Wednesday, April 2, 2025

What were battles like in the Revolutionary War? A 250th Guide

 













Dear Reader,

We are approximately two weeks away from the 250th anniversary of the most commonly accepted starting point of the American Revolutionary War, or as also known, the American War of Independence. As a result, many organizations and companies (including wargame companies like Warlord Games with their new Revolution epic battles range) are rushing to commemorate and capitalize on this anniversary.

But what were battles in the Revolutionary War really like? It's a subject that, as a history professor, I have spent my life studying. 

I am creating this guide as a resource for those commemorating the anniversaries of the Revolutionary War. Maybe you are an interested member of the public, or a wargamer, or reenactor. Regardless of your background, this guide is designed to make research on the Revolutionary War available to you in a variety of formats. I have a large number of articles and suggested reading below, but for those in a hurry, are looking for something to listen or watch, we'll begin with podcasts and videos. At least in terms of the podcasts and blog links, a lot of this is my work: 

If you are looking for a beginner's guide to eighteenth-century warfare and battle, check out this two-part episode of the Prime and Load Podcast:

Prime and Load Episode Part-1

Prime and Load Episode Part-2

If you are more of a youtube learner, check out these lectures on the nature of war in the American Revolution and Eighteenth Century. 

Waging War in America Panel

Revolutionary War in the West (British Army)

Infantry in Battle at History Hive

Now, for those who are looking to read more on this in detail, I'd highly recommend the following articles on Kabinettskriege and there will be books below. So what were battles like in this period? And what about the soldiers who fought in those battles? 


Armies were divided into infantry, cavalry, and artillery, what an eighteenth-century English speaker would have called "foot, horse, and guns." This guide will mainly focus on the experience of infantry, for three reasons. First, it is my academic speciality. Second, more troops served in the infantry than any other branch of service, so there are more written records from these men. Third and finally, especially in the American Revolutionary War, battles were largely decided by infantry engagements. 

The average soldier would take part in 3 or 4 major battles, which lasted roughly 4 hours apiece. In the course of his career, he also fought in innumerable sieges, skirmishes, and smaller actions. His chance of being wounded in an individual battle was quite small, but rose to almost 60% over the course of his career. What did the infantry firefights in this period look like? The experience of battle looked very different here than in movies. 


First, soldiers often fired at comparatively long ranges, perhaps 75-300 yards. Both British, European, and American infantrymen did frequently aim their weapons, and were instructed to, despite the challenges of their flintlock smoothbore muskets. They were trained to fire quickly, perhaps around 3 shots per minute. Particularly in the Russian and American armies, soldiers would fire buckshot from their muskets, in addition to larger musket balls. Despite this, with the level of smoke and relative inaccuracy of these weapons, many firefights were indecisive, leading to ammunition shortages. These problems were exacerbated by the fact soldiers often fired without waiting for orders, and fired as soon as they loaded rather than waiting to all fire a volley together. Soldiers didn't always march in cadence or lockstep, they frequently jogged and ran on battlefields, to rapid close the distance between themselves and the enemy or to get out of the line of fire. At least compared to its frequent depiction in Hollywood, hand-to-hand combat in open fields, were soldiers mutually charged into melee combat, was quite rare. Hand-to-hand combat was common when fighting cavalry, when fighting over defending obstacles like fortifications, and when fighting armies outside of military Europe.

For much of the last hundred years, we have misunderstood how the British tactically fought in the Revolutionary War. They were much more flexible, fastmoving, and aggressive than displayed in movies like the Patriot. That's one of the reasons it was so difficult for Washington to win the Revolutionary War: the British army was well-suited to fighting in North America. Like many eighteenth-century armies, they used cover and concealment effectively.

And now the soldiers. Who was the "average" eighteenth-century soldier?  More than likely, he had been a day-laborer or apprenticed weaver before enlisting in the service. He had first enlisted in his early twenties, and after seven or eight years of service was around thirty years of age. He was unmarried. The soldier was tall compared with many civilians, likely around 5 feet 8 inches (approx 172 cm). When on the march with his regiment, the soldier was capable of covering an average of 14 miles per day, although that could easily be increased in times of extreme need, such as when 10th Regiment of Foot dashed 70 miles in a 24 hour period in the Seven Years' War.[1] His daily calorie intake ranged from roughly 2200-3000, and mainly consisted of meat and bread of some type.  Even when not marching or fighting, his daily life was quite rigorous, as he and the men around him were often engaged in strenuous physical labor. He was far more likely to die from disease than enemy action. Talk of his propensity for desertion has perhaps been overblown.

