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The proud Virginian entered the war in uncertain times, and there were understandable doubts about how well he could lead soldiers, but through a combination of skill and luck, he became one of his country's earliest and foremost military heroes. After the war, he would go on to a distinguished political career, and he would find himself caught up in civil unrest toward the end of his life.
Some of those details might bring to mind the life story...
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Aside from George Washington, many Americans are likely able to name just as many foreign generals on the rebel side as American generals. While names like Lafayette, Pulaski, Kościuszko, and Baron von Steuben are quickly associated with the Revolution, American officers like Nathanael Greene, Anthony Wayne, Horatio Gates, Henry Knox, and Light-Horse Harry Lee are often overlooked. Over 200 years later, Lee is best remembered not for his military...
3) The Great Railroad Strike of 1877: The History and Legacy of the Protests Across America Over Wag
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When trains were introduced as a popular means of transportation, some of the first tracks laid terminated in New York, and the expansion of railroads led to the birth of train stations across the country. In general, these were small buildings where passenger could buy tickets and wait for their trains to arrive, and according an article written by Samuel Dunn around the turn of the 20th century, "The first Manhattan terminal was opened in 1832 at...
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While the bow was used throughout ancient times and the Middle Ages, on mainland Europe it was mostly replaced by the crossbow in the early 13th century, but that would change with the introduction of the longbow, a more powerful weapon than the traditional hunting bows. The original longbowmen were Welshmen recruited by King Edward I of England after he conquered Wales, and the weapon got its name from the fact that it was almost as tall as the man...
5) Early America's Forgotten Wars: The History and Legacy of the Overlooked Conflicts that Helped Sh
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"You talk, my good sir, of employing influence to appease the present tumults in Massachusetts. I know not where that influence is to be found, or, if attainable, that it would be a proper remedy for the disorders. Influence is not government. Let us have a government by which our lives, liberties, and properties will be secured, or let us know the worst at once." - George Washington, referencing Shays' Rebellion in a letter to Light-Horse Harry Lee
The...
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Modern perceptions of ancient Greece are almost always based on Athens and Sparta, which is why other city-states and other military units besides the hoplites have been overlooked for thousands of years. For this reason, Greek cavalry forces, including their composition, purpose, techniques, equipment, and developments, are still not very well understood when compared with their naval or infantry counterparts.
One of the most important epochs in...
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Many of the first artists in the West were assigned to exploration and geological parties, working as archivists and obedient to demands of cold accuracy. However, a few were driven by an imaginative mix of real events and fantastical visions to whet the appetite of Eastern consumers and preserve their own nostalgia on canvas. Among the artists who developed a passionate relationship with the West to one degree or another, two remain iconic in the...
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“Issue the orders Sir, and I will storm Hell.” – Mad Anthony Wayne
The American Revolution is replete with seminal moments that every American learns in school, from the “shot heard ‘round the world” to the Declaration of Independence, but the events that led up to the fighting at Lexington & Concord were borne out of 10 years of division between the British and their American colonies over everything from colonial representation in governments...
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"It is a virtue and a prize to listen patiently to and put up with insults for the sake of God." — Saint Brigid of Kildare
The drumbeat of horses' hooves and clatter of chariot wheels echo through the rolling green hills of what will be known much later as the Emerald Isle. The driver is a lone woman whose long hair and homespun cloak whip through the wind behind her. Headstrong, confident, and intelligent, she blazes a trail that will change her...
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Though history is usually written by the victors, the lack of a particularly strong writing tradition from the Mongols ensured that history was largely written by those who they vanquished. Because of this, their portrayal in the West and the Middle East has been extraordinarily (and in many ways unfairly) negative for centuries, at least until recent revisions to the historical record. The Mongols have long been depicted as wild horse-archers galloping...
