Former Green Beret and MMA fighter Tim Kennedy has reportedly been badly wounded in a firefight in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The controversial fighter appears to have been contracting with Erik Prince’s Vectus Global.

Vectus partners with governments, international organizations, and private-sector leaders to help them solve some of their most intractable problems. We are typically hired when critical services or capabilities fail and need to be restored. We don’t just advise, we act.

You’re probably picking up power chords of Continuity & Persistence right now…

Word of Kennedy’s wounding began to filter out on the internet a couple of days ago, and it appears to be confirmed. Per Reuters:

Blackwater founder Erik Prince’s forces suffered a major battlefield loss in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in mid-September when enemy forces ambushed them, killing and wounding at least 20 people, including a popular former UFC fighter, sources close to the government and his company said….

The attack in South Kivu on September 17 left about 20 dead and wounded, two sources working with Congo’s government said. The dead included at least seven Congolese and a former member of ⁠New Zealand’s Special Forces, while the wounded included Kennedy and another foreign contractor, the sources said.

A Vectus Global representative declined to comment. The company has not previously suffered casualties in Congo, a source with direct knowledge of the operation said.One of the sources who works for Congo’s government said that Rwandan forces backing the M23 rebels may have surprised them by tracking a drone used for surveillance operations to their location….
One of the sources with direct knowledge of the attack said the Vectus team was travelling between locations when the ambush took place and its sophistication suggested Rwandan forces were involved.

“It reinforces the need for DRC sovereignty to be restored. It’s an incredibly dangerous ⁠place right now,” the source said.

Two other sources said the ambush was carried out by the Rwandan military.

*

*

Notes in the margin:

Erik Prince has been caricatured as a kind of right-wing Dark Eminence — and his various Private Military Contractor (PMC) endeavors cast in a sinister light. It’s worth some effort to move past caricatures and listen to him, because he’s thought deeply about many of the structural problems that impede the function of the late U.S. empire. His views on the consolidation of military industry and the danger that poses, his views on monopoly and the use of federal power to break it up put him in the tradition of Theodore Roosevelt.

To the extent that there is any real validity to a right-left political spectrum, Prince is appropriately pegged on the right end of the teeter-totter. But I took great amusement at hearing Shawn Ryan audibly swallowing his own tongue when Prince said he could “link arms with Elizabeth Warren” on anti-monopoly views.

My attitude is, don’t take anybody as an oracle, and don’t dismiss anybody based on some other player’s narrative of who he or she is. And never let politics pre-determine understanding. 

The Beaver Wars examines the numerous gruelling campaigns fought by the Indians of the Northeastern Woodlands of North America during the seventeenth century. Drawing on contemporary accounts and documents, recorded oral evidence, research papers and published works by Indigenous scholars and others, the book places the motives and actions of Indigenous peoples at the centre of these conflicts.

Although ‘the Beaver Wars’ is perhaps the best-known name for the period, it is used here as a convenient collective title. In reality, these were a series of distinct conflicts fought for differing reasons, many of which had little to do with access to the fur trade. Instead, Indigenous peoples pursued their own political, military and strategic objectives as they sought to maintain security and a balance of power in a rapidly changing world.

Warfare, governed by social and spiritual conventions and conducted largely through small-scale raids, was already a feature of Indigenous life before the arrival of Europeans. As firearms became increasingly available, warfare grew more lethal and the traditional use of armour and shields gradually declined. Epidemics of previously unknown diseases contributed to large-scale raids known as ‘Mourning Wars’, in which captives were taken for adoption to help restore the demographic and spiritual strength of depleted communities. Conflict also arose through relationships with European powers, competition over trade and land, and the obligations created by political and military alliances.

To place these wars in their wider context, The Beaver Wars explores daily life, beliefs and systems of government, as well as the conduct of warfare, from the formation of a war party to its return home. It also examines changing military tactics and the dress and material culture of the period.

Offering a detailed examination of warfare and society during a transformative period in North American history, The Beaver Wars will appeal to military historians, readers interested in Indigenous history and culture and the colonisation of North America, and wargamers looking to explore a less familiar theatre of warfare.

*

Looks like there’s going to be a Sicario 3. The original was Taylor Sheridan’s first writing venture. This one will be written by Steven Knight of Peaky Blinders fame. Per Deadline:

Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin look ready to return to the land of the wolves as sources tell Deadline that Black Label Media and Thunder Road are bringing back the team for Sicario 3. Padraic McKinley is on board to direct. Oscar nominee Steven Knight penned the script. Details surrounding the plot are being kept under wraps.

