Category Archives: Military History

Feeding the March: Sherman’s Georgia and Carolinas Campaigns as a Recovery of Early Modern Logistics: A White Paper

Posted on July 25, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract The logistical arrangements of William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea (November–December 1864) and Carolinas campaign (January–April 1865) are routinely described as an innovation — the birth of modern operational war, the ancestor of the motorized deep thrust, the … Continue reading →

Posted in American Civil War, American History, History, Military History | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Battles Decided Before They Were Fought: Bosworth, Sekigahara, and the Neglected Historiography of Pre-Battle Alignment

Posted on July 24, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract Two battles occupy nearly identical positions in the national narratives of England and Japan. Bosworth Field (22 August 1485) is treated as the terminus of the Wars of the Roses and the founding moment of the Tudor century. Sekigahara … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Military History | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Measuring Absence: Why Combat Participation Rate Requires Decomposition: Perryville, Antietam, and the Causes of Non-Engagement: A follow-up to “Battles Decided Before They Were Fought”

Posted on July 24, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract The preceding paper proposed combat participation rate — the share of a mustered force that actually made contact — as a diagnostic tool for identifying battles settled by pre-battle negotiation rather than tactical decision. At Bosworth and Sekigahara, a … Continue reading →

Posted in American Civil War, American History, History, Military History | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Human Toll of the Westport Campaign: An Estimate of Confederate Attrition During Price’s Missouri Expedition, September–December 1864

Posted on July 22, 2026 by nathanalbright

Executive summary Sterling Price’s Army of Missouri entered its home state in mid-September 1864 with roughly twelve thousand men, of whom perhaps a third carried no weapon. Ten weeks and some fourteen hundred miles later, the force that re-crossed into … Continue reading →

Posted in American Civil War, American History, History, Military History | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Synthesis: Four Centuries of a Contested Coast

Posted on July 19, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This concluding paper draws together the arguments of the preceding nine and advances an interpretation of the whole. It proposes that the military history of Tampa Bay passed through three phases—the bay as beachhead, as staging area, and finally … Continue reading →

Posted in American Civil War, American History, History, Military History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

MacDill Today: CENTCOM, SOCOM, and Contemporary Force Projection (1983–Present)

Posted on July 19, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper examines the contemporary MacDill Air Force Base, arguing that a field built to train bomber crews in the Second World War has become one of the most strategically weighted installations in the United States military. It accounts … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, History, Military History | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

MacDill in the Cold War: From Strategic Bombers to the Home of Unified Commands (1946–1990)

Posted on July 19, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper examines MacDill Air Force Base during the Cold War, arguing that the period gave the base a dual identity that would determine its future. As a flying installation, MacDill moved from being one of the original bases … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, History, Military History | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The World Wars and the Birth of MacDill: Aviation, Coastal Defense, and the Making of a Permanent Base (1917–1945)

Posted on July 19, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper traces Tampa Bay’s military development across the two World Wars, from the modest aviation and coastal-defense role of the First World War to the founding and wartime expansion of MacDill Field, the installation that would define the … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, History, Military History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Tampa and the Spanish-American War: The Making of a Port of Embarkation (1898)

Posted on July 19, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper examines Tampa’s role in the Spanish-American War of 1898, when the small Gulf city became the principal port of embarkation for the United States invasion of Cuba. It argues that Tampa was chosen for concrete infrastructural and … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, History, Military History | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Fort Brooke and Tampa in the Civil War: The Blockaded Storehouse (1861–1865)

Posted on July 18, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper examines the role of Fort Brooke and the town of Tampa in the American Civil War, arguing that the bay’s importance in these years was economic before it was tactical. Tampa was a small and remote Gulf … Continue reading →

Posted in American Civil War, American History, History, Military History | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment