Book Review: Men Who Are Determined to be Free

Cover Art

 Dear Reader,

Today we have a book review from Ben Olex. Ben reviews David C. Bonk's Men Who Are Determined To Be Free, a recent  title from Helion and Company. Without further introduction, here is Ben's review: 

          The Battle of Stony Point is certainly one of the more exciting and unorthodox battles of the American War for Independence. While it was rather famous in its time, it has become one of the lesser known battles of the war. In the early hours of July 16, 1779, the American Corps of Light Infantry assaulted the British position at Stony Point on the Hudson River. In twenty-five minutes American forces captured over 500 British troops, including the entirety of the His Majesty’s 17th Regiment of Foot, fifteen artillery pieces, and over 100,000 continental dollars’ worth of goods.[1] David C. Bonk covers this unique battle in this new book, Men Who Are Determined to be Free.”

         In Determined to be Free Bonk argues that Corps of Light Infantry played an important in the Battle of Stony Point, and that the battle played in the larger strategic role in the context of the War for Independence. The book is roughly 120 pages in length and contains a good number of photos and maps to help the reader in visualizing the events of the 15th of July. It is part of the “From Reason to Revolution” Series published by Helion and Company. It is good to see that Bonk draws from two of the most important secondary sources relating to the battle of Stony Point: Don Loprieno’s The Enterprise in Contemplation: The Midnight Assault on Stony Point, and Henry P. Johnston’s The Storming of Stony Point on the Hudson. Enterprise in Contemplation was written by the former site supervisor of Stony Point Battlefield and Lighthouse State Historic Site, and includes the full transcripts for the Court Martial of Lieutenant Colonel Johnson, the fort’s commander. Though published over one hundred years ago, Johnston’s Storming of Stony Point remains a reliable resources for those researching the battle as well.

      Bonk begins his coverage of the Battle of Stony Point by describing the strategic situation in 1778, delving as far back as 1777. To the reader who may be looking to learn more about the battle itself than the larger strategic situation, this may feel somewhat unnecessary. Bonk goes into a large amount of detail about these events, that while related to the battle, do not play a direct role in its outcome.[2]  However, Bonk does give a great deal of context for those looking to better understand the larger strategy at hand from 1777 to 1779.It is in the third and fourth chapters that the reader begins to get a clearer sense of how Stony Point fit strategically in the campaign of 1779. Chapters five through seven outline the defenses erected at Stony Point, the history of Anthony Wayne and the Corps of Light Infantry, and the American plan for attacking the fort. In the final two chapters the reader learns about the battle itself and the events that unfolded after the conclusion of the fighting.

Determined to be Free has a good amount of pictures, including many of the battlefield. Throughout the book the reader can find a number of maps that detail the movements of Washington and Clinton as they maneuver through the Hudson Highlands that are clearly marked and easy to understand. The middle of the book includes a section with several images and maps, including the map of Stony Point drawn by William Faden, and a modern map showing the movement of the battle. This last map has some small flaws, such as the positions of the pickets that are placed too far from the fort, or the position of the HMS Vulture which was more likely more to the South-East of its current position. However, the map is generally representative of the battle. 

The book falls prey to some small flaws, such as the idea that Lt. Col. Johnson was captured by Lt. Col. de Fluery[3]. There is one photograph which is mislabeled. That is the photograph labeled “Captured three-inch mortar deployed by the British at Stony Point”[4] The artillery piece pictured is actually an eight-inch howitzer, though the manner in which it is displayed (with the barrel almost vertical) may cause some people to mistake it for a mortar. There are two mistakes that should be addressed. The first involves the eight-inch mortar again. Towards the end of chapter eight Bonk discussed the eight-inch mortar and how the garrison was unable to utilize it.[5] It is clear from the details Bonk gives that he is actually referring to the eight-inch howitzer pictured in the book.[6] It seems that this is simply a typing error, because the events that Bonk describes are correct. His second mistake involves His Majesty's Galley Cornwallis, and the role that vessel played at Stony Point. Bonk writes that “On the south side the row-galley Cornwallis could bring fire from one 24lb and four 4lb guns to bear in defense of the lower abatis near the Hudson River.”[7] For many years it was thought that the ‘gunboat’ that is referred to in Lt. Col. Johnson’s court martial might be the galley Cornwallis, which was indeed in the area at the time of the battle. This is unlikely given that throughout the proceedings, the gunboat in question is consistently referred to as a gunboat by many different parties. Furthermore Captain Mercer, engineer at the time of the battle, testified that General Clinton ordered the two gunboats that had advanced with Collier’s fleet from New York to guard Stony Point and Verplanks’ Point.[8]