Finally, some suggested readings.

If you read one book on the eighteenth-century armies and the AWI, it should be Christopher Duffy's The Military Experience in the Age of Reason. 

If you read two books on eighteenth-century armies and the AWI, the second should be Matthew H. Spring's With Zeal and With Bayonets Only.






















If you read three books on eighteenth-century armies and the AWI, the third should be Martin and Lenders 'A Respectable Army'. 






















Good luck as you read on the period and commemorate the anniversaries of the Revolutionary War. 

As always, 

Thanks for Reading

Alex Burns



Friday, March 28, 2025

Early Review: Warlord Games Revolution Epic Battles

 


Dear Reader, 

Before we get started, spend a moment thinking of Warlord today, their co-founder, Paul Sawyer passed away yesterday.

I want to review what we know now about the new Warlord Games Revolution Epic Battles range. Those of you who don't know me, I am a history professor at a small Catholic college in Eastern Ohio, USA, and I study eighteenth-century warfare.

First of all, let me say, I am incredibly excited about this new line of miniatures, and as someone who is the faculty sponsor for an undergraduate university wargame club, I will absolutely be purchasing these for both myself and the club. I wish Warlord the best of success in this venture, and hope brings increased attention to eighteenth-century wargaming. 

First, some detailed photographs of these miniatures, front and back. 






The review will progress from the bad to good: from the things that I am disappointed about to what I absolutely love.

The Ugly (Errors that should have been caught) 

I'm not a button counter when it comes to wargames, but I was surprised to see that the bayonets were on the wrong side of the muskets. Bayonets were locked into place with the blade on the right side of the weapon, or when reversed while marching, on the left side (opposite the soldier's head). This is not a hard thing to grasp, and Warlord even got this right for their Napoleonic sets. It makes me wonder if there was a structural issue, or logistical reason for this choice. If so, no worries.



The Bad (Things that we should know about the British Army by now)

For the vast majority of the Revolutionary War (1776-1783) the British army fought in open order. That is to say, they fought in a two rank line with a man-sized gap between each of the files. The result is, that while the figures Warlord has produced are excellent for depicting redcoats just before the American War of Independence (indeed, they look just like the soldiers in the image above, training in the Caribbean before the AWI), they are not very accurate for how the British actually looked and maneuvered during the AWI on the battlefield. The British army was a very flexible, fastmoving, and adaptable force, which is why they won the majority of the battlefield encounters of the American War. I'm a bit concerned these miniatures will reinforce the stereotype that the British lost the war because they fought a European war in North America. 




The Neutral (Cavalry Sculpts)

People have complained that the cavalry look bland. I'm not really bothered by this. Warlord hasn't been nailing the cavalry in their Epic Battles Range for some time now, and honestly, the AWI was an infantry war, much more than in contemporary Europe. If cavalry is a priority, I would encourage you to still invest in the range, but supplement with 3D printing.



The Good (Uniform Flexibility)

Without examining the figures in my hand, it is hard to prove this with certainty, but I think that both the line infantry (the Continentals and the British are the same sculpts, see above) have been sculpted in such a way that depending on how you paint and shade them, they could appear in tall gaiters, half-gaiters, or gaitered trousers/overalls. If this is the case, and I believe it is, it would go a long way to improving my opinion of the range, and catapult if forward into one of the better small-scale AWI ranges.


The Exceptional (a relatively complete range)

Unlike the Battle of Waterloo Epic Range, Warlord has actually delivered a relatively complete range with these miniatures. I know that folks who love the French and Spanish in the AWI are revving their chainsaws to behead me, but for the vast majority of the fighting in North America, you have militia and regulars of both sides, American Riflemen, British Grenadiers and Light Infantry, Hessian Grenadiers, Musketeers, and Jaegers (pick me up off the floor with this one), Native Americans, and a smattering of cavalry. For the vast majority of the fighting in North America (outside the siege of Savannah and Yorktown) this is a fairly complete range. Sorry, French mains.

