Cauldron - A Military History Podcast

The Issue - English colonization of the tribal Abenaki lands in modern-day New England and North East Canada. Date - The conflict was one of extreme hot and cold periods between the 1670s and 1760s usually reignited by wars and events in Europe. Combatants - British regulars, colonial militia, and settlers vs. Abenaki warriors and French regulars Key Figures British - Cpt. William Turner/Major Robert Rogers/James Wolfe French - Hertel de Rouville/Louis de Baude, comte de Frontenac/Louis-Joesph de Montcalm Abenaki - Wampanoag sachem Metacomet known to the English as King Philip/Woronoke sachem Grey Lock Key Battles - Turners Falls/Schenectady/Salmon Falls/Casco Bay/Deerfield/the Plains of Abraham/the siege of Quebec/St.Francis Result - Abenaki tribes displaced and dispersed by the English colonial forces.

Few battles in history are so complete and decisive as Koniggratz. In a day the Austro-Prussian War was won and ended. The brilliant Moltke the Elder faced a much larger Austrian army and roundly defeated it. That, however, doesn’t mean it was easy. On July 3rd 1866 Moltke and his army’s fate hung in the balance as the Austrian forces fought harder and harder before the timely arrival of the Prussian salvation decided the day.

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi, otherwise known as Abd el-Krim, was President of the Rif Republic, a Moroccan freedom fighter, and a guerrilla warfare specialist. He led his people through the Third Rif War and won a resounding victory against the Spanish at the battle of Annual in 1921. He would go on and influence many a revolutionary, from Ho Chi Minh to Mao to Che and in the process he helped to chip away at the tottering colonial system in Africa.

The powerful Umayyad Caliphate, the second of the original four in early Islamic history, had a rocky relationship with its many subjects. The Umayyads were an Arab dynasty but could prove no direct relationship or bloodline to the Prophet’s family, and they had a willingness to tax all subjects at very high rates, Arab and non-Arab alike. Because they treated Arabs better than anyone, and should no preference for non-Arab muslims, the Umayyad’s had few friends in their lands. Some of the more discriminatory policies led to unrest and two leaders started to form an opposition party; Muhammad Ibn Ali, who could boast a blood tie to the Prophet and Abu Muslim, an Iranian leader that gave voice to the over taxed non-Arab and non-muslims. Wearing black and touting a black flag, mirroring the Prophets own battle flag, the Abbasids began their revolution in 745.

Through a combination of guile, patience, and determination, Abbas the Great ruled a powerful Persian state for over forty years. Upon taking the throne he faced threats from every direction including the vaunted Janissaries of the Turks and the mighty Mogul Empire to the south. Understanding that he could only deal with one enemy at a time, Abbas prioritized each opponent and then in turn dealt with the Uzbeks, Ottomans, Moguls, and even the Portuguese. His was court of culture and when not campaigning he was a powerful patron of the arts and builder of beautiful cities. On his death the Persian Empire ran from the Indus River to the Tigris River.

Napoleon Bonaparte is, almost always, in the “Mt. Rushmore” greatest military commanders of all time conversation, and rightfully so. That being said he wasn’t without a great many flaws and long before Waterloo, Napoleon suffered his fair share of defeats. Marengo doesn’t fall into the loss column for Bonaparte, but it came pretty damn close. A poor French tactical choice, a drastic French inferiority in artillery, and a ferocious Austrian assault all led to Marengo being a pretty close run thing for the First Consul.

As the title makes clear, this is not the promised battle of Marengo! Nope, it’s still very busy up here in Maine and the tourist season has yet to slow, so getting the new episode written up has been a bit more of a struggle than I anticipated. To hold you guys over while I finish up the Marengo script here is a conversation with Brett from the Whiskey Tango Podcast. Brett came on to chat about Turks, cataphracts, and the Byzantines at the battle of Manzikert and, much like the first time he and I talked, this was a blast. We ran a little long but since it has been over a month since the last show, I figure more is better! Enjoy!

“For this campaign I see so very ill a prospect that I am extremely out of heart.” So wrote the man most responsible for today’s battle and one of Britain’s greatest military victories, the battle of Blenheim.

"I had scarcely finished speaking when the enemy's battery opened fire upon us, and raked us through and through. They concentrated their fire upon us, and with their first discharge carried off Count de la Bastide, the lieutenant of my own company with whom at the moment I was speaking, and twelve grenadiers, who fell side by side in the ranks, so that my coat was covered with brains and blood. So accurate was the fire that each discharge of the cannon stretched some of my men on the ground. I suffered agonies at seeing these brave fellows perish without a chance of defending themselves, but it was absolutely necessary that they should not move from their post.” - Jean Martin de la Colonie The battle of Schellenberg is one of the interesting stops on the Duke of Marlborough’s road to Blenheim. Time was in short supply and the Grand Alliance was in a tight spot, the heights over Donauworth had to be taken, and quickly. A frontal assault was in the offing and the deadly struggle that followed almost cost Marlborough his campaign, reputation, and maybe even the war itself. Let’s go back to the War of the Spanish Succession, the age of Marlborough and muskets. Let’s go back to 1704 and the battle of Schellenberg!

Let’s go back to the year 1702, a time when Spanish treasure ships still sailed the open seas. Let’s go back to the age of sails and cannon, of Sun Kings and wars of succession. To a time when the Royal Navy was just coming into its own, and the Bourbon navy was about to find out what the cost of maritime power would be. Let’s go back to 1702, 23rd of October, and the battle of Vigo Bay!