Despite these small flaws, Bonk’s research is generally correct, and readers will gain a good understanding of the battle, its key players, and important points. He is to be commended for adding to the relatively lightly trod history of the Battle of Stony Point. Determined to be Free offers the reader a great amount of information about not only the battle, but the strategy and people surrounding the Battle of Stony Point. We look forward to more titles from Helion addressing the American War of Independence.

 If you enjoyed this post, or any of our other posts, please consider liking us on facebook,  or following us on twitter. Finally, we are dedicated to keeping Kabinettskriege ad-free. In order to assist with this, please consider supporting us via the donate button in the upper right-hand corner of the page. As always:

Thanks for Reading,

Ben Olex 

           

---

[1] Don Loprieno, The Enterprise in Contemplation: The Midnight Assault of Stony Point, (New York: Heritage Books, 2009), 47.

[2] It is worth noting, as Bonk does, that the campaigns provided valuable experience for the Corps of Light Infantry.

[3] Henry P. Johnston, The Storming of Stony Point, (New York: James T. White & Company, 1900), 83

[4] David C. Bonk, “Men Who are Determined to be Free”: The American Assault on Stony Point, 15 July 1779, (Warwick, England: Helion & Company Limited: 2018), 54

[5] Bonk, 54

[6] For description of events around the howitzer battery see Testimony of Corporal Newton in Loprieno, 241-245.

[7] Bonk, 54

[8] Testimony of Captain Alexander Mercer in Loprieno, 259

Book Review of For God and Kaiser: The Imperial Austrian Army

Cover Art

Dear Reader,

Today we are going to examine a new work covering the Austrian military from 1618 to 1918. Richard Bassett, a British journalist, has set out to rectify a problem. He argues the idea of Austrian writer Hermann Bahr, that "Austria has not been lucky with its biographers," also hangs true for the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army. It seems a bid odd to be making this case in 2015, when both Christopher Duffy and Franz Szabo have done so much to show that Austria had an effective military in the Seven Years' War. Indeed, Duffy is referenced in the acknowledgements as the first among equals of Seven Years' War historians, yet Bassett makes no reference to Duffy's magisterial two volume work on the Austrian army in the Seven Years' War.

As general work on the Austrian Army over the the three centuries, the work is successful, and may well (sadly, as will be shown) become a standard reference work and textbook. However, in the Kabinettskreige era, Bassett makes several glaring mistakes, which are exacerbated by the painfully few number of footnotes provided. Bassett gives an insightful overview of the Theresian military reforms of the 1750s, but comes into more trouble when describing the course of the Seven Years' War itself. As with some previous historians, Bassett sees Frederick II of Prussia more as a mustachio twirling villain than an actual historical figure. Like Szabo, (indeed, Bassett cites Szabo frequently, and for the following quote) Bassett seems to revel in ambassador Mitchell's description Frederick II (at 46) as, "an old man lacking half his teeth, with greying hair, without gaiety or spark or imagination." Once again, Frederick's slovenly habits are brought to the fore, as Bassett notes his predilection for wearing uniforms past the point of no return, and the many stains on his clothing. All of this makes for good reading, and poetic catharsis from the Austrian viewpoint, but does it help advance the narrative forward?

