Century of the Soldier

The speakers at the 2018 Helion conference offer a variety of insights into the depth and direction of research into the Thirty Years' War, with particular reference to the war's effect on the British Isles, the careers of the officers from its shores who participated in the conflict, and the 'trickle-down' effect of the war into the military thinking and technology of those isles. Keynote speaker Professor Steve Murdoch examines the changes in understanding of British military participation in the Thirty Years' War from a once unsophisticated and dismissive approach to a more enriched and interesting field of study. Keith Dowen examines the work of Catholic Irish colonel Gerat Barry, which has been largely overlooked. Michał Paradowski looks into the careers of three officers from the British Isles who fought abroad – Arthur Aston Jr, James Butler and Scotsman James Murray. Arran Johnston considers the importance of General Alexander Leslie and his officer corps, and the importance of their overseas service in the Thirty Years' War as the basis for the effectiveness of the Scottish army in the Bishops' Wars. Prof. Martyn Bennett explores the process of appointment of the rival command structures in 1642, at the start of the English Civil Wars. David Flintham considers the foreign, especially Dutch, influence on English fortification during the period, the methods employed and those who practiced them. Stephen Ede-Borrett examines contemporary vexillology, and how much the Thirty Years' War influenced the military flags used by the English Armies from 1639 to 1651.

Previous Polish experience from the war against the Ottoman Turks in 1672-1676 made their contribution vital for the coalition war effort in 1683. No surprise then, that Sobieski was chosen as commander of the joint forces. Many Polish researchers, like Jan Wimmer, Leszek Podhorodecki or Zdzisław Żygulski wrote extensively about the topic, unfortunately their works are not available in English. In this volume the author attempts to present to English-speaking readers the Polish point of view on the battle and the role of the Polish army in the conflict. There are detailed information about organization and strength of the army that Jan III led to Vienna: structure, weapons and equipment of the units, even on the company level. All formations, from winged hussars to artillery, are covered. Command staff – from King to high ranking officers – will be presented as well. Book won't focus solely on relief of Vienna though. Remaining actions of the 1683's campaign are described as well, with both battles of Párkány and arrival of Lithuanian army, Polish and Cossack actions in Podolia and Moldavia, that were always in shadow of main events of 1683; finally organization and military actions of troops under command of Hieronim Augustyn Lubomirski, raised as Imperial auxiliary division in Poland. Book is based on many primary and secondary sources, including diaries, letters and surviving muster rolls of the units and whole army. Many of them were not previously available in English, so they will provides interesting insight into 17th century view of the army and campaign.

This book covers an important part of British military history, namely the Trained Bands of the early Stuart period, 1603 - 1642. Both James I and Charles I tried to create a perfect militia during their reigns but how far did they get in achieving this aim? There is very little published about this organization. This book includes details on the men who served in it, how they were recruited, their social status, professions, and ages. The soldiers were mustered for training at least once a year at county or regimental level, but were they mustered and trained more often at a local level? And, if so, how often? There were different categories of soldiers in the Trained Bands; these categories were not just designated by the arm of service or by the arms they carried, but also by who had provided (and paid for) them. The arms and armor used by the soldiers changed over the period covered by this book and descriptions of these are included. Did the men of the Trained Band wear uniforms? Who were the officers who commanded the companies and regiments and how were they appointed? This book aims not only to answer these questions, but also to enlighten the reader on many other aspects of this important organization. Defense always costs money, and this was especially true of the Trained Bands. Men and muster-masters had to be paid and fed; powder and match bought for training; new arms and armor sourced. All these needed money - money that was in many cases only grudgingly given. The methods of raising this money were varied and in the main seem to have worked. Relations between the counties and the government in London are also covered. The government's requests or requirements were not always well received; many people in the counties did not like being given orders from London, a place they believed to have little interest in what was happening locally. The Trained Bands were not put to the test of battle prior to the Civil War, although they had come close in the Bishops' Wars; but they proved reluctant to act against ordinary people during protests about perceived or actual local grievances. One of the biggest questions that could be asked of the Trained Bands is: "in the face of an external enemy, would they have fought and would they have stood firm?" Against an enemy which would almost certainly have been experienced and battle-hardened.

