Marlburian Journals: John Marshall Deane at Blenheim

British Soldiers of the Marlburian Age 

 Dear Reader,

Today we are going to look at the diary of a soldier in the Queen Anne's First Regiment of Foot Guards during the War of Spanish Succession. John Marshall Deane, a private sentinel, recorded this of his experiences at the Battle of Blenheim.  This diary is taken from the Army Society for Historical Research Special Publication No. 12, on pages 10-13. For ease of reading, I have modernized the spelling, but kept the grammar and wording as it appears. You might want to listen to this song, penned in 1706, while reading.

"August the First. We being joined this day by Prinz Eugene, both our armies drew out to give the enemy battle, but in two hours we returned home to our camp again. August the 2nd.  The General beat at 2am, and there halted till a little light; and then marched and approached the enemy about 6am, and as soon as ever the enemy got sight of us they fired their great guns upon us, but we played none at them till toward 9am.

Monsr. La Count d' Tallard, head general field marshall, his headquarters was at Hoguestadt, and the Duke of Bavaria, general, likewise, both of the enemies army.

Prinz Eugene commanded the right wing that day and made a bold attack upon the enemy and the enemy did as bravely stand it and so stoutly behave themselves that Prinz Eugene was forced to give way,  but my Lord Duke of Marlborough hearing and seeing that, took some certain squadrons of Horse and assisted Prinz Eugene and regained the ground that was lost, but abundance was killed on both sides on that wing.

About 3pm our English on the left was ordered by My Lord Duke to attack a village on the left full of French called Blenheim, which village they had fortified and made so vastly strong and barricaded so fast with trees, planks, coffers, chests, wagons, carts, and palisades that it was almost an impossibility to think which way to get into it; but however there was orders for the battalion of Guards, my Lord Orkney's 2 battalion regiment, and brigadier Meredith's regiment and Lt. General Churchill's regiment and 1 regiment of Hanoverians to attack the village in which there were 26 battalions of the enemy. and each battalion as many men in it as a regiment of ours. Yet we according to command fought our way into the village which was all on fire, and our men fought in and through the fire and pursued others through it, until many on both sides were burnt to death.

At length, the enemy making all the force they could upon us forced us to retreat and to quit the village having lost a great many of our men but we rallied again, having received some fresh ammunition, resolving to give the enemy another salute. So that as soon as they perceived our design they beat a parley and fired all their pieces up in the air and Lt. General Churchill went to hear their conditions, which was to surrender as prisoners of war, to his Grace the Duke of Marlborough. The village was set on fire before we came to it by the enemy whereby they thought to have blinded our gunners, but great and grievous were the cries of the maimed, and those suffering the the flames after we entered the village and none is able to express it but those that heard.

Th battle went on from right to left very brave, the horse charging most furiously on both sides, and I must say our confederate forces behaved with themselves to a miracle being led on by brave and prudent generals and commanding officers, having made lanes through them, cutting and hewing them to a degree, that it seems rather a battle fought by Divine hand then to be fought by men; driving several squadrons of them in to the river Danube where they all perished, men and horse, and likewise abundance of them taken prisoners.

Their general and many other principal officers were taken in this battle, and I will endeavor to give the best account I can at the end of this particular journal. The number of prisoners taken are generally computed to be thirteen thousand thirty nine.  As for those killed upon the spot, I believe few or none can pretend to give that account being a thing seeming almost impossible; but this I can and will affirm that the earth was covered in a manner for three English miles together with dead bodies of both armies so that from any more such sights good God deliver me. The French and Bavarians were that day 6 thousand men stronger then we, by reason of Prinz Louis of Baden was left at Ingoldstadt to besiege it."

While Deane's account contains many flaws in terms of exact figures, and the precise timing of events, he nonetheless conveys a very personable narrative, which shows the fierce nature of the fighting at August 13th, 1704, at Blenheim in Bavaria. I hope you enjoy this primary source- we will likely be looking at him more in the future.

Britian vs. France and the Creation of the Modern World

Britain vs. France: The Creation of the Modern World

Dear Reader:

Today, we will look at one of the great rivalries in history. Like modern sports rivalries, the honor and reputation of the contestants was at stake, but unlike today, the fate of the world also hung in the balance. This rivalry, Britain vs. France, shaped the world that we live in. This rivalry led to multiple wars, including two periods of warfare lasting a hundred years or more! In this post, we will examine the second of those hundred year wars, lasting from roughly 1688 to 1815, with short periods of peace throughout. This was one of the defining conflicts of the Kabinettskriege period. For a timeline of events referred to in this post, click here. 

