The Conquerors

He was a ruthless leader with a gift for politics. In an age of short and often brutal lives, he reigned for over thirty years. And only then did he embark upon the campaign that made him a legend.

He was an experienced commander sent to impose order on a rebellious colony. He soundly defeated the man who would come to be called "the father of the country." Yet in the end, his victory proved fruitless.

He was a national hero, the commander who defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. Five years later, he took on another European superpower in a private campaign that ultimately helped carry him to the White Ho…

It was one of the most significant land grabs in history. Acting on what many believe to be secret orders from President Polk, John Charles Fremont fomented the Bear Flag Rebellion in June of 1846, which led to Mexico ceding the vast Calif…

Though his name was Rodrigo Diaz, he was known simply as El Cid (The Leader). Yet recent scholarship has exposed many gaps between truth and myth in the tales about Spain's first national hero. Was he, as one contemporary said, ""the scour…

To speed up his campaign, he split command between Marshal Zhukov in the center and Marshal Konev in the south triggering a race between his most senior commanders--both eager to be credited with conquest of the German capital. On April 15…

On November 15, 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman left Atlanta with 62,000 men and headed toward the Georgia coast. Traveling the rail lines to Savannah, his army laid waste to the countryside, burning crops, confiscating suppli…

Many said he was a cruel traitor, usurper, and hypocrite. Others found him broad-minded, tolerant, passionately religious, and ferociously moral. Cromwell's influence as a military commander and politician during the English Civil War dram…

His reign of conquest began in 1,000 BC with the death of King Saul. King David vanquished all other contenders to the throne of Israel. He then turned his attention outwards, rapidly defeating the Philistines, the Moabites, the Aramaeans,…

His name is, without question, synonymous with that of ""Conqueror"", though he never considered himself as such. He said he was a liberator, bringing enlightenment to the people of Western Europe. Yet his actions and prowess as a military…

In 58 BC, Julius Caesar pushed north from Rome into the unruly lands of the barbarians. Less than eight years later, the empire extended all the way to the Atlantic, and Roman Legions were making incursions into Britain. The key to Caesar'…

Suleiman I, a 16th-century sultan of Ottoman Empire.

A profile of Julius Caesar focuses on his conquest of Gaul (58-52 B.C.), which extended the Roman Empire to the Atlantic Ocean and was famously recounted in Caesar's “On the Gallic Wars.” Also examined are Caesar's skills as a military tac…

A profile of the Macedonian ruler and military commander Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.)