Let’s go back to the year 1700, a cold gray late November day in Estonia. Let’s go back to the age of muskets and bayonets, of dragoons and hussars. To a time when the Lion of the North, the Last Viking, young Charles XII of Sweden was sizing up his first meal, Peter the "not yet" Great of Russia. Let’s go back to the battle of Narva!

Let’s go back to the year 1014, a late summer in the Balkans where Basil II, of the Byzantine Empire, has brought his army to destroy his oldest foe. Let’s go back to the final days of the Bulgarian Empire of Czar Samuel, seventy years old and still willing (and able) to lead his army into the fight. Let’s go back to the battle of Kleidion!

A little bit of a pivot this week; instead of the Battle of Kleidion (which will just get pushed back a week) you’ll be listening to a chat between myself and Brett from the Whiskey Tango Podcast. I’ve got a nasty little cold, if you listen close you can hear me getting sick, and that’s keeping me from recording. Brett and I have been talking about doing a joint show for a while and we finally got one recorded. I had a blast and getting to actually speak to someone instead of the wall of my recording closet was a nice change of pace. Ipsus is a fantastic battle to cover and I think you guys will enjoy it! Make sure you follow/rate/review and subscribe to the Whiskey Tango Podcast guys, and enjoy!

This week on cauldron we are going back to good friday, April 23 1014, to the emerald isle itself - Ireland. On the beaches just north of Dublin Brian Boru defeated an uprising and the existential viking threat, saved his kingdom and country, and lost his life. Let’s go back to the Battle of Clontarf.

Let’s go back to Late Antiquity, to the steel blue waters of the Baltic Sea, where two lines of Long Ships entangled in a desperate struggle, the winner lives, the loser drowns. Let’s go back to September 9, 999/1000A.D., the Age of the Viking and the Battle of Svolder.

I am (as you all probably guessed) a huge Dan Carlin fan and I often find myself re-listening to his different series. Recently I put fresh ears on his King of Kings episodes about the ancient Persians. One rough quote, or paraphrase is probably more accurate, from historian Pierre Briant that stuck with me is “you must believe in ancient history, even if it never happened.” As I put this episode on Troy together this idea keeps slamming me in the head. I’m not sure there is an episode in military history that better encapsulates the sentiment Briant is trying to get across than the Trojan War and subsequent fall of the great city itself. There isn’t a hell of a lot of evidence, but, if you don’t believe the siege of Troy occurred, ancient history becomes a much less human, colorful, and tangible world. Now, you don’t need to believe gods like Athena and Apollo fought alongside the Trojans and the Achaeans, but damn if that doesn't make for a hell of a story!

From Megiddo to Kadesh almost 200 years passed with Egypt at the pinnacle of its power. From modern day Sudan to the southern border of modern day Turkey, Egypt reigned supreme. They weren’t unchallenged and certainly, like their life-giving river itself things where often in flux; uprisings, rebellions, and border fighting happened regularly and territory was lost just as often as it was gained, but even so the people of the Nile maintained their control over much of the modern Middle East. The chariot, brought to Egypt on the conquering tide of the Hyksos invasion and retooled and perfected by the Egyptians themselves, was in large part what brought Egyptian freedom from the foreign oppressors at home and victory and Egyptian dominance abroad. At Megiddo, this engineering marvel, the Egyptian war chariot, showed the world what it could do to an unequal enemy. At Kadesh, the last great clash of chariots showed the world that this unique weapons system had reached its peak and would soon (in relative historical terms) be outdated and surpassed. But for one glorious late May day on the plains outside of Kadesh, the Pharaoh Ramses the 2nd, who would later be known as the Great Ancestor, saved his army and his reputation from the back of his chariot. Or at least that’s what he wanted us to think…

Megiddo is an interesting story; by bringing along court scribes Thutmose III allows us to follow along in his footsteps and see the battle as he saw it. Now, obviously we can’t take everything the scribes wrote at face value; propaganda is as old as written history, and probably older, but at least, for the first time, we can paint a historical battle with color instead of just black and white. And the drama of Megiddo is real and intense. The pharaoh’s choice to take the middle route and risk his army being picked off, man by man, would be a bold decision in any time period. The Canaanites fleeing the field and having to be hauled over the city walls is the very picture of comical desperation. At Megiddo, whether it all happened as the scribes said or not, history comes to life.

For the re-launch of Cauldron I've chosen the fight between Umma and Lagash as our starting point. Certainly not the first battle in human history but in my humble non-historian opinion the first that we can really get a clear narrative picture of. It’s ancient ancient history, 2,116 years before Alexander crossed the Hellespont, so dates, facts, and numbers are loose when present at all. But, there are character archetypes we’re familiar with; a great and greedy king, a ravenous blood-thirsty god, and there are recognizable themes; revenge, jealousy, pride, and lust for power. All this means is we can only broadstroke the battle given the lack of information and facts, truly a glimpse of the past, our past, through Tuchman’s “distant mirror”. But, a picture can be formed, however loosely, of that long gone version of ourselves and we can start to tell our history, the history of war, if not from it’s beginning then somewhere closeby. So, let's get In Medias Res, and get stuck in with episode one the battle between Umma and Lagash!

This is the first episode of a new series exclusive for Tier 3 Patreon Producers. In this series, I'll be breaking down the biggest blunders in military history, from the Charge of the Light Brigade to Kasserine Pass and more.

