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Covers the origins of the disputes and border clashes between Chile and Argentina from independence until early 1978.The Beagle conflict was a territorial dispute between Argentina and Chile over the determination of the layout of the eastern mouth of the Beagle Channel, which affected the sovereignty of the islands located south of the channel, and east of Cape Horn and its adjacent maritime spaces.The first antecedents of the conflict date back to 1888, seven years after the signing of the Treaty of Limits. In 1901, the first Argentine map appeared in which some of the islands in question were drawn as within Argentina's control. Despite the small size of the islands, their strategic value between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans caused a long conflict between the two South American states that went on for much of the 20th century, causing a number of 'minor' incidents, and almost culminating in a major war.The conflict focused on the dispute over the sovereignty of the islands and the oceanic rights generated by them to Chile, but it was not limited exclusively to these islands.Volume 1 of The Beagle Conflict mini-series covers the origins of the dispute and border clashes between the two countries from the time of the independence of Chile and Argentina from the Spanish Crown, until early 1978, and is illustrated with original photographs, custom-drawn artworks and maps.

When it was founded in 1949, the People's Republic of China was an agricultural state with no industrial base to speak of and no armaments industry of its own. From the very beginning, Mao Tse Dng, the founder of the state, endeavored to develop his own modern defense industry in order to gain weight on the international stage. Part of this effort was the development of a domestic aerospace industry with massive support from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (colloquially the 'Soviet Union').Until the two countries broke up in 1961 due to ideological differences, more than 100 aviation companies were established with Soviet help and the licensed production of numerous aircraft types from trainers to heavy bombers was started. The last of these was the MiG-21, which is reproduced in China as the J-7.It took more than 10 years before the country, weakened by the 'Great Leap Forward' and the Cultural Revolution, succeeded at all in producing this comparatively complex aircraft. Only the comprehensive reforms after the death of state founder Mao created the basis for a return to orderly production of a technology that was already two decades old and outdated.The rapprochement with the West in the early 1980s made it possible, in part, to overcome the technological backlog. The integration of Western avionics into the Soviet airframe did not make the J/F-7 a modern combat aircraft like the F-16 and MiG-29 developed at the same time, but it increased its combat value to such an extent that it became an export success for the Third World. However, even more important was the access to Western technologies, later also for air-to-air missiles, which were initially, simply copied and later formed the basis for in-house developments of modern equipment and weapons systems.When cooperation with the West ended abruptly after the Tiananmen massacre of 1989, Chinese engineers and scientists had accumulated enough know-how to provide their own impetus in the further development of the J/F-7 family. Due to the combination of new aerodynamics and modern avionics, true multi-role combat aircraft were finally created which today, still spearhead their air forces in numerous countries in Asia and Africa.When the production of the J/F-7 finally ended in 2016, two generations of modern fighters based on this design were coming off the production line in China, and the prototypes of the fifth generation were already flying. The experience gained by China's aerospace industry in developing the J/F-7 from a day fighter to a multi-role fighter has made this success possible.The book deals with both the technical development of the J/F-7 family and its actual or potential use in more than a dozen countries on five continents.

The days of 11-13 June, 1982, proved that Arik Sharon's plan was over-ambitious and adventuristic. Dragging the IDF into the fight with Syrians appeared to be more complicated despite IDF superiority in technology and training. The armored units were moving too slowly and were stuck in numerous engagements all over the place.In the Western zone, after several failed attempts to take higher ground and open the road to Beirut, IDF finally made its gain and secured Kfar Sil after a very tough fight that lasted not less than 18 hours.In the Central zone, after getting the upper hand over the Syrian forces in Ein Zhalta and Jezzine, Israelis continued to crawl towards Beirut-Damascus Highway but the tempo had been lost and it was obvious that the Sharon expectation could not be matched.In Bekaa Valley, Eastern zone, IDF moved 399 Brigade to the north in order to reach Beirut Damascus Highway in the quickest possible way. That move turned out to be a disaster and one of the worst fights in IDF history. It took tremendous effort of two Israeli divisions to recover the troubled Brigade while suffering losses in men and machines.Besides the major battles, Israeli forces continued to clear the area while having tough opposition hotspots like Ein-Hilweh and finally, the controversial engagement between IDF anti-tank units and Syrian T-72s.

An in-depth military and political reappraisal of the Anguilla Crisis, exploring the countdown to military intervention, its tactical implementation and its legacy.In the early morning darkness of 19 March 1969, troops from Britain's 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) and Royal Marines, clambered into the small landing craft and helicopters aboard HMS Minervaand HMS Rothesay. Their objective, under 'Operation Sheepskin', was to invade the small Caribbean island of Anguilla through both an amphibious and airborne assault. The operation aimed to crush a two-year island rebellion against the postcolonial government of Robert Bradshaw on St Kitts. Recent military intelligence reports had been patchy as to the level of resistance to be expected from the islanders; however, the number of firearms estimated to be on the island and the recent hostility experienced by British diplomats, suggested that the troops were about to encounter a storm of bullets as they hit the beaches. Strangely enough, as the squaddies splashed ashore, they were met by the thunderous silence of an empty beach apart from the clicks of journalists' cameras. To the surprise of all involved, the occupation of the island was subsequently achieved without bloodshed. Whilst British policymakers soon questioned whether they had misread the situation in Anguilla and overreacted militarily, Fleet Street and the international media responded with ridicule. The operation was presented as a farce and emblematic of Britain's declining world role since the end of empire. This satirical interpretation has remained the abiding memory, if the invasion is remembered at all, within British public consciousness. Despite the military anti-climax however, this does not detract from the considerable importance of Operation Sheepskin for understanding the complexities of decolonization in the Caribbean; Britain's military performance following the retreat from 'East of Suez' and decision-making within the Labour government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson.This book offers an in-depth military and political reappraisal of the Anguilla Crisis, exploring the countdown to military intervention, its tactical implementation and its legacy. In doing so, the book evaluates the reasons for the British government's apparent overreaction to the crisis, the scandal that rocked Whitehall as Operation Sheepskin was being arranged and finally, the series of operational blunders which emerged as the operation was carried out. Constituting a neglected and unusual chapter of post-war British military history, the book will appeal to those readers interested in the wars of decolonization, British politics in the 1960s and the history of the Caribbean at the end of empire.