In autumn 1621, at a fortified camp near Khotyn (Chocim), in the Principality of Moldavia, allied Polish, Lithuanian and Cossack armies faced a large Ottoman army led by Sultan Osman II. It was the concluding act of a war that had started with the defeat of a Polish army at Cecora one year earlier. As such it was actually part of the longer conflict, waged over the Commonwealth's and the Ottoman's influence over Moldavia. Throughout the whole of September and the first half of October 1621, the allied army managed to defend their camps against Turks, with both sides taking heavy losses from the hardship of the siege operations and worsening weather conditions. The conflict ended with the Treaty of Khotyn (9 October 1621) which did not particularly favor either of the sides. All the same, stopping the Ottoman was seen as a huge success for the Commonwealth, while attitudes on the Ottoman sides were far from victorious. The aftershock of the war led to the rebellion of janissaries in 1622, resulting in the overthrow and murder of Sultan Osman II. The book focuses on the Khotyn campaign of 1621, describing the day-by-day actions of the combatant armies – assaults, sallies and raids – during the whole of the siege. Additional theaters of war, such as Cossack operations from the summer of 1621 and Tatars raids against the Polish interior, are described as well. The reader will also find here details of the organization and strength of the fighting armies, information about the battle dispositions of the troops at Khotyn and commanders leading the troops. Actions leading to the outbreak of the open conflict between the Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire are explained in a separate chapter, providing a good historical background of the war. Another chapter covers the outcome of the war and the ways that influenced the internal and external situation of both the Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire. As with his previous works, the author has utilized a large number of primary sources: from the diaries of soldiers taking part in the campaign, through chronicles, official letters and documents from the period to army musters. Among the documents used are not only those written by Poles and Lithuanians, but also documents from Cossacks, Germans and Ottomans. Modern works, especially from Polish and Ukrainian historians, have also been used, in order to provide the most up-to-date and in-depth research. As this topic has previously not had much coverage in English, this book will be a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in Zaporozhian Cossacks and in the Ottoman Empire in the early seventeenth century.

In 1634, the Thirty Years' War had taken a spectacular turn; the great protagonists of 1630 had died: King Gustav Adolf of Sweden and Generals Tilly and Wallenstein. The Swedish army was disoriented without the presence of its charismatic king. Chancellor Oxenstierna was to preserve his legacy, so the Heilbronn League was formed, with various Protestant states in western and northern Germany, and the French financial support. With this, the Swedish-Protestants were able to launch various offensives throughout Germany, almost collapsing the Imperial forces, which were organizing even after the earthquake caused by the murder of Wallenstein. The King of Hungary Ferdinand, heir to the Holy Roman Empire, decided to assume command of the armies in the West and thus enhance his leadership. Cardinal-Infante Fernando had been appointed governor of Flanders; but the sea voyage from Spain to Flanders was threatened by storms, the English, the French, and the Dutch. It was much safer to travel from Italy and travel more than 1,000 km through the so-called Spanish Road. But this route, which partly followed the course of the River Rhine, was now on the front lines of the Thirty Years' War. Prince Fernando could not travel alone, so an army of 10,000 soldiers was formed to escort him and then fight against Holland. Ferdinand asked the Cardinal-Infante to help him conquer a small town, called Nördlingen, and together they could fight a Swedish-German army, commanded by Generals Gustav Horn and Bernard of Saxe-Weimar. This book explains the general situation in Germany during the Thirty Years' War in the period 1633-1634. It describes in detail the tactics, armament and units of the Spanish, Swedish and Imperial armies. Analyze the conflicting interests of the various powers fighting the war. The objective of the text is to explain the battle that took place in the plain of Nördlingen, the various protagonists who commanded the Tercios and Regiments that fought there; analyze the mistakes and successes of the generals. With all this, the stereotypes about the Spanish and Swedish tactical models are reviewed, which for a long time were the paradigm of tactics in European battle theaters. In this way, it seeks to answer which deployment was better, if the Swedish Brigades, or the Spanish Tercios.

The 2023 Century of the Soldier Conference discusses 'Novelty and Change' through diverse papers on overlooked research impacted by the pandemic. The 2023 Century of the Soldier Conference was held at the University of Worcester on the banks of the River Severn in the historic city of Worcester. The theme of the conference was 'Novelty and Change' and had a range of papers covering a variety of topics. The conference focused on new research and ideas that in some cases might have been overlooked in the disruption caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

The eleven years of conflict that engulfed Ireland (1641-53) can be seen as a drama in three acts, each of which drew Ireland into progressively closer alignment with the Civil Wars (1642-52) in the other two Stuart kingdoms, Scotland and England. The first act in the Wars of Religion in Ireland (1641-53) began in October 1641 with a rising in Ulster and shuddered to a halt in September 1643 when the insurgents, now embodied as the Confederate Catholics, agreed a ceasefire with Charles I's representative in Ireland. This study is confined to Act One to manage its sheer scope and scale. Not a single county in Ireland was unscathed by war and in summer 1642 there were more men under arms than there ever had been or would be again. Moreover, Act One was singularly nasty. Insurgent slaughter of Protestant settlers in the winter of 1641-42 quickly gained canonical status. English and Scots armies routinely massacred natives in the spring and summer that followed. After their uprising failed, the Irish in 1642 were attacked by English and Scottish armies that were bigger, in aggregate, than any before or since. And that includes the armies of Elizabeth I, Oliver Cromwell and William of Orange. Lacking munitions, forced to disperse their strength, and usually outfought in open battle, the Confederate Catholics pushed back in war-as-process and food-fights in which castles dominating a chequerboard of hinterlands jostled with hostile neighbors. The Catholics were winning this small war when the music stopped in 1643. This is a study of the Catholic armies in Act One through a succinct narrative which reveals underlying pattern and purpose in what would otherwise be one apparently random battle, siege, skirmish, massacre, and cattle raid after another, devoid of form or meaning. The narrative focuses in and out, from the strategic through the operational down to the tactical and what happened in a particular place on a given day. The narrative also shifts from the southern or Leinster/Munster theater to the northern or Connacht/Ulster theater. Meaning is disclosed through narrative in which the strengths and shortcomings of the Irish armies become clearer. The quotation in the title sets up two such shortcomings, of leaders and led. One reason why the Catholics lost so many battles may be that their generals fought battles when they needn't have, showed a fatal preference for the all-out attack, and did not always deploy in a manner that let their army's components, pike, shot and horse act in mutual support. Another reason may be that the rankers were less invested in the Catholic cause than their officers. But the establishing quotation is followed by a question mark. Perhaps the real question to be asked is how the Catholic armies achieved so much rather than why they failed.

