u/GameCraze3

“Reese Russell, a tall, slender, fun loving, and handsome young man with jet-black hair and dark brown eyes, was thirty years old when the United States entered World War 1 in April 1917. He came from the little Appalachian mill town of Ceder Bluff in Tasewell county, Virginia, a place of quiet mountain charm where community picnics, summer bandstand concerts, and church revival meetings were the order of the day. He and most of his friends had never been more than 20 miles from home. Why travel, people joked, when they already lived in the most beautiful place on earth? Russell registered for the draft in the Summer of 1917, and the US Army called his number soon afterward. Putting down his banjo and straw hat, he kissed his girl good-bye and joined the 317th Infantry Regiment of the 80th 'Blue Regiment' infantry division, a unit made up of draftees from rural Virginia, West Virginia, and Western Pennsylvania. He went to France and fought in the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne, at obscure places like Béthin-court and the Dannevoux. After less than a week in combat in the fall of 1918, he was evacuated to the rear, with poison in his lungs and demons in his mind. Neither ever left him. In 1919 he came home to Ceder Bluff to spend 'the rest of his life', as his daughter remembered, 'traveling a lonely road, out of step with his family, his friends, and his surroundings.' His lungs ruined, he could no longer breathe properly and collapsed periodically into uncontrollable spasms of coughing. He never spoke of what he had seen in France, and forbade his family to mention the war in his presence. His uniform, helmet, gas mask, rifle, and bayonet stayed packed away in a trunk, strictly off-limits to his family. When he wasn’t looking, his children secretly opened the trunk and fingered the mementos. To them, he had become a remote presence. As they handled the items, the children tried to guess what their father had experienced in the foggy, shell-torn fields and forests of the bloodiest battle in American history, the Meuse-Argonne. Russell began drinking as soon as he returned home. He drank through the economic recession of 1919, which an ex-Doughboy could not find a job, and the boom years that followed. He drank through the Great Depression, and during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidential administrations, when New Deal’s Promised Land always seemed just a step away. In 1941 America entered the Second World War, Russell drank even more, as if in sympathy for the GIs about to die, or in realization that his war — the so called 'War to End All Wars' — had been fought in vain. And he never slept. He went through the motions — lying down in bed between midnight and 5 a.m. — but he never closed his eyes in sleep, 'unless', his daughter recalled, 'one could call the stupor he fell into when he drank in his later years, sleep.' Perhaps he feared that his dreams would take him back to the war. He died a broken man at age sixty-one. As his daughter Heard- taps played over his lonely country grave, a sense of relief enveloped her. At last, her father’s torments had ended, and he could sleep”

Source: "To Conquer Hell: Meuse-Argonne,
1918 the epic battle that ended the First World War"

By the 1830s, the Sikh Empire, led by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, had become the dominant power in much of the Punjab. Over the previous few decades, Ranjit Singh's armies had expanded rapidly, taking territory from Afghan rulers and bringing places such as Peshawar under Sikh control. This expansion eventually brought the Sikhs to one of the most important gateways between the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan: the Khyber Pass.
In 1836, the Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa, one of Ranjit Singh's most trusted commanders, captured Jamrud, a settlement located at the eastern entrance of the Khyber Pass. The location was extremely important. For centuries, the Khyber Pass had been one of the principal routes through which armies, merchants, and migrants traveled between Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent. By controlling Jamrud, the Sikhs could effectively guard the eastern entrance to the pass and keep a close watch on movement between the two regions. Nalwa immediately began strengthening the position by constructing a fort there.

The Afghan ruler, Dost Mohammad Khan, was deeply concerned by this expansion. The Sikhs had already taken Peshawar, and now they had established a fortified position almost directly at the entrance to the Khyber Pass. From the Afghan perspective, this raised the possibility that the Sikhs might eventually try to push even farther west into Afghanistan.

In the spring of 1837, Dost Mohammad saw an opportunity to strike back. Much of the Sikh military leadership and many of its best troops were away in Lahore for the wedding of Ranjit Singh's grandson, Nau Nihal Singh. With Jamrud relatively weakly defended, Dost Mohammad sent a large Afghan army toward the fort, commanded in the field by his son Akbar Khan. The exact size of the Afghan force is disputed, but it greatly outnumbered the Sikh defenders, who numbered only several hundred to roughly a thousand men depending on the account.

The Afghans surrounded Jamrud and placed the small Sikh garrison under intense pressure. The defenders nevertheless refused to give up the fort and sent urgent messages to Peshawar requesting help. Hari Singh Nalwa was stationed there at the time and was reportedly ill, but when he learned how serious the situation had become, he decided to march to Jamrud with whatever troops were available. Rather than simply remain behind the fortifications, Nalwa led his men out to confront the Afghan army. His arrival turned what had begun as a siege into a much larger battle.

The fighting was extremely fierce. The Sikh forces initially attacked the Afghans successfully, throwing parts of their army into confusion and forcing them back. The battle then became a chaotic and extremely close-range struggle, with heavy casualties on both sides. During the fighting, Hari Singh Nalwa was mortally wounded. The exact circumstances of his death are uncertain, and later Sikh and Afghan traditions contain dramatic stories about his final moments. What is much more firmly established is that Nalwa was fatally wounded during the battle and died shortly afterward.

Nalwa's death was a tremendous blow to the Sikh Empire. He had been one of Ranjit Singh's most experienced commanders and had played a major role in the empire's expansion toward the northwest. His loss was particularly serious because the Sikh frontier in this region was difficult to defend even under normal circumstances. However, the Sikh position at Jamrud did not collapse with him.

The garrison continued to hold the fort while Sikh reinforcements were sent toward the frontier. The Afghans had succeeded in inflicting severe casualties and killing Nalwa, but they had failed to capture Jamrud. When Sikh reinforcements eventually arrived, the Afghan army withdrew from the area. Jamrud remained in Sikh hands, as did Peshawar, and the Afghan army had returned to Afghanistan without achieving its main objective. At the same time, the death of Nalwa left a major hole in Sikh military leadership. The battle had shown that the Sikh frontier could survive a major Afghan assault, but it had also demonstrated how difficult and costly defending that frontier could be.

