The League of Augsburg
The baby wore red. The infant British Army learns to walk. 1670-1704 Part 6.
The concluding part of the series provides some final perspectives on the early British Army.
Debugging the regimental code
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| The Coldstream Guards go to war |
For those with an eye for detail you may have picked up that regiments listed in the battle summaries seem to change names. This is because the numbering system came to the army much later than the period in question and up till the mid- 18thcentu...
The baby wore red. The infant British Army learns to walk 1670-1704. Part 5
Away matches….
23rd July 1692: Battle of Steinkirke
23rd July 1692: Battle of Steinkirke
This battle more than any so far showcased the fighting spirit developing in the British regiments. A surprise dawn attack launched from difficult terrain took their French opponents completely by surprise. The vanguard of British battalions although somewhat slow off the mark and disorganized in their advance, ground their way forward against...
The baby wore red. The infant British Army learns to walk 1670-1704. Part 4
A walk through the fixture list.
Like any good team the Redcoats learned through experience. They clawed their way up the rankings from the position of joke outfit to become the most formidable infantry in Europe by Napoleonic times. The pre-eminent military powers of the late 17thcentury viewed them with some disdain. Although regiments in foreign-service were well thought of, indigenous units...
Bloody Aughrim July 12, 1691 - refought by the LoA Part 1 - Bazza's history bit
Have you heard of the Battle of Aughrim? Many people haven't and that includes wargamers. The words of a rather provocative (to some) song mention the battle and many people must have heard it without being aware of the reference.It is old but it is beautiful, and its colours they are fine
It was worn at Derry, Aughrim, Enniskillen and the Boyne.
One of our guest bloggers the author Michael...
The baby wore red. The infant British Army learns to walk 1670-1704. Part 3
Worse than the Premiership
The story of the Redcoat is as much about the men who led the troops as the battles they fought and so an illuminating place to dig is into the personalities leading the russet coated masses. Forget dying for the colours. Even a cursory look at the careers of prominent military figures of the period tells a tale which is often hard to follow in its twists and turns....
The story of the Redcoat is as much about the men who led the troops as the battles they fought and so an illuminating place to dig is into the personalities leading the russet coated masses. Forget dying for the colours. Even a cursory look at the careers of prominent military figures of the period tells a tale which is often hard to follow in its twists and turns....
The baby wore red. The infant British Army learns to walk 1670-1704 Part 2
In the beginning
To fully understand the British military tradition we could journey back into prehistory and explore the warlike island tribes and their struggles against waves of invasion and migration from continental Europe. This piece however is more concerned with the evolution of the Redcoat from the time when men from the four nations began to fight together as opposed to facing each other...
The baby wore red: The infant British Army learns to walk 1670-1704 - Part 1
This article was first printed in Wargames Illustrated issue 300 in a slightly different form. The reason for including it as series in the blog was the realization that not everyone reads WI! It was also a fairly well received piece.
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| A conversion from a Front Rank model by Barry |
Hugging the Huguenots - My new wargaming passion Part 2
Colin Napier continues to chart the footprints of French Huguenots.
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| De La Meloniere's Regiment painted by Clarence Harrison with flags from Quindia Studios |
As ever with the past it’s complicated especially when seen through the clouded, at times heated, prism of 300 years of opinion. I’m no historian and have little time to spend with tertiary and secondary sources let alone mucking about with the...
Hugging the Huguenots - My new wargaming passion Part 1
Colin Napier explains how he came to love his Huguenot Brigade!
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| Divine inspiration! Bob Talbot's lovely Regiment Du Cambon |
Call me soppy, call me naive (trust me I’ve been called a lot worse at home) but I firmly believe that at heart wargamers are gentle, romantic souls. Why else would they spend their time refighting long forgotten wars; researching failed causes and ineffectual dramatic gestures;...
The Controversy of Defeat - The Collapse of the Jacobite Left Wing at the Battle of Aughrim, July 12th, 1691 - Part Five
Michael McNally - The question which remains to be answered is quite simply was the Battle of Aughrim lost as a result of the ‘fortunes of war’, of one commander being luckier than his opponent? Or is there a darker element that needs to be considered – was the battle lost through the supposed treachery of one or more Jacobite officers?
Firstly we need to look in greater detail at the composition...
The Controversy of Defeat - The Collapse of the Jacobite Left Wing at the Battle of Aughrim, July 12th, 1691 - Part Four
Michael McNally - For St. Ruth it did indeed seem that the area around Kilcommodan Hill south of the small village of Aughrim was indeed a sign of Divine Favour – bounded to the south by the Tristaun Stream and to the north by a narrow causeway that traversed the waterlogged Melehan valley, the position was seemingly perfect for the Jacobites to deploy on the higher ground and invite attack. In...
The Controversy of Defeat - The Collapse of the Jacobite Left Wing at the Battle of Aughrim, July 12th, 1691 - Part Three
Michael McNally - Over the intervening centuries commentators have spilt an effusion of ink in discussing both St. Ruth’s conduct during the siege of Athlone and setting forth a number of theories that would presuppose that his subsequent desire to fight a pitched battle was based upon a fit of pique rather than any strategic consideration.
Athlone, like many Irish towns was effectively two...