11) The Jugurthine War: The History of the Roman Republic's Controversial Conflict With the Numidians
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Before the Numidians were conquered by the Romans and Numidia was officially made part of Roman Africa, they developed a culture that was as sophisticated and unique as any in the ancient world. The Numidians were a Berber people who emerged from the edge of the desert in the late 2nd millennium BCE, and despite the harshness of their environment (or perhaps because of it), they eventually became the most powerful people in North Africa. The Numidians...
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He was the only sitting member of the House of Representatives elected President to date, but he served only about half a year in the office. He was the second president in less than 20 years felled by an assassin's bullet. Yet James A. Garfield, a man little known outside his own party before his "dark-horse" nomination by the Republican Party in 1880, was significant in a number of ways. Garfield's short term marked the first entrance of a "reformist"...
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The Avars entered Eastern Europe from the Central Asian steppes in the 6th century, and like the Huns before them and the Cumans and Magyars after them, the Avars were raiders and warriors who lived on their horses. The Avars' impact on Europe was immediately felt, and from the Byzantine Empire to the Merovingian Kingdom in Gaul, some of Europe's strongest powers had to learn how to deal with these new people through a combination of diplomacy and...
14) The Dakota War of 1862: The History and Legacy of the Sioux Uprising during the American Civil War
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Despite being one of the most erstwhile foes the U.S. government faced during the Indian Wars, the Sioux and their most famous leaders were grudgingly admired and eventually immortalized by the very people they fought. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse remain household names due to their leadership of the Sioux at the fateful Battle of the Little Bighorn, where the native warriors wiped out much of George Custer's 7th Cavalry and inflicted the worst defeat...
15) Rome's Conquest of North Africa: The History of the Conflicts that Led to the Establishment of Roman
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Certain foreign policy decisions led to continuing enmity between Carthage and the burgeoning power of Rome, and what followed was a series of wars which turned from a battle for Mediterranean hegemony into an all-out struggle for survival. Although the Romans gained the upper hand in the wake of the First Punic War, Hannibal brought the Romans to their knees for over a decade during the Second Punic War. While military historians are still amazed...
16) Pontiac's War and Little Turtle's War: The History and Legacy of 18th Century America's Most Famo
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Throughout history, there have been men of war and men of peace, but few have actually had a war named after them. One of them was Pontiac, also known as Obwandiyag, an Odawa chief who left his mark on history by continuing the battle against the British after their official triumph during the French and Indian War. While modern historians question how important Pontiac's role was in shaping America's destiny, his leadership during Pontiac's War was...
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The ambitious and fearless emperors that built the legendary Roman Empire from scratch, the broad-shouldered and bronzed gladiators with their iconic plume helmets and glinting swords, and elaborate parties attended by toga-wearing Romans fueled by alcohol, violence, orgies, and other godless acts all paint a picture of Roman life.
At the Circus Maximus, the guttural cheers of the spectators reverberated across the enormous open space, but their cries...
18) Branch Davidians, the Peoples Temple, and Heaven's Gate: The History of 20th Century America's Most
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The United States has never had a shortage of cults based on religious teachings and charismatic leaders, but perhaps none are as infamous as Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, which remain notorious for the mass murder-suicide event in Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, 1978, during which nearly 900 people drank cyanide-laced Flavor Aid, including nearly 300 children. To this day, "drinking the Kool-Aid" is a popular phrase in America to refer to people...
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In the 1960s and 1970s, no actor personified cool, calm and collected like Steve McQueen, whose suave anti-hero protagonists made men jealous and women swoon. As actor Donald Logue puts it in The Tao of Steve, "Steve is the prototypical cool American male. He's the guy on his horse, the guy alone. He has his own code of honor, his own code of ethics, his own rules of living. He never, ever tries to impress the women, but he always gets the girl."...
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Though history is usually written by the victors, the lack of a particularly strong writing tradition from the Mongols ensured that history was largely written by those who they vanquished. Because of this, their portrayal in the West and the Middle East has been extraordinarily (and in many ways unfairly) negative for centuries, at least until recent revisions to the historical record. The Mongols have long been depicted as wild horse-archers galloping...
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