After Jamrud, Dost Mohammad had a potentially important opportunity. Hari Singh Nalwa was dead, the Sikh army had suffered heavy casualties, and the Afghan forces had demonstrated that the Sikh frontier could be challenged. Yet Dost Mohammad did not follow up by launching a full-scale attempt to retake Peshawar. Dost Mohammad instead approached the British government in India, particularly Governor-General Lord Auckland, seeking British involvement in resolving the dispute over Peshawar. He essentially wanted the British to help him deal with the Sikh Empire and recover territory that Afghanistan regarded as rightfully belonging to it. Contemporary and later accounts describe this as part of Dost Mohammad's broader effort to obtain British support against the Sikhs. This was significant because Britain was becoming increasingly interested in Afghanistan. The British were worried about Russian influence in Central Asia and wanted Afghanistan to serve as a buffer between British India and potential Russian expansion. The British, however, had their own interests. They were reluctant to simply hand Peshawar back to Afghanistan or openly confront Ranjit Singh on Dost Mohammad's behalf. And this eventually became part of the much larger diplomatic crisis that led to the First Anglo-Afghan War.

From the Sikh perspective, Jamrud had revealed something rather uncomfortable. The Sikh Empire had been extremely successful at conquering territory in the northwest. But maintaining that territory was much harder. Peshawar was a particularly difficult province to govern. It was populated largely by Pashtun communities, many of whom had their own local political structures and had resisted Sikh rule. The Sikh government therefore couldn't simply administer Peshawar in the same way it administered Lahore or Amritsar. And now Nalwa (the man who had been one of the most important figures in securing the northwest) was dead.

Paolo Avitabile was the Kardar (administrator/governor) of Peshawar. Nalwa was primarily a military commander who had personally led Sikh expansion into the northwest while Avitabile's principal job was to make Sikh rule actually function, and he was extraordinarily harsh. Avitabile became notorious for using severe punishments, executions, and intimidation to suppress resistance. Later accounts famously characterized his administration as a rule of “gallows and gibbets.” His brutality wasn't simply random sadism, though; it was part of a deliberate attempt to impose order on a frontier where the Sikh government had struggled to exercise consistent authority.

In the long run, however, the Sikh Empire's position deteriorated rapidly. Ranjit Singh died in 1839, and the strong central leadership that had held the empire together disappeared. What followed was a period of political instability, with several rulers succeeding one another in quick succession and growing tensions between the royal court and the powerful Sikh army. The British East India Company, which already controlled much of the territory surrounding the Punjab, increasingly took advantage of this instability. The result was the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845-1846, which ended with a Sikh defeat and much greater British influence over the empire. A second conflict, the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848-1849, ended with the British decisively defeating the Sikh forces. On March 29th 1849, the British formally annexed the Punjab, bringing the Sikh Empire to an end only twelve years after the Battle of Jamrud. The young Maharaja Duleep Singh was removed from power, and the former Sikh territories became part of the expanding British Empire.

I’m not sure who the artist is sadly

The Seventh Crusade started when Louis IX, determined to recover Jerusalem, chose to attack Egypt, believing that control of the wealthy Nile valley would provide a powerful base from which the Crusaders could later reclaim the Holy Land (plus, Egypt was the strategic center of Ayyubid power). After landing in Egypt, Louis captured the strategically important port of Damietta in June 1249 and then advanced south along the Nile toward Cairo. His progress was slowed by the difficult terrain and the Nile's waterways, giving the Ayyubids time to concentrate their forces around Mansurah.

By the winter of 1249-1250, the Crusaders were facing a fortified Egyptian army across the Bahr al-Saghir, a branch of the Nile. For weeks, the two armies remained separated by the waterway. The Crusaders attempted to find a way across while the Egyptians prevented them from establishing a secure bridgehead. Eventually, a local Christian informed Louis's forces of a ford that could be used to cross the canal. On February 8th 1250, Louis ordered his army to cross. The vanguard was commanded by his brother, Robert of Artois, and included the Knights Templar and an English contingent. Robert was supposed to secure the opposite bank and wait for the rest of the army, but instead he decided to exploit the element of surprise and attack the nearby Egyptian camp immediately.

The initial attack was remarkably successful. The Egyptian camp was caught off guard, and its commander, Fakhr al-Din ibn al-Shaykh, was killed during the fighting. The Egyptian troops fled toward Mansurah, apparently leaving the Crusaders with an opportunity to seize the city. Robert of Artois, however, made a disastrous decision: rather than waiting for Louis's main army to cross the river, he pursued the retreating Egyptians into Mansurah itself. The Knights Templar and other troops followed him, despite warnings that the rest of the Crusader army had not yet arrived.

The narrow streets of the city deprived the heavily armored Crusader cavalry of much of its advantage, while the Egyptian forces regrouped and launched a counterattack. Among the commanders organizing the defense was Baibars, a prominent Mamluk officer who would eventually become one of the most powerful sultans in the Islamic world. The Egyptian defenders allowed the Crusaders to penetrate into the city before surrounding and attacking them. Robert of Artois was killed, along with William of Salisbury and much of the Crusader vanguard. The Knights Templar suffered particularly severe losses.

Although the destruction of Robert's force had turned the initial Crusader success into a catastrophe, Louis and the remainder of his army had managed to cross the waterway. The Egyptians counterattacked, and the Crusaders were forced into a desperate defensive battle around their newly established bridgehead. Eventually, additional Crusader troops arrived, allowing Louis to prevent his army from being destroyed outright. The immediate fighting therefore didn’t result in the complete annihilation of the Crusader army, but the strategic situation was disastrous: Louis had failed to break through to Cairo, his army had suffered heavy losses, and the Egyptians remained in control of Mansurah.

The consequences became even worse in the following weeks. The Crusader army remained trapped in the region while disease and shortages weakened it. The Egyptians also disrupted Louis's communications and supplies, while reinforcements strengthened their position. Louis eventually attempted negotiations, but the Egyptians refused his demands. On April 5th 1250, the Crusaders started retreating toward Damietta. The retreat rapidly turned into a catastrophe, culminating in the Battle of Fariskur on April 6th. Louis IX was captured along with many of his soldiers, and he was eventually released only after a massive ransom and the surrender of Damietta, effectively ending The Seventh Crusade.

