Walking The Ground

01/04/2025

Warming Fire.

Oil on canvas by Martin Grelle. First exhibited at the Prix de West exhibition in 2006.

01/04/2025

Halt on the March by a Stream at Nesle.

Alfred Munnings. Oil on canvas. In the collection of the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa. Accession number 19710261-0445.

Munnings served as a war artist attached to the Canadian Cavalry Brigade 1917-1918. He exhibited 45 of his wartime paintings at the Royal Academy in 1919.

01/01/2025

Happy New Year 2025 🎉

Highlanders of the Black Watch in festive mood at Henencourt, New Year’s Day 1917.

📷 IWM Q 4642.

01/01/2025

The Battle of the Wash*ta (1868) is often referred to as a “massacre.”

However, Cheyenne testimony indicates that Custer’s claims of native casualties are vastly inflated.

Rather than the 140+ Cheyenne casualties claimed by Custer, testimony by Red Moon , Grey Eyes, and Little Robe in 1869 provides the names of 13 warriors, together with 16 women and 9 children – a total of 38. Custer’s account is inflated by over 350%.

The battle was, factually, more of an equal fight with regard to casualties. Cheyenne warriors fought tenaciously to defend their families. The 7th Cavalry lost 21 killed and 13 wounded.

It is important for us to acknowledge that the Cheyenne people were not helpless victims at the Wash*ta, but brave and determined fighters whose tenacity should be a matter of pride.

01/01/2025

Lord Strathcona’s Horse on the March.

🖼️ Oil on canvas by Sir Alfred Munnings. In the Beaverbrook Collection of War Art at the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa.

During the First World War, Munnings served as an official war artist attached to the Canadian Cavalry Brigade under the patronage of Max Aitken (Lord Beaverbrook).

The Canadian War Records Exhibition at the Royal Academy London after the Armistice included 45 of Munnings's paintings.

Canadian War Museum 🐴 🇨🇦

12/30/2024

Lidiya Myakisheva volunteered at the age of 16 in 1942 to avenge her brother Fedor.

Fedor Myakisheva, a young soldier serving in the 172nd Rifle Division, was killed at Mogilev in 1941. When she learned of her brother’s death, Lidiya lied about her age and volunteered for service at the front.

Lidiya trained as a medical orderly and served in a ski battalion on the Bryansk Front where she was wounded in action. She recovered from her wounds and joined 416th Reconnaissance Company in 360th Rifle Division as a sergeant.

Lidiya served in the reconnaissance company as a medical instructor (its senior medical NCO) and scout. She was a fearless member of the elite recon company, often operating in no-man’s-land and behind enemy lines.

In November 1943, Lidiya was awarded the Order of Glory, 3rd Degree. Her citation reads:

«В ночь на 3 ноября 1943 года санинструктор Мякишева была ранена, но несмотря на это, оказала помощь и эвакуировала с поля боя 12 раненых бойцов с их оружием».

“On the night of November 3, 1943, medical instructor Myakisheva was wounded, but despite this, she provided assistance and evacuated 12 wounded soldiers with their weapons from the battlefield.”

Continuing to serve with the 416th Reconnaissance Company, Sergeant Myakisheva fought with the 360th Rifle Division as it liberated Belarus. In July 1944, she was awarded the Order of Glory, 2nd Class. Her citation reads:

«т. Мякишева действовала в составе разведгруппы в тылу обороны противника по разгрому штаба немецкого батальона в районе деревни Боровуха Полоцкого района Витебской области 3 июля 1944 года. В самом разгаре боя был ранен командир роты и Мякишева под огнем противника оказала помощь командиру и вытащила его из-под огня».

“Comrade Myakisheva acted as part of a reconnaissance group in the rear of the enemy's defense to destroy the headquarters of a German battalion in the area of ​​the village of Borovukha in the Polotsk district of the Vitebsk region on July 3, 1944. At the height of the battle, the company commander was wounded and Myakisheva, under enemy fire, provided assistance to the commander and pulled him out from under fire."

Demobilised due to her own injuries, Lidiya returned home. In memory of Fedor, she noted «Ну вот, я отомстила за тебя, братик» ("Well, little brother, I have avenged you.").

