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FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN, JULY 21, 1861 Letting go of Harpers Ferry and consolidating in and around Winchester gave Johnston the room he needed to maneuver what was now called the Army of Shenandoah. The very first major battle of the war, at Manassas Junction near Bull Run Creek, would prove the wisdom of […]

Portrait of Lamoraal, Count of Egmont by Frans Pourbus the Elder Flemish general, statesman, and Dutch nationalist hero whose execution helped spark the national uprising in the Netherlands against Spanish rule. Lamoral Egmont was born on November 18, 1522, into one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the Low Countries at the family […]

Jan Žižka leading his troops (illumination from the late 15th century) Leader of Hussite Forces during the Early Catholic Crusades To most of his contemporaries he was, it seems, not so much an individual character as a great and frightful natural phenomenon: a terrific power, sent by God to save the Law of God and […]

While peasants provided the bulk of the manpower, Žižka did have some nobles in his army with cavalry expertise. They stayed within the wagenburg until the enemy charge had been broken; then the defenders would open a gap and the cavalry would engage in pursuit. The infantry were the backbone of the army, however. They […]

Through the second half of 1420 Žižka had to engage in some intra-Hussite fighting. The poorest people of Bohemia not only embraced the teachings of Hus but carried them further into a millennial belief that a completely equal society would bring about Christ’s second coming. The middle class and minor aristocracy opposed this for economic […]