The U.S. Army's permanent opposing forces can trace their origins to 1946, when the Army stood up the fictional 'Circle Trigonist' aggressor force based loosely on Second World War German and Soviet forces, which gradually morphed into a more Soviet type of opponent for Army exercises as the Cold War progressed. While there were no dedicated aggressor units, the Army established unique doctrine, tactics, uniforms, and even used the Esperanto language to create a common 'enemy' for the entire Army to train against.It was only after the Vietnam War that the Army established a lasting, dedicated opposing force to ensure the Army trained as it expected to fight in the next war. First established at the National Training Center (NTC) in California's Death Valley in 1982, the professional OPFOR now comprises: - The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment at NTC is a brigade-sized unit that can replicate a low-level urban insurgency or an entire Soviet-style armored division;- The 1st Battalion, 509th Airborne Infantry at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) Louisiana that specializes in replicating low-intensity conflicts for light infantry and special operations forces;- The 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry, a combined arms unit at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Germany that provides an adaptable enemy for U.S. and allied forces to train against in Europe.Each OPFOR unit has unique uniforms, emblems and vehicles to help it portray an enemy force with some fidelity. Each Combat Training Center provides a unique and challenging environment for the training of visiting U.S. and allied units.The Army OPFOR provides an aggressive, challenging force with which to test tactics, techniques, readiness and equipment in a simulated combat environment, where units are tracked real-time and lasers are used to determine hits and kills. Observer/controllers provide feedback to the units being trained, helping them to identify and correct shortcomings.The experiences provided by the OPFOR contributed significantly to the decisive victories in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and provided a pre-deployment crucible for units deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan's subsequent insurgencies. All three units continue in this role today, adapting to accurately portray terrorists, hybrid semi-state groups, and near-peer state adversaries.

The book describes the Bosnian Serb Army in the Bosnian War 1992-1995. It provides a detailed account on organization, personnel, equipment and combat activities during the years of war. It covers the transfer parts of the Yugoslav People's Army into Vojske Republike Srpske 1992, the initial operations and offensives in 1992-1993 ('Koridor', Jajce, Podrinje, Trnovo). Short overview of the other warring parties: Army of BiH, Croatian Council of Defense, Army of Western Bosnia, UNPROFOR and NATO Rapid Reaction Force. The book shall outline the development of the VRS organisation, list the equipment and problems in the command chain. It shall follow with the descriptions of the operations in 1994 (Gorazde, Bihac Pocket, wider Sarajevo) and 1995 (Sarajevo, Western Krajina, Srebrenica, Zepa, Drvar and Banja Luka). The book discusses further NATO involvement through the air attacks in 1994/95, deployment of the Rapid Reaction Force and finally, Operation Deliberated Force which led to the wider, Croat-Muslim offensive causing the end of the war under the auspices of the US shuttle diplomat R. Holbrooke. The final chapter examines the influence of the Dayton accord, Paris peace treaty, deployment of the IFOR, Implementation Force and demilitarizing of the warring parties.

The first in a two-volume illustrated history of the coup that brought down the dictatorial regime that had been in power for over 40 years in Portugal.On 25 April 1974, a movement of young captains brought down, with practically no resistance, the dictatorial regime that had been in power for over 40 years in Portugal. In the early hours of that day, a military movement unleashed a series of operations that, in less than 24 hours, defeated the forces loyal to the regime, neutralizing any possibility of reaction. Few forces resisted the insurgents, and the only resistance worthy of note came from the political police, who in the heat of the revolution opened fire on the surrounding crowd causing four deaths.In the streets of Lisbon, the people enthusiastically joined the military revolt and started offering food, drinks, and red carnations to the soldiers, who decided to stick them in the barrels of their rifles, leading to the revolt being known as the Carnation Revolution. Although it began with a military coup d'état, 25 April paved the way for democracy, and there is no comparison to other similar revolutions. It was also a unique event in the European context of the time that broke Portugal's isolation and brought it closer to other Western democracies.This book is the first in a two-volume history. It describes the background to the revolution, the causes that led to the revolt of the captains and the situation in the Portuguese colonies in Africa, where guerrilla wars for their independence had been going on for more than a decade. Carnation Revolution Volume 1: The Road to the Coup that Changed Portugal is richly illustrated with photographs and specially commissioned artworks.

"The War in Ukraine series continues to be an excellent source of information on events from 2014 leading up to the current conflict between Russia and the Ukraine." -- AMPSThe two largest heirs to the massive Soviet tank force that faced NATO during the Cold War - Russia and Ukraine - have been fighting one another since 2014 in what has now become the largest war in Europe since 1945. Volume 4 of the War in Ukraine series examines the common legacy of Soviet main battle tanks (MBTs) inherited by both sides in this conflict and the evolution of three models in a relatively short space of time with nominally similar characteristics: the T-64, T-72, and T-80. Drawing upon Russian and Ukrainian source material not often examined in the West, this book looks into the design history of these models and their relative strengths and weaknesses, and challenges a number of common myths circulating about these MBTs from the days of the Cold War up to the present. This book then goes on to examine the evolution of these models in Russian service in the post-Soviet era, including the T-90, and Russian attempts to upgrade their MBT technologies.This volume, extensively illustrated with full color images, is essential reading for the reader interested in late Soviet, and post-Soviet Russian MBT design, and the forces employed in the current war in Ukraine. The full history of the Russo- Ukrainian War remains to be written, but this book aims to at least give a background and a glimpse into one particular aspect of the war, as well as the role the MBT has played in the largest war of the twenty-first century so far.Volume 5 will continue the story of Post-Soviet Ukrainian MBT development and the use of MBTs by both sides in the current war.

