Category: Military

Saratoga Campaign 1777

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The Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the American Revolution. Leaders like John Burgoyne, Horatio Gates, and Benedict Arnold, with thousands of valiant men, fought in a drama that would change the world.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Background: The Road to Saratoga

After fighting side by side to defeat the French and Indians (1756-1763), Britain and her American colonies drifted apart. Laboring under a heavy debt, Parliament increased taxation and control over the Americans. The Quebec Act (1774) was intended to build support for Britain among the Catholic French Canadians, institute the French system of civil law,[1] and limit colonial migration into the Ohio Valley. However, it infuriated English colonists. But it, and other “intolerable acts,” provided the tipping point into revolution.

Before Congress even declared America to be a new nation (4 July 1776), American rebels captured Fort Ticonderoga (10 May 1775), Crown Point, Fort St. Johns (17 Sep to 3 Nov 1775), and Montreal in the early months of the conflict. US General Richard Montgomery commanded about 1000 militia through the St. Lawrence River north to Quebec. Moving primarily by water, they brought most of the artillery and supplies. US General Benedict Arnold began taking about 1000 militia through the wilderness of Maine, from the Kennebec River to the Chaudière River. Having started in July, Arnold’s force lost about 500 men to starvation, desertion, expiring enlistments, and disease (smallpox). Montgomery’s force diminished to 700 by expiring enlistments.

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The Battle of Tarawa: America’s Early Lesson in WWII Amphibious Warfare

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By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

What was the Battle of Tarawa in World War II? Why was it important then,…and today?

The morning of November 20, 1943, dawned over a small coral atoll in the Central Pacific that few Americans had ever heard of. Within seventy-six hours, Tarawa would become seared into the American consciousness as one of the most savage battles of World War II. The ferocious fighting on this tiny strip of land, barely twelve square miles in total area, would claim over 6,000 lives and fundamentally transform how the United States Navy and Marine Corps conducted amphibious operations for the remainder of the war.

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Why Ukraine will endure

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I wrote the article below, Why Ukraine will endure, on 27 Feb 2022, shortly after the Russians invaded Ukraine. I did not publish it at the time, though I don’t remember why. While in Kyiv last month, I told Dr. Rick Perhai and others from Kyiv Theological Seminary about the article, and he asked to see a copy. I knew that I had written the piece, but forgot that it was never actually published. So, I couldn’t find it on the MDHI website. Going through my hard drive archives today, while looking for something else, I found the lost article.

On one hand, I have been proven right. Against all odds, Ukraine has endured. Despite the emigration of Ukrainians, many stayed behind to defend their homeland. On the other hand, I did not foresee the momentous changes in warfare occasioned by this conflict. Drones and electronic warfare have revolutionized combat. Ukraine has proven itself masterful at using everything in its arsenal, and more importantly, in its people’s imaginations, to stop the Russian onslaught.

Diplomatically, sanctions have not been as effective as hoped, but then again, sanctions never are. China, North Korea, and India are providing Russia with more than token support. Putin still believes that he is winning and still refuses to negotiate in good faith for peace.

So, for my friends in Ukraine, I have now found the article that I told you about. Happy reading!

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA.

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The Battle on the Marchfeld

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The Battle on the Marchfeld is a little known but important event in military history. As a result of the battle, the Habsburgs came to power and ruled the Holy Roman Empire and later Austria and Spain until the 20th century. 

By Stephen T. Harris, Historian

Background

In 1250, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (1194-1250) died. He had quarreled with the pope and was excommunicated multiple times. The pope had gone so far as to depose Frederick II. As the pope refused to allow one of his descendants to take the throne, the imperial throne fell vacant, leading to the Great Interregnum (1254-1273). A group of princes known as the electors[1] elected Richard of Cornwall (1209-1272), brother of Henry III of England, as King of the Romans in 1257. Still, Richard held little real power in the empire. Richard often remained in England for long periods. The German princes were virtually independent and could do whatever they wished. Some historians argue Richard’s election was intentionally designed to prevent a strong ruler from trying to curb the princes’ power. During the Great Interregnum, the princes worked to increase their power, and many did. The most successful was Ottokar II (1233-1278), King of Bohemia, who used conquest and political marriages to build a massive kingdom that stretched to the Adriatic.

