Call for Research on Eighteenth-Century Warfare

Professor Jim McIntyre, Chief Editor of the Journal of the Seven Years' War Association
Photo taken by author, at the 2015 Seven Year' War Convention 

Dear Readers,

Do you have a great deal of knowledge on a specific aspect of eighteenth-century warfare? Have you always wanted to share your ideas, but had no way to express them to a wider audience? Do you know the particular history of a unit, battle, individual, or idea like the back of your hand?

If so, you should consider sending your research to The Journal of the Seven Years' War Association. This publication examines the history of warfare between 1740 and 1775, although, the editors also review content related to the American War of Independence, if it touches on the early period as well. For example, my article in a 2014 issue of the journal, "Peloton und Flanquers, Hessian Links between the Seven Years' War and American War of Independence," evaluated infantry tactics in both wars.

The journal began as a publication for wargamers in the 1980s, but has since expanded its scope to include material interesting to historians, reenactors, wargamers, and genealogists. If you have knowledge and want to see that knowledge shared to a wide audience, you should consider submitting a piece to the journal. Here are the submission guidelines:

Article Submission Guidelines

            Articles submitted for publication in the Journal of the Seven Years’ War Association Journal remain the property of the author. Articles on the middle third of the eighteenth century (1740-1775) are encouraged, though some that fall outside these parameters will be considered on a case by case basis. Format should be Times New Roman, 12 pt. font.

            It is the responsibility of the author to secure permissions for any copyrighted illustrations used in an article that is published. Illustrations included with an article submitted for publication will be assumed to have secured permissions.

The Journal retains the right not to publish an article submitted. In addition, it may return the piece to the author with requests for revisions.

To submit an article for potential publication in the Journal, send it as an e-mail attachment to mcintyrej@sevenyearswarassn.org

You can contact the editor,  Professor Jim McIntyre, at mcintyrej@sevenyearswarassn.org. Here is a link to the jounal's page. 

Feel free to comment or contact me via the "about the author" page if you have any questions.

Thanks for Reading,


Alex Burns

2015 Seven Years War Convention Report

Quite a  group of Seven Years War enthusiasts. From left, you have Dean West (standing), designer of the Final Argument of Kings wargames ruleset, Jason Doerflein , (standing, with musket) commander of the Regiment von Itzenplitz reenactors, Alex Burns, (standing) Visiting Professor of History, Indiana Wesleyan University, Jason Buckreis (standing) Epicurean philosopher, Dr. Patrick Lebeau (seated, facing away from camera) Professor of American Indian Studies, Michigan State University, Ken Bunger (standing, background) designer of the Tricorne wargames ruleset, and Dr. Christopher Duffy, (standing, with sword) well-known Seven Years War author and writer.

Dear Reader,

I apologize for my long absence! I've been rather busy with work, but I hope to fill you in on some of what I've been doing over the weekend. Last weekend there was a rather large event for those interested in the Kabinettskriege era: the Seven Years War convention in South Bend, IN. This convention saw an excellent lecture by Dr. Christopher Duffy on efforts to preserve the battlefield at Culloden in Scotland. The convention also reached 102 attendees, up from around 60 last year. Here are some of the highlights:

Professor Jim Mc Intrye , editor of the Journal of the Seven Years War Association

Some of Dr. Duffy's spectacular research

Some of the excellent gaming available at the convention

The Seven Years War in India

A beautiful Great Northern War game

Kabinettskriege: The Year in Review

Old Fritz introducing Potatoes in Prussia

Dear Reader,

It must seem as though I've been horribly neglectful in the past 6 months. I've returned home to Erie, PA, to be with my family for the holidays. I am very grateful for my employment at Indiana Wesleyan, and my applications for Ph.D programs continue apace. During Spring semester, I will teach a course on Warfare and Society in the Atlantic World from 1500-1871. This course will include an interactive learning exercise, in which the students play the roles of policy makers during European Seven Years War. Expect to see updates on this course in the coming months.