British Soldiers in North America

Britain vs. France: The Background

Why did Britain and France engage in this period of conflict? The answer, though complicated, can be boiled  down to this: both wanted power in Europe, and power overseas. Louis XIV of France, often called the "Sun-King," ruled over France during the first half of the 2nd Hundred Years War. Louis XIV consolidated much of the states power into the person of the monarch, and greatly increased France's military forces.  During this time, France still had the position of Europe's leading power. Govind Sreenivasan, a historian at Brandeis University, refers to France as the, "nine hundred pound gorilla," of early modern Europe. Around the year 1700, France possessed a huge population, roughly 20 million compared with 6 million in Great Britain, less than 6 million in the Low Countries, 8 million in Austria, and 1.5 million in Prussia. Thus, in order to oppose France, the countries of Europe needed to ally with one another in order to resist French expansion.

French Soldiers of the War of Spanish Succession

The Opening Stages: 1688 to 1715

The French juggernaut was opposed by England, Austria, the Dutch, and Prussia, in the Nine Years War, and the War of Spanish Succession. In the Nine Years War, the French sought to oppose William III, a Dutch Prince who recently took the throne of England. In this conflict, the French won most of the victories in Europe, but failed to invade England or have notable success at sea. In the War of Spanish Succession, the Allies attempted to prevent the unification of France and Spain under the house of Bourbon. While the French candidate did eventually take the Spanish throne, the French lost overseas power, and were forced to give up power in Europe as well, such as the Spanish Netherlands, and the Kingdom of Naples. Louis XIV died shortly after the conclusion of the War of Spanish Succession. While the war was technically a French victory, it was costly, and weakened the French position in future wars. Louis XIV's policies also created higher levels of social unrest in France, a trend which would continue under his successor, Loius XV.

The World in the Balance: 1715 to 1789 

During this period, the French and the English engaged in numerous wars over colonial possessions. While the French occasionally made local gains, they were heavily defeated in the Seven Years' War, (known as the French and Indian War in North America) and lost what we now know as Canada to the British. They experienced a brief revival late in the 18th century, assisting the American rebel colonists in obtaining independence in the American War of Independence. For once, the French navy was able to pull through when it mattered, defeating the British in the Battle of Chesapeake, and ensuring Cornwallis' surrender to a joint American-French army at Yorktown. Throughout the 18th century, the French overseas empire lost ground to the British, most notably in Canada and India.

The Battle of Waterloo-The Last Gasp of the Franco-British Wars

The Final Chapter: 1789 to 1815 

In 1789, the French people, dissatisfied with their living conditions, rose up in revolution against yet another Louis (the XVI). This dramatic event led to consternation throughout the rest of Europe, as other monarchs began to fear for their lives. It also had horrible consequences for warfare. The French revolutionaries, unable to compete with the rest of European armies in quality, instituted the Levee en masse, drawing on the entirety of the population for support in the war. This quickly enlarged the French army, and required the other European states to follow suit. Unfortunately for France, even the Levee en masse, the higher morale of French troops, or the genius of Napoleon and his marshals could not save the French from the combined power of Europe's monarchies. The French were defeated at Waterloo in 1815, and Napoleon went into his final exile. Even more disastrously, France lost her overseas colonies, as a result of the unparalleled British navy in this period.


The Results: How did this give us the modern world?

In the 1688 to 1815 period, the British managed to defeat the French repeatedly in overseas conflict, despite the French success during the American War of Independence. The British dominated Canada, India, and managed to keep France from overwhelming the rest of Europe. After 1815, the French, while still forming a potent piece of European (and global) affairs, never quite threatened the rest of Europe as they did in the 1688 to 1815 period. The British joined an alliance dedicated to the punishment of French expansion, and ended up winning a global empire of their own in the process. Eventually, the other European powers realized that Britain was running away with the global game. Unfortunately for the French, the damage was done, and the French Revolution turned France into the enemy of the whole of Europe. Today, in places like Canada, India, and the United States, we are still reminded of the consequences of this competition.


Thanks for reading,


Alex Burns

The Spanish Military in the 18th Century

The Storming of Fort George: Pensacola, Florida, 1781

Dear Reader,

English language historians gloss over the role and effectiveness of the Spanish military in the later Kabinettskriege period. Christopher Duffy, a leading authority on 18th century warfare, discusses the Spanish briefly in his otherwise excellent book, Military Experience in the Age of Reason. On page 21, he gives us German military thinker Scharnhorst's views on the Spanish:       

           "The Spaniards have never changed. Except for their hair, which is now powdered and curled, the soldiers remain in the same condition as seventy years ago. Their generals are totally ignorant of tactics, they owe their promotion to favoritism, or to long service in the garrisons, where their only occupation is to arrange the processions to the burnings at the stake, and so on." (Scharnhorst, 1782) 

Unfortunately, Scharnhorst's perception of the Spanish doesn't match up with the Spanish military's historical actions, especially in the early 1780s, when he published his account. While English language accounts tend to focus on the Spanish failures in the 18th century, the Spanish often succeed in combat operations, and showed a great talent for combined navy-army operations. In addition, the Spanish possessed a massive overseas empire, and in most cases, successfully defended their overseas holdings through an effective system of fortification. 

