their traditional way of life and “sold their land dearly.” During this hopeless conflict, a gallant but showy American cavalry officer fought his last battle.

The Spanish-American War

During a short-lived phase of expansionism the United States wrested Cuba and the Philippines from their Spanish rulers. 

The War of 1812 in Canada

While Britain was engrossed in the struggle with Napoleon, writes J. Mackay Hitsman, a defensive war with the United States was fought along the frontiers of Upper and Lower Canada.

Commodore Jones’s War

In the belief that either Britain or France was about to wrest California from Mexico, writes G.G. Hatheway, an American Commodore in 1842 attempted the venture himself, with some ludicrous results.