The resumption of conflict between 1648 and 1651 is frequently referred to as the Second and Third Civil Wars. The period marked not only a return to war, but to a bloodier, more violent conflict that had perhaps been seen before in the British Isles. Massacre, summary executions, wonton destruction and assault on the civilian population were commonplace. In early 1648 a political faction called the 'Engagers' gained control of the Scottish Government and sent an army into England to support numerous pro-Royalist risings across the country. Poorly equipped and trained with low morale, the Scottish 'Engager' Army and its Royalist allies were no match for the New Model Army led by Cromwell. The two sides met at Preston in August 1648 and after an initial clash, the Scots finally surrendered at Warrington two days later.Following the execution of Charles Ist in January 1649, the Scots supporting his son Charles IInd went to war against England, now a republic. A second invasion of England was launched, and the Scots found themselves corned at Worcester by English forces, once again led by Oliver Cromwell. The battle, the last major action of the British Civil Wars was fought on the 3rd September 1651, was described by Cromwell as 'a crowning mercy'.The venue for the 2022 conference was Worcester Cathedral. The obvious theme for the conference was the Scottish invasions of England in 1648 and 1651. Not only did Worcester witness the last major battle of the British Civil Wars, but the Cathedral was used as a temporary prison to hold the Scottish prisoners.The papers in this book of proceedings include: Ronald Hutton - Key Note Speaker and ForewordStuart Jennings - Colonel Francis Thornhagh and the Battle of Preston, 1648Peter Gaunt - A Tale of Two Risings: Was the second civil war in England and Wales primarily pro-Royalist or anti-Parliamentarian?Malcolm Wanklyn - The Control of Command in the British Wars 1642-1651 Edward Furgol - Three armies into one? Scottish Engager military organization in 1648

Lacking funding to purchase and operate own aircraft, the Rhodesian police established the British South Africa Police Reserve Air Wing (PRAW). Equipped with private aircraft, mostly flown by owner pilots, this extended policing across a country that had few roads, reaching remote villages and farms, separated by long distances. Established in 1967, the PRAW assisted in the capture of criminals, transported police officers, and flew in support of police operations. During the 1960s, it was expanded into three flights with more than 20 aircraft.By 1974, the PRAW included five flights, by 1979, nine, with two of its pilots being awarded the M.B.E. for outstanding services. As the conflict in Rhodesia escalated, it began actively cooperating with the Rhodesian armed forces: its miscellany of Beechs, Cessnas, Pipers, and Taylorcraft - all apparently 'sports and utility' aircraft - were armed: sometimes with light machine guns installed in underwing pods, but often with heavy machine guns that fired through the side doors, de-facto converting them into mini-gunships.Based on extensive use of official documentation, participant recollections, and richly illustrated, the British South Africa Police Reserve Force Air Wing Volume 2 continues an account of this service.

Bismarck's War provides an operational-level strategy game, allowing command of multiple corps, with adaptable rules, completed in 3 hours.Bismarck's War focuses on the operational level and puts the players in command of multiple corps. A typical game can be completed within 3 hours. The rules can be used with any range of models. Uses several mechanics seen in "Muskets & Springfields".

A detailed account of the reconquest of Normandy and Gascony, including the battle which marked the first decisive use of artillery on the battlefield.The defeat of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and the Anglo-Gascon army on 17 July 1453 at Castillon on the River Dordogne, 25 miles east of Bordeaux, was the last of the great battles of the Hundred Years' War. The battle resulted in a catastrophic defeat for Talbot and heralded the rapid collapse of the last vestiges of English power in south-west France. Three months later the last English troops le Bordeaux.The end of English rule in Gascony brought to an end a period during which, in a little over four years, the French had driven the English from their lands in Normandy and Gascony, leaving the Calais Pale as the only surviving possession in France, a possession that the English Crown would hold for another century. The battle also marked an important step in the evolution of warfare. King Charles VII had brought about major reforms in the French Army, establishing a standing army, and, thanks to the technical and tactical innovations of the Bureau brothers, artillery played a decisive role on the battle field for the first time. To put the Battle of Castillon in perspective the book summarizes the origins of the Hundred Years' War and the ebb and flow of fortunes during the war up to the Treaty of Tours in 1444. It then describes the military reforms of King Charles VII and the innovations of the Bureau brothers in the development of artillery. Shrewsbury, who died in the battle, had a long and successful military career, and was one of the few English commanders to emerge from the final years of the 100 Years War with his reputation intact. He fought during the reconquest of Normandy and, as the commander of the English Army attempting to stem the French tide in Gascony, was a key figure in the later years of the war. His military career is described and the book then recounts in detail the campaigns in Normandy during 1449-50 and in Gascony in 1451 and 1452-3. The battle of Castillon, the decisive action in the French conquest of Gascony, is described in detail. The book concludes with an account of the aftermath of the battle and the final expulsion of the English after the surrender of Bordeaux, three months to the day after the defeat of Shrewsbury at Castillon.

Until now historical works have neglected to fully consider the events of the British Civil Wars with respect to the logistics and supply systems. As such, this book evaluates and challenges these narratives of the wars by tackling historical debates through the lens of these logistics and supply systems at an operational level. How the military logistics and supply systems of the period functioned is revealed, including what methods of supply were used, what decisions and events these systems impacted, and how these related to strategic and tactical outcomes of the wars. The book investigates the facets of land, coastal, and riverine transportation, the supply of manpower to the armies, and the supply of food, clothing, and shelter to multiple forces across various conflicts throughout the British Civil Wars. With an application of a broad range of both civilian and military sources, this research employs archival and manuscript materials from national and local archives across the British Isles, contemporary tracts, letters, books, and pamphlets, as well as secondary literature from a variety of historical fields--from military history, economic and social studies, as well as reconstructive archaeology. As a result, the study outlines regional disparity in military logistics systems due to reliance on pre-existing civilian structures and methods--which had not been developed with a military purpose in mind and resulted in substantial logistical and supply differences that consequently, and heavily, favored one faction over another.Many questions that have bedevilled previous historiography--and some that remain contentious even today--are likewise explored through this new perspective. This includes, but is not limited to, countering the simple narrative that Royalist armies were terribly supplied in comparison to Parliament, placing the Royalists' Gloucester campaign in its correct strategic context, highlighting Catholic recruitment to Cromwell's forces in Ireland, and providing a reasonable and informed explanation for Prince Rupert's decision to fight at Marston Moor--all through the lens of logistics and supply. It emphasizes the absolute necessity of interactions between civil and military authority across multiple levels to supply early modern forces, providing a more nuanced history of civilian and military interactions than the popular view of soldiers imposing their will on a suffering population.The book's analysis of logistics and supply during the British Civil Wars, a focus not undertaken in such detail so far for the period, will provide a compelling read for those with interests in the operational realities of warfare during the seventeenth century more broadly, and the British Civil Wars in particular.

