Destructive and Formidable: British Infantry Firepower 1642-1756

by David Blackmore

  35 William Watts, Swedish Discipline, p. 24.

  36 Rev. John Webb (ed.), Military Memoir of Colonel John Birch (London, 1873), p. 8.

  37 Henry Foster, A True and Exact Relation of the Marchings of the Two Regiments of the Trained-Bands of the City of London (London, 1643), n.p.

  38 Foster, A True and Exact Relation, n.p.

  39 Anon., An Express Relation of the Passages and Proceedings of His Majesties Armie, under the Command of his Excellence the Earle of Newcastle (1643), p. 2.

  40 Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle, The Life of . . . William Cavendish . . . Earl of Newcastle (London, 1667), p. 30.

  41 Dave Cooke, The Forgotten Battle – Adwalton Moor (Heckmondwike, 1996), pp. 20–1.

  42 Joseph Lister, An Historical Relation of the Life of Mr Joseph Lister (Bradford, 1821), p. 13.

  43 Robert Bell (ed.), Memorials of the Civil War, Comprising the Correspondence of the Fairfax Family (London, 1849), vol. i, p. 28.

  44 Sir Thomas Fairfax, Short Memorials of Thomas Lord Fairfax (London, 1699), pp. 9–10.

  45 Fairfax, Short Memorials, p. 16.

  46 Fairfax, Short Memorials, p. 30.

  47 Brigadier Peter Young, Marston Moor, 1644, The Campaign and the Battle (Kineton, 1970); P. R. Newman and P. R. Roberts, Marston Moor, 1644, The Battle of the Five Armies (Pickering, 2003).

  48 Lionel Watson, A More Exact Relation of the Late Battell Neer York (London, 1644), p. 6.

  49 C. H. Firth, ‘Marston Moor’, in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, New Series, 12 (1898), p. 75.

  50 Captain William Stewart, A Full Relation of the Late Victory . . . (London, 1644), p. 8.

  51 George Wishart, The History of the Kings Majesties Affairs in Scotland (The Hague, 1647), p. 39.

  52 Patrick Gordon of Ruthven, A Short Abridgement of Britane’s Distemper (Aberdeen, 1844), p. 101.

  53 Sir Edward Walker, ‘Brief Memorials’, in Peter Young, Naseby 1645 (London, 1985), p. 318.

  54 John Rushworth, ‘Letter’, in Glenn Foard, Naseby: The Decisive Campaign (Whitstable, 1995), pp. 403–5.

  55 Martin Marix Evans, Naseby 1645: The Triumph of the New Model Army (Oxford, 2007), pp. 58–9.

  56 Richard Collings, The Kingdomes Weekly Intelligencer, 24 June to 1 July (London, 1645), p. 847.

  57 Foard, Naseby, p. 263.

  58 Thomas Carlyle, Oliver Cromwell’s Letter and Speeches (London, 1849), p. 347.

  59 Elton, Compleat Body (1650), pp. 52–4.

  60 Elton, Compleat Body (1659), n.p.

  61 Elton, Compleat Body (1659), n.p.

  62 Elton, Compleat Body (1650), p. 54.

  63 Gil: Batt:, Some Particular Animadversions of Marke, for the Satisfaction of the Contumatious Malignant . . . (London, 1646), pp. 25–6.

  64 Firth, Clarke Papers, vol. iii, p. 158.

  65 Major General Morgan, A True and Just Relation of Maj. Gen. Sir Thomas Morgan’s Progress in France and Flanders (London, 1699), p. 9.

  66 Lytton Sells, James II, p. 265.

  67 Lytton Sells, James II, p. 266.

  68 John Childs, ‘The English Brigade in Portugal, 1662-68’, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 53:215 (1975), p. 136.

  69 Historic Manuscripts Commission (HMC), The Manuscripts of J. M. Heathcote Esq. (London, 1899), p. 104.

  70 James Howell, Proedria Vasilike a Discourse Concerning the Precedency of Kings (London, 1664), p. 38. The reference here to musket rests is probably a reference to the musket stocks and using them to club down the enemy rather than to the forked musket rest for taking the weight of the musket and which had gone out of use during the English Civil War.

