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The Field Dispatch

Clear, accurate stories from history's greatest battles, how they were won, who commanded, and why they still shape the world. Most are battles you can play in the app.

Quote of the day

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

Winston Churchill

Speech to the House of Commons, 20 August 1940 · Read the article ›

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Stories from history, plus your starter set

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Quizzes 25

Map game · 5 rounds

Where Was It Fought?

Drop a pin on the world map where famous battles, sieges and campaigns were fought, then read the full story of each round.

Daily puzzle · 1 guess

Battle of the Day

One history puzzle a day: an old map or a blurred commander. One guess, share your grid, keep your streak.

Higher or lower · Run game

Which Battle Was Bigger?

Did more soldiers fight at Leipzig or Gettysburg? Keep your run going and read each story.

Timeline game · 3 rounds

Put the Battles in Order

Drag five battles from the oldest to the newest; each round they sit closer together in time.

Game · 8 rounds

Guess the Battle from the Map

Old battle maps, revealed piece by piece. Name the battle before the whole map shows.

Game · 8 rounds

Guess the Commander

A blurred portrait and four clues. Name the general before the picture comes into focus.

Quiz · 10 rounds

Who Won the Battle?

Thermopylae, Bunker Hill, Gallipoli: pick the winner and see why memory often gets it wrong.

Quiz · Ancient

How Well Do You Know Ancient Battles?

Eight scenes from the age of hoplites and legions, from Marathon to Red Cliffs. Name the battle in each.

Quiz · Medieval

How Well Do You Know Medieval Battles?

Eight scenes from the age of knights, crusades and longbows, from Tours to Constantinople. Name the battle in each.

Quiz · Early modern

How Well Do You Know Early Modern Battles?

Eight scenes from the age of pike, musket and galley, from Tenochtitlan to Yorktown. Name the battle in each.

Quiz · Napoleonic

How Well Do You Know Napoleonic Battles?

Eight scenes from the age of revolution and empire, from Racławice to Waterloo. Name the battle in each.

Quiz · Industrial age

How Well Do You Know Industrial Age Battles?

Eight scenes from the age of rifles, railways and ironclads, from Gettysburg to Tsushima. Name the battle in each.

13 more, titles only

Battles 560

Early modern · 1690

Battle of the Boyne, 1690: two kings, one river

The Boyne, 1 July 1690: how William III beat James II on an Irish river, why it settled little yet changed much, and why it is marked on 12 July.

Early modern · 1525

Battle of Pavia 1525: How Francis I of France Was Captured

Charles V's Imperial and Spanish army crushed the French at Pavia on 24 February 1525 and captured Francis I. The night march, the arquebusiers, FAQ.

Early modern · 1513

Battle of Flodden, 1513: the day Scotland lost its king

Flodden, 9 September 1513: why James IV invaded England, how Surrey's bills beat the Scottish pikes below Branxton Hill, and how a king and his nobles fell.

Medieval · 1212

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa 1212: How Three Kings Won

Castile, Aragon and Navarre won at Las Navas de Tolosa on 16 July 1212, storming the Almohad caliph's camp. Why the Almohads lost, the maps, the legends.

World War I · 1917

Battle of Vimy Ridge 1917: How the Canadians Won, with Map

The Canadian Corps won at Vimy Ridge, 9 to 12 April 1917: four divisions took the whole ridge for 10,602 casualties. A map, the German side and the myth.

First Punic War · 250 BC

Battle of Panormus 250 BC: How Rome Beat the Elephants

Metellus waited behind a ditch under the walls of Panormus, modern Palermo. His missiles turned Hasdrubal's elephants back on their own army, and Rome won the herd.

First Punic War · 249 BC

Battle of Drepana 249 BC: Sacred Chickens and a Lost Fleet

Claudius Pulcher tried to surprise Carthage's fleet at Drepana. Adherbal got out to sea first, pinned the Romans to the shore and took 93 ships.

Second Punic War · 206 BC

Battle of Ilipa 206 BC: Scipio's Masterpiece in Spain

Near Seville Scipio swapped his usual battle order, attacked at dawn and wheeled both wings onto Carthage's weak flanks. Carthaginian power in Spain was broken.

Second Punic War · 203 BC

Battle of the Great Plains 203 BC: Scipio's Road to Zama

In the Bagradas valley Scipio routed the new army of Carthage and King Syphax. Only the Celtiberians stood and died, and Carthage called Hannibal home.