A completely new and original take on 16th century samurai history and Japan's military revolution.During the sixteenth century Japan's medieval period was left behind as the samurai experienced a military revolution that involved the introduction of rearms and the mobilization of large armies who fought from stone castles. The history of this violent time is perfectly encapsulated in the campaigns waged by five generations of one outstanding warlord family: the Hojo of Odawara Castle. In 1487 the dynasty's founder attacked a wooden stockade using bows and arrows; in 1590 his great-great grandson defended a huge castle using cannons. Successive Hojo warlords were contemporaries of famous samurai such as Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin and Oda Nobunaga, whose armies they fought and defeated, but their end came at the hands of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the "Napoleon of Japan", who defeated the Hojo in a massive siege of their mighty castle of Odawara. This book tells the story of a century of warfare using Japanese sources not previously translated into English. It is spectacularly illustrated with photographs of armor and weapons plus newly-commissioned artwork. Detailed and authoritative accounts of the campaigns show the Hojo samurai using 'every trick in the book' from sea raiding to ninja attacks. There are also many surprises, such as the use of dogs as messengers and the revelation that the final siege of Odawara in 1590 was no easy matter. When the Hojo dynasty came to its glorious end and their last patriarch committed hara-kiri, Japan and samurai warfare were changed forever.

In autumn 1621, at a fortified camp near Khotyn (Chocim), in the Principality of Moldavia, allied Polish, Lithuanian and Cossack armies faced a large Ottoman army led by Sultan Osman II. It was the concluding act of a war that had started with the defeat of a Polish army at Cecora one year earlier. As such it was actually part of the longer conflict, waged over the Commonwealth's and the Ottoman's influence over Moldavia. Throughout the whole of September and the first half of October 1621, the allied army managed to defend their camps against Turks, with both sides taking heavy losses from the hardship of the siege operations and worsening weather conditions. The conflict ended with the Treaty of Khotyn (9 October 1621) which did not particularly favor either of the sides. All the same, stopping the Ottoman was seen as a huge success for the Commonwealth, while attitudes on the Ottoman sides were far from victorious. The aftershock of the war led to the rebellion of janissaries in 1622, resulting in the overthrow and murder of Sultan Osman II.The book focuses on the Khotyn campaign of 1621, describing the day-by-day actions of the combatant armies - assaults, sallies and raids - during the whole of the siege. Additional theaters of war, such as Cossack operations from the summer of 1621 and Tatars raids against the Polish interior, are described as well. The reader will also find here details of the organization and strength of the fighting armies, information about the battle dispositions of the troops at Khotyn and commanders leading the troops. Actions leading to the outbreak of the open conflict between the Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire are explained in a separate chapter, providing a good historical background of the war. Another chapter covers the outcome of the war and the ways that influenced the internal and external situation of both the Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire.As with his previous works, the author has utilized a large number of primary sources: from the diaries of soldiers taking part in the campaign, through chronicles, official letters and documents from the period to army musters. Among the documents used are not only those written by Poles and Lithuanians, but also documents from Cossacks, Germans and Ottomans. Modern works, especially from Polish and Ukrainian historians, have also been used, in order to provide the most up-to-date and in-depth research. As this topic has previously not had much coverage in English, this book will be a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in Zaporozhian Cossacks and in the Ottoman Empire in the early seventeenth century.

Between 1639 and 1660, more than 1,000 places across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales were fortified. These included towns and villages, castles and manor houses, as well as new places of strength. They ranged in complexity from the simple strengthening of existing medieval walls to the sophisticated re-fortification of major towns. Often overlooked in the context of European military engineering, and in terms of the so-called 'military revolution' of the period, the design and construction of the Civil War fortress progressed during the period, evolving from the basic ditch and rampart of the early years of the fighting to the massive stone-built citadels of the Protectorate. Over half of these so-called 'fortified places' witnessed some sort of military action, although it is wrong to conclude that the fortress warfare of the period was purely about sieges. The Town Well Fortified is a brand-new study which looks at the strategic and tactical importance of fortifications, and their influence on the respective war effort of all sides, particularly in terms of logistics, and the concept of 'protected corridors' which connected key locations and dominated campaigns. The book also places the fortress in its geographical context, and considers how the local topography influenced placement and design. Given the years of peace enjoyed by much of the Three Kingdoms prior to the Civil Wars, it is no surprise that fortress construction was heavily influenced by European practice, although the fortified landscape prior to 1639, including a heritage stretching back as far as Roman times (and beyond), was also important.The design and construction of the fortifications is also considered, both in terms of the theory, especially from the military manuals of the time, and then the practice, including several contemporary and eyewitness accounts. The book also examines actual numbers, locations, and types of fortresses, including an assessment of the type of fort known as a 'sconce'.Secondary sources have been re-examined, and brought together with ongoing research, including recent archaeological investigations (which, among other things, consider just how earthworks were built), in this ground breaking-study which offers a fresh interpretation of the subject of fortresses during the Civil Wars. The use of up-to-date research is reflected in the book's spotlight on the current and yet largely unpublished investigations at King's Lynn, London, and the Isle of Man. But the inclusion of findings from the Civil War Fortifications Register project ensures this book genuinely encompasses the whole of Britain and Ireland.This is the result of more than thirty years of research, including the author's thorough and ongoing study of London's fortifications, the King's Lynn under Siege archaeological project, and the results from the development of a register identifying every place fortified during the Civil Wars across the entire British Isles.

