The Genius of Sweden's "Lion of the North"
By Steve Wilson
In the skies over a modern battlefield a joint tactical air control team is often credited for carrying their platoon's “big gun,” or radio, as devastating airstrikes are vectored in from aircraft loitering in the battle space where friendly forces are taking fire. Laser guided munitions, global positioning systems, joint direct attack munition technology and real-time communications make it possible for military units to shape the battlefield to their advantage. However, coordinated efforts on an ever changing fluid battle space aren't new concepts. In fact, credit for this military innovation, and several others, belongs to Gustavus II Adolphus, King of Sweden, whose reign lasted from October 12, 1617 until his death in battle, Nov. 6, 1632.
Bacon's Rebellion: America's First Revolutionary?
By Walt Giersbach
Nathaniel Bacon was caught in a dilemma on a hot July day in 1676. The settlers’ avowed enemy, the Susquehannocks and their allies, were in front of him in the upper counties of Virginia while Governor William Berkeley’s English army and militia were getting ready to attack Bacon from the rear. Hundreds of landowners, indentured servants, slaves and other volunteers making up Bacon’s army waited for orders. Ever the strategist, the 29-year-old rebel addressed his army, “Gentlemen and fellow soldiers, the news just brought to me may not a little startle you as well as myselfe. The Governour is now in Gloster County endeavouring to raise forces against us, having declared us Rebells and Traytors…. They had rather wee should be Murder’d and our Ghosts sent to our slaughter’d Countrymen by their actings, than we should live to hinder them of their Interest with the Heathen.” [1]
Governor Kieft's Personal War
By Walt Giersbach
Americans today know little about the Dutch influence in the New York region except for odd place names like Harlem, Yonkers and Spuyten Duyvil. Or, the tale of Rip Van Winkle. Or, the bargain in which Pieter Stuyvesant bought an entire island for $25 worth of trinkets. For a brief period, the Dutch managed one of the most democratic, tolerant and socially liberal settlements in the New World. In contrast, one of its governors, Willem Kieft, will forever be known as the spiteful tyrant of New Amsterdam. In the wake of his administration lay more than a thousand dead Indians—men, women and children.* Such was the viciousness of his warfare that a contemporary complained to authorities in Holland that the Indians were being decapitated and burned alive by Kieft's soldiers.
Philip's War: America's Most Devastating Conflict
By Walt Giersbach
King Philip's War (1675-76) is an event that has been largely ignored by the American public and popular historians. However, the almost two-year conflict between the colonists and the Native Americans in New England stands as perhaps the most devastating war in this country's history. One in ten soldiers on both sides were wounded or killed. At its height, hostilities threatened to push the recently arrived English colonists back to the coast. And, it took years for towns and urban centers to recover from the carnage and property damage.
By Steve Wilson
In the skies over a modern battlefield a joint tactical air control team is often credited for carrying their platoon's “big gun,” or radio, as devastating airstrikes are vectored in from aircraft loitering in the battle space where friendly forces are taking fire. Laser guided munitions, global positioning systems, joint direct attack munition technology and real-time communications make it possible for military units to shape the battlefield to their advantage. However, coordinated efforts on an ever changing fluid battle space aren't new concepts. In fact, credit for this military innovation, and several others, belongs to Gustavus II Adolphus, King of Sweden, whose reign lasted from October 12, 1617 until his death in battle, Nov. 6, 1632.
Bacon's Rebellion: America's First Revolutionary?
By Walt Giersbach
Nathaniel Bacon was caught in a dilemma on a hot July day in 1676. The settlers’ avowed enemy, the Susquehannocks and their allies, were in front of him in the upper counties of Virginia while Governor William Berkeley’s English army and militia were getting ready to attack Bacon from the rear. Hundreds of landowners, indentured servants, slaves and other volunteers making up Bacon’s army waited for orders. Ever the strategist, the 29-year-old rebel addressed his army, “Gentlemen and fellow soldiers, the news just brought to me may not a little startle you as well as myselfe. The Governour is now in Gloster County endeavouring to raise forces against us, having declared us Rebells and Traytors…. They had rather wee should be Murder’d and our Ghosts sent to our slaughter’d Countrymen by their actings, than we should live to hinder them of their Interest with the Heathen.” [1]
Governor Kieft's Personal War
By Walt Giersbach
Americans today know little about the Dutch influence in the New York region except for odd place names like Harlem, Yonkers and Spuyten Duyvil. Or, the tale of Rip Van Winkle. Or, the bargain in which Pieter Stuyvesant bought an entire island for $25 worth of trinkets. For a brief period, the Dutch managed one of the most democratic, tolerant and socially liberal settlements in the New World. In contrast, one of its governors, Willem Kieft, will forever be known as the spiteful tyrant of New Amsterdam. In the wake of his administration lay more than a thousand dead Indians—men, women and children.* Such was the viciousness of his warfare that a contemporary complained to authorities in Holland that the Indians were being decapitated and burned alive by Kieft's soldiers.
Philip's War: America's Most Devastating Conflict
By Walt Giersbach
King Philip's War (1675-76) is an event that has been largely ignored by the American public and popular historians. However, the almost two-year conflict between the colonists and the Native Americans in New England stands as perhaps the most devastating war in this country's history. One in ten soldiers on both sides were wounded or killed. At its height, hostilities threatened to push the recently arrived English colonists back to the coast. And, it took years for towns and urban centers to recover from the carnage and property damage.