OLD DUFFER'S BOOK CORNER:

The King's Army

by Old Duffer

James B Wood for CUP The Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History Series has some excellent scholarship and good writing. It demonstrates why paying £ 45 for a book can still be good value. In this book Wood takes us into the French Wars of Religion by dwelling on one topic - the Royal Army. Yet en passant one picks up a lot more understanding of this strange series of wars so unlike the home life our own dear Civil Wars. The book is based on contemporary sources and a lot of analysis of returns (very much like Parker's The Army of Flanders) meaning that campaign or battle simulation can flow easily from the work.

The book opens with a swift jog through the wars (1562-76) in which we see a war of field armies give way to one of sieges after the Huguenot army is beaten in the field and its leaders slaughtered on St Bartholomew's Day. We then move to the army in peace and war, the basic unit of armies still being the company, not far from their medieval ancestors. The difficulty of massing these small formations and paying them is clearly shown. The structure of the army, and its need for foreign troops is demonstrated. Field command is covered next, with, as an example, the march after Saint-Denis under Anjou. The types of troops are then covered in three chapters on infantry, gensdarmes and artillery - invaluable stuff this.

Having understood the difficulties of organising and moving our army the book then covers in detail a battle (Dreux) and a minor siege (Chartres). Tactical designers should start here because the detail and analysis is top-notch. The book moves on to consider the effect of an army in an area (disastrous) and its need to be constantly moving (illustrated by the itinerary of the Royal Army). The army is then destroyed before La Rochelle in a chapter than reads like an early re-play for Verdun. The collapse of morale and the need for constant supplies of new companies certainly reminds me of the meat-grinder. Finally, Wood considers the cost of the war, and the effect of the continuing deficit.

The conclusion must be that a knock-out blow was beyond either side. The Godly were in the minority, the French kingdom lacked the finances to be the true centrist force, only when the Catholic League rose and allied with King Philip did the Papists possess a force with punch. Altogether a splendiferous read.

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