In this episode, I talked to Dr. Karl James, the head of military history at the Australian War Memorial. The book he edited, Kokoda: Beyond the Legend, was the principal source for this series, and let me tell you, it's a fantastic read!

"They have seen nothing yet...In our day, no one has conceived anything great: it is for me to set the example." - Napoleon Bonaparte after the victory at Lodi. With a playwright's understanding of men's passions, he could give heart or strike fear with a few well-placed words. His glance, produced at the right moment to the right man, could expose a weakness or inspire courage. Like Hannibal and many others, he was a commander that lived and suffered very much with his men, at least at the beginning of his career. All these things mark Napoleon out as a uniquely gifted general. At the battle of Rivoli in mid-January 1796, we see them all come together at once, on full display for the first time in the "Little Corporal's" career.

I had a great conversation with Josh of the Adventure in Historyland blog and author of the book Wild East: The British in Japan 1854-1868. He knows his stuff, and his passion for history comes through loud and clear! We talked about all things Napoleon, the Italian Campaign, and Rivoli. Josh does a great job explaining interior lines and the central position doctrine as they relate to Rivoli. I had a lot of fun, and we will be sure to have him back for another battle; next time, I'll find a little Wellington engagement for him to chat about!

This was a lot of fun, and I hope pretty educational; I know I learned a ton. I reached out to Matt and asked him to join me for 20-30 minutes to talk about Vietnam's small arms. Instead, he gave me almost an hour of his time! Jammed with insight and information, the hour zipped right by. We covered the early development and reliability issues of the M16, its performance at Ia Drang, and briefly talked about some of the other weapons of the battle. We made sure to leave plenty of meat on the bone for conversations down the line! The Armourer's Bench is a great follow on all the platforms and if you can do so, support their Patreon page. https://armourersbench.com Support on Patreon - The Armourer's Bench Instagram and Facebook - @armourersbench Twitter - @historicfirearm https://www.historicalfirearms.info

"After the bravado, you're left with the anguish." Col. Nadal US 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry Regiment Air Mobile Few battles have shaped the modern American mind while remaining mostly anonymous to the general public quite like Ia Drang. An iconic engagement that defined not just a war but a generation has gone, for the most part, forgotten. Maybe one of the most misunderstood battles in a misunderstood war, Ia Drang, had a considerable impact on modern American history. The action of Ia Drang Valley, fought from the 14th to the 17th in November 1965 remains, maybe the defining moment of the Vietnam War.

The Last of the Mohicans depicts a forgotten siege and a forgotten massacre during a forgotten war. The Siege of Fort William Henry, in the summer of 1757, put the British in North America in a very tough spot. Seemingly, the British were on their way to losing the first actual world war.

A quick conversation with author/historian Julie Wheelwright about her latest book, Sisters in Arms: Female Warriors from Antiquity to the New Millennium. We covered how Julie got into the study of women at war, how women have played active, vital roles in battle (not just laundress or nurse!), and what the future likely holds for women in the services. Julie was bursting with information and energy; I can't wait to have her back on the show! ---- The book is a quick, easy read that puts the untold story of fighting women in its proper historical context. What does all that mean, you may be asking yourselves? Simply put, this book shines a light on the untold and underrepresented stories of military history. It makes the point, very clearly, that women have indeed been fighting on the front lines from the Amazons onward. The author is in no way saying that the fighting in war has been a 50/50 split between the sexes, but women have played a much larger role than we traditionally think of or read about. The images have been perfectly selected to tell the author's story visually, and the source list is extensive and will make an excellent resource for further reading. Worthy of any historian's bookshelf! ----- Let's show Julie how great the listeners of Cauldron Podcast are and pick up a copy of Sisters In Arms: Female Warriors from Antiquity to the New Millennium! Click the link below to purchase https://amzn.to/365EVOf

In this episode, we cover the Battle of Naseby, the defining engagement of the English Civil War! From "push of pike" to the Self-Denying Act to Cromwell himself, we cover it all.

In this episode, we are diving into one of the more controversial and least covered battles of WWII - the fight for Monte Cassino. A sideshow to the main events of Normandy and the Eastern Front, the Italian Campaign was no less violent or brutal, consuming men and material at the same rate as the worst fighting in either World War. The ancient monastery of the Benedictine Order loomed over the entire battlefield like some Tolkein-Esque evil tower. Time and again, the Allied soldiers mentioned the ever-present feeling of being watched by Monte Cassino, and its eventual destruction was likely inevitable. But the bombing of such a culturally relevant sight has become the lasting legacy of the battle - is "military necessity," as Eisenhower phrased it, always the right path? Are there any structures of historical significance that should be outside the realm of warfare? In the case of Monte Cassino, both Allied intelligence at the time of the fighting and inquiries after the war found no German occupation of the monastery. And unfortunately for the Gurkha, Indian, New Zealand, and eventually the Poles that had to try and take the rubble that was Monte Cassino, the bombing had made the Axis position ten-fold more challenging to assault. By battles end, the Axis forces along the Gustav Line had been dislodged and sent reeling north. Rome was taken soon after, and the overwhelming might and logistical superiority of the democracies were brought to bear on the Wehrmacht for the first time in Europe proper.

This past Sunday, Matthew Parker, author of Monte Cassino - The Hardest-Fought Battle of World War II, and I talked about his excellent history of one of WWII's least talked about battles. I had told him the whole thing would run about 45 minutes, and he was patient and gracious enough to give me over an hour of his time. Our chat ranged from his early days as a ghostwriter to the most exciting moments of Monte Cassino and beyond. Matthew has a natural, conversational way of delivering facts and history that comes through in his writing just as much as it does in this interview.

