Today in military history: Siege of Knoxville begins
On Nov. 17, 1863, Confederate General James Longstreet laid siege to the city of Knoxville, Tennessee. In the fall of 1863, Union Major General Ambrose Burnside occupied Knoxville where a…
How these armies beat their foe with a prostitute, palm trees and plague bodies
Siege warfare is a military tactic in which an enemy army surrounds a castle or fortress and attempts to break in either by physical force or by starving the inhabitants into submission. In other words, it is a nasty ordeal for all involved and it o…
Today in military history: Joan of Arc besieges La Charité
On Nov. 24 1429, Joan of Arc besieged La Charité. Born a peasant girl in medieval France, Joan of Arc would grow up to lead an army against the English…
This is why the trebuchet was the superior siege engine
Throughout the history of combined arms, artillery has played a key role in supporting the infantry. Commanders laying siege to fortified cities would call upon their engineers to identify weak points in defensive walls. Resources and manpower were …