Military manuals have been used as a source through a range of historical studies, but only recently has their potential to Conflict Archaeology truly been recognized. Military manuals allowed the progression of the Military Revolution from the informed amateur towards the scientific, mathematical choreography for massed troops at the height of the Military Revolution, and their use as a viable historical resource often taken at face value - negating their worth. Using correlated GIS, landscape archaeology, metal detecting, military knowledge and experimental archaeology, we might understand more fully the limitations and strengths drill books provide us. Like a dance, military theory provides a certain number of ways individuals may progress through a landscape. Using examples taken from recent investigations at sites such as Edgehill, Lutzen and Lostwithiel, this paper shall examine to what extent individual drill can be identified in the archaeological record. This publication hopes to prove to what level and extent this can be applied to predictive modeling of artifact collections on battlefields - thus providing depth to the archaeological study of fields of conflict. Like investigations on the Little Bighorn battlefield, through use of wear analysis of the material remains of conflict, we can effectively tell the nuances of individual drill, practice and movement of people across a landscape; their drill actively mirroring subtleties in our understanding of interpretation. Taking the works of such writers and artists as Bariffe, de Gheyn and Ward, the author attempts to actively break down how individual and group drill will leave material remains and the archaeological means these might be taken down, but equally, this work also attempts to investigate and breach the subject of whether such manuals can also be used to dictate the survivability of 17th century fortifications - often within urban landscapes devoid of their civil war origins, as can be seen at Alton and Basing House. Theoretical in its nature and utilizing and combining elements of research not previously collaborated, The Arte Militaire is unique in not merely showing how military manuals were used, but rather how they can still be seen within the historical landscape.

The Eastern Association is best known for its performance at the battle of Marston Moor and the rise of Oliver Cromwell, but it was so much more. It was one of the most successful Parliamentary armies that served during the First Civil War; firstly having to secure the counties of East Anglia from Royalist sympathizers and then supporting Lord Fairfax's Northern Association in its struggle with Newcastle's Army and the latter's final defeat at the battle of Marston Moor. It then assisted the remains of the Earl of Essex's Army and Sir William Waller's at the second battle of Newbury. Using contemporary and archaeological evidence this book looks at these two battles, as well as Gainsborough and Winceby, and the sieges of Reading, King's Lynn, Lincoln and York. It also looks at the religious and political divisions within the army caused by the Presbyterians and Cromwell's Independent factions which would almost cripple the army in winter of 1644, which would end in a bitter dispute in Parliament, which would eventually lead to the formation of the New Model Army. This book not only looks at the commanders but also the soldiers who served in the army by using their petitions which gives a vivid insight into the campaigns and life as a soldier during the Civil War, and is divided into the following chapters: 1) First Campaigns: the campaigns of Lord Grey of Warke, the first commander of the Eastern Association and also the early campaigns of Cromwell; 2) Manchester Takes Command: the increase in the strength of the Association under its new commander the Earl of Manchester, and the events leading up to it marching north, including Prince Rupert surprising the besiegers at Newark; 3) Newark: the Parliamentarian siege of Newark, and Rupert's relief of the town; 4) The Siege of York: the events of the siege and siege warfare; 5) Marston Moor: the battle of Marston Moor and the surrender of York; 6) Crawford's Campaign: the campaign of Major General Lawrence Crawford after the surrender of York, including the capture of Sheffield; 7) Manchester's Campaign: describes Manchester's movements from the surrender of York until his uniting with the armies of Essex and Waller at Basingstoke; 8) The Newbury Campaign: re-examines the battle and also considers the King's return to Newbury and the combined Parliamentarian armies refusing to fight; 9) The Winter of Discontent: the dispute in Parliament which resulted in the Self- Denying Ordinance and the formation of the New Model Army; 10) The Last Campaigns: Cromwell being sent into the West and Crawford being ordered to assist Sir William Brereton, and then the disbandment of the Association's regiments to form the New Model Army. The conclusion traces what happened to some of the combatants after the war, and appendices describe the logistics of the Eastern Association, and the Royalist Colors that were captured at Marston Moor. The discovery of the whereabouts of the correspondence of the Earl of Manchester after they were withdrawn from the then Public Record Office means that this book contains information not used in other books on the campaigns of the Eastern Association, and also the raising of the New Model Army, so is a must for anyone interested in the Civil War.