Cauldron - A Military History Podcast

Crossover Special - Anthology of Heroes

Hey guys, it’s been a bit since last we had some new content but the next couple weeks we’ll have some fresh audio for you. Today, however, we have a friendly takeover as Elliot, host of Anthology of Heroes, takes over the podcast feed and talks about the “scramble for Africa”. Anthology of Heroes is a fantastic podcast, Hardcore History-esque, and Elliot does an excellent job of bringing you fast-paced, detailed history. The production is top-notch but it’ll be the storytelling that keeps you r...

War A to Z ▪️Abenaki Wars

When the English colonists first came to the New World there was friction but, given the limits of the colonists population and power, no large scale conflict. The Abenaki homelands consisted of most of modern day New England and North East Canada. At first they had no issue with the English, so long as they stuck to the coasts. The fishing and fur trading hubs created by the newcomers was as a commercial positive for the Abenaki. The issue arose when the English population grew and the colonist...

Battle of Königgrätz 3 July 1866

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. Music by DopeBoys Sources Upon Request Follow Along On Twitter, Inst...

War A to Z ▪️Abd el-Krim

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. Check us out on Instagram and Twitte...

War A to Z▪️ Abbasid Revolution

War A to Z ▪️ Abbasid Revolution ▪️ Date- 747 A.D. - 750 A.D. Location - Khorasan province Iran Participants - Umayyads vs Abbasids Key Players - Caliph Marwan, Governor Nasir Ibn Sayyar, Muhammad Ali, Abu Muslim Key Battles - Merv, Nahavand, Isfahan, Mosul ▪️ The Issue - 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...

War A to Z ▪️ Abbas I The Great

War A to Z ▪️ Abbas I The Great ▪️ Born - January 27 1571, Iran Died - January 19 1629, Iran ▪️ Wars/Battles of Note - Uzbek-Persian Wars, Turko-Persian Wars, Mogul-Persian Wars, Tabriz 1603,Sis 1606, Siege of Baghdad 1624-1626 ▪️ 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 ...

Battle of Marengo 14 June 1800

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 "close run thing" ...

Battle of Manzikert 26 August 1071

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 an...

Battle of Blenheim 13 August 1704

“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. Music by DopeBoys Sources Upon Request Follow Along On Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok As Always - Rate/Review/Subscribe And Thanks For Listening!

Battle of Schellenberg 2 July 1704

"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 ...

Battle of Vigo Bay October 23 1702

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! Bringing the booty of the Spanish Main with it, a Spanish-French fleet sailed into Vigo Bay to avoid lurking ...

Battle of Narva November 19 1770

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! Facing a vastly numerically superior enemy (that was dug-in) with a well defended position with heavy artillery support, Charles XII of Sweden would have been wis...

Battle of Kleidion July 29, 1014

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! In the mountain passes of the Bulgarian Empire, Basil II used a deceptive ploy to destroy the army of his enemy, Czar Samuel. In the aftermath Basil committe...

Battle of Ipsus 301 BC

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 that’s keeping me from recording but 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 f...

Battle of Clontarf 23 April 1014

“They fought then, and each of them endeavored to slaughter the other; and they fell by each other, and the way that they fell was with the sword of each through the heart of the other; and the hair of each in the clenched hand of the other…” - Cogdha 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 l...

Battle of Svolder 9 September, 999 or 1000 AD

The first cycle of episodes in the Cauldron re-boot featured exclusively battles from antiquity and the truly ancient world. This next cycle will see us hop in the imaginary time machine and fast forward from the sandy beach outside of Troy, zooming past the rise and fall of a dozen or more empires, from Persia to Athens to Alexander to Carthage and finally to the powerhouse that was Rome. For a thousand years Rome, in one of its many fashions, ruled much of Modern Europe, and then came the barb...

Siege of Troy ?BCE

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 milita...

Battle of Kadesh 1274 BCE

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...

Battle of Megiddo 1457 BCE

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 ...

The Battle Of Umma Vs Lagash

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 g...

*Bonus* Battle Blunders - The Retreat From Kabul

Each of the contests in this series will showcase a martial failure from generals unfit to command or overly confident of their abilities to simple poor planning and the untimely (often unwanted) intervention of meddlesome politicians. I'm going to tell the story of the battle, just like a regular Cauldron episode, but I'll be going deeper into the events' command and control aspect. Like the main Cauldron show, this series will bounce through time and travel all over the globe. A Roman army ann...

Kokoda: Beyond the Legend with Dr. Karl James

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! Various contributors, including Antony Beevor, weave together the story of Kokoda, both past and present. A truly comprehensive account of the battle for the Owen Stanley mountains, Kokoda: Beyond the Legend , also contextualizes the campaign within the wider ...

Battle of Rivoli Jan 14, 1797 – Jan 15, 1797

No general can say they will use the central position, and therefore, they will win. There is no plug and play preset list of maneuvers to fit all circumstances that guarantee victory. Victory relies on much more, and Napoleon understood that. His ability to sense the enemy's intention and force them to act against their own will is spooky at times. He had an intuitive feel for combat readiness, not just with the enemy but, maybe more importantly, in his ranks. His innate understanding of the we...

The Battle of Rivoli - A Conversation With Joshua Provan

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 lit...

The M16 and Ia Drang - Firearms Historian Matt Moss Of The Armourer's Bench

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 bon...

Battle of Ia Drang - Nov 14, 1965 – Nov 18, 1965

"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 Val...

The Siege of Fort William Henry - Aug 3, 1757 – Aug 9, 1757

The seeds of what would eventually become the Seven Years War or French and Indian War, a truly global conflict, were planted the moment Europeans landed in North America. Empire building was hungry work, and the British and French in the mid-18th century had become ravenous. In North America, the two empires frequently butted heads and regularly used Native tribes to stir up trouble or fight proxy wars. Initially, the French explored deeper into the heart of North America than the coast-bound E...

Sisters in Arms: Female Warriors from Antiquity to the New Millennium

The Battle of Naseby - 14 June 1645

The battle of Naseby decided the English Civil War in that by the day's end, King Charles I no longer had an effective field army. The two cavalry displays that define the fighting are a masterclass, one in battlefield control, and one in a lack of control. The brilliant command of Oliver Cromwell is on full display here while the Cavaliers show off their brash unruliness very…cavalierly! (I'm sorry it's the only bad joke I promise) The aftermath of the battle in human costs was relatively small...

The Battle of Monte Cassino - 17 January – 18 May 1944

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 t...