*

In a recent comment thread, Deuce Richardson and I were talking about The Gentlemen, which is a big hit on Netflix. It is the creation of Guy Ritchie. Clan Cornelius digs his wild capers…

When an aristocratic English soldier unexpectedly inherits his family’s massive country estate, he discovers it houses a clandestine cannabis empire, forcing him to outmaneuver the ruthless gangsters of Britain’s criminal underworld who want a piece of the action.

Mayhem ensues. In Ritchie fashion, it is comic, violent and most entertaining.

There is a great deal of tweed. There are many beautiful shotguns. There are beautiful women. There are beautiful women wielding said shotguns.

Duke Edward “Eddie” Horiman, 13th Duke of Halstead, is no feckless, debauched aristo content to live beyond his dwindling means (meet his older brother Freddie). He finds — perhaps to his own surprise — that he’s a creature of the jungle, not the zoo — a throwback to the days when British aristocrats were hard, capable, dangerous men with territorial ambitions that rivaled kings…

Yes, Duke Eddie is breaking bad…

Episode 1 of Season 2 serves up a tour of a jaw-dropping gun room, estate bird shooting — and a running theme provided by John Francis Flynn’s My Son Tim. Ritchie has an affinity for Irish narrative folk songs.

“I love the humor in a lot of traditional Irish songs, particularly the anonymous 19th-century songs like ‘Rocky Road To Dublin,’ as opposed to popular music which in a sense has lost its visceral character.”

Indeed…

*

Blood Trails returns October 15. This wilderness and hunting-centric true crime podcast, part of the MeatEater empire, is excellent.

This season on Blood Trails, host Jordan Sillars follows eight brand-new cases: hunting trips gone horribly wrong, decades-old disappearances, suspicious deaths, and crimes hidden deep in the woods. Some cases are ice cold. Others have been solved—at least, according to the law. But every case in Season 3 is still haunted by unanswered questions. Through firsthand interviews, archival audio, court records, and investigative reporting, Blood Trails digs into what happened, what may have been missed, and why these stories still refuse to stay buried.

*

Redcoat History continues to deliver solid takes on events encrusted with myth. It also offers us the opportunity to throw down a couple million plews to purchase the legendary Isandlwana Lodge. I like the sound of a Frontier Partisans syndicate…

*

More recent “Redcoat” history is being explored in an Independent series title SAS: The Shadow War. Legal action has forced SAS veterans to tell their stories in court — and incentivized them to break their omertà and talk to media.

*

The Battle of Bannockburn was a medieval frontier fight. I mean, there was literally a contested frontier between England and Scotland, and Robert the Bruce spent years in wilderness guerrilla warfare leading up to it. And, in single combat, The Bruce tomahawked Henry De Bohun. So there’s that…

History Hit has posted up its fine doco on the battle, hosted by Helen Carr, who is a very highly regarded member of a cadre of young medievalists who successfully bridge the academic and popular history spheres.

In 1314, a massive English army headed into Scotland, led by King Edward II. He was on a mission to crush his arch enemy, the Scottish King, Robert the Bruce. The battle that followed, by the Bannock Burn, was a bloodbath that saw the river run red with English blood. It has been recounted over the centuries, from poems and songs to movies like ‘Braveheart’. Historian Helen Carr investigates the evidence around the battle: walking the ground to see just how it unfolded in the Scottish landscape and looking at 700 year old documents in the archives that reveal the triumph of the Bruce and the cataclysmic consequences for Edward II.

*

Apparently, I am a hurdy-gurdy man. I find myself entranced by this piece in particular…

Art by Don Troiani.

What would it have looked—and felt—like to fight at the Battle of Kings Mountain?

On October 7, 1780, Patriot militia surrounded Major Patrick Ferguson’s Loyalist force atop Kings Mountain. Rather than advancing in traditional formations, the backcountry riflemen fought their way up the wooded slopes, using trees for cover and pouring rifle fire into Ferguson’s position as the Loyalists repeatedly counterattacked downhill.

This video is an attempt to bring a few moments of that fight to life from the perspective of one of the men climbing the mountain while having some live fire practice and a little movie magic! We always want to capture something beyond dates and names—the confusion, smoke, noise, terrain, and sheer violence of an 18th-century battle fought at close range in the Carolina backcountry.

Kings Mountain became one of the pivotal Patriot victories of the American Revolution. Ferguson was killed, his force was effectively destroyed, and the victory helped turn the course of the war in the South.

Badass.

Note that the Operator (Drake Pledger) is loading unpatched ball in his rifle — because speed of loading is more critical than precision. Gotta get lead downrange. Pledger’s loading is smooth and quick; he’s obviously trained assiduously at this. Loading and firing a flintlock long rifle under physical stress and on the move is challenging. Like I said… badass.

