Knight's Cross with Oak-Leaves, Swords and Diamonds

The Knight's Cross with Oak-Leaves, Swords and Diamonds was the highest award for bravery given in Germany during the Second World War. Only twenty seven men won this award and today we provide a list of those men. We intend this to be the first of a series of similar lists for each participant in the war (where possible).

Battle of Belmont

The Battle of Belmont was U.S. Grant's first experience of battlefield command. As a battle it had little significance, but it has interest as a stepping stone in the career of the Union's most successful general.

William J. Hardee

William J. Hardee was a senior Confederate general and military theorist, who appeared in just about every theatre of war apart from Virginia, starting the war west of the Mississippi, and ending it in North Carolina. His career rather neatly sums up the Confederate experience outside Virginia, and includes the battle of Shiloh, the siege of Chattanooga, and the Confederate attempts to stop W. T. Sherman's march to the sea.

Siege of Vicksburg

The Siege of Vicksburg was one of the most significant events of the American Civil War. The fall of Vicksburg removed the last significant Confederate presence on the Mississippi River, making it only a matter of time before the river was open to traffic from the north.

Two New Zealanders: Lt Col L W Andrew and Lt Col Howard Kippenberger

We complete a short series of biographies of New Zealanders with Lt Col L W Andrew, VC and Lt Col Howard Kippenberger, both of whom held important commands during the Battle of Crete in 1941. It was Lt Col Andrew who gave the fateful order to retreat from Máleme airport.

Fort Sumter, 1861

We turn to the very start of the American Civil War today, with an article on the Siege of Fort Sumter, the battle that turned a crisis into a war.