"18th Century Tactics?" Topic

Gamers,

I'm wondering if there's a book similar to these for the 18th Century?

I'm reading Nosworthy's Anatomy of Victory and Duffy's TMEitAoR, but a slim and colorful illustrated volume on the subject would be welcome as well. I almost titled this thread "Anything Like This For 18th C?" The usual disclaimers regarding the usefulness of Osprey books notwithstanding, I'd be interested in something brief and full of pictures, to assist my understanding of Nosworthy and Duffy.

Cheers.

David Chandker's "Warfare in the Age of Markborough" has a lot of useful info re tactics for early to mid 18th century. It's not in the " pre-digested" form of Osprey, but quite readable, with some diagrams.

There are no such 18th century books that I am aware of which is a great pity as I think they would be great for wargamers.

I did not know they had books out like the two listed above. Very interested in one being done for 18th century tactics.

Problem would be you would need

Tactics of the war of Spanish succession. (Possibly including the nine year war)

Tactics of the great northern war .

Tactics of the seven years war. ( Possibly two volumes one for infantry and artillery, and one for horse and dragoons)

Tactics of the American war

Between them you would probably hit all the bases….

And anatomy of victory really gets to the point, it's a better read than Marlborough from tactical and doctrine point of view.

Interesting point on all this.

The British Army in this whole period used the drill manual of King William from 1690, with an addition in 1708 (which formalised platoon fire and 3 rank infantry, that had been in general use since 1701).

This book was not replaced until Dundas in 1795.

Prussia issued its first official drill book in this century in 1744, and apart from small amendments it never changed until after 1806.

France used a translated copy of the Prussian book from 1748 onwards

During the century there were many pamphlets, treatises and a great deal of leeway for Colonels to experiment with their own ideas, but as far as official tactical doctrine this was it.

This may not help, but there are "those types" of books for Britain, France, and Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars, and IIRC they start by covering what the tactics used to be, so that could be a backdoor way of getting some insight.

The other suggestion would be some of the Ospreys on particular battles during the SYW or WSS – don't think there are any on the WAS though.

Dear Grommet 37

You could try the Works of Christopher Duffy which are redolent with the tactics and operational movements of armies. His work, "The Military Experience in the Age of Reason:" is still the unsurpassed work in the field, and his volumes on the Austrian Army, the Army of Maria Theresa, Frederick the Great, and his works on Siege Warfare will give you all you need. His thin volume on Suvarov's campaign in Switzerland is delightful.

Basically tactics on one hand were those that fought in line, maximizing firepower and on the other- the beaten.

The best way to understand the tactics of the age Is to understand the music of the Age.

Listen to Neubaur's "Battaile" symphony, Mozart's Coburg, Victor of Martinzee" Contretanz, and Haydn's
The Military Symphony" and especially Symphony 101, "The Clock."

The best of course would be to go and read some of the primary sources, like Prince Maurice de Saxe, Santa Cruz, The Prince DeLigne, and especially of course Frederick himself.

Probably won't get through all the replies but here goes…

OSchmidt:

I started reading Duffy, got interested in Nosworthy, went "ooh, shiny" when I saw the P&S tactics book, and also ordered something called Fighting Techniques of the Early Modern World. I plan to spend the winter reading Christopher Duffy and similar scholars.

I needed to take a brief backpedal into pike-and-shot, to remember stuff like regiment and company are/were administrative, battalion and brigade are/were field units, a battalion is about half a regiment, musketeers carried swords, p&s infantry tried to close to melee sometimes without firing, push of pike and the Queen of the Battlefield, national contingents within foreign armies, cavalry carried big pistols but still wore armor, etc. Just the basic, what era again? I studied all of this forty years ago, lots is refresher.

Looked very briefly for those musical pieces; semi-obscure – I'll dig them up, if I can. Found the cover for the first, bing was confused by the second, and Haydn I bathe in. My own approach has been listening to CPE Bach on Pandora. Plenty of Haydn, Telemann, even some FtG. I still need to look up this Quantz guy. I read somewhere it turned out better for CPE that FtG went campaigning, because Fred's musical needs ran to accompaniment, and he had somewhat conservative taste as well.

Listened to quite a bit of JSB and Mozart over the last few years. Trying to fill in that Late Baroque/Early Classical era now, the bridge between them. People born in 1714.

I'll digest a bit of this Duffy, and then go looking for some primary sources. I'd like to read the FtG stuff, it's what the present project is all about.

The music really helps the mood of envisioning all of these platoons parading around. Cheers.

boy wundyr x wrote:

This may not help, but there are "those types" of books for Britain, France, and Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars, and IIRC they start by covering what the tactics used to be, so that could be a backdoor way of getting some insight.

The other suggestion would be some of the Ospreys on particular battles during the SYW or WSS – don't think there are any on the WAS though.

That's a great idea. Nosworthy starts with pike-and-shot to show what was there before Marlborough et al. Which is why that particular Osprey caught my eye. The more diagrams the merrier. I would think books on Napoleonic tactics would have some references to Frederician tactics. When I get to the SYW in Nosworthy, I'll get the relevant Osprey Campaign books. Too bad there are none for WAS. I'll probably read the WSS ones as soon as I pick up the Nosworthy again. Should be done with the P&S book by the weekend.

Of course those references to the cohort and the maniple make me want to read that Roman tactics Osprey as well…

Cheers and thanks for the suggestion.

Fredd Bloggs wrote:

Interesting point on all this.