Guest post by Rick Schwertfeger

Frontier Partisans Southern Command, Austin, Texas

The Pikunis still lived close to their historic, natural state in the lands south of the Medicine Line and east of the Backbone of the World. In the 1860s into the 1870s theirs was a traditional, complex society of smaller, related groups in a confederacy – the Siksikaitsitapi, “the real people.” Whites interpreted the Cree name for these people as Blackfoot.

The blackhorns sustained the life of the Pikunis – the buffalo. Many of us today have learned how these natives used all of the animal for food, clothing, their hide lodges, tools, etc. Semi-nomadic and living near the blackhorns, Pikunis men needed great skill with bow and arrows to be successful hunters – which was essential to their entire way of life of. And as Whites moved into the West in increasing numbers, obtaining a “many-shots gun” enabled more hunting success for a Pikunis man, and greater power in combat with their enemies both native and Napikwan (Whites).

In the 1980s, native author James Welch — a University of Montana graduate with Blackfoot, Gros Ventre, and some Irish ancestry — worked on a novel aiming to relate the transition his ancestors experienced as the Napikwans invaded their lands, and decimated their traditional culture and population. His 1986 novel Fools Crow succeeded enormously; but in ways beyond what this reader anticipated.

For his presentation of the traditional ways of life of the Pikunis is remarkably rich in detail, communicated through evocative descriptions of the lands and how the Pikunis interacted with them. But even more so, what stands out is Welch’s ability to communicate how the Pikunis thought, how they understood their world, and how they interacted with each other. Even for someone relatively well-informed of native history and cultures, this is the deepest understanding of their mindsets and values I’ve come across. 

Pikunis life was imbued with spirituality. Living fully-immersed in the land, the day and night skies, the weather, the seasons, and the lives of animals, to the Pikunis truly all aspects of their world were spiritual. They believed that the natural forces of daily life had intention and purpose. The Sun Chief powered the day, the Night Red Light the night, the prominent Seven Sisters and the Morning Star were persistent presences. The Cold Maker brought the extremes of winter. They prayed easily and as a matter of course to the forces influencing their daily lives — aiming to understand the messages behind the continual changes in their natural environment, and seeking guidance.

Integrity, honor, and reputation were of paramount importance in their interpersonal lives. For many, nearly every action that involved another individual, or their family, or others in the group, was considered thoroughly as to its possible effect. Was it done with integrity? Would it bring honor to me or us? Would it preserve or advance my or our reputation?

Life was not a blissful idle. For along with the continual need to hunt, and to process the meat and hides, raiding and warfare with other tribes was an integral part of life. Raiding enemies to capture horses enabled young braves to achieve status and earn honor. Perceived or real insults from other tribes required armed response. Fools Crow earned his name through a combat incident. It was thought that he fell down to fool a Crow Chief into thinking that he’d been shot — and then shot and killed the Chief. Only he and one other knew that, actually, he had slipped and fallen; though the outcome was the same.

And looming over all was the persistent invasion by “the seizers” — the Napikwans, who kept coming and coming, clearly to take over the lands the Pikunis had lived on for centuries. More and more the seizers were driving out or killing the blackhorns to get grazing land for their whitehorns. They put up pointed wooden stick buildings. They distributed their white man’s firewater. The threats were clear and ominous. Tremendous thought and discussion in Council went into determining how to deal with the seizers. Would accommodation succeed? Was the warpath necessary?

Some braves took to a dishonorable, even criminal road. Fast Horse — a significant friend of Fools Crow — acted dishonorably on a horse stealing raid, in a way that resulted in the capture, torture and disfigurement of Yellow Kidney. In his shame, Fast Horse joined a desperado band from other Pikunis groups, who drank the white man’s water, adopted white’s clothing, and rampaged through the country attacking remote seizer ranches, raping and killing.

James Welch communicated the details and depth of Pikunis life to a remarkable degree. One wonders how he learned it. For he lived three or more generations removed from Fools Crow’s time. As a child he did live on the Blackfoot and Gros Ventre reservations. But he spent his teenage years and graduated from high school in Minneapolis. One assumes that he listened intently to Elders, absorbing the soul of Blackfoot culture from their teachings. Lois Welch, James’ widow, lives on in Missoula, Montana. Writer Brady Schwertfeger has heard her read, and tells me that she is working on a book about James. It will be an “autobiography,” as she is assembling his life story from his writings. We can hope that the book sheds light on his learning process.