Over the past year, a number of debates occurred within the 18th century reenacting community. A group of individual in the Midwestern United States are forming Prussian Regiment von Itzenplitz. This year saw tensions between mainstream and progressive reenactors come to a head, saw a number of progressive reenactors split off from their parent units. This year will see the 32nd annual meeting of the Seven Years War Association, on the 27th and 28th of March, 2015.

This year, I will attempt to get back to core substance of this blog, posts about the historical content of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But more importantly- what are you interested in hearing? Are there any topics which interest you as readers, and would like to me to delve into?

Thanks for Reading, and Merry Christmas

Alex Burns

Links to Seven Years' War Convention websites

Dear Readers,

As a result of changes in the Seven Years' War Association, I have taken over management of the web related materials for the Seven Years' War Convention. You can find the new Seven Years' War convention site at http://sywconvention.blogspot.com/, or you can follow us on Facebook. As a result, I will steer away from posting excessive SYW convention related material on this website. Rather, I will focus on the cultural and military history which you have come to expect from Kabinettskriege. 

Thanks for Reading,

Alex Burns 

Journal of the Seven Years' War Association

Front cover of issue XVIII no. 1. 

Dear Readers,

Today I wanted to link to a journal which publishes work on the late Kabinettskriege era. This is somewhat self-serving, as I published an article with them last year, and I have another one coming up in March. If you like this blog, you will really enjoy the Journal of the Seven Years' War Association. It has book reviews, articles on eighteenth century warfare, and information on upcoming conferences and conventions!

Check it out at: http://www.sevenyearswarassn.org/

Thanks for Reading,

Alex Burns

Seven Years' War Convention Report: Fun, Family and an Overview of Events

Dinner at the Seven Years' War Convention

Dear Reader,

Every once in a while, its a great pleasure to be a historian. Amid all the papers to write, research to do, and classes to teach, you get to have some fun. (And to be honest, most of the rest of it is fun as well.)  This weekend was the 30th annual Seven Years' War Convention. While primarily a place for wargames, this convention also has a great many book sellers, knowledgeable individuals, and downright fun. For the past few years, my cousin Peter, and I (along with both of our fathers), go to South Bend for this convention.For the wargamishly inclined, fear not, there will be a lot of pictures of the event in a subsequent post.

On Thursday, I arrived in order to help Dean West set up his Sandershausen game. I have researched the battle of Sandershausen extensively, and recently published an article on the battle in the Journal of the Seven Years' War Association. Dean is a really great guy, and setting up the battle was a lot of fun. He has some beautiful wargaming terrain, which helps make the battle look realistic. From there, we all went out to dinner at the Cafe Navarre, a local restaurant in South Bend (pictured above).

On Friday, Dean put on the Sandershausen game twice, and there were many other games, which I promise to post pictures of soon. While the French defeated the Hessians in the first playthrough, the Hessians were able to hold their own in the second battle, winning the game for the first time in the history of the scenario.

On Saturday, Dad, Uncle Ray, Peter and I went over to the Fiddler's Hearth, a local Irish restaurant. Peter, as always, ordered Leg of Lamb. Here he is, trying to get through the meal!

Sorry Peter, I just couldn't resist. 

After the meal, we returned to the convention for the highlight of the trip, the meeting of the convention members, and a lecture by Dr. Christopher Duffy, the leading Seven Years' War historian. He recently published a new book, The Best of Enemies: Germans and Jacobites, where he destroys the notion that the Hessians should be villianized for their role in the '45. You can buy the book from John Brewster of Bitter Books at their website, here.

The Mitchell Cup went to Jim Purky, of Der Alte Fritz blog fame, for his excellent American War of Independence game. Also, Jim Mc Intyre, a professor at Morraine Valley in Michigan, restarted the Journal of the Seven Years' War Association

In the next couple of days, I will be posting about more details on the various games, (with photos), and a in depth discussion of Dr. Duffy's lecture.

Thanks for Reading,

Alex Burns