The Vince McMahon Falling Backwards (SYW Adaptability)

With this line-up, Warlord has almost given us a two-for-one range. With this range as it is now, it would be possible to represent a large degree of the soldiers from the Austrian and Prussian armies in the European Seven Years War. British infantry and Grenadiers can stand in for Austrian Fusiliers and Musketeers. Hessian Infantry and Grenadiers can stand in for Prussian Musketeers and Grenadiers. Artillery is available. Jaeger are included. Cavalry would need to be 3D printed, but, and I love you here, Warlord, that would probably be the case even in a dedicated SYW range. 

Putting it all together, Warlord has provided 18th century wargamers with a lot of chew on. I am absolutely ecstatic for this release, and look forward to seeing these troops on the table in games across North America and the UK.

You can find the miniatures for pre-order here: 

https://us.warlordgames.com/collections/revolution-epic-battles

Thanks for Reading,


Alex Burns 




Monday, March 3, 2025

Introducing Prime and Load



Dear Readers, 

As I announced in December of last year, changes are ahead for Kabinettskriege. The first couple of episodes of a new podcast, Prime and Load, are now available for your listening pleasure. 

Over the last couple of months, Lee Gugino and Andrew Bamford signed on to the project. Lee Gugino is a public historian, reenactor, teacher, and Marine Veteran out of Buffalo, NY. Dr. Andrew Bamford is an academic historian, reenactor, editor, and Yorkshireman currently living in the Midlands in the United Kingdom. Together, Andrew, Lee, and I make the core team of this new podcast focused on eighteenth-century warfare. If you have enjoyed Kabinettskriege over the years, I hope you will give Prime and Load a chance. Like Kabinettskriege, it aims to bring scholarly research to bear on questions that enthusiasts, wargamers, and reenactors have long been interested in. 

As always, thanks for reading (and hopefully, now, listening).

Alex 

Thursday, December 19, 2024

Changes Ahead for Kabinettskriege

 




Dear Readers,

For the last 11 years, I have been overwhelmed by the level of support that Kabinettskriege has gathered. Many of the articles which began in this forum have been turned into chapters of my forthcoming book, Infantry in Battle, 1733-1783 releasing in December/January with Helion & Co. 

It has been a long time (over a year!) since I published anything on Kabinettskriege, and folks on social media have questioned the silence. Kabinettskriege is not done, but is changing. My academic work and writing projects take up a lot of my time that, in graduate school, I could happily spend writing articles for Kabinettskriege.

Unified with the desire to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American War of Independence beginning next year, along with a couple of trusted friends/colleagues, I have decided to expand Kabinettskriege into a podcast. Finally, at long last, it won't just be me running the show, and Kabinettskriege can be the collaborative project that I always hoped it would be.

In 2025, Kabinettskriege will be returning as Prime and Load: A Kabinettskriege Podcast. Watch this space for further details.

As always, Thanks for Reading.

Alex Burns



Monday, July 24, 2023

Book Review: The War of Bavarian Succession by Alexander Querengässer

 




Dear Reader,

Today, we are reviewing the first English-language book covering the military aspects of the War of Bavarian Succession. Alexander Querengässer has provided a fine short volume, replete with many plates that will delight wargamers and reenactors. Often ignored for the more well-known Seven Years War and War of Austrian Succession, the War of Bavarian Succession is the final military showing of Prussian King Frederick II ("the Great"). The lackluster performance of the armies in this war (there were no decisive set piece battles) has led many historians to underestimate the war's importance. It is popularly remembered in Germany as the "Potato War" or Kartoffelkrieg, after the crop that starving soldiers turned to in order to feed themselves. 

