Steven L. Ossad
Military Historian & Leadership Consultant

Henry Ware Lawton: Flawed Giant and Hero of Four Wars, Army History, Winter 2007
A century ago, Henry Lawton was the most acclaimed soldier of his generation. A "Boy Colonel" and regimental commander during the Civil War, by the age of 23 he had survived 22 major battles unscathed and had been awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery during Sherman's Atlanta Campaign. After a year at Harvard Law School, his former colleagues - Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan - persuaded him to rejoin the army. He served first with the Buffalo Soldiers and then as Quartermaster of the 4th Cavalry under the legendary Colonel Ranald MacKenzie. Leader of the epic 2,000 mile trek that finally tracked down Geronimo in 1886, he was the victor at the Battle of El Caney, Cuba on 1 July 1898. Protected by President McKinley when his alcoholism nearly created a scandal, Lawton was assigned to the Philippines, where he was killed in action. He died in America's first major counterinsurgency on foreign soil, trying to bring democracy to an Asian people.

BG Joseph Mansfield, Military Heritage Magazine, February 2007
BG Joseph K.F. Mansfield (1803-1862) prepared his whole life for the ultimate test of a soldier - command of troops on the battlefield. After a long and distinguished career, that moment finally came at the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862 - the bloodiest day in our history. In command of XII Corps, Union Army of the Potomac, his moment of glory lasted less than a half hour.

The Terrills: "God Alone Knows Which Was Right", America's Civil War Magazine, September 2006
Two Brothers - each rising to General rank, but fighting on opposite sides in our Nation's most terrible war - fall in battle. Left behind are a distaught father, a shattered family, and a legend that defines the agony of a struggle where brother fights against brother.

Paperback Edition of Major General Maurice Rose: World War II's Greatest Forgotten Commander
"Rose was a brave man, single-minded, whose only mission was to defeat the Nazis as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. Whether that was due to his Jewish background (which he seemed to shun) or not is problematical. He demanded absolute loyalty from his men. He would not accept any excuse from any of his subordinate commanders -- accomplish your mission or move on!This book sheds a lot of light on the man whom General J. Lawton Collins regarded "as the top notch division commander in the business at the time of his death." I heartily recommend it especially to those who are interested in the fighting in North-west Europe during WWII." Robert K. Pacios, WWII Veteran, 3rd Armored Division

The Corporate Staff Ride: A Proven Military Training Tool Comes to the Boardroom, Wharton Leadership Digest, January 2006
Developed by APPLIED BATTLEFIELD CONCEPTS LLC, The Corporate Staff Ride offers an intensive, experiential learning-based leadership training program modeled after the U.S. Army's century-old "Battlefield Staff Ride."

Drawings of Antietam Commanders
This collection, "Commanders at Antietam", is an attempt to see military history with the eye of an artist - albeit a distinctly amateur practitioner.

Largely based on common images, the portraits are a personal tool to help bring depth and form to biographies built of words. The drawings also reflect ongoing study and experimentation and help to integrate current projects and ongoing interests.

Command Failures: Lessons Learned from Lloyd R. Fredendall, Army Magazine, March 2003
Winner, 2003 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award
A hero of the early days of World War II, Lloyd Fredendall presided over the debacle at Kasserine Pass, one of the worst defeats of American arms during World War II. Kicked upstairs and given a training job, he receded into obscurity, re-entering the American consciousness briefly during the 1970 hit movie, Patton. The lessons we can learn from him, however, are a case study for the dynamics that lead to Command Failure.

The Fighting McCooks, Military History Magazine, October 2005
In war and peace, this Ohio family demonstrated a comittment to service that spans a century and a half and has given the nation generals, governors, doctors, professors, lawyers, legislators, scientists, a WWII destroyer, and sixteen members of the Union forces during the Civil War. In that great struggle seven members of the family rose to the rank of general, including two brothers who died in battle, along with their father and younger brother.

Commodore Thomas Macdonough: Hero of the Barbary Wars, Victor at Lake Champlain, Military Heritage Magazine, October 2004
After serving in the Quaisi War With France, Thomas Macdonough helped recapture and burn the USS Philadelphia and defeat the Barbary pirate gunboats. During the War of 1812, Commodore Macdonough defeated the British on Lake Champlain in 1814, the most decisive victory of the war.

Russian General Ivan D. Chernyakhovsky, WWII History Magazine, May 2004
Twice a Hero of the Soviet Union, Ivan Chernyahkovsky was the youngest Soviet Front Commander. A survivor of the Stalin purges of the 1930's and the terrible early days of the Great Patriotic War, he rose to the top ranks of great armor commanders, only to fall in the last days of World War II.

Fighting Admiral of Guadalcanal, World War II Magazine, May 2004
In our long history, only five American admirals have died in battle. Two died on the same day - Friday, November 13, 1942 - desperately resisting an overwhelming Japanese force determined to annihilate the US Marines holding Guadalcanal. Dan Callaghan - the Task Force commander - and his classmate Norm Scott gave all they had to stop the enemy. They were the only Admirals to die in surface engagements and it was the only time in American history that two flag officers - both posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor - fell on the same day, in the same battle.

In the Front Ranks of Gallant Men, World War II Magazine, November 2003
Brigadier General Frederick Castle's death in combat ended the career of one of the Eighth Air Force's most beloved officers and deprived the Army Air Forces of one of its shining stars.

The Frustrations of Leonard Wood, Army Magazine, September 2003
Graduate of Harvard Medical School, Medal of Honor winner, pursuer of Geronimo, friend and confidant of presidents, Commander of the Rough Riders, Governor of Cuba and the Philippines, sponsor of Walter Reed, Army Chief of Staff, spokesman for Preparedness, and Provost of Univ. of Pennsylvania, Leonard Wood's greatest aspirations fell victim to his unrestrained ambition.

The Last Battle of Gen. William Orlando Darby, Army Magazine, January 2003
Killed in action just days before the end of World War II, Bill Darby was a legendary warrior who inspired his men to extraordinary acts. One of the youngest generals in our history, he was the only American officer posthumously promoted to general officer rank during World War II.

Martin Blumenson (1918-2005)
For more than fifty years, Martin Blumenson served our nation as a Military Historian, first as a citizen soldier durting World War II, then as a professional Army historian, and finally as an independant scholar and teacher. Chronicler of the Normandy and Italian Campaigns, biographer of George S. Patton and Mark Clark, and author of dozens of books and articles, he was one of the last of those assembled by S.L.A. Marshall to write the Army's Official History of World War II. This web-site is in honor of his memory and in gratitude for his service. This web page is in honor of his memory and in gratitude for his service