The British Army in this whole period used the drill manual of King William from 1690, with an addition in 1708 (which formalised platoon fire and 3 rank infantry, that had been in general use since 1701).

This book was not replaced until Dundas in 1795.

Prussia issued its first official drill book in this century in 1744, and apart from small amendments it never changed until after 1806.

France used a translated copy of the Prussian book from 1748 onwards

During the century there were many pamphlets, treatises and a great deal of leeway for Colonels to experiment with their own ideas, but as far as official tactical doctrine this was it.

Spent a few minutes looking for drill manuals, but of course was overwhelmed by the AWI links. Will look more for these three later. My bing-fu was not strong. You wouldn't happen to have the full titles, or know where a copy resides on the net? 8)

Reading the actual drill manuals should be most enlightening, providing I can grasp the gist of their old-timey 18th C sentence constructions. Cheers.

Maddaz111 advised:

Problem would be you would need

Tactics of the war of Spanish succession. (Possibly including the nine year war)

Tactics of the great northern war .

Tactics of the seven years war. ( Possibly two volumes one for infantry and artillery, and one for horse and dragoons)

Tactics of the American war

Between them you would probably hit all the bases….

And anatomy of victory really gets to the point, it's a better read than Marlborough from tactical and doctrine point of view.

I would so buy all of those! ;)

Actually a Tactics of Frederick the Great (WAS/SYW) volume would suit me fine. I'll just dive back into Nosworthy's AoV (as soon as I finish the Osprey pike-and-shot book), since the library that my library got it from was kind enough to lend it to me for two full months. Maybe I can convince my library to get a copy. 8)

Cheers.

Broglie wrote:

There are no such 18th century books that I am aware of which is a great pity as I think they would be great for wargamers.

I totally agree! It seems like a natural fit. Perhaps this groundswell of support will convince some scholar to write one. :)

Ironwolf wrote:

I did not know they had books out like the two listed above. Very interested in one being done for 18th century tactics.

Both are apparently from the Elite series. I'd like it if they had an entire Tactics series. A volume on linear tactics seems like it would be a popular seller.

steamingdave47 wrote:

David Chandker's "Warfare in the Age of Markborough" has a lot of useful info re tactics for early to mid 18th century. It's not in the " pre-digested" form of Osprey, but quite readable, with some diagrams.

I'll see if my library can get me a copy. Cheers.

FredBloggs wrote:

The British Army in this whole period used the drill manual of King William from 1690, with an addition in 1708 (which formalised platoon fire and 3 rank infantry, that had been in general use since 1701).

This book was not replaced until Dundas in 1795.

I am sure this is incorrect. Sir Humphrey Bland published the first Edition of his Treatise of Military Discipline in 1727. This went though many editions up to 1762, and was recognised as the standard handbook on British Tactics for the 18th Century.

See link:

link

It is possible to get several of these editions as free online downloads, eg 1743 edition below.

link

Rod

Also, while not used by every unit the 1764 Drill Manual was widely used. It was based on the Prussian Manual to a large extent.

v/r

Joe

If there should be no one found willing to do such an accademic demanding job in a matter of weeks, there is always the less time consuming option to do an English edition of the single brilliant introduction on 18th C state of tactics and warfare at around 1740 published with the German Grosser Generalstab Volumes on the Wars of Frederick the Great, editions 1890-1914. Brilliant, I believe, because they manage to give you a close picture needing only approx 60 pages to accomplish the job.
Only some pre-knowledge is needed, as they address military affirmed readers.
To anyone with a knowledge of German try the below starting page 129 in the book.
link
Good stuff. Well edited. Short, brief and pinpoint just as the ideal military situation report at HQ should be.
By the way, it also includes some few but sound illustrations of forming from column to line and forming neat squares to see off annoying cavalry and all that.

Cheers,
Christian
crogges7ywarmies.blogspot.com

For British:

Fit for Service, by Houlder

With Zeal and Bayonet Only, Spring

Blands was the same copy from 1727 onwards, till revised by William Fawcett (various ways of spelling his last name) in 1759.

The Duke of Cumberland issued a New Manual Excercise, in the 1740s which was widely used throughout the SYW and FIW. The movements of the loading and firing, etc, are virtually the same as Bland's, especially the 1759 version.

The 1764 Manual Excercise was used by all English troops and Loyalist units, as modified by General Howe in 1776. The main modificiations were the spacing of files and going to two ranks instead of three, as called for in the 1764 Manual.

Christian (crogge1757),

Many thanks for link to Prussian General Staff book. My German is a bit basic, but good enough for most of this.

Rod

Great book selections noted above!

I also always enjoy rereading sections of "Firepower: Weapons Effectiveness on the Battlefield, 1630-1850" by Maj.-Gen. B.P. Hughes.

And while you're immersed in the baroque period, don't forget the military music of Lully et al. or my favorite martial band next to pipes and drums, FIFES and drums. Lots of very period-friendly fife and drum records out there to paint and drill your lead warriors to.

Many, many great responses.

Books, sites, musical suggestions and composers noted.

The pile of inspirational and informational media continues to grow! Time to powder me wig…

Hello,
Anything on Spanish infantry tactics during the 1740's?

There's also William Windham's 1759 Plan for the Discipline of the Norfolk Militia, which was quite popular in America, and was used in conjunction with the 1764 Manual by Timothy Pickering as the basis of the first drill manual for New England regiments of the Continental Army.