Review

Military Experience in the Age of Reason

Duffy

Amazon UK ref: 1853266906 | Amazon US ref: 1853266906

This is a mine of information on all aspects of its subject, and although packed with detail, it's very well written and easy to read. It provides a detailed account of the mechanics of warfare including such subjects as how large formations kept in line, at what distances troops could be distinguished, firefights versus cold steel, the inaccuracy of muskets at anything other than close range (where they could be devastating), fire control (and the lack of it), the preference for infantry to meet cavalry in line rather than square (which became de rigueur in Napoleonic times) the murderous power of artillery, the real nature of cavalry 'shock', the relative merits of thrusting swords as opposed to slashing sabres, light troops and irregulars, and 18th-century evidence for battle-stress.

An account of the systems for officer promotion throws some interesting, and indeed, surprising light on the relative advantages of purchase, seniority and merit. Eighteenth Century officers were men of their age and saw no reason to downscale their social requirements: "Economy was regarded as a bourgeois and demeaning trait..." (pg 86). As regards the rank-and-file, the best professional soldiers were considered to be men in their 30s and 40s, somewhat older than the typical soldier of today.

He also discusses general officers, including those promoted above their 'ceiling' who wasted the time of their subordinates with inappropriate attention to detail or indecision. Military geniuses, on the other hand, had three characteristic qualities: an active temperament, invincible courage and an extraordinary toughness of mind.

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