In the early seventeenth century the Principality of Transylvania was a new state, organized in the decades that followed the dissolution of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, towards the middle of the sixteenth century. The rulers of Transylvania were vassals of the Ottoman Empire but enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy in matters of domestic policy. The second half of the sixteenth century was a difficult period for the young state, caught between two warring factions, the Ottomans and the Habsburgs.In the first half of the seventeenth century the Principality of Transylvania underwent a process of international affirmation which culminated with its involvement in the Thirty Years' War. Prince Gabriel Bethlen (1613- 1629) implemented several military reforms that strengthened the professional elements of the Transylvanian army, and he recruited a regiment of German infantry that was kept in service for several decades. The traditional components of the Transylvanian army, such as the Nobility, the Székely and Saxon levies were maintained but their importance was reduced. George Rákóczi I (1630-1648), continued this policy and fought in the Thirty Years' War as an ally of Sweden and of France. These two rulers had transformed Transylvania into a regional power while still ensuring peace and prosperity inside the country. In 1657 Prince George Rákóczi II, attempted an ambitious military and diplomatic venture by attempting to take the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He had a strong army at his disposal; he secured alliances with Sweden, the Cossacks, Moldavia and Wallachia, but it was not enough. The campaign was a military disaster and most of the Transylvanian army was captured by the Tartars. In the meantime the Ottoman Sultan organized a punishment campaign that devastated the whole of Transylvania. In addition, in 1660, Transylvania lost its most important fortification on the Western frontier - the fortress of Oradea. The last decades of the autonomous Principality of Transylvania were marked by desperate efforts for survival under the constant pressure of neighboring empires. From a military point of view the focus shifted to organizing a defensive chain of fortifications provided with permanent garrisons and well supplied with modern weapons. This was not enough to stop the eastern expansion of the Habsburgs who managed, in a few years (1686-1690), to completely occupy Transylvania through shrewd diplomacy and a little military effort.The first chapter of this book offers a broad overview of the history of Transylvania and its rulers in the seventeenth century. The most important political events are presented in connection with social, economic and military developments. The second and third chapters are dedicated to the military organization of the Principality with detailed discussion of all its components - the military categories, weapons and equipment, recruitment of troops, mobilization, motivation and compensation, fortifications, military regulations and justice, et cetera. Campaigns and battles represent the main focus of the fourth and final chapter with detailed descriptions of some of the most important military achievements of Transylvania during the early modern age.

Studies of the campaigns of the 1775-1783 American War for Independence often suffer from a lack of understanding of the operational aspects of the armies involved. This collection of essays looks at many facets of military operations in America, showing how the armies (British, French, Spanish, German auxiliaries, and the nascent Continental Army) involved adapted their recruitment, training, tactics, and logistics to the specific challenges of this war. The European forces adapted - much more readily than they are given credit for - to the needs of this particular conflict. The British Army adopted a doctrine of open-order light infantry tactics and raised large numbers of Loyalist troops in the theater of war. The British government obtained the assistance of regiments from several German states, established military organizations that relied heavily on specialized skirmishing troops - jäger - and chasseur companies composed of picked men after the fashion of the British light infantry. The French government sent an expeditionary force from its regular army, while Spain largely employed colonial troops from its North American holdings; each of these armies faced significant logistical challenges while mounting major campaigns. Not least, of course, the American colonies rose to the monumental task of recruiting, training, and supplying an army created specifically for the conflict.This collection of essays examines various aspects of the problems faced by each of these forces, and the solutions that they achieved - British training of regulars and raising of Loyalist militia, German adaptation of tactics, French and Spanish logistics and campaigning, and American recruiting and conscription. The authors featured have distinguished themselves by their use of primary sources to re-examine aspects of the period's armies long obscured by assumptions or inaccurate generalizations. Throughout their writings conventional wisdom is challenged, and established assumptions are dispelled by well-documented evidence, showing the real strengths and weaknesses of wide array of professional and part-time military organizations involved in this world-changing war.

Offers an overview of strategic skirmishes and overlooked battles alongside profiles of the contemporary masters of irregular warfare during the 18th century.Histories of the Seven Years War or French and Indian War tend to concentrate on the larger engagements. In the European theater, the attention goes to Rossbach and Leuthen (1757) or Minden (1759). By the same token, in the North American theater, historians tend to dedicate the most time to engagements such as the Battle of the Monongahela (1755), the attack on Fort Carillon (1758), later renamed Ticonderoga, or the battle on the Plains of Abraham (1759). One consequence of this focus on the larger engagements has been a general tendency to overlook the more constant war of raids, ambushes and scouting that pervaded in both theaters, what contemporaries referred to as the petite guerre or kleine krieg.Light Troops in the Seven Years War fills this gap by examining not only the conduct of these smaller, but at times operationally and even strategically significant engagements. It draws parallels between the theaters as well. The work surveys the development of irregular troops, sometimes referred to as light infantry, on both continents over the course of the eighteenth century. It goes to provide examples of these troops in action in the Seven Years War. Thus, the focus shifts from the major engagements listed above to smaller encounters such as the ambushes at Gundersdorf and Domstadtl (1758) in Europe. The raid constituted a relatively small attack, but one that had major operational, even strategic consequences. In the North American theater, the raid on Fort Bull in 1756 is examined, again, an often-overlooked engagement, but one with a significant impact, nonetheless.The book likewise highlights the careers of various practitioners, recognized by contemporaries, as masters at the conduct of irregular warfare. These figures include Johann Ewald, Andreas Graf Hadik von Futak, Simon-Claude Grassin de Glatigny, Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry, Graf Nikolas von Luckner, Johann von Monkewitz and Robert Rogers.