Third Punic War · 149 to 146 BC

Siege of Carthage 149-146 BC: How Rome Destroyed Carthage

Ordered to abandon their city, the Carthaginians armed themselves and held out for three years until Scipio Aemilianus stormed the walls and razed Carthage.

First Punic War · 260 BC

Battle of Mylae 260 BC: How the Corvus Won Rome the Sea

Rome's brand new fleet met Carthage off Mylae in Sicily. Boarding bridges called ravens pinned the attacking ships, and Duilius won Rome's first naval triumph.

First Punic War · 256 BC

Battle of Cape Ecnomus 256 BC: The Biggest Sea Battle Ever?

Rome's invasion fleet met Carthage's navy off Sicily in what may be the largest sea battle ever fought. The Roman wedge held, and the road to Africa opened.

548 more, titles only

Commanders 129

Statesman · Poland

Ignacy Jan Paderewski

The pianist who won Wilson to Poland's cause and signed Versailles.

Statesman · Poland

Roman Dmowski

The National Democrat leader who won Allied recognition for Poland and signed Versailles.

Commander · England

Francis Drake: the Elizabethan raider Spain called El Draque

The Elizabethan captain who sailed around the world, sacked Santo Domingo and Cartagena, raided Cádiz and fought the Armada.

Commander · Royal Navy

Richard Howe: the admiral of New York, Gibraltar and the First of June

The British admiral of the American war, the relief of Gibraltar and the Glorious First of June, who ended the Spithead mutiny.

Commander · Castile

Peter I of Castile: the king called the Cruel and the Just

The king of Castile called the Cruel and the Just, restored at Nájera and killed by his half-brother at Montiel in 1369.

Commander · Roman Britain

Boudica

The Iceni queen who rose against Rome in AD 60 or 61.

Warrior · Japan

Tomoe Gozen

The woman who rode with Kiso Yoshinaka, as the Tale of the Heike tells it.

Hero · United States

Molly Pitcher and the women at Monmouth

What an eyewitness saw in 1778, and how the legend grew.

Nurse · British Empire

Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War

Scutari, the Lady with the Lamp and the rose diagram.

Sniper · Soviet Union

Lyudmila Pavlichenko

The sniper of Odessa and Sevastopol and her 1942 tour of the US.

Regiment · Soviet Union

The Night Witches

The women of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment and their Po-2s.

Commander · France

Charles de Gaulle: the general who refused defeat in 1940

Charles de Gaulle as a soldier: Saint-Cyr, capture at Verdun, Poland in 1920, the tanks at Montcornet, the 18 June appeal and the liberation of Paris in 1944.

117 more, titles only

Guides & lists 147

Polish-Ukrainian War · 1918 to 1919

The Polish-Ukrainian War, 1918 to 1919: the war for Lwów and Eastern Galicia

From the Ukrainian rising in Lwów on 1 November 1918 to the Zbruch in July 1919: how Poland won Eastern Galicia, and why the Allies took until 1923 to agree.

Crowd in a Warsaw square in November 1918 under white and red flags and banners bearing the white eagle

Anniversary · 11 November

Polish Independence Day: what happened on 11 November 1918

The week of 7 to 14 November 1918, why 11 November became Poland's holiday, its abolition in 1945 and return in 1989.

Guide · War

Polish Independence (1914 to 1921): How Poland Was Reborn

How Poland came back after 123 years: the Legions, the Act of 5 November, Wilson's 13th point, 11 November 1918, the border wars, Versailles and Riga.

Guide · Nation

The Military History of Hungary, from Lechfeld to 1956

Hungary at war from the Magyar raids to 1956: Lechfeld, Mohi, Belgrade, Mohács, Eger, Rákóczi, 1848 and Bem, World War I and II, and the revolution of 1956.

Guide · Nation

The Military History of the Netherlands, from the Dutch Revolt to 1949

The Dutch at war from 1568 to 1949: the revolt against Spain, the Anglo-Dutch Wars, William III, Waterloo, May 1940, Market Garden and the East Indies.

Guide · Nation

The Military History of India, from the Hydaspes to Kargil

India at war from the Hydaspes to Kargil: the Mauryas, Tarain, Panipat, the Mughals and Marathas, Plassey, the Sikh Empire, 1857, both world wars and the wars since 1947.

Guide · Nation

The Military History of Ancient Rome, from the Early Republic to AD 476

Rome at war from the conquest of Italy to AD 476: the legion, the Punic Wars, Caesar in Gaul, the civil wars, the frontiers, Adrianople and the fall of the West.

