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The first detailed account of the thousands of troops from Ireland who took part in the English Civil war. Their campaigns and charcteristics, equipment, and impact.

Overshadowed by the better known Spanish Armada of 1588, three centuries ago, the final Spanish Armada set sail against England and Scotland. This little known invasion is often treated as part of the little known Jacobite campaign of 1719. However, this invasion and the subsequent campaign in Scotland were part of the virtually unknown War of the Quadruple Alliance. This conflict has never been hitherto covered in a book in the English language.This book is a study of war and diplomacy involving several of the European powers, with fighting on the high seas, in Scotland, Spain, Sardinia, and Sicily. It is a tale of a once great power taking advantage of apparently favourable international circumstances to regain parts of its lost empire. Success seemed possible, but the fortunes of war are fluctuating and luck only goes so far. Eventually the realities of military power reasserted themselves with bloody results.This book presents an account of this little known war. The emphasis is on Britain¿s naval, diplomatic and military efforts, whilst not neglecting those of its allies and enemies, both abroad and at home. It draws on a variety of little or unused primary sources held at the National Archives and elsewhere and boasts a cast of interesting and unusual characters.

Volume 1 deals with the Sun King's early years, from his birth in 1638, the resounding victory of Rocroi when he was five and a child king, the unstable years of the Fronde civil wars, his seizure of absolute power in 1661, the initial foreign military adventures culminating with the French army's blitzkriegs of 1667-1668.

The Italian Front of the Nine Year has been completely neglected by Italian and other European Historians. It is often assumed that the conflict was fought solely in Flanders and the Rhineland, and by mainly North West European Armies. This was not so. William of Orange, the driving force of the Grand Alliance in the fight against the French, considered the Italian aspect of the conflict to be the greatest strategic importance. Piedmont, in north western Italy bordered France, and Italian armies were able to threaten the south of France with invasion. For the first time too, the nature of late 17th century warfare in Italy is considered and the author examines organisation, training and logistics. Military artist Bruno Mugnai enhances the book¿s text with 8 specially commissioned colour plates that illustrate the uniforms and flags of this highly visual period.

The Army of Louis XIV is frequently depicted as being the apogee of the early modern standing army. It was large, well organised and the product of the French Absolutist Monarchy. The result was the creation of an entirely original instrument of war unlike any other European armies.

Albrecht von Wallenstein! His very name is synonymous with the Thirty Years War. From a poor nobleman he rose to become the Duke of Friedland and Mecklenburg. Many see his assassination at Eger in 1634 as the end of the ¿interesting¿ period of the war, since he was the last of the war¿s titans to be killed.However, his army continued to serve the Emperor loyally to the end of the war, and a few regiments existed well into the 20th century. These would see action in the First World War as part of the Austrian Army and, after the Austrian Anschluss of March 1938, in the German Army during the Second World War.Despite Wallenstein¿s Army being infamous, very little has been written about it, especially in English. However, by using archives from record offices from Germany, Czechoslovakia (formerly Bohemia), Sweden and Britain, as well as the latest archaeological evidence from mass graves of the Thirty Years War period, this book looks to rectify this by giving a vivid account of what life was like for a soldier in Wallenstein¿s Army.The chapters include recruiting the army, its officers, as well as the logistics of clothing, equipping and feeding the army. There are also chapters on regimental colours, how to quarter an army, and the arms industry, plus case studies on siege warfare using Stralsund and the Alte Veste as an example, as well as Wallenstein¿s tactics at the Battle of Lutzen.It also dispels the myths that have arisen about Wallenstein¿s Army, such as it being one of the first to be well clothed during the war, and did not follow the Catholic League¿s General Johan von Tilly¿s alleged doctrine of ¿a ragged soldier and a bright musket¿ (which in itself is incorrect).Therefore this book will be essential reading to anyone interested in the Thirty Years War, the English Civil War or warfare in the early modern period.

A detailed look at the Russian army during the Great Northern War utilising material previously unseen in the West.

The army and the navy of Venice and Ottoman Empire during the campaigns fought for the possession of the 'pearl of the Mediterranean'. The legendary Venetian resistance impressed the courts of whole Europe, transforming the conflict in the 'Campo di Marte' of the continent.

This book is a study of the Anglo Dutch war of 1672 to 1674, describing the naval battles which were fought, and the men and ships which fought them.

This book originally saw the light of day as a long running series of articles in Wargames Illustrated in the late 1980¿s. Due to growing interest in the wars of the late 17th century, the author of the original features has complied them along with new research and made them available again for the first time in thirty years.The book is very much a handbook covering all the major conflicts and battles of the period, it examines how the armies were organised and fought. Each army is covered, with attention paid to specific uniform details, and the colours carried by the individual regiments.