These essays offer a range of historical topics and perspectives on eighteenth century naval history.Containing the proceedings of Helion & Company's inaugural 2022 Naval History Conference, this volume includes chapters from scholars experienced and young, and from across the world, on various aspects of the naval history of the Age of Reason and Revolution.This work contains its fair share of high seas action and naval operations, representing British, Spanish, French, and Italian perspectives: Mauro Difranceso explores the operations and effectiveness of the Venetian Armata grossa during the Second Morean War, and Albert Parker explores first how Spain utilized seapower during the 1730s-1740s, and then second assesses the French and Spanish Bourbon operations to supply and support the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Olivier Aranda pitches in to assess the success of the French navy's flying squadrons of the early 1790s, long neglected by French and English-language historiography.A particular focus is on naval operations in North American waters, and on the wider significance of those operations. R.N.W. Thomas provides an analysis of the North American Station in the 1760s/1770s, exploring how the navy was maintained and how it was utilized to enforce imperial policies in the pre-American Revolutionary period. Thomas Golding-Lee then examines the 'Nile that wasn't' and the French missed opportunity at the Battle of St Lucia (1778), and Nicholas James Kaizer highlights the historical lessons learned from three single ship actions of the War of 1812 where the Royal Navy displayed an appalling lack of leadership and skill in action, including a challenge to preeminent narratives of the Royal Navy in that conflict.Of course, naval administration, recruitment, and other aspects of manpower are well served. On the strategic level, Paul Leyland assesses the role played by Antwerp in British and French naval strategies and wider foreign policy. Andrew Young then examines the herculean role played by Anson as First Lord of the Admiralty in building up of the Royal Navy's administrative capacity. Joseph Krulder examines the state of affairs in 1754-1755, at the start of the Seven Years War, demonstrating that this process was far from complete by this stage, all while placing this period into its proper social context. And Andrew Johnston explores the changing trends in naval law through courts martial held from 1812-1818, demonstrating the navy rapidly moving away from 'rum, buggery, and the lash.'Next, three chapters address topics related to the social/cultural history of the Royal Navy: Jim Tildesley examines the career of Consul John Mitchell and his contributions to manning the fleet and supplying intelligence. Andrew Lyter explores the careers of black pilots serving with HMS Poictiers, long forgotten by history, and how they leveraged their vital knowledge to carve out identities as free maritime professionals. Finally, Callum Easton examines the careers and demographics of the Greenwich pensioners, veterans of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and provides a fascinating picture of how society's views and stereotypes of these Jack Tars changed in the decades following the long eighteenth century.

A reference work detailing the biographies of over 900 British field officers and 50 regiments, covering career histories, achievements in battle, lineage, recruitment sources, and more.King George's Army: British Regiments and the Men who Led Them 1793-1815 will contain five volumes, with coverage given to cavalry regiments (Volume 1), infantry regiments (Volumes 2-4), and Ordnance and other regiments (Volume 5). It is the natural extension to the web series of the same name by the same author which existed one Napoleon Series from 2009 until 2019, but greatly expanded to include substantially more biographical information including biographies of leading political gures concerned with the administration of the army as well as commanders in chief of all major commands.Volume 1 covers in great detail the cavalry regiments that comprised the army of King George III for the period of the Great War with France, and the men who commanded them. Regimental data provided includes shortform regimental lineages, service locations and dispositions for the era, battle honors won, tables of authorized establishments, demographics of the field officer cohorts and of the men. But the book is essentially concerned with the field officers, the lieutenant colonels and majors who commanded the regiments, and Volume 1 alone contains over 1,000 mini-biographies of men who commanded the regiments, including their dates of birth and death, parentage, education, career (including political), awards and honors, and places of residence. Volumes 2 to 5 will extend the coverage to ultimately record over 4,500 biographies across more than 200 regiments.These biographies will show the regimental system in action, officers routinely transferring between regiments for advancement or opportunity, captains who were also (brevet) colonels, many who retired early, some who stayed the distance to become major generals and beyond. Where it has been possible to accurately ascertain, advancement by purchase, exchange or promotion has also been noted.Readers with military ancestors will no doubt find much of interest within, and the author hopes that the work will allow readers to break down a few 'brick walls'; either through connecting to the officers recorded, or through an understanding of the movements of the regiments around the world, or from the volunteering patterns of the militia regiments into the regular army.Encyclopedic in scope, and aimed to be a lasting source of reference material for the British army that fought the French Revolution and Napoleon between 1793 and 1815, King George's Army: British Regiments and the Men who Led Them will be a necessary addition to every military and family history library for years to come.

Discover the gripping tale of the longest siege of the American Revolution, the Siege of Pensacola, as historian Joshua Provan intricately weaves together the military significance and sacrifices of this pivotal event in shaping the character of the United States.The Siege of Pensacola was the longest siege of the war in North America. It was the final act of Bernardo de Gálvez's remarkable Gulf Coast Campaign and stands out as a classic tale of warfare and sacrifice.In the final years of the American Revolution, the military situation was changing from a dogged stalemate to a crisis that the British or the Americans could turn to their advantage. France's entry as an active participant had highlighted the difficulties of the rebels' new alliance, not its strengths. The successful British defense of Savannah in 1779 drew British eyes southwards, and in 1780, Charleston fell, and Gates' southern army was crushed at Camden.It was a perilous moment for the rebellious colonies. British dominance in the south would give them a strong strategic position from which to prosecute the war. A ray of hope came from Spain, which had entered the war as a French ally in 1779. From then until 1780, British possessions from the Mississippi and along the Gulf of Mexico suddenly came under threat from the daredevil Governor of Louisiana, Don Bernardo de Galvez. By 1781, Pensacola was the last British-held post in West Florida.The British garrison in Pensacola was strong, and its commander, Major General John Campbell, was determined to defend his fort. If Gálvez's campaign was typical of those undertaken by the likes of Amherst and Montcalm more than 15 years before, then the siege itself was also a model of eighteenth-century grit, fieldcraft and chivalry.It was grim work, and both sides endured hardship and fatigue as the siege progressed. As Spanish reinforcements were slowly released from Havana, the British depended more and more on the assistance of loyalists and an auxiliary force of Creeks and Choctaws collected by their Indian Agents to oppose the Spaniards.The story of the siege of Pensacola and the Spanish and Spanish-American part in the Revolutionary War represents a different side to the struggle; far removed from Redcoats and Patriots, it is also a story of great drama, color and sacrifice that helped shape the character of the United States.Historian René Chartrand says that Joshua Provan is 'the first historian to really mix all the elements together and suggest the true military consequences of the siege on the War of American Independence. It has been mooted, but never this well demonstrated.

