Cauldron - A Military History Podcast

"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 misunde...

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 prox...

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 sor...

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 en...

This past Sunday, Matthew Parker, author of Monte Cassino - The Hardest-Fought Battle of World War II, and I talked about his excellent history of one of WWII's least talked about battles. I had told him the whole thing would run about 45 minutes, and he was patient and gracious enough to give me over an hour of his time. Our chat ranged from his early days as a ghostwriter to the most exciting mo...

Let's go back to the time of the Mongols, Lord Novgorod The Great, and the Teutonic Knights. To the frozen landscape and icy lakes fo a medieval spring. To a time when the Pope in Rome wanted nothing more than to force the known world to follow the Latin Creed. To a time when Russia was nothing more than a dream, far in the distant future. In this episode of Cauldron, let's go back to the Battle O...

This episode is in honor of ANZAC Day and serves as a salute to Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations". This week I'm sharing an extraordinary story requested by Patreon Producer and friend Tim from Australia. This was the first of the Patron Producer episodes, and it covers the life and heroics of Cameron Stewart Baird, VC, MG (7 J...

"A place where empires go to die." Mike Malloy said this about Afghanistan, and there are plenty of examples to make his point. The British Empire, at its height in the late 19th century, suffered a genuinely smashing debacle of a defeat at the Khyber Pass, and could never really come to grips with the country. The Russians in the late 20th century made fools of themselves. They tried to overawe a...

Just a check in to let you guys know where things are at on the show. Things have been very hectic and crazy of late, for everyone I'm sure. I wanted to let you guys know that yes, everything is delayed, and content is coming out slower, but it's still coming! I'll have Bud Dajo out soon, some awesome battles are coming up next, and our Livestream on Instagram is a lot of fun. Every Wednesday at 8...

William "Red" Martin never thought he'd climb through a cloud. If he had ever given the idea a second worth of thought, he probably would have said such a thing wasn't possible. But, by God, he'd done it! Now he could tell everyone until the day he died, "I climbed through a cloud on a volcano in the boondocks of the Philippines." Whether they believed it or not was up to them, "Red" would know th...

"My God! What is this?!" cried Francis I, the bewildered and soon to be captured King of France. Or at least that's what has come down to us; I'm always suspicious of battlefield quotes. Who heard him, and how did they hear him?? But, if it is what the desperately shocked monarch screamed outside the city of Pavia as his army died around him, it would make sense. Francis's feudal outlook on the wo...

In this week's short fictional episode, we join Francis Valois as he tries to destroy the Habsburg army facing him. The Spanish arquebusiers, Swiss and German Landsknecht, and French gendarmes all find themselves fighting for their lives outside the besieged city of Pavia. The French King wanted Milan and control of the Italian Pennisula, his Habsburg rival, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, wante...

A civil war cracked off in the New World that would last four years and rip the Republic asunder. For more than 1400 days, brother fought brother, father killed son, friend cut down friend. Not for a minute did the suffering stop, whether for the soldiers or the noncombatants. Disease, privation, hunger, petty violence, rape, and pillage roamed the land from the swamps of S.C. to the P.A. forests....

Unconditional Surrender - Col. Heath at Fort Donelson   "Sleep poorly, you bastards..." grumbled Col. John Heath as he watched the Union officers trudge back down a snow-covered corpse-strewn palisade. The emissaries had, under a flag of truce, brought a message for whoever was in command of Fort Donelson. It was most likely an agreement to negotiate a surrender of the Fort. Yesterday's fight had...

The world was on fire. Evil had spread across the lands and seas like a virus, infecting everything with death and hatred. The monstrous Empires of Europe and the East seemed unbeatable and destined to victory. To win the Allies would need to try every trick in the book, use every method of war known to them. And at times even invent new methods. The more daring the more dangerous. But in a fight...

The General That Wept - Battle of Passchendaele - Jul 31, 1917 – Nov 10, 1917   “Harry Devers leaned up against the bonnet of his muddy, dinged up and dented Vauxhall D-type. The large, boxy staff car had a certain beauty and grace to it, and Harry had been in enough close-run situations while driving her that he'd grown to trust her. Of course, that hadn't always been the case…”   This is the tal...

Hello again, and thank you for listening to Cauldron. I'm your host, Cullen, and we have another doozy for you today but first some quick housekeeping. I want to thank all of you that have given the show a 5-star rating. Seventy-three people have taken the time to support the show on iTunes, and it means a lot to me. I especially want to thank Archernova, nap_sack, and EMT_Hank for writing the mos...

Hello again, and thank you for listening to Cauldron. I'm your host, Cullen, and we have another doozy for you today but first some quick housekeeping. I want to thank all of you that have given the show a 5-star rating. Seventy-three people have taken the time to support the show on iTunes, and it means a lot to me. I especially want to thank Archernova, nap_sack, and EMT_Hank for writing the mos...

Derfel the Clever - Battle of Stamford Bridge 1066   Young Derfel is not much of a fighter but he is a problem solver. This comes in handy as Derfel finds himself in the front rows of men being pushed towards certain death. In front of Derfel stands a great Viking warrior and this Norseman is killing all who attempt to cross the bridge at Stamford. King Harold Godwinson needs to move quickly thoug...

himself. A mysterious green glow on the wounded at the battle of Shiloh. A listener has a tale that involves the Yom Kippur War and an uncanny coincidence. Alright, let's get stuck in!   This week’s main source - https://www.rbth.com/history/328908-russian-attack-of-dead , https://allthatsinteresting.com/angels-glow , Cover Art - Vasily Nesterenko Music - 12 Emergency Center To support the show go...

At the outset of the battle, several mailed horsemen rode up to the Viking lines. Tostig Godwinson moved up to hear what the Anglo Saxon riders had tot say. The leader of the men was his brother, King Harold, and he offered Tostig peace and his life. When Tostig asked what the King offered to his ally, Harald Hardcounsel, the King, responded, "Six feet of English ground, and then some more as he i...

Raolet of Foix - The Battle Of Nicopolis- 25 September 1396   This episode is a little different. I wrote a fictional account of the battle for the Patreon supporters and instead of writing 50k words this week I am going to share this with everyone. This is the first try but I plan on continuing to write fictional pieces for the Patrons with some regularity. I hope you enjoy it and send me any not...

Hello again and thanks for listening I'm your host, Cullen. Today we are wrapping up our coverage of the battle of Guadalcanal. From the second battle of Bloody Ridge to the Japanese evacuation of Starvation Island we cover it all.   Alright, let's get stuck in!   Let's go back 77 years ago. To the steamy rank jungles of the South Pacific. To a place where the kuni grass grows as tall as a man and...

Hello again and thanks for listening I'm your host, Cullen. Today we are covering another massive story so strap in for the long haul, but first some housekeeping. Go to Instagram and Facebook for maps and images and to follow along. Head to iTunes when you get the chance and rate review subscribe! This really does help get the show get heard by more people. As always thanks to melhaks on fivver f...