Early 18th Century Spain

The Spanish military record in the early 18th century reads like a litany of defeats and disasters. For a complete list of the wars of this period, click here. While Spain participated in many wars during the early 18th century, the most damaging to Spanish interests in the short term was the global War of Spanish Succession. The War of Spanish Succession created internal conflicts in Spain, as various factions chose to support either the Bourbon or Hapsburg candidate for the Spanish throne. This made excellent opportunity for expansion by smaller powers, who were jealous of Spanish holdings in the Americas. At the end of this war, the Bourbon candidate won out, but the Spanish were forced to give up huge swaths of territory. In Northern Europe, the Spanish Netherlands became the Austrian Netherlands. In the Mediterranean, the Spanish lost the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of Milan, Sicily, the Kingdom of Savoy, and the naval bases at Minorca and Gibraltar.

The War of the Quadruple Alliance in 1718 ended Spanish hopes of regaining significant Italian holdings. The  Anglo-Spanish war of 1727 quickly ended with no advantage to either side.  The War of Jenkins Ear in 1739, and its continuation in the War of Austrian Succession, saw the Spanish fight the British and their allies to a draw, with no territorial changes in the colonies. The Spanish soldiers saw some successes during this war, such as the Battle of Campo Santo in 1743. (Dale Wood, shout out to you.)
 During the Seven Years' War, the British gained Florida, but this was a result of the losses of Spanish allies, the French, who gave the Spanish the Louisiana territories to make up for the loss of Florida. While the British took Cuba and the Philippines during the actual fighting, these territories returned to Spanish control after the War.

The American Gulf Coast War

In the global war surrounding the American War for Independence, the Spanish reclaimed much of the key territory they had lost in the early 18th century. Along the Gulf of Mexico, the Spanish waged a successful war from 1779-1781, defeating the British forces in a number of confrontations on both land and sea. Thomas Chavez covers this portion of the war in his 2002 book, Spain and the Independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift. Chavez draws much needed attention to the Spanish role in the American War for Independence, and the book is an excellent read.

Thanks in part to the excellent command decisions of Bernardo de Galvez, the Spanish defeated the British at every turn in the campaign. The British (and German forces from Waldeck,) were eventually captured by the Spanish during the siege of Pensacola, depicted in the painting at the top of the post. On the right side of the painting, an African member of the Havana militia is shown charging into the breach with the grenadiers. With the growth of the New Military History in the scholarship surrounding the Revolution, I am surprised that no study of the ethnic minorities in the Spanish army is currently available.

In Europe, a French officer in Spanish service, Louis de Crillon, led the effort to retake the naval base of Mahon on the Mediterranean Island of Minorca. He was successful, and the war ended with the Spanish retaking of Florida and Minorca.

Castillo de San Marcos

Fortifications

The vast amount of Spanish fortifications in Latin America help explain Spain's continued grasp on her American Empire. Vauban style fortifications, or "Star-Forts," such as the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida (above), or the Fortaleza San Carlos de la Cabana in Cuba (below), allowed the Spanish Empire to survive a period in the early 18th century when the Spanish army and navy were recovering from the War of Spanish Succession. Without the Castillo de Immaculate Concepcion in Nicaragua, the British forces under the direction of William Lyttelton might have taken Granada in 1762, splitting the Spanish overseas empire in two.

Fortaleza San Carlos de la Cabana

 Like Sweden, the Spanish Empire spent the majority of the 18th century in decline, struggling to return to a position of prominence. And, like the Swedes in the Russo-Swedish War of 1788, the Spanish experienced a resurgence in military capability at the end of the 18th century. However, the Spanish, unlike the Swedes, had significant fortifications to keep their holdings intact during the period of crisis.

When examining the Spanish military during the 18th century, historians should not be so quick to accept biased northern European observers at their word. Scharnhorst, as he lambasted the Spanish in 1782, failed to see that the Spanish had changed, and that under leaders like Galvez, they were capable of competing with, and succeeding against, the British.

Thanks for reading,


Alex