Monthly Archives: June 2017

Japan’s powerful Takeda clan is defeated and its hitherto invincible cavalry shattered by the innovative tactical genius of Oda Nobanaga; one of warring Japan’s three great unifiers! 16th century Japan was a time of civil war, known in Japanese history … Continue reading →

(This is the final installment in a series on the militaries of the Macedonian Successor states which grew out of the Wars of the Diadochi,  following the death of Alexander the Great. For the next century these kingdoms were defended … Continue reading →

With the popularity of such films as “Alexander”,  “300”, and its sequel “300: Rise of Empire” a broader audience is being introduced (sometimes for the first time) to the warriors of ancient Greece. These films are generally poor educational tools, … Continue reading →

With Laye Haye Saint taken and Ney decimating Wellington’s center with close-range cannon fire, Napoleon decided upon a final push. A last roll of the dice, committing his Imperial Guard  to breaking Wellington’s decimated center. (To read Part Nine, go … Continue reading →

At 6 p.m., Marshal Ney called off the fruitless cavalry assaults upon Wellington’s Anglo-Dutch regiments around Mont-Saint-Jean. His torn uniform covered with mud and his face blackened with gunpowder smoke, Ney was now ordered by Napoleon to capture La Haye … Continue reading →

At 4 pm, with no reserves immediately available but his Imperial Guard,  which he was unwilling to commit at this point, Napoleon ordered  Marshal Ney to lead his large and formidable cavalry reserve to a massive but unsupported attack on … Continue reading →

Looking over the valley below from his position at Le Belle Alliance, Napoleon surveyed a strangely quite scene. It was 3:00 pm, and the tide of battle had temporarily receded. The ground between the two opposing armies was littered with … Continue reading →

At 2 pm Wellington’s position on the ridge was in danger of being rolled-up. The advance of D’Erlon’s Corps had broken the brigades of his first line, east of La Haye Sainte; and the men of Picton’s Division in the … Continue reading →

While he had begun the campaign with a masterful stroke at the junction between the Allied forces, Napoleon failed to defeat either Wellington or Blücher’s army on the 16th of June. Now two days later at Waterloo he was preparing … Continue reading →