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Lädt ... Zweybrücken in Command: The Reichsarmee in the Campaign of 1758 (From Reason to Revolution)von Neil Cogswell
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The Reichsarmee - the 'Army of the Empire' made up of contingents from the minor German states - reached the nadir of its fortunes in 1757 with defeat at Rossbach. For the following year's campaigning, which included the defense of Bamburg, the action at Basberg, the siege of Sonnenstein, and the combat at Eilenburg, it came under the command of Friedrich-Michael, Prince von Pfalz-Zweybrücken, whose initial task was to protect the western borders of the Empire from invasion from Saxony where Prince Henry of Prussia commanded a sizeable army. Later, as Prussian fortunes began to wane, the liberation of Saxony became a prime objective.The core of this volume is the 'Journal of the Army', translated from the original French and annotated by historian Neil Cogswell. Although the identity of the author of the original journal is unknown, he appears, from his knowledge of events, to have been attached to headquarters, but his writing suggests that he was of junior or even civilian status. As occasion presents itself, the author speaks of the contingents from the Lower Rhine Circle, which included a major part of the Palatinate form which the army's commander drew his princely title; it is reasonable to suppose that the author came from this circle.The Journal has the flavor of an official record of the campaign. It contains no personal details and makes no comments on the political and supply problems that disrupted the operations. To complement it are therefore appended the letters of the Comte de Boisgelin, a French officer serving with the Reichsarmee, to his good friend Horace St Paul. Boisgelin's letters, by contrast, are sparse in terms of military detail but illuminating in terms of gossip, speculation, and personal experience.To place the combined account in context, over 50 tables and plates are also included, including maps, order of battle, and color depictions of the army's uniforms and flags. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)940.2History and Geography Europe Europe Early Modern 1453-1914Klassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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If you don’t already know about the causes, strategy, and tactics of the Seven Years War, this book is not very useful; read some background first. However, there are some insights into the ways of warfare in the period. This was the era of wars of maneuver; large armies moved around Europe trying to get in a favorable position to force an enemy to retreat by threatening sources of supply or important strategic locations. That’s well documented here; there are no great battles; instead the armies march from one camp to another to be in position to thwart the enemy – who has also just marched from one camp to another. There are a lot of “affairs of outposts”, though; a few Prussian hussars raid an advanced position, followed by a few Reichsarmee hussars returning the favor. I was struck by the dry accounts of casualties: “a few of the enemy were sabered”, which is a gentle way of explaining that a few of the enemy were slashed with swords such that they died screaming while trying to tuck their exposed entrails back into their abdomen.
I also note the status of artillery; three-pounders are the normal field piece, with a scattering of ix-pounders. By Napoleonic times 12-pounders were the standard. Did gun making improve? Horses get stronger? Mounting become more efficient and easier for the teams to pull? Roads get better? I don’t know.
A few things for military miniaturists; there are contemporary color plates illustrating the uniforms and flags of some of the units, and an appendix describing uniforms (the color of coats, cuffs, collars, lapels, tails, metalwork, waistcoat, and breeches), so if you need to paint a unit of Würtemburg Infantry (dark blue coat, yellow cuffs, collar and lapels, red tails, tin metalwork, yellow waistcoat and breeches) you can. It reminds me that in the days before radio, the only way a commander could identify which troops were which on the battlefield was to examine them through a telescope, so camouflage took second place.
Of some interest if you are already familiar with the Seven Years War; probably boring and confusing if you aren’t. Lots of footnotes, several appendices, line drawings of the various camp layouts. ( )