Guide · War

The Waterloo Campaign (1815): Causes, Battles and Outcome

Napoleon's last campaign, June 1815: the Hundred Days, Ligny, Quatre Bras, Waterloo and Wavre, the coalition armies, the abdication and the Second Peace of Paris.

Guide · War

The Ottoman Wars in Europe (1354 to 1913): Causes, Battles and Outcome

Five centuries of Ottoman wars in Europe, seen by each state involved: Kosovo, Constantinople, Mohács, Lepanto, Khotyn, Vienna and the long retreat to 1913.

Guide · War

The Second Northern War (1655 to 1660): Causes, Battles and Outcome

Sweden's war of 1655 to 1660 against Poland-Lithuania, Russia, Brandenburg, Austria and Denmark: Warsaw, the march across the Belts, Roskilde, Copenhagen, Nyborg and the Peace of Oliva.

Guide · War

The Third Silesian War (1756 to 1763): Causes, Battles and Outcome

The European theater of the Seven Years' War: Frederick the Great against Austria, Russia, France and Sweden, from Lobositz and Leuthen to Kunersdorf, the Miracle of the House of Brandenburg and Hubertusburg.

Guide · Nation

The Military History of the Soviet Union, 1917 to 1991

The Red Army from the Civil War to Afghanistan: Poland 1920, the pact with Hitler and Katyn, the Winter War, Stalingrad to Berlin, Hungary, Prague and 1991.

135 more, titles only

Explainers 18

Explainer · 6 min read

The end of the war in Austria, 1945: Vienna, the Alps and Castle Itter

From the Soviet battle for Vienna to the Alps: the Second Republic, the redoubt that was not there, the liberation of Innsbruck and Castle Itter.

Explainer · 6 min read

The US military government in Korea, 1945 to 1948: from liberation to division

The American occupation of southern Korea from the 38th parallel to the 1948 election: direct rule, the 1946 unrest, the exit through the UN and Jeju.

Explainer · 9 min read

The Severan dynasty, 193 to 235: the soldier emperors and the Syrian empresses

From Septimius Severus's civil wars to the murder of Severus Alexander: Caracalla, Macrinus at Antioch, Elagabalus and the Syrian empresses.

Explainer · 6 min read

The Croatian-Ottoman wars, 1493 to 1593: from Krbava to Sisak

A century of war from the disaster at Krbava Field to the Ottoman defeat at Sisak: Mohács, the Habsburg crown, the Military Frontier and Szigetvár.

Explainer · 6 min read

The Yom Kippur War, 1973: twenty days that shook the Middle East

The Egyptian and Syrian surprise attack of October 1973, the Israeli counteroffensives, the superpower airlifts and the nuclear alert.

Explainer · 6 min read

The Aleutian Islands campaign, 1942 to 1943: the war in the fog

Dutch Harbor, the Japanese occupation of Attu and Kiska, the Komandorski Islands, the battle of Attu and the empty island of Kiska.

Explainer · 6 min read

Yugoslavia in World War II: invasion, occupation and Tito's partisans

The April 1941 invasion, the partition of the kingdom, the partisans and Chetniks, the Sutjeska and the liberation of Belgrade in 1944.

Explainer · 6 min read

The Rif War, 1921 to 1926: Abd el-Krim against Spain and France

How Abd el-Krim's Riffians crushed Spain at Annual, built a Republic of the Rif and fell to Spain and France in 1926.

Explainer · 6 min read

The Anarchy, 1135 to 1154: Stephen, Matilda and nineteen long winters

How Stephen of Blois and the Empress Matilda fought for the crown of Henry I from 1135 to 1154, and how the war ended with Henry II.

Explainer · 8 min read

Washington Crossing the Delaware 1776: the night and the painting

How George Washington crossed the icy Delaware on Christmas night 1776 to strike Trenton, and what Leutze's famous 1851 painting gets right and gets wrong.

Explainer · 8 min read

How World War I Ended: the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day

How World War I ended on 11 November 1918: Germany's collapse, the railway carriage at Compiègne, the 11 a.m. ceasefire and the last soldiers to fall.

Explainer · 8 min read

Why the Poppy? The Story of the Remembrance Poppy

How the red field poppy of the Western Front became the symbol of remembrance: John McCrae's poem, Moina Michael, Anna Guérin and the first Poppy Appeal, 1921.

6 more, titles only