On 23 September 1642 Prince Rupert's cavalry triumphed outside Worcester in the first major clash on the English Civil War. Almost precisely nine years later, on 3 September 1651, that war was won by Oliver Cromwell's famous Ironsides outside the same city and in part upon the same ground. Stuart Reid provides a detailed yet readable new military history – the first to be published for over twenty years – of the three conflicts between 1642 and 1651 known as the English Ci...

In 1798, the Irish rose up against the corrupt English government run out of Dublin.Joined by both Protestants and Catholics, the rebellion quickly spread across the country. Although the Irish peasantry were armed mostly with pikes, they were able to overwhelm a number of small, isolated British outposts. However, even with the half-hearted assistance of the French, the Irish could not compete with the organized ranks of the British Army when under competent leade...

The fifty-odd years of Scottish history dominated by the Jacobite Risings are amongst its most evocative and whilst the last battle, Culloden in 1746, is deservedly remembered as a national tragedy, the first battle on the braes of Killiecrankie was unquestionably the most dramatic.It was very much a Scottish battle. The later Jacobite risings would be launched against kings and governments in London. Killiecrankie, on the other hand, pitted Scot against Scot in the last bloody act of the ...

The flintlock or firelock musket is one of the most iconic weapons in history.Used on the battlefields of the English Civil War, it was then carried by both sides at Blenheim, Bunker Hill, Waterloo and the Alamo, and dominated warfare for more than 150 years, with military service as late as the American Civil War in the 1860s.Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this engaging study examines the role that the flintlock played in close-order...

In 1798, the Irish rose up against the corrupt English government run out of Dublin.Joined by both Protestants and Catholics, the rebellion quickly spread across the country. Although the Irish peasantry were armed mostly with pikes, they were able to overwhelm a number of small, isolated British outposts. However, even with the half-hearted assistance of the French, the Irish could not compete with the organized ranks of the British Army when under competent leade...

With the exception of the key royal sites, such as Stirling and Edinburgh, few Scottish castles were located at strategic points, or were intended to house garrisons required to defend or subjugate towns.Instead they were primarily fortified dwelling houses, erected in an environment of weak Royal authority and endemic feuding between rival clans and groups, in both Highland and Lowland areas. Although some enceinte castles were developed during the 16th and 17th c...

The commissioned officer ranks in the British Army from 1740-1815 were almost entirely composed of the affluent and educated - the sons of the landed gentry, the wealthy, and other professional people. This title looks at the enlistment, training, daily life and combat experiences of the typical British officer in the crucial periods of the North American conflicts, the American Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars. It compliments the author's previous treatments in Warrior 19 British Redco...

Contrary to popular belief, the capture of India was not accomplished by the British Army, but by the private armies of the East India Company, which grew in size to become larger than that of any European sovereign state.This is the history of its army, examining the many conflicts they fought, their equipment and training, with its regiments of horse, foot and guns, which rivalled those of most European powers. The development of their uniforms, which combined tr...

In August 1745 Charles Edward Stuart, the 'Young Pretender', landed in Scotland and sparked the Second Jacobite Rising.The Jacobite forces seized Perth, then Edinburgh, where they proclaimed the Young Pretender's father King James VIII; they trounced their Hanoverian opponents at Prestonpans and crossed into England, getting as far south as Derby before withdrawing into Scotland. Far from universally popular north of the border, the Jacobite army bested another Han...

In 2006 the title 'Highlanders' finally disappeared from the British Army's list of infantry regiments after nearly 270 years.Throughout this period Scottish Highland units distinguished themselves in battle, but it was in the 19th-century heyday of the British Empire that they acquired an elite reputation and their colourful uniforms evolved to their full complexity.This book traces and explains the identity and appearance of the individual regiments throu...

The Seven Years' War in Germany was characterised by an increasing use of 'light' troops in conjunction with regular infantry and cavalry as part of an ongoing evolution in military tactics.This book draws attention to these tactical developments and also provides an analysis of the allied army that fought alongside Frederick the Great in Germany. Composed of troops from the electorate of Hanover and contingents from Hessen-Kassel, Brunswick and Prussia, this force...

The first campaign medal awarded to British soldiers is reckoned to be that given to those men who fought at Waterloo in 1815, but a decade and a half earlier a group of regiments were awarded a unique badge – a figure of a Sphinx - to mark their service in Egypt in 1801. It was a fitting distinction, for the successful campaign was a remarkable one, fought far from home by a British army which had so far not distinguished itself in battle against Revolutionary France, and one moreover whi...