After the war, Lidiya married a fellow veteran and holder of the Order of Glory, Konstantin Glukhov. Together they raised 3 children.

Lidiya Myakisheva-Glukov became a military historian, writing books about her experiences and histories of individual units. The last of her books, a history of the 6th Rifle Corps, was published when she was 95 years old.

In addition to her historical work, Lidiya Myakisheva-Glukov led searches of the old Mogilev battlefield where her brother Fedor died in 1941. The search parties ultimately located and identified the remains of 212 soldiers of Fedor’s 172nd Rifle Division who had previously been buried as unknowns.

Sergeant Lidiya Myakisheva, twice awarded the Order of Glory, died in 2022 at the age of 96.

12/30/2024

For those of us raised on Monty Python and the Goon Show, here is an indisputably accurate depiction of the Malakand Field Force on campaign against the Mad Fakir of Swat in 1897.

12/23/2024

The old visitor center is no more. It has ceased to be. This is an ex visitors center.

📷 Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield.

12/23/2024

Happy Civil War to all those who celebrate.

12/18/2024

A festive British soldier displays a tin of Christmas pudding at snow-covered Neulette, France, 17 December 1917.

📷 IWM Q 6401.

12/17/2024

at Fort Laramie.

12/17/2024

Catherine of Aragon was born 16 December 1485. She became the first wife of Henry VIII of England in 1509. For six months in 1513, while the king campaigned in France, she governed England as Regent. In August, a Scottish army invaded northern England. The Queen, pregnant, donned a suit of armour, raised an army of 15 thousand, and marched north. The Scots were defeated at the Battle of Flodden on 9 September and Catherine had the Scottish king’s bloody tunic sent to Henry as a gift.

The warrior queen who saved England suffered a great personal loss. She miscarried her unborn child, a son, that same month. It is believed that the physical strain of the campaign may have contributed to the loss. She gave her all for her husband and the country.



📷 actress Charlotte Hope portraying a pregnant Catherine in her armour in the 2019 Starz drama ‘The Spanish Princess.’

12/17/2024

For those of you who are fans of the British poet Rudyard Kipling and also of the movie 28 Years Later, here is John Taylor’s 1915 recording of the poem ‘Boots’ used to great effect.

Victor 55057. Matrix/Take: C-16183/1.

12/17/2024

When we say we appreciate your gifts of cups of coffee we literally mean cups of coffee. Thank you for a wonderful 2024.

Before we turn the page on 2024, let’s look back at some delicious memories

12/16/2024

Sitting Bull killed December 15, 1890.

The Hunkpapa Lakota leader was shot in the head and chest by Bureau of Indian Affairs agency policemen at the Standing Rock reservation. In a close-quarters fight, seven of Sitting Bull’s party and six policemen were also killed.

📷 Half-length portrait by Palmquist & Jurgens, St. Paul, Minn., 1884. In the collection of the Library of Congress. LOC cph 3c22859.

12/15/2024

1st Maine Cavalry monument at Gettysburg.

The regiment brought 438 troopers to the field on July 3, 1863, as part of 2nd Cavalry Division.

The granite monument, dedicated in 1889, is located at the intersection of Hanover Road and East Cavalry Avenue.

⚠️ Please be careful where you park. ⚠️



📷 Photograph of First Maine Cavalry Monument at Gettysburg National Military Park © 2022 by David Bober is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International.

⚖️ Non-commercial still photography compliant with 36 CFR §1.6 (f) and GNMP Superintendent’s Compendium.

12/13/2024

Phase 1 demolition of the old visitor's center at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is underway.

There is limited access to parts of the battlefield, in particular Last Stand Hill and the Indian Memorial. There is no walk-up access to these areas while construction work continues. There is a temporary visitor services contact station located in the parking lot.

If you are planning to visit Little Bighorn we would strongly advise checking the nps.gov/libi/ website for up-to-date information prior to travel.

12/13/2024

Are you planning to visit the First World War battlefields in Belgium? The Passchendaele Museum is temporarily closed for renovations until 2025. The underground galleries will reopen on February 1, followed by the renovated exhibit space on April 5.