"The original Grenadiers and Fusiliers" Topic

Just getting into Late 17th Century period. I am interested in armies and wars that used grenadiers(to actually throw hand grenades) and Fusiliers(armed with flintlocks that actually guarded the artillery). I'm having a hard time finding info on this period….Any suggestions? I know the heyday of early grenades was around 1660 to very early 18th Century, but that's about it. Thanks

David Chandler The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough is a good introduction to the era.

Brent Nosworthy The Anatomy of Victory: Battle Tactics 1689-1763 covers a wider period, is also very good.

John Tincey, Jerry Embleton The British Army 1660-1704, Osprey MAA 267, covers one army of this era that included both grenadiers and fusileers. Of course it's all about the color plates. Osprey also publishes MAAs for Marlborough's Army, Louis XIV's Army and a two-parter on Peter the Great's Army.

Thank you very much

Have a look at Barry Hilton's League of Augsburg site. Its a latter period but in some respects very similar. Grenades were in use at the Storming of the Schellenberg in 1704.

Charles Stewart Grant From Pike to Shot 1685 to 1720, published by the Wargames Research Group, is an excellent wargamer's guide to this era. If you can find a copy.

My understanding is that the main difference between War of Spanish Succession armies and those of the late 1600s is that the more modern western armies participating in the WSS had eliminated pikes and matchlock muskets, and re-equipped their rank-and-file infantry with flintlock muskets and bayonets. The Swedes and Russians were still working through that transition during the Great Northern War.

I don't know where to find a good history of the Nine Years War, or other wars of the earlier era, though. The WSS and GNW are much better covered by English-speaking authors. Robert K Massie Peter the Great and David Chandler Marlborough as a Military Commander are good modern histories of their subjects.

The Nine Years' War and the British army 1688–97
The operations in the low countries
John Childs
ISBN: 978-0-7190-8996-1 Manchester University Press 2013
384 pages around £20.00 GBP
Good overall detailed campaign history (not just the British army) includes good sections on strategies & tactics
no uniforms, orders of battle etc but still very good.

his many other books on the period are also worthwhile getting.