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

Series introduction: The Best and the Worst Regiments of the Eighteenth Century

Prussian Guards attack the Church at Leuthen

Dear Reader,



In the past series, we looked at some of the experiences of the "average" eighteenth-century soldier. Now, we are going to turn from that task to evaluating some military organizations on both ends of the spectrum.  In order to do that, I am going to lay out some groundwork here at the beginning of the series. What makes a great, or horrible regiment? To answer that question, we are going to evaluate these military organizations by the following five criteria:

1) Noticed by its Peers
Eighteenth-century soldiers were keen observers of regimental reputation. They would often recall if a particular regiment had a good or bad reputation within the army. Thus, if a regiment was praised or criticized by fellow officers and soldiers, that will be a vital step in its selection.

2) Performance on Campaign
If the regiment repeatedly drove all enemies before it, it is perhaps deserving of a place among the best regiments in the eighteenth century. If, on the other hand, its' soldiers fled repeatedly, or surrendered to the enemy en masse, it might be numbered among the worst.

3) Opinions of the Army Commander
Eighteenth-century army generals were not afraid to bestow praise or criticism on a unit. Often, this is the most available type of source on a particular regiment. 

4) Reputation of the Regimental Commander
Many colonel-proprietors or chefs had a stellar or infamous reputation in the eighteenth century. Soldiers particularly used this officer's reputation as an indication of the esprit-de-corps within a particular formation.

5) Verdict of History
What have other historians said about this particular regiment? Evaluating soldierly effectiveness was a favorite pastime among 19th and early 20th century historians. Needless to say, this will be the least important category. Historians are at best, a necessary evil.


Finally, in has been brought to my attention by a number of individuals that this series may ruffle some feathers. Some of the units under review are portrayed by modern reenactors, or loved by certain historical institutions. Being among the worst regiments in an eighteenth-century army did not mean that these soldiers were incapable, or experienced the horrors of war with any less vividness. For reenactors, I would say that there is still intense value in portraying units that were poorly viewed by their comrades.

So, reenactors may raise an outcry against these posts, but wargamers, I think, may find them useful. Almost every wargaming system I am familiar with, from Final Argument of Kings, to Warfare in the Age of Reason, to Flames of War, attempts to realistically rate units on a scale of effectiveness. Assisting eighteenth-century wargamers in doing this forms part of my rationale for these posts.

The other part of my rationale is that the "average" soldier series we have just left behind was rather faceless, and impersonal. With this series, I hope to encounter concrete individuals and experiences from the past. Maybe together, these will bring us closer to a sense of what eighteenth-century warfare might have looked like.

I look forward to embarking on this series with you!

Thanks for Reading,


Alex Burns