  71 HMC, Heathcote Manuscripts, p. 104.

  72 Captain John Hodgson and Sir Henry Slingsby, Memoirs Written during the Great Civil War (Edinburgh, 1806), p. 116.

  73 Morgan, Relation, p. 6.

  74 Morgan, Relation, p. 8; Lytton Sells, James II, p. 264.

  75 Brent Nosworthy, The Anatomy of Victory: Battle Tactics 1689–1763 (New York, 1992), pp. 48–50.

  76 See below, pp. 46–7.

  77 Nosworthy, Anatomy of Victory, p. 107.

  78 An Abridgement of the English Military Discipline (London, 1676).

  79 An Abridgement of the Military Discipline Appointed by His Majesty to be Used by All His Forces in His Ancient Kingdom of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1680).

  80 See below, pp. 44–6.

  81 Abridgement (1676), p. 76.

  82 These were 1678, 1680 (Edinburgh), 1682, 1684, 1685 (two editions, in London and Dublin) and 1686. The 1678 edition had an addition of detailed instructions for each movement in both musket and pike drill, as well as additional sections dealing with grenadiers and dragoons. The solid square was dropped from it. The 1680 Edinburgh edition differed only in the title. The 1682 edition had some useful explanatory diagrams added. The 1684 edition was effectively a reprint of the latter.

  83 An Abridgement of the English Military Discipline (London, 1685), p. 138.

  84 Abridgement (1685), pp. 160–1.

  85 Abridgement (1685), pp. 161–2.

  86 Abridgement (1685), pp. 128–9.

  87 David Chandler, The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough (Staplehurst, 1990), p. 116.

  88 Turner, Pallas Armata, p. 238.

  89 J. Demoriet, Le Major Parfait (1863), in Harleian Ms 4655, p. 43, as cited in Chandler, Art of Warfare, p. 116.

  90 Richard Coe, An Exact Diarie or a Briefe Relation of the Progress of Sir William Wallers Army (London, 1644), p. 6.

  91 Morgan, Relation, p. 8.

  92 Daniel MacKinnon, Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards (London, 1833), p. 167.

  93 Firelock and snaphance were the contemporary terms for the flintlock.

  94 MacKinnon, Coldstream Guards, p. 189.

  95 E. M. G. Routh, ‘The English at Tangier’, English Historical Review, 26:103 (July 1911), pp. 469–81.

  96 John Ross, Tangers Rescue or a Relation of the Late Memorable Passage at Tanger (London, 1681), p. 10.

  97 Ross, Tangers Rescue, p. 14.

  98 Ross, Tangers Rescue, pp. 26–7.

  99 Anon., A True Description of the Discipline of War both for Horse and Foot (n.d.), p. 2.

  100 George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, Observations upon Military and Political Affairs (London, 1671) (written in 1646 when a prisoner in the Tower of London), p. 103.

  101 John Cruso, Militarie Instructions for the Cavallrie (Cambridge, 1631), p. 41; Orrery, Art of War, pp. 31–2.

  102 See below, p. 41.

  Chapter 3

  1 David Chandler, The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough (Staplehurst, 1990), p. 116; Brent Nosworthy, The Anatomy of Victory: Battle Tactics 1689–1763 (New York, 1992), p. 55.

  2 Chandler, Art of Warfare, p. 116.

  3 Chandler, Art of Warfare, pp. 117–20; Brigadier General Richard Kane, Campaigns of King William and Queen Anne; From 1689 to 1712. Also, A New System of Military Discipline for a Battalion of Foot on Action (London, 1745).

  4 Guillaume Le Blond, Elemens de Tactique (Paris, 1758), pp. 405–6.

  5 Chandler, Art of Warfare, p. 116.

  6 Chandler, Art of Warfare, pp. 116–17.

  7 William S. Brockington, Jr. (ed.), Monro: His Expedition with the Worthy Scots Regiment Called Mac-Keys (Westport CT, 1999), p. 316.