As in Szabo, Frederick becomes the scapegoat in a flimsy morality play, where Prussian defeats are Frederick's sole responsibility. Bassett relates manifold Prussophobic anecdotes, usually without footnotes. Frederick's practice of detaching independent commands is blamed for the defeat at Maxen, and Bassett clearly fails to note that such practices were often devastatingly successful, as when Frederick used a detachment to force the Russian army to retreat from positions surrounding Bunzelwitz. Bassett continuously suggests that Frederick is responsible for failures.

For God and Kaiser becomes almost unreadable when Bassett suggests that at Torgau, the Prussians took 24,000 causalities a to the Austrian 2,000. To put it mildly, such figures are historically irresponsible. Estimates for Prussia losses at Torgau range from around 17,000 to 25,000, and a figure of 20,000 might be plausible, considering the nature of the Prussian attack against massed artillery. However, Austrian losses were comparable,  considering the all-day of the battle, which ended in the Austrian army abandoning the field, (through no work of Frederick's, it has to be said: Hans Joachim von Ziethen's corps, and Johann Dietrich von Huelsen's heroic attack won the battle.)  Duffy's most recent total places the Austrian causality figures around 15,000, which though still a heavy loss on the Prussian side was not the one-sided massacre which For God and Kaiser suggests. This might be compared to the totals at Kunersdorf, where the Prussians lost 18,000 men to the allied total of 16,500. Were these losses which Prussia could ill afford, brought on by Frederick's unwillingness to abandon his preferred method of war? definitely. Did the Prussian king recognize this after Torgau? certainly.

1761 is glossed over as a year of rebuilding, Frederick's achievement at Bunzelwitz does not even warrant a reference, and the text quickly moves to a description of the death of the Tsarina, Elizabeth Petrovna, who was replaced by her nephew, Peter III, who admired Frederick. This led to Russia switching sides in the conflict, but only briefly. Indeed- like Szabo before him, and doubtless others afterwards, Bassett is confronted by the problem of the events of 1762. For those who say that Frederick had no skill and imagination in the Seven Years' War, that the Prussian army was a broken force, 1762 becomes a severe problem. The Prussian army was certainly rescued from destruction by Elizabeth's death, but as Christopher Duffy has suggested, this only brought the Seven Years' War back into the balance. The Prussians won the Seven Years' War in 1762. Frederick's victories at Burkersdorf and Reichenbach, and Prinz Henri's victories at Doeblen and Freiberg won the Seven Years' War. Bassett spends most of this year on the Austria defense of Schwiednitz- admittedly, a heroic endeavor.

Bassett closes out his description of the Seven Years' War arguing that by 1762, the Austrian army was the most widely admired and emulated army in Europe. Clearly, then, Bassett has not heard of Prussomania. It should also be noted, Bassett spends a great deal of time discussing the Austrian success in the War of Bavarian Succession. Clearly, this would be a surprise for Charles IV Theodore of Bavaria, whose was placed on the throne of Bavaria as a result of Prussian military intervention (and perhaps more tellingly, Russian threats.) The Austrian army achieved spectacular feats in the Seven Years' War. They were well- led professional soldiers, who were able to score an impressive number of victories in their contest with Prussia. Kolin, Hochkirch, Maxen, and Landeshut all deserve to be remembered by Austrian soldiers with pride. But by making Frederick into a skin and bones scarecrow leading an army of ill-trained misfits, Bassett does a disservice to the past.

It may seem that I am nitpicking a rather small portion of Bassett's book, or that I have an ax to grind regarding Frederick II of Prussia. I would say that both of those observations are correct. Bassett's overly partisan account of the Seven Years' War takes his "history" into the realm of a morality play. If his book cannot be trusted to give an impartial (or even factual) account of eighteenth century Austrian military history, why should it be trusted to do so for the twentieth century? Indeed, the book resorts to blaming Prussia (and in turn Germany) for many of Austrians military failings, including when the German forces were allied with the k.u.k. army in the First World War. Bassett attempts to turn Holger Herwig's suggestions that the Austrian army dragged down German military capabilities on its head, suggesting that Franz Conrad von Hoetzendorf was prevented from winning World War One by telegrams from Berlin.