For those who are blissfully unaware, the War of Bavarian Succession was a central European war running during the same time as the American War of Independence. During 1778-1779, Prussian, Austrian, and Saxon forces clashed in and around what is today Czechia and Poland. The war was fought over the disputed inheritance of Bavaria. If Bavaria passed into the hands of Austria, it would have completely upset the central European balance of power which emerged in the aftermath of the Seven Years War. Eventually, Russia entered the conflict as a mediator, causing a diplomatic victory for the Prusso-Saxon alliance, who did not want to see Bavaria in Austrian hands. 

The result is a book that provides broad coverage of the war, with particular focus on the opposing armies. All of this comes together to test the central idea of Querengässer's study: was the Prussian army in decline? Querengässer's answer to this question is that the army had flaws, but was not in decline in the way that we often think. He provides careful coverage of the failings of the Prussian army supply system, and the way that the lack of supply handicapped Frederick's armies on campaign. The lack of substantive Prussian light troops also played a role in the shortcomings of the 1778-9 campaigns, but for Querengässer, the Prussian army still had many bright days ahead before its defeat in 1806. For him, the Prussian army was a stable force that struggled with severe limitations throughout Frederick's entire reign: the highs were not as high as we have been led to led to believe, but neither were the lows as low. Teleologically assuming that the Prussian army of 1757 was declining at a steady rate until 1806 is not tenable in his model. 

The book's greatest strength lies in the structural treatment of all armies involved in the conflict, in the chapter titled, "Opposing Forces." Here, Querengässer spends twenty-four pages on the Prussian army, and eleven pages each on the Austrians and Saxons, living up to the book's subtitle. Prince Henry, the brother of the Prussian king, comes across as more innovative than Frederick the Great, as he formed light infantry battalions composed of volunteers when the shortcomings of his forces became apparent. This book is very much a structural history: there are forty pages covering the military operations of the war compared to forty seven on the structure and organization of the armies. None of the skirmishes or small actions of the war are presented at the tactical level, but a admirable amount of detail is given regarding Prussian logistical shortcomings. 

Querengässer is fully open with the reader regarding the impact of COVID on the book: he had planned for a larger volume with much more archival research, including a trip to Vienna. COVID made this impossible. As a result, the book is heavily based on research that Querengässer performed at the Sächsiches Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden. This is understandable for a scholar based in Saxony, but a bit more research in the Berlin-Dahlem Geheimes Staatsarchiv could have strengthened an already enjoyable volume. The printed sources include most of the standard references one would expect: the political correspondence of Frederick, as well as Berenhorst's writings; it was surprising not to find Schmettau or Holtzendorff's writings on the conflict included. 

All in all, this is a volume that will become the natural starting place for study of the war in English, and the large amount of both period and modern visuals included will delight wargamers, reenactors, and historical enthusiasts. Querengässer should be congratulated on filling a long-absent gap in English-language historiography. Recommended. 

If you enjoyed this review, or any of our other posts, please consider liking us on facebook, or following us on twitterConsider checking out our exclusive content on Patreon. 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,

Alex Burns 

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Prussian Army Discussion on The Life and Times of Frederick the Great Podcast




Dear Readers,

I wanted to attach a link for a podcast, The Life and Times of Frederick the Great, where I was recently interviewed by the host, Alec Avdakov. Joining Alec was a lot of fun, and we had a wide ranging discussion on the Prussian Army in the era of the Silesian Wars. 

Podcast Link

If you enjoyed this podocast, or any of our other posts, please consider liking us on facebook, or following us on twitterConsider checking out our exclusive content on Patreon. 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,


Alex 

Friday, November 18, 2022

Remembering Dr. Christopher Duffy

 

Christopher Duffy at the 2003 Edinburgh International Book Festival
(Photo by Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert) 

On the morning of November 16th, Christopher Duffy passed away after a brief stay at Lewisham Hospital. A famed British historian, Christopher was 86, born in April of 1936.  As the editor of Christopher's Festschrift, I've been asked to share about him in a few places, so I will confine my thoughts here to Christopher the man. Obviously, Christopher was a great historian, writer, scholar and military scientist. I'll address those parts of his legacy in other settings. Here, let's focus on what made Christopher a great man. 