  8 Brockington, Monro, p. 323.

  9 Sir James Turner, Pallas Armata (London, 1683), p. 238.

  10 William Watts, The Swedish Intelligencer, The First Part (London, 1632), p. 124.

  11 See above, p. 17.

  12 William Watts, The Swedish Intelligencer, The Second Part (London, 1632), p. 169.

  13 Brockington, Monro, p. xvi.

  14 Sir James Turner, Memoirs of His Own Life and Times (Edinburgh, 1829), pp. 4–5.

  15 Turner, Pallas Armata, p. 228.

  16 Keith Roberts, Cromwell’s War Machine: The New Model Army, 1645– 1660 (Barnsley, 2005), p. 152.

  17 Turner, Pallas
Armata, pp. 216–17.

  18 Turner, Pallas Armata, p. 217.

  19 Brockington, Monro, p. 323.

  20 Brockington, Monro, pp. 322–3.

  21 Brockington, Monro, p. 322; Richard Elton, The Compleat Body of the Art Military (London, 1668), pp. 192–3.

  22 Brockington, Monro, p. 322.

  23 Elton, Compleat Body, pp. 192–3.

  24 Roger, Earl of Orrery, A Treatise of the Art of War (London, 1677), p. 38.

  25 Orrery, Art of War, p. 31.

  26 See above, p. 9.

  27 Chandler, Art of Warfare, pp. 78–9.

  28 Turner, Pallas Armata, p. 237

  29 An Abridgement of the English Military Discipline (London, 1676).

  30 Abridgement (1676), pp. 31–2.

  31 Abridgement (1676), p. 74.

  32 The strength of a company was variable, but in the English army of the 1680s was between forty and sixty: Chandler, Art of Warfare, p. 96.

  33 Elton, Compleat Body, (1659), p. 154.

  34 Brockington, Monro, p. 319.

  35 Brockington, Monro, p. 322.

  36 Brockington, Monro, p. 323.

  37 Elton, Compleat Body, (1659), p. 54.

  38 Ofwersteleut Iulius Richard De Lachapelle, Een Militarisch Exercitiae Book (Stockholm, 1669).

  39 Louis Paan, Den korter weg tot de Nederlandsche Militaire Exercitie, Inhoudende verscheide extraordinaire Evolutien ende Bataillons, Mitsgaders de formen der Batailles, Vol. 2 (Leuwarden, 1684).

  40 Paan, Nederlandsche Militaire Exercitie, p. 40.

  41 Turner, Pallas Armata, p. 238.

  42 BL Additional Manuscript, 21506, f. 98, cited in Chandler, Art of Warfare, p. 116.

  43 For instance, David Chandler, The Art of Warfare, p. 116.

  44 George Warter Story, A True and Impartial History of the Most Material Occurrences in the Kingdom of Ireland during the Two Last Years (London, 1691), p. 23.

  45 Story, True and Impartial History, p. 24.

  46 Story, True and Impartial History, p. 26.

  47 Major General Hugh Mackay, Memoirs of the War Carried on in Scotland and Ireland (Edinburgh, 1833), p. 55.

  48 The Exercise of the Foot with the Evolutions, According to the Words of Command, As they are Explained. As also, the forming of Battalions, With Directions to be observed by all Colonels, Captains, and other Officers in Their Majesties Armies. Like wise The Exercise of the Dragoons Both on Horse-back and Foot. With the Rules of War in the day of Battel, when Encountering with the Enemy (Edinburgh, 1693).

  49 The Exercise of the Foot with the Evolutions, According to the Words of Command, As they are Explained. As also, the forming of Battalions, With Directions to be observed by all Colonels, Captains, and other Officers in Their Majesties Armies (London, 1690).

  50 The Exercise of the Foot with the Evolutions, With the Rules of War in the day of Battel, when Encountering with the Enemy, n.p.

  51 Major General Hugh Mackay, ‘Rules of War’, in The Exercise of the Foot with the Evolutions, With the Rules of War in the day of Battel, when Encountering with the Enemy, n.p. (hereafter Mackay, Rules of War), Article VI.

