writes:
Saturday, 10th of September, 2016. 9AM-5PM
Rowley's House, Barker Street, Shrewsbury SY1 1QH
It's with great pleasure that Helion and Company can announce the Helion Century of the Soldier conference for 2016. This year's conference will be run in partnership with the Pike and Shot Society, and will take place in the historic Rowley's House, home to University Centre Shrewsbury.
The theme of the conference will be 'Professionalism'.
Tickets are available now at £25.00 GBP from the Helion and Company website. Ticket price includes entry, tea, coffee and cold drinks available all day, along with a delicious buffet lunch.
The ticket price also includes a free guided walk of the Civil War sites of Shrewsbury, to take place at the end of the conference.
We shall be launching four new book titles on the day, have displays by the Pike and Shot Society, Tyger's Head Books, and Colonel Nicholas Devereux's Regiment, and the following papers:
Prof. Malcolm Wanklyn
Professor Malcolm Wanklyn's research interests are in the military history of the British Wars (1639-1652) and in the history of the River Severn and its environs from circa 1550.
Title: The New Model Army and Politics 1659-60
Contemporaries were amazed at the behavior of the New Model Army in the spring of 1660. Without its brutal intervention in the political life of the nation in the winter of 1648-9 there would not have been an English republic. Yet it did nothing to prevent the restoration of the Stuart dynasty. The Royalists and Neo-Royalists saw what happened as a miracle, those of a frame of mind as God's punishment for their sins. Historians opt for more mundane explanations the principal one over time being that the army had become de-radicalized through a succession of purges of the officer corps from 1649 onwards. Recently this has been questioned with the emphasis being on the purges that followed the fall of the Protectorate in 1659 causing a breakdown in the command structure, and thus in army unity, rather than de-radicalization. Whilst not totally rejecting such an explanation, this paper will suggest ways in which the internal dynamics of a standing army with little to do other than to keep the peace created the potential for disunity over a much longer time period with the events of 1659-60 acting as a catalyst by causing individuals to prioritize personal advancement rather than loyalty to their comrades and their commanding officers.
Serena Jones
S F Jones is the author of No Armour But Courage: The biography of Colonel Sir George Lisle, 1615-1648. She is currently transcribing and annotating the Civil War newsbooks, and researching the lesser-known officers of Charles I's 'Oxford Army'.
Title: A 'Professional Officer'? Colonel George Lisle and professional reputations in the English Civil Wars, 1642-48'
George Lisle is frequently described as a 'professional officer', and gained a considerable reputation during the English Civil Wars in respect of his military achievements and personal conduct. But what, in contemporary eyes, was a 'professional', and how far did the actions and behavior of Lisle and his contemporaries match such perceptions? In a comparative study with his peers, this paper will examine Lisle's career and reputation and contemporary notions of professionals and professionalism.
Andrew Robertshaw
Andrew Robertshaw, BA, MA, FSA, is freelance military historian best known for his work on the Great War.
Title: Cavaliers on the field of Mars: The Honourable Artillery Company and Trained Bands as the training ground for the officers of the 'London Regiment' in the Royalist Army 1643-46'
On the field of Mars: The Honourable Artillery Company and Trained Bands as the training ground for the officers of the 'London Regiment' in the Royalist Army 1643-46'. Marmaduke Rawdon's Regiment was named the 'London Regiment' because the majority of its officers came from the city. To what extent did their prewar military experience contribute to the performance of this unit at Basing house and then Faringdon?
Peter Leadbetter
Peter Leadbetter's main interests include Leicestershire in the Great Rebellion, the German States in the Napoleonic Wars, the Roman Army, the 2nd World War, and current military affairs.
Title: Organising the Perfect Militia. The Leicestershire Trained Bands prior to the Civil Wars
The Trained Bands were supposed to contain men who had a "stake" in the local community. This does not seem to have been the case for all of the men. The Trained Bands were comprised of well to do men who brought their own equipment, men who had their equipment provided and men supplied by the Clergy. So who were these men? Did they serve King or Parliament in The Great Rebellion? Did they survive the wars?
