Military History
What did you do in the war dad? part 2
In the packet of pictures my dad sent home to his father from Germany (1946) were two of unusual size compared to the smaller pictures that were taken with whatever small cameras they had back then. Both pictures are of his military police unit and are interesting in their own right. The first one is […]
What did you do in the war dad? part 1
What did you do in the war dad? It was a question every boy my age asked his dad in the 1950′s and 1960′s when the baby boom kids were old enough to ask their fathers about WW2. So, I asked my dad, “what did you do in the war?” He said, “well son, I […]
Earliest Combat Photography
Fascinating collection of early combat photography: 1863-1914 Compiled by Chubachus on You Tube.
The Men Stood Like Iron_Book Review
McClellan: “What are those troops fighting on the pike?” Hooker: “General Gibbon’s brigade of Western men.” McClellan: “They must be made of iron.” Hooker: “By the Eternal, they are iron! If you had seen them at Bull Run [2nd Bull Run] as I did. You would know them to be iron. McClellan: “Why, General Hooker, […]
The “2nd German” 26th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The 2000 census shows that 53% of Wisconsin’s population claims some German ancestry. During the Civil War a number of regiments consisted primarily of soldiers of one nationality. The best example is probably the Irish Brigade consisting of New England Regiments. Because of the huge number of immigrants from German areas of Europe whole regiments […]
The Siege of Svigetvar_Hapsburg vs Ottoman 1566
Military History has many examples of where the few stood against the many. The few often paying the ultimate price and dying to the last man. Perhaps the most famous few against the many is the 300 hundred Spartans and 700 Thespians facing thousands of Persians at Thermopylae in 480 BC. But the other day […]
Bagpipes in the Great War
I’ve always loved the pipes and found this interesting WW1 film about the bagpipes in war. Does not look it’s available on DVD.
The Iron Brigade at Gettysburg-Book Review
“Where has the firmness of the Iron Brigade at Gettysburg been surpassed in history?” Asked Rufus Dawes in a letter from Marietta, Ohio to an 1884 reunion of his Lemonweir Minute Men at Mauston [WI]. “Two thousand muskets were carried into battle and for four long hours these men breasted the billows of rebellion until […]
Longbows, Brown Bess and The Constitution
The link is to an article published in History Magazine in 1999 on the English Longbow. If you don’t want to read it here’s some interesting facts. English archers using the longbow were largely responsible for defeating numerically superior French armies on three separate occasions during the 100 Years War (1337-1453). 1. Crecy (1346) 2. […]
My Browning “Luftwaffe” 9mm
My dad was a bit of gun collector in his later years. One day he came home with a 9mm Browning Hi-power handgun and an unusual story. He told me that Browning had a factory in Belgium (FN) and licensed their Browning guns to the various European powers before WW2. (The Hi-Power has been used […]