  52 Orrery, Art of War, p. 38.

  53 Mackay, Rules of War, Article X

  54 J. A. Houlding, Fit for Service: The Training of the British Army, 1715–1795 (Oxford, 1981), p. 281.

  55 Chandler, Art of Warfare, p. 119.

  56 Cornwall Record Office, DD.RH.388, fol. 7, Exercise of Firelock and Bayonet appointed by his Excie. Lieut. Genll. Ingoldsby; British Library, Add Mss 27892, Brig. Gen. James Douglass, Schola Martis, or the Art of War . . . as Practised in Flanders, in the Wars, from Anno 1688 to An: 1714, ff. 209–55; Humphrey Bland, A Treatise of Military Discipline (London, 1727), p. 72.

  57 Mackay, Rules of War, Article IX.

  58 Mackay, Rules of War, Article X.

  59 Mackay, Rules of War, Article XVIII.

  60 Mackay, Rules of War, Article X.

  61 Mackay, Rules of War, Article XI.

  62 Edward D’Auvergne, A Relation of the Most Remarkable Transactions of the Last Campaign, 1692 (London, 1693), p. 44.

  63 D’Auvergne, A Relation, 1692, p. 47.

  Chapter 4

  1 See above, p. 31.

  2 Exercise for the Horse, Dragoon and Foot Forces (London and Dublin, 1728).

  3 Andrew Crichton, The Life and Diary of Lieutenant-Colonel John Blackader (Edinburgh, 1824).

  4 See above, p. 42.

  5 David Chandler, The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough (Staplehurst, 1990), p. 78; Brent Nosworthy, The Anatomy of Victory: Battle Tactics 1689–1763 (New York, 1992), p. 100.

  6 Chandler, Art of Warfare, pp. 75–81; Howard L. Blackmore, British Military Firearms, 1650–1850 (London, 1961).

  7 Major General Hugh Mackay, Memoirs of the War Carried on in Scotland and Ireland (Edinburgh, 1833), p. 55.

  8 Mackay, Memoirs, p. 52.

  9 Mackay, Memoirs, p. 59.

  10 Mackay, Memoirs, p. 52.

  11 Mackay, Rules of War, Article XVII.

  12 British Library, Add Mss 27892, Brig. Gen. James Douglass, Schola Martis, or the Arte of War . . . as Practised in Flanders, in the Wars, from Anno 1688 to An: 1714, f. 217v.

  13 Douglass, Schola Martis, ff. 217v and r.

  14 Mackay, Rules of War, Article X.

  15 Historic Manuscripts Commission, Leyborne Popham Mss (London, 1899), p. 273.

  16 Anon., The Field of Mars, Being an Alphabetical Digestion of the Principal Naval and Military Engagements (London, 1781), vol. ii, n.p.

  17 W. Sawle, An Impartial Relation of all the Transactions between the Army of the Confederates and that of the French King in their Last Summer’s Campaign in Flanders with a More Particular Respect to the Battle of Fleury (London, 1691), p. 8.

  18 Chandler, Art of Warfare, pp. 67–8.

  19 Curt Jany, Geschichte der Preußischen Armee vom 15. Jahrhundert bis 1914. Eerster Band: Von den Anfängen bis 174. (Osnabrück, 1967) I., pp. 336–7 as cited in John Stapleton, Forging A Coalition Army: William III, The Grand Alliance, And The Confederate Army In The Spanish Netherlands, 1688–1697 (unpublished doctoral thesis, Ohio State University, 2003). Jany gives 11 October 1688 as the date when Brandenburg troops officially adopted the ‘Holländische Salve’.

  20 Nosworthy, Anatomy of Victory, p. 107.

  21 From the Dutch camp near Walcourt, August 26, London Gazette, No. 2482, 22 August to 26 August 1689.

  22 David Chandler, Marlborough as Military Commander (London, 1973), p. 13.

  23 D’Auvergne, A Relation, 1692, p. 42. D’Auvergne wrote a series of annual accounts of events in Ireland covering the years 1691 to 1697, each published in either the same or subsequent year as that covered. During this time he served as a chaplain, first to the Earl of Bath’s regiment and then the Scots Guards.