For the Bishops' Wars Charles wanted to use the Trained Bands, his "Perfect Militia" but he knew that many of them did not want to fight in the war, indeed many did not want to leave the county so he had to resort to pressing men in place of the Trained Band soldiers. What sort of men were pressed, how were they selected and by whom?
Stephen Ede Borrett
Stephen Ede Borrett is the Chairman of the Pike and Shot Society. He discovered the English Civil War at age 15 when he read Peter Young's Edgehill and from that developed an interest in the men, uniforms and equipment of the armies of the First Civil War and the last English armies before the Union of 1706, as well as a passion for military flags. A re-enactor for 25 years and a wargamer for 45, he has written several books on the armies of the 17th Century. His first book for Helion on the army of James II will be published next year.
Title: "The Rank and File of the British Army 1667 to 1699 from the Deserters' Notices in the London Gazette.
Before the early 18th Century, we do not have any regimental records of recruits giving their age, height, etc. However, the Deserters' Notices which appear in the London Gazette often give much of this. Although this information is patchy, if used with care it does give an idea of the make-up of the rank and file of the early English army. It is my intention to analyze such information as can be gleaned from these Notices, and compare the conclusions with that for later periods to see if there is any continuation and/or continuity.
Dr. Jonathan Worton
Dr. Jonathan Worton has a life-long and wide-ranging interest in military history. His doctoral studies in particular explored military and social aspects of the English Civil Wars in the borderlands of Wales.
Title: "The Advantage of Cooperation and Conjunction of Forces": The Battle of Montgomery and High Command During the First English Civil War
Although often overlooked by historians, the battle of Montgomery, fought in mid Wales on 18 September 1644, was not only a particularly significant regional battle of the First English Civil War, but was also the largest engagement in the Principality.
The battle was on both sides fought by regional armies hastily mustered from far-flung units. The formation of the victorious parliamentary army was lauded by the Committee of Both Kingdoms (parliament's executive war council sitting in London), who later complimented the commander-in-chief on the day of the battle: that 'this experience of the advantage of cooperation and conjunction of forces will be a means both to strengthen your union […] and improve all opportunities against the enemy'. However, for both king and parliament, coordinated operations between neighborliness county forces and so-called 'associations' of allied shires were more often beset with difficulties of command and coordination.
The opposing senior commanders at Montgomery were an interesting group, among them career soldiers and also gentlemen with no obviously noteworthy pre-war military experience – who nonetheless had assumed positions of high command. The battle presents a good example of a proposed maxim, countering notions of amateurism in Civil War leadership, that 'within a short time the king's commanders, and those of parliament, became real soldiers if they were not already so'.
In the context of evolving military professionalism during the Century of the Soldier, this paper, through the lens of the Battle of the Montgomery, views aspects of high command during the English Civil War; the nature, strengths and weaknesses of personnel and organization.
Mr. Simon Marsh
Simon Marsh has a lifelong interest in the British Civil Wars, and is an active member of the Battlefields Trust, chairing its Mercia Region and coordinating its battlefields research and threats work.
Title: A Case of Drakes – James Wemyss and Artillery Innovation in the Civil War
Innovation has always been seen as an important element of military professionalism and for 17th Century practitioners, particularly ways to develop better arms integration. Within a wider European context, Simon Marsh will examine James Wemyss' development and introduction during the Civil War of new 'case' or 'frame' infantry support artillery. From Wemyss' workshop in Vauxhall to the use of the new artillery on campaign with the Earl of Essex and Sir William Waller's armies, Simon will explore previously unpublished evidence which shows that Wemyss' contribution extended beyond a few leather guns captured by the royalists at Cropredy Bridge, and suggest he was a committed, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, experimenter.
John Barrett
John Barrett is author of over a dozen books on the English Civil War, the majority dealing with the Royalist forces.
Title: "A Rabble of Gentility?" The Northern Horse, 1644-45
This paper will take a fresh look at the special characteristics, regional and sometimes religious, of the officers and men of the Northern Horse, which made it a formidable, yet unpredictable, component of the Royalist armies.
Tickets are available now online.