Suffren versus Hughes describes the fascinating but relatively little-known naval campaign between Britain and France for mastery of the Indian Ocean in the closing years of the War of American Independence. It is effectively the third volume of a trilogy recording the history of the Royal Navy during this period, the earlier volumes being Crisis at the Chesapeake (2021) and From Ushant to Gibraltar (2022).The contest for control of the sea was crucial to the maintenance of Britain's position in India. It was played out against the political, economic and military background created by the impact of the British East India Company upon the complex system of the various dynasties that ruled India, and which themselves competed with each other for advantage.Britain and France sent out squadrons of ships of the line which were at various times nearly equal in strength. In the course of their hard-fought campaign, these fought five battles, none of which produced the decisive victory which each sought. This campaign was remarkable not just for the strategic and tactical questions which it raised, but also for the light it shed on the characters and abilities of the respective commanders. Sir Edward Hughes and Pierre-André de Suffren were very different men, who brought to their commands contrasting approaches to the particular problems of naval warfare of the eighteenth century. Hughes was a very typical product of the traditions of the Royal Navy, a patient and careful exponent of all that he had learned from his training and experience. Suffren, on the other hand, was untypical of French admirals of the period; he was bold, aggressive and innovative, and impatient of the stately conventions of sea battles of the period.Each of them had extremely difficult problems to overcome, in addition to the fact that they were operating many thousands of miles from home, which meant that orders reached them months after they were first issued. Hughes faced considerable difficulties in his relationship with the various presidencies of the East India Company which ruled British India at this time. Suffren, on the other hand, who conducted the campaign for the most part without any effective base, was frequently badly let down by some of his captains, while the performance of his squadron demonstrated that the French navy was far less efficient than the British. For both men, a central problem was obtaining supplies, as well as that of effecting repairs to their ships some of which were extremely badly damaged during the battles which they fought.The two men had a very considerable respect for each other. However, while the life and career of Suffren has generated a huge literature, principally among French historians, that of Hughes has passed relatively unnoticed. Both men, though, deserved well of their countrymen for what they were able to achieve.

Finalist, 2023 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Awards"...an invaluable read, not only for those with an interest in the Black regulars, but also for those seeking to learn more about the Army from the Civil War through the Great War." -- The NYMAS ReviewPrior to the 1960s, the term "Buffalo Soldier" was a fairly obscure one. Then, a trickle of titles became a torrent of books, articles, novels, monuments, and expanding numbers of historic sites along with museums all of which have changed the picture. Even an occasional nod from television and movies helped transform these once relatively little-known Black U.S. Army troops into familiar figures, who have taken their place in a mythic past. Indeed, powerful imagemakers from William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and his Congress of Rough Riders to Frederic Remington, the dean of frontier artists, helped lionize the Black troops whose exploits brought them to the American West, Cuba, the Philippines, Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii in the years between 1866 and 1916.Despite a significant shift in emphasis, numerous efforts treating this element of the vital, complex story of the post-Civil War U.S. Army frequently repeated earlier studies rather than added fresh perspectives. Also, the narrative typically ended with the so-called Indian Wars or Spanish American War. Many authors likewise dwelt on military operations rather than numerous other relevant contributions and activities of these men who played a role in the nation's complex evolution during the half century after the American Civil War.Profusely illustrated with compelling images and detailed maps, along with an array of appendices, this latest addition to the Buffalo Soldier saga represents over five decades of research by military historian John P. Langellier. Further, More Work an Glory: Buffalo Soldiers in the United States Army, 1866-1916 combines the best features of prior scholarship while enhancing the scope with new or underused primary sources.The author views the subject through the broader perspectives of race. He sets the text against the backdrop of the transition of the U.S. Army from a frontier constabulary to an international power. In the process, he highlights the staggering assortment of non-military missions including assignments to national parks and forests; road building; exploration; pioneer military bicycling; duty along the explosive border between the United States and Mexico; employment as agents of law and order, along with a litany of other contributions that enhanced an impressive combat record against formidable Native Americans and others. Langellier frames the narrative within the context of continuity and change from Reconstruction in the 1860s through the early twentieth century. Above all, he focuses on the soldiers themselves to provide a human perspective as well as challenges prevalent misconceptions that often overshadow more fascinating facts.

The most comprehensive account of the defeat of the French Imperial Army in the last 100 years, making use of previously unpublished Orders of Battle and casualty reports.This work, the third in a four volume series, takes a fresh and in-depth look at the events of the opening months of the Franco-Prussian War between Napoleon's Imperial Army and King Wilhelm's German armies, when within the space of four weeks in the summer of 1870 the established order was overthrown and Prussia laid the foundations for a military and political hegemony in Europe which led directly or indirectly to two World Wars.In preparing this work the author has drawn heavily on the numerous volumes of the French official account, La Guerre de 1870-71 published by the Section historique de l'État-major de l'Armée around the turn of the 20th Century, which in addition to making use of information not available to the authors of the earlier German official history also includes detailed annexes providing copious orders of battle, after-action unit reports and casualty records for almost every engagement. This excellent source material has been supplemented by the works of Lehautcourt and the memoirs of many of the French commanders with additional detail and analysis derived from the numerous official and semi-official Staff studies published during the 1880-90's. While many of the German works have been published in English few, if any, of the French works have been translated and their inclusion within this work will hopefully provide both a fresh perspective of events as well as providing a useful counterpoint to the somewhat 'Prussian-centric' viewpoints reflected in many previous works.Following on from the previous books in the series, the Opening Engagements and The Battles around Metz, the third volume take a fresh and detailed look at both the military and political background to this short but decisive campaign which saw French and German forces clash at Nouart, the encounter battle at Beaumont and the pivotal engagement of the campaign, fought between Marshal MacMahon's Army of Châlons and the combined German armies under General Moltke outside the walls of Sedan.The detailed narrative is complemented by extensive orders of battle and casualty lists derived from the French and German official histories and is accompanied by a number of maps together with color and black and white illustrations.