The Boxer Rebellion was a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising that developed in northern China during the late 1890s. The Boxers, members of the Yihequan (“Righteous and Harmonious Fists”), sought to drive foreign influence from China and attacked missionaries, Chinese Christians, railways, and other symbols of foreign presence. By 1900, the movement had spread to Peking, where the Qing government increasingly tolerated and eventually supported the Boxers. As the situation deteriorated, foreign governments sent additional soldiers and sailors to protect their diplomatic representatives. When the German minister, Baron Clemens von Ketteler, was murdered on June 20th, the foreign legations realized that they could no longer safely leave the city. The diplomatic quarter was consequently placed under siege by Boxers and Qing imperial troops, beginning what became known as the Siege of the International Legations.

The British Legation quickly became the center of the international defense. It was the largest and one of the most defensible diplomatic compounds in Peking and had the only reliable fresh water wells in the diplomatic quarter. The other foreign representatives had already agreed that, if necessary, they would fall back upon it. Once the siege began, civilians, women, children, food supplies, and soldiers from the various legations were concentrated there. Contemporary American records described roughly 400 people crowded into the British compound, while thousands of Chinese Christians sought protection nearby. The British minister, Sir Claude MacDonald, assumed command of the combined defenders, turning what had been a diplomatic mission into the headquarters of a multinational military defense.

The defenders immediately began transforming the Legation Quarter into a fortress. Streets were barricaded, trenches were dug, buildings were converted into defensive positions, and ammunition and food were carefully rationed. An American missionary and engineer, Francis D. Gamewell, played a particularly important role in constructing and improving the defenses. The defenders also faced Chinese attempts to undermine their positions with mines, forcing them to dig counter-mines around the British Legation.

Chinese forces repeatedly attacked the defensive lines, while at other times the fighting subsided into an uneasy stalemate. The defenders nevertheless faced constant danger from rifle and artillery fire, snipers, fires, and attempts to destroy their positions with explosives. The Tartar Wall, overlooking the Legation Quarter, became particularly important because whoever controlled it possessed a commanding position over the surrounding area. The multinational defenders (including British, American, Japanese, Russian, French, German, Italian, and Austro-Hungarian personnel) therefore had to cooperate despite their different nationalities and military traditions.

An initial international expedition commanded by British Admiral Sir Edward Seymour attempteed to reach Peking in June, but it was forced to retreat after encountering heavy Chinese resistance. The besieged legations consequently had to continue defending themselves while a much larger relief force was assembled. Meanwhile, food and ammunition became increasingly precious, and the possibility of the defenders eventually being overrun remained very real. The siege ultimately lasted 55 days, from June 20th until August 14th, making the survival of the Legation Quarter one of the most dramatic episodes of the Boxer Rebellion.

The final relief came in August. An approximately 20,000-man Eight-Nation Alliance force, commanded by British Lieutenant-General Sir Alfred Gaselee, fought its way from Tianjin toward Peking, defeating Qing and Boxer forces in several engagements along the way. On August 14th, the allied troops broke through Peking's defenses and reached the Legation Quarter. British and Indian troops were among the first to reach the besieged foreigners, finally ending the 55-day siege. The Qing court subsequently fled Peking, and the foreign powers occupied the city.

With the imperial court having fled to Xi’an, the Qing government was forced to negotiate with the victorious foreign powers, eventually signing the Boxer Protocol in September 1901. China was required to pay an enormous indemnity of 450 million Haikwan taels, equivalent to roughly $330 million at the time, with four percent interest over thirty-nine years. The Qing also had to execute or punish officials who had supported the Boxers, prohibit anti-foreign organizations, permit foreign troops to remain stationed in Beijing and along the route to Tianjin, and accept restrictions on its ability to import weapons. The humiliation and financial burden severely weakened the dynasty's authority and further exposed its dependence on foreign powers. At the same time, the catastrophe convinced Empress Dowager Cixi and other Qing leaders that significant reforms were necessary if the dynasty was to survive. Beginning in 1901, the Qing launched the so-called “New Policies,” which included modernization of the military and education system, reforms to the government and legal system, and eventually the abolition of the traditional civil service examinations in 1905. These reforms were extensive but came too late to restore the dynasty's legitimacy; growing nationalism, revolutionary opposition, and continued dissatisfaction with Qing rule ultimately contributed to the dynasty's overthrow in the 1911 Revolution.

Artists are Andrew Howat and Fritz Neumann

This battle was one of the most famous of the 1300s. It was fought on June 23-24 1314 during the First Scottish War of Independence. The war started in the late 1200s after a succession crisis left Scotland politically divided, allowing King Edward I of England to intervene and assert English authority over Scotland. Edward defeated the Scots, forced King John Balliol to abdicate, and attempted to incorporate Scotland into his realm. Scottish resistance continued under figures such as William Wallace and, eventually, Robert the Bruce, who claimed the Scottish throne in 1306 and began a campaign to expel the English from Scotland. After Edward I died in 1307, Bruce gradually strengthened his position and recaptured many castles held by the English.

By 1314, Stirling Castle was one of the last major English-held strongholds in Scotland. Bruce's brother, Edward Bruce, had besieged it and agreed with its governor that the castle would surrender if an English army failed to relieve it by midsummer. Edward I's son, Edward II, therefore assembled a large army and marched north to relieve the castle. Bruce, expecting the English advance, positioned his considerably smaller army near Bannockburn, south of Stirling.

The battle began on June 23rd. Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, one of Edward II's most prominent commanders, was involved in the fighting from the outset. The previous day, he and the Earl of Hereford had advanced toward the Scottish position and become engaged in a skirmish. On the 24th, Gloucester reportedly advised Edward II against immediately attacking the well-positioned Scots, but after the king questioned his courage and loyalty, Gloucester committed himself to the battle. He led a cavalry charge against the Scottish lines, but his men failed to adequately support him. His horse was brought down among the Scottish spearmen, and Gloucester was killed. His death was one of the most prominent English losses of the battle and contributed to the disorder of the English attack. The Scottish troops also made effective use of schiltrons, tightly packed infantry formations armed with long spears, while their position was protected by difficult terrain and pits designed to hinder cavalry. English attacks failed to break the Scottish formations.

The following day, Bruce launched a general advance against the much larger English army. Confined by marshy and restricted ground, the English were unable to make effective use of their cavalry or archers. Scottish attacks eventually shattered the English formation, causing a general rout. Edward II fled the battlefield, and much of his army was killed, captured, or scattered.

