Year In Review: Where Should Kabinettskriege Go Next?

Soldiers of the King's Regiment practice close-order drill at Fort Niagara

Dear Reader,

Whew! What a year it has been. I want to thank you all for reading these posts. Your enjoyment, and the spreading of historical knowledge, is the main reason for this blog. Kabinettskriege started in 2013 as a way for me to continually practice the art of writing, and has grown a lot since that time. This has been Kabinettskriege's second most prolific year, with a total of 45 posts.

I want to close this year with two questions for you:

Here at the beginning, I would like to ask you to take a moment and complete the poll in the upper- right-hand corner of the blog. Where should the blog go from here? Feel free to give me more detailed comments below, or contact me via the "about the author" page.

Second, I would ask you to consider writing for Kabinettskriege. Many of you know more about this period of history than I do, and you should consider sharing that knowledge with us! Again, if you are interested in writing for Kabinettskriege, contact me via the "about the author page." Any topic relating to warfare between 1648 and 1789 or its representation will be considered. We had an excellent first guest-post this year, written by Jack Weaver. There is a link to the post below.

Once again, I want to thank all of those who have given feedback and continue to research this era of conflict. The research of individuals such as Christopher Duffy, Don Hagist, Matthew Spring, Will Tatum, Ilya Berkovich, Steve Rayner, and so many others, makes this blog possible. With the remainder of this post, I want to provide a quick way for readers to catch up with posts they might have missed, as well as a way to return to previous posts for reference or enjoyment. To reach these posts, simply click on the links below.

A Prussian Soldier at the Stockade

This year's most popular series, by far, was the "average" soldier series. Beginning with a piece of the realities of eighteenth-century warfare, the series continued with information on the average length of battles, numbers of troops killed and wounded, the average number of battles a soldier was in, how far soldier's marched in a day, how old the average soldier was, how tall he was, his martial status, his social status, his diet, his daily work, his religious sentiments, his relative health, musket accuracy, speed of movement on the battlefield, and how perhaps how likely he was to desert.

One series which lasted the entire year covered that perennial interest of mine: the Prussian Army of the eighteenth century. I wrote a brief biographical piece on Prussian General Itzenplitz, examined camp security in the Prussian Army, and briefly looked at the role of Prinz Heinrich, Frederick the Great's brother, at the Battle of Prague. Later in the year, this series continued with coverage of the Battle of Kolin and the Battle of Fehrbellin, and a short examination of the Siege of Wittenberg during the Seven Years' War.

My favorite photo of the year

The blog also frequently covered the British Army of the eighteenth century, my other great interest. This year, coverage of the British Army began with a unit study of the 8th Regiment of Foot. We also  examined the adaptability of the British army, and the army's use of cover. The blog also explore the religious sentiments, or lack thereof, among British troops. Finally, I provided some advice on representing the British Army in the American War of Independence, applying some of the ideas of Matthew H. Spring.

A couple of posts examined the British and Prussian army in tandem, such as this post on wheeling.

Prussian officers and a minister

The blog also explored a number good and bad regiments, in a somewhat controversial series. The units included the exceptional Delaware Regiment of the Continental Army, the less-exceptional Regiment Prinz Friedrich, the Regiment von Bose, and Austrian Erzherzog Carl Regiment. Finally, the inestimable Jack Weaver wrote a post on the German Regiment of the Continental Army.

An original Prussian Musket in Ligonier, PA. 

Since Kabinettskriege is meant to make history available to everyone, one of my favorite uses for the blog is sharing interesting primary source accounts. Sadly, I only posted two of these this year, perhaps more next year. One was a Russian nobleman's account of the Battle of Poltava in the Great Northern War. The second was Hessian Staff Captain Hinrich's account of the Siege of Charleston in the American War of Independence.

There were also a number of miscellaneous posts, such as my appearance on a wargaming podcast, an examination of the Austrian vampire scare in the early eighteenth century, a post highlighting an opportunity to publish research on the Seven Years' War, and one highlighting cavalry and siege operations.

Finally, after some consideration, I have added a donate button to Kabinettskriege. If you enjoy the blog and would like to support the page, I would welcome it. I am dedicated to keeping this page ad-free.

As always, thanks for reading,



Alex Burns