Let's go back to the time of the Mongols, Lord Novgorod The Great, and the Teutonic Knights. To the frozen landscape and icy lakes fo a medieval spring. To a time when the Pope in Rome wanted nothing more than to force the known world to follow the Latin Creed. To a time when Russia was nothing more than a dream, far in the distant future. In this episode of Cauldron, let's go back to the Battle On The Ice April 5th, 1242.

This episode is in honor of ANZAC Day and serves as a salute to Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations". This week I'm sharing an extraordinary story requested by Patreon Producer and friend Tim from Australia. This was the first of the Patron Producer episodes, and it covers the life and heroics of Cameron Stewart Baird, VC, MG (7 June 1981 – 22 June 2013).

This time on Cauldron, let's go back to the island of Jolo in the Southern Philipines. Let's go back to the humid, sticky air of March 1906. To a mountain that sat among the clouds. A volcanic rock with cliffs so sheer a man had to crawl to climb. Let's go back to the crater where hundreds of native Moros, men, women, and children awaited their deaths. To the crater crest where Krag carrying modern U.S. infantrymen prepared to punish the desperate sword-wielding natives with terminal violence. Let's go back to March 5-8 1906 and the battle of Bud Dajo.

Just a check in to let you guys know where things are at on the show. Things have been very hectic and crazy of late, for everyone I'm sure. I wanted to let you guys know that yes, everything is delayed, and content is coming out slower, but it's still coming! I'll have Bud Dajo out soon, some awesome battles are coming up next, and our Livestream on Instagram is a lot of fun. Every Wednesday at 8 pm EST listeners and other podcasters get together and catch up, shoot the breeze, and debate. Coming up, we have a listener presentation on TR, Nicole from The War Project is giving us some WWI key figure profiles, and our Field Commander bracket is in the first round. Also, check out the Youtube channel, I'm starting to get more video content up and soon I'll be doing a Livestream viewing of a movie picked by the audience. Please rate, review, subscribe! And not just to my show but to some excellent other shows out there - Battles of the First World War Pod, Peter HArt's Military History Pod, and Trapped.

William "Red" Martin never thought he'd climb through a cloud. If he had ever given the idea a second worth of thought, he probably would have said such a thing wasn't possible. But, by God, he'd done it! Now he could tell everyone until the day he died, "I climbed through a cloud on a volcano in the boondocks of the Philippines." Whether they believed it or not was up to them, "Red" would know the truth of it. He'd ended up on the side of volcanic rock, amidst the very clouds because he was a damn fine climber. Red grew up in the Appalachian range of West Virginie. He'd spent a boyhood scrambling along cliff edges and tiptoeing his way to the very edge of oblivion, with only a couple of broken bones to show for it. When Captain Lawton had asked for volunteers to climb hard and fast, Red had raised his arm without thinking…

This week, let's go back to Northern Italy, and a power struggle between King and Emperor. Let's go back to the enclosed hunting ground of Visconti Park, with its Castle-like lodge, wide-open fields, boggy canals, and wooded thickets. Let's go back to a time when Swiss mercenaries were just as likely to win you a battle as they were to walk away, all depending on the pay—when the german Landsknechtes fought like lions at carnival, ferocious but decked out in outrageously colorful garb. Where a military revolution was well underway, one that combined modern weapons with old ways, let's go back to a place where a King was captured, and the common man became a threat to everything and everyone. Let's go back to February 24th, 1525, and the battle of Pavia.

Bonus Historical Fiction He watched as the enemy that hadn't been run through or run over ran-away from his mighty French gendarmes. Only moments before the Imperial Habsburg heavy and light cavalry, some 2,000 riders strong, made of mostly Spaniards and some Germans, had emerged from the forest and fog. The River Ticino oozed a dense and pervasive gray soup that muffled and bounced sound while blinding a man to everything but the few yards in front of him. The morning had been confusing, and at times somewhat muddled for the French commander. But now a breathless and elated, Francis Valois, King of France and the first of his name, was triumphant and master of the battlefield...

"In every battle, there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins." - Grant's statement is not just a bit of battlefield wisdom. He could just as readily have been describing North and South in the lead up to the American Civil War. Or throughout the War itself. Or any of the thousands of battles that took place during the War. Lincoln, self admittedly no military man, understood the dogged nature needed to win the drag em out drop em down type contest that this War was going to become. "Our success or failure at Donelson is vastly important, and I beg you to put your soul in the effort," he wrote to his Western commander. Finding the type of man that would attack even after he thought he'd already lost proved difficult, but not impossible. It was on the rivers of the Western theater that the War would shift for good. Where the man and the mind Lincoln and the Union most needed would mature into a singular force. Let's go back to February 1862, to the winding calm of the Cumberland River. New bizarrely beetle-like and inky black but deadly ironclad beasts are chugging upstream to pound two forts into submission. One will fall quickly, and with little fight, the other will take days and see savage combat. Where a determined Brig General is preparing to show his family, his country, and himself that he's no failure, he can, in fact, succeed, maybe even excel. Where a group of cold but confident confederate soldiers is readying to defend their new country no matter the cost. Let's go back to the battle of Fort Donelson

Bonus Historical Fiction Series "Sleep poorly, you bastards..." grumbled Col. John Heath as he watched the Union officers trudge back down a snow-covered corpse-strewn palisade. The emissaries had, under a flag of truce, brought a message for whoever was in command of Fort Donelson. It was most likely an agreement to negotiate a surrender of the Fort. Yesterday's fight had started so well that, for a moment, Col. Heath thought they might just make it, they might just win even. But the South seemed to get a lot of tough breaks in the last 24 hours, mused the Colonel as he folded his arms against the chilly early morning air. There was no point in delaying the inevitable. He watched for a moment longer as the soon to be victors grew smaller, threw his cigar stub aside and began to head back. The HQ was in the ugly, long, and squat Dover Hotel right on the riverbank. Col. Heath wasn't sure who was in charge of the garrison anymore, but he knew whoever it was they'd be there.