Although the war continued for another fourteen years, the battle effectively established Robert the Bruce as the dominant ruler of Scotland and severely weakened Edward II's ability to enforce English authority there. Bruce subsequently went on the offensive against England, and in 1328 the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton finally recognized Scotland as an independent kingdom under Bruce.

Artist is Giuseppe Rava

The Battle of Romani was fought between August 3-5 1916 in the Sinai Peninsula during the First World War. It was a major clash between British-led forces defending the Suez Canal and the Ottoman Empire, which sought to capture or threaten the canal and disrupt one of Britain's most important communication routes and a strategic maritime link between Britain and its eastern empire, used for moving troops to the Mediterranean and European theaters, moving supplies and equipment, and more.

The Ottoman attack was led primarily by the Ottoman Fourth Army, including the German-supported Kress von Kressenstein, which had previously attempted to threaten the Suez Canal in 1915. After that earlier failure, the Ottomans reorganized and launched another major expedition toward the canal in the summer of 1916. Their immediate objective was the British position at Romani, near the northern approaches to the canal. The British had established a defensive position there, protected by trenches and supported by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), British infantry, artillery, and the Imperial Camel Corps.

The Ottoman attack began during the night of August 3rd. Ottoman troops advanced across the desert and initially achieved some success, pushing into parts of the British defensive position and forcing Allied troops to withdraw from several forward positions. The fighting was extremely difficult because of the desert environment, with soldiers operating in intense heat while struggling with exhaustion, thirst, and difficult terrain. Ottoman forces nevertheless succeeded in penetrating deep into the British position before encountering increasingly strong resistance. The British and ANZAC defenders gradually regained the initiative. Mounted troops, particularly the Australian Light Horse, played a crucial role in the battle. The Allied forces counterattacked and attempted to cut off the Ottoman troops from their lines of retreat. By August 4th, the Ottoman army was increasingly exhausted and its attack was losing momentum, leading to the British Empire forces pursuing them into the desert.

Fighting continued on August 5th as British and Commonwealth forces pursued the retreating Ottoman army, capturing large numbers of prisoners and abandoned equipment along the way. Although the Ottoman force was not completely destroyed, it had suffered heavy casualties and was no longer capable of continuing its advance. The battle therefore ended in a decisive British victory: the Ottoman attempt to threaten the Suez Canal had failed, and the British had seized the initiative in the Sinai.

The victory demonstrated that the Ottoman Empire could no longer easily threaten the Suez Canal from the Sinai Peninsula. It also gave the British an opportunity to transform their strategy from defensive protection of the canal to an offensive campaign across the Sinai. British and Commonwealth forces subsequently advanced eastward, eventually fighting major battles at places such as Magdhaba and Rafa before pushing into Palestine.

The Battle of Romani was therefore an important turning point in the Middle Eastern theater of the First World War. It ended the Ottoman attempt to seriously threaten the Suez Canal from the north and allowed the British to establish a sustained advance toward the Ottoman Empire's Middle Eastern territories. For the Australian Light Horse and other Commonwealth troops involved, Romani also became one of the early major successes of the campaign that would eventually carry Allied forces from Egypt into Palestine.

Painting by Graham Turner

I’ve been brushing up on my WW1 history in anticipation for the upcoming Gallipoli game 😌

The Dahomey Amazons, also known as the Agojie or Mino (meaning "our mothers") were one of the most distinctive military forces in African history, an all-female military corps in the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present day Benin. Originating as palace guards and later developing into a highly trained fighting unit, they served the Dahomey kings as bodyguards, shock troops, and participants in military campaigns. European observers gave them the name “Amazons,” comparing them to the warrior women of Greek mythology.

The Dahomey kingdom was expansionist, and much of its military activity was tied to warfare, tribute, and the slave trade. As Dahomey sought to control territory and maintain its power, it repeatedly launched raids against neighboring peoples. One of its most important opponents was the Egba, a Yoruba group who had established themselves at Abeokuta in what is now southwestern Nigeria.

The conflict between Dahomey and the Egba arose from a combination of political ambition, economic pressure, and resistance to slave raiding. Dahomey wanted access to people, goods, and trade routes, while the Egba were determined to defend their independence and prevent capture or enslavement. In many clashes in the mid 1800s, Dahomey attacked Egba territory, but the most famous confrontation was in 1851 at the Battle of Abeokuta. In that battle, Dahomey sent a large army, including many of the Amazons, to assault the Egba stronghold. The Egba, however, were prepared. They had fortified positions, access to firearms from the British, and strong leadership, and they used the terrain (such as Olumo Rock) to their advantage. The result was a major defeat for Dahomey, with heavy casualties among its forces, including around 2,000 female warriors killed.

After their repeated failures against the Egba, the Kingdom of Dahomey began to weaken militarily. After wars with the French (1890–1892), Dahomey was turned into a French colony. As for the Egba, the successful defense of Abeokuta meant they remained independent longer than Dahomey and became an important regional power. However, they would eventually became part of British colonial Nigeria in the early 1900s.

Edited frame from this amazing music video: https://youtu.be/5-S50aCCBHs?is=mkxbz1UAkYudro9E

By the middle of the fifteenth century, the Ming dynasty had been in conflict with various Mongol groups along its northern frontier for decades. The Oirats had become particularly powerful under Esen Taishi, who was effectively the dominant political and military figure among the western Mongols.

In 1449, tensions increased when the Ming court attempted to regulate relations and trade with the Mongols. Esen responded with a large-scale invasion of Ming territory, advancing along several routes and attacking areas including Datong and Xuanfu. The invasion initially appeared to be another frontier conflict that the Ming government could handle, but the response of the imperial court transformed it into something far more dangerous.
The Zhengtong Emperor, Zhu Qizhen, was only twenty-one years old and had increasingly come under the influence of the powerful eunuch Wang Zhen. When news of the invasion reached Beijing, the emperor decided to personally lead a massive army north against Esen. Several senior officials, including Yu Qian, opposed the idea, recognizing the enormous danger of allowing the young emperor to accompany the army. Nevertheless, their objections were overruled. The emperor departed Beijing in August 1449, taking a large force with him. What followed was an increasingly confused campaign in which the Ming army struggled to respond effectively to the rapidly moving Oirat forces.