The Battle of Megiddo was not only the last large cavalry offensive in world history, but also a tribute to combined arms operations fostered over the course of the First World War. Fought between 19-25 September 1918, it was the final Allied offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The contending forces were the British Empire's EEF (Egyptian Expeditionary Force) of three infantry and one mounted corps pitted against the Ottoman-German Yildirim Army Group which numbered three weak armies with the approximate total strength of a single enemy corps. Comparable to what General Erich von Ludendorff called the 'Black Day' of the German Army (opening of the Battle of Amiens, 8 August 1918) on the Western Front, the complete Ottoman defeat would have been impossible without the application of superior logistics. Whilst Megiddo did not determine the outcome of the war in the Middle East, the ramifications of the victory decisively shaped the post-war world in the region.

Explores the unique multi-ethnic British Indian armies under the East India Company.The armies of British India were, as one of its members wrote, 'the most extraordinary phenomenon in the history of the world.' Multi-ethnic, composed of men of diverse ethnicities and faiths, under the flag of the East India Company - 'John Company' -they conquered or controlled much of the Indian sub-continent by 1850, victorious in all but one major war (the first disastrous intervention in Afghanistan).Four armies served and fought for John Company: the three 'presidency armies' of Bengal, Madras and Bombay, and the regiments of the British Army, rented from the Crown by the Company. Together, this disparate collection of European and 'Native' corps - regular and irregular -numbered over 300,000 uniformed men at its height. The army that the 1857 Mutiny destroyed or changed out of recognition essentially dated from the reorganisation of 1824. In the intervening 33 years, John Company's armies not only fought half-a-dozen major wars (in Burma, Afghanistan, China, the Punjab, and across India itself), it also faced dozens of insurrections and rebellions, some of which entailed such sustained conflict that they gained their units battle honours. In doing so, the armies of British India created a distinctive military culture, one that the Mutiny decisively changed.John Company's Armies traces what those forces constituted and how they were commanded; how they lived and died in camps and cantonments; how they prepared for war (and how conflict in India changed) and how they fought against external foes and internal threats to the Company's rule. It uses a wealth of contemporary sources, archival, visual and published, including research on the sites of battles and cantonments, to evoke the armies' composition and character. It deals with both European and Native forces, explaining their idiosyncratic organisation, practices and terminology, and shows how British-Indian armies both prepared for battle and how they experienced it, drawing on the words and images of dozens of its members.John Company's Armies is intended for both the specialist seeking the first comprehensive account of a force traditionally examined to explain the outbreak of the 1857 Mutiny, and for readers such as family historians needing to understand how the army of a distant relative was formed, functioned, and how it fought.

A detailed account of the III. SS-Panzer-Korps' retreat from Estonia, battles in Courland, Pomerania, and Berlin, featuring rare photos and veteran accounts.Heinrich Himmler regarded the III. (Germanic) SS-Panzer-Korps under SS-Obergruppenführe Felix Steiner as his favorite unit and general in the Waffen-SS. This SS-Panzer-Korps was supposed to ideologically unite SS volunteers from Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Belgium and Switzerland into a Germanic brotherhood - intended to politically serve Himmler¿s plan of a Greater Germanic Empire and the colonization in the East. Battles against the Red Army in the Baltic states, Pomerania and Brandenburg-Berlin 1944 and 1945.Volume 2 deals with the retreat from Estonia in autumn 1944, the violent positional battles in Courland in 1944-45, the frantic fighting in Pomerania, but not last but not least, the desperate battles of defeat in Berlin in 1945.In addition to unique and unpublished photographs, the volume contains a wealth of unique eyewitness accounts from decades of interviews and correspondence with Waffen-SS veterans, detailed summaries of armored corps operations, short biographies of interesting personalities, facts about German and Soviet weapons and tanks, and lesser-known SS units, such as SS-Panzer-Abteilung 11 "Hermann von Salza" and schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 503. Distinguished WWII-researchers have contributed with essays on key aspects of the Waffen-SS.

The first detailed account of World War I's Battle of Langemarck from an Irish perspective.Having fought alongside each other with great success at the Battle of Messines (7-14 June 1917), the 16th (Irish) Division and 36th (Ulster) Division again fought side by side at the Battle of Langemarck (16 August 1917). On that occasion however, there was to be no success. Instead, an unmitigated disaster ensued resulting in the decimation of both divisions despite their tenacity and sacrifice. In A Bad Day I Fear: The Irish Divisions at the Battle of Langemarck, 16 August 1917, author Michael James Nugent investigates the causes of the failure to exploit the undoubted success of the Messines offensive which contributed to the delay between it and the opening of the Third Battle of Ypres. These were a general lack of urgency, misunderstandings and lack of clarity over assigned tactical objectives, mismanagement of artillery, tank and infantry assets and a failure to understand local geography.The unfortunate delay between the close of the Messines operations in mid-June 1917 and the opening of Third Ypres on 31 July enabled the German defenders to accelerate construction of reinforced ferro-concrete blockhouses and pillboxes that were to play an important role during the campaign. Their development and method of construction demonstrated the extent of the enemy defenses faced by the Irish divisions.The failure to break through the German defenses on 31 July led to the unplanned relief of XIX Corps' exhausted divisions by both Irish formations. This exchange ensured that 16th and 36th divisions held the front line under horrendous weather conditions and constant enemy shelling for two weeks prior to the 16th August attack. The result of this ordeal was weary and half-strength infantry battalions advancing to the assault at zero hour.This tragic affair is examined in detail from the perspective of each assault battalion by utilization of contemporary war diaries, personal accounts, official and regimental histories, enabling a coherent picture of the events of 16 August to be revealed for the first time. German sources are also employed as a means of presenting the 'other side of the hill' experience. Careful analysis of the severe manpower losses is included to emphasize the devastating consequences of a dreadful day that brought sorrow to many homes throughout Ireland.Finally, the controversial post-operation observations by General Sir Hubert Gough (GOC Fifth Army) concerning the performance of the Irish divisions are carefully analyzed to reach the determination that they were ill-advised and a poor attempt to deflect blame from the shortcomings of Fifth Army.