★★ Before marching out on campaign, an army commander in the early Seventeenth century would decide upon a plan for the deployment of his army for battle. He might discuss the alternatives beforehand with his senior subordinates or he may impose his own preference. Once the decision had been made, a plan would be drawn... Continua a leggere →
English Civil War Formations and Tactics
★★ Introduction As what one might term a veteran re-enactor with over twenty-two years in the hobby, I have become very familiar with the debate on the level of accuracy/inaccuracy in the various elements portrayed by participants on the field. I do not intend here to enter into this debate, rather, the object of this... Continua a leggere →
Grand Tactics of the 17th Century
★★ Theodore Dodge wrote in his tome, Gustavus Adolphus, that the Thirty Years War did not have grand tactics. He was not alone in that belief. Dodge served in the American Civil War and studied Napoleon's campaigns, as well as those of the 17th Century. In order to grasp this statement, we must define Grand Tactics.... Continua a leggere →
Mercenary in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England
★★★★ The English word ‘mercenary’ is derived from the Latin mercenarius, a hireling or someone who is paid for work. The original etymology of the mercenarius is rooted in two other Latin words: mercari, to trade or exchange, and merx, commodity or merchandise. That wider meaning was frequently associated in general usage with faithlessness and... Continua a leggere →