The situation became particularly serious after the Ming army reached the region around Datong. The campaign had accomplished little, while Mongol attacks had inflicted significant losses on Ming forces. Rather than continuing deeper into enemy territory, the emperor eventually ordered a withdrawal toward the fortified areas around Xuanfu and the Great Wall. The retreat, however, was badly organized. The army was enormous, cumbersome, and burdened by the presence of the emperor and his court. Meanwhile, the Oirats were highly mobile and were able to keep pressure on the retreating Ming forces. A Ming detachment was destroyed shortly before the decisive battle, further weakening the imperial army.

On August 31st, the Ming army reached Tumu Fortress, near present-day Huailai in Hebei, during its retreat toward the safety of the Great Wall. The location proved disastrous for several reasons. Although Tumu was a fortified settlement, the Ming army established its camp in an exposed area where its access to water depended heavily on a nearby river. The army was also exhausted from its long retreat, while its enormous size made it difficult to maneuver and organize efficiently. Esen Taishi recognized the vulnerability of the position and moved his forces to block the Ming army's access to the river. With their water supply cut off, the Ming soldiers and horses were placed under severe pressure. Esen then deliberately withdrew some of his forces, creating the impression that the Oirats were retreating and encouraging the Ming commanders to abandon their defensible position and move toward the river. When the Ming army began to advance, the Oirats suddenly surrounded it. The Ming forces were now exhausted, disorganized, deprived of water, and exposed in open terrain, leaving their enormous numerical advantage of little value. The resulting battle on September 1st became a catastrophe: the Oirats broke the Ming army, killing or scattering much of the force

The defeat was catastrophic. Wang Zhen was killed, along with numerous high-ranking Ming officials and military commanders. Most importantly, the Zhengtong Emperor himself was captured by the Oirats. The capture of a reigning Chinese emperor was an extraordinary event and represented a tremendous humiliation for the Ming dynasty. The disaster subsequently became known as the Tumu Crisis, or Tumu zhi bian, with the term bian signifying a major upheaval or turning point.

Esen initially attempted to exploit his extraordinary prize. Possessing the Ming emperor appeared to give the Oirats tremendous leverage over the Ming government. Esen could potentially demand concessions or a ransom, while the Ming court was suddenly faced with the problem of governing without its emperor. The Oirats also advanced toward the Ming capital, Beijing, hoping to take advantage of the empire's moment of weakness. Yet the capture of the emperor did not cause the Ming government to collapse. Instead, the crisis produced a remarkable political response.

The crucial figure in this response was Yu Qian, a senior Ming official who became responsible for organizing the defense of Beijing. As opposed to allowing the government to negotiate from a position of weakness, the Ming court decided to enthrone the captured emperor's half-brother, Zhu Qiyu, as the Jingtai Emperor. This was an extremely important decision because it meant that Esen could no longer simply use Zhengtong as the indispensable ruler of the Ming. The Ming government had effectively created a new emperor and continued governing.

The Oirats therefore failed to convert their spectacular battlefield victory into the conquest of Beijing or the destruction of the Ming dynasty. The capital's defenses were strengthened, and the Oirats were eventually forced to withdraw. Esen's position was also complicated by the political realities of the Mongol world; defeating the Ming did not automatically give him control over all Mongol factions. By 1450, the political value of keeping the captured emperor had diminished considerably. Esen eventually released Zhengtong, who returned to Ming territory, although his brother continued to occupy the throne and the former emperor was placed under confinement.

The Tumu Crisis therefore ended without the Ming dynasty being conquered, but its consequences were profound. Militarily, it demonstrated that the Ming could suffer an enormous defeat against the steppe powers despite possessing vastly greater material resources. Politically, it strengthened officials such as Yu Qian and encouraged a more defensive approach to the northern frontier. Historians have consequently regarded 1449 as a major turning point in Ming history, after which the dynasty became considerably more cautious about offensive warfare.

I can’t seem to find the artist of this painting

Deerfield was located in the Connecticut River Valley, in territory historically associated with the Pocumtuck people. By the beginning of the 1700s, English colonists had established a settlement there, making Deerfield part of the expanding English frontier in New England. Its location also made it vulnerable: it was relatively isolated from the larger English population centers to the east and was surrounded by territory contested among English colonists, French authorities in Canada, and numerous Native nations.

The raid place during Queen Anne’s War (1702–1713), the North American theater of the larger European conflict known as the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). The European war began after the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700, whose decision to leave the Spanish throne to Philip of Anjou, the grandson of the French king Louis XIV, raised fears that France and Spain could effectively be united under the Bourbon dynasty. England and its allies viewed this as a threat to the European balance of power and to their own interests, leading the Grand Alliance to declare war on France and Spain in 1702. Because England, France, and Spain all possessed extensive colonies in North America, the European conflict quickly spread across the Atlantic. In North America, the war became a struggle between the English colonies and their Native allies on one side and the French and Spanish colonies and their Native allies on the other. Fighting spread from French Canada and New England to Newfoundland, the Great Lakes, and the southeastern colonies, where European imperial rivalries overlapped with longstanding conflicts over territory, trade, and political influence among Native nations.

French authorities in Canada and their Native allies sought to weaken the English colonies through raids on exposed frontier settlements, both to inflict casualties and to disrupt English expansion. Deerfield consequently became a logical target, and in early 1704 a French-led expedition was organized to strike the settlement during the winter, when its inhabitants were least prepared for an attack.

The force that attacked Deerfield included 48 Frenchmen as well as 240 Native warriors associated with peoples including the Abenaki, Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), and Wendat (Huron). The expedition was commanded by the French officer Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville. The raiders traveled south through difficult winter terrain and approached Deerfield during the night.

In the pre-dawn hours of February 29th 1704, the raiders reached Deerfield. Snow allowed them to approach the settlement relatively quietly, and they entered the town before its inhabitants could effectively organize a defense. Houses were attacked and set ablaze, while residents attempted to defend themselves or escape. Approximately 50-56 Deerfield residents were killed, including women and children. The precise casualty figures vary somewhat among sources, but there is no doubt that a substantial portion of the community was killed. The raiders also captured 112 people, a large number for a single colonial raid. Some inhabitants survived by escaping or resisting, and neighboring communities eventually sent help. A group from nearby Hatfield arrived after the attack had started, forcing the raiders to withdraw. However, the rescuers could not simply recover the captives. Pursuing the raiders into the winter wilderness would have placed the prisoners in even greater danger, and the attackers were prepared to kill captives who could not keep pace.