Dealing with death and loss is nothing new. Ecclesiastes reminds us there is nothing new under the sun. One of Christopher's favorite anecdotes about Frederick the Great was the story of the loss of his friend, Hans Karl von Winterfeldt. Winterfeld had been killed at the Battle of Moys on September 7th, 1757. Frederick, hearing a rumor of this, wrote a letter to Winterfeldt, saying, "Everything is going splendidly here, but I am very worried by a rumor which has come to me from Lusatia. I don't know what to make of it. They write to me from Dresden that you have been killed." (PC 9336).

And of course, Winterfeldt had been killed. This loss effected Frederick, and late in life, as he talked about the Battle of Moys with a young officer, he exclaimed, "'That was where Winterfeldt was killed! He was a good man, a soulful man, he was my friend.' [Frederick's] great eyes brimmed with tears as he looked towards the window. He open the casement, and stood there some time before he turned back... softening his voice: Good night, I am obliged to you."' (Ense, Lebens des Generals Hans Karl von Winterfeldt, 233) 

Frederick's comment on Winterfeldt: "he was a good man, a soulful man (ein Seelenmensch)" could equally be applied to Christopher. From 1995-2016, once a year Christopher traveled to South Bend, Indiana, in order to meet with the members of the Seven Years War Association, delivering an annual lecture on eighteenth-century warfare. It was in this context, in 2009 as a university student, that along with my father, uncle, and cousin, I met Christopher. 

Christopher delivering a lecture at the Seven Years War Association

Meeting your heroes is always a dicey proposition. I'd been reading Christopher's books since I was 14, and was nervous at the prospect of meeting (at least in my mind), such a famous figure. Christopher gave a wonderful lecture. Unlike so many in senior positions, or hobbyists sunk into the arcane discussions of their craft, Christopher was immediately friendly to my cousin Peter and I (the youngest people at this convention by ~15 years). He had the unenviable task of giving the jealously sought after association award that year. He chose to give it to Dean West, for, among other reasons, being particularly welcoming, "to the young people."


Over the next few years, my family and I continued to attend the convention, and I continued to speak with Christopher. Christopher always made time to sign his books, talk with me about painfully obscure questions related to eighteenth-century warfare, and give pithy advice on the nature of being a historian, such as: 

"There are many places worse than small universities, big ones for a start."

"Nothing is as sinister as department policy"

"Military institutions are like hotels: look for cracks in the plaster". 

"Choose a subject that will bring you to interesting people and interesting places."

You can hear some of that advice from an interview that I did with Christopher in 2020.

June, 2020 Interview Selection

 As I graduated college, and began graduate school, the nature of my relationship with Christopher became more professional. I performed research for him at the National Archives of the United States, he wrote a letter of recommendation which helped secure me a place to complete my doctorate. What didn't change, however, was his witty, fun-loving demeanor, always ready to crack a joke in order to set the room at ease. Most of his lectures began with a rousing, "Listen up, you scum!" a line I still use on my undergraduate students to their delight. 


Even as our relationship became more professional, you couldn't get away from the sense that he was a total ham. After celebrating his 80th birthday with the Seven Years War Association in 2016, Christopher could no longer travel to the United States: the costs, combined with his health, had simply become too great. As a result of European travel for my dissertation research, I had the opportunity to travel and see him (and perform research for him at the UK National Archives) for a number of summers between 2018-2020. He remained ever cheerful, and optimistic. Despite his advanced age, he remained focused on his work, always coming up with new ideas for projects to explore warfare in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 2022, he remained cheerful and determined, even as he knew the end was approaching. 

Christopher was a great man: and he knew it. He'd always relish that border control agents had read his books. That greatness, however, didn't make him proud, aloof, remote, or guarded. He was warm, kind, generous, and whimsical. He tells us in his 2019 introduction to The Wild Goose and the Eagle,  at the age of 10, "when I walked and cycled through the then mysterious and gnat-ridden marshes of upper Mersey, I liked to populate them in my imagination with Theresa's white coats and the blue coats of Old Fritz." Christopher never lost his boyish imagination and love of his chosen period of history. That is was made him so formidable. 


Being able to edit his festschrift was one of the great honors of my life. Please feel free to share your memories of Christopher in the comments below. 

Thanks for Reading,


Alex Burns