Fools Crow is a classic, a masterpiece. Native author Dee Brown noted James Welch’s achievement in Fools Crow with the following praise:

“Remarkable for its beauty of language, ‘Fools Crow’ may be the closest we will ever come in literature to an understanding of what life was like for a western Indian.”

© Rick Schwertfeger     r.schwertfeger1023@gmail.com     Austin, Texas     October 2026

Library Journal just gave his new book a starred review, which is important because it raises the profile for libraries and educators. And if history teachers put this into the hands of young men, they will read and appreciate history.

In Revolutionary Snipers, acclaimed military historian Patrick K. O’Donnell vividly brings to life for the first time the exploits of Washington’s finest frontier commandos, whose legendary deadeye shooting offered the Continental Army an evolving and unconventional tactical advantage in the War of Independence. Snipers such as Daniel Morgan, Timothy Murphy, and Samuel Brady were rugged frontiersmen armed with long rifles, a path-breaking American technology that allowed them to attack from a significant distance.

The snipers, the very first members of the Continental Army, quickly struck terror among British troops besieged in Boston in the summer of 1775 by picking off a number of targets. However, their success was checkered by mutiny, an epic journey through the Maine wilderness, and heart-wrenching failure at the gates of Quebec. O’Donnell follows unforgettable characters in a riveting Band-of-Brothers-style narrative. Despite the setbacks, Washington and his officers perceived a new approach to waging war could emerge from the combined arms of pairing sniper groups with traditional units. The riflemen played vital roles in many pivotal battles—from protecting Washington’s army during its retreat from Manhattan, when some 25 snipers repelled an amphibious landing of hundreds of British soldiers at Throggs Neck, to energizing the momentum-shifting battles at Saratoga and later, in the South, at King’s Mountain and Cowpens.

Unearthing unpublished letters, diaries, and other participant documents, O’Donnell puts readers dramatically in the moment as riflemen prevented a British charge at Trenton that could have ended the war, employed irregular warfare to counter enemy attempts to re-supply during the critical yet obscure “Forage War” in spring 1777, and contested large swaths of the frontier, at times disguised as Native Americans.

Placing the riflemen front and center throughout the war, Revolutionary Snipers illuminates an unknown aspect of the conflict and is an important addition to our understanding of how the Revolution was won and of an emerging new way of war.

There will be much more here on this book as publication date rolls around. Consider pre-ordering it — I’d love to see it hit bestseller lists on publication. Meanwhile here’s a bit of fun. The book’s East India Co. Amazon page features a couple of simpatico blurbs…

As always, support your local indie bookstore if you can — but get the book. You’ll dig it.

*

Way back in the olden days, there was a young violinist named Jenny O’Connor who became legend…

It was 2007, when the Almighty Algorithm was first coming into its True Power. A man named Paul Michaels filmed a fetching young woman playing The Gael theme from Last of the Mohicans at the Texas Renaissance Festival. He posted it on the internet, eventually including a two-year-old YouTube. The Almighty Algorithm gazed upon Ms. O’Connor’s lithe figure and lovely visage, hearkened to the immortal strains of perhaps the finest piece of film music ever created (weighted for Frontier Partisan bias)… and found it good. The video went viral.

If I had a single plew for every time someone has sent me the “Hot Violinist” video, I could perhaps afford a Rigby Highland Stalker….

Today, the lovely Ms. O’Conner has parlayed her internet fame into an internet-based practice teaching adults to play the violin. Last of the Mohicans remains at the core of her work. This is wonderful. She is currently inviting adult violinists to learn the piece with her by Thanksgiving.

*

There’s a brand new tome out on the Onondaga nation, the people who held the central council fire of the League of the Six Nations. I have moved on from the Frontier Partisans podcast series that focused on the Iroquois and the American Revolution, but I will doubtless circle back to this.

The people of the Onondaga Nation have lived in central New York State for hundreds of years. This is the incredible story of their survival and of the Nation’s commitment to their land, rituals, and cultural values. Michael Leroy Oberg traces the Onondaga from their emergence, through the formation of the Iroquois League, and into the present day. Oberg describes how despite military invasions, outbreaks of epidemic disease, efforts to deprive them of their lands and traditional government, and attempts to eradicate their culture, the Onondaga have endured. Indeed, even today, just south of Syracuse, New York, the Central Fire still burns at the center of the Haudenosaunee Longhouse, and the site remains an Indigenous capital.

Drawing on meticulous archival work and interviews with members of the Onondaga Nation, this book not only sheds light on the resilience of a vibrant and influential culture but examines the intricate diplomatic politics that shaped the relationship between the Onondaga—and the entire Haudenosaunee Confederacy—and the emerging American states, and how the legacy of these early encounters continues to resonate in the twenty-first century.