In attempting to promote Austrian military success, For God and Kaiser follows an excellent revisionist scholarly trend. In attempting to create a wildly successful Austrian Royal Army which outshone, and was impeded by failures in Prussian and German military professionalism, he falls for a mirage. Bassett creates an excellent overview of Austrian military history, suitable for those who have a passing interest in the Habsburg past, and no serious interest in reading more in depth works on particular periods. For individuals who are interested in a more detailed picture of the past, eschew this work in favor of more focused studies.


Thanks for Reading,



Alex Burns

Fight for a Throne: The Jacobite '45 Reconsidered

Front Cover

Dear Reader,

I know it has been some time since I published a post, and I hope to return to work on Kabinettskriege more in the summer months. My first year of doctoral work is going quite well, and I am settling in to my new home at West Virginia University. So, without further ado, let's jump into the matter at hand, the latest book from Dr. Christopher Duffy.

For many students of eighteenth century warfare, the Jacobite rising of 1745-46 (the '45) is old hat. Many books have been published on the subject, including a previous volume from the same author. Dr. Duffy's return to the '45 is a matter of some import, as he is without question the leading scholar of this rebellion, and of mid-eighteenth century warfare as a whole.

Those who have read Duffy's previous volume on the last great Jacobite rebellion, (The '45) will recall the major facets of the rebellion- the initial Jacobite rising, let by Charles Edward Stuart, the "Bonnie Prince Charlie" of 19th century romanticism, and the Scottish Jacobite victory over Hanoverian British forces at Prestonpans. This first success was followed  a Jacobite surge southward into England, eventual retreat to Scotland, and destruction by the Hanoverian forces at Culloden Moor on April 16th, 1746.

Duffy's new study offers something for everyone. Filled with an impressive amount of social and cultural information, Duffy examines the conflict in never before seen detail. Though the book will disappoint readers hoping for a comprehensive examination of Hanoverian fighting forces, Jacobite forces are discussed at extreme length. New appendices provide detailed information about sea conditions, meteorological observations, detailed geography, and a unit by unit evaluation of the highland army.

Duffy spends a great deal of time discussing the Jacobite rising as a modernizing force- as opposed to the traditional historical view of Jacobitism: a backwards movement supporting a bygone dynasty (the Stuarts) and bygone religious movement in England (Catholicism). Rather, Duffy crafts a persuasive argument that the Jacobites were a forward-looking movement, based (via necessity) on Enlightenment ideas of religious toleration, and military innovation. Duffy makes a convincing argument that the Jacobites pioneered a divisional system which gave them an extreme advantage in strategic operations.
The monograph also makes a parallel argument that the Hanoverian system of government was bogged down in pervasive corruption, and that the politicians of the 1740s Britain made poor strategic thinkers in comparison with the Stuart prince and his advisers. In this way, Fight for a Throne turns the traditional interpretation of the '45 on its head.

The book also contains a wealth of new information on the military history of the Jacobite Rising. In Duffy's description of Culloden alone, he provides persuasive evidence that the Highlanders discarded (or perhaps neglected to pick up)  their shields in the hectic assembly to confront rapidly advancing Hanoverian forces. In addition, Fight for a Throne makes it clear that Cumberland's soldiers did NOT adapt a new style of bayonet drill, in which each soldier stabbed the highlander attacking the man next to him.

Rather, according to a eyewitness, the Hanoverian infantry

"...first gave one fire, the fore rank kept [the Jacobites] off with their bayonets till the second rank charged [loaded] again and gave them so close a fire that our fore rank was bespattered with their blood and brains..." (Quoted in Duffy, Fight for a Throne, 466.)

Undeterred by this mauling, the Highlanders pushed into close combat with Barrel's regiment, but were unable to break the British line. The chapter on Culloden alone makes this volume worth the price, but be careful- Duffy will entrance you with his wider social and cultural narrative of this vital event in British history.

Thanks for Reading!

