In July 1777, Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne led a powerful British and German army south from Canada towards Fort Ticonderoga, one of the most celebrated American strongholds of the Revolutionary War. Yet the fortress's imposing walls concealed a fatal weakness. When British engineers hauled artillery onto the commanding height of Sugar Loaf, later named Mount Defiance, Major-General Arthur St Clair faced an impossible decision: defend the position and risk losing his entire army, or abandon the fort and face accusations of cowardice and treason. This episode follows Burgoyne's advance, the struggle to defend Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, the night-time evacuation, the pursuit to Hubbardton and the consequences for the campaign that ended at Saratoga. Visit our website: Compact Warfare Find us on our social media sites: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Youtube #SiegeOfFortTiconderoga #FortTiconderoga #AmericanRevolution #AmericanWarOfIndependence #SaratogaCampaign #MilitaryHistory #CompactWarfare

The Battle of Edgehill, fought in Warwickshire on 23 October 1642, was the first major pitched battle of the English Civil War. King Charles I's Royalist army was marching towards London when it encountered the Parliamentarian forces of the Earl of Essex near Kineton. Prince Rupert's cavalry swept Parliament's horsemen from the field, but its pursuit left the Royalist infantry exposed to a determined counterattack. Amid cavalry charges, close-quarter infantry fighting and the dramatic loss and recovery of the Royal Standard, both armies suffered heavily without securing a decisive victory. This episode examines the political crisis that brought England to war, the movements that led the armies to Edgehill, the course of the battle and its consequences for the conflict that followed. Visit our website: Compact Warfare Find us on our social media sites: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Youtube #CompactWarfare #BattleOfEdgehill #EnglishCivilWar #BritishHistory #MilitaryHistory #KingCharlesI #PrinceRupert #HistoryPodcast

On 1 September 1939, German forces invaded Poland from the north, west and south. Just sixteen days later, the Soviet Union attacked from the east. In this episode of Compact Warfare, we examine the diplomatic manoeuvring that left Poland exposed, the German strategy behind Fall Weiss, the defence of Westerplatte, the Battle of the Bzura, the siege of Warsaw and the brutal occupation that followed. Poland's organised military resistance was overwhelmed within weeks, but the invasion turned a regional act of aggression into the Second World War. Visit our website: Compact Warfare Find us on our social media sites: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Youtube #CompactWarfare #InvasionOfPoland #Poland1939 #SecondWorldWar #WorldWarTwo #MilitaryHistory #Blitzkrieg #Westerplatte #BattleOfTheBzura #HistoryPodcast

On 20 September 1792, revolutionary France faced a formidable Prussian-led invasion near the village of Valmy. What followed was less a conventional battle than a prolonged artillery duel, yet its consequences were enormous. Discover how French commanders Charles Dumouriez and François Kellermann halted the coalition advance, protected Paris and helped secure the future of the French Revolution. Visit our website: Compact Warfare Find us on our social media sites: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Youtube #BattleOfValmy #FrenchRevolution #MilitaryHistory #FrenchRevolutionaryWars #CompactWarfare

In May 1097, the armies of the First Crusade reached Nicaea, the fortified capital of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. With towering walls, an open route across Lake Ascanius and Sultan Kilij Arslan returning with a relief army, capturing the city would require close cooperation between the crusaders and Byzantine Emperor Alexios I. In this episode of Compact Warfare, we examine the fighting outside Nicaea, the siege engines and mining operations used against its defences, the extraordinary transport of Byzantine ships overland and the disputed surrender that exposed tensions within the Christian alliance. Visit our website: Compact Warfare Find us on our social media sites: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Youtube #CompactWarfare #SiegeOfNicaea #FirstCrusade #Crusades #MedievalWarfare #ByzantineEmpire

For nearly six years, Allied merchant ships fought to keep Britain supplied while German U-boats attempted to sever the Atlantic lifeline. Discover how convoys, wolf packs, Enigma intelligence, escort carriers, long-range aircraft and a fierce industrial contest shaped the longest continuous campaign of the Second World War. From the early U-boat victories to Black May 1943 and the final defeat of Germany's submarine offensive, this is the story of the Battle of the Atlantic. Visit our website: Compact Warfare Find us on our social media sites: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Youtube #BattleOfTheAtlantic #SecondWorldWar #NavalHistory #MilitaryHistory #UBoats #CompactWarfare  

On 19 April 1775, British regulars marched from Boston towards Concord with orders to seize colonial military supplies. Warned by a network of riders, including Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, militia companies gathered across the Massachusetts countryside. The result was a series of clashes at Lexington, Concord's North Bridge and along the road back to Boston. Discover how confusion, intelligence, local resistance and a brutal fighting retreat transformed a political crisis into the opening conflict of the American Revolutionary War. Visit our website: Compact Warfare Find us on our social media sites: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Youtube #TheBattlesOfLexingtonAndConcord, #LexingtonAndConcord, #AmericanRevolution, #RevolutionaryWar, #MilitaryHistory, #AmericanHistory, #BritishHistory, #HistoryPodcast, #CompactWarfare  

The Battle of Edington was one of the most important turning points in early English history. In 878, Alfred the Great emerged from hiding in the Somerset marshes, gathered the fighting men of Wessex, and defeated Guthrum's Viking army. The victory did not end Viking power in England, but it saved Wessex from collapse and helped make the later creation of England possible. Visit our website: Compact Warfare Find us on our social media sites: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Youtube #BattleOfEdington, #AlfredTheGreat, #CompactWarfare, #Wessex, #VikingHistory, #AngloSaxonEngland, #Guthrum, #BritishHistory, #MilitaryHistory, #HistoryPodcast, #EarlyMedievalHistory, #Vikings

In this episode of Compact Warfare, we look at the Battle of Wakefield, fought on 30 December 1460 during the Wars of the Roses. Richard, Duke of York, had been named heir to Henry VI through the Act of Accord, but Queen Margaret of Anjou and the Lancastrian nobility refused to accept the disinheritance of Prince Edward. What followed near Sandal Castle was a short, brutal clash that killed York, his son Edmund, and the Earl of Salisbury, while pushing England deeper into civil war. Visit our website: Compact Warfare Find us on our social media sites: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Youtube #BattleOfWakefield, #WarsOfTheRoses, #CompactWarfare, #RichardOfYork, #MedievalHistory, #EnglishHistory, #HouseOfYork, #HouseOfLancaster, #HenryVI, #EdwardIV

The Battle of Naseby was the moment the First English Civil War turned decisively against King Charles I. In this episode of Compact Warfare, we follow the rise of Parliament's New Model Army, the Royalist march through the Midlands, the brutal fighting on 14 June 1645, and the aftermath that left the King's cause badly damaged. Visit our website: Compact Warfare Find us on our social media sites: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Youtube Hashtags: #BattleOfNaseby, #EnglishCivilWar, #CompactWarfare, #MilitaryHistory, #BritishHistory, #OliverCromwell, #CharlesI, #NewModelArmy, #Royalists, #Parliamentarians