The Pig War — The Outrageous 1859 Crisis That Nearly Led to Conflict Between the U.S. and Britain Today in 1859, an American farmer on the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest shoots a hog owned by a British settler. The incident sparks what becomes known as the “Pig War,” a crisis that…
Category: Obscure History
Know Your Obscure WW2 History: Boeing Wonderland
Did You Know About the Boeing Wonderland? World War II saw numerous innovative attempts to confuse the enemy through camouflage: by hiding one’s assets from detection, while creating fake units elsewhere to misdirect the enemy’s attention. (You might recall one of our older articles about the Germans disguising the battleship Tirpitz as a group of houses. Read our earlier…
Obscure WW2 History: Jap Lunge Mines and Banzai Sticks
Jap Lunge Mines and Banzai Sticks – Last Ditch Weapons in WW2 During World War II, the ancient Samurai moral code of honor, obedience, duty and self-sacrifice found its way into Japanese military tactics, particularly during the last desperate months of the empire of the Rising Sun. Beyond the high-profile Kamikaze air strikes, the…
Know Your Obscure Military History: The Ravens
H/T Wynn For Further Study and Reading: The Ravens: The True Story Of A Secret War In Laos, Vietnam
Obscure Civil War History: The Confederacy’s Canadian Raiders
The Confederacy’s Canadian Raiders — How Rebel Agents Waged War On the North from Foreign Soil Great example of a well-trained and dedicated small unit of guerilla’s infiltrating deep behind enemy lines and using every manner of insurgent warfare (to include urban terrorism) to strike FEAR into the heart of the enemy.
Know Your WW1 History: The East Africa Campaign and Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck
H/T WRSA The East Africa Campaign On the outbreak of war in 1914, Colonel Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck was the commander of a small army in German East Africa (Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda). He was determined to tie down as many Allied troops as he could in the region to prevent them from…
Obscure American History: The Legend of the Moon-Eyed People
The Legend of the Moon-Eyed People According to formulations of Cherokee legend as told by historians, the Cherokee in Appalachia–before the arrival of colonists–expelled a race of small, bearded people who could only see by night. Some historians claim that the legend states that the Moon Eyed people were white. This is likely an…
Know Your Weapons: The Luty 9mm SMG
The Legacy of Philip Luty Lives on. Prepare Accordingly and Arm Yourself. (Schematics in Link above)
5 Of The Most Brutal Tactics in the History of Warfare
5 Of The Most Brutal Tactics in the History of Warfare Very interesting piece about the tactics of the Roman cohort, to include their footwear. Never underestimate how useful and practical a good pair of boots are! I have always worn mid-ankle type boots year around versus athletic shoes for this very reason. Prepare…
Revisiting the Yeakey Murder in Light of Re-Written History
Stand Up to the Rising of the Tide.