The 112 captives were forced to accompany the raiding party on a journey of approximately 300 miles to Canada. They had to travel through winter conditions, often over difficult terrain, while carrying supplies and keeping pace with their captors. The march was extraordinarily difficult. Some captives died along the way, while others were killed because they were unable to continue. The prisoners were then divided among different Native communities and French authorities once they reached Canada.

This captivity is particularly significant because Native peoples in northeastern North America had long traditions involving the taking of prisoners. Captives could be adopted into families to replace deceased relatives, held as prisoners, exchanged or ransomed, or incorporated into Native communities.

One of the most famous captives was John Williams, Deerfield's Puritan minister. His account of the experience, The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion, later became one of the best-known captivity narratives in early American literature.

Another example was Williams's young daughter, Eunice Williams. She was eventually adopted into a Mohawk community and ultimately chose to remain there rather than return permanently to Massachusetts. Taken captive at age seven, she eventually fully assimilated into their society, formed deep familial bonds, forgot the English language, and married a Mohawk man named Arosen in 1713.

The English authorities and the families of the captives attempted to secure their release through negotiations and prisoner exchanges. Over the following years, many of the Deerfield captives were eventually returned to Massachusetts. However, not all came back. Roughly two-thirds of the surviving captives ultimately returned, while around one-third remained in French or Native communities. Some had been adopted, some had become integrated into Native societies, and others had formed new relationships in Canada. This produced considerable anguish among the captives' families. From the perspective of the English communities, these people had been abducted from their homes. From the perspective of some of the Native communities that adopted them, however, incorporating captives into their families was an established cultural practice.

English forces retaliated for the raid by targeting French settlements in Acadia, while the French and their Native allies continued attacks against exposed English communities. The war gradually shifted in England’s favor, particularly after the British capture of Port Royal in Acadia in 1710 (although a major British expedition against Quebec failed the following year). The wider War of the Spanish Succession came to an end with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, which also ended Queen Anne’s War in North America. France was forced to surrender Acadia, Newfoundland, and its claims to the Hudson Bay region to Britain, significantly strengthening British power in northeastern North America

The Battle of Idistaviso, fought in 16 AD along the Weser River in Germania, was one of the most significant clashes between the Roman Empire and the Germanic tribes following the catastrophic Roman defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD.

During the famous Battle of Teutoburg Forest, the Cheruscan leader Arminius had destroyed three Roman legions and later convinced many Germanic tribes to resist Roman domination. Although Emperor Augustus abandoned plans for full conquest of Germania, his successor Tiberius authorized renewed campaigns under Germanicus, who sought both military success and political glory. In 16 AD, Germanicus launched a major expedition deep into German territory, transporting thousands of soldiers by sea and marching toward the lands of the Cherusci, Arminius’ people.

Germanicus’ army was among the largest Rome had ever sent into Germania. It consisted of several legions supported by auxiliary troops, including allied Germanic warriors. After crossing the Weser River, Roman forces encountered Arminius and his coalition assembled on the eastern bank. Before the main battle, Germanic forces attempted to disrupt the Roman advance, successfully ambushing Roman-allied Batavian cavalry led by the chieftain Chariovalda. However, this initial success did not prevent the Romans from forcing a decisive confrontation.

The battlefield of Idistaviso was a broad plain surrounded by forests and hills. Unlike the terrain at Teutoburg Forest, where Arminius had trapped the Romans in narrow wooded paths, Idistaviso favored the disciplined formations of the Roman army. Germanicus understood that his legions were strongest in open battle, where their organization, armor, training, and coordination could overcome the less standardized Germanic forces.
When the battle began, the Roman army advanced in a carefully organized formation. The Germanic warriors fought with great determination, but they struggled against the Roman heavy infantry. The legions maintained their lines while auxiliary cavalry attacked the flanks. Arminius attempted to rally his warriors and break the Roman formation, but the Roman discipline proved overwhelming. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, Arminius and his uncle Inguiomer were both wounded during the fighting but managed to escape capture.

The Germanic army suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat. Many warriors attempted to flee across the Weser River, while others were pursued by Roman cavalry. Germanicus’ soldiers claimed a major victory, and the Romans erected a battlefield monument celebrating the defeat of the tribes that had destroyed Varus’ legions years earlier. The victory also allowed the Romans to recover some of the lost standards from the Teutoburg disaster, which carried enormous symbolic importance in Roman society.

Despite the scale of the victory, Idistaviso did not lead to the permanent conquest of Germania. Germanicus won another battle later in 16 AD at the Angrivarian Wall, but Emperor Tiberius eventually recalled him, deciding that the costs of continued campaigns outweighed the benefits. Rome ultimately accepted the Rhine River as the practical boundary between the empire and independent Germania.

Painting by Sean Ó’Brógáín

The Battle of Dosol Mountain (June 4-20th 1951) was arguably one of the most significant South Korean victories of the Korean War and a defining battle in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps' history. Fought in the rugged mountains north of the 38th Parallel near Yanggu, the battle took place during the United Nations counteroffensive that followed the failure of the Chinese Spring Offensive. Control of Dosol Mountain was vital because it overlooked the approaches to the strategically important Punchbowl basin and the roads leading farther north. The North Korean People's Army had transformed the mountain into a heavily fortified stronghold with trenches, bunkers, minefields, and interlocking fields of fire, making it one of the strongest defensive positions on the central front.

The battle initially proved to be extremely costly for the attacking United Nations forces. Elements of the U.S. 1st Marine Division attempted to seize the mountain but suffered heavy casualties without breaking the defenders' lines. Responsibility for the assault was then transferred to the Republic of Korea Marine Corps' 1st Regiment under Colonel Kim Dae-sik. Beginning on June 4th, South Korean Marines launched repeated assaults against steep slopes and well-prepared North Korean positions. Progress was slow, as defenders resisted fiercely with artillery, mortars, machine guns, and counterattacks. The difficult terrain also forced soldiers into brutal close-quarters combat, fighting bunker by bunker and ridge by ridge.