  24 D’Auvergne, A Relation, 1692, p. 44.

  25 D’Auvergne, A Relation, 1692, pp. 42 and 45.

  26 John Childs, The Nine Years War and the British Army (Manchester, 1991), p. 76.

  27 Chandler, Art of Warfare, p. 68.

  28 Douglass, Schola Martis, ff. 290–6.

  29 The Exercise of the Foot with the Evolutions, According to the Words of Command, As they are Explained. As also, the forming of Battalions, With Directions to be observed by all Colonels, Captains, and other Officers in Their Majesties Armies. Like wise The Exercise of the Dragoons Both on Horse-back and Foot. With the Rules of War in the day of Battel, when Encountering with the Enemy (Edinburgh, 1693).

  30 Douglass, Schola Martis, f. 210v.

  31 Douglass, Schola Martis, f. 229v; and Mackay, Rules, Article VI.

  32 Charles Dalton, English Army Lists and Commission Registers, 1661–1714 (London, 1898), vol. iv, p. 193.

  33 Douglass, Schola Martis, ff. 217v and 232v.

  34 Douglass, Schola Martis, f. 229v.

  35 Mackay, Rules of War, Article XI; and Douglass, Schola Martis, f. 229v.

  36 Mackay, Rules of War, Articles X
IX and XX.

  37 Douglass, Schola Martis, ff. 209v and 229v.

  38 The Exercise of the Foot (1693), p. 62.

  39 Douglass, Schola Martis, f. 209v; and The Exercise of the Foot (1693), p. 62.

  40 Douglass, Schola Martis, f. 233r.

  41 Douglass, Schola Martis, f. 229v.

  42 In this context to ‘keep up’ fire means to reserve it rather than the modern meaning of continuing to fire.

  43 Douglass, Schola Martis, f. 233r.

  44 Edward D’Auvergne, The History of the Last Campagne in the Spanish Netherlands, Anno Dom. 1693 (London, 1693), p. 78.

  45 Childs, Nine Years War, pp. 72–4.

  46 Mackay, Rules of War, Article XVIII; and Douglas, Schola Martis, f. 233r.

  47 Chandler, Art of Warfare, p. 111.

  48 Douglass, Schola Martis, f. 233r.

  49 Mackay, Rules of War, Article XVIIII.

  50 Mackay, Rules of War, Article XVII.

  51 Douglass, Schola Martis, f 253v.

  52 Mackay, Rules of War, Article XVII.

  53 Douglass, Schola Martis, ff. 211r and 217v.

  54 Douglass, Schola Martis, f. 217r.

  55 Chandler, Art of Warfare, pp. 114–15 and Nosworthy, Anatomy of Victory, p. 60.

  56 See above, p. 85XXX.

  57 George Warter Story, A True and Impartial History of the Most Material Occurrences in the Kingdom of Ireland during the Two Last Years (London, 1691), p. 54.

  58 D’Auvergne, A Relation, 1692, p. 44.

  59 Story, True and Impartial History, pp. 129–30.

  60 Mackay, Memoirs, pp. 52, 55 and 59.

  61 Comte Maurice de Saxe, Reveries or Memoirs Concerning the Art of War, trans. Sir William Fawcett (Edinburgh, 1757), p. 31.

  62 Chandler, Art of Warfare, p. 113.

  63 Chandler, Art of Warfare, pp. 131 and 133.

  64 Nosworthy, Anatomy of Victory, p. 61.

  65 D’Auvergne, Last Campagne 1693, p. 73.

  Chapter 5

  1 David Chandler, Marlborough as Military Commander (London, 1973), p. 331.

  2 Montgomery of Alamein, A History of Warfare (London, 1968), p. 291.

  3 Richard Holmes, Marlborough, Britain’s Greatest General (London, 2008); John Keegan and Andrew Wheatcroft, Who’s Who in Military History (London, 1976); J. W. Fortescue, A History of the British Army (London, 1910, 20 vols).