There has not been an account of the first attempt made in Scotland to restore the exiled Stuarts at the end of the seventeenth century for three decades; most accounts stop with the death of the movement¿s first leader, ¿Bonnie Dundee¿. This book is the first full length account of the military struggle between forces loyal to the newly established Scottish government and the Jacobite cause. It does this by first considering the political and religious situation in Scotland, and to a lesser extent its southern neighbour, from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 to the revolution of 1688-1689, which was far more radical in Scotland than it was in England, and which produced a constituency with a grievance which a new restoration might solve.The book then turns to the initial campaigning by both armies, led by Dundee and for the government, General Hugh Mackay, a fellow Scot. With marches and counter marches being inconclusive, the possession of Blair Castle focussed attentions and led to confrontation. But before examining the ensuing battle, the book turns to the officers and men of each army, exploring who they were, their tactics, arms, equipment and organisation.The most substantial chapter is a blow by blow account of the battle of Killiecrankie, beginning with the march to conflict on the day itself, discussions over whether to fight, deployment and initial exchanges of fire. Then the crux of the battle is described, the rush of the Highlanders, the musketry of their opponents, melee and the flight and pursuit. Some of Mackay¿s army stood and repelled their enemy, but by the day¿s end were obliged to retreat. There is an examination of the numbers of men who fought and the casualties and other losses taken by both sides; including that of the Jacobite commander. A discussion of the battle¿s aftermath and its importance then occurs.The conflict was far from over, for the Jacobite army reached its numerical high point after Dundee¿s death. There was another battle to be fought that season, at Dunkeld, which was unusual for it was fought in a town. As with the previous battle, this chapter looks at the combatants involved as well as the fighting and its aftermath. The chapter also reviews the campaigning before and after the battle to take the reader until the end of the year.The penultimate chapter covers the final major military engagement of the conflict, at Cromdale, as well as numerous other lesser encounters, skirmishes and sieges, and other developments in the government¿s strategy to bring peace to the Highlands. Finally, there is a chapter covering the campaign¿s end; which ended with a peace treaty and then the tragedy of Glencoe, and a commentary about the ending of hostilities and the careers of a number of prominent men who fought in the campaign.The book is largely based on primary sources, both published and manuscript from record offices and libraries in London and Edinburgh. These include letters, memoirs, poems, army listings and contemporary newspapers. Recourse has also been made to studies of the battlefield archaeology and the author having walked the battlefields, one with a local expert. There is also a brief description of the battlefields as they are today.

A new in-depth study of Sir William Waller's shock defeat at Roundway on the Wiltshire downs.

The Battle of the White Mountain and the Bohemian Revolt, 1618-1622 not only looks at the battle, but also the armies and campaigns leading up to the battle.

This is the story of Sweden¿s Army during the wars 1700-1721 against a number of enemies, foremost Russia, until the collapse of the Swedish Empire.

Jacob Lord Astley and the Stow on gthe Wold Campaign, 1646, a nd the end of the Civil War in the Welsh Marches.

Glenshiel: The Jacobite Rising in 1719 reconstructs this least well known of the Jacobite rebellions, including the decisive battle fought in the mountainous Scottish Highlands.

In 1711, Peter the Great - the Tsar of Russia - led a large army of veterans from Poltava and his other Great Northern War victories into the Balkans. He aimed to humble the Ottomans in the same way he had the Swedes a few years before. Victory would secure useful allies in the Balkans, cement Russia's 'Great Power' status and offer Peter the oppor

'Hey For Old Robin!' was the cry of the Earl of Essex's army during the First Civil War as, contrary to modern popular belief, Robert Devereux was well-liked by the men he led. This book fills a gap in the literature of the civil wars - taking up the challenge to write a new history of Essex and his army and examining the often repeated view that h

Military manuals have been used as a source through a range of historical studies, but only recently has their potential to Conflict Archaeology truly been recognized. Military manuals allowed the progression of the Military Revolution from the informed amateur towards the scientific, mathematical choreography for massed troops at the height of the Military Revolution, and their use as a viable historical resource often taken at face value - negating their worth. Using correlated GIS, landscape archaeology, metal detecting, military knowledge and experimental archaeology, we might understand more fully the limitations and strengths drill books provide us. Like a dance, military theory provides a certain number of ways individuals may progress through a landscape. Using examples taken from recent investigations at sites such as Edgehill, Lutzen and Lostwithiel, this paper shall examine to what extent individual drill can be identified in the archaeological record. This publication hopes to prove to what level and extent this can be applied to predictive modeling of artifact collections on battlefields - thus providing depth to the archaeological study of fields of conflict. Like investigations on the Little Bighorn battlefield, through use of wear analysis of the material remains of conflict, we can effectively tell the nuances of individual drill, practice and movement of people across a landscape; their drill actively mirroring subtleties in our understanding of interpretation. Taking the works of such writers and artists as Bariffe, de Gheyn and Ward, the author attempts to actively break down how individual and group drill will leave material remains and the archaeological means these might be taken down, but equally, this work also attempts to investigate and breach the subject of whether such manuals can also be used to dictate the survivability of 17th century fortifications - often within urban landscapes devoid of their civil war origins, as can be seen at Alton and Basing House. Theoretical in its nature and utilizing and combining elements of research not previously collaborated, The Arte Militaire is unique in not merely showing how military manuals were used, but rather how they can still be seen within the historical landscape.