Let’s go back to beautiful Bali and the perilous Lombok Strait. Let’s go back to the hundreds of empty featureless miles of the Java Sea. To the craggy bushland and winding river training grounds of Camp X on the Hawkesbury River. Let’s go back to the crowded shipping lanes and jam-packed wharves of the Jewel of the East, Singapore itself. Let’s go back to a time when everything was on the line, freedom hung in the balance, and a few fearless men had the courage to gamble their lives in the hopes of striking the enemy a blow. Men that recognized the truth in Faulkner’s line "You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore." Let’s go back to September of 1943 and Operation Jaywick.

“Harry Devers leaned up against the bonnet of his muddy, dinged up and dented Vauxhall D-type. The large, boxy staff car had a certain beauty and grace to it, and Harry had been in enough close-run situations while driving her that he'd grown to trust her. Of course, that hadn't always been the case…” This is the tale of the "General that Wept," a famous story that comes from the First World War. First reported by B.H.Lidell Hart and the corroborated in David Lloyd George's memoirs, the story tells of a decision making officer that was driven to the front lines at the end of Passchendaele. The man was a respected paper pusher and more a soldier of theory than of mud. So far removed from the realities of the war he was directing was this man that upon seeing the front, he uttered the famous question, "We sent men to fight in that?" The story goes that his driver, a veteran of the battle, responded laconically, "It gets worse farther up." The people involved and even the veracity of the story has been debated since first reported. Regardless of the truth, the tale has stuck in our collective memory of the war. The idea of "lions led by donkeys" was solidified by this apparent evidence and has been a considerable narrative of the Great War ever since. Whether or not it occurred, at this stage, doesn't matter. What matters is that for decades, the idea that the men in charge of making the decisions on the Western Front seemed oblivious to the horrors they ordered. Harry Devers is a fictional soldier. Through him, I thought it would be interesting to reimagine this famous tale from the muddy front itself. Any errors are mine and unintentional.

Years of artillery fire in both directions had cratered the Ypres salient into a lunar landscape. And remember these craters rapidly filled with water from below and rain from above. The rain at Passchendaele went on and off for the entirety of the offensive. August historically a dry month, in 1917, full of rain and damp, moist weather. Everything and everyone was wet all the time; even on rain-free days, the men couldn't dry-out because they were sitting in muddy holes. Robert Sherriff of the East Surrey Reg wrote, "The living conditions in our camp were sordid beyond belief. The cookhouse was flooded, and most of the food was uneatable. There was nothing but sodden biscuits and cold stew. The cooks tried to supply bacon for breakfast, but the men complained that it smelled like dead men...At dawn, on the morning of the attack, the battalion assembled in the mud outside the huts. I lined up my platoon and went through the necessary inspection. Some of the men looked terribly ill: grey, worn faces in the dawn, unshaved and dirty because there was no clean water. I saw the characteristic shrugging of their shoulders that I knew so well. They hadn't had their clothes off for weeks, and their shirts were full of lice."

The English Poet Siegfried Sassoon famously wrote: “I died in hell (They called it Passchendaele).” The First World War was an incubator for man-made hellscapes and mechanized death. Each passing season brought some new horrid way for mankind to inflict suffering on itself. Like Dante’s Inferno, each fresh hell had a name; the Marne, Mons, Verdun, the Somme, Tannenberg, Gallipoli, Izonso, the Kaisershlacht. But of these now infamous names, no battle of the Great War was quite like the human experience at Passchendaele. The Third Battle of Ypres played out like a fever dream, full of ghastly visions, insane scenery, and the theater of the macabre. Most of our mental picture of the war - bodies or parts of bodies lying still in rolls of barbed wire, bloated horse bellies half-submerged in the inky water of shell craters, men ordered by fools to be cut down for nothing but a few measly yards- most of this comes from Passchendaele. It’s odd then that this titanic slugfest, the ultimate test of man vs. man vs. nature, has gone somewhat forgotten. The memory of Passchendaele has been replaced in France with the blood and rubble of Verdun, in Great Britain with the sadly romantic Somme, in the U.S. by the bravery of Belleau Wood, in Germany by those murderous final offensives. For those that lived in the mud, though, the memory of that place was seared into the minds forever. It’s for those men, on both sides, now likely all past, that we remember that there was once a place on earth that men called hell. And there they went to die.

Young Derfel is not much of a fighter, but he is a problem solver. This problem solving comes in handy when Derfel finds himself in the front ranks with men, pushed towards certain death. In front of Derfel stands a great Viking warrior. The Norseman is killing all who attempt to cross the bridge at Stamford. King Harold Godwinson needs to move quickly, though, and crossing the bridge to destroy the Norwegian invaders is essential to the king’s defense of the realm. Can Derrfel find the warrior’s spirit within himself? How can the last and fiercest of the Norsemen be beaten? Will Young Derfel survive the encounter? Find out in this week’s episode!

