Author: Brent Nosworthy.
Hippocrene Books, 1992; 352 pages, diagrams, softcover, $16.95.

Our local gaming group spent several months playing various Seven Years War battles: in light of that experience, I decided to let my fellow HMGS members know about this excellent book.

The key word in the books title is "tactics". Mr. Nosworthv offers detailed descriptions and analyses of the drill, deployment, and battle tactics of European during the period from the beginning of the Age of Marlborough, which includes the War of the League of Augesburg (or the Nine Years War), the Great Northern War, and the War of the Spanish Succession, through the era of Frederick the Great, including the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I, Linear Warfare 1689 - 1713, begins with a chapter on the state of warfare during the seventeenth century, when the European armies still included pikeman in their infantry units. A chapter on technological improvements (such as the flintlock musket and the socket bayonet) describes the impact such improvements had on tactics. A chapter on firing systems contrasts the older methods of firing by ranks used by the French to the new platoon firing drill adopted by the Dutch and English. Others sections address grand tactics, and the role of cavalry.

Part II, Evolution of Tactics and Grand Tactics 1714 - 1756, introduces Frederick the Great, and focuses on the changes of drill in the French and Prussian armies of the period. Experiments with attack columns in the French army, and with light troops had some impact on tactics. A more significant change was the introduction of cadence marching and the cadenced manual of arms, along with a much higher state of training, which enabled the Prussian army of the period to greatly improve the maneuverability and effectiveness of infantry on the battlefield. Technologically the introduction of the iron ramrod, coupled with improved small arms drill, resulted in a marked increase in the lethality of infantry fire. The author describes all of these changes and their impact on tactics in detail.

Part III, Doctrine and Training in the Seven Years War Period, continues the emphasis on the French and Prussian Armies, and includes two detailed chapters on Prussian battlefield tactics, and a summary of French doctrine and practice during the Seven Years War. The trend toward cavalry charges being delivered at the gallop, first perfected by the Prussians, became the model for European horse well past the Napoleonic era. Frederick's grand tactical innovations, such as refusing a rank of the battle line and "oblique attack", are included as well. Finally, the author how the seeds of Napoleanic grand tactics were planted by the end of the period.

The book is heavily based on actual drill manuals of the period, and much of the focus is on the individual infantry battalion. In fact, some of the chapters tend to get dry at times, unless you are specifically interested in learning precisely how a battalion from column into line, for example, or how a unit conducted a wheel. For wargamers who want to develop rules that reflect history, however, this book is a gold mine.

The most detailed descriptions of unit battlefield evolutions are found in the chapters dealing specifically with the French and Prussian armies of the period, although the author does describe how certain tactics came to be adopted and adapted by other powers as well. Again the author relies heavily on actual drill manuals, but he demonstrates how tactics were continually evolving during the eighteenth century by drawing upon the writings of some of the more innovative military thinkers of the period.

The author cites key features of specific battles as examples in order to illustrate a point: however, if your looking for detailed descriptions of the battles of the period, look elsewhere. An appendix consisting of 29 pages of formation diagrams is very useful when consulted while reading the text, as the description of some of the maneuvers can be a bit hard to follow at times. As a gamer interested in the period, I can highly recommend this book. The author imparts a genuine understanding of how the basic combat units, battalions and squadrons, moved and fought on the battlefield. It should enable us to more critically evaluate the various rules sets that are commercially available, and it should be required reading for anyone who intends to write a serious set of rules for the horse and muskit period.