After more than two weeks of fighting, the South Korean Marines wore down the defenders. On June 19th, after intense fighting along the eastern ridge, the Marines captured the summit and forced the North Korean defenders to retreat, securing the objective by June 20th. Although the victory came at a high cost in casualties, it secured a critical mountain position protecting the approaches to the Punchbowl and enabled further UN advances during the summer of 1951.

Painting by Lee Jae-ho

In the summer of 1863, as the American Civil War reached a turning point with the Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan launched one of the war's boldest cavalry expeditions. Originally ordered to conduct a raid in Kentucky, Morgan defied his instructions by crossing the Ohio River into Indiana and then Ohio, becoming the first and only major Confederate commander to lead a large invasion deep into the Buckeye State. His goal was to spread panic, disrupt Union communications and transportation, seize supplies, and force the North to divert troops away from the main theaters of war.
Morgan entered Ohio on July 13th 1863, with roughly 2,000 cavalrymen after spending several days riding across southern Indiana. As his force advanced eastward across southern and central Ohio, the raiders tore up railroad tracks, cut telegraph lines, burned bridges, seized horses and provisions, and demanded food and supplies from local communities. Rumors spread rapidly that Cincinnati, Columbus, or even Cleveland might be attacked, prompting widespread fear. Thousands of Ohio militiamen were called into service, while Union cavalry relentlessly pursued the Confederates from behind. Although Morgan's men won several minor skirmishes, they found it increasingly difficult to evade the growing number of Federal forces converging on them.

The turning point came at the Battle of Buffington Island on July 19th, where Morgan hoped to cross the Ohio River back into Confederate territory. Union cavalry, supported by naval gunboats, intercepted the raiders before they could escape. Hundreds of Confederates were killed, wounded, or captured, and only a small portion of the force managed to cross the river. Refusing to surrender, Morgan led approximately 400 exhausted men northeast through Ohio in a desperate attempt to find another crossing. Their horses were worn out, supplies were nearly gone, and Union troops steadily closed in from multiple directions.

After a week of constant pursuit, Morgan's remaining force was finally surrounded near Salineville in northeastern Ohio on July 26th 1863. Following a brief fight, Morgan surrendered, bringing the remarkable 24-day raid to an end. He and his officers were imprisoned in the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, while most of his enlisted men were sent to Camp Chase. Morgan later escaped from prison through a tunnel in November 1863 and returned to Confederate service, though he was killed less than a year later in Tennessee.

Although Morgan's Ohio Raid demonstrated extraordinary endurance, its strategic value remains debated. The raid succeeded in creating widespread alarm, forced tens of thousands of Union troops and militia into action, disrupted transportation and communications, and inflicted significant property damage across Ohio. During the expedition, Morgan's men captured and paroled thousands of Union soldiers, destroyed dozens of bridges, and damaged railroads at numerous locations. However, the Confederacy ultimately lost nearly its entire veteran cavalry force involved in the operation, and the raid failed to produce any lasting military advantage.

Artist: Mort Künstler

The Ruga-Ruga were irregular African warriors and mercenaries who played an important, though often overlooked, role in the East African Campaign of World War I. The Ruga-Ruga were locally recruited fighters drawn from various ethnic groups. Their tradition dated back to the 19th century, when they served as caravan guards, tribal militias, and mercenaries throughout East Africa. During World War I, both the British and Germans employed Ruga-Ruga, but they became especially associated with the German forces of Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.

Germany's small colonial army relied heavily on these irregulars to supplement its limited manpower. British estimates suggested that more than 12,000 Ruga-Ruga served alongside the Germans over the course of the campaign, effectively doubling the number of fighting men available in some areas. They excelled as scouts, raiders, guides, and guerrilla fighters, using their knowledge of the terrain to harass Allied forces and protect German movements.

The Ruga-Ruga were not regular soldiers, however, and their effectiveness varied. Many fought for local rivalries, prestige, or the opportunity for plunder rather than out of loyalty to Germany. As a result, some units fought with great courage while others deserted when circumstances turned against them. Even so, they contributed significantly to the Germans' ability to wage a four-year guerrilla campaign that tied down hundreds of thousands of Allied troops in East Africa.

The Battle of Barnet, fought on April 14th 1471 during the Wars of the Roses, was one of the most decisive battles in English history. It arose from a dramatic split between King Edward IV of the House of York and his former ally, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, better known as the "Kingmaker." Warwick had helped Edward seize the throne in 1461, but disagreements over foreign policy, royal patronage, and Edward's secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville led Warwick to rebel. He eventually allied himself with the rival House of Lancaster, restored the deposed Henry VI to the throne in 1470, and forced Edward into exile. In the spring of 1471, Edward returned to England with Burgundian support, regained London, and marched north to confront Warwick.

The two armies met near Barnet on Easter Sunday, April 14th 1471, in thick morning fog that made communication and identification extremely difficult. Before dawn, Edward IV positioned his Yorkist army close to Warwick's Lancastrians, and the battle began with cannon fire, arrows, and brutal hand-to-hand fighting between heavily armed infantry and knights. The fighting initially went in Warwick's favor on his right flank, where the Earl of Oxford’s troops overwhelmed the Yorkist left wing under Lord Hastings and forced many soldiers to flee toward Barnet. However, on the opposite side of the battlefield, Edward’s brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III), helped maintain pressure against the Lancastrian left, preventing Warwick from gaining victory. As the battle continued, the fog caused a disastrous misunderstanding among the Lancastrian forces. Oxford’s victorious troops, returning from their pursuit of the Yorkists, approached Warwick’s center, but their badge (a star with rays) was mistaken for Edward IV’s sun emblem. Believing they were being attacked, Warwick’s own men turned their weapons on them, causing panic and accusations of betrayal. The confusion spread through the Lancastrian ranks, allowing Edward’s forces to regroup and launch a decisive counterattack. The Lancastrian line collapsed, and Warwick attempted to escape but was caught and killed along with his brother John Neville, Marquess of Montagu, ending the career of the powerful “Kingmaker.”

