The 17th century was a period of drmataic change in warfare. New powers rose to prominance and the ‘state’ eclipsed the old feudal relationships as the dominant political form. The 30 Years War (1618-1648) devastated Europe and let to the Treaty of Westphalia which still largely defines how nation states interact with each other today. Gustavus Adolphus introduced new modern linear tactics to his Swedish armies that were then adopted by others, primarily France. When the dense infantry formations of the Spanish Tercio met the linear French army at the The Battle of Rocroi, the Tercio was badly defeated, and the forms of warfare that had dominated Europe for 150 years were replaced by the linear forms that would define the 18th century. Our approach integrates contemporary battle maps, personal accounts, and modern terrain models to reconstruct these transitional battles with accuracy and insight.
The widespread adoption of firearms by European armies created a new tactical dilemma. The previously invulnerable pike formations were now extremely vulnerable to gunpowder weapons, while the musketeers remained vulnerable to enemy cavalry. What was needed was a combined-arms system in which the relative advantages of the musket, pike, cavalry, and artillery could cover each other’s vulnerabilities.
Next stop in our battlefield explorations was the incredible 16th-Century bastion fortress of Rocroi. Here, in May 1643, two of the superpowers of the 17th century – Spain and France – clashed in the plain south of the fortress. The battle marked the end of the dominance of the Spanish ‘Tercio’ tactics that had dominated European warfare for the previous 100 years.
The Battle of Carlisle Bay, on 29 April 1665, was a clash between a Dutch naval fleet led by Michiel de Ruyter and the British coastal defenses around Bridgetown Barbados. The battle was one of the opening clashes of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, as these two powerful maritime states sought to dominate trade routes. Although De Ruyter destroyed an English convoy at Carlisle Bay his fleet was severely damaged and unable to lodge ground forces on Barbados of the island.