Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

amphibious warfare

(Encyclopedia)amphibious warfare ămfĭbˈēəs [key], employment of a combination of land and sea forces to take or defend a military objective. The general strategy is very ancient and was extensively employed by...

Du Guesclin, Bertrand

(Encyclopedia)Du Guesclin, Bertrand bĕrträNˈ dü gĕklăNˈ [key], c.1320–80, constable of France (1370–80), greatest French soldier of his time. A Breton, he initially served Charles of Blois in the War of ...

Keating, Charles Humphrey, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Keating, Charles Humphrey, Jr., 1923–2014, American banker, b. Cincinnati, grad. Univ. of Cincinnati College of Law (1948). Keating was a partner (1952–72) in a law firm he founded with his brothe...

Lane, James Henry

(Encyclopedia)Lane, James Henry, 1814–66, American politician, called the “liberator of Kansas.” He was probably born in Lawrenceburg, Ind., where he practiced law. Lane commanded an Indiana regiment in the M...

Monckton, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Monckton, Robert mŭngkˈtən [key], 1726–82, British general. After service in Flanders and Germany during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), he was sent (1752) to Nova Scotia, where h...

McClernand, John Alexander

(Encyclopedia)McClernand, John Alexander, 1812–1900, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Breckinridge co., Ky. He was admitted (1832) to the Illinois bar and sat as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Represe...

Lyautey, Louis Hubert Gonzalve

(Encyclopedia)Lyautey, Louis Hubert Gonzalve lwē übĕrˈ gôNzälvˈ lyōtāˈ [key], 1854–1934, colonial administrator and marshal of France. A career soldier, he served in Indochina, Madagascar, and Algeria b...

Johnson, Richard Mentor

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Richard Mentor, 1780–1850, Vice President of the United States (1837–41), b. Kentucky, on the site of present Louisville. Admitted (1802) to the bar, he became prominent in state politics...

Ardashir I

(Encyclopedia)Ardashir I ärdäshērˈ [key] [another form of Artaxerxes], d. 240, king of Persia (226?–240). He overthrew the last Parthian king, Artabanus IV, entered Ctesiphon, and reunited Persia out of the c...

Mutharika, Bingu wa

(Encyclopedia)Mutharika, Bingu wa bēngˈgo͞o wä mo͞otäˈrēkä [key], 1934–2012, Malawian economist and political leader, b. Nyasaland (now Malawi) as Brightson Webster Ryson Thom; he africanized his name du...