In this creepy quick hit, we cover some weird stories from the history of warfare. A zombie-like attack in WWI that would shock even George Romero himself. A mysterious green glow on the wounded at the battle of Shiloh. A listener has a tale that involves the Yom Kippur War and an uncanny coincidence. Alright, let's get stuck in!

At the outset of the battle, several mailed horsemen rode up to the Viking lines. Tostig Godwinson moved up to hear what the Anglo Saxon riders had tot say. The leader of the men was his brother, King Harold, and he offered Tostig peace and his life. When Tostig asked what the King offered to his ally, Harald Hardcounsel, the King, responded, "Six feet of English ground, and then some more as he is taller than most men." With this little quip, the second most important battle in English history began. At Stamford Bridge, the fate of the Viking World hinged, and the future of the rest of the world was changed. Enjoy and send me your "What If?" theories!

This episode is a little different. I wrote a fictional account of the battle for the Patreon supporters and instead of writing 50k words this week I am going to share this with everyone. This is the first try but I plan on continuing to write fictional pieces for the Patrons with some regularity. I hope you enjoy it and send me any notes you all might have! Alright, that’s enough of the business, let’s get stuck in with Raolet of Foix!

Hello again and thanks for listening I'm your host, Cullen. Today we are wrapping up our coverage of the battle of Guadalcanal. From the second battle of Bloody Ridge to the Japanese evacuation of Starvation Island we cover it all. Alright, let's get stuck in! Let's go back 77 years ago. To the steamy rank jungles of the South Pacific. To a place where the kuni grass grows as tall as a man and cuts like a katana. To an island whose name, few knew but soon all would remember. Where Marines became legends and that the Japanese knew only as Starvation Island. Let’s go back to Guadalcanal.

Let's go back 77 years ago. To the steamy rank jungles of the South Pacific. To a place where the kuni grass grows as tall as a man and cuts like a katana. To an island whose name, few knew but soon all would remember. Where Marines became legends and the Japanese knew only as Starvation Island. Let’s go back to Guadalcanal.

Let's go back 310 years to the plains of southern Ukraine, fresh of a winter so cold birds fell frozen out of the air. Charles XII of Sweden put his kingdom on the line outside a city called Poltava. After the collapse of the Teutonic knights, the Baltic region and Eastern Europe was in disarray. A power vacuum was left by the old order of crusading knights, but for some time no power emerged preeminent. Out of the madness and horrible violence of the 30 Years​ War emerged a Lion. Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was one of the great commanders in history and clawed out an empire. Seemingly overnight France, England, Spain, and the Netherlands had to acknowledge a new member to their elite club. After Gustavus glorious death on the field, Sweden was set up well for the future. Large swaths of Denmark and Germany, as well as most of the Baltic region and east end of the Gulf of Finland, were under Swedish control. When Charles the 11th died the army he left behind was lithe, sinewy, and ready to be put through its paces. In the hands of a genius tactician, this army would be most formidable…

Alright, this is the quick and dirty episode for July! Full of information on Japan, China, and the very first shots of the Second World War. From the mid-1800s to the 1930s, Japan was moving faster and faster towards superpower in the East status. By the early '30s, Japan had finally arrived on the big stage. China, on the other hand, was unraveling and had in the 20s only recently started to put itself back together. A series of sometimes bloody sometimes innocuous sometimes staged "Incidents" happened from 1931 straight through to 1937. Then the most incident like incident of them all happened near a beautiful old bridge. A missing private, a confusing firefight, and an insulting truce led to the fall of Northern China and the Second Sino Japanese War.

Here it is, the most significant episode yet, which is fitting considering the topic! We have Dreadnoughts, the Royal Navy, German technical ability, and pretty much anything you'd want to cover on the battle of Jutland. This titanic fistfight between to two most dominant navies of the first half f the 20th century is full of wild little facts and fascinating tales. We also dive a little bit into the reasons the battle happened at all and why it might not have needed to taken place at all. If you like your WWI with a side of the sea and a twist of broadsides, give this a listen!

The fighting was intense on Dong Ap Bia (the mountain of the crouching beast), but according to U.S. command, the hill was crucial to the overall success of Operation Apache Snow. Apache Snow’s goal was to clear the A Shau Valley of the enemy. The “crouching beast” moniker was appropriate as the Communist forces were well dug in and ready for a fight. For ten days the two sides smashed and sliced through each other, the U.S. forces finally taking the hill in the 20th. A few short days later, the position that was paid for in blood was abandoned by the U.S. generals backing up the idea that the war's strategy was senseless and pointless. The​​ battle became so violent that one young sergeant was quoted about the fight, “Have you ever been inside a hamburger machine? We just got cut to pieces by extremely accurate machine-gun fire.” The battle was known from then on as Hamburger Hill, and due to the extensive media coverage, it became a symbol for the anti-war community.