Alex Burns

Book Review: Sweden in the Seventeenth Century

Dear Reader,

Interested in Swedish history, but don't speak Swedish? Want a look into how a relatively backwater country made a comet-like rise to great power status? Then Paul Lockhart's Sweden in the Seventeenth Century is the book for you.  This book examines the Stormaktid, or "great power period" of Swedish history. Lockhart is traditionally a Danish historian, and as his CV will tell you, has written numerous books on the geo-political role of Denmark in the early modern world. In more recent years, he has written a couple of wonderful books on the American War of Independence.

However, in this work, he takes a break from Danish history, (although his Danish viewpoint occasionally reasserts itself), and examines the role of Denmark's neighbor, Sweden. Lockhart eloquently argues that Sweden asserted its position as a great power by use of military force, and that Sweden lagged behind other European powers in terms of, "literary, artistic, scholarly, or commercial sophistication." The book shows that the Swedish state was build around the use of military force, specifically, the use of limited resources to conduct lengthy wars.

The book is more of a survey than a monograph, covering a roughly 120 (Lockhart begins in the 16th century and ends in the 18th) years of history in 177 pages. Lockhart gives time to Swedish military organization and reform, administrative reforms, and the lives of the men and women who made up the Swedish state in this period. In addition, Lockhart shows a great command of the relevant historiography of Sweden in both the English and Swedish languages, and as a result, this book will be very useful for younger scholars, and as a textbook for upper level undergraduate courses on the early modern world.

All in all: 5 Stars. I highly recommend that anyone interested in this period, or Swedish history as a whole, purchase this book.

Thanks for Reading,

Alex Burns

Book Review: The Best of Enemies

(cover art from the book)

Dear Reader,

(Sorry for the long absence, I've been in Washington DC doing research for my MA program!)

Book Review of:

Christopher Duffy, The Best of Enemies: Germans vs. Jacobites, 1746. Emperor's Press,
          Bitter Books, (Chicago and London) 2013.

Most Americans remember the Hessians from their time in grade school. These are the soldiers which American general George Washington crossed the the Delaware to surprise at the Battle of Trenton on the day after Christmas, 1776. In his latest book, Dr. Christopher Duffy examines these soldiers in a different context: the '45, the final major Jacobite uprising in Britain  Much like in the American War of Independence, the German state of Hesse-Kassel hired its soldiers as subsidized allies (subsidientruppen) to the British. These Hessians assisted the British (and their Hanoverian monarch, George II) in suppressing this rebellion in the eighteenth century.

In this small, though informative, book, Duffy manages to give a campaign history of the Germans in the '45 uprising, as well as examine the life of Hessian Prince Frederick II in a book which, at times, reads as a mini-biography. Duffy lends a sympathetic voice to Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel, and attempts to show that this monarch had admirable qualities. Duffy's work touches on the history of the Hessian military from the turn of the eighteenth century to the American War of Independence. However, in order to get the full story of the Hessians in the American War of Independence (which is outside the scope of Duffy's work), this book should be read in tandem with Rodney Atwood's The Hessians. 

 For readers familiar with the American War of Independence, many familiar names crop up in the text, as we see future Hessian leaders. Duffy's thesis is that the Germans were more humane than their British counterparts, and kept clear of the worst of the atrocities following the Battle of Culloden. He amply proves his thesis, and this provides an interesting counterpoint to the supposed atrocities of the German troops during the American War of Independence.

As usual, Duffy writes in an engaging and often humorous style. His prose is easy to understand, even for those who do not understand all of the technicalities of eighteenth century warfare. He provides a full bibliography, which is clearly laid out. Overall, the only major flaw in this book is it's length: it leaves the reader wishing for more! Dr. Duffy has once again proved that military history and serious scholarship go hand in hand.

 The book is being published and sold by John Brewster over at Bitter Books, with assistance by Emperor's Press. If you would like to purchase the book directly, here is a link to Bitter Books.  For British readers, the book is a fascinating examination of a pivotal event in the history of Britain. For American readers, the book gives an important comparison to the experiences of the American War of Independence. For any serious student of the Jacobite Rebellions or American War of Independence, this book is a must have.

Thanks for reading,

Alex Burns

If you enjoyed this post, or like the blog, please become a follower! Let me know what you think in the comments below.