*

’Tis the season when Clan Cornelius observes certain Samhain rituals — including the annual re-watch of Sleepy Hollow.

This channel does a good job following the folklore of various movies, and I enjoyed this one.

*

An interesting doco on the discovery of Great Zimbabwe, which saw the veldskoen prints of hunter Jan Adam Render and the great scout Frederick Russell Burnham. Haggard used the place as a premise for King Solomon’s Mines.

*

A piece of the heart of Apacheria may soon be designated as a national park. Per Arizona Daily Star:

Arizona is one signature away from getting a new national park.

A bill to upgrade Chiricahua National Monument to national park status was approved by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday and is now headed to President Donald Trump’s desk for final approval.

Tucson Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani, who introduced the House version of the bill in December, celebrated its passage and tagged the president in a post on X Wednesday night.

Not everyone thinks this is a great development. The designation is expected to raise the area’s tourism profile, and some who value the relative peace and quiet of the area would rather it didn’t.

Visitors tour Massai Point at Chiricahua National Monument. Rick Wiley, Arizona Daily Star, File 2021

*

Wyoming PBS released a piece on the Fetterman Fight that is worth your time. I spent a memorable afternoon on the battlefield a few years ago.

*

Rick Spence had one cool academic career. As a University of Idaho prof, he specialized in Russian history, espionage, and the occult. All of those things intersect more than one might think. Spence wrote the best biography of “Ace of Spies” Sidney Reilly.

He’s become an in-demand guest on podcasts — because he is an excellent speaker who delves into the weird dark corners of modern history, but is not a kook. I was particularly impressed with a lengthy dive into the Manson Family (with a significant hat tip to Tom O’Neill).

Anyways, his most recent entry in his own Strange As It Seems Podcast takes on one of the weirdest episodes in early 20th Century history — one that intersects with the world of the Frontier Partisans in a tale of the Wild East. Talkin’ about the mad, bad tale of Baron Roman Federovich von Ungern-Sternberg.

Spence recognizes the frontier aspects of the tale, calling it a rambling spaghetti Western, and tapping batshit crazy Klaus Kinski as the perfect man to play the Bloody Baron. And, by Crom, he’s right about that.

Rick and Stephen (Austin) go looking for the Mad Baron: Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, the homicidal maniac, founder of an Order of Military Buddhists, and — in the belief of his own Mongol troops — the incarnation of the Mongol god of war. Along the way the Baron sets out to contact the King of the World, the ruler beneath the earth in Agartha. Behind him come three more men — a Soviet spy and occultist, a mystic painter on Moscow’s payroll, and an American dinosaur hunter working for Naval Intelligence — all hunting the same lost cities in the same empty quarter of Asia.

*

The bizarre and hyper-violent events of the Bloody Baron’s brief turn on the stage of history often draws comparisons to the many terrors exposed in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. This video explores some of the territories we have traversed at Frontier Partisans…

First there came a teaser for what looks to be a sumptuous depiction of a deer hunt in the Highlands.

Then a strangely fascinating sidetrail into the financial catastrophe that  befell the storied Frasers of Lovat in the 1990s. The Old Fox was, no doubt, a repellent figure, but some of his heirs were solid folk — and the Lovat Scouts are a storied outfit in the history of Frontier Partisan warfare. Seems a sad and ignominious fate to be bled to death by finances. Maybe they shoulda gone gangster a la The Gentlemen….

Apparently the current Clan Chief is assiduously working to restore the family fortune and reacquire the properties that had to be sold off.

*

This is a fine primer on Highland Deerstalking:

*

The estimable Tom Langhorne posted on a recent dive into the authentic life of a Highland crofter, and I eagerly wait the filmed results.

*

All of this Scottish outdoors stuff put me in mind of John Buchan, of course — and Dominic Sandbrook and Tabitha Syrett offer a very nice analysis of Buchan’s seminal thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps. Richard Hannay, a precursor element of Ian Fleming’s James Bond, is a man of the frontiers of Empire — a mining engineer from Rhodesia, as it turns out. Always worth revisiting.

*

This is all well-suited to the return of Outlander: Blood Of My Blood. Season 2 Episode 3 has dropped, and Diana Gabaldon says it’s her favorite of the season. This spinoff from the main Outlander tale is a prequel, set alternately in the World War I era and the time of the 1715 Jacobite Rising There is a mighty smiting of redcoats, so…

And a winsome Ellen MacKenzie wielding a longbow…

*

Scottish pistols…

*

Yes, you’re right, we need some music to round this out…

*