The 100 Years War was a seesaw clash between the French and English thrones. The first third of the war saw great victories won by the English, at Sluys and Crecy the English forces smashed their continental enemies. After a one-sided peace treaty was declared, the Channel separated foes settled into an uneasy Cold War. With the advent of the Black Death, both sides suffered massive losses to their populations and a shift in the makeup of society. Farmers and land workers tried to find safety and work in the cities of Europe, changing the power structure of the feudal system dynamically and ushering in a new world. The Black Death also brought about an even more ardent Christianity, as people sought for reasons and hope in a world seemingly devoid of both. With the death of Henry V, the hero of Agincourt, the political waters became very murky. For the next few years, both the French and the English claimed the throne of France, but only one side had the power to back their claim. The weak and vacillating Charles VII was forced to be a bystander in his own land as he watched Henry VI’s regent, the Duke of Bedford, assert control over most of France. With the help of the Duchy of Burgundy, the destabilizing Black Plague, and a lack of inspired leadership, the English could claim most of France north of the Loire river and seemed to be on their way to a win in the 100 Years War. The English certainly could not have planned for a young girl to hear the voices of former queens and current Saints Margaret and Catherine.

Thapsus was a rare battle in that it showed Caesar not as the consummate warlord but as a general that at times had no control over his own army. The action was joined after one of his wings charged the enemy of their own volition and unable to call his men back, Caesar was forced to order an all-out attack. Again at the end of the battle, we see another instance of Caesar having no power over his men when the enemy army collapsed a large number attempted to surrender. In many cases, the Caesarian soldiers ignored the attempted surrender and proceeded to slaughter the defenseless victims. In one case the blood rush was such that a group of Caesar’s officers was mistaken for the enemy and butchered before the confusion could be put to rights. Between Thapsus and Munda, the final battles of the Civil War were not Caesar the General’s most exceptional performances.

The war in the Pacific had decidedly turned in favor of the Allies by the fall of 1944. The Battle of Leyte Gulf had effectively destroyed the fighting power of the Japanese Navy and had forced Japan into an impossible tight defensive stance. As the Allied bombing of the Japanese home islands became more and more intense more and more airfields needed to be taken and held. The Allied High Command knew that the desolate lunar Volcano Islands would be a tough nut to crack, but the location would put the mighty B-29 even closer to the enemy. If Iwo Jima were taken the Allies would have a secure base to land damaged bombers on the return run from Japan, launch bombers at half the distance, and swarm the enemy air forces with fighters. Iwo Jima would give the Allies an excellent base to prepare the planned final act of the war, Operation Downfall. It would also be a preview of the horrors to come with Downfall, the invasion of the Japanese home islands.​

This episode was a lot of fun to research and dive into, my lack of knowledge of the Inca and the conquistadores as a whole made the dive in really interesting. By the 1530's the conquest of the so-called new world and the age of discovery were both well underway. The wave upon wave of Spanish and Portuguese adventurers that had been crossing the Atlantic in search of wealth and fame had for decades brought the Christian god and death to the people of Central and South America. From the islands of the Caribbean to the cenotes of the Yucatan, Spanish steel and smallpox had destroyed the unprotected populations of entire cities. In the region of South America of modern Peru, a desperate struggle was being fought out between two wildly different ways of life. With the rise of Fransisco Pizarro and his deadly brothers, the Inca found themselves fighting for their freedom and their very lives. Not a meek culture by any means the Inca went down with a roar striking out at their antagonizers, forcing the Spanish into survival mode. The final battle was fierce and would be fought high in the Andes mountains through the streets of the city of Cusco at the very feet of one of the magnificent forts of the Old or the New World. Fort Sacsayhuaman and the Inca way of war were all new to me and are fascinating! There is no ancient alien talk in this episode, but I'm always up for the conversation so if that's your jam shoot me a message. Enjoy!

In this battlecast I dive into one of World War Two's most debated controversies. In the last days of the war, an Allied bombing run hit the city of Dresden and caused massive damage. The fires that raged consumed large portions of the city and destroyed much of Dresden's cultural history. The strategic value of the attack and the number of dead is to this day, still hotly contested. Without passing judgment​ (because I'd be a real arrogant ass to think I was qualified to do so!) I try to wade through the murky business and find out what really happened.

In 1704 a combined French/Native American raid on the village of Deerfield Massachusetts set the colonial world on edge. The surprise attack in the predawn light was vicious and violent. People and livestock murdered or taken. Homes looted and torched. Lives ruined or ended. For many, the Deerfield Raid was the end, for those taken it was only the beginning. The saga of the captives and the "Redeemed" became the viral story of its day.

A quick look at the man behind Axis success in North Africa 1941-1942. Maybe the only Nazi general to come out of the war with his reputation intact, this episode does a flyby on the life of Erwin Rommel.

The conclusion to our coverage of the battle of Diu. Enjoy!

Hello again and thanks for listening! Today we have a very cool little story about the spice trade, Portuguese exploration, Ottoman galleys and the fight for early global trade. To hear what sources I used and get a sneak peek into next week’s episode stick around until the end. Access it can be argued is one of the most consistent reasons for conflicts around the world and throughout history. Japan wanted access to raw materials in its lead up to WWII, Russia has always wanted access to a warm water port which has been the root of countless wars, the US has repeatedly gone to war to gain access or deny access to other countries for various reasons. Access to resources, rare goods, or simply to new markets has driven nations to explore, expand, and ultimately to war forever. With the advent of the age of Sail and Discovery a large number of European countries tried their hand at gaining access to the riches of the Asian East with varying degrees of success. The Portuguese were the first and for a time the only European country to have any real favorable outcome at forcing access and it all stemmed from a nasty little naval battle not far off the coast of a city called Diu.

This time around we head way way back to the Ancient World. On a field in Greece (of course) Philip of Macedon defeated a coalition of Thebans and Athenians, finally asserting himself as the most powerful ruler in the land. His young son Alexander began his military career on the same field and the world would never be the same. From the Sacred Band to the sarissa and everything in between, strap in because we cover a lot in this episode!