The victory at Barnet restored Yorkist momentum and eliminated Edward IV's greatest political rival and one of the main pillars of Lancastrian support. Edward returned to London triumphant, while Warwick and Montagu's bodies were briefly displayed to prove that they were truly dead before being given burial. However, on the same day as Barnet was being fought, Queen Margaret of Anjou and her son, Edward of Westminster, landed in England to continue the Lancastrian struggle. Edward IV quickly moved against them, defeating their remaining army at the Battle of Tewkesbury on May 4th 1471. This victory destroyed the main Lancastrian military threat, killed Prince Edward, and soon afterward led to the death of Henry VI, securing Edward IV's throne and beginning a period of Yorkist dominance in England.

Artist is Graham Turner

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/310396599331545292/

During the time of the first century AD, religious tensions, heavy taxation, corruption, and the harsh actions of the Roman procurator Gessius Florus fueled widespread unrest and disdain toward Roman rule in Judea. When Florus seized money from the Temple treasury and violently suppressed protests, rebellion erupted across the province. Roman garrisons were attacked, Jerusalem fell into rebel hands, and attempts by local leaders to restore peace collapsed. In response, the governor of Syria, Cestius Gallus, assembled a large expeditionary force centered on Legio XII Fulminata, reinforced by detachments from several other legions and auxiliary troops, to crush the revolt before it spread further.

Gallus advanced through Judea, burning rebellious towns and eventually reaching Jerusalem. Although parts of the city were captured and burned, the Romans failed to secure a decisive victory. For reasons that remain debated by historians (including logistical difficulties, determined resistance, and uncertainty about the situation inside the city) Gallus unexpectedly abandoned the siege and began retreating toward the Mediterranean coast. This withdrawal presented the Jewish rebels with an ideal opportunity to strike.

The decisive engagement occurred at the narrow mountain pass of Beth Horon, a route famous for its steep slopes and confined terrain. As the Roman column moved through the pass, Jewish forces under commanders including Simon bar Giora, Eleazar ben Simon, and other rebel leaders launched a carefully prepared ambush from the surrounding high ground. Arrows, stones, and other projectiles rained down upon the Romans while the difficult terrain prevented them from effectively deploying their disciplined formations. The confined roadway turned the orderly retreat into chaos, and repeated attacks steadily wore down the exhausted Roman soldiers.

The battle ended in a catastrophic Roman defeat. Approximately 6,000 Roman soldiers were killed, including most of an entire legion, while many others fled in disorder. The Jewish rebels captured valuable Roman siege equipment and, most humiliatingly, seized the aquila, or eagle standard, of Legio XII Fulminata (an enormous disgrace in Roman military tradition). The surviving Roman army continued its retreat toward the coast, abandoning supplies as the rebels pursued them.

The victory temporarily secured Jewish control over much of Judea and inspired confidence that the rebellion could succeed against Rome. Rebel leaders established a provisional government and began preparing for what they knew would be a larger Roman counteroffensive. For Rome, however, the defeat was intolerable. Emperor Nero responded by appointing the experienced general Vespasian to lead a far larger campaign with several veteran legions. Beginning in 67 AD, Roman forces systematically reconquered Galilee and Judea before ultimately besieging and destroying Jerusalem in 70 AD. Although the Jewish victory at Beth Horon was ultimately overshadowed by Rome's eventual triumph, the battle remains one of the most remarkable defeats ever inflicted upon a Roman field army by a provincial rebellion.

Artist of the painting is Peter Dennis

Fresh from his victory at the Battle of Montenotte, Napoleon sought to exploit the separation between the Austrian army under Johann Beaulieu and the Sardinian army under Michelangelo Colli. His strategy was to strike westward, defeat the Sardinians before Austrian reinforcements could intervene, and force the Kingdom of Sardinia out of the war. To accomplish this, General Pierre Augereau advanced toward the town of Millesimo, where Austrian General Giovanni di Provera commanded a small force protecting the route toward the Sardinian positions farther west.

On the morning of April 13th, Augereau forced his way through the difficult mountain approaches south of Millesimo, crossed the Bormida River, and defeated Provera's advance troops. At the same time, Napoleon dispatched General André Masséna north toward Dego to prevent Beaulieu's Austrian army from intervening. These simultaneous operations reflected Napoleon's overall strategy: while Augereau engaged the Allied forces around Millesimo, Masséna would keep the Austrian army occupied elsewhere, ensuring that Provera received no meaningful support.

Augereau's attack achieved its immediate objective by breaking through the Allied positions around Millesimo and isolating Provera's detachment from the rest of the Austro-Sardinian army. Rather than surrender, Provera withdrew with the remnants of his command into the ruined Castle of Cosseria. The garrison's resistance not only covered the continued withdrawal of Colli's main Sardinian army but also threatened to delay Napoleon's advance at a critical moment in the campaign.

Napoleon ordered the castle to be taken immediately. Throughout the afternoon of April 13th, French troops launched repeated assaults against the fortress. The defenders, despite being heavily outnumbered, repelled every attack with disciplined musket fire while also hurling rocks and debris down the steep slopes upon the attackers. The fighting was fierce, and the French suffered heavy losses. Several senior officers became casualties, including Generals Banel and Quesnel, who were killed, while the future Marshal Barthélemy Joubert was wounded. The determined defense temporarily halted Napoleon's advance and became one of the bloodiest episodes of the early Italian campaign.

By the morning of April 14th, however, the situation inside the castle had become hopeless. The defenders had exhausted much of their ammunition, possessed little food or water, and could expect no relief, as the surrounding Allied armies had been driven back. Napoleon personally directed renewed attacks while surrounding the fortress completely. Realizing further resistance would only result in needless deaths, Provera surrendered the garrison. Approximately one thousand defenders were taken prisoner, effectively eliminating the obstacle that had delayed the French advance.

Although the battle ended in a French victory, it was far from an effortless success. The French suffered unusually heavy casualties for such a small engagement and apparently Napoleon himself later admitted that the action was a mistake caused by his impatience. Nevertheless, the capture of Cosseria opened the road toward Ceva and allowed Napoleon to continue separating the Sardinian and Austrian armies. Within weeks, the Kingdom of Sardinia was compelled to seek peace, leaving Austria to face Napoleon alone in northern Italy. The victory therefore contributed significantly to the rapid collapse of the First Coalition's position in Italy and helped establish Napoleon's growing reputation as one of Europe's most gifted military commanders.

Painting by Keith Rocco