Anthony Kemp

Weapons and Equipment of the Marlborough Wars
 

Both the Duke of Marlborough as a person, and the campaigns which he fought have been exhaustively examined in print, but so far, little has appeared about the material both human and inanimate with which his victories were achieved. While using the name of Marlborough to give expression to a period of history loosely identified as the early part of the 18th century, this book deals with the weapons and equipment of all the main armies engaged in the War of the Spanish Succession – the English, French, Dutch, Austrian and the various German states.

To set the scene, the first chapter deals in broad terms with the organisation and recruiting of the armies of the period. This is followed by detailed chapters on the infantry and the cavalry, with subsections describing their weapons such as muskets, swords, carbines and pistols, their organisation, personal equipment and how they were tectically employed. The artillery sections cover the different types of gun, the ammunition fired, how the guns were operated and their tactical use both in the field and in siege warfare. These are followed by a description of the engineering services, the duties involved such as fortification and bridge building, the equipment required and the operations of a typical siege.

The final group of chapters discusses more unfamiliar aspects of early 18th century warfare. Firstly, the vital question of logistics: the feeding of both horses and men; how the supplies were obtained and paid for. This is followed by details of transportation, march organisation and camp life, as well as uniform and clothing, military music, medical services etc. A full bibliography is given to enable the reader to explore the subject further.

The comprehensive text is complemented by more than fifty line drawings of weapons, equipment, tactical formations, drill exercises, vehicles and clothing, specially created ba the well-known artist, John Mollo. In addition, the book is lavishly illustrated with black and white prints taken from contemporary paintings, tapestries and engravings, many of which have not been seen before in book form.

Anthony Kemp is a professional historian and lecturer who has long been fascinated by the background to 18th century warfare. Since reading Modern History at Oxford, he was written a number of books mainly concerned with various aspects of fortification.

Total Evaluation
Contents
Science
Maps
Illustrations
Remarks	The book does not live up to its title, as the material aspects of the armies of the early 18th century are dealt with in a very generalized way. The number of sources used is very limited, illustrations show mostly French examples, too much space is devoted to topics like the conduct of a siege or infantry tactics, where specialised literature is readily available. This space should have been used for showing more examples of the material culture, especially from museum collections worldwide.

Published by Blandford Press, Poole 1980
ISBN 0 7137 1013 6
172 pages with numerous black-and-white illustrations,  out of print

Text and Illustration © 1980 Blandford Press
Webdesign and Evaluation © 2004 Michael-Andreas Tänzer