In this battlecast we cover the events leading up to (and the battle itself obviously lol) the 2nd El Alamein. The desert, Rommel, and Monty (not to mention a whole lot of tank talk) all play key roles in the titanic fight in the sands. Sacrifice, persistence, and ferocity are the watchwords with witch the British 8th Army won the day and showed the Allies that even Hitler’s finest general could be beaten. We also talk about the modern historical controversy as to how important the battle itself was as opposed to the perception of the victory. Enjoy!

The desert, Rommel, and Monty (not to mention a whole lot of tank talk) all play key roles in the titanic fight in the sands.

In this Quick Hit I cover the victory of the Byzantine army under Heraclius over Persian Sassanid forces. On a plain not far from the rubble of the ancient Assyrian City of Nineveh, Byzantine cataphracts used superior numbers and generalship to bring an end to a decades long war with their eastern enemy. The end of the centuries long conflict known as the Roman-Persian Wars left a power vacuum in the Middle East and it would not be long before that vacuum was filled. An exhausted Byzantium and a crippled Persia meant there was little to slow the rise of the Arabic armies and the march of Islam.

In this episode Angelo the Armorer and I shoot the shit about one of the greatest battles of the Crusades. We cover the various weapons and methods of fighting used by the Saracens and Franks, as well as doing a deep dive into the historical context of the time period. Clocking in at just a tick over an hour, this was a lot of fun to record and at times we get fairly nerdy so be prepared! Thanks for listening and next up will be the Combat of the 30 sometime later this week.

In this episode we cover what many believe to be the single most lopsided naval victory ever -the Battle of Trafalgar! From heroic Nelson in his final battle, the desperate struggle to stop Napoleon from conquering the globe, to the destructive power of the ship of the line we cover it all. Thanks to David Hilowitz and to JerryBryant and Starboard Mess for the music!

This episode we have Dr. Greg Jackson of the History That Doesn’t Suck podcast on to chat about the most significant and maybe most decisive battle of the American Revolution, the battle of Saratoga. Its long and nerdy but we had fun chatting (please forgive the awkward talk over parts) but I think we found a decent rhythm. Greg has some great facts and interesting stories about this wild battle in the woods of New York. Thanks for listening and don’t forget to rate/review on iTunes!

The siege of Masada saw some truly amazing feats of Roman engineering, logistical organization, and deadly dedication. For the trapped Jewish Sicarri inside the city this was to be their final act of defiance in a failed revolt. A battering ram, siege tower, and a still standing agger all played a role in the capturing of a city most thought impregnable. Thanks to Tri-Tachyon for the song!

At the battle of Crecy the longbow takes center stage for the first time in a decisive fashion. We all also cover the effectiveness of Genoese crossbowmen, the last ride of the Blind King John, and the making of the Black Prince. Thanks to melhaks for the artwork and stay tuned next week when we cover the Meuse-Argonne Offensive!

The brilliant general Hannibal Barca uses an incredible command of tactics to defeat a Roman Army twice his size. By utterly destroying an army of 80,000 Hannibal believed he could bring Rome to her knees. With the amount of blood spilt on this southern Italian plain, it's shocking that the defeat at Cannae didn't break Rome but in fact Cannae made Rome stronger. Thanks for listening and don't forget to check out the Patreon!

In this battlecast we cover the daring 1976 hostage rescue at the Entebbe Airport. In Israel's long history dealing with terrorism this hour long hostage rescue may just be it's shinning moment. Flawless execution and precise timing combined to save the lives over 100 hostages. Only losing one man, the team leader Yoni Netanyahu, Israel's crack rescue team became the model for all nation's on how to deal with terrorism. Get stuck in!

In this battle cast we cover one of the deadliest battles of the First World War - the battle of the Somme. With its trenches and heavy casualties the Somme represents the very worst of the "Great War". Since the end of the battle many historians, politicians, journalists and armchair generals have argued that the battle was a senseless slaughter engineered by the generals, and though a victory there had been not much to show for it. By the end of the research process, I found that don't exactly agree. Thanks to melhaks for the great artwork! If you want to have an excellent experience (i.e. quick, easy, and cheap) getting your projects done got to melhak on fiver. Thanks again for listening and be sure to send in those theories and thoughts!

In this battle cast we are going to cover the highland charge, the fight for the English throne, and even the "clearances". So if you want to learn about the seemingly eternal war between England and her northern neighbor, Scotland, be sure to give a listen. And keep in mind that this seemingly small battle directly effected world history — from the Seven Years War to the American Revolution, Queen Victoria and her massive family to the Terror and Napoleon.  [Permalink](https://www.cauldronpodcast.com/battlecast/2018/5/13/the-battle-of-culloden)

In this Battlecast Attila the Hun gets sent packing by a quickly thrown together alliance led by "the Last of the Romans" Aetius Flavius. We also take a closer look at who the huns were, where they came from, and why history remembers them with such terror. Thanks to Simon MacDowell for a great interview! Enjoy!

In our first Theorycast we cover why Hannibal wasn't at magnesia, how Antiochus may have won the battle, and why it was so important for Rome to win the day. Thanks to Corvus Corax for the great submissions!

When the Roman Empire started to flex its muscle east it ran into the seemingly powerful paper tiger that was the Seleucid Empire.

Do you know someone who likes history? Or need a new podcast for the drive to work? This is just a quick look at the road ahead.