One of those marriages was with the daughter of the Duke of Austria, a woman named Margaret of Babenberg (1204-1266). However, the duchy was not rightfully Ottokar’s. It was an imperial fief and as such should have gone back to the emperor, to grant to whomever he chose. Several years after he married, the pope granted Ottokar an annulment to marry a woman his age and have children. However, this meant he no longer had a legal right to Austria through marriage.

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Defending Taiwan

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The world in 2025 is a bigger geopolitical mess than it was in 1914. Taiwan, Ukraine, and Israel are developed states at the epicenter of life-or-death struggles.[1] After a recent visit to Taiwan, this article describes a way, and quite probably the only way, for Taiwan to survive as an independent nation if China invades.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Chiang Kai Shek (1887-1975) fled mainland China and moved his nationalists, the Kuomintang (KMT), to Taiwan after their defeat by the communists under Mao Tse Dung (1893-1976) in 1949. Since that year, the Communists ruling mainland China have declared that Taiwan is a renegade province and they will take it back by any means possible, including war.[2]  Every modern Chinese ruler, including the current autocrat Xi Jin Ping, has reaffirmed this intention.[3]

A pre-invasion scenario

Chinese paramilitary “fishing boats”, coast guard ships, and naval vessels encircle Taiwan under the guise of military exercises, law enforcement, or humanitarian actions. These boats partially disrupt Taiwanese imports and exports. Then they leave, having learned valuable lessons and helped lull Taiwanese defenders and politicians into a sleepy acquiescence, like a frog in warming water. Chinese aircraft from bases such as Longtian (in Fujian) harass Taiwanese responding forces. Cyber attackers, space forces, special forces, and others engage. Much of this is happening today. By not firing the first shot, the Chinese undercut nations that may oppose them. If no one physically challenged the blockade, Taiwan would slowly be strangled to death.

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Avoiding Putin’s Trap

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President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to stop the Russian war on Ukraine. While he possesses a strong personality, Trump’s personality alone is not likely to stop the T-80s from rolling into Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. Stopping the war is a worthy goal, but Trump and his team need to ensure that they do not lose the peace. The following article illuminates how to get a fair deal.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Background

Ukraine is renowned for its fertile, black soil, and Ukrainian agriculture ranks among the most productive in the world. Fifty-five percent of Ukraine’s land is arable, mostly in the western and central regions, and 14% of Ukrainians work in agriculture.[1] Equally important, Ukraine has historically had several excellent ports on the Black Sea to safely and cheaply get its crops to market. These ports include Odessa, Chernomorsk, Yuzhny, Berdyansk, Mariupol, and Sevastopol.

Situated to the north and east, Russia lacks Ukraine’s vast swathes of rich farmland. For centuries, Russians moving to Ukraine to find a better life had few opportunities to settle in the western and central regions since native Ukrainians were there. The Donetsk and Luhansk regions along the Dnieper River in the east lacked such productive soil but, as the Industrial Revolution began in the 19th century, these regions had something even more valuable. Eastern Ukraine is flush with coal and iron and has a major river to move the coal and iron to market. In the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries, Russian settlers flocked to these regions, together known as the Donbas. Nationwide, Ukrainians account for 77.8% of the people in the Ukraine and Russians account for 17.3%, but the Russian population percentage is much higher in the Donbas and in the Crimean Peninsula.[2]

Prelude to War

Putin had what he considered to be good reasons to attack Ukraine. He argued that the West had invaded Russia six times in the past two centuries, while Russia had not initiated hostilities against the West.[3] He cited NATO encroachment as a threat to Russia. Putin styled himself as a modern Russian savior along the lines of Peter the Great.

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